Staples Island Entertainment Pavilion

by Susan G Mathis


During the Gilded Age, entertainment pavilions were all the fad, and at the Thousand Island House Resort in Alexandria Bay, New York, the lavish facilities were set on a tiny island—and they were amazing.

The Thousand Island House hotel was finished in 1873, the year after President Grant visited the islands with George Pullamn that began the Golden Age of the Thousand Islands. Col. Orin G Staples built the establishment in less than a year, and it quickly became a popular destination.

In 1902, the Thousand Island House built a spectacular recreation facility for hotel patrons on Staples Island—that was less than an acre—adjoining the hotel property. The recreation facility was exclusively for hotel patrons, though some esteemed visitors not staying at the hotel, still visited now and then, including President Chester Arthur.

The pavilion boasted the most modern facilities for entertaining those on summer holiday. The two-story building housed a billiard hall, a bowling alley, card and game rooms, a children's nursery, a swimming pool, men's and women's bathing rooms, and a dance pavilion. The garden roof hosted an area for women to enjoy afternoon tea and a grill area for men to enjoy conversations about business and their fishing exploits. Young children were attended by a nursery worker and older children had their own recreation leader.

Hotel patrons had only to cross the small footbridge connecting the pavilion's island to the mainland where the hotel stood to enjoy even more activities. On the mainland, there were tennis courts, badminton, croquet, and other sports as well as opportunities for boating, fishing, and regular music and dancing.

In this tiny summer community, such lavish entertainments rivaled those of the big cities of New York, Chicago, D.C., and Philadelphia, among others, from which many of the guests escaped the heat of summer in the city.

And the views of the St. Lawrence River were just as wonderful. From the island they could see Casa Blanca, Friendly Island, Hart Island, and further north, Sunken Rock Lighthouse, among others. Regular boat tours, including the famous Searchlight Tours, added to the fun.

Indeed, the Staples Island Entertainment Pavilion, and others like it, gave the rich and famous a summer full of enjoyment as well as much needed employment to the locals. Wouldn't it be interesting to live in such an age?

About A Summer at Thousand Island House:

Part-nanny, part entertainer, Addison Bell has always had an enduring love for children. So what better way to spend her creative energy than to spend the summer nannying at the renowned Thousand Island House on Staple’s Island? As Addi thrives in her work, she attracts the attention of the recreation pavilion’s manager, Liam Donovan, as well as the handsome Navy Officer Lt. Worthington, a lighthouse inspector, hotel patron, and single father of mischievous little Jimmy.

But when Jimmy goes missing, Addi finds both her job and her reputation in danger. How can she calm the churning waters of Liam, Lt. Worthington, and the President, clear her name, and avoid becoming the scorn of the Thousand Islands community?

About Susan G Mathis:

Susan G Mathis is an international award-winning, multi-published author of stories set in the beautiful Thousand Islands in upstate NY. Susan has been published more than twenty-five times in full-length novels, novellas, and non-fiction books. She has eleven in her fiction line including Mary’s Moment. Find out more at www.SusanGMathis.com.

 

ALL SKATE!

As a kid I loved going to the local roller skating rink. I would have lived there 24/7 if I could. I couldn’t get enough. Sadly, I was a child with little to no money, so I was able to only go occasionally. I would go with my sister and my friends. I skated every minute I could. Was I an awesome skater? Not even close, but I had fun, fun, fun. 

Until recently, I never really thought about when roller skating began. The 70s? The 60s? The 50s? If you guessed the 40s, give yourself a gold star. That would be the 1740s.

In 1743, a London stage performance had the first recorded use of roller skates. These early roller skates were inline style with the wheels taking the place of the blades on ice skates. These skates worked well to simulate ice skating on a stage where having a large, frozen pool of water would be difficult.

I always thought that inline skates came after the four-wheeled side-by-side ones. But apparently they came before, in the middle of, and after.

In 1760, Belgian John Joseph Merlin invented a primitive inline skate with metal wheels. They were hard to steer and had no braking ability. (No brakes! Were they crazy?)

In 1818, roller skates made an appearance on a Berlin ballet stage.

In 1819, Frenchman M. Petitbled had the first patent for an inline roller-skate design. They weren’t very maneuverable, straight ahead or a wide, sweeping turn. (So people were using these early inline skates for seventy-five years or so before someone patented one of them?) Regardless of patents, people loved skating. Inventors worked for the next several decades to improve roller skates.

Having gained popularity, the first public roller skating rink was opened in London in 1857. (With skates that were difficult to turn and stop? I’m a bit surprised.)

In 1863, James Leonard Plimpton designed the first turning, duel-axel, four-wheeled skate, a pair of wheels side-by-side in front and in back, often referred to as a quad-skate. (I guess because the early inline skates had only two wheels.) By shifting a skater’s weight from one side to the other, the skater could turn. (Now we’re talking.) These proved to be such a success that the first U.S. public roller skating rink opened in New York City in 1866 by Plimpton himself. 

In 1876, the toe stop was patented. Skaters could now stop by tipping the skate forward onto the toe. (Now, we’re talking. I always used my toe stop a lot.) 

In the 1880s, America mass-produced roller skates and public rinks were popping up everywhere. People loved this form of entertainment and exercise.

In 1900, an inline skate with two wheels was patented by Peck& Snyder Company.

In 1902, 7,000 people attended the opening of the Chicago Coliseum public rink. (That would have been very crowded. I think I would have waited for a less busy time.)

In 1911, Paris hosted a 24-hour roller skating endurance competition. (That could have been fun.)

Various forms of roller skating and roller skates have come and gone over the decades; in rinks, on the streets, inline, quad, skates you could strap to your regular shoes. In recent years, there were even regular shoes with a wheel in each heel so a person could walk or roll. Inline skates became very popular in recent decades, but the quad-skates are making a comeback.

Whether inline skates or quad-skates, people have loved skating for over 250 years. I never would have guessed roller skating went back so far.

I tried inline skates as an adult but didn’t like them. I felt as though my ankles were too weak or something. I prefer the old fashion quad-skates. But then inline skates are even more old fashion.

Did you roller skate as a kid? Do you still? Do you prefer inline or quad?

NEW!
THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT ~ A sweet historical romance that will tug at your heart. This is book 1 in the Quilting Circle series.

Washington State, 1893
     When Lily Lexington Bremmer arrives in Kamola with her young son, she’s reluctant to join the social center of her new community, the quilting circle, but the friendly ladies pull her in. She begins piecing a sunshine and shadows quilt because it mirrors her life. She has a secret that lurks in the shadows and hopes it doesn’t come out into the light. Dark places in her past are best forgotten, but her new life is full of sunshine. Will her secrets cast shadows on her bright future?
     Widower Edric Hammond and his father are doing their best to raise his two young daughters. He meets Lily and her son when they arrive in town and helps her find a job and a place to live. Lily resists Edric’s charms at first but finds herself falling in love with this kind, gentle man and his two darling daughters. Lily has stolen his heart with her first warm smile, but he’s cautious about bringing another woman into his girls’ lives due to the harshness of their own mother.
     Can Edric forgive Lily her past to take hold of a promising chance at love?
THE WIDOW'S PLIGHT is now available at a low, pre-order price. This book releases in ebook on July 1, and will be out in paperback by mid-June.

#ChristianRomance #HistoricalRomance #Romance

MARY DAVIS is a bestselling, award-winning novelist of over two dozen titles in both historical and contemporary themes. She has five titles releasing in 2018; "Holly & Ivy" in A Bouquet of Brides Collection in January, Courting Her Amish Heart in March, The Widow’s Plight in July, Courting Her Secret Heart September, & “Zola’s Cross-Country Adventure” in MISSAdventure Brides Collection in December. She is a member of ACFW and active in critique groups.

Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of over thirty-three years and two cats. She has three adult children and one incredibly adorable grandchild. Find her online at:
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The Stage Door Canteen

By Marilyn Turk

In my next book, Shadow of the Curse, one of my characters plays in a band at The Stage Door Canteen. I thought you might like to know a little bit about the place ahead of time.

The first Stage Door Canteen opened on March 2, 1942, in the basement of the 44^th Street Theatre in the heart of New York‘s theater district. Started and directed by the American Theatre Wing, War Service, Inc., the canteen offered servicemen entertainment, refreshments, and dancing. The canteen provided civilians in the entertainment industry with a way to “do their part” for the war effort and repay servicemen for the sacrifice they were making.

Capacity for the Canteen was 500, but tickets were issued to servicemen for one hour each, so in one night, as many as 2000 servicemen might pass through the doors. On opening night, entertainers included a comedian, ballet dancers and several popular actors of the era. The canteen was so popular, servicemen, many who had left home for the first time, stood in long lines outside the building waiting for their turn to enter.

Bette Davis serving at the Stage Door Canteen

The G.I.’s were allotted one sandwich, one dessert, and one drink (tea, coffee or milk). No alcoholic beverages were allowed. The main draw was the entertainment, not only on the stage, but the servers were often stars from the theatre or movies. Only at the Canteen could a serviceman see someone like Red Skelton, Marlene Dietrich or Bette Davis in person for free.

Another attraction of the canteen was the young hostesses. These young women were selected to socialize and dance with the servicemen. They were identified by the red, white and blue aprons worn over their sensible dresses. 

Hostesses were not allowed to date any of the servicemen and were supposed to ration their time with each, not spending too much time with one man. They were also expected to be friendly and dance with any serviceman who asked, regardless of age, rank, or race, showing equal treatment to all.

The Stage Door Canteen received favorable publicity in newspapers and magazines across the United States as the place where stars of stage and screen did their humble best to support servicemen.

Stage Door Canteen, U.K.

Other Stage Door Canteens opened in Hollywood, Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Francisco and Newark. Before the war ended, Canteens also opened in London and Paris.

Stage Door Canteen Radio Showwith Shirley Temple

The Canteen was also the subject of a popular radio variety show, and a successful musical film in 1943, “Stage Door Canteen.”

The Canteens closed at the end of war, but the National WWII Museum in New Orleans has revived their tradition with a replica Stage Door Canteen, with food and entertainment of the era.

Have you ever heard of the Stage Door Canteen? Did you have any relatives who either went to them or worked at them? I'd love to hear your story.

Marilyn Turk loves to study history, especially that of lighthouses and the coast of the United States. She is the author of Rebel Light, a Civil War love story set on the coast of Florida, The Gilded Curse, a historical suspense novel set on Jekyll Island, Georgia, in 1942, and Lighthouse Devotions - 52 Inspiring Lighthouse Stories, based on her popular lighthouse blog. (@ http://pathwayheart.com) Shadow of the Curse, the sequel to The Gilded Curse, will be published in 2018.

The Swedish Nightingale: Jenny Lind~and a Giveaway

 Jenny Lind, 1850. Public domain.

In 1849, few Americans knew who Johanna Maria Lind was, but in 1850 when showman P.T. Barnum launched her on an American tour, the nation was swept by “Lindomania”—a craze for the Swedish opera singer known as Jenny Lind. Her success was naturally due to her voice, so sweet she was deemed “The Swedish Nightingale.”

Barnum also promoted her proper, generous character, which made her all the more irresistible. Overall she created such an impression that to many, Lind became what Barnum biographer Bluford Adams called "the standard for measuring not just sopranos, or even women artists, but women" throughout the 1850s.

Lind (Oct. 1820-Nov. 1887) was born in Sweden, the illegitimate daughter of a bookkeeper and a divorced schoolteacher whose religious beliefs didn’t permit her to remarry until her first husband died (it eventually happened, and Jenny’s parents wed when she was 14). At age 9, Jenny was enrolled in Sweden’s Royal Opera Program. By 20, she was the prima donna at the Royal Opera in Stockholm and a court singer for the King of Sweden and Norway.

Within a few years, she was in great demand throughout Sweden and northern Europe. She auditioned at the Opera in Paris, but their rejection stung her so much that once she became an international celebrity, she refused all invitations to perform there.

Lind as Amina in La Sonnambula. Public Domain

In 1843, she toured Denmark and met author Hans Christian Andersen. He fell in love with her, but she didn’t return his affections. It’s thought three of his fairy tales were inspired by her: The Nightingale, The Angel, and Beneath the Pillar. Others suggest Lind also inspired the cold-hearted title character in The Snow Queen after she rejected him.

Mendelssohn, by Childe. Public domain.

Andersen wasn’t her only admirer, famous or otherwise. She was briefly engaged to a tenor named Julius Günther, and composer Felix Mendelssohn was madly in love with her. Apparently, the married father of five was desperate for Lind to be his mistress and threatened suicide in an attempt to get his way with her.

She didn't give in. Nevertheless, they continued to work together and he began an opera, Lorelei, for her. Mendelssohn’s sudden death at age 38, in 1847, devastated her, and she founded the Mendelssohn Scholarship Foundation in his memory.

Lind retired from professional singing soon after, at age 29.

In 1849, P.T. Barnum approached her with the invitation to tour America. Deciding it would be a good way to earn money for her favorite charities, Lind agreed. Barnum got busy advertising, when she arrived in New York City's harbor in September of 1850, 40,000 people awaited her ship.

She sang at 93 venues, from concert halls to train stations, in America,  Canada, and Cuba. Tickets for some of her concerts were in such demand that Barnum sold them by auction. Barnum also marketed Lind-inspired products, like clothes, pianos, tokens, and chairs.

Lind earned $350,000, and Barnum’s wealth grew by $500,000 (in 2016 dollars, that’s around $10 million and $14.2 million).

By 1851, however, Lind had grown weary of Barnum's methods and severed ties with him. She continued to tour on her own for a year with conductor and pianist Otto Goldschmidt. Unlike her previous suitors, Goldschmidt won Lind’s heart, and they were married in Boston in 1852, at the end of her tour.

Lind and Goldschmidt returned to Europe in May 1852, settling first in Germany, then in England, where they lived out the rest of their lives. They had three children, and Lind continued to sing, teach and support numerous charities, including the children’s hospital in Norwich, England.

Jenny Lind by Eduard Magnus, 1862, public domain

Meanwhile, she made such a strong impression wherever she went that her name was given to a chapel, hotel, park, psychiatric ward, and pub in England. An Australian schooner named for her was wrecked on a creek on the Queensland cost…and the creek’s name was changed to Jenny Lind Creek.

In America, a California gold rush town was named for her, as was an elementary school in Minnesota. Streets in Arkansas, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and California bear her name. She’s been honored since 1948 by the Barnum Festival, a national competition that crowns a soprano in her honor, held every summer in Connecticut. And of course, her name is still used to describe a popular style of baby crib.

**

YOUR TURN:

Had you heard of Jenny Lind? Or did you always wonder why a crib was named that?

BIO: 

Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she writes in the hope that her historical romances will encourage and entertain others. A pastor’s wife and mom of two, she loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, travel, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. Susanne is the author of over half-dozen historical romances; her latest, For a Song, is in Barbour’s The Cowboy’s Bride Collection. You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com.

GIVEAWAY:

The heroine of For a Song, my new novella in The Cowboy’s Bride Collection, dreams of being the next Jenny Lind. 

I'll give away one copy of The Cowboy's Bride Collection to one randomly-chosen commenter. Contest runs through 11:59 pm EST Sunday, March 6, 2016. Winner announced here. Please leave a way to contact you in your comment.

The Cowboy's Bride:

Ride onto the open range alongside cowboys and cowgirls who embrace the adventures of living in the Old West from Kansas to New Mexico, Colorado to Texas. Whether rounding up cattle or mustangs, training horses, fending off outlaws, weathering storms, competing in rodeos, or surviving drought these cowboys work hard each day. But when hardheaded men have their weaknesses exposed by well-meaning women will they stampede away or will a lasting love develop? Find out in this exciting collection of nine historical romances.

David Willson and the Sharon Silver Band

David Willson (1780-1866)

What would you do if you were filled with music and wanted to sing out loud - especially in worship - but such expression was frowned upon? In early 1800 Upper Canada, David Willson (1780-1866), a former American of Irish Presbyterian descent, joined the Yonge Street Society of Friends but soon realized that he couldn't contain his passion for music as a form of worship. His music not only went against his membership in the austere Society of Friends, it was also looked down upon by the Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist clergy of the time.

My post on Aug 5th, 2015 explained the history of David Willson, the Children of Peace, and the Sharon Temple, and today I'm going to share with you the effect of their music on early 19th century Upper Canada.

David's break from the Quakers came in 1811 when he uttered his profound personal belief that Jesus “was not God . . . but a man endued with divine power” (Annual Quaker Conference, 2012) When called forward to explain himself, David withdrew from the Meeting with 30 of his friends following behind. This was the beginning of the Children of Peace. (See my HHH post, Hope in Upper Canada: The Sharon Temple for more on their history.)

Until their first log Meeting house was constructed in 1819, the Children of Peace met in David Willson's own house where he would sing his ministry. Believing that singing was a spontaneous expression of God's word, he never sang the same sermon/message twice. His thousands of hymns were recorded in the "Book of Sacred Record" and hidden in a secret compartment of the Ark, where they were finally found in 1990. 

David Willson hid his music and writings in a secret compartment in the Sharon Temple Ark

In the Meetings, Willson read out a line of the hymn, waited for it to be repeated by the choir, and then it was repeated back by the congregation. Called "lining out", this form of singing was popular from the 16th to the 19th century where literacy rates were low and printed books were expensive. As an expression of worship, this a cappella singing was slow and allowed for personal improvisation which fit in well with the Children of Peace. 

In 1819, singing classes began for interested members and a year later, one of them by the name of Patrick Hughes, formed a band.

In 1820, the Children of Peace commissioned Richard Coates, a painter-musician from York (Toronto) to build the first of three musical instruments for the new community of Hope. The first of this kind built in Ontario, it is a 2-barrel organ with 133 pipes and two barrels with ten sacred tunes each. Today, this is the oldest organ of its kind in Canada.

Richard Coates went on to build two more organs for the temple, and along the way painted the two banners which hang in the temple. When Patrick Hughes stepped down, Richard Coates stepped forward to succeed him. 

In William Lyon Mackenzie's book, Sketches of Canada and the United States, London 1833, he wrote that the Sharon Temple's musicians gallery was "...at least thirty feet above the congregation. And when the large full-toned and soft-set organ, built by Mr. Coates, of York, shall be set up in this room, together with the players on the flutes, violins, bass-viols, bassoons, clarionets, and flageolets, used by the society in their worship, the effect will remind a visiter of 'the music of the spheres,' about which bards of old have sung..."

The Musicians Gallery on the 2nd floor of the Sharon Temple. Note the door to enter/exit down the Jacob's Ladder

According to Isaac Fidler's Observations on Professions, Literature, Manners and Emigration, in the United States and Canada, Made during a Residence there in 1832, New York 1833, young women dressed in white and known as the 'chorus of virgins', would "...assemble previous to entering the temple, and march thither for public worship, two abreast, with as much regularity as a file of soldiers". Other accounts reported that the singers would climb the steep 'Jacob's ladder' to the musicians' gallery, where their voices would float down to the congregation amid the hymns and worship of the organ and other instruments.

I took a brief video of the Jacob's Ladder mentioned in the above paragraph when I visited the Sharon Temple in June. It shows the small doorway at the top, which corresponds to the doorway in the above photo of the gallery. Here's another look from the side:

Sharon Temple interior showing steep Jacob's Ladder

The Sharon Temple Museum contains several buildings. I found the following two artifacts very interesting,particularly this angle-topped table where members of the choir and band would place their music during practice.

Sharon Temple Band Music Table which held the music sheets while practicing.

Sign found with Sharon Band artifacts in the Sharon Temple Museum

Enthusiastic young people rode for miles to attend practice sessions and rehearsals and by 1846, another singing teacher, Daniel Cory of Boston, was hired for two years of instruction. The band was in high demand, helped by accolades such as the aforementioned William Lyon Mackenzie saying, "The band of the township of East Gwillimbury is one of the most splendid and complete we have ever listened to..."

Sharon Temple Keyboard Organ built by Richard Coates, 1848

In 1848, Richard Coates built the last of his Sharon Temple organs, but unlike the first two barrel organs, this one was a keyboard organ with manual bellows on the side (hidden behind a piano when I visited the Sharon Temple, perhaps to stop curious tourists from trying it out). Impressive at fourteen feet, the keyboard organ has three semi-circular towers of gilded pipes. However, the pipes are merely decoration while the 200 wooden flue pipes hide inside. 

Sharon Temple Keyboard Organ Decorative Pipes

Have you ever heard the sound of an authentic pump organ? My research uncovered that very thing on Jamie Thompson's blogpost, Gem Within a Gem. Jamie is a flutist and was at the Sharon Temple when he noticed two staffers, one of which was the organist, and he asked them to accompany him.  So what you hear is Jamie playing the flute, one staffer playing the organ, and the other staffer pumping the organ. What a treasure! Check his blogpost for an image of this event.

In the 1860's, the Children of Peace bought a silver set of instruments from Boston, worth $1500, and from then on was known as The Sharon Silver Band. Also known as the Temperance Band in the local Newmarket Era, the band played most secular music as it performed at many venues around York County and in Toronto. 

Instruments and music of the Sharon Silver Band, Sharon Temple National Historic Site & Museum

According to Ethel Warren Trewhella's History of the Town of Newmarket, "...the magnificent silver band organized in 1820, and which in 1876, at Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, won the first prize as the best amateur band in North America." That's quite the honor. 

David Willson's death in 1866 had hit his followers hard. With his son lacking the charisma to be an effective leader, and enthusiasm waning among his followers, the once thriving membership was dissolving. The choir sang their final song at the September 1883 Feast of Harvest.

According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, "In August 1886 the Children of Peace held their last meeting, ending one of the most colourful chapters in Canada's early music history. The music in Sharon proves that musical excellence can be found outside wealthy and sophisticated urban centres, given inspired leadership and a prominent place in the social fabric."

Now that the Sharon Temple has been restored as a National Historic Site & Museum, the Sharon Temple Society is hosting many events throughout the year as a means of keeping it open so that the history of this fascinating part of Upper Canada life is not forgotten, including the upcoming Festival of Stories, and the much-anticipated annual Illumination Service.

This post shows how music was perceived in the first half of 19th century Ontario, Canada. Care to share how music started in your area?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anita Mae Draper is retired from the Canadian Armed Forces and lives on the prairie of southeast Saskatchewan, Canada with her hubby of 30 plus years and the youngest of their 4 kids. Anita Mae's short story, Riding on a Christmas Wish is published in A Cup of Christmas Cheer Volume 1 Tales of Faith and Family, Guideposts Books, October 2013, and a 2nd short story, Here We Come A-Wassailing, is published in A Cup of Christmas Cheer Volume 4 Heartwarming Tales of Christmas Present, Guideposts Books, October 2014.   Anita Mae has recently sold a novella to WhiteFire Publishing to be released January 2016. She is represented by Mary Keeley of Books & Such Literary Management. You can find Anita at  http://www.anitamaedraper.com/

Tidbits about Board Games

I put this post together for my blog earlier this month and it was a very popular post. So, I thought I'd share these tidbits with all of you at Heroes, Heroines, and History. For those of you who are writers, you might find some of these Board Games fun to add to your novels.

Below are some images from an 1891 Youth's Companion displaying various games available at the time. Many you will already know, perhaps you have some in your game closets as well.

Basalinda (Looks to me like a very early version of battleship)

Bean Bag & Ring Toss

Fish Pond

Game of Halma
(apparently designed as a scientific game combining chess and checkers)

Jolly Marble Game

Parlor & Lawn Tennis

Royal Parchessi

Table Croquet

Tiddledy-winks, tennis, hop scotch.

Lynn A. Coleman is an award winning & best-selling author who makes her home in Keystone Heights, Florida, with her husband of 40 years. Lynn's newest novel THE INNKEEPER'S WIFE released last month. It is the second in her Historical St. Augustine, FL. series. If you are interested in 19th Century Carriages & Wagons follow the enclosed link.
Check out her 19th Century Historical Tidbits Blog if you like exploring different tidbits of history.

SCAVENGER HUNTS By Cynthia Hickey

Today, I'm bringing you a delightful post stolen (graciously given) by my author friend, Gina Welborn.

History of Scavenger Hunts

A scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, which the participants – individuals or teams – seek to gather all items on the list – usually without purchasing them – or perform tasks or take photographs of the items, as specified. The goal is usually to be the first to complete the list, although in a variation on the game players can also be challenged to complete the tasks on the list in the most creative manner. (source: Wikipedia)







When I was in junior high and high school, our church youth director did summer scavenger hunts. Sometimes we had to walk through the neighborhood asking for items. Other times our hunts were at the mall, or even city-wide. Before the item could be collected, the group had to figure out the clue. St.Patrick Hay meant Green Straw which meant Go to Starbucks and get a straw.

Scavenger Hunts evolved from ancient folk games. Thanks to Elsa Maxwell, they became a popular form of entertainment.

Elsa Maxwell (May 24, 1883 – November 1, 1963) was an American gossip columnist and author, songwriter, and professional hostess renowned for her parties for royalty and high society figures of her day. She developed a gift for staging games and diversions at parties for the rich, and began making a living devising treasure-hunt parties, come-as-your-opposite parties and other sorts, including a scavenger hunt in Paris in 1927 that inadvertently created disturbances all over the city. She also hosted parties in Cannes, Venice, and London, and launched night clubs in England and America.






In the 1930s, in a series of exclusive New York parties, Elsa introduced scavenger hunts and treasure hunts, which created a Society's obsession with them. This scavenger-hunting craze among New York's elite was satirized in the 1936 film My Man Godfrey.

If you have 93-minutes to waste, you can watch it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiSjeLhg25w



In 1950, the Connecticut Valley Camera Club hosted their annual photographic scavenger hunt. The group was divided into two teams, after which print titles were assigned. The photographers had to bring in print and color slides to fit the titles. The titles, chosen from suggestions given by the group, were Wet Weather, Rendezvous, Street Scene, Sour Grapes, Smoke, and Two of a Kind.

PBS Scavenger Hunt thru History // Match the historical event with the time period in which it happened. // Click HERE to test your skills.


Have you ever participated in a Scavenger Hunt? Tell me about it!

KATIE GAMBLE IS ON THE RUN 

After her unscrupulous stepfather accuses her of being a thief, a horrified Katie hopes to hide out until she can prove otherwise. But slipping into obscurity in a small Texas town isn't so easy. Not with Texas Ranger Ward Alston on her tail.
Ward's used to getting his man—or woman. But he's not used to the accused being so resolute in her innocence or so beautifully appealing. As he uncovers the truth, Ward realizes this Harvey Girl isn't all she seems. Together, can they evade danger and obey the law of their own hearts?

AMAZON

Multi-published and Best-Selling author Cynthia Hickey had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”. Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com