18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:
Tuesday, August 12, 1913: Am busy planning.
Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:
Grandma was helping plan a Sunday School picnic. A hundred years ago picnics often included games and activities. Here are some activity ideas in a July, 1913 article in Ladies Home Journal.
Names and Topics Game
One game is to mention all the names participants can think of—either given names or surname– by topic.
For instance, “What names suggest occupations?” These include: Miller, Farmer, Tanner, Goldsmith, Mason, Weaver, Cook, Dean, Smith, Carpenter, Taylor, Cooper, Butler, Preacher, Sheppard, Crook, Baker, Painter, Bishop, etc.
“What names are colors?” White, Black, Green, Brown, Gray, Violet, Rose, Lavender, Pearl, etc.
“What names are flowers?” Lily, Rose, Daisy, Violet, etc.
In the Alphabet Game, it will be necessary for one in the party to be close enough to the firelight to read from a memorandum card. When he calls out a subject, it must be answered with a word or sentence beginning with the letter that was chosen throughout the complete list of questions: Suppose “C” is the chosen letter; the leader will say: “Beginning with C, name (1) An American city; (2) a foreign city; (3) an American river; (4) a foreign river; (5) a mineral; (6) a poet; (7) a poem ; (8) a book of fiction; (9) an author; (10)a vegetable; (11) a bird; (12) a fish; (13) an insect (14) a statesman; (15) an article of apparel for men; (16) an article of apparel for women.
An Illustrative of how the game works with “C”. The answers to the questions: (1) Columbus; (2) Constantinople; (3) Columbia; (4) Congo; (5) Cooper; (6) Coleridge ; (7) Charge of the Light Brigade; (8) Crossing; (9) Carlyle; (10) Cabbage; (11) Canary; (12) Cod; (13) Centipede; (14) Churchill; (15) Cap; (16) Cape.