Victorian Parlour Games
Written by Kuroloki Roku for Antique Child, Fall 2006.
Hosting a tea party but not sure what activities to include? Here’s a list of some old parlour games that Victorians used to entertain themselves with during parties.
Traditionally, instead of being left out of the game, a player had to make a forfeit when they lost. Meaning, they had to give up something in their possession in order to keep playing. At the end of the game, the host/ess (or another chosen person) would distribute the forfeited pieces in exchange for a hilarious antic that the owner was required to perform. If you decide to do this, it’s the distributor’s duty to keep track of all items during gameplay so that none are lost!
Animals
This game works best in a party full of people who know each other fairly well. One member of the party is blindfolded. Once this is done, the other members scatter and stand in different parts of the room, and remain completely motionless and silent. The blindfolded player then makes her way around the room searching for a person, any person. When she finds someone, that person must make an animal noise of his choice three times (the point is to disguise his voice). If the blindfolded player fails to guess who her prisoner is, she must search the room again. If she guesses correctly, she hands the blindfold to her prisoner and a new game begins.
Poor Pussy
Everyone arranges their seats into a circle with one less chair than there are guests. One person is chosen to be the pussy-cat. This person must crawl around on all fours in the middle of the circle and beg random players one at a time to “take her home”. She sits at their lap and must mew and act as sweet, adorable, and helpless as she can—the object is to make the other player burst into laughter. The player must say to her, “Poor pussy, poor pussy, poor pussy,” with a completely straight face. The first one to smile or laugh while saying this becomes the new pussy. If this phrase doesn’t sit well with all members, you can substitute it with “Poor kitty,” but it won’t be as funny!
The Dumb Orator
Two members of the party are chosen—one will be reciting and the other miming, so choose accordingly. While keeping completely still and emotionless, the reader recites something like a well-known poem, a fairytale, or something provided by the host to her audience. The mime acts out the poem or story with grandiose gestures while keeping completely silent. There are no winners or losers, but it’s something fun to do for entertainment.
The Minister’s Cat
Guests sit together and take turns describing the minister’s cat with different adjectives in alphabetical order. Play may begin like this: “The minister’s cat is an angry cat.” “The minister’s cat is a beautiful cat.” “The minister’s cat is a charming cat.” …and so on through the alphabet. The game should move at a steady pace. Any player who pauses too long on a letter is out of the game or must make a forfeit (see above). The letter is skipped and the game moves on. If the game reaches Z, restart with A and continue.
Hot-boiled Beans/Hot-Cold
One member of the party is chosen. She forfeits one of her possessions and leaves the room. The other members hide the object somewhere within the room. Once it’s hidden, one of the players cries, “Hot boiled beans and bacon for supper, get ‘em while they’re hot!” and everyone takes a seat so as not to give away the hiding place. The person re-enters the room and tries to find the object. The other party members lead her on by telling her that her supper is getting “hotter” if she gets close to the object and “colder” if she walks away from it. You probably played games like this when you were very young.
Alternatively, hide a party favor that the searcher gets to keep once she finds it.
“I’m thinking of something that’s…”
This game is sort of like 20 questions, except there is no limit to the amount of questions players can ask. In this game, one person thinks of an object that the others have to guess by asking yes or no questions. Let’s assume the player thinks of cake. He begins the game by describing his object; for example, “I’m thinking of something that’s delicious.” The other players ask questions to guess exactly what it is. It sounds simple and boring, but if you have creative guests you’ll all be bursting with anticipation and roaring with laughter!
For more parlour games, visit you local library or search the web for many interesting finds.
Antique Child is a trademark of RoKulie, the creative studio of blog author Kuroloki Roku.
