TH.I LIB.aAR.J TNJ! UNIVERSITY OF TEX.AS A 1982 VALENTINE PARTY ('\·) ,'" c lJ Jb0 St, Valentine's Day has always been a day for reminiscing and romancing; cop.la day of old loves, old laces and old charm. But even old things lose their mellow­, ness when dragged too often from their resting. places. So on this St. Valentine's Day let us not disturb the ghost of yesterday. Instead, let's sting the pendulum the other v1ay .. say fifty years ... and celebrate not in the fashion of our grand­mothers, as v.1e are accustomed to doing, but rather as our grandchildren might. Before planning such a celebration it v1ill be necessary to consider the events which modern prophets foretell, some of them ve-..7 strange indeed~' They prophesy that we shall wor'k less and play more; eat vitamins concentrated in sugar coated pills; fly airplanes of our ovm or more precisely, fly our OR~ autogiros. The sages say that with a continuing increase of population there won't be enough names to go around so we'll be tagged with numbers instead, Perhaps this idea seems too far fetched, but then you must remember that even the most conser-;ative prophe­sies of a century ago which are realities now were laughed at then. If you are still skeptical, make a visit to one of the g1·eat department ~tores in Ne".".1 York City dur­ing the Christmas holidays. Here harried clerks respond like automatons, not to names of Mr. Stnith or Mr. Jones, but to calls of H-24, S-63, etc. So it seems that whether we like it or not, the future is going to rob us of the dignity of family heritage and make the history of the human race look like one big calendar pad. Invitations to a pai~ty as different as this Valentine Party is should warn your guests what to e:x;pect so they will not be taken too much by surprise. Some such invitation as the following might be appropriate: Announcing that I've planned a party Tc which you're bid with welcome hearty. Vle'll celebrate in a manner gay, But not, I warn, In the staid old way. We won't regale old loves and laces, Instead v.1e'll picture future faces. The grand occasion.? -I didn't say? You must have guessed -St. Valentine's Day. The colors of the decorations should be the conventional red and l'lhite, for even fifty years from now they will probably symbolize affection and devotion, the approved emotions for a Valentine Party. Hang cardboard airplanes on the walls and from the lights. From the cej.ling suspend a miniature airplane out of which float cardboard hearts attached to red ribbon streamers. In one corner of the room place a booth, trimmed in red and white crepe paper. In the center just below the counter,paste a large cardboard airplane decorated with hearts. Above the count­er hang a sign, ttcupid's Registration Bureau." Cupid leads the guests to this booth as soon as they arrive. He is a small child dressed in an aviator's costu.me with a. qdver of arrows over his shoulder to identify him. \Then the guests register, give each lady a number combined with the letter F which stands for fernalo and each man a number with the letter M for male. Men and women with the same numbers -F-23, M·-23 • are partners for the even­ing. Also give each of them fifteen candy hearts. But be sure to warn them not to eat the hearts for they are to be used in the first game of the evening, a very informal one called; . Valentine Greetings. In this game players try to secure as many hearts as they can. They greet each other vrith any t•so letters in this manner; "Hello,C u". The one addresses must respond immediately ·aith ttvo letters ""'hich will finish a V"orf such as "Hello, T E." If he cannot finish the 1rrord ~tith t wo letters he must give one of his hearts to the person who addressed him. If he doubts that a word of four letters begins with the t wo letters ·with mich the person greeted him. he may challenge the originator of the word. If he is correct in believing that the other person is "faking", he collect-s a heart; if not, he surrenders two instead of one. The man and girl getting the greatest number of hearts are declared King and Queen of Hearts for the evening. By way of sugges~ion the following words are offered: DE -AR, DO -TE, L_;. .. CE, FA -CE, PI .. NK, LO • VE, LA -DY. In 1982-This is a mixer to get everyone acqv.ainted and to tell everyone present what the party is a.11 about. '!he ga.ine is played in a single circle v.rith one person in the center. Everyone sings the entire 30ng. During the verse players march in a circle in time to the music.. During the cilorus the players stand still while the one in the center selects two people from the circle. On the third and fourth lines of the chorus these three players skip around in their own circle while the people in the outside circle clap hands. If the group is large, the three players remain in the center for the remainder of the game, each selecting two partners for each chorus. If the crowd is small, t wo of the three take their places in the circle while the last one chosen remains in the center. Since all the words to this song Will be new, give the players a chance to sing them together before playing the game. Do not spend too much time learning them, however. All know the tune -"Yankee Doodle" -and they can hum it it they cannot sing the words. I II Oh, nineteen hundred eighty.two Oh, cupid still matches hearts Is fifty years away As in the days gone by. But let's pretend we see tonight But CU?id is an airman now What fashions will hold sway So cou~ting's done on high. III IV Now everybody has a number All ·:mr food 1 s now served ir. pills No one owns a name Tc save the housewife worry We spend our life in constant whirl Vie have more time to play and dance We ride by airplane. And yet the password's hurry. Chorus Partner, join me in the ring Neighbor join us too. It's some fun to be around In nineteen eighty.two. Heart Match, Cut various sized hearts from diff er.ent colored paper or cardboard. Then cut them in halves, putting cne piece in a box for the gentlemen and the other piece in a box for the ladies. Before the music starts eac:h. gentle­man selects half a hear·~ from the gentlemen's box and each lady half a heart from the ladies' box. While the music is being played all march in circle about the room. Suddenly the music stops. The gentlemen on the outside of the circle re­main standing while the ladies move up one to the next partner.. When. the man meet.s the girl who has the other half of his heart, the two retir-e from the circle. The marching continues until al.l have matched. hearts.. -3­ Air Pocket. 11.,or this game chairs are arranged in a circle. There is one chair less than the number of people playing. Chairs are far enough apart to allow the players to march bet'1'7een them. While the music is being played the players weave in and out of the circle of chairs.. When the music stops, that is, when the plane hits an air pocket, everyone is thrown to a seat except the one player who is unsuccessful in getting a chair.. Before the music starts again, another chair is removed. The game continues until only two players and one chair remain. This, of course, is the 1982 version of n-Going to Jerusalem." Aviation. This is a variation of the old-fashioned "Donkey Party., 11 in which the blindfolded players had to attach a donkey's tail in the proper place. A chart is hung on the wall or door at one end of the roorn and on it are squares marked "Paris., 11 "London," "Rome," 1'Cairo," "Mexico City, 11 and other non-stop destinations. The pe~son who is "It" is blindfolded and given a cardboard cut out to represent a monoplane with his name written on it. He is whirled till dizsy and sent staggering across the room to pin his cardboard airplane onto the chart. The furthest flight wins. ·rhe chart should also contain a few squares marked for places near the point of departure, and all players landing on them should pay a forfeit agreed on beforehand.. Two chairs can be pl.aced, one on each side of the approach from the start to the chart. If a player hii:.s either one of these chairs he "crashes" and pays a double penalty. Skyrocket. For this game the group is divided into two and is lined up one on each side of the room. One of the players in each group is told to go down his line and to tell each player except one to join in shouting usis, boom!" but to remain quiet on 11 Ah! 11 'rhe leader then announces that the group Will send up a skyrocket.. At a signal everyone shouts "Sis, boom~" Only one player on each team says "Ah!" Needless to say the effect will be hilarious~ A Romance in 1982. Before the party, typewritten or mimeographed sheets containing the following verses should be prepared. The last word in the second line of each couplet is omitted, however. The papers are O.istributed and the play.. ers given several minutes to supply the missing •7ords~ F t1venty..three was sweet and charming And had a manner most alarmiD;g. Coquettishly she'd flirt while dancing With swains who found her most entrancing, One after one they begged her hand But she''d have none in all the land.. At last they called her cold as zero But she said she'd wait for her hero, One day he came, M twenty-nine, An aviator straight and fine. He saw her once then started wooing, Within an hour the two were cooing. Within a '.l'leek the two Tiere marl:"'ied1 Though perhaps they should have tarried. Their honeymoon was no more sane, They took it in an airoplane, -4­ Their young friends wished them joy and health, And happiness and fun and .-realth, The wise o1d folks with fear and awe Told them of trouble they foresaw.­ A life begun up in the air Must surely end in grim despair~ But twenty-three and twenty-nine Defied their fate With love divine, Their airy life they filled with laughter And they lived happily ever after. Valentine CorsaM. For this game you need an old seed catalogue. Before the party cut out and number about thirty pictures of flowers. Select a gardener from the group. He keeps a slip on which is written the names of the flowers and their corresponding numbers. This is used to check the answers at the end of the game. The pictures of the flowers are passed around and each one present writes down on paper the names of the flo,vers. The correct namee are read o.ff by the gardener. Each picture scores two points. For names that are not wholly correct one point is given. The person with the largest number of points is the winner and is presented with a Valentine Corsage of either paper or real flowers. Flashb~cks of 1932 Since no Valentine party would be complete without some reminder of the past, the following games suggestive of the good old days of 1932 or thereabouts are suggested: A Valentine Crossword Puzzle. No doubt fifty years from now people Will be referring, perhaps with some derision, to the days when crossword puzzles were in vogue. Although they are not so much the rage now as they were a few years ago, they still manage to hold the attention of a great many peQple. The following p~zzle should be mimeographed so that copies can be distributed to each player present. --a­ Horiz.ontal Vertical l. charge 1. distant 3. fairy 2. printer's type 6. part of verb to be 4. note in musical scale 7. abbreviation for boy's name 5. run away from a. one who woos a. one in charge of books 12. Italian coin 9. conjunction 13. before (poetical expression) 10. sentimental missive 15. ornament ll. declaim 17. salutation 14. repair 20. study 16. in 21. also 17. obtain 22. to run 18. Greek God of Love 23.. girl's name 19. mammal 24. Egyptian goddess 25. in 26. mother (colloquial) 27. pronoun 28. Christmas (French) Pantomimes of ~ Since everybody loves to look back and talk about the good old times gone by 1 Pantomimes of 1932 might be staged. t When Grandma Was a Girl Grandma is a 1932 flapper d•:essed in a trailing black dress and a Eugenie hat. III When Grandma Was a Young V:iif e Grandma rushes home from the delicatessen store with many cans and much dried food. She cooks the dinner in a 2 by 4 kitchen. III When Grandma. Was a Mother Grandma dressed in a trim little house dress is chewing gum, reading a book, and pushing the baby carriage baok and forth with one foot. Refreshments. Announce ~hat 1982 refreshments will now be served.. Pass around a box of bouillon cubes each tied with a dainty red ribbon. Of course, the guests will be surprised and somewhat nonplussed. Then tell them that you realize that there is nothing like good old-fashioned eats so you've planned a real surprise. Escort them to the next room where a table with refreshments has already been set up. The table should be decorated in red and white and the centerpiece and favors should be miniature airplanes. As the old saying goes, the way to a man's -and even a woman's -heart is through the stomach. Can one ask for a more effective climax to a party? Note: The games ttAviationn and "Valentine Greetings" were adapted from "What'll We Do Now" by Longstreth and Holton. NATIOHAL RECREATION. ASSOCIATION 315 FOURTH AVENUE NEW YOP.K CITY Price 10 cents M. P, #145