Summary

Game name (and type): 'King' (chasing game)
Alternative type: ball games, running games

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'King' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Peter Fraser, a student at Double View Government Primary School, on 24 March 1955. Fraser describes 'King' as a game played by girls and boys aged between nine and thirteen in a large, open space. To elect 'he-man' or the chaser, players stand in a circle throwing a tennis ball. The first child to drop the ball is pronounced 'he-man'. 'He-man' chases the other players, trying to tag them with the ball. Fraser notes that players may use a stick or a piece of wood to deflect balls thrown by 'he-man'. If hit, players assist the 'he-man' to capture other children; however, assistants are not permitted to run with the ball. Fraser describes a possible tactic to capture the final players in which 'he-man' and his assistants form a cordon, passing the ball between them as they walk. Fraser states that the last player to be captured is declared 'king'.

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. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text printed on one side only.

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