A game this Friday from the 1938 Weekend Book. A game created by H G Wells, no less. And what did one of the most inventive literary minds of all time call this game? Yes, “Ball Game”. You will need a barn….
Nb. See also the cheeky water game “Kissing at the bottom of the sea”.
Personality tests and analysis have been going from strength to strength since Carl Jung published “Personality Types” in 1921. And, as spoofed in Monty Python’s Papperbok, I remember religiously reading them in my teenage magazines and being slightly confused that the conclusions were pretty wide of the mark, as if I was deficient in some way from what the all seeing eye of the test proclaimed. I didn’t really consider it was just a journalist scribbling something together for a deadline. Today, if you’re on Facebook, you’re bombarded by the things, and they get more and more ridiculous. This post is inspired by the stupidest one I’ve seen, Which Classic Rock Band are You? As determined by what you like with your coffee and which sport you’re most interested in. (I’m Creedence Clearwater Revival). So, have a go at this one from PTO Magazine, February 1940, “Are You Frustrated?” And I hope for your sake you’re not a psychopath Type C. Although, frankly, there are no winners here.
PTO was a digest magazine of the month’s news from various outlets and this edition has a fantastically confident cover for wartime:
It’s Friday and it’s time for some Skittish fun, courtesy of The Weekend Book. This is a book right up my street, full of all manner of games and instruction, written in 1924 but updated regularly up until around 1955. It takes itself not seriously at all, the book equivalent of some bright young things skittering around at a pre-war house party.
Just look at this gorgeous cover –
Today I give you “Up Jenkyns!” A game my grandad taught me and my brother, and is forever associated for me with a piece of cherry cake and a cup of tea. (Although I imagined it being spelt “Up Jenkins”). This was such a popular game that you’ll notice it doesn’t even bother explaining how you play it. So, for the uninitiated, you need two teams of at least two people on each side and a table. The teams sit either side of the table with one side hiding a sixpence (a new 5p is perfect) in one of their hands secretly under the table. Once hidden, the team then puts their fists on the table while the other team has to guess which hand holds the coin, with all the additions mentioned below.
