Summary

Game name (and type): 'Drop the Hanky' (circle game)
Alternative types: language play, rhymes

Typed game description originally written by Christine Brown in a letter to Dr Dorothy Howard in October 1954 (HT41043). Dr Howard has typed Brown's description onto an index card. In Brown's letter to Dr Howard, she refers to games played by her 9 year old brother Harold in Brisbane, making particular reference to alternative wording and national variations. In this example Brown, who was born in England before moving to Brisbane with her family, describes the rhyme used by English children to accompany the game 'Drop the Hanky'.

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

Typed game description in black ink on card. Text printed on one side only.

More Information