Summary

Game names (and types): 'This little pig went to market...', 'One, two, three, four, five...' (nursery rhymes), 'Eenie meenie minie moe...', 'One potato, two potato, three potato, four...' (counting-out rhymes)
Alternative type: language play, choosing games, counting games

Handwritten descriptions of nursery rhymes and counting-out rhymes composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Colleen Laurie-Rhodes, Patricia Watson and Julianne Hodgson, students at Clayfield College, in October 1954. Nursery rhymes 'This little pig went to market...' and 'One, two, three, four, five...' are transcribed respectively by Laurie-Rhodes and Watson. Hodgson describes the function of counting-out rhymes, stating they assist with selecting who is 'he' in games of 'Tiggy' or 'Brandy'. She copies out two examples of such rhymes: 'Eenie meenie minie moe...' and 'One potato, two potato, three potato, four...'.

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 three different hands; text printed on both sides of page.

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