Summary

Game names (and types): 'Old Black Joe', 'Dancing Dolly', 'I am a Girl Guide', 'H.E.L.P.', 'Blue Bells', 'Dutch and German', 'French and English', 'Over the Garden Wall', 'Tram Lines' (skipping games), Hopscotch (hopscotch), 'I Spy' (guessing game), 'Leap Frog', 'Broad Jumps' (jumping game), 'Tens' (hiding game), 'Draw the Snake' (rhymes), 'Rounders', 'Pig in the Middle', 'Queenie', 'Donkey' (ball games), 'Sheep Sheep Come Home' (chasing game), 'May I' (language play), and 'Fly' (play with props/equipment)
Alternative types: skipping rhymes, running game, language play, play with props/equipment, bat and ball games

Handwritten letter and game descriptions compiled by 11 year old Gwenda Bottomley, including an additional game description by Lynette Doyle, addressed to Dr Dorothy Howard in 1954-1955. In her letter to Dr Howard, Bottomley writes that she has recorded a number of games and their associated rhymes, diagrams and actions with the assistance of her teacher Mr Perrett. The skipping games described include 'Old Black Joe', 'Dancing Dolly', 'I am a Girl Guide', 'H.E.L.P' and 'Blue Bells'. Additional skipping games are listed by Doyle, including 'Dutch and German', 'French and English', 'Over the Garden Wall' and 'Tram Lines'. She also describes the guessing game 'I Spy' and the jumping game 'Leap Frog'. Bottomley continues with three diagrams of different hopscotch patterns as well as descriptions of the hiding game 'Tens', the jumping game 'Broad Jumps', ball games 'Rounders', 'Queenie' and 'Donkey', language games 'May I' and 'Draw the Snake', the chasing game 'Sheep Sheep Come Home' and 'Fly', a game involving pegs.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's game written to children's Folklorist Dorothy Howard between 1954 and 1955. Dr Howard came to Australia in 1954-55 as an American Fulbright scholar to study Australian children's folklore. She travelled across Australia for 10 months collecting children's playground rhymes, games, play artefacts, etc. This letter, together with the other original fieldwork collected by Dr Howard during this period, is preserved in the Dorothy Howard Collection manuscript files, part of the Australian Children's Folklore Collection (ACFC), Archive Series 3. The ACFC is an extensive collection documenting children's folklore and related research.

Physical Description

Small, handwritten letter in pencil on paper; accompanied by several descriptions in pencil on index cards and paper. Includes eight pages in total, several which are written on front and back sides.

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