The American Girl's Handy Book
Page 1
The
AMERICAN
GIRL’S
HANDY
BOOK
Making the Most of Outdoor Fun
LINA BEARD & ADELIA B. BEARD
THE DERRYDALE PRESS
Published in the United States of America
by The Derrydale Press
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK, INC.
Original copyright 1887, 1898 by Charles Scribner’s Sons
First Derrydale Printing 2002
Library of Congress Control Number: 2002101660
ISBN: 978-1-58667-089-4
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
PREFACE.
“I DO wish some one would write a book like that for girls,” is the remark we have frequently heard when a new book of sports for boys has made its appearance; but it was not until the publication of the “American Boy’s Handy Book” that it occurred to us to write a book for the American boy’s neglected sisters, which should be equally original and practical.
In the “Girl’s Handy Book,” which it has been our endeavor to make peculiarly American, we have sought to introduce original and novel ideas, and by their aid to open new avenues of enterprise and enjoyment.
One of our objects is to impress upon the minds of the girls the fact that they all possess talent and ability to achieve more than they suppose possible, and we would encourage a belief in the truth of the remark said to have been made by a famous Frenchman: “When you Americans undertake anything you never stop to ascertain if it be possible, you simply do it.”
We desire also to help awaken the inventive faculty, usually uncultivated in girls, and, by giving detailed methods of new work and amusements, to put them on the road which they can travel and explore alone.
We know well the feeling of hopelessness which accompanies vague directions, and, to make our explanations plain and lucid, we have ourselves, with very few exceptions, made all of the articles, played the games, and solved the problems described.
The materials employed in the construction of the various articles are within easy reach of all, and the outlay, in most cases, little or nothing.
We scarcely deem it necessary to point out the fact that in supplying healthy, sensible work and amusement for leisure hours, employment is given whose whole tendency is to refine the tastes and ambitions of our American girls.
A few of our chapters are taken from articles which were written by us for, and published by, the Youth’s Companion, St. Nicholas, Harper’s Young People, Golden Days, and Wide Awake.
CONTENTS.
PREFACE
SPRING.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST OF APRIL
First of April Party; Mirror Tableau; Noah’s Ark Peep-show; The Supper.
CHAPTER II.
WILD FLOWERS AND THEIR PRESERVATION
Transplanting Wild Flowers; Cut Wild Flowers; Sending Flowers by Mail; Preserved Flowers; Pressed Flowers and Leaves; Leaves and Ferns for Decoration; Color of Flowers Changed; Natural Wax Flowers; To Freshen Cut Flowers; Crystallized Flowers; How to Preserve the Perfume of Flowers; Spring Flowers in Winter; The Four-leaved Clover; Several Methods of Preserving Flowers.
CHAPTER III.
THE WALKING CLUB
Rules to be Observed.
CHAPTER IV.
EASTER
Easter Customs in Other Lands; Easter Egg Games; Easter Egg Dolls; Humpty Dumpty; Miss Rolly-poly; Mandolin; Maple-wax Easter Eggs; Bonbon Box; Easter Cards; Little Quakeress.
CHAPTER V.
HOW TO MAKE A LAWN-TENNIS NET
Rules for Lawn-Tennis.
CHAPTER VI.
MAY-DAY
May-day Sports; How to Make May-baskets; May-day Combat; The May-pole; May-pole Dance.
SUMMER.
CHAPTER VII.
MIDSUMMER EVE
The New Fern-leaf Game; Fortune-telling: The Plaintain Test; Fortune’s Wheel.
CHAPTER VIII.
SEA-SIDE COTTAGE DECORATION
Window Decorations; Row-boat Book-shelves; Crab-net Work-basket; Hat-rack; Marine Screen; Horseshoe-crab Bag; Sea-urchin Vase and Candlestick; How to Dry Starfish and to Polish Shells.
CHAPTER IX.
A GIRL’S FOURTH OF JULY
Interior Decoration; In-door Illumination; Out-of-door Decoration; Fireworks; Parachute; Thunderbolts; Whirls, and Winged Fancies; Pin-wheels; Bombs; Declaration of Independence; Toss; Fourth of July Jackstraws; Progressive Mining.
CHAPTER X.
PRINTING FROM NATURE’S TYPES
Impression Album; Winter Landscape.
CHAPTER XI.
PICNICS, BURGOOS, AND CORN-ROASTS
A Burgoo; Burgoo Stew; A Corn-roast.
CHAPTER XII.
BOTANY AS APPLIED TO ART
The Peony Leaf; A Bunch of Turnips; Plant Cross-section Designs; Flower Sprays; Changing the Color; Burs; The Water-Lily.
CHAPTER XIII.
DOOR-STEP PARTY AND QUIET GAMES FOR HOT WEATHER
Five Minutes’ Conversation; Blind Man’s Singing-school; A Game of Noted Men; What Will you Take to the Picnic? Assumed Characters; Shadow Verbs.
CHAPTER XIV.
HOW TO MAKE A HAMMOCK
Materials; Barrel Hammock.
CHAPTER XV.
(For Little Girls.)
CORN-HUSK AND FLOWER DOLLS
CHAPTER XVI.
HOW TO MAKE A FAN
Butterfly Fan; Mikado Fan; Daisy Fan; Cardboard Fan.
AUTUMN.
CHAPTER XVII.
ALL-HALLOW-EVE
Halloween Parties; Melted Lead; Nutshell Boats; “Three Luggies,”
Roasting Nuts; Kaling; The Magic Mirror; Three Tin Cups; The Ring Cake; Bobbing for Apples; The Ghostly Fire; The Fairy’s Gifts.
CHAPTER XVIII.
NATURE’S FALL DECORATIONS AND HOW TO USE THEM
Fresh Autumn Wild Flowers; Buckeye Portière; Panel of Fall Decorations; Louis Quinze Screen; A Panel of Field Corn; Ornamental Gourds; Gourd-Dippers and Bowls; Vases; Small Decorations; Brackets.
CHAPTER XIX.
NUTTING-PARTIES
“Little Brown Squirrel,” Rules for Nutting-Parties.
CHAPTER XX.
HOW TO MAKE A TELEPHONE
CHAPTER XXI.
HOW TO DRAW
CHAPTER XXII.
HOW TO PAINT IN WATER-COLORS
Materials for Water-Color Painting; Flowers; Landscapes; Painting from Notes.
CHAPTER XXIII.
HOW TO PAINT IN OIL-COLORS
Materials; Mediums; Canvas; The Light; Setting the Palette.
CHAPTER XXIV.
HOW TO MODEL IN CLAY AND WAX
Materials; How to Manage Clay; Hints for Modelling a Head; How to Model in Wax; Modelling-wax.
CHAPTER XXV.
HOW TO MAKE PLASTER CASTS
CHAPTER XXVI.
CHINA PAINTING
> List of Materials; A Monochrome Painting; Tinting; New Method of Decorating China; Tracing; Mottled Grounds; Snow Landscape; How to Paint a Head on China; How to Paint a Carp, Sea-weed, and Fish-net, on China; Foliage on China made with a Sponge; Mixing Colors; Royal Worcester Ware.
CHAPTER XXVII.
A CHAPTER ON FRAMES
Marine Picture Frame; Decorated Frame; Frame Covered with Tin-foil; Cork Frame.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THANKSGIVING
Impromptu Burlesque Tableaux; Landing of the Pilgrims; First Harvest; Devastation by the Indians; The Revolution; Slavery; Rebellion; Peace and Plenty; The Game of the Headless Turkey; A Suggestion.
WINTER.
CHAPTER XXIX.
CHRISTMAS FESTIVITIES AND HOME-MADE CHRISTMAS GIFTS
Julklapp; Polish Custom; The Bran Pie; The Blind Man’s Stocking; Home-made Christmas Gifts.
CHAPTER XXX.
AMUSEMENTS AND GAMES FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS
New Game of Bubble Bowling; Biographical Nonsense; Comic Historic Tableaux; Living Christmas Cards.
CHAPTER XXXI.
NEW YEAR’S AND A LEAP YEAR PARTY
Pantomime of an Enchanted Girl.
CHAPTER XXXII.
HOME GYMNASIUM
Course of Exercises.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
A DECORATIVE LANGUAGE
The Field and the Points of Heraldry; Divisions; Colors; How to Make a Design in Decorative Language; Book-plates; Floral Vocabulary.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
A FEW ITEMS ON OLD-FASHIONED NEEDLEWORK, WITH SOME NEW AND ORIGINAL PATTERNS
Plain Sewing; Button-holes; How to Patch, to Sew on a Button, and to Mend a Kid Glove; Fancy Stitches; Drawn Work; Applique and Original Designs for Portières; Lace; Ribbon Embroideries.
CHAPTER XXXV.
SCRAP-BOOK AND HOME-MADE BOOK-COVERS
Mother Goose Scrap-book; Transformation Scrap-book; An Album; Home-made Book-cover.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
A HEAP OF RUBBISH AND WHAT TO DO WITH IT
The Mirror; The Table; Lantern; A Music Roll; Work-basket; Key and Button-hook Rack and Paper Weight.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
HOW TO MAKE ATTRACTIVE BOOTHS AT A FAIR—A NEW KIND OF GRAB-BAG
The Tables; Flowers for Decorations; The Months; The Five Senses; Walls; Grab-bags; The Lady of the Lake; Fortune’s Wheel; Rag-balls.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
WINDOW DECORATION
Oriental Window-shade; Ribbon-curtain; Drapery of Very Small Scraps; Painting Window-panes; Painting on Lawn; To Imitate Stained Glass; Windows of Imitation Ground Glass.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
FURNITURE, OLD AND NEW
The Bookcase; The Chair; The Bedstead; A Dressing-table; Washstand; A Hall Seat; Window Seat and Book-shelves, combined.
CHAPTER XL.
SOMETHING ABOUT MANTLE-PIECES AND FIRE-PLACES
CHAPTER XLI.
HOME-MADE CANDY
Peanut Candy; Butter Scotch and Molasses Candy; Walnut and Fruit Glacé; Marshmallow Paste; Chocolate Caramels; Popcorn Balls.
CHAPTER XLII.
SAINT VALENTINE’S DAY
Valentine Party.
The American Girl’s
Handy Book.
CHAPTER I.
FIRST OF APRIL.
THIS is the children’s own day, and no assumption of dignity on the part of their elders can deter them from exercising the privileges granted to them by acknowledged custom and precedent.
“April fool! April fool!” cries my little nephew, as he dances with delight to see his aunt walk out of the room with a piece of white paper dangling from a hooked pin, attached to her dress.
“April fool! April fool!” shout the children in the street, thus announcing the success of some practical joke.
“April fool!” laughs everyone at the table, when some unfortunate bites into a brown, wholesome-looking cruller, only to find it a delusion and a snare, the coat of a cruller, but the inside of cotton.
“April fool! April fool!” is what even the little sparrows seem to chirp, as with a “s-w-h-e-r-r” they sweep down from the tree and, frightening away the kitten, take forcible possession of her bone. What does all this mean? Why is the first day of April called “All-Fools-Day,” and when or where did the custom of the day originate? Who can tell? No one seems to know. Even the derivation of the word April does not appear to have been definitely settled, and this saucy month, with her mischievous tricks and pranks, her surprises and mysteries, fools and puzzles our wisest men.
Through many centuries the observance of All-Fools-Day has descended to us. In many climes and many countries this day is chosen as the proper time for playing tricks on the unsuspecting.
“Festum Fatuorum,” or “Fools’ Holiday,” is what it was called in England at the time of the arrival of the early Christians in that country.
Easily caught like the mackerel, which are plentiful on the French coast in April and are said to be deficient in understanding, the April fool in France derives his name from that fish, and is called “Poisson d’Avril” or “April Fish,” and again, “Silly Mackerel.” From the cuckoo, a bird that does not know enough to build its own nest, the appellation of “gowk” is taken, and is given to the foolish one in Scotland who allows himself to be duped on this day.
In India at the festival called Huli Festival held on the last day of March, the natives make merry at the expense of their friends, just as we do, and their fool is called “Huli Fool.”
So in the East and in the West, in the North and in the South, in the oldest nation as well as the youngest, is this ridiculous custom observed, and, as if to make it still more ridiculous, no one apparently knows why.
Now, girls, since this holiday has descended to us from so far back that its origin appears lost in the dim twilight of past ages, there surely must be some reason for its existence, and that reason may be, that “a little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men,” and is therefore wholesome as an occasional diet. So why not help to perpetuate it; not with rude, practical jokes, but with comical surprises, and absurd, but unembarrassing, situations. Much harmless fun can be derived from the privileges of this day, devoted as it is to nonsense, and we introduce the April Fool Party as an excellent means of concentrating the fun, and furnishing plenty of merriment to the young folks who are bent on having a good time.
First of April Party.
I remember, when quite a little girl, I was granted the privilege of celebrating my birthday, which came on the 1st of April, with a candy-pull, and a few days previous to the event I started joyfully off to invite my friends. The invitations were laughingly given and accepted, and it did not occur to me that I would be suspected of playing a joke, although the party was to be on April-Fools-Day. It seems, however, that my good intentions were doubted, and the children were undecided whether to come or not. I had begun to suspect that a joke was to be played on me by their all remaining away, before they finally arrived in a body, having taken the precaution of coming in that way, so that if the party were a hoax they would all be fooled together.
I relate this incident that warning may be taken from my experience, and that it may be understood how important it is to make the guests invited to your First of April party realize that the invitations are given in good faith, and that your friends are expected to be on hand at the appointed time.
It is well, in giving a party of this kind, to have the whole programme laid out beforehand, so that everything may go smoothly and nothing be forgotten.
The few methods of April fooling given here need not constitute the whole entertainment; the list may be added to by the young hostess, who will, no doubt, have many ideas of her own to carry out. We will head our list with the
Mirror Tableau.
This novel tableau is made ready in the following manner:
In a door-way, or bay-window draped with full curtains, place a large mirror. Instead of
having the curtains suspended from the usual pole, it is best to stretch a wire across the space and slip the curtain-rings upon that, as they will slide more readily on the wire; and when it is time to draw back the drapery it should be done quickly. A table placed before the curtains will serve as a barricade, keeping the too curious from taking a peep at the hidden mysteries before they are ready to be revealed.
At the time selected, remove the table, and request all those desiring to see the tableau to arrange themselves in front of the curtain, and to remain perfectly quiet, as any movement will disturb those taking part.
If the front rows of the audience can be induced to kneel or sit upon the floor, those in the rear can obtain a better view, and it will, at the same time, make the group more effective. When perfect quiet is obtained, give the signal to your assistant, who must stand opposite to you at the side of the curtain, and with her help quickly draw aside the draperies, thus disclosing the tableau of a group of young people, motionless, gazing into the mirror with eager and expectant eyes. For an instant the audience will be held spell-bound, scarcely realizing that they themselves are forming the pretty tableau.
“We are April Fools,” written with soap on the mirror near the top, as shown in the illustration, tells what character the actors are assuming, and gives a name to the tableau.
The Mirror Tableau.
During the interval which should be allowed to intervene before introducing the next thing on the programme, the guests will find amusement in the many harmless practical jokes which are awaiting the unwary in all manner of places.
For instance, some boy will print APRIL FOOL in large white letters on his own back, by simply resting for a moment in a convenient chair upon whose snowy tidy the dreaded words have previously been printed backwards with white chalk. On the dark woolly surface of the coat, the white letters will be perfectly transferred, and the boy, little knowing what he has done, or the cause of the merriment, will join in the general laughter his appearance creates.
A treacherous divan can be provided by removing the top of a low, flat packing-box, and putting in its place brown wrapping-paper, tacking it down around the edges of the box. With a piece of drapery thrown over it, entirely concealing the box, and sofa pillows placed upon it, leaning against the wall, the divan looks exceedingly comfortable and inviting. But woe unto the person who mistakes appearances for reality, for to attempt to sit upon this seeming substantial couch is but to break through and sit upon the floor instead.