Summary

Game name (and type): 'Hip' (chasing game)
Alternative type: running games, games with found objects, games with sticks

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Hip' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Lester Archdeacon, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 24 March 1955. Archdeacon writes that 'Hip' is one of his favourite games as it involves a large number of players running in an open space. According to Archdeacon, players select a number from a set range, which is disclosed to a nominated child. In the interim, another child is handed a stick and told to wait at a distance until all the numbers have been allocated. The child with the stick returns to the group and calls out a number. The corresponding player is pronounced 'Hip'. 'Hip's' role is to chase the other players. Captured players assist 'Hip' by catching remaining players and holding them until 'Hip' can tag them. The game continues until all players are caught.

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 description in black ink on lined paper. Comprised two sheets featuring borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side only.

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