Summary

Game name (and type): 'Gag' (chasing game)
Alternative type: play with props/equipment

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Gag' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Beatrix Poupé, a twelve year old student at Ceduna Higher Primary School, in circa March 1955. Describing the game's rules, Poupé states that 'Gag' is played by two teams of any number of children, one of whom conceals a small stone called a 'gag'. The players are individually approached by a member of the opposing team, who must chase them to the opposite side. If the child is caught and holds the concealed gag, the gag is surrendered to the other team before the game continues.

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

Handwritten game description in pencil on lined paper. Text printed on one side only. Features a handwritten annotation in a different hand along bottom portion of page.

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