Holiday Frolics by the Fireside
Dec 15th, 2017 by bachmann
The cliched image of friends and family gathered around a fireplace during Christmas had its origins in the Victorian Age. While people in rural villages would gather for conversation and entertainment at the local inn, the urban middle class of the Victorian era would typically entertain themselves and their friends in parlors of their own homes. During the 19th century, middle class families enjoyed more leisure time than before, which in turn triggered the creation of various games to entertain gentleman, ladies, and children. Many of these parlor games involved logic puzzles or riddles, while others involved physical performances, acting, or charades. Furthermore, there would be opportunity to combine card tricks, magic, or legerdemain into the mix. Not all of these activities were benign, many were downright dangerous, introducing chemicals, electric sparks, and fire. For example there was the “Method of receiving the Electric Shock from a Cat”, “To make a Room seem on Fire”, or “To Detonate Fulminating Copper by Friction”
This pamphlet from 1830 is one of the earliest publications directed toward the growing Victorian middle class aiming at providing a wide range of activities families could incorporate into their Christmas celebrations. The author describes it–
“the whole admirably calculated to beguile the leisure hours of our Holiday Friends….The Tricks, Puzzles, Conundrums, &c. which are now presented, hare been selected from the best works, —some have never yet appeared before the Public in print. If the perusal of the following pages, afford one hour’s amusement, the Author’s wishes will be obtained.”
Some examples:
Incombustible Paper. Dip a sheet of paper in strong alum-water, and when dry, repeat the process a second and third time. As soon as it is dry, you may put it in the flame of a candle, and it will not burn.
To make a party appear ghastly. This can only be done in a room. Take half a pint of spirits, and having warmed it, put a handful of salt with it into a bason; then set it on fire, and it will have the effect of making every person within its influence look hideous.
Easy method of Constructing paper Balloons. Take several sheets of silk paper, cut them like the covering of the sections of an orange, join these pieces together into a globular body, and border the opening with a ribbon, leaving the ends that you may suspend the following lamp: make a small basket of very fine wire, if the balloon is small, and suspend it from the following opening, so that the smoke from the flames of a few sheets of paper wrapped together and dipped in oil, may heat the inside of it, before you light this paper, suspend the balloon so that it may, in a great measure, be exhausted of air, and, as soon as it has been dilated, let it go, together with the basket, which will serve as ballast.
Write upon Glass by the rays of the Sun. Dissolve chalk in aqua-fortis to the consistence of milk, and add to it a solution of silver. Keep this liquor in a decanter, well stopped. Then cut out from a paper the letters you would have appear, and paste the paper upon the decanter, which is to be placed in the sun, in such a manner that its rays may pass through the spaces cut out of the pa per, and fall on the surface of the liquor. The part of the glass through which the rays pass will turn black, and that under the water will remain white. You must observe not to move the bottles during the time of the operation.
- Description:
- Holiday frolics, or Endless amusement for the Christmas fireside containing the most astonishing feats of legerdemain, and astounding conjurings; entertaining experiments in various branches of science; tricks with cards & dice. Art of making fireworks; together with an excellent collection of puzzles, conundrums, riddles, charades, & c. & c. The whole admirably calculated to beguile the leisure hours of our holiday friends. London : W. Strange, 1830.
- Persistent Link:
- http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:FHCL:32540382
- Repository:
- Widener Library
- Institution:
- Harvard University