The Victorian Parlour was the equivalent of our modern living room. For the average Victorian family the Parlour was a strictly formal room used only for very special occasions. The families best furniture, knickknacks, paintings etc. were placed in this room. We usually keep it closed and dark here. You know how the sun fades furniture so. I hope you will stop for a while and see some things I have here for you to enjoy. Feel free to roam about the room or sit for a while to enjoy the music.     Such modern things could be found only be found in the Parlour. Don't you just love the sound, such a marvelous invention.   We also have pictures from around the world to see!  They add so much to the parlour. There were fringed pillows, portraits in ornate frames, Oriental rugs and porcelain figurines...all things a cat could love! The parlor was the social area...reserved for company and special events. Before homes had telephones, paying calls was the polite form of communication. Someone arriving would be shown into the parlor, under the watchful scrutiny of the cat, while they waited for the mistress of the house to appear.   If Kitty doesn't do his thing do a right click on him, click properties then ok.   In the era before the funeral parlour when a family member passed away they were taken care of at home and would have often been placed on formal view in the parlour before burial in the local cemetery. The average Parlour was very ornate. Wall-paper would have covered the walls, as well as many framed prints, photos and paintings. Valances, and other decorative fabrics would have been hung above the windows in addition to the drapery.   Are you up for a game or two? Victorians loved to play Parlour Games Lookabout The host shows everyone a little knick-knack in the room. All the guests are to leave while the host hides it. When they return, everyone is to look for the item until they spot it. They are then to sit down. The last one to find it loses (or has to be "it"). It makes it a bit more difficult if guests continue to mill for a few seconds before they sit down. Blindman's Bluff One person is blindfolded, and all other guests scatter around the room. When the blindfold person catches someone, they then have to tell who it is they have captured or the prisoner is then freed and the blindman must continue his/her pursuit until he/she can identify the person caught. The blindfold then changes hands. Pass the Slipper You take an object, the "slipper." Pick a person and put them in the center of the circle. They must close their eyes while the "slipper" is passed from person to person behind their backs. When the center person opens his/her eyes, the passing immediately stops and he/she must hazard a guess as to who holds the "slipper." If he/she is correct, they trade places. If wrong, the eyes are closed and the passing begins again. I'm Thinking of Something One person picks something and commits it to memory (Mount Rushmore, the ocean, an item in the room). They do not tell what this item is but they say, for example, "I'm thinking of something large." The guests are then allowed to ask yes or no questions. "Is it a building?" "No" "Is it an animal" "No." "Is it a monument?" "Yes." "Is it in Europe?" "No" and so on until one person guesses the item correctly. If the person guesses incorrectly the game still ends and the wrong person must chose a new somtething. Players should never guess until they are completely sure they know the answer. Hunt the Thimble This game is suitable for all ages from the very young upwards. All players must go out of the room whilst a thimble or other small object is put is a conspicuous place. There is no need to hide the thimble – it should be in a place where everyone can see it without touching anything (it is amazing how hard this can be to find – we regularly put thimbles in top on candles, right in the middle of a table or on a chair and it can take some time to be spotted). The game can then progress in one of two ways – either the game ends when the object has been spotted, or the players, on spotting it, must go and sit down quietly and give no clues as to its whereabouts to the others, until everyone has found it.   I truly hope you have enjoyed your time here. Please come back again.   No more Guest book.   Whisper is an artist, be sure to visit her site. I wish I could give credit to the person that made the cat but I don't know who did it.