The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1876-12-02
0ld.Time Social Amusements.

0ld.Time Social Amusements.
1t is amusing to note the devices by
which these social and pleasure-seeking
coteries sought to amuse themselves,
and to pass the time which hung heavi-
ly on their hands. At one period it be-
came fashionable for men to busy them
selves with embroidery and other light
work which had hitherto been the ex-
elusive province of the ladies. Enter
ing the salon, you would observe gaily
dressed cavaliers seated at embroidery
frames or stitching at piece of tapes
try; even grave statesmen and ponder
GUS philosophers might have been seen
busily embroidering birds, flowers, and
coats-of- arms. Then there came about
fashion of unraveling the silken and
metallic threads of fringes and tissues.
This was called "purfiing." The Ia
dies of quality were wont in this to
make pretense of doing something
useful and economical. At first
they and their male gallants
employed themselves in picking out the
gold and silver threads from old gar
ments, worn trimmings, epaulets, and
SO on. "On q circle of ladies being
formed" says Tame, ga big unravel:
ing-bag in green taffeta is placed on the
table, which belongs to the lady of the
house; Immediately all the ladies call
for their bags" The gentlemen were
expected to supply the rather costly
materials for this curious pastime; on
one occasion the Duke of LauZun sup
piled his guests with harp to be I'M
strung and unraveled. The ladies.
after thus separating the threads, We'd
with each other in selling them, and
thus made . merit of earning an in
come. If they destroyed a garment
worth 1000 francs, and then sold the
threads taken from it for 100, they re-
garded it as good operation.
Not content with unraveling old gar
ments, they would capriciously destroy
new ones in the rage for excelliDg in
this peculiar accomplishment. One day
a lady, as she swept out of the drawing
room, took it into her head that the
gold fringe which dangled from her
robe would be capital for unraveling;
and without hesitation she took her
scissors and cut it off. "Ten women
suddenly surround q man wearing
fringes, pull off his coat, and put his
fringes and laces into their bags, just as
if little bold flock of tomtits, flutter-
ing and chatterins in the air, should
suddenly dart on a jay to pluck off its
feathers. Thenceforth man who en-
tiers circle of women stands in danger
of being stripped alive.'
In all the fancy-work on which ladies
employed themselves, the men seem to
have taken part. Poinsinet, in one of
his comedies, represents young Mar
quis entering a room where two fair
damsels are embroidering. One is
working a piece of dress-trimming, the
other a Marty fiounce. The beau ex-
amines the embroidery with the eye of
a cOnnoisseur, points out here and
there the specially good touches, and IS
too polite to notice any defects. He
takes little gold tube out of the pock-
ct of his richly-decorated waistcoat,
and selects dainty gold needle. "He
goes to the frame at which Cidalise is
working, and finishes the flower
which she had begun. From her he
moves to the sofa, and, selling one end
of the tlounce, assists Ismene, to whom
he pays special attention, to complete
her task" At this time it was the Gus
tom of the ladies invariably to carry
their workbags with them to the even
ing receptions, in which they had not
only their embroidery materials, but
the last novel, the popular song, and
their patch-bOXeS and rouge-pots. Gen.
tlemen always carried deity embroid-
cred little bags into company, which
held /" a whole arsenal of cutlery and
fancy articles, such as boxes of differ
ent shapes filled with lozenges, bon
bons, snuff, and SCENT
At another period the fashion of the
day was to cut out drawings from books
and pamphlets, and to paste them on
screens, lamp-shades, boxes and vases.
The skill in this was to so arrange the
drawings, or parts of different draw
ings, as to produce curious or anus
ing effect. Then there came a season
when all the rage was for charades and
riddles, which gave peculiarly good
opportunity to exercise the light and
rapid wit SO conspicuous in the French.
Every evening the drawing-rooms were
converted into impromptu charades.
Some lady would suggest word or
phrase, and forthwith it would be con-
verted into the subject of a sprightly lit
tie play. Many of the word games now
current with US in America had their
origin in the necessity the French sa-
Ions were under in the last century to
divert themselves. In some of the sa-
Ions the fashion of keeping a daily
chronicle of news, which was too often
a mere chronicle of scandal, was adopt
ed. Madame Doublet de PERSIAN issued
bulletins which she called Nouvelles
a Ia MAIN" in her apartments two reg
listers were kept, one of authentic news
received here and there by her guests,
the other of floating rumors and on
dts; and from these the budget of her
chronicle was made up and circulated
throughout George NJ. ToDle,
in Appletons' Journal.
Two Educated Criminals.