So much fun! Published by the Central Office of the Epworth League (a  Methodist young adult association formed in Cleveland in 1889) Fifty Social Evenings was written to help the league's department of social work in their efforts "to make league socials bright, entertaining and instructive." Happily, the fifty games and themes detailed possess a wonderful weirdness and specificity that makes for great reading and imagining, if not actual execution. One example, a "Nutting Party," involves guests scavenging for nuts that hosts have hidden, including English walnuts that have been split, filled with humorous quotations, then glued back together; others are more cerebral, involving spelling, geography, poetry-writing and much much more.

New York: Hunt & Eaton, 1894. First Edition. Hardcover. Blue cloth lettered in gold; 70pp. Very good condition  one spot on cover, light wear ad fraying along spine and bottom edge largely visible from the back side. 6 1/2" x 4 1/8" x 3/8".