Hundred Year-Old Game Ideas for Picnics and Campfires

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.

Alphabet Game

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.

Going to Have a Sunday School Picnic

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Sunday, August 10, 1913: We have decided to have our S.S. picnic next Wed. So many things are coming so close together this month.

Photo Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1913)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Grandma— For so much of the summer you’ve seemed kind of down. It’s fun to see your excitement about the Sunday School picnic and the other things that are coming together (whatever those things may be).

Cut Flowers Brighten the Room When There’s Company

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Saturday, August 9, 1913: Nothing doing. Had company today.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1912)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Cut flowers are always a nice touch when there’s company.

Gladiolas are in season– maybe Grandma cut a few and put them in a vase . . .

Money-Making Tip–Open a Tea Room

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Friday, August 8, 1913: Nothing doing.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Since Grandma didn’t write much a hundred years ago today, I’m going to again go off on a tangent–

Women must have worried a lot back then about how to earn a little pin money (or in some cases more substantial amounts). Ladies Home Journal even had a column called “What Can I Do? where women could send in letters with money-making tips. This is how the magazine described the column:

The aim of this department is to show what can be done at home to use money by the use of special talents. The department is a sort of clearing house of information as to the kinds of work for which there is most demand, the conditions and chances of success, and the best ways of find a market.

A few days ago I shared tips in the magazine for making and selling Sun-Preserved Preserves. Here is another suggestion:

Tea for Motorists

I live in the country on a road where a great many autos pass every day, so I conceived the idea of opening a tea room. Having always on hand a supply of cream, butter and jellies my venture required no lavish outlay.

I first had an attractive sign painted and displayed in a conspicuous place on the roadside in front of the house. Next I arranged the tea table with my best china, and kept it in constant readiness, inspecting each article carefully every day.

One day a party of autoists knocked at my door and asked for tea. I ushered them into the tea room, and while they removed their veils, etc. I boiled the water, made thin bread-and-butter sandwiches, and arranged a little plate of tea cakes. For some time my patrons were few, but they increased in number as my reputation grew.

Ladies Home Journal (July, 1913)

Mother and Daugther Disagreements About Practicing the Piano

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Thursday, August 7, 1913: Ma threatens me with my music and wants me to practice more.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Whew, an 18-year-old and her mother in a battle of wills over practicing the piano feels like a recipe for disaster.

Grandma only began taking lessons in June. Yet this is the second diary entry where she mentions that her mother wanted her to practice more. One July 26 she wrote:

Ma wanted me to keep digging at my music this morning. I don’t like to practice very well.

Grandma was a young adult—and you’d think that she won’t have begun taking lesson unless she was really motivated to learn to play. And, that she would have been responsible to making her own decisions about whether or not to practice.

However, Grandma’s mother bought the piano for her in the Spring (and undoubtedly spent a lot of money on it), so I suppose that she felt like she also had a stake in ensuring that Grandma practiced.

Cherry Stoners and Apple Parers a Hundred Years Ago

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Tuesday, August 5, 1913: What would you write, when you had nothing to write about?

With the cherry stoner the fruit is stoned by the pressure of two steel fingers worked by a handle. The cherries are fed automatically two at a time as long as the hopper is kept filled, and the operation separates the fruit and the stone into different receptacles.

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

Hmm . . . that’s a dilemma for me sometimes, too. What do I write about, when I have nothing to write about?

Well, sometimes I browse through old magazines and see if I get any ideas . . .

I found a fun article in May, 1913 issue Ladies Home Journal that presented some of the newest canning tools and gadgets. Maybe Grandma spent the day canning fruits or vegetables.

An apple parer, corer and slicer pares, cores and slices the fruit, and then, pushing off the apple is ready to repeat the operation. It can be used to pare without coring and slicing.

Hurrah! Not Much Field Work

18-year-old Helena Muffly wrote exactly 100 years ago today:

Monday, August 4, 1913: Guess I won’t have much to do in the fields now for awhile and I’m not very sorry. One of Ruth’s former teachers was here to see her this morning.

Source: Ladies Home Journal (July, 1911)

Her middle-aged granddaughter’s comments 100 years later:

It’s a nice feeling when the work slows down. Maybe Grandma even had time to sit on the porch and read a novel. The wheat and oats harvest probably just ended—so there was a brief respite before other crops needed to be harvested.

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Why did one of Grandma’s sister Ruth’s former teachers come to visit? Was it a social visit or was it related to Ruth’s job? (Ruth was a teacher at one of the one room school houses in the area.)