Although there had been an interest in what and how people played from a very early point in the development of Folklore as an area of study, it took until the 1950s and the work of the husband and wife team, Iona (1923-2017) and Peter Opie (1918-1982) for Playlore, the study of childlore associated with children’s play, games, and playthings, to be considered a legitimate sub-genre.
Prior to this, descriptions of ‘play’ and ‘games’ were usually mixed up in a broader sense with other aspects of folklore and childlore. For example, in Joseph Strutt’s 1801 book, ‘Sports and Pastimes of the People of England’ he describes the games people were playing as far back as the early 1700s and illustrated many of these games with his own woodcuts. However, it is unclear from Strutt’s text and illustrations which of these games are being played by adults, which by children, or both.
Throughout the later 19th and early 20th centuries, folkloric studies of play and games tended to be referred to as part of ‘children’s street culture’ and included much more than what children were playing. As in so many other areas of exploring children’s lives, the play element often took second place to what were considered more important aspects.
And then came the Opie’s.
The story goes that when the Opie’s wanted to research for and publish a work specifically on child-to-child lore, with an emphasis on their playing, their publishers expressed doubt that there would be enough material to publish a single work. Six books later they admitted they may have been wrong.
As the Opie’s write in the introduction to their 1969 book, ‘Children’s Games in Street and Playground’,
“In the present study we are concerned solely with the games that children, aged about 6-12, play of their own accord when out of doors, and usually out of sight. We do not include, except incidentally, party games, scout games, team games, or any sport that requires supervision.” (preface)
Today, Playlore concentrates largely on that ‘out of site’ aspect of children’s play, and aims at uncovering what is in many respects a ‘secret world’. It explores such things as:
Arguably, the greatest contribution of Playlore to the study of children’s lives through the past through to the present would be that far from showing that children’s play and games have declined, what it actually shows is very little difference in the play of children in Joseph Strutt’s day to modern times.
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[photo: above, a woodcut illustration from Stutt’s 1801 book, and below a collection of Opie titles from Marc's bookshelves]
See also Folklore and Childlore, Iona and Peter Opie, Truce Terms, Chase Terms, Counting Out
