Summary

Game names (and types): 'Relay' (running game), 'Fiddlesticks' (play with props/equipment), 'Fly' (jumping game)

Handwritten descriptions of different games involving sticks compiled for Dr Dorothy Howard by P. Fahl and Fay Hutton, students at Clayfield College, in October 1954. Fahl describes 'Relay' as a game involving any number of players, who can run only when the stick has been passed to them. Fahl also discusses 'Fiddlesticks', which involves players removing sticks from a large pile without moving any of the neighbouring sticks. Hutton describes 'Fly', which involves spacing apart ten sticks as illustrated by her hand drawn illustration in red pencil. She writes that 'Fly' is played by three players, who are allocated the role of 'cobweb', 'spider' and 'fly'. The game's rules are not clearly articulated; however, it appears that each player must jump as far as possible into the spaces between the sticks, possibly seeking to out jump of the other players. On the reverse is a section titled 'Games & Amusements with Matches'; however, it does not contain any examples.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's games 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 descriptions in blue ink on lined paper. Features text written by two different hands; text printed on both sides of page. Features a hand drawn diagram in red pencil along right portion of page.

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