Interactive Parlor Games At The Barnum Museum

BRIDGEPORT — On Tuesday, April 14, and Thursday, April 16, beginning at 1 each afternoon, The Barnum Museum will host children’s interactive Parlor Games. Children can be dropped off at the museum for the 90-minute program.

Children visiting The Barnum Museum for this unique event will find that these games are just as much fun today as they were more than 100 years ago.

Parlor games were often the highlight of social gatherings. Victorian families were among the first to be blessed with abundant free time. Long before TV, movies and the Internet, Victorian party games such as bridge, dominoes and charades kept kids and adults engaged and entertained during long evenings in the parlor, the room in many Victorian homes set aside to entertain guests.

The only function of many of these games was to produce laughter. Games such as The Bellman, Musical Chairs, Hot Boiled Beans, Smells, Recognition, Grandmother’s Trunk, Up Jenkins, Checkers, Dominoes, Squares and O’Grady Says brought many hours of fun to Victorian families.

Hot Boiled Beans is a game where one person is sent out of the room and the rest of the group hides a small item. When the player comes back everyone says, “Hot boiled beans and bacon for supper, hurry up before it gets cold.” Then the player begins to look around the room for the item while the others give “hot and cold” clues by saying “you’re freezing” or “you’re getting warmer,” etc.

On each day at the museum, attendees will have the opportunity to register to win a family four-pack of tickets to see Sesame Street Live show “When Elmo Grows Up,” which will be at Arena at Yard Harbor in Bridgeport April 16-19. The families of any winning children of the parlor games will be allowed to place a second ballot in the drawing for each game they win.

Reservations are requested. The programs are for ages 3-12 and will be included with regular museum admission of $7 adults, $5 seniors and college students, and $4 ages 4-17.

Send email to Jaime Knoedler at JKnoedler@Barnum-Museum.org or call her at 203-331-1104 extension 106 for reservations or additional information.