1344 
•Pie  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
October  27,  1923 
Boys  and  Girls 
By  Edward  M.  Tuttle 
Our 
With 
Hallowe’en  page  is  full  of  glee 
letters  and  drawings  for  all  to  see. 
Memory  Verse 
O  ! — fruit  loved  of  boyhood  ! — the  old  days  recalling, 
When  wood-grapes  were  purpling  and  brown  nuts  were  falling! 
When  wild,  ugly  faces  we  carved  in  its  skin, 
Staring  out  through  the  dark  with  a  candle  within  ! 
When  we  laughed  round  the  corn-heap,  with  hearts  all  in  tune, 
Our  chair  a  broad  pumpkin, — our  lantern  the  moon, 
Telling  tales  of  the  fairy  who  traveled  like  steam, 
In  a  pumpkin-shell  coach,  with  two  rats  for  her  team  ! 
— From  The  Pumpkin,  by  JOHN  greenleaf  WHITTIER. 
At  last  you  have  it — our  Hallowe’en 
page !  Isn’t  it  a  fine  one ;  well  worth 
waiting  for,  you  will  agree!  Many  boys 
and  girls  have  helped  to  make  this  page, 
not  only  those  whose  work  is  printed,  but. 
all  whose  names  are  listed  on  page  1353. 
Our  thanks  are  due  to  every  one  of  them. 
If  you  did  not  help  this  time  you  should 
be  doubly  glad  that  there  were  some  who 
did.  Had  they  not  done  so  you  would  not 
have  the  pleasure  that  is  yours  this  mo¬ 
ment.  But  resolve  to  do  your  part  in 
coming  months.  Indeed  you  will  find 
your  interest  growing  as  soon  as  you  be¬ 
gin  to  work  for  Our  Page. 
Many  wrote  that  they  like  the  idea  of 
the  special  pages  this  Fall.  One  girl  said, 
“I  am  sure  the  plans  you  have  suggested 
will  be  hailed  with  enthusiasm  by  all,  for 
nearly  every  boy  and  girl  likes  to  draw, 
and  there  are  always  many  other  inter¬ 
esting  things  to  do.”  So  as  soon  as  you 
have  enjoyed  this  page  to  the  full,  get  out 
your  paper  and  pens,  put  on  your  think¬ 
ing  caps  and  see  what  you  can  produce 
for 
Our  Thanksgiving  Page 
There  are  many  things  that  will  be 
needed.  At  the  very  beginning  is  the 
motto  in  the  box.  It  should  express  our 
feeling  about  the  relation  of  Our  Page  to 
Thanksgiving  time.  Then  we  will  need  a 
fine  heading  drawing.  Following  this 
will  be  a  memory  verse,  and  we  could  use 
several  bits  of  poetry  scattered  here  and 
there.  You  can  hunt  for  verses  that  you 
think  we  would  all  enjoy  (be  sure  to  give 
the  author’s  name),  and  you  can  also  try 
Drawn  by  Dawn  Wilson  (11  Years), 
New  York 
your  hand  at  making  up  some  original 
verses.  Of  course  we  will  need  plenty  of 
drawings  and  pictures  appropriate  to  the 
Thanksgiving  season.  And  we  can  have 
stories  (both  true  and  make  believe),  es¬ 
says  on  how  Thanksgiving  came  to  be, 
letters  on  the  reasons  we  have  to  be  truly 
thankful  at  thi  stime,  suggestions  for 
making  the  Thanksgiving  dinner  an  oc¬ 
casion  to  be  long  remembered,  others  fcr 
pleasant  things  to  do  in  the  time  before 
and  after  dinner,  and  still  others  for  lit¬ 
tle  ways  of  making  the  day  happier  for 
friends  and  neighbors.  After  all.  Thanks¬ 
giving  is  more  than  just  a  big  dinner, 
isn’t  it?  It  is — but  there,  I  think  you 
•had  better  answer  that. 
Send  in  all  contributions  to  reach  your 
editor  by  November  3.  Our  Page  must 
be  out  the  Saturday  before  Thanksgiving, 
so  we  will  have  to  hurry. 
A  Hallowe’en  Party 
Last  year  we  had  a  party  on  Hallow¬ 
e’en  night,  and  we  certainly  had  great 
fun,  so  I  thought  I’d  write  and  tell  our 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Marian  Kachel 
(14  Years),  Pennsylvania 
readers  about  it.  It  was  this  way.  We 
invited  some  people  we  knew,  and  also 
our  parents.  We  dressed  ourselves  up 
and  our  parents  and  the  people  that  were 
there  had  to  guess  who  we  were.  Some 
dressed  in  white  sacks,  making  holes  for 
head  and  arms,  making  them  look  like 
night  gowns,  and  put  masks  over  their 
faces  and  stockings  over  their  hands.  One 
boy  had  a  black  stocking  on  one  hand  and 
a  white  one  on  the  other.  We  put  on  old 
boots  over  our  shoes.  One  boy  had  his 
father’s. big  rubber  boot  on  one  foot  and 
his  mother’s  old  high-heeled  shoes  on  the 
other,  making  him  look  very  funny.  We 
had  ice  cream,  cakes,  cookies,  soda  and 
pie  and  candy.  We  had  a  potato  race. 
We  put  a  basket  of  potatoes  at  one  end 
of  a  room  and  an  empty  basket  at  the 
other  (don’t  take  a  basket  too  large). 
You  take  a  spoon  and  get  a  potato  on  it 
and  run  with  all  your  might  to  the  other 
basket.  Be  careful  not  to  drop  the  po¬ 
tato,  because  if  you  do  you  must  pick  if 
up  with  the  spoon  without  touching  it 
with  your  fingers.  The  one  who  moves 
all  the  potatoes  from  one  basket  to  the 
other  in  the  shortest  time  wins.  We  had 
six  start  at  once,  and  it  was  great  fun. 
The  winners  were  presented  with  large 
packages  that  had  only  a  toothbrush  or  a 
piece  of  candy,  a  lolly  pop  or  some  other 
small  article  in  them,  wrapped  around 
with  so  much  paper  as  to  look  like -a  big 
present.  We  played  blindman’s  buff  and 
hide-and-go-seek.  It  was  an  evening  hap¬ 
pily  spent  and  not  expensive,  and  every¬ 
body  went  home  satisfied. 
New  York.  anna  dziewiatowstci 
(13  years). 
The  Party  We  Would  Like 
On  Hallowe’en  we  would  like  a  party 
of  our  schoolmates,  all  dressed  in  school 
clothes  and  ready  for  fun.  Our  invita¬ 
tions  would  be  written  on  orange  paper, 
doubled  and  cut-  in  the  shape  of  a  pump¬ 
kin.  Eyes,  nose  and  mouth  would  be  cut 
out  of  the  front  page  to  make  it  look  like 
a  Jack-o’-lantern,  and  the  message  would 
be  written  on  the  inside  back  page.  We 
would  decorate  the  house  with  Autumn 
leaves,  black  paper  cats,  brownies, 
witches  and  Jack-o’-lanterns.  Everyone 
enjoys  games,  so  we  would  have  these : 
Take  a  bite  from  an  apple  suspended  from 
the  ceiling  by  a  string,  but  do  not  touch 
it  with  your  hands.  Spin  a  tin  or  granite 
pie  dish  on  the  floor  and  call  someone  to 
catch  it  before  it  stops.  Op  the  wall  fas¬ 
ten  a  big  paper  brownie  and  pin  his  cap 
on  while  blindfolded.  These  are  some 
good  forfeits:  Repeat  the  alphabet  back¬ 
wards  ;  make  two  lines  of  poetry  ;  count 
backwards  from  twenty-five ;  put  one 
hand  where  the  other  cannot  touch  it  (on 
the  other  elbow)  ;  run  across  the  room 
carrying  a  hickorynut  in  a  teaspoon  ;  ask 
a  question  that  can  be  answered  only 
with  yes  (what  does  y-e-s  spell?)  ;  recite 
a  Mother  Goose  rhyme ;  imitate  the  call 
of  some  animal ;  whistle  “Yankee  Doo¬ 
dle” ;  give  a  riddle;  say  the  multiplica¬ 
tion  table  of  two’s  backwards ;  sing 
“Three  Blind  Mice.” 
Beforehand  write  suitable  fortunes  for 
boys  and  for  girls  on  little  cut-out 
brownies.  Put  these  fortunes  in  two 
boxes  and  set  them  in  a  big  iron  kettle. 
Have  a  witch  stir  and  give  out  the  for¬ 
tunes.  The  witch  and  the  kettle  should 
be  in  a  room  or  a  corner  of  the  yard  or 
at  one  end  of  the  porch,  dimly  lighted  by 
Jack-o’-lanterns.  Some  cornstalks  to  rus¬ 
tle  make  it  more  ghostly.  The  kettle 
should  be  hung  on  a  tripod  and  under  the 
kettle  a  lighted  lantern  back  of  red  crepe 
paper  makes  a  real-looking  fire. 
We  want  to  make  molasses  candy  and 
everyone  pull  a  piece.  While  the  candy 
cooks,  pop  some  corn.  Everyone  also 
likes  sandwiches,  apples  and  nuts.  A  big 
bonfire  of  leaves  would  complete  the 
night’s  fun.  anna  (14),  Charles  (11) 
Illinois.  and  saraii  (8)  graham. 
The  Jack-o’-Lantern  Man 
First  you  need  to  get  a  pumpkin, 
Firm  and  smooth  and  yellow, 
Round  and  shiny,  big  and  hard — 
Just  a  handsome  fellow. 
Cut  a  round  place  from  the  top, 
Lift  it  by  the  handle, 
Scoop  out  seeds  and  pulp,  then  fix 
The  place  to  hold  the  candle. 
Make  two  big  round  holes  for  eyes, 
Then  cut  out  a  ’normous 
Smiley,  stretchy,  curly  mouth, 
Turned  up  at  the  corners. 
Put  in  little  sticks  for  teeth, 
Missing  here  and  there, 
Make  a  long  three-cornered  nose, 
Doesn’t  he  look  “quare.” 
Now  just  after  dusk  you’ll  see, 
When  the  candle’s  lighted, 
Mr.  Jack  come  calling  round, 
Though  he’s  not  invited. 
Author? 
New  Jersey.  Sent  by  Helen  syenec 
(10  years) . 
The  Haunted  Woods 
It  was  Hallowe’en  time.  My  sister  and 
I  made  Jack-o’-lanterns.  We  were  going 
to  get  our  friend  Beatrice.  I  took  a  sheet 
along.  As  soon  as  we  got  to  the  haunted 
woods  I  stopped.  I  told  my  sister  Arlene 
to  go  up  and  get  Beatrice.  As  soon  as 
she  had  gone  I  put  the  sheet  over  my 
head.  I  waited  a  little  while.  Then  I 
started  out  to  meet  them.  I  met  them 
about  half  way  between  the  haunted 
woods  and  Beatrice’s  house.  They 
thought  I  was  a  ghost,  so  they  turned 
around  and  ran  as  fast  as  they  could.  I 
hid  in  a  clump  of  bushes'  until  they  re¬ 
turned.  Then  I  came  out  from  my  hiding 
place  and  called  to  them  not  to  be  afraid. 
We  went  over  into  the  haunted  woods. 
We  saw  a  ghost  in  the  corner  of  the 
woods.  So  we  ran  down  to  the  further 
corner  of  the  woods.  There  we  saw  an¬ 
other  ghost.  We  ran  back  to  where  we 
started  from.  There  we  saw  our  father. 
We  told  him  that  we  had  seen  two  ghosts, 
one  in  this  corner  and  one  in  the  further 
corner.  He  said  he  must  have  been  the 
ghost  in  this  corner.  We  took  him  down 
to  the  other  corner.  We  ran  ahead  to  see 
Drawn  in  Pencil  by  Eunice  Crighton, 
Connecticut 
if  the  ghost  was  still  there,  and  it  was. 
When  my  father  came  he  said  we  must  be 
blind,  because  it  was  a  white  cow. 
New  York.  evelyn  cramer 
(9  years). 
More  Party  Suggestions 
I  will  tell  you  ideas  I  have  for  Hallow¬ 
e’en  from  parties  my  mother  has  given : 
A  “bunkin’  ”  party  for  six  girls  where 
it  was  not  handy  to  return  home  at  night 
meant  that  they  just  bunked  in  and 
stayed  all  night.  That  time  we  made 
chocolate  and  got  our  own  supper.  We 
had  dark  cookies  with  white  frosting 
faces  and  frills  of  crepe  paper.  Each  one 
was  given  a  different  colored  cap  to  wear 
for  the  evening.  The  place  cards  were 
figures  dressed  in  fancy  Hallowe’en  cos¬ 
tumes,  mounted  on  cardboard,  and  a  brace 
attached  for  slipping  over  the  tumblers. 
Each  girl  was  given  a  Bogie  book,  dec¬ 
orated  with  witches,  etc.,  containing  21 
questions,  the  last  one  being  “Have  you 
told  the  truth?”  Everyone  also  had  to 
write  a  complete  description  of  herself. 
We  ducked  for  apples,  blew  out  colored 
candles  that  stood  for  different  fortunes 
according  to  color;  were  blindfolded  to 
touch  one  of  several  saucers  containing 
stones,  dirt,  feathers,  silk,  cotton,  etc 
Each  was  given  a  bottle  of  “medicine” 
and  a  prescription.  Mine  was  “a  remedy 
tor  cold  feet,”  and  contained  a  stamp  “A 
tonic  for  the  tired  pocketbook”  was  a 
penny.  We  did  our  dishes  and  bunked  in, 
which  was  the  most  fun  of  all.  Next 
morning  we  got  our  breakfast  and  did  the 
dishes,  so  we  did  not  make  much  extra 
work. 
Another  time  the  table  was  set  for  14 
Partners  were  found  by  matching  Hal¬ 
lowe’en  cards  cut  on  different  lines.  Each 
place  had  a  little  figure  about  three  and 
one-half  inches  high  cut  from  the  Ladies' 
Home  Journal  and  mounted  on  cardboard. 
The  plates  were  paper,  with  slices  of  or¬ 
ange  moon,  a  yellow  pumpkin  and  a  black 
cat  pasted  on  the  extreme  edge.  The 
menu  cards  were  hinged  paper  cut  in 
pumpkin  shape.  The  bill  of  fare  was  all 
mixed  up.  Ghostly  dose  was  water.  Jack- 
o’-lantern  was  a  small  pumpkin  hollowed 
out,  lined  with  lunch  paper  and  filled 
with  salad,  and  the  top  put  back  on.  Ear 
o’  corn  proved  to  be  a  cornhusk  with  a 
banana  inside  instead  of  corn.  Witches’ 
brew  was  fresh  cider  in  paper  cups.  Hob¬ 
goblins  were  pasteboard  faces  dressed  in 
full  black  shirts  fastened  at  the  neck, 
which  concealed  a  small  dish  containing 
three  sweet  baked  apples.  In  the  middie 
of  the  table  was  a  large  pumpkin  with 
fire  inside  (alcohol  cubes)  and  two  large 
two-faced  pumpkins  at  each  end  of  the 
table  were  lighted,  giving  light  enough 
so  that  the  lamp  over  the  table  could  be 
dimmed  and  the  globe  covered  with  light 
blue  crepe  paper,  making  a  faint,  ghostly 
light.  Other  globes  were  covered  with 
black  paper  with  cut-out  faces. 
Drawn  by  Helen  Ward  (14  Years),  New  Jersey 
Drawn  by  Charlotte  Booth  (15  Years),  New  York 
