Summary

Game type: 'Spin the Bottle' (game of dare)
Alternative types: spinning games, kissing games

Handwritten description of the game of dare 'Spin the Bottle' compiled by Pam Maynard, an 11 year old student at Errol Street Primary School, for Dr Dorothy Howard on 25 August 1954. Maynard describes 'Spin the Bottle' as a game suitable for girls and boys, which is played at home in the evenings all year round. To play, she explains that players form a circle and a bottle is placed at the centre. A player spins the bottle, daring the child at which the bottle top ends up pointing to complete a particular action. Maynard lists other players of 'Spin the Bottle' including Linda Kimpton, Lynette Kimpton, Margaret Kimpton, Judith Patterson and Carol Holles.

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. Features borders ruled in red pencil; text written on one side of page only.

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