The Post Quiz: Victorian Parlour Games
Created | Updated Aug 9, 2015
What do you know about games of the past?
The Post Quiz: Victorian Parlour Games
Ah, the Victorian era. That halcyon time when there was no TV or computer in the house, not even a radio. People had to entertain themselves.
Can you identify these Victorian games?
- One word, three syllables, children's book. Starts with ….mime moggie stalking mouse… What are you playing?
- You need bedroom shoes to play this game. Okay, we might let you use a flip-flop. What is it?
- You hock your personal items by putting them in a box. Then you have to do something crazy to get them back. What is this called?
- 'It' hides an object in plain sight. Everybody else tries to guess. This could be fun, but what's it called?
- It involves a pillow, a blindfolded farmer, and much sitting on laps. Racy for its day. What was the name of this game?
- Named for a clergyman who should have been investigated, we think. Everybody holds hands in a circle – but not the hand of the person next to them. Then they disentangle in an insane standing version of Twister. Imagine doing this in Victorian dress. Do you know the name of this weird cultic practice?
- This one is all Rudyard Kipling's fault. You list things you see on a tray after seeing them for only a short time. What's this spy training exercise called?
- Blindfolds again. Dueling newspapers. And a reference to Sherlock Holmes. What's it called?
- Players in a circle list items they bought in a store, starting with the one the game is named for. Some players are 'in the know', others are clueless. The 'in the know' players allow or disallow the objects until the clueless players guess what the underlying principle is. This is more fun than it sounds like, but what did the Victorians call this game? Hint: it's named after an object you'd better not have in your home these days, or PETA will picket you.
- Random words are chosen by the group. Then a story is read aloud, inserting the random choices. Hilarity ensues. What do you call this form of group composition?
Did you know them all? Then you must be a Victorian. (Welcome to the 21st Century. That thing in your host's pocket that's vibrating? It's a telephone.) Otherwise, click on the picture below for answers.
