EVERYONE ENJOYS A GOOD PARTY, DON’T THEY?
I guess it’s reasonable that this being November I should be thinking about LLB. After all, November 10th is the day he was born.
This
particular memory is dated many years after that. It’s when he and his young bride were
introduced to Canada. At that time
Australia was offering immigrants passage via a beautiful cruise like ship to
their lovely warm southern country for the paltry sum of ten pounds
sterling. Imagine, all those days at sea
with meals thrown in!
Canada
however had its own incentive. You didn't even need 10 pounds. Canada would underwrite the fare for an immigrant to get here by any method of
transportation. There was a small catch
however: the fare advance had to be paid back with interest. Such was the method used by LLB. This choice was enough to send the remaining
three siblings who were already here into a frenzied fit of creativity. It was reasoned that this paucity of funds
had to be acknowledged and what better way than to throw a welcoming party that
would highlight this situation.
So was born
the “Tramp Party”.
Invitations
were extended to a wide group of friends; all good party aficionados who could
be guaranteed to follow the instructions to the letter. They were instructed to arrive dressed in
their very best “down and out, hobo, tramp like” clothing.
The party
decorations as I recall included newspapers as table cloths, and newly
purchased ceramic chamber pots held peanuts and other snacks. The glasses for
drinks were mismatched and very unsightly.
I may not remember all the little details that went into the planning
for this event but I’ll never forget the outfits that made it to my townhouse
basement.
One very
hilarious gent came as a boating captain with jaunty cap and rumpled untidy jacket
with gold coloured buttons. However, the
shirt beneath was made of paper and only covered a small portion of the front
of his chest.
LS’s husband
looked the most tramp like of all wrapped as his legs were in newspapers – maybe to keep out the cold.
LS and her friend “K” were undoubtedly the belles of the ball. They had made special long - elegant dresses with strategically torn areas. These dresses were teamed with gloves and large raggedy hats. Not that either Belle could ever look ugly but they did their best by blackening a few teeth.
LS and her friend “K” were undoubtedly the belles of the ball. They had made special long - elegant dresses with strategically torn areas. These dresses were teamed with gloves and large raggedy hats. Not that either Belle could ever look ugly but they did their best by blackening a few teeth.
The evening
was a great success but it must have been an eye opener for the new arrivals
from England, especially later in the evening.
Not everyone
knew each other very well; some may only have been passing acquaintances. Nevertheless, as the evening progressed and
the liquor flowed, relationships became more open, more knowing. This discerning and recognizing was started
with an interaction between LS and the sham boating captain. She, in a spirit of style and to be sure that
everyone looked their very best, approached said captain with the suggestion
that the jacket pocket sitting outside his jacket “looked very untidy”. Then, before he could say “What?” she had removed the offending pocket by
tearing it off.
Did he say
“Thank you”? No he did not.
He took it
upon himself to do some styling of his own.
It seems
that those “strategically torn areas” were a tremendous temptation for a man
who had just had his carefully planned attire decimated. He applied a crooked finger to one such area
as he remarked: “You seem to have a tear
in your dress, dear lady.” Before removing
his bent finger he gave it a bit of a tug making the tear a good deal larger. This of course led LS to laughingly attack
his paper shirt. And so it began.
The next
part of the evening had definitely not been planned although the behavior of
the other guests belied that. Everyone
joined in the fun. That’s everyone
but the two guests of honour. They had
not been told of the dress requirements so thankfully came normally attired
which saved them from any attempts of styling.
This must have been a blessing for the young bride who we later
discovered to be a good deal shyer than our Covey of Cockneys.
I’ve never
had what you would call a large closet full of clothes, but after that evening
it was decidedly smaller because so many of my guests needed coverage to make
their way home.
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