Summary

Game name (and type): 'Hopo Bumpo' (chasing game)
Alternative types: games with actions, Hoppo Bumpo

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Hopo Bumpo' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Dianne Marshall, a twelve year old student at East Camberwell Girls Secondary School, in 1954-1955. Marshall describes 'Hopo Bumpo' as a game requiring a minimum of three players aged between eight and twelve years, which is played in all seasons usually in a backyard or sometimes at school. She writes that parallel boundaries are determined with players lining up along one side. One child stands in the central space facing the other players. Marshall explains that the central child calls out the name of one player, who must try to reach the other boundary whilst hopping on one leg with their arms crossed. The child in the middle chases the player, mimicking their actions, and attempts to knock them over. Marshall provides an annotated, hand drawn illustration of the game's layout and progression. She lists other players of 'Hopo Bumpo' including Kathleen Reid, Jennifer Harrison, Margaret O'Bryan and Jennifer Castel.

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 black ink on paper. Comprises two sheets. First page features a letterhead printed in black ink; second page features an annotated, hand drawn illustration in pencil and red pencil along bottom portion.

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