"Can't I ever have a party unless it's my birthday?" Sally demanded.

Her mother looked up from her mending startled. "Why, I hadn't thought of it that way, Sally. I just took it for granted that children's parties meant a birthday party."

"You and Daddy have more parties than just one a year," answered Sally. "I don't see why I can't."

Sally's mother thoughtfully considered the question. Why shouldn't a youngster entertain her friends at least as often as her parents entertain theirs. Then she replied. "I think, Sally, that you have a point. If you would like to entertain your friends, of course you can have a party."

So Sally and her mother sat down together to plan a party. Sally suggested that since this was sort of a nutty idea of hers why not make it a nutty party. Why not indeed?

The invitations were typed on slips of thin paper which read:

You are invited to a Nutty Party, Friday after school, February 4, at the Nut House, 805 Main Street. Wear a Nutty costume for a Nutty good time (Signed) Your Nutty friend, Sally.

These invitations were then folded small enough to fit English walnut shells which Sally delivered to the girls she wanted at her party.

Friday afternoon arrived and so did the guests, one dressed in Mother's long dress, one wearing a big hat and long earrings, and others in whatever strange apparel appealed to them as a Nutty Costume.

Sally met the girls at the door with a nut basket containing green and white badges about the size and shape of a big walnut shell. Each shell bore the name of a nut such as Wal, Hickory, Beech, Pecan, Hazel, Butter, Brazil, Cashew, Filbert, and Chest. The girl drawing the first green shell became the Head Nut for the Greens & the first girl taking a white shell became Head Nut for the Whites. The girls then pinned the nutty names on themselves and answered to those names for the evening.

Even girls like to use their muscles now and then and show their strength, so for a Relay sized for her living room Sally had a contest to discover the nuttiest team. She stretched a piece of tape about eight feet long on the floor. First the Head Nuts from each team stood on the line facing each other. Each girl stood with both feet on the line, with heel and toe touching the line. Each contestant clasped the right hand of her opponent.

Then by pulling, each tried to make the other player lose her balance without losing her own. The one who stepped off the line first lost a point. The one who stayed on the line won a point for her team. If both stepped off at the same time they started over again. They continued this relay until each girl had a turn. Then the Head Nuts added up the points and announced the winning team.

Next Sally had a "Living Room Balloon Race." The girls of each team sat in a row on the floor, one directly back of the other, so that the two teams made two parallel rows. The Greens were handed a green balloon and the Whites a white one.

At a signal the Head Nut in each row passed the balloon from the palm of her right hand to the palm of the right hand of the person behind her, who in turn followed suitand so on down the line. The last girl transferred the balloon to her left hand and passed it up the line again, this time by the left hand. At no time could the player touch the balloon with her free hand. If it fell off, the player behind picked it up with both hands and passed it on with one hand. The first team to return the balloon to the Head Nut won and was awarded twenty-five points.

Another active living-room game that was nutty enough to suit the girls was called "True or False." The girls gathered in the center of the living room and were told the West end of the room was the False end and the East end the True. Sally read a list of statements which she had prepared beforehand about nut subjects.

For instance, the leader read, "The peanut is a nut that grows above ground." The first girls at the head of each line answered by going to the False corner of the room, which in this case was correct. Therefore, each girl won a point for her side. The second girls in each line answered the next questionand so on to the end of the lines. Other nutty statements were:

- The beechnut grows on the beach by the sea.
- The hazelnut is a female nut.
- The walnut is common in Minnesota.
- The hickory nut grows on a tree famous for its wood.
- The butternut comes from cows.
- The chestnut is common around Christmas time.

To occupy the girls while their lunch was being prepared Sally started them on "Fortune Telling" peanuts.

Sally had removed the peanuts from their shells ahead of time. Into the shells she put tiny folded bits of paper on which were written such words as "journey," "wealth," "success," "5 children," "2 husbands," and "hard work." These she had hidden around the room. The girls were told that somewhere in the room was a peanut with her fortune inside. Each girl must hunt until she found one. After everyone had a peanut they opened up the shells and took turns reading the fortunes they found. Providing only one apiece eliminated that scramble that usually accompanies an indoor hunt.

These are some of the games that kept Sally and her friends busy at her Nutty Party. At the close of the fun the Head Nut of each team added up the scores each team had won, and the winning team was then given the privilege of having the losers serve them lunch.

Sally lighted a fire in the fireplace and the girls squatted around on the floor to eat hot dogs and buns and drink pop. When the winners were all supplied with food the losers then received their hot dogs and sat by the fire to tell tall tales as they ate.