If it had not been for the fluffy pussy willows growing the long willow switches, Janey and Katherine would never have thought of having a kitty party.
"May I have just one fat pussy willow to make a mother cat and one wee one for a kitty?" Janey asked her cousin.
Janey was visiting Katherine, and the morning the florist sent out the flowers and the pussy willows, the two girls had been sewing. While Katherine watched, Janey sewed the largest pussy willow to a card, letting her thread fall where the cat's neck should be. Then with her pencil, she drew the cat's tail, and ears and whiskers on either side of the head.
"Oh," cried Katherine, “what a lovely kitty!"
Instead of one little kitty beside the mother cat, she insisted that Janey make three all in a row.
It was Katherine who thought of a kitty party.
"Mother, didn't you say I might have a party for Janey? And may I have a kitty party?"
Mother had never heard of a kitty party. But when she saw the card with the cunning row of kittens, she said it would be hard to imagine prettier invitations.
"Let me think a moment. You could play 'Poor Pussy' and we could serve 'Catnip tea' and 'Puss-in-boots.” These kittens, all in a row, Have come to let you know You are invited and we'll be delighted If you'll come to our kitten show. (Date) (Name)
The girls wanted very much to know what these were, but Katherine's mother said the refreshments must be a surprise.
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| Kitty party invitation. Print as many as you need! |
"These kittens, all in a row,
Have come to let you know
You are invited
And we'll be delighted
If you'll come to our kitten show.”
They wrote their names and the date in the corners and put each card in an envelope. They were afraid to trust their precious kittens to the mail, so Mother took them for a drive in the car and let them leave an invitation at the home of every little girl who was to be invited.
Of course the guests wanted to make pussy-willow kittens themselves. They could scarcely wait to begin when Janey told them they might sew flat, white buttons to the cards and make the kittens look as if they were drinking milk from the button dishes. Katherine announced that three prizes would be given those making the prettiest cards. The prizes were a live Persian kitty, a book with stories about kittens in it, and a bean bag cut the shape of a cat's head with the features marked on with black thread.
When the kittens were finished they were ready for the cat show. They put the cards on display and Mother judged them. She decided the prettiest card was the one that had a fence made of three rows of dark yarn with two upright rows for posts; the kittens were sitting on the top rail and green yarn made grass at the bottom. The little girl who made this card was given her choice of prizes, and, after telephoning her mother to make sure it would be all right, she chose the little Persian kitten.
The other prizes were given out, and then they drew their chairs into a circle ready to play "Poor Pussy." Katherine was the first "Poor Puss." She got down on her hands and knees before Maurine and tried to mew as a poor lost kitten would. Maurine was told she must stroke Katherine's head and repeat, "Poor Pussy," three times without even smiling. She laughed as soon as Katherine had begun her funny “mewing" and had to take Katherine's place and try to make some other girl laugh. If she had not laughed, Katherine would have had to try someone else.
While they were still seated in the circle, Katherine's mother brought in a cat cut from cardboard and told the girls they might play, "Do you want a cat?" She explained that a cat was supposed to have strayed away and the girls should pass it from one to the other in an effort to find an owner. However, they did not pass the cat with their hands. The first girl, by pulling down her nose and pushing out her upper lip, managed to hold the cardboard cat between her nose and lip while she said to her neighbor: "Do you want a cat?"
She had to make a dreadful face to hold the cardboard in that manner, and the next girl, who was supposed to take it between her lip and nose, was laughing so hard she could not take it until ten had been counted. The first girl who had held it all that time, was then allowed to leave the circle and watch the others make faces. After that everybody tried to take it as soon as possible from their neighbors and thus keep them from going out, but sometimes they were laughing so hard they could not stop in time to screw up their faces as they must.
After this game they were ready for the "Crazy Cat Walk." Each girl in turn put her head down upon the handle of an umbrella, turned around three times, and then walked across the floor. The turning around made them dizzy, and their attempts at walking straight were laughable, indeed.
The refreshment booth was a table across one corner of the dining room, decorated with pictures of cats and chocolate cats that were later given to those who called for "brown kittens." Each girl was allowed to find one of the cardboard cats that were hidden about the room and present it at the booth for the thing it called for. With this she must be content until the bell rang again and each could hunt for another card. If a guest found a card calling for something she already had, she was to put it back as quietly as possible and continue the search. Each cat had written upon it one of the following items that made up the menu; brown kittens, catnip tea, a bowl of milk, cat biscuit, red and white pussy, Puss-in-Boots.
"Catnip tea" was clear lemonade served in teacups. Those who called for a "bowl of milk" were given little brown ramekins filled with what looked like milk. It was really a thick cream dressing and it hid bits of chicken and mushrooms. A spoon was furnished with this "bowl of milk."
"Cat biscuits” were beaten biscuits with cat's features worked in them in- stead of the regular fork prints. A thin layer of minced ham was pressed between them.
"Red and white pussy" proved to be a round radish just the proper shape. The tail was left on, little ears were made by turning back a little of the skin with a knife so that it would stand up in just the right place, and tiny bits of cloves pressed in for eyes. Each "Cat” was served with a cracker.
"Puss-in-Boots” proved to be cookies. A man who cut tin had made a cooky cutter that showed the head of a kitten sticking out of a big boot.
“I never heard of a party with so many nice surprises," said one of the guests. And Janey declared she was going to have a "Kitty" party as soon as she got home. Myrtle Jamison Trachsel
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