See our German!

"Germans," or cotillions, were evenings (or late nights) of dance games where attendees would shuffle partners, win small party favors, and just generally have hilarious shenanigans until the early hours of the morning. In Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott, Rose (the titular character) describes the aftermath of such an event:
" I'm ashamed of myself when I remember what a romp that was and how sober Uncle looked as he let me in at three in the morning...my dress in rags, my head aching, my feet so tired that I could hardly stand, and nothing to show for five hours' hard work but a pocketful of bonbons, artificial flowers, and tissue-paper fool's caps."

As you might imagine, Germans are a lot of fun.

I've been traveling a lot and neglecting my poor blog, but I was able to make it home for the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers' Civil War Weekend, and Sunday we had a daytime German. It was loads of fun with a lot of giggling! I will have a lot more to say about it, but in the meantime one of the other attendees captured one of the games on film. Enjoy!

You can also read more about the history of the "German Cotillion" over at Recreating the 19th century Ballroom.