The group at diner last night included my wife, my mother, my mother-in-law, and me. Somehow the discussion got around to games and in particular the generational and regional differences in games. The discussion was interesting, but I’m going to concentrate on just a few of the games discussed here.<\/p>\n
First there was “Olly, Olly, Oxen Free<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0“. The interesting thing here is that my wife and her mother, both Minnesota natives, remember it under the variant name of of “Olly Olly Otzen Free<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” (think of the scandahoovian\u00c2\u00a0diminutive of\u00c2\u00a0Olaf for the pronunciation of Olly). The MIL also remembered playing it under yet another variant name as “Olly Olly Otzenburger Free<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” My mother and I remembered it in the “Ollie Ollie Oxen Free<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” form. So there was a clear regional difference in the naming of what is the exact same game.<\/p>\n Then there was the\u00c2\u00a0perennial\u00c2\u00a0favorite “Duck Duck Goose<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0.” Once again the split was by region with the Minnesota natives both remembering the game as “Duck Duck Gray Duck<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0“, although I swear that my wife\u00c2\u00a0often\u00c2\u00a0pronounces it “Ray Duck” rather than “Gray Duck”. From what I can gather, if you grew up in Minnesota or the Dakotas, you call it “Duck Duck Gray Duck<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” and otherwise you know it as “Duck Duck Goose<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0“<\/p>\n Then came the first of the real generational differences. My mom and mother-in-law both recalled with fondness a game called “Auntie I Over<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” that my wife and I could not remember ever hearing about. If you clicked on the name and read the\u00c2\u00a0description, you probably understand why it is a game that has\u00c2\u00a0disappeared\u00c2\u00a0from modern life. \u00c2\u00a0Throwing a ball over a building at the opposing team is not a game that plays well in an urban environment. Mom and MIL both\u00c2\u00a0remembered\u00c2\u00a0several variants of the “Auntie Came Back” call if the ball failed to go over the building. All I want to know is what the call was for the ball stuck in the gutter?<\/p>\n We ended the discussion by\u00c2\u00a0reminiscing\u00c2\u00a0about several games that seem to have disappeared from playgrounds today. We all\u00c2\u00a0remembered\u00c2\u00a0“Red Rover<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” and its “Pom Pom Pull Away<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” variant. My wife and I could not remember our son ever having played either of those games when he was young. I suspect the\u00c2\u00a0possibilities\u00c2\u00a0for malicious play have demoted both of these games from the school playgrounds. I can remember “Red Rover<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0” being banned from recess in grade school when I was a kid, so it very well could be verbotten today. All it took was a couple of rousing games and the principal said no more – I suspect it was all the torn clothing that was the clincher. After all, we played dodgeball<\/a> back then too, so it couldn’t have been the violence! {*grin*<\/span>}<\/p>\n All of this leads me to ask the questions:<\/p>\n The group at diner last night included my wife, my mother, my mother-in-law, and me. Somehow the discussion got around to games and in particular the generational and regional differences in games. The discussion was interesting, but I’m going to concentrate on just a few of the games discussed here. First there was “Olly, Olly, … Continue reading Games<\/span> \n