The games we played, and the joys of recess

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‘Red Rover, Red Rover’

The games we played, and the joys of recess

by HELEN LEDFORD

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Ah, those early school day memories… It was then called “Drop the Handkerchief,” a popular game elementary school children played in which youngsters sat in a circle while the one chosen to be “it” ran around outside the arrangement of

little ones carrying a cloth handkerchief (probably from the teacher’s purse!). The “it” child would take his/her time, keeping an eye on someone in the circle while running slowly, then surprising the chosen one and quickly dropping the handkerchief behind them.

Picking up speed, “it” would sprint faster while the “victim” grabbed the handkerchief and chased “it,” whose intent was to reach the vacant spot, sit in it, and not be tagged by the pursuer. Later, the cherished and simple game would evolve into “Duck, Duck, Goose” (and other variations).

I often wonder if kids today play any of the games we enjoyed when I was growing up (or if they have even heard of them), when Hopscotch, “Red Rover,” “Farmer in the Dell,” “London Bridge,” etc., were some of the mainstays at everyday recess time.

Our school was small, and we lived in an era when money did not pour like golden syrup from a jar – America was recuperating from World War II, and school budgets were not full to overflowing. Playground equipment consisted of a metal slide, a merry-goround and a few swings. On rainy days,

elementary classes congregated in the gym/ auditorium along with high schoolers, since our building also housed the cafeteria and home economics department. There we played vigorous games, made new friends and socialized with both classmates and older students.

Jumping rope was a favorite activity for all younger children, especially the girls. Who doesn’t remember the nonsensical rhymes we mouthed as we emptied our youthful energies into vigorous jumping? “Cinderella, dressed in yellow, came downstairs to see her fella. How many kisses did she get?” And “Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around, teddy bear, teddy bear, touch the ground.” These two popular poems were only a few of dozens that we quoted in staccato rhythm as we got more and more proficient in our quest to be the best jump ropers in our class.

In that era, most children were happy with simple toys, playground 12 JULY 29 - AUG. 4, 2021 The Northwest Observer • Totally local since 1996

equipment and physical activities (I suppose it was because that’s all we had!). I recall a time right after the war was over, when a couple of huge sausage-like, air-filled pontoons – holdovers from battle duty – were dumped on our school’s play yard/ballfield. We rode, pushed, rolled and lay on those big babies with youthful vigor. Working as teams, it took a bunch of kids to even move one. It was good exercise and lots of fun, but our mamas were puzzled as to why we were coming home so dirty (we practically “ate” mud in those early days!).

At home, we had great fun playing card games like “Authors,” “Movie Starts, “Birds” and “Old Maid,” plus we had a fine set of USA war-time airplanes. From the latter, we learned to spot and identify planes that flew high over of us by their silhouettes against the sky. And since there were pilots who trained from a nearby airport, we were lucky enough to watch them carry out maneuvers directly over our farmhouse. It was definitely a valuable first-hand learning experience, but often hair-raising and downright scary!

I loved to “jump plank” with my sisters and our friends. To play this game, we had to first find a wide and sturdy wooden board that was about 6 feet long. Then, we searched for a log or heavy chunk of wood (anchoring it so it would not roll!). With the board or plank laid over the wooden base, we were ready for hours of fun! As one sister stood on one end of the board, another jumped on the other end, propelling the other into the air. And so it was up, down, up, down, until somebody got tired or jumped off the plank, causing her partner to spill off and land on the ground. It was a good exercise in balancing while learning to keep that plank from twisting sideways. If that happened, both participants might be dumped off and end up with mighty sore backsides!

We never tired of playing Hide and Seek at home with our brothers and sisters. Once, when I was about 6 and my brother Bill had been chosen to be “it,” he counted to 100 while leaning against a tree outside with his face hidden so as not to see where any of us siblings scurried. I chose to hide upstairs and tiptoed up the staircase, detecting faint noises of others furtively sneaking into secret hiding places.

Spotting a winter coat hanging over a ledge, I bounded behind it, fully intending to jump down and scare my brother as he came up the stairs. I heard him yell, “Ready or not, here I come!” and then the sound of his footsteps as he searched for others. When Bill’s feet hit the top step, I suddenly jumped out, hitting my head on the sharp edge of an old iron bed in our log house. Mama was frantically called from picking wild strawberries and all I knew was that my head was hit somewhere and everybody was crying, afraid I was badly hurt. Let’s just say I still carry a deep scar on my forehead to this day (our mother always said her children all had hard heads!).

Bill was akin to John-Boy of “The Waltons” TV series fame and “sort of” had to take charge of his three younger sisters and keep us out of mischief (that was a tall order, since he got into quite a bit of mischief himself!). He was smart, creative and could make almost anything with his hands. He once fashioned a set of tall stilts from sturdy tobacco sticks and heavy blocks of wood, and then accomplished the feat of traveling on those contraptions from our front steps all the way up the long road to our mailbox and back (he called them Tom Walkers)!

Yes, we had our favorite games, contests and other activities that kept us occupied when we weren’t helping with family chores in the crop fields. And when we went to bed at night, we slept peacefully as soon as our heads hit our pillows. We were so blessed…. SPECIALS: JULY 29 - AUGUST 4

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