PRACTICAL JOKE EVENING.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1238, 28 April 1914, Page 4

PRACTICAL JOKE EVENING.

The latest thing in festivities is the “Practical Joke” party. Each guest is asked to bring some small harmless litile practical joke, and to “spring it on the oilier guests during the evening. The roars of delighted laughter that i r root each ingenious little trick cpiickly overcome the greatest difficulty a- hostess lias to face at a party—the difficulty of “breaking the ice.” At a practical joke evening held not long ago .somebody found what appeared to be a glowing cigarette-end on the table, apparently burning a hole, iu the polished' mahogany. She was bait suspicions, but it looked so real that she picked up hastily—and found that this, too, was a sham. By this time everybody was chattering merrily and eagerly looking out for the next trick. This proved to ho a highly lifehko •live” coal which was discovered on the hearthrug. Tho hostess herself was taken in this time, ami frantically seized the tiling with a. pair of tongs—only to find that it was simply made of redami black paper. Supper time, of course, proved the best opportunity for practical jokes, and numbers of guests surreptitiously slipped faked things among the goodies on the table. The most successful was a cake that looked most inviting. But when a bold spirit a 1 tempted to cut it. he iouud that the top simply collapsed under tho pressure of the knife. The ‘•cake” was hollow.

A most lifelike “pat” of butter that half a down people in turn tried to pick up with a knife, only to find that it was made of hard rubber, an astonishingly good imitation “oyster” .slipped among a plate of real ones and some highlyrealistie rolls of broad, cakes, and pastries. all added to the fun.