Evening star., 1942-02-24
g Mans Fancy Turns to His Wardrobe,
Guests Make
Or Break
AParty
Blase Crowd Spoils
Plans of Hostess,
Own Good Times
BY Kay Caldwell and Alden
Harrison

Harrison
The more we see Of parties, dances
| and other social affairs, the more
we are convinced that having a
good time depends fundamentally
on the attitude of the guests, rather
than on the occasion or the enter
tainment.
True, many a dull evening results
from poor planning on the part Of
the hostess or the committee IN
charge. But quite as many parties
are dismal just because the So
called merrymakers apparently are
doggedly determined not to make
merry.
One hostess recently wrote to us
for help in lifting the pail of bore
dom which hangs over her gang
when they gather at her house. She
has a recreation room with ping
pong table, other games, a radio and
a record player. She has some of
our best party and game booklets,
which have produced hilariously
| successful evenings for countless
other young people. Yet her group
gets tired" dancing, and doesn't
like games because they are "too
intellectual" So she wonders what
her friends can do to have fun.
Well admit that included among
our games are a few which require
q slight exercise of the brain cells,
but there's nothing which couldn't
be enjoyed by any ordinarily intelli-
gent group of high school students.
And some of the other games, far
| from being intellectual, come with
in an inch or two Of being down.
bright rowdy!
So what? So you can't have fun,
no matter what you do, If you are
bored and blase and unwilling to
be amused. When a crowd gets
into that kind of social rut, it
doesn't need new entertainment
1t needs a dose Of vitamins. Or
| dynamite!
On the other hand, we've seen a
crowd have a whale of a good time
when none of the ingredients for a
successful party seemed to be pres
ent. We know of one dance where
the orchestra turned out to be one
of the corniest combinations Of
alleged musicians ever assembled.
At first the dancers were appalled,
by the horrible sounds they pro-
duced, but after a number or two,
the whole thing began to seem
funny.
Instead Of sulking. complaining
about the band, and demanding
their money back, few members
of the crowd started to clown and
kid the music. One couple, unable
to dance normally to deadfish bit
of swing, gave a rendition of Utter
bugging as it might be photographed
| in slow motion. Then when the
band switched to very fast num-
Der, several couples started doing
1918 one-step, complete with
three-foot strides and pump handle
arm action.
Before the evening was over,
everybody had had a lot Of laughs.
The orchestra, whose members were
better sports than they were musi-
clans, began to see the humor in
their efforts, and relaxed Eventu-
ally they produced some pretty &C
ceptable rhythm, and the dance was
a huge success.
You've probably experienced some
party which started out to be a
flop, and turned into a WOW before
the evening was over. Undoubtedly
you know of at least one unplanned
get-together which ended up as
the most memorable night of the
social season. Why? Simply be-
cause the crowd got into the have
fun spirit, and made its own good
time.
If your parties don't seem to be
ringing the bell, try working on
them from this angle. Perhaps you
really don't need new games or new
ideas as much as you need an eager
ness to have fun.
Try "Our Favorite Party
Games" If your parties need
popping up. It's a booklet of
sure-fire fun for only five cents
(stamps or coin.) Address Kay
| Caldwell and Alden Harrison. in