Item HT 41293 Document - Unknown Author, to Dorothy Howard, Description of Blindfold Game 'Nelson', 25 Mar 1955

Summary

Game name (and type): 'Nelson' (blindfold game)
Alternative types: play with props/equipment

Handwritten description of the blindfold game 'Nelson' written for Dr Dorothy Howard by an unidentified student at Double View Government Primary School, presumably on 25 March 1955. To play 'Nelson', the author writes that one child is elected 'Nelson', another Nelson's assistant, and a third is blindfolded. Guided by the assistant, the blindfolded child must feel Nelson's 'rotten' arm and good arm before feeling for Nelson's eyes. As the blindfolded child reaches for Nelson's rotten eye, their finger is pushed into a cold, rotten tomato.

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 one side only.