Summary

Game name (and type): 'Blind Man's Buff' (blindfold game)
Alternative types: guessing game

Handwritten description of the blindfold game 'Blind Man's Buff' composed for Dr Dorothy Howard by Margaret O'Bryan, an eleven year old student at East Camberwell Girls Secondary School, in 1954-1955. O'Bryan describes 'Blind Man's Buff' as a game requiring a large handkerchief and players aged between five and twelve years, which is played in all seasons on a street, indoors or in a backyard. She explains that one player is blindfolded, while the other children take a predetermined number of steps away. The blindfolded child must find the other players and correctly identify those located. O'Bryan lists other players of 'Blind Man's Buff' including Kathryn O'Bryan, Rosemary Brackflower, Lois Andrews, Lousise [sic] de Joselin, and Judith Livingstone.

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.

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