Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-08-27
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

A naive real estate advertisement
recently showed a little girl blithely
rolling a hoop up the front walk Of
the home which the realtor had every
intent and purpose of selling.
What was wrong with that draw
ing?
Nothing much, except that children
no longer roll hoops. We haven't seen
q child roll hoop for so long we have
forgotten what hoops look like. The
nearest one will come to it these days
is seeing some ambitious youngster
careen a spare tire down the street.
An automobile tire. however, cannot
be called a hoop" under any circum.
stances, except by poetical license.
The boy rolling the spare is not do
ing it for the fun Of the thing, but
simply in q clumsy attempt to excite
the admiration of his fellows.
The real art of hoop rolling calls
for none of this admiration, either by
ones self or from others, but depends
solely upon the inner satisfaction Of
the artist with his job.
In day when the love of the crafts
man for his work seems vanished, how
can one expect the children to roll
hoops with the proper spirit? If the
old man doesn't seem to give Whoop
w
laying or not, how can the kids be ex-
pected to roll hoops with aplomb?
AS a matter of fact, children no
longer make any attempt to roll them.
In the first place, the proper hoops
are lacking. Barrels are hard to get,
in a city, and carriages are thing of
the past. The fine wire hoops, which
were the best of all to roll, have passed
with the passing years. The basic
material is lacking.
Yet hoop-rolling once was good
sport.
1t brought into play the great mus
cles of the legs, thereby increasing
the demand for air, building out the
chest. Above all, it developed that
coordination of hand and eye which
is one Of the real gains of true ath-
letics.
Rolling of hoops thus had in it some
of the best features OF perfect ath-
letics, as any physical director will
tell you, but because girls often ex-
celled in the sport, it was looked upon
by boys as feminine accomplish
ment.
That was in the day when it was
not generally realized that there is no
real reason why girls cannot be as ex-
pert as men in some sports. In those
days swimming was not regarded as
Woman's sport at all. Today wit
ness what Gertrude Ederle has done.
The rolling of hoops was a good &C.
casional sport. Like kite-f1ying, it
would not do for everyday practice.
There were no "hoop-rolling leagues"
of course. No child rolled hoops every
day. 1t was just something he had
hankering to do and did, as children
today take up roller skating by
spasms.
When some adventurous youth ap-
peared on the block with a hoop, ca
vortiAg hither and yon, a small stick
guiding the circle, every other child
Immediately had an urge to do like
wise.
There was scurrying, then. for
barrels and old wagons. The most
coveted hoop was the thin spiral Of
steel, which rolled as if on wings.
The wooden hoops off barrels often
refused to roll true. A lop.sided hoop
would go almost anywhere except
where you wanted it TO go, a tendency
which most lop-sided things possess.
The hoop would be going along the
sidewalk nicely enough, when the
in a wild roll directly into the street.
There were no automobiles in the
streets in those days, but one was for
hidden to run across, just the same.
Now it Is automobiles, then it was
runaway horses. 1t is always some
thing.