Summary

Handwritten letter composed by M. Wetherell, a teacher at Erskineville Public School, addressed to Dr Dorothy Howard on 25 October 1954. Wetherell presumably writes in response to a request from Dr Howard for children's game descriptions. Accordingly, the letter provides details about the types of games discussed by the students at Erskineville School. Wetherell states that all games described are played in back gardens, playgrounds and parks by children living in Sydney's metropolitan areas, noting that the general age group, which predominantly comprises girls, is between eight and 12 years of age. Wetterell also notes that the games described are played by the majority of students all year round.

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 letter in blue ink on paper. Features handwritten annotation in pencil in a different hand on reverse of page.

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