Summary

Game type: 'Submarines and Destroyers' (creeping game)
Alternative types: blindfold games, play with props/equipment

Handwritten description of the creeping game 'Submarines and Destroyers' compiled by J. Graco, a student at East Fremantle Government Primary School, for Dr Dorothy Howard between 1954-1955. A creeping game involves players creeping towards another player or place without being seen or heard, or without being caught moving. Graco describes 'Submarines and Destroyers' as a game suitable for 15 to 20 girls and boys, which is usually played in a hall. Four players are elected 'submarines' then blindfolded and seated on a chair. The remaining players, known as 'destroyers', must approach the 'submarines' without being heard, as illustrated by Graco's handdrawn diagram. The first child to approach a 'submarine' and return to their starting point without being caught, is pronounced the winner.

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 lined paper. Features a hand drawn annotation diagram below text; text written on one side only.

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