Home Entertainer

Back before Netflix and DVDs, or even before more than just the BBC on TV, people tended to make their own entertainment.

Clearly this book was created to help people with this task as "The Home Entertainer" contains games, songs and other activities to keep people amused and occupied at parties or on rainy indoor days.

Chapters include "Party games", "Fun for the children", "Amateur theatricals", and "Simple card games". Various illustrations and diagrams can be found scattered among the pages, and the first chapter on "Art of successful entertaining" covers topics from "how to arrange a wedding reception" to "how to make meringues" and "how to arrange the cutlery".

Title: The Home Entertainer
Author: Sid G. Hedges (Editor)
Publisher: Odhams Press Limited.
Publication Year: 1940s
Pages: 320

This book has blue waxed textured cloth boards with the title embossed on the front and embossed and gilted on the spine. The corners of the front and back covers are slightly bent in and there are some light dirt marks on the cover.

The spine of the book is in very good condition. It is starting to crack slightly in one or two places but the binding is still secure and all the pages appear to be intact. There are a few light dirt marks on the text block and the occasional mark inside. But otherwise the pages are clean and free from ink or pencil marks.

The first page has a dedication written in ink that reads "To Reg, With every good wish for Christmas 1942. From Mr & Mrs Bean." Given that 1942 was a point in the war when rationing had really started to hit hard, this must have been quite a useful gift to receive at Christmas!

Overall this book is in really good condition for its age. It would make a great gift for anyone with a general interest in vintage living, or who is fascinated by life on the Home Front during the Second World War.