Summary

Game name (and type): 'Alphabet' (word game)

Handwritten description of the word game 'Alphabet' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by Elaine McNamara, a student at Double View Government Primary School, presumably on 25 March 1955. McNamara describes 'Alphabet' as an indoor game, which any number of children can play. She writes that each player requires a sheet of paper divided into columns with the following headings: Boy, Girl, Place, Animal, Flower and Fruit. Another player copies out the alphabet in mixed order onto their sheet. With eyes closed this player, points to a letter at random. In response, the other players try to list a word beginning with the selected letter in each column on their page. McNamara explains that players can accumulate points by completing their list first and for originality. The player with the highest score is declared the winner.

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 pencil on lined paper. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text printed on both sides of page.

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