Summary

Game type: 'Wolfie' (chasing game)
Alternative types: running game, elimination game

Handwritten description of the chasing game 'Wolfie' compiled by an unidentified student at East Fremantle Government Primary School, for Dr Dorothy Howard between 1954-1955. The author describes 'Wolfie' as a game suitable for girls and boys aged eight years and over, which requires two to 10 players. The author lists possible places to play 'Wolfie' including at school, the beach, on the streets or a verandah, noting that it can be played all year. To play, two bases are determined between which 'he' or 'Wolfie', the chaser, stands as illustrated by the accompanying hand drawn diagram. The author explains that the other players must run between the two bases avoiding capture by 'he'. The last player to be caught assumes the role of 'Wolfie' in the next game.

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

More Information