Summary

Game name (and type): 'Black-Track' (marbles game)
Alternative types: play with props/equipment

Handwritten description of the marbles game 'Black-Track' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Leona Howlett, a twelve year old student at East Camberwell Girls Secondary School, in 1954-1955. Howlett describes 'Black-Track' as a game requiring a large, open area, which is played in the winter. She notes that this game is a popular boys game, but some girls also play. To play, Howlett writes that two, parallel lines are drawn on the ground approximately 3 or 4 yards apart. She provides an annotated, hand drawn diagram to illustrate the game's layout and the direction of play. Players determine the number of times an opponent's marble needs to be hit in order to eliminate the owner from the game and the order of play is established. Howlett explains that each player throws their marble towards the second line, before proceeding to attack their opposition's marbles. She lists other players of 'Black-Track' including Trev, Geoff and Mary.

One of a collection of letters describing a children's game 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 blue ink on paper. Comprises two sheets. First page features a letterhead printed in black ink and text underlined with red pencil; second page features a border ruled in red pencil and an annotated, hand drawn diagram on reverse.

More Information