The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-08-30
CHANGING FASHIONS IN CHILD GAMES.
mr. Subbubs Tries Hop Scotch and Notes Few Of the Differences

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Subbubs. I stopped TO examine them
and when / unrayeled their meaning
a lot OF forgotten things came troop
ing back 10 me. The chalk mark
ings on the hagstones were made the
evening before by some children who
had been playing hopscotch. Mem
Der hOpscOtch? / am afraid that too
many Of us grownup sinners have a
more vivid knowledge Of hotscotch
than we have recollections Of hop
scotch; but Of course all of us grown
ups played hopscotch one way or an
other when we were young 'uns. The
chart looked different, though, from
the hOpscotch charts we used to
make, and / had TO study for some
time before | could recall just what
the difference was.
The various mpartments OF the
hOpscotch diagram when | was a
shaver used TO be simply numbered,
but now the compartments are all
dignifed by geographical names, as
Of States and kingdoms. That same
evening on my way home | stopped
10 watch a number Of children dane
ing around on one foot playing hop
scotch. The girls seemed to be able
TO play the game better than the
boys, probably because girls are light
er on their feet and have a better
sense of balance.
Looks easy, does that game; but
II you want TO ascertain beyond all
doubt that you've experienced, say,
thirty years of vicissitudes since the
last time you played hopscotch, just
you try a hop or so at it.. l did that
the evening | stopped to watch the
children and they made great fun OF
me-some of them were my own chill
dren.
II found that my sense Of meas
urement had undergone a curious de-
terioration And what hard work,
that hopping about on one foot. Such
hard work that / fell to wondering
why / used to play at hopscotch so
enthusiastically after school hours
and all day Saturday when | was a
tike.
The children in the cities have
certain seasons for certain games,
but I've noticed since moving out TO
the suburbs that the suburban chill
dren sort of mix all Of the games up
all the time. For instance, follow
my leader used to be a great game for
the fall and winter in the city when
| was a boy, but they play it all the
OF oil Ia hn
urban children. It's interesting to
watch how the game is started. In
every congregation Of youngsters
there's invariably one strong willed,
determined, masterful boy or girl
who overtops the others and whose
eyaction Of unquestioning obedience
from all the others is quite beyond
analysis.
This masterful young one is the
leader in the follow my leader game,
by general consent. and chosen for
that position without any spoken
words. 1t just falls out that way.
Follow my leader is a sort Of game
that is calculated to bring out the
strong points and the nerve of the
young uns who engage in it. II is the
business of the followers of their
leader to do anything and every
thing that leader does, including the
wading through puddles hopping
picket fences, scaling wabbly curbs,
climbing trees, swinging on rickety
gates and other little diversions suf-
ficiently out Of the ordinary to cause
the reluctant youngster to be called
'cowardly.'
They play tops all the year round
out in the suburbs. too, but right
now, | should judge, is about the
height of the top season. The girls
have of late years been playing tops
they didn't have much truck with
'em when ] was a boy-but girls
don't seem to master the curves of
the top business. A girl throws a
top from its string something like a
grown woman SHES a rock at hen.
But the patience OF the little girls
who try top spinning is commendable.
They contrive to get their tops to
whirl around feebly about once In
every five throws. but they stick to
the game and look as IL they were
enjoying IL. They gaze a bit en-
viously, however, in the direction Of
the otherwise quite incompetent and
unworthy boys. who. with the sim
plest kind OF twists, heave a top ten
feet away with a precision and skill
that causes 1t to spin hummingly for
a long time-until, in fact. the boys
pick their tops up on the palms OF
their hands and let 'em spin there.
I notice that the girls don't make
much OF fist OF picking up their
tops on the palms OF their hands.
They go about the job a bit too GIN
gerly. as IL afraid Of dirtying the
backs OF their hands.
THE boys who spin tops nowadays.
by the way, seem to've forgotten the
trick-we all had IL quarter OF a
century or more ago-of cutting deep
vertical hicks in their tops. In order
Ia extract shriller humming from
them as they whirled around. The