Encyclopedia Of Play In Today's Society.pdf

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PLAY in Today’s Society

encyclopedia

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PLAY in Today’s Society Rodney P. Carlisle Rutgers University g e n eTitle r a lPage editor

Copyright © 2009 by SAGE Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Encyclopedia of play in today’s society / Rodney P. Carlisle, general editor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4129-6670-2 (cloth) 1. Recreation--Encyclopedias. 2. Leisure--Encyclopedias. I. Carlisle, Rodney P. GV11.E555 2009 790.1--dc22 2008054639 09 10 11 12 13 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 GOLSON MEDIA President and Editor Director, Author Management Layout Editors Copyeditor Proofreader Indexer

J. Geoffrey Golson Susan Moskowitz Mary Jo Scibetta Oona Patrick Kenneth W. Heller Anne L. Hicks J S Editorial

SAGE REFERENCE Vice President and Publisher Senior Editor Project Editor Cover Production Marketing Manager Editorial Assistant Reference Systems Manager Reference Systems Coordinator Photo credits are on page 980.

Rolf A. Janke Jim Brace-Thompson Tracy Buyan Gail Buschman Amberlyn McKay Michele Thompson Leticia Gutierrez Laura Notton

Contents Volume 1 About the General Editor Playing With Play

vi vii

Preface Introduction

ix x

Reader’s Guide List of Articles List of Contributors Chronology of Play Articles A to O Glossary

xiii xix xxv xxxi 1–436 437

Volume 2 List of Articles Articles P to Z Glossary Resource Guide Appendix A: Play Statistics Appendix B: FTC Report Index

vii 465–800 801 829 833 853 929

About the General Editor Rodney P. Carlisle, Ph.D. An expert in social history and prolific game player, Rodney P. Carlisle earned an A.B. in history at Harvard College, and a Ph.D. in history at the University of California at Berkeley. He taught for more than 30 years at Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey, and is the cofounder of History Associates Incorporated. He is the author or editor of more than 35 books, including works in military history, maritime history, technology, and social history. Among the works he has authored are the Encyclopedia of Invention and Discovery, Eyewitness History to World War I, and the forthcoming Sovereignty at Sea. Among the encyclopedias and series that he has edited are the Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age, Encyclopedia of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, One Day in History, The Twenties, The Thirties, Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and Right, and the forthcoming Handbooks to Life in America.

Editorial Advisory Board Felicia McMahon, Ph.D. Department of Anthropology Syracuse University Robert E. Rinehart, Ph.D. Department of Sport and Leisure Studies University of Waikato George Scarlett, Ph.D. Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development Tufts University Brian Sutton-Smith, Ph.D. Resident Scholar Strong National Musuem of Play

Playing With Play We have created a word puzzle with the Encyclopedia of Play in Today’s Society. The clues below are straightforward: You need to discern what P and W refer to and how the puzzle comes together. The solution is a quote from a leading scholar on the concepts of play, taken from a seminal work on the subject. Note: hyphenated words are counted as one word. We have added a few hints at the end of the clues. Girls’ Play P7W83 Academic Learning and Play P1W7 Inter-Gender Play P4W93 Egypt P1W4 Chess and Variations of P16W36 Play and Literacy P1W4 Assyrian/Babylonian Culture P5W38 Dice P10W11 Europe 1960 to Present P5W54 Casino P3W22 Fantasy Play P2W2 Hockey (Amateur) P10W17 History of Playing Cards P10W10 Stilts P8W45 Dolls, Barbie and Others P16W7 Cricket (Amateur) P5W13

Faro P6W49 Bridge and Variations of P2W6 Inter-Gender Play P7W4 Europe, 1960 to Present P6W10 Games of Deception P15W34 I Spy P1W3 Inter-Gender Play P20W61 Bullying P7W11 Memory and Play P1W2 Play as Mock War, Psychology of P3W38 Games of Deception P1W13 Europe, 1900 to 1940 P2W3 Risk, the Game P2W12 Cuba P1W1 Montessori P34W19 Galoob P1W3 Hungary P1W5 Athletics (Amateur) P5W12 Human Relationships in Play P7W5 Role-Playing P1W4 India P11W63 Crosswords P3W5 Freud and Play P5W3 Europe, 1800 to 1900 P4W84 “Bad Play” P4W4 vii

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Playing With Play

Golf (Amateur) P1W27 Wargames P3W64 Kenner P10W94 Israel P1W2 Europe, 1960 to Present P8W37 Croquet P5W4 Skat P8W35 Finger Games P4W71 Hornby P6W9 Gamesmanship P2W16 Australian Aborigines P5W5 Slapjack P1W6 Iraq P2W1 Common Adventure Concept P4W2 Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide P2W10 Games of Deception P13W13 Monopoly and Variations of P2W20 Car and Travel Games P8W25

Racing Demon P1W40 Adlerian Play Therapy P3W136 Hint 1: There are 3 words in the solution not included in the clues above. You need to place them correctly: spoils, robs, creates. Hint 2: The following are the punctuation marks in the solution: 5 periods 1 colon 1 set of quotes 4 commas Hint 3: The quote solution author’s initials are J.H. and an acronym for the seminal work is HLASOTPEIC. An anagram for the short title is: SHOLOM DUNE. Last hint: page 10.

Preface Brian Sutton-Smith, Ph.D.

Frankly, I was in shock when I suddenly received so much new information on play when I received the editor’s proofs for the Encyclopedia of Play in Today’s Society. For example, there are approximately 450 articles written by 130 authors from 22 countries. I had the excited feeling that the whole story of play that has baffled us all for so long might be finally solved. The encyclopedia articles in alphabetical order begin with Volume 1 “Academic Learning and Play” and end with Volume 2 “Ziginette,” which is a gambling card game. Clearly it was going to be hard to find anything missing in such a cauldron of multiplicitous ambiguity. But more importantly, it looks as if these volumes might now bring an ending to the old-fashioned view that play is not really very important. That is, we say conventionally that play might be fun but unlike religion, the arts, science, and politics, it is not really very serious for the human condition or even worthwhile for academic studies. Against this, I have been telling myself that, on the contrary, play is important because it heralds the beginning of civilization by imposing routines, rituals, and rules upon the expression of the universal primary and relentless adaptive emotions (loneliness, anger, fear,

shock, disgust, and apathy). These emotions are basic in their raw character within the evolutionary struggles for survival. For example, without play you might have murder— with play, you have multiple, unique forms of bonding within which the violence is expressed within the rules. Imagine my excitement on reading on page 484 the article “Play Among Animals,” in which the author discusses various signals that animals make in pursuit of a morality that bonds them together, rather than driving them apart. And then, in an article on page 489 “Play and Evolution,” the author says: “it is sobering to realize that since both vertebrate and invertebrate animals engage to some extent in play, the potential for play goes back as far as 1.2 billion years.” Given the increasing number of toy museums around the world (including the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York), the development of university degrees (such as in the United Kingdom), and with play as a major topic for those who will be in charge of child play in the streets, we are perhaps beginning to give the topic of play the seriousness of a major cultural form that it deserves, which is testified to so remarkably by these two volumes. ix

Introduction

Children and adults spend a great deal of time in activities we think of as “play,” including games, sports, and hobbies. Without thinking about it very deeply, almost everyone would agree that such activities are fun, relaxing, and entertaining. However, as anthropologists, philosophers, psychologists, and other social thinkers have studied the role and function of play in different societies, and among different age groups, they have developed a wide range of theoretical explanations for why human beings and many animals engage in playful activities. The theoretic questions they raise suggest that simply to regard play as fun and entertainment misses the central role that play has in our lives. For a subject that we mostly consider a lighthearted one, the topic of play as a research topic has generated an extensive and sophisticated literature, exploring a range of penetrating questions. Play has many functions that run much deeper than simply “entertainment.” For children and many young animals, such as kittens and bear cubs, play clearly is part of the preparation for adult roles, including the manipulation of nature, hunting for food, peaceful interaction with others of the same species, or combat with those who are hostile. In humans, childhood play has many other functions as well. Among those are 

aspects of human interaction such as competition, following rules, accepting defeat, choosing leaders, exercising leadership, practicing adult roles, taking risks in order to reap rewards, and many others. Clearly, many childhood games and toys also assist in the learning of intellectual skills such as reading, arithmetic, and even gaining knowledge of such subjects as physics, geography, and history. Adults engage in play and games for many other reasons besides learning. Many games and sports serve as harmless releases of feelings of aggression, competition, and intergroup hostility. Many team sports and board games such as chess, as well as many contemporary computer games, have a basis in warfare. Other games represent forms of harmlessly experiencing risk-taking, while still others, such as gambling at Poker or Blackjack and active sports such as skiing and parachuting, can involve actual risks to fortune, life, or limb. Many games and toys represent forms of mastery over nature itself, and their ancient origins suggest ties to religion or to cycles of nature, such as planting and harvesting. The keeping of pets and playing with them can be seen as aspects of mastering nature. When such aspects of why we play are considered, the topic takes on a new light, going to questions about the



very nature of the human condition. Do we play in order to avoid danger, or to experience it? Do we play as an escape from work, or do we work to engage in another form of play? Some people seem to be employed only in order to earn enough money to be able to enjoy their play activities, such as surfing, skiing, bowling, skydiving, or mountain climbing. Others indulge in a few sports and games only as a momentary escape from their workaday lives. Still others derive most or all of their income from an activity that for others would seem a form of play, such as artists, musicians, and athletes. Looked at as something common to the whole of humankind, play takes still greater significance. Every culture, it seems, has some unique forms of play, and most cultures seem to share some fundamental types of games and play. Such children’s games as Leapfrog, and Rock Paper Scissors (or “Rochambeau”) are found all over the world. Are such worldwide forms of play a reflection of the spread of cultural artifacts from one society to another, or are the similarities in games, sports, and toys the result of varied reflections of the same underlying human nature expressed in similar ways in diverse cultures? Perhaps such common games represent both dispersion of culture and the underlying structure of human nature. What are the precise reasons why some games, toys, and sports have flourished and survived, while others appear to have died away with the passage of time? Some games, such as Chess and Backgammon, appear so perfectly conceived and developed that they have been played for centuries, while others, such as the gambling game of Faro, have had much shorter lives and have been largely supplanted by others. The historic origin of many games is known, while others remain shrouded in mystery. For example, we know that playing cards appeared rather suddenly in Europe around 1380 c.e., but whether the idea of cards had been introduced from Asia, or whether they grew from fortune-telling decks, or whether fortune-telling tarot decks were a later development, is the subject of historical inquiry. One of the earliest theoretical treatments of play is that of the Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga (1872–1945), in his 1938 work Homo Ludens. In that study, Huizinga suggested that play as a form of contest involves both cooperation (in agreeing to rules) and competition (in leading to winners and losers).

Introduction

xi

Play becomes a surrogate or harmless expression of the exercise of power. Another early writer who thought deeply about play was the Russian Lev Vygotsky (1896– 1934). Among his contributions was his view that play represented ways of internalizing and understanding the world, and as such, play was an essential element in learning. Vygotsky’s work underwent a revival in the West, with translations published in the 1960s and 1970s. Many modern educational psychologists have expanded on, or criticized, some of the perceptions and concepts brought up by Vygotsky. Jean Piaget’s (1896– 1980) monumental work, Play, Dreams, and Imitation provided structural criteria for evaluating play’s development and the useful idea that play often consolidates new learning, even though play is not the domain where children actually learn. Using a different lens, Vygotsky gave to play a more important role, namely, the role of leading edge of development because play helps young children go beyond thinking solely in terms of what they can perceive directly in front of them and to think in terms of what they can imagine. The New Zealand–born educational theorist Brian Sutton-Smith (b. 1924) has studied play, using many ideas and concepts derived from the study of rhetoric. During an extensive academic career at Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania, he produced numerous works on the subject of play, including The Ambiguity of Play (1997). Sutton-Smith sees seven different kinds of rhetoric at work in the “discourse” of play. Some rhetorics hold that play is a kind of adaptation, teaching skills or easing the passage or induction into different communities. Another view of play is that it is an expression of power, pursued in contests of prowess. Still another view holds that play is an expression of the working of fate or “Lady Luck,” as expressed in games of chance like Bingo, Poker, and Blackjack. Under another rhetoric, play is an extension of daydreaming, enacted in art. For some, play is just frivolity. In our modern society, adults tend to define play as a rhetoric of progress toward adulthood, whereas children have an entirely different rhetoric of play as a highly prized frivolous activity. Those ambivalent aspects of play often come into conflict in our times, but they need not. Sutton-Smith, now retired, has served as a consultant to television

xii

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shows such as Captain Kangaroo and Nickelodeon, as well as to the Philadelphia “Please Touch” Museum. Educators have struggled with these underlying issues of the function of play as they attempt to capture the magic of play and harness it effectively in learning situations. Sometimes those efforts succeed, but the fact that children seek out and play games that are not always approved by adults, such as “playing doctor,” or engaging in dangerous activities such as climbing trees or clandestine swimming parties outside of adult supervision, suggests the underlying truth of SuttonSmith’s view of the ambiguities of play. Clearly, playing with an educational puzzle and roughhousing on the playground represent two entirely different “rhetorics” of play. In this encyclopedia, we have gathered together an international group of scholars and writers to provide access to the fascinating literature that has explored such questions of psychology, learning theory, game theory, and history in depth. In addition, we have provided entries that describe both adult and childhood play and games in dozens of cultures around the world and throughout history. Through articles about cultures as diverse as the ancient Middle East and modern Russia and China, and in nations as far-flung as India, Argentina, and France, the reader will find a guide to the common childhood and adult games and toys. As one might expect, many countries and cultures have adopted similar games. In many countries, for

example, one can find variations on the famous American game Monopoly, with street names from diverse cities substituting for the familiar street names of Atlantic City, such as Boardwalk and Park Place. Games such as soccer have spread almost all over the world, while others, such as American baseball, have penetrated only a few societies. With its diversity of approximately 450 entries, this unique encyclopedia provides access not only to the sophisticated analyses of social thinkers like Huizinga, Vygotsky, and Sutton-Smith but to the wide variety of games, toys, sports, and entertainments found around the world. We have not attempted to include coverage of “professional” sports and sport teams but, instead, have included the hundreds of games played not to earn a living but to exercise all the aspects of play as an informal activity—from learning, through competition, mastery of nature, socialization, and cooperation. And simply enough, this encyclopedia explores play played for the fun of it. One caveat: There are thousands of games around the world, and no encyclopedia can include them all. We have made an earnest effort to include the most popular and widespread games—hundreds of them—in an attempt to provide a good representation. Rodney P. Carlisle General Editor

Reader’s Guide Adult Games Billiards Bowling Charades Crosswords Darts Dice Dominoes and Variations of Hobbies I Spy Mazes Musical Chairs Odd Man Out Parlor Games Password Puzzles Skittles Stock Market Games Sudoku Tic-Tac-Toe Trivial Pursuit Twenty Questions Who Am I? Word Games (Other Than Crosswords)

Board and Card Games Board Games Backgammon Battleships Bingo Boggle Checkers and Variations of Chess and Variations of Chinese Checkers Diplomacy Dungeons & Dragons Go Hand and Foot Life Mahjong Monopoly and Variations of Ouija Board Peg Boards Probe Risk, the Game Scrabble Snakes and Ladders Stratego Trivial Pursuit xiii

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Warhammer

Card Games Ace-Deuce-Jack All Fives Auction Pitch Baccarat Beggar My Neighbor Bezique Blackjack Boston Brag Bridge and Variations of Casino Cribbage Donkey Ecarté Euchre Faro Fish Hearts Loo Memory and Play Mille Bornes Monte Bank Napoleon Old Maid Pinochle Piquet Play or Pay Poker and Variations of Pope Joan Preference Racing Demon Rolling Stone Rummy and Variations of Sequence Seven Up Skat Slapjack Solitaire and Variations of Spit Spoil Five War Whist Ziginette

Children’s Games Blind Man’s Bluff Car and Travel Games Clapping Games Erector Sets Finger Games Frisbee Hares and Hounds Hide and Seek Hit the Rat Jacks Jump Rope Kick the Can Leapfrog London Bridge Marbles Marco Polo Piggy in the Middle Pinball Pin the Tail on the Donkey Playing “Doctor” Playing “House” Pokémon Pretending Punch & Judy Rock Paper Scissors Sand Play Singing Games Softball Speech Play Spinning Tops Table Hockey Table Soccer Tag Tiddlywinks Tinkertoys Tree Houses Water Play History of Play Africa, Traditional Play in Ancient China Ancient Egypt Ancient Greece Ancient India Ancient Rome Assyrian/Babylonian Culture Australian Aborigine



Central Asia, Ancient Europe, 1200 to 1600 Europe, 1600 to 1800 Europe, 1800 to 1900 Europe, 1900 to 1940 Europe, 1940 to 1960 Europe, 1960 to Present History of Playing Cards Mesoamerican Cultures Native Americans New Zealand Maori South Americans, Traditional Cultures Spanish America United States, 1783 to 1860 United States, 1860 to 1876 United States, 1876 to 1900 United States, 1900 to 1930 United States, 1930 to 1960 United States, 1960 to Present United States, Colonial Period Vikings Outdoor Games and Amateur Sports Athletics (Amateur) Ballooning Baseball (Amateur) Basketball (Amateur) Bicycles Bocce Boules Bungee Jumping Cracking the Whip Cricket (Amateur) Croquet Curling (Scottish) Dodgeball Fishing Folk Dancing Football (Amateur) Highland Games Golf (Amateur) Hockey (Amateur) Horse Racing (Amateur) Kayaking and Canoeing Kite Flying Maypole Dancing Morris Dancing Music, Playing

Reader’s Guide Netball Paintball Ping Pong Rodeos Roller Coasters Rugby (Amateur) Sailing Skateboarding Skating Skiing Snail Racing Snowboarding Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide Stilts Surfing Swimming (Amateur) Tennis (Amateur) and Variations of Volleyball (Amateur) Play and Education Academic Learning and Play Models Montessori Mother-Child Play Play and Evolution Play and Literacy Play in the Classroom Recess Teacher-Child Co-Play Toys and Child Development Play Around the World Afghanistan Albania Algeria Arctic Play (First Nations) Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas and Caribbean Belarus Belgium Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Bulgaria

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Reader’s Guide

Cambodia Canada Central American Nations Chile China Colombia Congo Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Egypt Estonia Ethiopia Finland France Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Korea, North and South Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Myanmar Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria

Norway Pakistan Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Russia Samoa Saudi Arabia Serbia and Montenegro South Africa Spain Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syria Tanzania Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan Ukraine United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam Psychology of Play Adlerian Play Therapy “Bad” Play Boys’ Play Common Adventure Concept Daydreaming Experiential Learning Definitions and Models Fantasy Play Female Aggressive Relationships Within Play (Putallaz) Gambling Gamesmanship Games of Deception Girls’ Play Homo Ludens (Huizinga) Human Relationships in Play Inter-Gender Play Luck and Skill in Play



Piaget and Play Play Among Animals Play and Learning Theory Play and Power, Psychology of Play as Catharsis Play as Competition, Psychology of Play as Entertainment, Psychology of Play as Interspecies Communication (Pets) Play as Learning, Psychology of Play as Mastery of Nature Play as Mock War, Psychology of Play as Progress (Sutton-Smith) Play as Rehearsal of Reality Play Frames Playing Alone Pretending Psychoanalytic Theory and Play Psychological Benefits of Play Psychology of Play (Vygotsky) Rhetorics of Play (Sutton-Smith) Role-Playing Sex Play Social Psychology of Play Symbol Formation and Play Team Play Teasing Unstructured Play Sociology of Play Amusement Parks Anti-Competition Play Arcades Caillois: Man, Play and Games Cityscapes as Play Sites Cooperative Play Costumes in Play Game Theory Organized or Sanctioned Play Play and Power, Sociology of Play as Competition, Sociology of Play as Entertainment, Sociology of Play as Learning, Sociology of Play as Mock War, Sociology of Playground as Politics Social Distinctions Sociological Benefits of Play Spontaneous Group Play Theology of Play

Reader’s Guide Toys and Business Toys Action Figures Blinky Bill Dolls, Barbie and Others G.I. Joe Gollywogs Hobby Horses Jigsaws Lead Soldiers Legos Meccano Paddington Bear Pet Rocks Rocking Horses Rubik’s Cube Teddy Bears Wendy Houses Yo-Yos

Companies Airfix Amiga Avalon Hill Bandai Coleco Fisher-Price Galoob Hasbro Hornby Imperial Toy Jakks Pacific Toys Kenner Legos Lionel LJN Matchbox McFarlane Toys Minifigs Parker Brothers Playmates Playskool Revell Strong National Museum of Play Tiger Electronics Tomy Toybiz Trendmasters

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TSR Waddington Wargames Research Group Video and Online Games Age of Empires Battlefield 1942 Civilization (I, II, III, IV) Cossacks (Napoleonic Wars) Counter-Strike Dragon Quest Dragon Warrior Dungeon Lords Flight Simulation GoldenEye 007

Grand Theft Auto Legend of Zelda Maple Story Mario Minesweeper Mortal Kombat Runescape Silkroad Online Sim City Snake Solitaire Sonic the Hedgehog Street Fighter I and II Tetris Tomb Raider World of Warcraft

List of Articles A Academic Learning and Play Ace-Deuce-Jack Action Figures Adaptive Play Adlerian Play Therapy Adventure Playgrounds Afghanistan Africa, Traditional Play in Age of Empires Airfix Albania Algeria All Fives Amiga Amusement Parks Ancient China Ancient Egypt Ancient Greece Ancient India Ancient Rome Anti-Competition Play Arcades Arctic Play (First Nations) Argentina

Armenia Assyrian/Babylonian Culture Athletics (Amateur) Auction Pitch Australia Australian Aborigines Austria Avalon Hill Azerbaijan B Baccarat Backgammon “Bad” Play Bahamas and Caribbean Ballooning Bandai Baseball (Amateur) Basketball (Amateur) Battlefield 1942 Battleships Beggar My Neighbor Belarus Belgium Bezique xix

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List of Articles

Bicycles Billiards Bingo Blackjack Blind Man’s Bluff Blinky Bill Blocks Bocce Boggle Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Boston Boules Bowling Boys’ Play Brag Brazil Bridge and Variations of Bulgaria Bullying Bungee Jumping C Caillois: Man, Play and Games Cambodia Canada Car and Travel Games Casino Casual Games Central American Nations Central Asia, Ancient Charades Checkers and Variations of Chess and Variations of Chile China Chinese Checkers Cityscapes as Play Sites Civilization (I, II, III, IV) Clapping Games Coleco Colombia Common Adventure Concept Congo Cooperative Play Cossacks (Napoleonic Wars) Costumes in Play Counter-Strike

Cracking the Whip Cribbage Cricket (Amateur) Croatia Croquet Crosswords Cuba Curling (Scottish) Cyprus Czech Republic D Darts Daydreaming Denmark Dice Diplomacy Dodgeball Dolls, Barbie and Others Dominoes and Variations of Donkey Dozens, Playing the Dragon Quest Dragon Warrior Dungeon Lords Dungeons & Dragons E Ecarté Ecuador Egypt Erector Sets Estonia Ethiopia Euchre Europe, 1200 to 1600 Europe, 1600 to 1800 Europe, 1800 to 1900 Europe, 1900 to 1940 Europe, 1940 to 1960 Europe, 1960 to Present Experiential Learning Definitions and Models F Fantasy Play Faro Female Aggressive Relationships Within Play (Putallaz)



Finger Games Finland Fish Fisher-Price Fishing Flight Simulation Folk Dancing Football (Amateur) France Freud and Play Frisbee Froebel, Friedrich G Galoob Gambling Gamesmanship Games of Deception Game Theory Georgia Germany Ghana G.I. Joe Girls’ Play Go GoldenEye 007 Golf (Amateur) Gollywogs Grand Theft Auto Greece H Hand and Foot Hares and Hounds Hasbro Hearts Hide and Seek Highland Games History of Playing Cards Hit the Rat Hobbies Hobby Horses Hockey (Amateur) Homo Ludens (Huizinga) Hornby Horse Racing (Amateur) Human Relationships in Play Hungary

List of Articles I Iceland Idealization of Play Imperial Toy India Indonesia Inter-Gender Play International Play Association Iran Iraq Ireland I Spy Israel Italy J Jacks Jakks Pacific Toys Japan Jigsaws Jordan Jump Rope K Kayaking and Canoeing Kazakhstan Kenner Kenya Kick the Can Kite Flying Korea, North and South Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lead Soldiers Leapfrog Lebanon Legend of Zelda Legos Liberia Life Lincoln Logs Lionel Lithuania LJN London Bridge

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List of Articles

Loo Luck and Skill in Play M Mahjong Malaysia Maple Story Marbles Marco Polo Mario Matchbox Maypole Dancing Mazes McFarlane Toys Meccano Memory and Play Mesoamerican Cultures Mexico Mille Bornes Minesweeper Minifigs Models Monopoly and Variations of Monte Bank Montessori Morris Dancing Mortal Kombat Mother-Child Play Music, Playing Musical Chairs Myanmar N Napoleon Native Americans Netball Netherlands New Zealand New Zealand Maori Nigeria Norway O Odd Man Out Old Maid Organized or Sanctioned Play Original Play Ouija Board

P Paddington Bear Paintball Pakistan Paraguay Parker Brothers Parlor Games Password Peg Boards Peru Pet Rocks Philippines Piaget and Play Piggy in the Middle Pinball Ping Pong Pinochle Pin the Tail on the Donkey Piquet Play Among Animals Play and Evolution Play and Learning Theory Play and Literacy Play and Power, Psychology of Play and Power, Sociology of Play and Sports Education Play as Catharsis Play as Competition, Psychology of Play as Competition, Sociology of Play as Entertainment, Psychology of Play as Entertainment, Sociology of Play as Interspecies Communication (Pets) Play as Learning, Anthropology of Play as Learning, Psychology of Play as Learning, Sociology of Play as Mastery of Nature Play as Mock War, Psychology of Play as Mock War, Sociology of Play as Progress (Sutton-Smith) Play as Rehearsal of Reality Play Community Play Cues Play Fighting Play for the Elderly Play Frames Playground as Politics Playground Movement, U.S. Playing Alone



Playing “Doctor” Playing “House” Play in the Classroom Playmates Play or Pay Playskool Play Therapy Playwork Pokémon Poker and Variations of Poland Pope Joan Portugal Preference Pretending Probe Psychoanalytic Theory and Play Psychological Benefits of Play Psychology of Play (Vygotsky) Punch & Judy Puzzles R Racing Demon Reading Recess Revell Reversal Theory Rhetorics of Play (Sutton-Smith) Risk, the Game Risk in Play Rocking Horses Rock Paper Scissors Rodeos Role-Playing Roller Coasters Rolling Stone Romania Rubik’s Cube Rugby (Amateur) Rummy and Variations of Runescape Russia S Sailing Samoa Sand Play

List of Articles Saudi Arabia Scrabble See-Saw or Teeter-Totter Sequence Serbia and Montenegro Seven Up Sex Play Silkroad Online SimCity Singing Games Skat Skateboarding Skating Skiing Skittles Slapjack Slovenia Snail Racing Snake Snakes and Ladders Snowboarding Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide Social Distinctions Social Psychology of Play Sociological Benefits of Play Soduku. See Sudoku Softball Solitaire and Variations of Sonic the Hedgehog South Africa South Americans, Traditional Cultures Spain Spanish America Speech Play Spinning Tops Spit Spoil Five Spontaneous Group Play Stilts Stock Market Games Stratego Street Fighter I and II Street Games Strong National Museum of Play Sudan Sudoku Surfing Surplus Resource Theory

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Sweden Swimming (Amateur) Switzerland Symbol Formation and Play Syria T Table Hockey Table Soccer Tag Tanzania Teacher-Child Co-Play Team Play Teasing Teddy Bears Tennis (Amateur) and Variations of Tetris Thailand Theology of Play Tic-Tac-Toe Tiddlywinks Tiger Electronics Tinkertoys Tolkien on Play Tomb Raider Tomy Toybiz Toys and Child Development Tree Houses Trendmasters Trivial Pursuit TSR Turkey Turkmenistan Twenty Questions

U Ukraine United Kingdom United States, 1783 to 1860 United States, 1860 to 1876 United States, 1876 to 1900 United States, 1900 to 1930 United States, 1930 to 1960 United States, 1960 to Present United States, Colonial Period Unstructured Play Uruguay Uzbekistan V Venezuela Vietnam Vikings Volleyball (Amateur) W Waddington War Wargames Wargames Research Group Warhammer Water Play Wendy Houses Whist Who Am I? Word Games (Other Than Crosswords) World of Warcraft Y–Z Yo-Yos Ziginette

List of Contributors Adams, Jeffery Massey University

Barron, Carol M. Dublin City University

Adams, Lynette Sport Waitakere

Beck, Jack Independent Scholar

Adams, Suellen University of Rhode Island

Behrenshausen, Bryan G. Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Adler, Jennifer City University of New York

Bekoff, Marc University of Colorado, Boulder

Apter, Michael John Independent Scholar

Bell, Robert J. Ball State University

Baghurst, Timothy University of Arkansas

Beresin, Anna University of the Arts, London

Barnhill, John Independent Scholar

Biron, Dean University of New England, Australia

Basha, Selma University of Virginia, Wise

Bittarello, Maria Beatrice Independent Scholar

Baron, Cynthia L. Northeastern University

Bonura, Kimberlee Walden University xxv

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List of Contributors

Breedlove, Marci M. University of Tennessee

Corfield, Justin Geelong Grammar School

Brown, Fraser Leeds Metropolitan University

Cossu, Andrea Università di Trento Italy

Brown, Harko Kerikeri High School Burger, Jean E. New York University Burghardt, Gordon M. University of Tennessee Buttery, David Independent Scholar

Cranwell, Keith A. University of Greenwich Crawford, Thomas Claremont Graduate University Daw, Jessie Northern State University Degroult, Nathalie Siena College

Calleja, Gordon IT-University of Copenhagen Denmark

Dénes, Ilona Central European University

Caponegro, Ramona Anne University of Florida

Deutsch, James I. Smithsonian Institution

Carr, Neil University of Otago

Dickman, Nathan Eric University of Iowa

Carr, Sarah University of Otago

Dubbels, Brock University of Minnesota

Cemore, Joanna J. Missouri State University

Dufer, Miriam D. Old Dominion University

Clements, Rhonda Manhattanville College

Dunkin, Jessica Carleton University

Cohen, Allison T. New York University

Dusenberry, Lisa University of Florida

Collins, Mary C. Clemson University

Eckhoff, Angela Clemson University

Cook, Daniel Thomas Rutgers University

Eliassen, Meredith San Francisco State University

Cooper, Abby Australian National University

Eversole, Theodore W. Independent Scholar



List of Contributors

Factor, June University of Melbourne

Hansen, Gregory A. Arkansas State University

Farr, Daniel Randolph College

Harbour, Vanessa University of Winchester

Fehrle, Johannes Albert-Ludwigs-Universität

Hartle, Lynn University of Central Florida

Flannery Quinn, Suzanne M. University of South Florida

Harvey, Jessamy University of London

Fleming, Dan University of Waikato

Hemphill, Joyce University of Wisconsin, Madison

Fogel, Curtis University of Calgary

Henry, Gage University of Georgia

Gallo, Ernesto University of Turin University of Birmingham

Hirsh-Pasek, Kathryn Temple University

Galofaro, Francesco Bologna University Garrison, Joshua University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

Hutira, A. A. Youngstown State University Janssen, Diederik Floris Independent Scholar

Gemeinhardt, Melissa New Orleans University

Jewkes, Abigail M. Hunter College City University of New York

Gentner, Noah Ithaca College

Jones, Janice Kathleen University of Southern Queensland

Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick University of Delaware

Josephson, Bruce Baekseok Cultural College

Gomez-Galisteo, M. Carmen Universidad de Alcala

Judge, Larry Ball State University

Grieve, Owen Brunel University

Kindler, Vardit Independent Scholar

Groth, Miles Wagner College

Kiuchi, Yuya Michigan State University

Han, Myae University of Delaware

Kling, Helena Educational Centre for Games in Israel

xxvii

xxviii List of Contributors Kozma, LuAnne Michigan State University Museum

Martinez, Michelle Sam Houston State University

Kte’pi, Bill Independent Scholar

Matthews, Elizabeth City University of New York

Kücklich, Julian University of the Arts London

McDonnell, Wayne G. New York University

Kullman, Kim University of Helsinki Laird, Jay Northeastern University Lang, Diane E. Manhattanville College Laukaitis, John J. Loyola University Chicago Leandro, Mauricio City University of New York Lee, Joon Sun City University of New York Lester, Stuart University of Gloucestershire Levi, Amiya Waldman Hebrew University, Jerusalem Lobera, Ana Luisa Baca University of Puerto Rico Lowe, Virginia Independent Scholar

McKinty, Judy Independent Scholar McNamee, Gillian Dowley Erikson Institute Medellin-Paz, Cristina M. City University of New York Medler, Ben Georgia Institute of Technology Michalski, David University of California, Davis Michon, Heather K. Independent Scholar Millbank, Anna-Marie Independent Scholar Moore, Mary Ruth University of the Incarnate Word Morris, Avigail Ben Gurion University Morrison, Heidi University of California, Santa Barbara

MacCallum-Stewart, Esther University of East London

Navidi, Ute London Play International Play Association

Maksudyan, Nazan Bogazici University

Norman, Jason Old Dominion University

Martin, Cathlena University of Florida

Nwokah, Eva E. University of North Carolina, Greensboro



List of Contributors

O’Donnell, Casey University of Georgia

Ríos Orlandi, Yma N. Independent Scholar

Osgerby, Bill London Metropolitan University

Roberts, Frank W. University of Texas, Austin

O’Shea, Gerad F. New York University

Ryan, John S. University of New England Australia

Overholser, Lisa M. Indiana University

Sayer, Karen Anne Leeds Trinity and All Saints

Padula, Alessandra Università degli Studi di L’Aquila Italy

Scheinholtz, Laura University of Wisconsin, Madison

Palmer, Sue Leeds Metropolitan University

Schneider, Sharon Hofstra University

Parsler, Justin Brunel University

Schott, Gareth University of Waikato

Patel, Ashwin Western State College of Colorado

Shuffelton, Amy University of Wisconsin, Whitewater

Patrouch, Joseph F. Florida International University

Siedentop, Daryl Ohio State University

Pope, Clive C. University of Waikato

Sluss, Dorothy Justus James Madison University

Pratt, Anastasia L. State University of New York

Smith, Dorsia University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras

Pringle, Richard George University of Waikato

Sobe, Noah W. Loyola University

Puente, Rogelio Independent Scholar

Stacy, Robert Independent Scholar

Ramšak, Mojca Center for Biographic Research

Stanley, Christopher Winston-Salem State University

Reid, Jason Ryerson University

Stanzak, Steve Indiana University

Reynolds, Daniel University of California, Santa Barbara

Sterling, Linda K. Northwest Missouri State University

xxix

xxx

List of Contributors

Sutterby, John A. University of Texas, Brownsville

Valentine, Deborah S. Rutgers University

Tanta, Kari J. Independent Scholar

Vaughn, Brandon K. University of Texas, Austin

Terry, Jennifer California State University, Sacramento

Walker, Christine M. University of Michigan

Thorpe, Holly University of Waikato

Watrall, Ethan Michigan State University

Tobin, Samuel F. New School for Social Research

Weintraub, Naomi Hebrew University

Tredinnick, Luke London Metropolitan University

Welch, Wendy University of Virginia, Wise

Trotti, Patrick Independent Scholar

Westgate, Christopher Joseph Texas A&M University

Tsipursky, Gleb University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Willans, Becky Thurrock and Basildon College

Tucker, Elizabeth Binghamton University

Wong, Wilkey University of Delaware

Unger, Dallace W. Independent Scholar

Woodford, Darryl IT-University of Copenhagen Denmark

Valentin, Andrea University of Otago

Wragg, Mike Leeds Metropolitan University

Chronology of Play 30,000 to 10,000 b.c.e.—A period of cave art traditions in Europe where cave paintings, primitive writing, and signs at Lascaux, France, reflect a fascination with hunting and interaction between man and nature and recognition of passing seasons. Play becomes a natural part of survival training. For instance, aboriginal Australians develop an ancient game of keep-away called Munganmungan that pits young athletes against their elders. 10,000 to 8000 b.c.e.—Sedentary hunter-gatherer Natufian culture and rituals form in the Levent region, and permanent farming villages develop. Throw sticks in Egypt, South India, North Africa, and the Americas are used during this period, possibly indicating that play is associated with hunting. In Australia, the oldest existing boomerangs date to this period. 5500 to 4000 b.c.e.—The indigenous Badarian culture in Egypt trades in copper, ivory, shells, and turquoise. The sail, plough, and potter’s wheel are developed in Mesopotamia. Contests of traveling through snow country occur in central Asia, 3650 to 3200 b.c.e.—Wheeled vehicles are invented. Permanent fishing villages emerge along the Pacific

coast of South America. Skiing in Scandinavia becomes a more efficient means for crossing snow-encrusted terrain than snowshoeing. 3000 to 1500 b.c.e.—Survival training transforms into combat sports including boxing, wrestling, gladiator contests, and bull jumping in Sumaria. Backgammon boards inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and ivory, along with dice, are found in southeastern Iran. A Minoan palace civilization on Crete draws craftsmen who manufacture goods for a wide-ranging maritime trade network. Pearls used in religious healing and magic inspire commerce. Trade, more than any other factor, shapes the history and movement of play. For instance, the pearl trade reaches across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, and much later into the Americas. 2600 to 2100 b.c.e.—Excavations of the royal tombs of Ur reveal that board games like Senet originated in Egypt and nearby. Construction of the Stonehenge megalithic stone circle in southern England indicates a ritualistic culture aware of seasons and astronomy. A version of Go, a tabletop game, is invented in China. Children in various regions play with wooden tip cats. xxxi

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Chronology

2000 to 1700 b.c.e.—A Hockey-type game played with two men squaring off using curved sticks and a small hoop occurs in the Nile Valley. Throwing and catching games are depicted symbolically on the walls and stone spheres in Egyptian tombs. An Egyptian wall painting in the 15th Beni Hassan tomb of an unknown prince contains depictions of female dancers and acrobats juggling. Girls in Nilotic communities play change-hand clapping games. Small clay balls (marbles) become popular in Crete. 1700 to 1200 b.c.e.—The two-wheeled horse-drawn chariot is developed in the Middle East. Chinese and Mongolian societies practice archery as a pastime. Hebrew patriarch Abraham leaves Ur and establishes a new nation, Canaan, between Syria and Egypt. Canaanites invent an alphabet with 28 letters, and Egyptians develop geometry. Greeks and Egyptians play Knucklebones. The earliest record of a fierce hurling game in Ireland appears in a description of the Battle of Moytura in 1272 b.c.e., when invaders defeated the residents in a hurling game and then replicated the victory on the battlefield. 1250 to 400 b.c.e.—The Mesoamerican fast-paced ballgame, utilizing a rubber ball played on a court enclosed with stone walls in the shape of an “I,” becomes important in Central American Olmec culture. 1200 to 200 b.c.e.—The game T’ou hu, an early version of darts, where an arrow is thrown from a fixed distance into a small receptacle positioned on the ground, is played. Phoenicians become leading maritime traders in the Mediterranean region, and their jewelry and beads depict doll-like faces. The skilled breeding of the Arabian horse, so influential in combat from 2000 b.c.e. until 500 c.e., coincides with development of horse sports like Polo and Buzkashi. Amrit, an ancient city located in Syria, contains a stadium with a racetrack. 1122 to 256 b.c.e.—Chinese first practice martial arts blending self-defense and religious and spiritual growth. Kites, first used in China, are later adopted for military signaling during the sixth century c.e. and migrate to Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Burma, India, the Middle East, and North Africa. 850 b.c.e.—Homer’s Odyssey depicts how a lost ball roused the shipwrecked Odysseus from his sleep and

led to his discovery by Nausicaa. Homer also describes a game of Hide-and-Seek that was thought to have originated in Ethiopia, called cock-a-loo. 776 b.c.e.—The first Olympic games are held every four years in Olympia, Greece, until 393 c.e., when the Roman emperor abolishes them. Meanwhile, less proficient athletes play an early version of Chuckie at the Hole, by bouncing a ball on the ground and then catching it on the rebound, with the player catching the most rebounds winning. Clay tops appear in Greece in about 750 b.c.e. Later, an early form of the yo-yo arrives in Greece, possibly originating in China. 387 b.c.e.—The Greek philosopher Plato establishes the Academy to train a class of rulers through a process of the dialectic, using logic, ethics, and reasoning to reach solutions. Plato describes maze patterns to illustrate the study of true realities, but labyrinths date back to the ancient religions of Judaism, Brahmanism, Sufism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Taoism. 333 to 146 b.c.e.—Athletic play related to the pentathlon events are recorded in art during the Hellenistic Period. Athletes use jumping weights like modern dumbbells when training for races and gymnastics. Javelin throwing is considered to be part of military training. Indigenous cultures including Hohokam, Anasazi, and Mogollon tribes in North America use play to foster running, hunting, and gathering skills. 52 to 43 b.c.e. —Roman children play Castles, or Pyramids, with nuts. 6 or 7 c.e.—Mancala, a strategic counting game, is played in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. 125 to 170—Puppetry becomes popular in Greece and Rome. Lucius Apuleius chronicles how Roman marionettes have rolling eyes. 300—Roman emperor Diocletian opens public baths in Rome as a place for socializing, though the pattern for the Roman baths as public places for socializing and exercise had already been well established for at least two centuries. Germanic peoples begin bowling with variations traced to Finland, Egypt, and Yemen.



600—Shatranj, an early version of Chess, is invented during the later years of the Persian Empire. 711—Berbers from western Africa invade Spain and establish a distinctive civilization that lasts almost 800 years until Grenada is recaptured by Spanish Christians in 1492. The Moors introduce technology, design, and foods like sugar, rice, and saffron to the Iberian Peninsula. The Middle Eastern game of choice, Astraglis, becomes popular, and the pitch-andtoss game of Abbia from western and central Africa migrates northward. 768 to 814—Charlemagne, king of the Franks, attacks the pagan Avars from eastern Europe. Popular romantic tales including Valentin and Orson—and later, during the 1340s, The Tale of Gamelyn, which chronicles a peddler named Gamble Gold, or Gamewell, one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men—are passed on by generations of storytellers who inspire play. 800—Patolli, a board game of chance popular with Mayas, and later the Aztecs, is played on woven mats, similar to pachisi, which is played in India. 995 to 1005—Aelfric’s Colloquy, the first English book of instruction for children, written in dialog format, provides vivid details of Anglo-Saxon daily life and play. Scottish King Malcolm III organizes footraces and athletic contests, including the caber toss, stone put, hammer throw, and sheaf toss, as an entertaining means for developing warfare and survival skills. 1120—Dominoes are developed in China. 1133—St. Bartholomew’s Fair is established in London’s Smithfield. 1147—Woodcuts are first used to illustrate manuscripts at the monastery in Engelberg, Switzerland. Playing cards appear in Europe after woodblock printing facilitates mass production. 1274 to 1594—Venetian explorer Marco Polo travels throughout Asia. His account, The Description of the World, which includes descriptions of daily life and pastimes, serves as the chief source of European intelligence on China for centuries.

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1300—Jacques de Cessoles, a French Dominican friar, writes a treatise on Chess as it relates to human affairs. It is written in Latin and published in Genoa, Italy. 1314—English King Edward II issues a royal decree prohibiting “the hustling over large balls” in mob Football because games negatively impact local merchants. 1325 to 1335—The illuminated manuscript Luttrell Psalter depicts men chucking and pitching small objects into a hole for entertainment in a game of Chuckie. 1377—Giovanni di Juzzo da Covelluzzo, a chronicler of Viterbo, records the introduction of playing cards in that city. Arabs later introduce the game of Taracco from the Far East to Europe. 1385—The Bishop of London declaims against ballplay around St. Paul’s Cathedral. 1390s—During the late 1390s, the Great Plague kills an estimated 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population, irrevocably altering its social structure. Meanwhile, in China a yo-yo is invented as a precursor to the modern Diabolo, a game of skill where a spool is tossed on a string suspended between two sticks. 1410s—Doll manufacturing starts in Germany. 1440s—The English develop the Morris Dance, often incorporating swords, hobbyhorses, sticks, and handkerchiefs in performances. 1496—Upon his return from a second voyage to the New World, Christopher Columbus reports that indigenous people have developed a ball made from gum of a tree that while heavy, flew and bounced better than leather air-filled balls used in Europe. Columbus describes games including Bamboula, Tlatlico, and Tlachtli. 1500 to 1525—During the High Renaissance, ABC hornbooks, battledores, and primers are used. The sturdy construction and design of hornbooks and battledores allows them to be used in physical games. Niccoli Machiavelli’s The Prince (1513) offers advice on how the ruler of a small state might strategically preserve power with judicious use of force, inspiring some leaders to seed sources for developing continuous wealth. By the 15th

xxxiv Chronology century, card games emerged in other parts of Europe. Pochspiel, a German game involving bluffing and strategy, similar to the Persian game of Nas, appeared. This became the game of Poker, where the object is to take the pot by holding the best combination of cards or by bluffing the other players into withdrawing. 1533—France establishes a lottery to raise revenues for the state. The first English lottery is held in 1569; tickets are sold at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London to raise money to repair British harbors. 1539—Peiter Bruegel’s famous painting “Children’s Games” depicts 80 games played by Dutch (and other European) children, many of which require special apparatus. 1543—English King Henry VIII commissions a hunting lodge known as Great Standing to be built in Epping Forest, one of the last stands of great oak forests that had surrounded London since medieval times, to provide panoramic views of hunting expeditions. 1550—Water power, using water and air pressure to drive machinery, allows for automation of certain manufacturing, including paper production, that leads to an increase in printing books. Five years later, Olaus Magnus’s Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus depicts young people jumping through hoops decorated with bells alongside a band of sword dancers. 1585—An English expedition lands on North Carolina’s Roanoke Island carrying dolls as gifts for indigenous people. 1595—William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream inspires the children’s singing game “Old Roger.” 1600s—The Dutch, English, and French arrive in West Africa, heralding cultural exchanges that continue until the 1800s. Mu torere, a wood board game created in New Zealand, is played with a Tic-Tac-Toe philosophy prior to British rule in 1840. Meanwhile, a new design for a yo-yo utilizing a looped slip string emerges in the Philippines; it allows for the yo-yo to move back and forth more easily. 1601—Professional actress and poet Isabella Andreini’s Rime d’Isabella Andreini Padovana: comica gelosa

presents outlandish metaphors. Andreini becomes the model for the character of Isabella in Commedia dell’arte, derived from classical Roman and Greek comedy. Commedia dell’arte fosters improvisational motifs that spread throughout Europe during the 17th century, inspiring the creation of trickster characters like Punch, Kasperl, and Petrushka. 1618—The Dutch poet Jacob Cats’s Emblemata includes verses of “Kinder-spel,” describing children’s jump rope games. 1621—English settlers traveling on board the Fortune bring a game popular with women called Stoolball to Plymouth, Massachusetts—Puritan leaders are not amused. 1631—John Amos Comenius’s School of Infancy states that children use natural materials for building and learning. This later inspires toy manufacturers to produce building toys and model kits. 1633 to 1639—Duke Frederick of Holstein compiles reports of travels of ambassadors to Russia, Asia, Iran, the East Indies, and the South Pacific, describing social life and customs of those regions that are later published in London in English. In 1628 the Casino di Venezia becomes the first casino in Italy. 1653­—Laws forbid work, travel, and other activities like play on Sundays in Boston, Massachusetts, to maintain the Sabbath. 1657—Jacques Stella’s Les Jeux et Plaisirs de l’enfance depicts cherubs playing Hopscotch. 1693—English philosopher John Locke’s Some Thoughts Concerning Education promotes the idea that a toy is a plaything for the exclusive use of children and as an educational device. 1694—The English government Stamp Office imposes “duties on vellum, parchment, and paper,” to raise revenues to finance a war against France, creating the first tax on playing cards. 1698—D’Urfrey’s comedy The Campaigners includes the children’s finger game “Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s man.”



1700—Rebuses, or hieroglyphic puzzles, become popular novelty items. The rebus presents a message in a semipictorial form, using images of objects in place of selected words or syllables. 1720s to 1740s—Chapbooks feature adventure stories and romances that introduce English translations of the Arabian Nights (1704–1708) and Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) into children’s play. 1740—Irish tinsmith Edward Patterson settles in Berlin, Connecticut, producing some of the first Americanmade toys that are sold door-to-door. 1744—John Newbery’s A Little Pretty Pocket-Book contains a description and illustration of boys playing baseball. 1750s—Boys’ street games begin to have specific seasons. Colonial merchants who want to cultivate growing consumerism in North America import toys from England and the Netherlands, including dollhouses, furnishings, and commercially produced children’s board games. 1759—John Jefferey’s Journey Through Europe, or, The Play of Geography, includes a linen-mounted hand­colored folding map game depicting a seventy-sevenstop trip through Europe. 1763—British soldiers observe indigenous people in North America playing lacrosse and indigenous women play physically demanding team sports like double-ball and shinny. 1767—London engraver and mapmaker John Spilsbury invents the jigsaw puzzle. 1768—British horse trainer Philip Astley erects an arena in London. Astley, known as the father of the modern circus, hires novelty acts including professional equestrians, musicians, tightrope walkers, tumblers, and dancing dogs to entertain audiences. 1770—The Industrial Revolution begins in Great Britain. The British children’s novel Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765) depicts a heroine introducing an educational game utilizing letter pieces (like Scrabble) to teach read-

Chronology

xxxv

ing. This game becomes a model for enlightened parents who want to prepare their children for success in an increasingly industrial world. 1777—At a party at Chateau de Bagatelle, French King Louis XIV and his wife enjoy playing with a new table game featuring a narrowed billiard table, where players use cue sticks to shoot ivory balls through an inclined playfield. The game, called Bagatelle, spreads throughout France and evolves into the game of pinball. 1777 to 1778—Captain James Cook reports observing surfing in Tahiti and on Oahu in Hawaii. 1783—French architect Richard Mique creates the petit hameau, a forerunner to modern theme parks consisting of a farmhouse, dairy, and mill as an extension of the Petit Trianon for Marie Antoinette. At this rustic retreat, Marie Antoinette and her attendants play out roles of dairymaids and shepherdesses. Elsewhere in France, Brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier introduce hot air ballooning using a balloon made with paper and linen. 1798 to 1826—Alois Senefelder’s invention of lithography in 1798 inspires the first coloring book published with uncolored images in Germany. Toy theaters, or juvenile dramas, are introduced in London for young people to produce popular plays of the day with miniature stages, backcloths, prosceniums, and characters, along with scripts printed on paper that can be cut out and assembled. Paper dolls first appear in the marketplace to provide consumers with previews of garment designs that can be commissioned. The scrapbookcompiling craze starts with publication of John Poole’s Manuscript Gleanings and Literary Scrap Book (1826) containing a one-page introduction explaining the concept of a commonplace journal as a tool for collecting and arranging materials. 1804—Jane and Ann Taylor’s Original Poems for Infant Minds contains a poem, “Twinkle, twinkle little star,” that becomes a popular singing rhyme. 1806—William Roscoe’s poem “The Butterfly’s Ball and the Grasshopper’s Feast” appears in Gentlemen’s Magazine. Thomas Jefferson clips this early nonsense rhyme for his granddaughter Cornelia.

xxxvi Chronology 1808—French Empress Josephine travels to Bayonne, France, to join Napoleon, and the municipality sends young Landes stilt-walkers to greet her. Although stilts were invented in the early 1600s for practical purposes of walking elevated above normal height, court jesters adopt them to entertain audiences. 1817—Englishman David Brewster reintroduces the kaleidoscope (known to the ancient Greeks) as a toy. 1818—German Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn develops the Laufmaschine, or “Running Machine,” a prebicycle consisting a wooden frame supported by two in-line wheels. 1824—Dr. P.M. Roget systematically analyzes the principle of moving images. His findings are later adapted into optical toys including the Pheniksticope, Praxinoscope, Thaumatrope, and Zeotrope. 1826—German educator Friedrich Froebel’s The Education of Man encourages parents to install mobiles in cradles to ensure “occupation for the senses and the mind” to foster early child development. 1827—Catherine Beecher requires students at her Hartford Female Seminary to do calisthenics. 1830s to 1850s—Carpenter William S. Tower, from Massachusetts, manufactures wooden toys in his leisure hours. Tower establishes a cooperative guild consisting of 20 members, coinciding with a golden age of folk art. Parents make whirligigs in human forms with arms that spin and Noah’s Ark sets, which become popular Sunday toys. Scrimshaw acrobatic toys emerge at the height of the whaling industry.

tory, produces and sells lacquered (or japanned) tin toys along with dollhouse furnishings. 1840s—Amusement sheets containing puzzles, games, enigmas, and jokes for family entertainment are sold in bookstores and given as free advertisements. In England, students at Rugby School begin playing a team game where players can pick up a ball and run with it. The game is called called Rugby Football. In Germany, Frederick Froebel opens the first kindergarten, stressing the importance of environment, self-directed activity, physical training, and play in the early development of children in 1841. 1843—English entrepreneur Alexander Dabell establishes the Blackgang Chine amusement park on the Isle of Wight, combining unusual and whimsical walkthrough attractions, exhibits, and rides. Massachusetts firm W. & S.B. Ives publishes a board game called The Mansion of Happiness: An Instructive, Moral, and Entertaining Amusement. 1845—Alexander Cartwright leads an effort to delineate rules for a bat and ball game in the United States and comes up with the Knickerbocker Rules that evolve into the modern sport of baseball. 1849—Charles Goodyear invents and patents “vulcanizing” rubber, using chemicals to create elasticity and stability. Goodyear’s invention, known as India rubber, is used in air balls, ball rattles, rattleboxes, doll heads, and a variety of animal toys. 1853—French spiritualist M. Planchette develops the Ouija Board, consisting of a large piece of paper, a heartshaped wedge with two wheels on each end, and with a pencil. In this game the players’ fingers move the wedge to draw pictures and form words and messages. The name “Ouija” is supposedly derived from the French and German words for “yes”—oui and ja.

1837—The accession of Queen Victoria to the English throne brings a tremendous period of sentimentality when nursery play is spotlighted. The continuing Industrial Revolution brings a migration of families from rural settings into urban areas. Children lose play time as they are employed in hazardous jobs in factories and mines, and as chimney sweeps, inspiring several Factory Acts in Great Britain.

1855—At the women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, some women wear bloomers to draw attention to artificial distinctions created by restrictive clothing that limit daily physical activities for women.

1838—The American company Francis, Field, and Francis, also known as Philadelphia Tin Toy Manufac-

1856—George W. Brown & Co. toymakers introduces the tin clockwork toy in the United States.



1859—Godey’s Lady’s Book is the first publication to feature paper dolls. 1860—Milton Bradley invents The Checkered Game of Life and establishes his eponymous American game company. He is also the inventor of the paper cutter. 1861—Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations describes Beggar-My-Neighbor as the only card game that the novel’s protagonist Pip knows how to play as a child. 1861 to 1865—In Philadelphia in 1862, a flurry of children’s fairs raise cash and supplies for a local companies and Army hospitals during the American Civil War. Schools gather wagons of food and linens. Stephen Foster’s popular song “Don’t Bet Money on the Shanghai” draws upon the music of European settlers and African slaves and captures the love of cockfighting in the American South. 1869—Completion of the transcontinental railroad in the United States makes rapid distribution of manufactured goods possible on a national scale. J.W. Hyatt invents plastic celluloid in New Jersey. Meanwhile, William H.H. Murray’s Adventures in the Wilderness; or Camp-Life in the Adirondacks starts an outdoors movement. The term “Murray’s Fools,” in popular culture, referred to city folk who packed specially outfitted railroad trains each weekend to pour into resorts. 1870—The United States establishes Christmas as a national holiday. Americans begin the practice of exchanging handmade or inexpensive toys and gifts among a wide circle of acquaintances and charities. 1870s—Milton Bradley takes Dr. P.M. Roget’s discoveries about optical theory and comes out with the Zoetrope, an illusion-motion toy. 1871—British inventor Montague Redgrave patents his “improvements in Bagatelle,” resulting in the birth of the modern pinball game. In the United States, the Frisbie Baking Company inadvertently starts a new craze when their pies are distributed to colleges in New England. Students discover that pie tins can be tossed and caught for sport and entertainment. Later, Walter Frederic Morrison and Warren Franscioni devise a plastic version that can fly a greater distance with more accuracy in 1948.

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1872—The United States establishes the National Park system when an act of Congress creates Yellowstone National Park. American James A. Bailey develops the concept of a three-ring circus. P.T. Barnum produces “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Later Barnum and Bailey merge enterprises and tour the United States. 1873—Mary Mapes Dodge becomes editor of St. Nicholas Magazine. 1874—W.E. Crandall designs and patents Toy Building Blocks, the precursors for plastic Lego units. In 1932 Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen starts producing wooden toys and soon calls them Lego before expanding to plastics. Lego manufactures interlocking bricks called “Automatic Binding Bricks” in 1949, and in 1974, Lego introduces Minifigs. 1870s and 1880s—American kindergarten pioneer Elizabeth Peabody inspires Milton Bradley to manufacture Froebelian “occupations” for young children. The toy steam engine is developed. In England, fireworks governed by safety regulations became available for home use. Embossed tin rattles and whistles are manufactured. Advances in printing technology create new levels of play and home hobbies. In the United States, acquaintance cards were novelty items used in courting rituals. Flirtatious and fun, these visiting cards became tokens of subsequent friendships. The invention of gum coating fosters the manufacturing of stickers. 1881—Thomas Edison invents the carbon filament electric lamp and later the phonograph. He later designed a power supply system that enables lamps and other electrical equipment to be powered by the same generator but can be switched on and off individually. Italian writer Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio writes the popular fantasy about a puppet that is transformed into a boy. 1883—W.W. Newell’s Games and Songs of American Children describes Jack-stones as little double tripods of iron and the game of Jacky-Five-Stones as an 18th century Irish game. George S. Parker establishes a toy and game manufacturing company called Parker Brothers and publishes his first game, called Banking, at the age of 16 years.

xxxviii Chronology 1884—The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is established in the United Kingdom. 1891—Dr. James Naismith develops the sport of basketball. Although basketball is immediately popular at women’s and men’s colleges in the United States, four years later, Clara Gregory Baer invents a noncontact sport derived from basketball called netball. Netball, primarily played by women, becomes popular in Australia, New Zealand, the West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Great Britain. 1893—Stern-Halma, known in the United States as Chinese Checkers, is invented in Germany. Meanwhile, brothers Frederick and Louis Rueckham mass produce Cracker Jack, a mixture of popcorn, molasses and peanuts called “Candied Popcorn and Peanuts,” and sell it at the Chicago World’s Fair. Cracker Jack becomes a popular treat at baseball games and is mentioned in the 1908 baseball song, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” In 1912, Cracker Jack boxes come with prizes. 1895—Paul Boyton establishes Sea Lion Island on Coney Island, the first permanent amusement park in North America to charge admission fees. By the 1920s and 1930s, midway arcade games, including shooting galleries and coin-operated machines where a mechanical genie reveals a fortune, appear in amusement parks. 1896—Baron Peirre de Coubertin initiates the modern summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. 1900—L. Frank Baum’s fantasy The Wonderful Wizard of Oz becomes popular, spawning games, toys, and dreams. A year later, psychologist Karl Groos’s The Play of Man introduces concepts of fantasy play. 1901—British businessman Frank Hornby invents reusable strips, plates, wheels, and other parts for working mechanical construction kits known as Meccano that can be assembled at home. 1904—While G. Stanley Hall had earlier argued that infancy should be prolonged until the age of 14 years, F.A. Verplanek in his article “Shortening the Period of Infancy,” in Education Review, volume 27 (April 1904), pages 406 to 409, asserts that adolescence is the transitional period of development between puberty and

adulthood, extending mainly through the teen years, and legally terminating when the age of majority is reached. 1906—The Wallie Door Company patents and first manufactures a specialty automotive card game called Tour. Later, Frenchman Edmond Dujardin creates another automotive card game called Mille Borne. Meanwhile, Will Keith McVicar establishes the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company, which becomes cereal giant Kellogg’s. The company ambitiously markets Corn Flakes with celebrities and cartoon characters, and to increase sales, they offer a special toy and movable book called Funny Jungleland Moving Pictures Booklet with any purchase of two boxes of cereal in 1909. 1907—Italian educator Maria Montessori establishes her first casa dei bambini in Rome, a school where children can develop creatively and intellectually, utilizing practical life exercises and sense-training materials. 1911—Caroline Pratt develops Do With Toys, pretending toys designed around specific themes with figures representing aspects of real life. Meanwhile, the Camp Fire Girls is established to offer outdoor recreational activities to girls in urban areas. The Boy Scouts is also established. A.C. Gilbert invents the Erector Set, a toy construction kit made famous by the first national advertising campaign in the United States. 1913—Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynne invents the word-cross puzzle for the New York World, and crossword puzzles become a craze in the United States. 1915—Artist and political cartoonist Johnny Gruelle gives his daughter Marcella an adapted rag doll with red yarn as hair. Marcella tragically dies after being vaccinated for smallpox without her parents’ consent, and the Raggedy Ann doll becomes a symbol for the antivaccination movement. In 1918, Gruelle’s Raggedy Ann Stories introduces the doll to the public. Later, some sororities adopt Raggedy Ann as a mascot. 1917—Helen Kinne and Anna Cobley’s The House and Family encourages parents to think about child safety when selecting toys. The book asserts, “Baby will put everything into his mouth. Toys made of wool and hair are bad. Those which can be washed are best.”



1920—Milton Bradley purchases McLoughlin Brothers, a leading manufacturer of washable durable linen books, paper cut-out figures, and games for children. The A.C. Gilbert Company manufactures home chemistry sets. 1923—Henry and Helal Hassenfeld establish the textile remnant company Hassenfeld Brothers, which grows into the toy-making giant Hasbro. 1927—Alfred Adler’s Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology promotes a psychodynamic approach to individual self-image that inspires play therapy. 1930—Fisher-Price manufactures sturdy toys for preschool children using lithographed paper on wood. 1931—The Starex Novelty Company produces the guessing board game called Battleship. 1932—Maurice Greenburg establishes Coleco (Connecticut Leather Company), which later experiences phenomenal success with Cabbage Patch Dolls during the 1980s. 1933—As part of his New Deal, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launches the Civilian Conservation Corps to relieve the Great Depression by employing thousands of men in a wide range of conservation and construction projects for state parks and recreational areas. 1935—Although Quaker Elizabeth Magie had developed The Landlord’s Game to explain political economist Henry George’s land value tax and to illustrate the “evils of land monopolization” in 1904, Parker Brothers produces the popular board game Monopoly during the Great Depression, which captures the public attention. 1938—The Fair Labor Standards Act establishes severe restrictions on child labor in the United States. Architect Alfred Mosher Butts creates a variation of a word game he invented called Lexiko. Utilizing frequency analysis to determine the distribution and value of letter tiles from various sources, including the New York Times, he calls the game Scrabble. 1940—The plastics toy industry emerges.

Chronology

xxxix

1943—Milton Bradley introduces the Indian morality game known as Moksha Patamu in the United States as Chutes and Ladders. 1945—Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliot Handler establish Mattel, Inc., which becomes the world’s largest toy importing company. 1950s—Architects begin integrating hobby-oriented spaces into homes. Sewing rooms, workshops, darkrooms, and recreation rooms are added to houses. 1952—Alexander S. Douglas develops OXO, a Tic-TacToe computer game also known as Noughts and Crosses. Mr. Potato Head is first sold. 1954—Barbara Frankel and Louis Galoob establish Galoob Toys, which manufactures Micro Machines in south San Francisco, California. 1955—Disneyland amusement park opens in Anaheim, California. 1956—Yahtzee is patented. Noah and Joseph McVicker invent the nontoxic clay modeling compound Play-Doh and sell it as a children’s toy. 1957—Freeman Tilden’s Interpreting Our Heritage sets forth guiding principles for how the National Park Service in the United States shapes visitor experiences. 1958—Charles S. Roberts establishes Avalon Hill, a company specializing in wargames. 1959—Mattel, Inc., launches a new adult figure doll called Barbie. The Ken doll is introduced in 1961. 1961—Bob Stewart’s Password, an American television game produced for Goodson-Todman Productions, first airs on October 2, 1961. 1963—In one of the oldest forms of fantasy sports, Strat-o-Matic, players manage imaginary baseball teams based upon the performances of real-life players. 1964—During the Vietnam War, Hasbro launches G.I. Joe, a line with a World War II theme inspired by the 1945 war film The Story of G.I. Joe.

xl

Chronology

1966—Charles F. Foley and Neil Rabens patent the game Twister. Milton Bradley launches Twister, and Eva Gabor and Johnny Carson turn it into a craze when they play it on The Tonight Show. 1969—Imperial Toys manufactures Bubbles and other novelty toys. 1970—Parker Brothers introduces the NERF ball made of polyurethane foam, invented by Rene Guyer, as the “first official indoor ball.” NERF balls and darts bring traditionally outdoor play into the workplace. 1971—The earliest known coin-operated arcade video game, Galaxy Game, debuts at Stanford University in California. The following year Atari Inc. launches Pong, achieving great commercial success. 1972—Michael Bond’s A Bear Called Paddington (1958) inspires the first stuffed Paddington Bear, created by Gabrielle Designs. 1974—Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernö Rubik invents a mechanical puzzle that he calls the Magic Cube. Ideal Toys renames it as Rubik’s Cube. Tactical Studies Rules, Inc., publishes a fantasy role-playing game, originally designed by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, called Dungeons and Dragons. 1975—Advertising executive Gary Dahl successfully markets the Pet Rock, an ordinary rock sold as if it was a live pet with instructions for care and feeding. 1979—Members of the Dangerous Sports Club execute bungee jumps from the Clifton Suspension Bridge, spanning Avon Gorge in North Somerset, England. Commercial bungee jumping starts in 1986. 1980—Namco launches the popular game Pac-Man. In 1981, Donkey Kong becomes a pioneering platform game. After a group of hunters including Bob Guernsey, Hayes Noel, Mark Chapin, and Alex Reiger discuss

the adrenaline rush gained from sport hunting, Guernsey establishes the National Survival Game and then contracts with the Nelson Paint Company to be sole distributor for paintball equipment used in the game Survival. 1984—In an industry acquisition, Hasbro, Inc., purchases the Milton Bradley company. 1991—MicroProse publishes Civilization, a turn-based strategy computer game produced by Sid Meier. 1994—Canadian cartoon artist Todd McFarlane establishes McFarlane Toys to manufacture detailed models of comic book and video characters, musicians, athletes, and figures from popular culture. 1996—Satoshi Tajiri develops a role-playing game called Pokémon. 1997—The Scottish company Rockstar North launches the popular game Grand Theft Auto as a sandbox-style video game for the tabletop computer console Sony PlayStation. 1999—The Stadium Giveaway Company revamps the German Nodder doll by creating a novelty poly-resin bobble-head doll, and the San Francisco Giants make Willie Mayes bobble-head dolls popular as a home game give-away for fans. 2001—Roger Caillois’s Man, Play and Games investigates the phenomenon of play as “an occasion of pure waste: waste of time, energy, ingenuity, skill, and often money.” 2008—Will Wright designs a single-player online game called Spore that allows a player to control the evolution of a species. Meredith Eliassen San Francisco State University

A Academic Learning and Play Play has an important place in the classroom and is a critical element of the learning process, particularly for younger children. For preschool-aged children, play is a key learning experience that teaches social skills and self-regulation and fosters cognitive capabilities, such as creativity and working memory. For older children, play continues to support learning objectives by increasing literacy, strengthening writing skills, and enhancing self-regulation skills. When play is used in the academic environment, children may enjoy the learning process more, which helps children to become self-directed and self-motivated learners. Overall, play is a critical component of the learning process, and an understanding of the role of play in academic learning is necessary for parents and educators. Defining Play According to Victoria Dimidjian, editor of a volume on play in public education, play is best understood as one end of a work-play continuum. To define play by these terms, where play is internally motivated, controlled, and valued, work is externally motivated, controlled, and evaluated. Play is both self-initiated and self-ended, while work starts and stops according to a set schedule. Play is open-ended while work is done to achieve

a specific goal. Dimidjian writes, “Traditionally during much of this century, play has been defined as the activity children do until they are ‘ready to begin real work’ or after they have successfully completed schoolwork tasks.” Children may understand that play is what they do for fun—on weekends, after school, during recess with friends—whereas work is what teachers force them to do in the classroom. However, for very young children, these boundaries between work and play are less clear. The preoperational stage is a learning stage identified in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. Preoperational stage is observed in children between the ages of 2 and 6 to 7 years old and is marked by the beginning of cognitive schemes and symbolic thinking, although these children have not yet developed adult reasoning. Children in the preoperational stage may still enjoy “chores” and “work” and view them as fun—and therefore, play. Parents or teachers who use a fun manner and excited demeanor to present tasks such as cleaning up, reading, and other learning activities will encourage children to see these activities as play rather than work. As children move into the “concrete operations stage“ (ages 6 or 7 through 11 or 12 in Piaget’s theory, marked by the development of reasoning about concrete reality), they are more likely to clearly distinguish between play— what they want to do—and work—what others want 



Academic Learning and Play

them to do. The task-focused nature of contemporary education reinforces this categorization, and elementaryage children come to see work as what they do during school and play as what they do on their own time. Learning Through Play A body of research suggests that the separation of work and play is counterproductive. Prominent psychologists support the idea that play is important throughout childhood, into adolescence, and even into adulthood. Play provides stress relief, supports creative engagement, and fosters specific types of learning. Fantasy play is particularly important for learning in early childhood. Fantasy play involves various forms of make-believe, including decontextualized behaviors (for instance, eating behaviors without food, such as in the tea party) and substitute objects (for instance, using a toy bottle to feed a toy doll). Fantasy play is most common during the preoperational stage and makes up about 17 percent of preschool play and 33 percent of kindergarten play. Psychologist Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky suggested that pretend play is a spontaneous childhood activity in which children function at their highest level of competence—at the top of what Vygotsky termed the zone of proximal development. Key skills that are strengthened through fantasy play include working memory (when children pretend with other children, they have to remember their role to stay in character), cognitive flexibility (they have to adjust to the decisions other children make in the fantasy), and creativity. Research has identified several academic benefits of fantasy play. One study found that quality of fantasy play predicted early writing abilities—theoretically, fantasy play is a form of symbolic media just as writing is, and children who learn to convey thoughts and feelings in fantasy may be better able to convey thoughts and feelings in writing. Likewise, children who understand storylines from a fantasy play perspective will be more apt to comprehend and follow story lines when they begin reading. Fantasy play also helps children to identify with other people and learn about other people’s points of view. This helps children work through a classic characteristic of the preoperational stage, preoperational egocentricism (the idea that children are unable to see any viewpoint other than their own). Through fantasy play, a child imagines that he or she is a parent, a worker, or a nonhuman animal, and therefore imagines the point-of-

view of this other. In the preoperational stage, the child is only capable of seeing others’ perspectives in pretend play, but this work-in-play builds the foundation for the child to understand others and develop characteristics such as empathy. By the time the child reaches the concrete operational stage, he or she will be able to think about and discuss other people’s points of view. Literacy Education and Play While a traditional perspective viewed literacy as a linear process based on the development of specific, sequential skills, a more holistic perspective now supports the idea that reading is a holistic and interactive process which involves meaning making and pattern recognition. Likewise, writing skill development is a holistic process which is built simultaneously to reading ability. Skills involved in both reading and writing include risk-taking, the negotiation of roles, problem solving, understanding meaning and giving meaning to experience, active questioning, decontextualization of experience, awareness of subtleties, and symbolic representation. All of these skills are implemented in play—particularly in fantasy play— so the child involved in play and storytelling is building skills that will be utilized in learning to read and write. When children understand that blocks can symbolize buildings, that crayons can be used on paper to symbolize flowers, and that stuffed animals can symbolize comfort and support, they are understanding symbols in the same way they will learn to understand words as symbols representing tangible objects. Thus play is an important prerequisite for literacy. Likewise, for older children who are learning to read or to improve their reading skills, playful reading can increase motivation for reading tasks. Humorous readings can be used to increase the playfulness of reading tasks and therefore support intrinsic motivation for reading. Mathematics Education and Play Jean Piaget’s theory of constructivism proposes that children learn by building knowledge through experience—rather than adopting the cognitive schemes presented by teachers and parents, they must rebuild those schemes from scratch. Constructivism is particularly relevant in mathematics education—children acquire knowledge and understanding of mathematics through their interaction with math in their environment. For instance, children learn about numbers through objects rather than through vague concepts on paper. Children



Academic Learning and Play



Play can be integrated into the academic curriculum through playful activities such as the use of stories (telling, reading, and writing), art (drawing, painting, and sculpture), and drama (putting on plays and perhaps learning set design).

learn about addition and subtraction by manipulating physical objects, removing five buttons from a stack of 10 and counting how many remain. Games are particularly appropriate for teaching primary mathematics and for providing children with tangible mathematics experiences that they then use to construct their understanding of mathematical concepts. The use of games in mathematics has several benefits. As in other forms of play-based learning, games-based mathematics can create greater internal motivation for the learning process. Children are internally motivated to do what is fun, so when learning is presented in a fun context, they are more likely to choose participation. Self-motivated learning fosters an intrinsic love of learning that will enhance future academic experiences. Math-based games provide students opportunities to experiment with multiple methods of solution, to develop social interaction skills, and to observe (and correct, as needed) others. Social Development Through Play Another important benefit of early childhood play is the acquisition of social skills. When children play with other children, they learn to negotiate with and relate to others. Play with other children affords the opportunity

to interact on equal footing with peers (in contrast, play with teachers and parents, while valuable, always occurs in a context of unequal status). Play with other children is important, as it helps children to learn appropriate methods for dealing with conflict and appropriate forms for expressing frustration and aggression and to develop skills and tactics for self-protection. Communications inherent in the play environment continually develop language skills. Self-Regulation Through Play One key cognitive skill that play helps to develop is executive function. Executive function includes several elements, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and self-regulation. Self-regulation is the ability for an individual to control his or her emotions and behaviors—children with strong self-regulation make good decisions and resist temptation, while children with poor self-regulation are more likely to get in trouble and later in life get addicted to substances or involved in crime. Selfregulation has been associated with both school completion (students with low levels of self-regulation are more likely to drop out of school) and school success (some research shows that self-regulation is more important



Academic Learning and Play

than intelligence in determining school performance). Because play promotes self-regulation, play is useful in helping children develop skills that lead to success, both in school and later in work. Some psychologists worry, however, that children who are predominantly involved in adult-regulated forms of play (for instance, sports leagues, music and dance lessons, youth center activities) will not have the opportunity to benefit from the self-regulationpromoting aspects of play—precisely because they are playing but not self-regulating when their playtime is structured by adults. For the same reason, television and video/computer games, while fun, do not promote selfregulation in the same way that free-play does because television and video/computer games are outside of the player’s control. Likewise, task-specific toys (for instance, fireman and princess costumes instead of a box of old clothes, plastic swords and guns instead of sticks) can limit creativity and self-regulation in play, because the toys define the form of the play. Research shows that the introduction of more regulated forms of play in the late 20th century (toys, video games, and parent/teacher-regulated activities) has actually changed how children develop. In a study of selfregulation in the 1940s, children ages 3, 5, and 7 years were ask to stand still without moving. The 3-year-olds could not stand still, 5-year-olds could stand for three minutes, and 7-year-olds could stand still for as long as instructed. The study was replicated in 2001; contemporary 5-yearolds could not stand still, and contemporary 7-year-olds could only stand still for three minutes. For this reason, early child psychologists suggest that the best kind of play requires no equipment and should focus on the child using his or her imagination. When children learn to rely on themselves for play, their playtime builds self-regulatory skills. This does not mean that children should play by themselves, or that adults should not be involved in playtime. Adults can effectively play with children in fantasy play, and adults should supervise playtime for safety and to quickly stop any inappropriate behaviors. However, adult participation and adult supervision should be distinguished from adult regulation of play. Integrating Play Into the Context of Academic Learning Play versus work need not be mutually exclusive alternatives. Play can be integrated into the academic curric-

ulum through playful activities such as the use of stories (telling, reading, and writing), art (drawing, painting, and sculpture), and drama (putting on plays, including set design). Math and science as play can involve a focus on hands-on experiments and activities instead of problem sets worked out on paper. Music can be playful and creative if students feel they have some say in the matter—for instance, picking the song to learn out of a selection provided by the teacher. Even physical fitness can be fun when children are provided with physical activity options that involve social interaction with friends and creative engagement. Complex imaginative play can be particularly useful in the academic context, as it requires a child to think creatively, interact socially, and engage working memory. Complex imaginative play should last a minimum of 30 minutes to challenge self-regulation and working memory, with elaborate sustained play over several hours being even more beneficial. Also, while realistic props (premade costumes and devices) may be useful for very small children, older children should make their own props or use symbolic representations to further challenge their creative development. Planning-based activities can also be useful learning play experiences, as they allow creative expression to be expressed in a context of self-regulation. Patterns for drawing, construction, and sewing; games and sports with directions; recipes for cooking; and instructions for scientific experiments all provide the opportunity for fun and self-discipline. Overall, when the learning environment is built in a context that allows learning to be enjoyable and provides children with an opportunity to feel in control of the learning process, it becomes possible for work to feel like play and for play to lead to productive outcomes in the classroom. See Also: Cooperative Play; Memory and Play; Organized or Sanctioned Play; Piaget and Play; Play and Learning Theory; Play and Literacy; Play as Learning, Psychology of; Play as Learning, Sociology of; Play in the Classroom; Psychological Benefits of Play; Psychology of Play (Vygotsky); Recess; Sociological Benefits of Play; Speech Play; Teacher-Child CoPlay. Bibliography. Victoria Dimidjian, Play’s Place in Public Education for Young Children (National Education Association of the United States, 1992); Roberta Golinkoff, Kathy Hirsh-

Action Figures

Pasek, and Diane Eyer, Einstein Never Used Flashcards: How our Children Really Learn—and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less (Rodale Books, 2004); Robin Henig, “Taking Play Seriously,” The New York Times (February 17, 2008); Dorothy Singer, Roberta Golinkoff, and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, Play = Learning: How Play Motivates and Enhances Children’s Cognitive and Social-Emotional Growth (Oxford University Press, 2006); Alix Spiegel, “Creative Play Makes for Kids in Control,” NPR (February 21, 2008); Alix Spiegel, “Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills,” NPR (February 27, 2008); Vikki Valentine, “Q&A: The Best Kind of Play for Kids,” NPR (February 27, 2008); Elizabeth Wood and Jane Attfield, Play, Learning, and the Early Childhood Curriculum, 2nd Edition (Paul Chapman Educational Publishing, 2005). Kimberlee Bonura Walden University



Since the banker is strictly playing the odds, he can make a number of changes in the game if the players think he is cheating. These include allowing one of the players to shuffle the cards or allowing the players to cut the deck. The top three cards can be used, or the deck can be divided into three stacks and one card is taken from each stack, which could be the top card, the bottom, or cut from the middle. The banker can even have the players pick the three cards he wins on. What the banker is counting on is that most people will not do the math to figure out the actual odds of winning. He relies on most players assuming that he has less than a 25 percent chance of winning, based on the fact that he is only picking three out of 13 cards as winners. What they miss is that he needs only one of those cards out of the three draws to win. See Also: Gambling; Play and Power, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Psychology of.

Ace-Deuce-Jack Ace-Deuce-Jack is a simple game where bets are placed on whether one of three cards will not be turned over. If one of the three cards is turned over, then the bank wins, otherwise the player wins. Bets are paid at one for one. The game is heavily weighted in the favor of the banker. The game became popular among hustlers during World War II. Game play is straightforward. The banker shuffles, or he can let one of the players do it since the shuffle is not important to the game. There is no manipulation of the cards during the shuffle or for that matter at any time during the game. Thus it is unimportant to the banker who shuffles or turns the cards over. After the shuffle, players can place their bets. Each player is betting that none of the three cards—ace, two (also called the deuce) or jack—will be turned over when three cards are turned over. The trick is that the game sounds like it is unbalanced in the player’s favor, since the bank can only win if one of three (out of possibility of 13 different cards) is turned up. What most players miss is that only one of the turned up cards has to be one of the three. Statistically this means that out of 22,100 possible combinations of three cards in a deck of 52 cards, of those, 12,220 win for the bank. Which means the bank wins just over 55 percent of the time while the players win just under 45 percent of the time.

Bibliography. Diagram Group, The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Card Games (Sterling Publishing Company, 1995); John Scarne, Scarne on Cards (Crown Publishers, 1973); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Dallace W. Unger, Jr. Independent Scholar

Action Figures Although action figures are an integral part of a boy’s upbringing in the United States, this was not always the case. At one point in our history action figures were simply unheard of. This changed in 1964 with the introduction of G.I. Joe, considered to be the first action figure. The aim of Hasbro, its producer, was to create the toughest and most masculine doll ever made. These characteristics clearly delineated it from the dolls on the market at that time, and thus the action figure was born. Typically, an action figure must possess these characteristics: the figure is usually made of plastic, designed as a superhero, can be articulated, is intended to be able to stand on its own, and is designed specifically for males. These specifics help to distinguish the action figure from other male figures such as Ken, the accoutrement to Barbie.



Action Figures

Although G.I. Joe sales have risen and fallen as a reflection of societal opinions and trends, he has stayed the course and remains one of the most prominent toys within the boyhood market. Indeed, Hasbro estimates G.I. Joe sales alone to be a staggering 375 million units worldwide. The success of G.I. Joe is largely because of the social environment in which it was created. In 1964, the United States was still reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy and found itself embroiled in the Vietnam War. During this early period of the war in particular, the military male was honored and his courage promoted by the media. There was no better time to release a military toy figure. G.I. Joe was released in appropriate Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force attire. Sales were impressive, with Hasbro generating nearly $17 million in its first year. Hasbro released an African American version the following year. Sales plummeted, however, following the Tet Offensive in 1968, suggesting that the action figure was indeed tied to societal trends. Hasbro responded by altering G.I. Joe’s identity from a member of a team to a solitary warrior, followed soon after as a team member of an elite independent fighting unit. Sales climbed once again, and G.I. Joe’s physique and appearance began to diversify, especially as new equipment and technology were developed. With increasing production costs in the mid-1970s, sales once again began to fall, and Hasbro was forced to release a smaller but more muscular G.I. Joe. However, production was halted in 1978 in part because of cost, but also because of competitors such as Star Wars figures beginning to compete for the market. By this time, other companies had taken an interest in the action figure market, and soon other well-known characters, particularly from comic books and movies, began to emerge. Indeed, the development of action figures during the 1960s and 1970s created a transformation in the toy industry that continues today. The sales statistics alone are impressive, with wholesale action figure sales generating approximately $1 billion annually. Action Figures and Education Regardless of whether a toy is specifically designed to educate, every toy educates. They are designed to portray information and to raise questions concerning its type, how it is played with, and the modes of self-expression it can provide. They can also teach adult-appropriate roles and communicate messages about gender.

Action figures have roles, friends, characters, enemies, missions, weapons, equipment, struggles between good and evil, and violent confrontations. According to Wendy Varney, boys in particular like action figures because they demonstrate masculinity, strength, and invincibility. She also suggests that toys establish worldviews and explain to children why things are the way they are largely because they are accepted by their parents or those whose opinions they value. Toys can teach boys that being male means being competitive, strong, aggressive, inexpressive, and courageous. We know that toys and thus action figures influence behavior. Some question the violent mechanisms behind action figures such as G.I. Joe, suggesting that these physically violent toys could encourage the actual use of violence. Interestingly, researcher Stephen Kline found that the role imparted on an action figure is dependent on the role presented by outside influences such as the media and parents. Therefore, a figure such as a firefighter can either use his accoutrements as tools of the trade for good or as weapons of destruction. The key is how boys are taught to interpret the figure they are playing with. The physiques and physical dimensions of action figures have grown larger and more muscular over the last few decades, which some male body image experts believe could be related to male body image dissatisfaction in later life. Although it has long been recognized that Barbie’s dimensions may encourage body image disturbances in females, disproportionate action figure physiques may also create similar occurrences in males. For example, Timothy Baghurst and colleagues presented a group of elementary schoolboys with current action figures and their original counterparts. Even though the figures were the same height, the boys preferred the current action figure, citing the primary reason for their preference to be the muscularity and physique of the figure. We know that society promotes a muscular, lean physique for men, and now this ideal image is reflected in the design of these action figures. From these action figures, males are taught from preadolescence that their heroes are large and muscular. However, there is no empirical evidence, one way or another, that action figures do indeed influence body image later on in childhood and adolescence. Where do action figures go from here? Throughout their history, action figures have followed societal trends. Traditionally, action figures were created from comic book characters, movie characters, and even real-

Adaptive Play



life heroes such as professional wrestlers. However, with the dawn of a new computer gaming generation, expect to see more and more action figures appearing on store shelves based on this booming industry. According to the market research company NPD Group, $9.5 billion were generated from computer and video game sales in 2007, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year. In fact, the gaming industry surpassed both the U.S. movie and music industries in 2005 and 2007, respectively. As computer games and their characters begin making their way more frequently to the big screen (e.g., Doom, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider), expect action figures to follow the scent of success. See Also: Dolls, Barbie and Others; Fantasy Play; G.I. Joe; Play and Learning Theory; Play as Rehearsal of Reality; Psychological Benefits of Play. Bibliography. T. Baghurst, D. Carlston, J. Wood, and F. Wyatt, “Preadolescent Male Perceptions of Action Figure Physiques,” Journal of Adolescent Health (v.41, 2007); S. Kline, “The Role of Communication in Supporting Pro-Social ‘Play Scripts’ in Young Boys’ Imaginative Play With Action Hero Toys: A Pilot Study of Rescue Heroes,” http://www2.sfu.ca /media-lab/research/rhreport.html (cited June 2008); C. Sartori, “Jump into Action,” Playthings (2004); W. Varney, “Of Men and Machines: Images of Masculinity in Boys’ Toys,” Feminist Studies (v.28, 2002). Timothy Baghurst University of Arkansas

Adaptive Play Adaptive play refers to play that has been altered in form, complexity, or intent to serve the needs of children with disabilities. This can range from developing new play materials or altering the form of traditional play materials for children with severe physical disabilities to modifying the rules of play or setting up situations to promote play opportunities for children who are cognitively impaired, as described by Musselwhite. Adaptive play through the use of assistive technology can offer a wide range of opportunities for children with developmental delays. Play is a way for children to explore, adapt, and develop. It is an activity that is engaged in for its own



sake and that entails a freedom of choice in the activity as well as a sense of enjoyment. Children play because it is fun and because they have a desire to play. Although play differs among individual children and different cultures, it is their primary occupation. Research shows a strong connection between play experiences and the development of motor, cognitive, emotional, and language skills. All children, regardless of their age or ability, need opportunities to play. Developmental Delays For children with developmental delays, the experience of play is different and sometimes even nonexistent. Because of lack of appropriate play materials and opportunities, these children are at an increased risk for additional secondary delays. Adaptive play serves as the window that enables children with developmental delays to have greater independence and more active involvement in play. Within adaptive play, various types of assistive devices permit these children to move in their environments, speak and communicate with others, and participate in developmentally appropriate activities that otherwise might not be possible. The play characteristics of children with developmental delays vary and depend on their specific physical, sensory, or cognitive condition. Depending on the disability, some children may not have the same access to play as children without disabilities; therefore, their play may be more contrived and have less inner direction than the play of other children. Children with more severe disabilities may have increased limitations, resulting in less access to play and less ability to play. For example, the play characteristics of children with physical limitations may include fear of movement, decreased active play, and preference for sedentary activities. These children may also have problems with manipulating toys and show decreased exploration. Children with cognitive impairment often show delayed or uneven skills, difficulty in structuring their own behavior, or lack of sustained attention. They may have a preference for structured play materials, limited or inflexible play repertoires, decreased curiosity, destructive or inappropriate use of objects, decreased imagination and symbolic play, and decreased social interactive communication. The play of children with autism is characterized by the lack of inner expressive language, stereotyped movements and/or types of play, decreased imitation



Adaptive Play

and imagination, lack of variety in play repertoires, and decreased play organization, manipulation of toys, and social play. The child with a visual impairment may be not only delayed in exploratory and sensory motor play but also more delayed in imaginative and symbolic play. All these limitations affect skill acquisition and potential for developing play skills through experience and interaction with other children. They result in frustration, unsuccessful experiences, and ultimately, learned helplessness. It is important to be aware of the problems that certain conditions impose on the child, and yet in actual practice, each child must always be considered individually. In addition, as in typically developing children, the importance of environmental variables such as physical settings and available play material, cannot be underestimated. The restraints imposed by the surrounding environment have to be taken into account in order to provide empowering settings that will enable these children to engage in developmentally appropriate occupations in general and play activities in particular. By adapting the child’s play environment and/or play materials, he or she can overcome great obstacles and thus engage and participate in play. Assistive Technology Assistive technology is any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Technology for children with disabilities enables participation in play and leisure activities, both alone and with others, and provides opportunities to socialize in the same settings as their peers without developmental delays. As assistive technology becomes more complex, it is considered high technology. This typically includes computers, electronic augmentative communication devices, environmental control units, powered mobility devices, and virtual reality systems. Low assistive technology includes nonelectronic communication aids, switch-adapted battery-operated toys, etcetera. To enable play for children with developmental delays, toys with universal design features are selected and simple toy and environmental adaptations are made. This ensures that these children are exposed to a range of interactive and reactive experiences through fuller participation than would otherwise be possible. In addition, toys are being developed that are switch operated, brightly

colored, and noise producing, features that make them usable and appealing to children with different abilities. When adapting play materials the following strategies are considered: stabilizing the play material by attaching it to a steady surface, enlarging materials to enhance visual perception, enlarging parts to allow access for the physically disabled, keeping play materials within physical range, making play more concrete, removing extraneous cues, removing distracting stimuli, increasing tactile and visual stimuli, and improving safety and durability. Simple modifications can be achieved by adding an element to the toy, stabilizing it, modifying the response mode, and unconventionally positioning the toy. For example, attaching plastic rings to a small and light toy can facilitate the child’s grasp, wooden knobs can be glued to wooden puzzle pieces to make them easier to manipulate, foam pieces or hot glue can be added to page corners to make it easier to turn the pages, and Velcro can be applied to sweatbands to make it easier to pick up and hold a toy. Suggestions for stabilizing toys include using suction cups, clamps, Dycem matting, and Velcro. Toys with on and off switches can be modified by adding larger or pressure-sensitive electronic switches that can be accessed by any body part. Adaptive switches can be activated by a touch of the hand/head etcetera, by blowing on them, by raising an eyebrow, or even by blinking one’s eye. When communication is compromised by impairments, the use of augmentative systems is considered. Carefully selected augmentative or communication systems can make it possible for children with communication impairments to take part in a variety of play activities, such as participating in a game of Simon Says with other children, engaging in playing a board game, sharing stories, or singing with peers. The computer, combined with specific access systems and software, can enhance play experiences by providing simulations of experiences that would be difficult, if not impossible, for the child to engage in without the computer, and with related software, which provides play opportunities (interactive stories, adventure challenges, problem-solving games, etc.). Play can also be facilitated by making adjustments to the play environment. These environments are carefully arranged to reduce distractions and promote engagement in play with people and with objects. When adapting the play environment, the following strategies are possible: arranging the physical environment to promote play,



engagement, and learning; selecting toys that encourage social exchanges and turn taking with peers (balls, bubbles); arranging the social environment to include play partners and responsive adults (exposing the child to competent play partners); and using children’s preferences for toys and activities. (By observing the child’s preference, one can determine if the child is interested in toys that elicit particular types of play behaviors.) It is important to recognize the influence of cultural values and beliefs on young children’s toy preferences and play behaviors. To some extent, the way young children approach and interact with toys reflects their diverse experiences, cultural backgrounds, and beliefs, structuring daily routines and play activities; using differential reinforcement (reinforcing under defined conditions); responding to child-initiated play, play coaching, or the use of direct instructions (when needed may emphasize imitation skills and presymbolic forms of play); and using stimulus modifications (i.e., changing the materials that elicit responses from the child). The primary goal of adaptive play is to enable appropriate and enjoyable play skills for children with developmental delays. It is done through altering the form, complexity, and intent of play materials and the play itself. Assistive technology enables accessing all forms of play, altering the form of traditional play materials, and developing new play materials. Children are probably the best teachers of play. Not only are they good at it, they are genuinely excited about sharing play experiences with others. Children with developmental delays are no different. In fact it may be even more exciting for these children to demonstrate and teach their play skills with the use of assistive technology because with assistive technology they can lead the activity and provide the expertise. It is what enables them to be a child. See Also: Idealization of Play; Play and Learning Theory; Psychological Benefits of Play. Bibliography. J. Hackette, “Perceptions of Play and Leisure in Junior School Aged Children With Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: What are the Implications for Occupational Therapy?” British Journal of Occupational Therapy (v.66, 2003); L. Harkness and A. C. Bundy, “The Test of Playfulness and Children With Physical Disabilities,” Occupational Therapy Journal of Research (v.21, 2001); H.R. Rep. No. 100–819, 100th Congress, 2nd Session, “In Virtual Reality, Tools for the Disabled,”

Adlerian Play Therapy



New York Times (April 13, 1994); A.J. Luebben and P. Kramer, “Legitimate Tools of Pediatric Occupational Therapy,” Frames of Reference for Pediatric Occupational Therapy (Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 1999); C.R. Musselwhite, Adaptive Play for Special Needs Children (College-Hill Press, 1986); L.D. Parham and L.S. Fazio, Play in Occupational Therapy for Children (Mosby Elsevier, 2008). Vardit Kindler Independent Scholar

Adlerian Play Therapy Adlerian Play Therapy, founded and developed by Terry Kottman, Ph.D., is a psychotherapeutic intervention for children that combines the practical elements of play therapy with the philosophical tenets of Individual Psychology. Individual Psychology is based on the works of Alfred Adler, who began his career in the psychoanalytic tradition but broke from this modality to define a more holistic, socially grounded theoretical framework. Individual Psychology According to Carlson, Watts, and Maniacci, Individual Psychology holds that people develop interpersonal approaches to living, called life-styles, which subsequently inform the feelings, behaviors, and thoughts they experience. Life-styles are mental and emotional “maps” that are shaped by past experiences, provide explanations and motives for behaviors of the self and of others, and determine how individuals respond to certain situations in life. Adler asserted that individuals possess a pervasive need to belong to a social system, and it is within this social system that the individual enacts his or her experientially derived life-style. Life-styles are said to stem from the individual’s experience within his or her first social group, the family. The family is thought to be a system that encourages or discourages the individual’s development of social interest, or the quality of being connected with and concerned for others. The extent to which an individual possesses social interest purportedly affects his or her satisfaction and functioning in daily life. Inevitably, people are believed to be socially embedded, and according to Adler, they cannot be understood or analyzed independent of their social roles, purposes, and perceived worth. Through the family,

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Adlerian Play Therapy

and in relating to members therein, people acquire a selfconcept, such as “I am intelligent and competent,” “I am lazy,” or “I am successful if I impress others,” which flavors their expectations of the world and of the self. These selfconcepts provide the basis for the development of one’s private logic, or the global belief system that individuals form and employ to make sense of the world. Examples of private logic include “it is better to control than to be controlled” and “people will think you are worthless if you don’t win.” Life-styles may be adaptive or maladaptive and are malleable if the individual becomes aware of them and chooses them to be so. The Process and Purpose Adlerian play therapists use the framework of Individual Psychology to help children and parents understand the child’s pertinent life-styles that are propelled by their private logic and, subsequently, decide when and how to use, discard, or modify them to create positive change in their lives. The therapeutic process, following this modality, involves four predominant phases: rapport or relationship building, exploring the child’s life-style, helping the child gain insight, and reorientation or redirection. In her book titled Partners in Play: An Adlerian Approach to Play Therapy, Terry Kottman describes these phases and their purposes. During the initial phase, building the relationship, the therapist approaches the child in a way that is nonthreatening, egalitarian, and respectful of the child’s feelings and interpersonal stance. Trust and mutual power and respect between child and therapist are integral to the effectiveness of therapy. A therapist attempting to build a therapeutic relationship may meet the child with the parent present, introduce him or herself to the child using first names, spend a few moments relating to the child, and with the child’s readiness, invite the child into the playroom. The therapist works to maintain this therapeutic alliance with the child throughout each phase of therapy. In the second phase of therapy, exploring the child’s life-style, the therapist collects information to ascertain what social and familial forces influence the child’s ways of relating to the world. This may be done by asking the child questions (e.g., “Who are all the people in your family? Describe ____ and what he or she does best.”), observing the child’s play and artwork, and collaborating with parents and other significant figures, such as teachers. Life-styles may become illuminated through

the child’s early recollections and roles the child appears to play according to his or her position within the family constellation (e.g., second-born children are often said to feel inferior to firstborns, since they reportedly often feel a need to compete with and “measure up” to firstborn children). The third phase of therapy, helping the child gain insight, is a process of helping the child become aware of his or her perceptions of the self, others, and the world, and how these concepts define how the child relates and behaves. During this process, the child begins to understand his or her private logic in a manner that is commensurate with his or her age and developmental level. To facilitate this course, the therapist may engage the child in symbolic role-play, providing reflective statements about the child’s style of play. For example, if a tentative and compliant child consistently seeks the therapist’s approval or advice on what to do next, the therapist may reflect, “It seems like you want to make sure what you’re doing is O.K. with me. I wonder if you’re concerned that I won’t like you if you make a mistake.” Other techniques, such as mutual storytelling, may assist the child in becoming aware of the particular goals stemming from his or her self-concept and private logic. During phase four, reorienting or re-educating, the child learns new perspectives by which to see the self and others. Upon acknowledging and modifying his or her prevalent social and interpersonal goals, he or she may also learn and practice new and more adaptive ways of behaving and relating to others. The therapist may, at this time, begin to “teach” specific skills and ways the child may reconstruct his or her thinking, feeling, and responding to situations and to people. The child may choose a new self-concept, private logic, and life-style that is more adaptive and likely to produce satisfying relationships and experiences for the child. Critical Opinion Adlerian Play Therapy is reported to be appropriate for most children, with the general exceptions of children who are psychotic (i.e., experiencing delusions, hallucinations, and/or other marked distortions of reality) and children with severe forms of autism. Its proponents and those of play therapy in general contend that since children lack the cognitive and emotional development to adequately verbalize their abstract experiences, they do so symbolically through play. Accordingly, advocates of this modality prefer it to traditional “talk therapy.”

Adventure Playgrounds



It is deemed to be especially helpful for children who have experienced trauma, poor self-esteem, impaired social functioning, and discord within the family. Critics of Adlerian Play Therapy have cited its directive and didactic nature as compromising the child’s right to autonomy in the therapeutic process. Others disapprove of its reputed focus on the past; however, some argue that its emphasis on the child’s power to choose new perspectives and behaviors denotes an inherently present- and future-orientated approach. See Also: International Play Association; Play Therapy; Psychoanalytic Theory and Play; Psychological Benefits of Play; Psychology of Play (Vygotsky). Bibliography. Jon Carlson, Richard E. Watts, and Michael Maniacci, Adlerian Therapy: Theory and Practice (American Psychological Association, 2006); Terry Kottman, “Integrating the Crucial Cs into Adlerian Play Therapy,” Journal of Individual Psychology, (v.55/3, Fall 1999); Terry Kottman, Partners in Play: An Adlerian Approach to Play Therapy (American Counseling Association, 1995). Marci M. Breedlove University of Tennessee

Adventure Playgrounds An adventure playground is a nonasphalted, fenced-off area containing a play hut for indoor recreation and natural areas for the construction of play structures, which might include rope swings, slides, water play, and dens. The requirements for an adventure playground include provision of tools (e.g., hammers, spades, saws, chisels, screwdrivers, and axes) and materials (wood, nails, rope, bricks, and other building material) children can use to explore new play opportunities or change their activities. Two features distinguish the adventure playground from other types of playgrounds. First, adventure playgrounds employ paid, trained play workers who facilitate children’s free play. Second, the workers are instrumental in guiding the construction of self-build playground structures in consultation with children rather than buyingin manufactured fixed play equipment. The adventure playground was described as a location where children could experiment in their play through

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being free to dig in the earth, build dens from wood and other waste materials, make fires to cook outside, garden, engage in arts and craft activities, or participate in other freely chosen creative or recreational activities. The age range of children and young people who may use the playground varies according to local agreements established by the managing agency and the level of facilities available on-site. The widest documented age range of children who could access the provision was from 2 to 18 years. However, the generally accepted age range today is from 5 to 15 years. There is no agreement on the size of an adventure playground site. Many of the early playgrounds used space left over after planning or sites awaiting development. Shier suggested that, bearing in mind issues of safety and the nature of the site, a playground could vary from 0.2 to 0.8 acres. The size, situation, and terrain of the site will dictate the types of activities that can take place. For example, some playgrounds might accommodate “kickabout” areas for team games, whereas others in built-up areas may not have sufficient space to include such a resource. An adventure playground’s opening hours vary according to the season. In general, in the United Kingdom (UK), these playgrounds function as after-school provision (3:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. in the summer or 3:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. in the winter) and are open all day Saturday. During school vacations, they may operate between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Adventure playgrounds may also run a regulated after-school care facility, but usually children are free to come and go as they wish. The atmosphere of the playground should be a “pro-child” and nonrestrictive one where children are not forced to participate in structured play activities. The adventure playground has largely thrived in Western European countries, although there is a burgeoning movement in this type of play in Japan. Origins In 1931, the Danish architect C.T. Sorenson first coined the term junk playground, from which evolved the now-accepted title of adventure playground. Sorenson observed that children naturally played with materials on building sites or found objects on wasteland. In 1943, John Bertelson developed the first adventure playground, based on Sorenson’s idea, in Emdrup, a suburb of Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1948, Lady Allen of Hurtwood introduced the idea into the UK as way to bring the country in to an urban setting to encourage children’s creative play.

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Afghanistan

In the UK over the next 10 years, there was a slow growth in the number of playgrounds. In the UK, the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA) recognized that the adventure playground met several play needs of city children and supported the promotion of adventure playgrounds. The NPFA’s advocacy for the adventure playgrounds was based on the fact that they provided a cost-effective solution to meet the lack of natural play areas in urban settings. The NPFA gave support to the permissive play philosophy developed by Bertelson, believing it would be attractive to young people whose needs were not met through structured youth provision and to provide diversionary activities to deter juvenile delinquency. In the 1960s, growth of interest in adventure play was helped as ideas of progressive education entered the mainstream. The adventure playground attracted the attention of architects like Nicholson, who developed a theory of “loose parts” that recognized the potential of the space for experiential learning that might assist “under-­achieving” working-class children to access education. In 1972, Lady Allen of Hurtwood set up the first adventure playground for children with special needs that offered respite to families and an environment for them to express their ability to play. This type of adventure playground remains an important part of local play provision today.

communal space for activities that is accessible to the whole neighborhood.

Adventure Playgrounds Today The high costs of building materials and concerns about litigation over health and safety of children have today curtailed some of the bigger construction projects undertaken by children on playgrounds. Engaging children in the design of playground structures has, in part at least, replaced this element in the activities offered. Through model building, drawings, and discussion with specialist play structure engineers, children have taken an active role in the design of play equipment. In the UK, adventure playgrounds are recognized as being part of national youth work strategies for the prevention of antisocial behavior, as they provide diversionary activities for children who experience social exclusion. Adventure playgrounds represent a form of play provision that has proved capable of evolving to meet the recreational needs of children, as the philosophy, which drives the work, allows them to explore a space creatively. Also, the strong community identity adventure playgrounds appear to enjoy enables them to provide a

Afghanistan

See Also: Play and Learning Theory; Playground as Politics; Playground Movement, U.S. Bibliography. Lady Allen of Hurtwood, New Playgrounds (The Housing Centre, 1964); A. Bengtsson, Adventure Playgrounds (Crosby Lockwood, 1972); K. Cranwell, “Adventure Playground and the Community in London,” in W. Russell, B. Handscomb, and J. Fitzpatrick, Playwork Voices (The London Centre for Playwork Education and Training, 2007); K. Cranwell, “Towards a History of Adventure Playgrounds (1931–2000),” in Nils Norman, Architecture of Play: A Survey of London’s Adventure Playgrounds (Four Corners Books, 2003); A. Holmes and P. Massie, Children’s Play (Michael Joseph, 1970); M. Nicolson, What is an Adventure Playground? (National Playing Fields Association, 1976); S. Nicolson, “How NOT to Cheat Children: The Theory of Loose Parts,” Landscape Architecture (1971); H. Shier, Adventure Playgrounds. An Introduction (National Playing Fields Association, 1984). Keith A. Cranwell University of Greenwich

Afghanistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Since Medieval times, much of the country has been poor, and as a result, the games played in villages have tended to be relatively simple. A game called Buzel-Bazi, similar to Marbles but using the knucklebone of a sheep, is common. The making of models by and for children, including carved dolls for girls, is also common. There is a game in which boys play with a hard-boiled egg clenched in their hands. While each participant tries to crack their opponent’s egg, each player tries to keep theirs undamaged. For boys and young men, many of the games involve some test of strength or prowess. Boys practice with a slingshot, with teenagers and men involved in Pahlwani, or wrestling, whereby two adversaries have to topple each other by grabbing the arms or clothes of their opponent but must not touch their legs. Buzkashi, played on horseback, in which people vie for the carcass



of a calf or goat, is also very popular, with dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of players on each side. One of the most popular pastimes is the making of kites and kite flying, known as Gudiparan Bazi. Boys and men make “fighter kites” out of a bamboo frame with tissue paper, varying in size from one to five feet across. A line is attached to the kite and is coated with ground glass, the aim being to cut the line of another person’s kite. Children are allowed to keep all kites that they find at the end of these competitions. In the 1910s, there was an effort by Habibullah, Emir of Afghanistan from 1901 until 1919, to introduce European sports such as golfing, tennis, and cricket. It only had limited success, with traditional pursuits remaining the most popular. In 1933 the Football Federation of Afghanistan was established, and many boys and young men started playing soccer. There is also a game similar to stickball called topay-danda that is pursued in some parts of the country, and cockfighting and fighting between other animals also takes place. In 1979 Dutch child psychologist Nico van Oudenhoven was able to write an extensive survey of 146 games commonly played by the children of Afghanistan. During the rule of pro-Soviet governments from 1979 until 1997, playing card games and Chess became popular in the cities. When the Taliban took over most of the country in 1997, they started introducing strict laws that banned many games such as those involving cards (they were opposed to gambling), Chess (because of connotations of gambling and because they were a distraction from prayers, and also because the figures were representations of people), and puppet shows (which had been popular in the early 1970s when the Australian Peter Scriven took The Tintookies to Afghanistan). They also banned non-religious music and all forms of dancing. The end of Taliban rule in 2001 led to return of many games banned under the Taliban. In his book The Kite Runner (2003), later turned into a film, Khaled Hosseni tells the story of a boy in Kabul who enjoyed kitefighting. Since 1979, many toys have also been fashioned out of war “junk” such as discarded artillery shells and shell casings. In February 2002, some 138 players turned up for a Chess competition in Kabul. In January 2007 Oliver Percovich and some other Australians managed to locate some secondhand skateboards that they took to Afghanistan, starting a rapid interest in skateboarding in Kabul, in a project to help the youth later known as Skateistan.

Africa, Traditional Play in

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Mention should also be made of the Wargaming set in Afghanistan. Wargames set during the First and Second Afghan Wars were popular with British players for many years, but most of these have now been replaced by games involving the war against the Soviet Union and the War on Terror. Foreign servicemen in Afghanistan, as well as Afghan exiles who have returned to their country, have been involved in playing these games, but given the poverty of so many people in the country, they are unlikely to be played by anybody outside the foreign community and the small elite. See Also Boys’ Play; Chess and Variations of; Cricket (Amateur); Croquet; Kite Flying; Marbles; Wargames. Bibliography. G. Whitney Azoy, Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1982); Sharifah Enayat Ali, Afghanistan (Marshall Cavendish, 1995); Khaled Hosseni, The Kite Runner (Riverhead Books, 2003); Halima Kazem, Afghanistan (Times Editions, 2003); Lucie Street, The Tent Pegs of Heaven (Robert Hale, 1967); Anthony Tucker-Jones, “Afghanistan 1979–89,” Miniature Wargames (v.239, April 2003); Nico J. van Oudenhoven, Common Afghan Street Games (Swets & Zeitlinger, 1979); Declan Walsh, “Skate­ istan Gives Kabul’s Kids Reason to go Overboard,” The Sunday Age, Melbourne, Australia (June 29, 2008). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Africa, Traditional Play in In 1974, the Association for the Anthropological Study of Play began. In 1977, they published a book of articles: The Study of Play: Problems and Prospects, with David F. Lancey and B. Allan Tindall acting as editors. It contains an article by Helen B. Schwartzman and Linda Barbera, which presents an overview of what scholars, and particularly anthropologists, wrote about traditional play among children in Africa. They stated that anthropologists of Africa wrote about play in four ways: play as imitation or preparation for adult life, play as a game or sports activity, play as projection or expressive activity, and play as unimportant or as a miscellaneous pastime. It is said that these models are western models of play, not African ones. In the same book, two articles

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Africa, Traditional Play in

dealt with play, one describing religion as play, the other referring to playing and an African kingdom. Both examples are of the Hausa of Nigeria. The first shows how a “witchdoctor” uses “frivolity” to make “serious” points, acting as a trickster figure. The witchdoctor also refers to the spirits he talks to as being more playful than Allah, whom he does not address. The other follows the “play as imitation model” in some ways, since playing at being a king helps prepare people for adult social roles, but it also says that rivalry is an element of play. Since the publication of this book, there has been an increase in the study of play in Africa. Three of the most important theorists in anthropology who also have written about Africa have made significant contributions to the anthropology of play: Victor Turner, James Fernandez, and Pierre Bourdieu. Victor Turner Turner helped develop symbolic anthropology and the dramaturgical approach in anthropology. In The Ritual Process, Turner talks about how people resolve conflicts in society in many ways, including play, in order to both express and eliminate conflict. He illustrates this with the Ndembu, the people of central Africa he lived among when he conducted field research. From his Ndembu research, he developed the notions of liminality and communitas. He writes about how in the Ndembu rite of installation of the highest Ndembu chief, the chief is in a “betwixt and between state,” out of ordinary time and space. The chief is leaving his former status but has not yet moved into his new status. During this liminal period, commoners are revealed to have authority over the highest chief, and the highest chief is portrayed as a slave. The chief and his wife are dressed in ragged waistcoats. Turner says features like sexlessness, anonymity, submissiveness, silence, and sexual continence characterize liminality, both among the Ndembu and worldwide. He calls liminality the cultural manifestation of communitas, where people feel intensely intimate and experience equality with each other, creating an intense social bonding. He says we can see these elements among other African people: the Tallensi, the Nuer, and the Ashanti. He continues this approach in many works that also talk about his dramaturgical approach. Using the dramaturgical approach, he writes about social drama among the Ndembu and others that he

says plays a part in both ordinary life and large-scale events of life. He says that analyzing the stages of breach, crisis, redress, and reintegration allows one to understand Ndembu social organization and values. For Turner, examining drama allows him to understand traditional society. James Fernandez Fernandez has written a lot about the “play of tropes.” Fernandez did research in West Africa between 1958 and 1961, focusing on a minority religion among the Fang called Bwiti. His description of Bwiti focuses on metaphors and tropes. The Fang live in northern Gabon and the Spanish African territory of Rio Muni. Fernandez states that about 10 percent of the Fang belong to Bwiti. He refers to tropes as an assertion people make about themselves or others. He calls tropes bridges between metaphor and action. He writes about this in his analysis of Bwiti, a Fang revitalization movement that developed after World War I. Fernandez calls Bwiti traditional play because this revitalization movement developed as a reaction to French colonialism and Protestant missionaries to protect and revitalize old ways. He says Bwiti meets many local and individual needs and cannot be said to have one solitary purpose or explanation. Bwiti has an allnight ceremony with two phases. In the first phase, from 6 p.m. to midnight, the dancing people do concerns creation and life. In the second phase, after midnight, the dancing they do concerns death and destruction and a reunion with the ancestral spirits. This allows the cult members to become of one heart. Fernandez says people engage in these playful activities to persuade people to come to a feeling of being one heart. He writes that while the purpose of the ritual is clear, people interpret the various symbols used in the ritual differently. He says that the members of Bwiti make little effort to unite people in their meanings, since the members of Bwiti feel that social cohesion is more important than cultural agreement. For Fernandez play brings about cultural cohesion. Pierre Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu took a different approach to play when he wrote about the Kabyles people of Algeria in North Africa, a people he calls traditional because most of them cannot write. Bourdieu looks at human relationships in terms of games and developed the notion of

Age of Empires



strategies to help him understand how people were acting. A key concept in this approach is habitus, which has the play characteristic of being “regulated improvisations.” Jim Wolfreys writes this about this strategies approach: “Individuals are … as free and as limited as when they engage in any kind of game … Although the player does what the game demands of him, this does not mean that individuals are slaves to rules, since these can be manipulated to the player’s advantage, bent and subverted to suit his needs. The player’s freedom to invent and to improvise allows for the production of an infinite number of moves made possible by the game, and is subject to the same limits as the game.” Bourdieu says people try to use the game for their own advantage. Bourdieu also developed the concept of field. A field is a form of social organization where human action takes place. Bourdieu conceives of a field as an arena where agents both distinguish themselves from each other and try to gain different types of capital. Bourdieu compares a field to a game. He sees it as a language game where someone strives for something within the limits of rules—it is the assumptions of the game, and the stakes that can be won or lost in the game. Bourdieu describes the Kabyles in relation to his theoretical approach, which focuses on the use of proverbs among them. Bourdieu says that Kabyles describe themselves according to the rules of their society. However, he says they also have a “practical knowledge,” which characterizes habitus. He says that you can uncover practices by looking at proverbs and other types of oral lore among them. For Bourdieu, looking at proverbs allows him to understand habitas. See Also: Algeria; Congo; Ethiopia; Ghana; Kenya; Liberia; Nigeria; Play and Evolution; Play as Learning, Anthropology of; Play Fighting; South Africa; Sudan; Tanzania. Bibliography. Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice (Cambridge University Press, 1977); James Fernandez, “Symbolic Consensus in a Fang Reformation Cult,” American Anthropologist (August, 1965); David F. Lancey and Tindall B. Allan, eds., The Study of Play: Problems and Prospects (Leisure Press, 1977); Victor Turner, The Ritual Process (Aldine, 1969); Jim Wolfreys, “In Perspective: Pierre Bourdieu,” International Socialism Journal (Summer, 2000). Bruce Josephson Baekseok Cultural College

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Age of Empires Age of Empires is a real-time strategy (RTS) computer game set in a real-world historical context. This historical content can be used for pedagogical purposes in the classroom. However, some critics have stated that its pedagogical benefits are inefficient given that the game is built for entertainment purposes and is focused on war. In Age of Empires, players gather resources, construct buildings, and produce fighting units that will be used strategically to destroy other players in the game. Each player’s buildings and units are determined by which culture or civilization they choose to represent. Every game in the Age of Empires series focuses on a different era of human history, and the civilizations that players may choose reflect those time periods. The first Age of Empires time period included civilizations from the stone to the iron age (e.g., Egyptian, Greek). The second Age of Empire title, The Age of Kings, was set in the middle ages (e.g., Celts, Vikings). Finally, the third installment, Age of Empires 3, takes places from the 14th to the 18th centuries (e.g., British, Spanish). While these are the three main titles in the series, many other expansions and spin-off games have been produced covering historical content such as the Roman Empire and Native American societies. The Age of Empires series may not adhere to the history books exactly, but the designers have drawn upon historical facts when producing the series (which has increased as the series has continued). This means that although each Age of Empires game is for entertainment purposes, players can learn about history through playing the game. James Gee comments on this phenomenon by saying “designers face and largely solve an intriguing educational dilemma, one also faced by schools and workplaces: how to get people, often young people, to learn and master something that is long and challenging and enjoy it, to boot.” For instance, studies have shown that novice RTS players will use visual cues of the game’s buildings and units to learn how to play the game. Since Age of Empires is set in a historical context, this means new players can draw upon their knowledge of history in order to appropriately function within the game. This has a cascading effect, because once a player applies their current historical knowledge to the game’s context, they will then begin to learn other historical facts, in connection with

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Airfix

their previous knowledge, that were not known to them prior to their experience with the game. Besides being utilized for its historical content, Age of Empires can also be used for other pedagogical purposes. For one thing, players learn a number of skills from playing RTS games. This includes learning to problem solve, plan strategies, and think abstractly about how to achieve goals. Beyond this, players also learn to cooperate by teaming up with other players or learning to be competitive when facing opposition. Yet, some critics have stated that these skills being taught are linked to an environment surrounded by war and conflict. Since the game does not show the proper consequences of war, it has a negative social framing and imparts a moral impurity on any teachings the game provides to players. However, others have stated that Age of Empires, as well as other games, should not be the sole tool used for teaching pupils in a classroom. Instead, games such as Age of Empires allow teachers to get students engaged in a topic that can then be discussed in a greater scope, filling in any areas that the game was not built to address or where the game is not as accurate. See Also: Cooperative Play; Play as Mock War, Psychology of; Play as Mock War, Sociology of; Play in the Classroom. Bibliography. James Gee, What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); John Graham, et al., “A Cognitive Approach to Game Usability and Design: Mental Model Development in Novice RealTime Strategy Gamers,” CyberPsychology & Behavior (v.9/3, June 2006); David Shaffer, How Computer Games Help Children Learn (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Ben Medler Georgia Institute of Technology

Airfix Airfix is the United Kingdom’s longest established manufacturer of scale plastic model kits. The hobby of building plastic models developed after World War II, with Airfix releasing many different kits. The range has included aircraft, ships, cars, and products licensed from film and television series. The models have been

1957 Airfix models included the Model T Ford and a scale model of the Tiger Moth II, a British Air Ministry basic trainer.

largely aimed at children but have also proved to be popular among adults. Airfix was founded in 1939 by Nicholas Kove, a Hungarian refugee, who originally manufactured inflatable rubber toys. Kove chose the name “Airfix” partly because the manufacturing process involved fixing air into the products and partly because he wanted the company to appear at the beginning of toy catalogues. In 1947 Airfix switched to producing plastic combs and was the first manufacturer to introduce an injection moulding machine. In 1949 the company was commissioned by Harry Ferguson, a tractor manufacturer, to produce a cheap model of one of his vehicles for use as a promotional tool by his sales representatives. Initially, the model was molded in cellulose acetate plastic and was hand assembled for the Ferguson sales team. To increase sales and lower productions costs, however, the model was also sold in kit form by F.W. Woolworth’s retail stores. In 1952, a Woolworth’s buyer suggested that Airfix should produce a model kit of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, The Golden Hind. The kit was made in polystyrene, a more stable plastic, and to meet Woolworth’s suggested retail price of two shillings, the packaging was changed from a cardboard box to a plastic bag with a paper header which also included the kit’s instructions. The model ship was a huge success and prompted Woolworth’s to request additional kits.

Albania



Released in 1955, the first Airfix model aircraft kit was a 1/72 scale version of the Spitfire. During the 1960s and 1970s, the company’s range grew to include a wide variety of cars, motorcycles, historical figures, trains, military vehicles, classic ships, and spaceships, as well as a huge number of aircraft. The 1/72 scale was generally used for the aircraft and smaller kits, with the 1/144 scale used for bigger rockets and airliners. During the 1970s, Airfix introduced larger scale kits, including 1/24 scale models of aircraft such as the Spitfire. Airfix kits were categorized into series from 1 to 20, depending on their size and complexity, and were priced accordingly. Airfix also launched a monthly modeling magazine, Airfix Magazine, which appeared from 1960 to 1993. After acquiring the toy companies Meccano and Dinky in 1971, Airfix also produced a wide range of toys and craft products. The 1980s saw a big decline in the popularity of plastic kit modeling. This was because of increasing competition from computer games and diecast metal models. Rising oil prices also increased the cost of plastic, while decreasing birth rates brought a market decline. Slumping sales forced Airfix to declare bankruptcy in 1981. The firm was subsequently bought by the company General Mills (owner of the American kit maker MPC), and the Airfix kit molds were shipped to a factory in France. In 1986 Airfix was sold to the Hobby Products Group of Borden, Inc., the owner of model brands such as Heller and Humbrol. The Hobby Products Group was sold to an Irish investment company, Allen McGuire, in 1994 and continued under the Humbrol name. In 2006, however, Humbrol, Ltd., went into administration. The Airfix and Humbrol brands were bought by Hornby Hobbies, Ltd., and both were relaunched in 2007. Airfix remains synonymous with the hobby of building plastic model kits, and in Britain a model is often termed simply “an Airfix kit”—even if made by another manufacturer. See Also: Boys’ Play; Hobbies; Meccano; Models; Revell. Bibliography. Arthur Ward, Airfix: Celebrating 50 Years of the Greatest Modeling Kits Ever Made (Collins, 1999); Arthur Ward, The Boys’ Book of Airfix (Ebury Press, 2009); Arthur Ward, Classic Kits: Collecting the Greatest Kits in the World from Airfix to Tamiya (Collins, 2004). Bill Osgerby London Metropolitan University

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Albania One of the poorest countries in Europe, Albania is located in the Balkans, sharing borders with Greece, Macedonia (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia), Montenegro, and Serbia. It gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1913, and until the Communists took control in 1944, Albania was the only majority Muslim country in Europe. With many of its people living in desperate poverty, most of the games in the country, especially in villages, involved crudely fashioned dolls for girls, while boys practiced hunting with slingshots. Teenagers and men were involved in wrestling and also archery. Albania had been a part of the Roman Empire, and Cicero held estates there. It was said to have been a source for wild animals killed for entertainment either locally or in Rome itself. In Medieval times, while the hinterland was a part of the Byzantine Empire, some of the coastal parts of the country came under the control of Venice. This led to a continued Italian influence in Albania that would continue up to the present day—Italy annexed Albania in 1939 and only gave it up when the Communists took Tirana, the country’s capital, five years later. This has meant that Italian games, such as Bocce, are common among the older generation. Soccer was first played in the country in Shkodra in 1913 and has been popular since the 1920s, and there are few villages that do not have their own improvised (or actual) soccer fields. Soccer in Albania is now coordinated by the Albania Football Association. During the 1960s, Albania had a close alliance with China, and this led to an interest in Ping-Pong throughout the country. Chess has also continued to be popular, with Aldo Zadrima (b. 1948) being the country’s Chess champion, and it is coordinated by the Federata Shqiptare e Shahut. The Young Pioneers youth groups during the Communist period involved many boys and girls in camping expeditions and hiking in rural and remote parts of the country. Since the end of Communist rule, many Albanian exiles have returned to the country, and although much of Albania remains poor, many of the cities such as Tirana, Durrës, and Shkodra have sufficiently large middle classes to generate interest in wargaming, particularly the Romans, and during the Byzantine period, the Crusades, and also World War II. The making of wargame dioramas is also becoming more common, as

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Algeria

is the fashioning of model boats and aircraft. In Tirana there are amusement arcades, places for playing computer games, and bowling alleys, with boys involved in skateboarding and roller blading. Hiking and rambling have also recently gained many new local adherents as well as being popular with tourists visiting the country. See Also: Boys’ Play; Europe, 1200 to 1600; Play Fighting; Wargames. Bibliography. Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Nina Millen, Children’s Games from Many Lands (Friendship Press, 1943); Norman Rimmell, “Walking in Albania,” Albanian Life (v.53, 1992); Serge van Hoof, Football in Albania (privately published, 1988); Jim Walkeley, “World War One in the Adriatic,” Miniature Wargames (October, 1984). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Algeria Located in North Africa, Algeria was a part of the Ottoman Empire until 1830, when the French took Algiers, and gradually occupied the rest of the country, with many migrants from France, Italy, Spain, and Germany settling in northern Algeria, which became a part of France. In 1954 war broke out, as Algerian nationalists wanted independence, and France finally granted independence in 1962. Oil revenue made the country prosperous, but in January 1992 the military took control to prevent Islamic fundamentalists from winning the elections, and there was mass violence, which continued until about 2003. The Ottoman influence on the country has resulted in the playing of the Turkish form of Backgammon, called Tavla, and also Dominoes and cards in coffee shops in the cities and towns around the country. Under the French, many new sports were introduced such as boules and later soccer, with the writer Albert Camus playing in some teams as a young man. Indeed soccer rapidly became the most popular recreational sport in the country, with boys and young men playing it in school groups, in local community and social clubs, and in an ad hoc fashion against others in court-

yards and patches of flat ground in every city and most towns. For the poor, universal games such as Hide-andSeek and Hopscotch remained popular. The rebirth of conservative Islamic ideas from the late 1980s led to many changes including sermons against the playing of cards, as it would encourage gambling, and against puppetry. The fighting in the country from 1992 led to many people staying at home, worried about the killings, and this in itself led to a revival of many indoor pursuits, such as Chess, and playing card games. Prior to that, and indeed after the end of the fighting, attending bodybuilding shows and wrestling were popular forms of entertainment; and Algerian Olympic athletes did much to encourage jogging for the young—although many conservative Muslims disliked the idea of women participating. Fencing started to attract many young people especially, after Waqssilia Redouane Said-Guerni participated at both the 2000 and the 2004 Olympics, as did tennis from 2004, when Lamine Ouahab made it into the Barcelona Olympics. For younger children, the Libyan version of Hopscotch, known as Negeza, is often played at primary schools. Although some well-to-do Algerians have been involved in Wargaming, this has generally proven more popular with French Algerians and French from Algeria, who have recreated many of the battles from the 1830s, the rise of the French Foreign Legion, and also the war of independence from 1954 until 1962. Many of the rules for fighting Wargames on the French Foreign Legion, and indeed most of the makers of figurines connected with them, are from Britain or the United States, where people have long been fascinated by the conflict through the film Beau Geste. For Americans, the Barbary War of 1815 has also led to the making of several games, but these generally have not proven popular in Algeria itself. See Also: Africa, Traditional Play in; Backgammon; Dominoes and Variations of; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; Wargames. Bibliography. Edgar Barclay, Mountain Life in Algeria (Kessinger Publishing, 2007); François Maspero, Les Enfants d’Algérie [Children of Algeria] (Imprimerie Clerc, 1962); Jeff Taylor, “The U.S. Navy & The Corsairs,” Miniature Wargames (no.222, 2001). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Amiga



All Fives All Fives can refer to both a card game played with a standard deck and a Dominoes game played with a double six set. Card Game The card game is part of the All Fours family, descended from the English card game All Fours and played in most former English colonies, especially the West Indies. It is the legacy of All Fours that gives us the name “Jack” for the card previously known as the Knave, and other members of the family include Auction Pitch, California Jack, and Cinch. Spoil Five is a close relation, with similarly unusual rules. The name All Fours comes from the scoring system, which awards points in four categories: the highest trump in play, the lowest trump in play, the Jack (given to the player who takes the Jack in a trump), and the Game (given to the player who takes the highest value of tricks). An amalgam of point-trick games and shorthand games like Euchre, All Fours dates from about the middle of the 17th century, and may have been adapted by the English from a Dutch game. Typically a low-class gambling game for most of its history, it was introduced to the United States in the 18th century and became the most popular card game by the 1800s. It was in the United States that All Fives was introduced, in the middle of the 19th century, when variants of All Fours developed in order to compete with Poker, which was beginning its steady rise in popularity. All Fives is fundamentally the same as All Fours—its direct descendant, not an odd cousin like some of the other variants—but with a fifth category of points, for the player who takes the five in a trump. The trump five in All Fives is usually called the Pedro, and variants of All Fives soon developed in California—the Pedro Sancho, where the trump nine took points, the Double Pedro or High Five, in which both the trump five and the five of the opposite color take points (borrowed from Euchre), and Dom Pedro, in which the Joker (the Dom) counts 15 and takes points. Dominoes Game The All Fives Dominoes game is part of the Fives Family. The games in the Fives Family all base scoring on the total of the exposed ends of the tableau in multiples of five; in other words, if the pips total 15, the player gets

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three points. The Fives Family is widespread and old, and so a great many variations exist that are difficult to properly catalogue—Dominoes are such a communitybased game that it is not uncommon to find variant rules that have been played for decades or generations, but only in one town. The basic areas of variation are in the number of tiles drawn per player’s hand (and, accordingly, whether or not the game has a boneyard), the number of spinners, and the scoring of spinners. Five Up—using all doubles as spinners—is the Fives Family variant most common in Spanish-speaking parts of the world. In Europe, Sniff is more common, which uses the first double as a spinner. All Fives is used to refer to two different members of the Fives Family, the first of which is also known as Muggins. Muggins is a fastpaced two-player game with no spinner that is popular in Europe. The other All Fives uses a single spinner, and up to four players. Another variant is All Fives and Threes, which changes one aspect of the Fives Family rules, giving players a score for every multiple of five and every multiple of three, a variant useful when using sets larger than the standard double six is All Odd Primes, which is just what it sounds like—points accrued for every multiple of odd prime numbers (3, 5, 7, 13, 17, etc.). See Also: Auction Pitch; Dominoes and Variations of; History of Playing Cards; Spoil Five. Bibliography. Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens (Beacon Press, 1971); David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, USA, 1990); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Amiga Amiga is the name for a family of computers originally developed as a video games machine but launched as a general-purpose personal computer for the home market by Commodore International in 1985. The name Amiga was chosen both because of its meaning in Spanish and Portuguese and because it preceded Atari and

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Amusement Parks

Apple alphabetically. Like its main competitors, the Atari ST and Apple Mac, the Amiga was built around the Motorola 68000 processor chip, which, although incorporating 32-bit architecture, featured a 16-bit external bus. The generation of computers therefore became generally known as 16-bit machines. The Amiga incorporated a custom chipset with advanced audio and graphical capabilities and an operating system featuring a graphical user interface (GUI), and was capable of pre-emptive multitasking, allowing two or more programs to run simultaneously. It was the first computer targeted at the home market to support multi-tasking. Production of the Amiga ceased in 1994 when Commodore International went bankrupt. The development of the Amiga is entangled with that of its main rival the Atari ST. The Amiga was originally designed in the early 1980s by the Amiga Corporation, a small company that had received development funding from Atari Inc. in return for some rights over the design. In 1984 Atari was acquired by Jack Tramiel, the founder of Commodore International, who had departed from Commodore in the same year after a dispute with its chairman. At about the same time, Commodore entered into negotiations to buy the Amiga Corporation outright. Commodore settled (in its own terms) the outstanding contract with Atari by reimbursing the $500,000 funding provided to the Amiga Corporation. However, Atari Corporation subsequently sued Commodore International, delaying the release of the Amiga by long enough to allow it to develop and release a direct competitor, the Atari ST. The ST was released to market in 1985 several months ahead of the Amiga and the two machines became the subject of an ongoing rivalry. The case was eventually settled in 1987 with an undisclosed out-of-court settlement, with both parties claiming victory. The Amiga represented a considerable advance in performance and power over the previous generation of home computers, and this led to its adoption as a gaming platform. However, although generally considered more powerful than the Atari ST, their similar architecture meant that most games were produced simultaneously for the two machines. Notable games released for the Amiga during the late 1980s and early 1990s include Dungeon Master, an early fully immersive first-person perspective fantasy adventure game; Sid Meier’s Civilization, a turn-based strategy/simulation game; Lemmings, a real-time puzzle game in which the player

leads groups of lemming across innumerable obstacles to safety; Stunt Car Racer, a three-dimensional driving simulator; and Populous, an isometric strategy/simulation “God” game. The release of AMOS Basic in 1990, a high-level programming language geared toward game development, allowed hobbyist computer users to easily create their own games, distributed through bulletin boards and public domain software libraries. Although architecturally similar, the Amiga, Apple Mac, and Atari ST carved out very different niches in the productivity sector. Apple’s computer became synonymous with design and desktop publishing. The ST was widely adopted within the music recording industry, largely because of its inbuilt MIDI ports. The Amiga became widely used within the film and television industries not only because of its advanced graphical capabilities but also because of its ability to genlock—adapt its own screen output timing to that of a television signal. Notable uses of the Amiga within television production include the series Max Headroom, ITV’s The Chart Show, and early episodes of the science fiction series Babylon 5. See Also: Civilization (I, II, III, IV); Coleco; Hobbies. Bibliography. Brian Bagnall, On the Edge: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Commodore (Variant Press, 2006); Winnie Forster, The Encyclopedia of Game Machines: Consoles, Handhelds and Home Computers 1972–2005 (Gameplan, 2007); Gareth Knight, The Amiga History Guide, www.amigahistory .co.uk (cited July 2008). Luke Tredinnick London Metropolitan University

Amusement Parks Amusement parks are a place where entertainment and fun are offered to visitors in a variety of forms: shows, prepared activities, places to shop and eat, games of various types, and rides. Amusement parks, whatever their differences—and there are many—do have several elements in common. First, they are consciously designed and constructed to provide a concentrated experience and have the stated objective of providing enjoyment. There is nothing incidental about people visiting to have a good time; that is the stated purpose of the amusement



park. How parks do that in their various forms, now and in the past, provides an interesting picture of what people in different time periods and locations have thought of as fun and what has constituted play. Second, and most important to the majority of visitors, amusement parks have rides. These rides can vary from a fairly sedate small auto traveling in a circle or a carousel to thrill rides such as roller coasters. Third, even though there are cultural differences, amusement parks in the United States, Europe, Middle East, and Asia are remarkably similar in that they all have rides, games, and food; often have themes; and are dedicated to fun and play. Fourth, they are a place for children, adolescents, and young adults. Everything is aimed at fulfilling the desires of that demographic group. Generally, an adult going to an amusement park is usually accompanying younger family members. Amusement parks are generally permanent establishments, although the term can be stretched to include the amusement section that can be found at state, country, or regional fairs. Not only are amusement parks usually permanent, but they are carefully designed to channel traffic, leading visitors to one high point after another. There is often a theme, whether it based on a general concept (such as Europe or Africa at Busch Gardens), on a form of entertainment (such as the Universal and other film theme parks), or on a particular identity (such as Disney and all its characters or the Warner Brothers cartoon characters at Six Flags). The Earliest Amusement Parks Our idea of what makes an amusement park is informed largely by current amusement parks, with their large collections of rides, state-of-the-art electronics and mechanical engineering, and often nonstop entertainment found throughout the park. Amusement parks have not always been like that, however, and have undergone a dramatic change, especially since the 1890s. Further, although it may surprise many Americans, amusement parks are not an American invention but are originally from Europe. The world’s first amusement park appeared in Denmark in 1583 and still exists. Known as Bakken, it has, of course undergone substantial changes over the past centuries. Bakken has evolved from something like a medieval fairground into a modern amusement park. Today it is visited by over 3 million people in its yearly March through August season. While it has new rides and other changes each year, there are still some ele-

Amusement Parks

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ments of continuity. The organization that manages the park has existed since the mid-1880s and combines an old-style management of small operations with modern machinery. Bakken is home to a clown representing the 18th-century character, Pierrot, and while many of the rides are new, Bakken has retained its 1932 roller coaster, which is one of the oldest in Europe. Amusement parks did not spread through Europe until the 18th century, with the opening of parks in Vienna, Austria, and in Britain. This progression then came to a halt until the middle of the 19th century, when parks in Britain, Denmark (the famous Tivoli), and elsewhere also came into existence. The Growth of Amusement Parks The real boom in amusement parks would not occur until the last quarter of the 19th century. A major impetus for the appearance of amusement parks was that with the development of the industrial revolution, there was some increase in disposable income for families to spend on amusements. Transportation networks, such as railroads, began to develop, allowing people to travel to where a park might open. The relative ease of movement encouraged Sunday trips to amusement parks. Another factor encouraging the appearance of amusement parks was the appearance of international expositions and world’s fairs. In addition to their mission of “improvement” and education, these fairs provided opportunities for visitors to eat and be entertained. As the century progressed, the fairs, which brought together large crowds of people also grew more frequent and increasingly became more sophisticated in their amusements. By the time of the Chicago Exposition of 1893 (World’s Columbian Exposition), visitors could see the wonders of industry, or go to another part of the fair and see “Little Egypt” dance, or take a ride on the world’s first Ferris wheel. At the Saint Louis Exposition of 1904, visitors could not only take rides but also visit replicas of Pacific, Asian, and North African villages with real natives or eat what some claim were the world’s first hot dogs. As each year progressed, the range of amusements increased. Unlike today’s amusement parks, fun was not the objective, but its various venues provided many of the basics we see in amusement parks today: shows and other entertainment, rides, and food. Inspired by the success of the amusement venues of the fairs and expositions, amusement parks began to appear in cities in both America and Europe. In many

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locations, amusement parks with some rides and other entertainment were opened by trolley companies. The idea was that trolley companies had little business on the weekends. By starting amusement parks, the trolley companies would then also provide the transportation for visitors. The concept worked very well and trolley parks opened throughout the country, particularly in the northeastern United States. One of these was Whalom Park, which was opened in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, in 1893 by the Fitchburg and Leominster Street Railway Company. The park was a success and remained open until 2000. A little to the south, another trolley park named White City opened near Worcester, Massachusetts, with local trolleys carrying visitors to and from the park. That particular amusement park opened in 1905 and stayed in existence until 1960. The name “White City” had first been used for the Chicago Exposition of 1893 and became a fairly common name for amusement parks by the end of the 19th century in places such as Atlanta; Cleveland, Ohio; New Orleans; and New Haven, Connecticut. “White City” came from the large number of electric lights at the parks. In a time where electricity was a novelty, the use of lighting added what was a festive tone to a place dedicated to amusement and fun. A trolley park in western Pennsylvania known as Kennywood opened in 1898, and would later develop into a major entertainment corporation with international affiliations. In the following years there were many other amusement parks that came into existence. Euclid Beach Park operated near Cleveland, Ohio, from 1895 to 1969. Riverview Park in Chicago, best known, perhaps, for the Bobs roller coaster, ran from 1904 to 1967. Another was New Jersey’s Palisades Amusement Park (often advertised in issues of Superman Comics in the 1950s), which operated from 1898 to 1971. Similar parks also began to appear throughout Europe and Asia, and those that existed began to expand. Vienna’s Prater amusement park, which had been in existence since the 18th century, became the first amusement park in Europe to have a Ferris wheel. Coney Island, perhaps the most famous collection of amusement parks in America before World War II, began its operations in the second half of the 19th century. By the 1860s, visitors were coming to this location on Long Island (where some claim that the hot dog was first sold in 1867, predating the Saint Louis item). Here

several amusement parks operated side by side through the years. The first of these was the Sea Lion Park, which opened in 1895, to be followed that same year by Steeplechase Park. In the next decade other amusement parks would open, such as Luna Park and Dreamland. By 1920, Coney Island would boast a Ferris wheel, and in the same year a subway line ran from Manhattan to Coney Island. In 1927, a major roller coaster, the Cyclone, would open. Coney Island’s time as a center for amusement parks would slow by the time of World War II. Amusement parks themselves did not all go the way of the parks at Coney Island with the end of World War II. In 1945, new amusement parks were beginning to open. With the increased availability of the automobile, theme parks, often with a Christmas or other theme, opened, principally in the northeast. These parks, whether they were known as “North Pole,” “Santa’s Village,” “Frontier Town,” “Six-Gun City,” or “Storyland,” were family destinations. They had rides that would seem tame compared with later parks, some games, and food, and were very popular. These were small-scale operations, often family owned and operated, and from the end of World War II until the mid-1950s, they were a common form of amusement park. Modern Amusement Parks In the mid-1950s, however, there appeared an amusement park that not only would become popular in its own right but would influence the expectations of visitors and the design and appearance of amusement parks throughout the world. In 1955 Walt Disney opened Disneyland. Disney’s amusement park marked a radical departure and eventually served as a model for amusement parks in the future. It was not a family or smallscale business but was the project of a corporate entity with substantial financial assistance from the American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), another corporate entity. It was a large park that was based on themes such as Frontierland, Fantasyland, or Adventureland. In each instance, rides and other attractions were combined into a specially created environment. From the beginning, Disneyland was a success, with new features such as a recreation of the Matterhorn and a monorail being introduced before the 1950s were over. In the 1960s, the larger theme parks became more prominent as many of the smaller operations either made changes and expanded, or went out of business alto-



Amusement Parks

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gether. In the early 1960s, Six Flags Over Texas opened, beginning a franchise of 21 amusement parks that would establish a presence throughout North America. Just as Disney had begun amusement parks based on films and television, the entertainment business, specifically film studios, would begin to develop their own amusement parks with tie-ins to their films. The Universal Studios theme park evolved from back lot tours for tourists in Hollywood to entertainment complexes there and in Orlando, Florida. The Orlando complex began as a movie-inspired theme park with rides based on popular films. Since that time, it has expanded with hotels, restaurants, and the Universal Islands of Adventure. The Islands of Adventure is another theme park, based on the premise of different islands, each with their own theme. Even though the park is very sophisticated technically, it still employs some of the basic concepts first developed by Disney. Not only is there the idea of themed rides and other amusements, but just as Snow White and other characters greeted Disneyland visitors in the 1950s, tourists at the Universal Studios complex can see and spend time with Spiderman or the Cat in the Hat. Amusement Parks Worldwide Theme parks are also common throughout Europe and in many ways, with their advanced technology behind a great deal of the entertainment, are similar to American parks. They are, however, related to European culture. Asterix Park in France is based on the French cartoon character Asterix. Disneyland Paris (formerly known as Euro Disney) opened in 1992 and hastily made concessions to European expectations; it has since become very successful. In Germany, there has been a fascination with the American West and Native Americans, and that motif shows up in several theme parks either as the main theme or as a theme area within a larger park. Legoland, based on the Lego toys, first opened in 1968 in Denmark and has expanded into Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom. There are plans to open a Legoland in Dubai. The Legoland parks are targeted toward younger children, with themes based on Lego toys and rides that are generally less extreme than those found at other parks. Amusement parks are prominent in Asia. There are two Asian Disneylands, one in Hong Kong and one in Tokyo. Japan also has a Universal Studios theme park, and Korea has several amusement parks located near the capital, Seoul. Australia has a Sea World, a Warner Broth-

A typical modern roller coaster. Today, they are designed on a computer and built out of steel instead of wood.

ers Movie theme park, and Dreamland, which claims to have some of the fastest thrill rides in the world. In the Middel East, the most prominent center for amusement parks is Dubai, where a collection of theme parks known as Dubailand is constantly undergoing expansion. Universal Studios, Six Flags, Dreamworks, and other franchises have all announced plans to develop new parks there. See Also: Arcades; Play as Catharsis; Play as Entertainment, Psychology of; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of; Roller Coasters. Bibliography. Judith A. Adams, The American Amusement Park Industry: A History of Technology and Thrills (Twayne Publishers, 1991); Salvador Anton Clavé, The Global Theme Park Industry (CABI, 2007); Michael DeAngelis, “Roller

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Coasters, Theme Parks, and Postmodernism,” Cultural Critique (no.37, Autumn, 1997); Carl Hiaasen, Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World (Ballantine Publishing Group, 1998); Institute for Theme Park Studies, www.themeparkcity .com/itps/index.htm (cited November 2008); John F. Kasson, Amusing the Million: Coney Island at the Turn of the Century (Hill & Wang, 1978); Andrew Lainsbury, Once Upon an American Dream: The Story of Euro Disneyland (University of Kansas Press, 2001); Scott A. Lukas, ed., The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self (Lexington Books, 2007); Edo McCullough, World’s Fair Midways; An Affectionate Account of American Amusement Areas from the Crystal Palace to the Crystal Ball (Exposition Press, 1966); Alexander Moore, “Walt Disney World: Bounded Ritual Space and the Playful Pilgrimage,” Anthropological Quarterly (v.53, 1980); Tim O’Brien, The Amusement Park Guide: Coast to Coast Thrills (Globe Pequot Press, 2001); Woody Register, The Kid of Coney Island: Fred Thompson and the Rise of American Amusements (Oxford University Press, 2001). Robert Stacy Independent Scholar

Ancient China Because of the survival of so many written records from ancient China, much is known about the daily life of the people, supplementing the discoveries of archaeologists. Throughout most of the dynasties of ancient China— the Shang dynasty from 1166 until 1122 b.c.e.; the Zhou (Chou) dynasty from 1122 to 255 b.c.e.; the Qin (Chin) dynasty from 255 to 206 b.c.e.; the Han dynasty from 206 b.c.e. until 220 c.e., the period of the Warring States; the Jin (Tsin) dynasty from 265 to 420; the Sui dynasty from 581 until 618, and the Tang dynasty from 618 to 907—the life of the vast majority of the people in China, the peasantry, did not change markedly. As a result, many of the games they played were also similar to those of their ancestors. Children played Hide-and-Seek, used spinning tops and marbles, played with hoops, and were involved in running and skipping. Other children and also adults would play with darts or in ball games. Kite flying was also popular, as were embroidery, spinning, weaving, making brocade and tapestry, basket weaving, and making hats—all pastimes for girls—and making pots, porcelain, toy soldiers, and

woodcuts, as well as bronze work and leather work, for boys and young men. Both boys and girls were also involved in making toys from corn stalks and in fashioning scarecrows and the like. Adults, in what little time many of the peasants had for relaxation, were involved in playing simple musical instruments such as flutes. Storytellers and theatrical groups would also visit villages, and in some of their performances, some locals would participate as well as watch. Many villagers kept pets, and children played with cats and dogs and also with birds. In the cities, it was popular to keep caged songbirds, and these were often taken around to local parks for them to interact with other birds, which still happens today. One particularly Chinese pet was the cricket, and even relatively poor people would keep a pet cricket, carving elaborate cages to protect them and prevent them from flying away. Tribal people from northern and western China, such as the Hsiung-nu, the Mongols, and the Uighurs, were involved in training birds of prey for falconry. Because of their heavy use of horses, many people were occupied with the making of elaborate bridles, and for the Chinese, stirrups. Arts and Entertainment Music was very much a part of Chinese culture, and this varied from simple bamboo flutes, to more advanced pan-pipes, to far more complicated and costly instruments such as the half-tube zither, with these used in eastern China from at least the late Han period. So important was music to the Chinese that in 243 c.e., when a mission came to China from the southeast Asian “empire” of Funan, the precursor to medieval Cambodia, and brought with them new musical instruments, they were invited to stay for many months until many Chinese had, no doubt, picked up the method of playing them. Chinese theater in cities, and for the emperors, was highly developed and stylized and utilized many aspects of acting and singing, as well as acrobatics and juggling from street artists, with some people in ancient China involved in working as acrobats and jugglers for the entertainment of other people. Performances could be conducted from elaborate pavilions, or from makeshift stages. In many cases, whole families were involved in these acts, with a frieze from a tomb in eastern China dated to just after the Han dynasty showing an acrobat balancing what would appear to be a wooden cross on his head, with two child acrobats on the horizon-

Ancient Egypt



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tal arms of the cross and a third child balancing on a wheel at the top of the cross. For recreational sports, some people, especially soldiers, were involved in running, horseriding, chariot-racing, archery, wrestling and boxing, most of which were used as training in times of war, or in preparation for war. Since ancient times, martial arts have also been an important part of Chinese recreation, with various types of unarmed combat such as kung fu, karate, and taekwondo (originating in Korea) being practiced, as well as the use of defense with sickles, thrashing flails, and knives. Tai chi and meditation have also been popular as a form of morning exercise for adults and children. Among the scholar class, there was a much greater interest in calligraphy, painting, and writing poetry. There were also a number of board games, the most important being Chinese Chess, sometimes called the Chinese River Game, on account of the river down the middle of the chess board, and played with elephants instead of bishops, and chariots. The game in ancient times was possibly developed from Chaturanga, the Persian game that has some similarities, which in turn might have originated from the “original” Chess game, although it is equally likely that Chaturanga developed from Chinese Chess. Obviously the cannon in Chinese Chess was not introduced until the 13th century c.e.

centration and balance, with the earliest surviving written reference to the game being from the 4th century b.c.e. Some scholars have suggested that it could have been used by generals planning their military campaigns. Certainly it was being played by the 6th century b.c.e., and was enjoyed by the scholar class, being described in the Analects by Confucius, and also books by Mencius. The oldest surviving board is one made from porcelain, which was located in the ruins of a watchtower at the tombs of the Emperor Jingdi (188–141 b.c.e.) from the Western Han Dynasty. It was probably a floor tile and was likely to have been played by guards at the tomb to occupy their time.

Ancient Games Backgammon seems to have been introduced to China in the 3rd century c.e., with the local variation known as “double-six.” Its popularity, however, was largely from the Song (Sung) dynasty (960–1279), when it was played by gamblers, some of whom were known to lose large sums of money after being paid for their harvest. Another game that may date from ancient China that remains popular today, and also involves heavy gambling, is Mahjong. By tradition this game has its origin in Confucius (551–479 b.c.e.), but others say that it is a far more recent game with claims that it developed from Dominoes as late as 1850. “Money cards” were used in ancient China, and these had four “suits” like Mahjong sets and modern packs of cards, although there are suggestions that these were actually paper money used in normal transactions as well as in gambling and other games of chance. Mention should also be made of the game Go, which, according to legend, was played from the reign of the Emperor Yao (reigned, according to legend, 2337–2258 b.c.e.), who devised it to help teach his son about con-

Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

See Also: Backgammon; China; Chess and Variations of; Go; Kite Flying; Mahjong; Play as Mock War, Sociology of; Wargames. Bibliography. Jacques Gernet, Daily Life in China on the Eve of the Mongol Invasion (George Allen & Unwin, 1962); Harry Golombek, Chess: A History (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1976); Anders Hansson, Bonnie S. McDougall, and Frances Weightman, The Chinese at Play (Kegan Paul, 2002); Michael Loewe, Everyday Life in Early Imperial China (Batsford Books, 1968); W.H. Wilkinson, “Chinese Origin of Playing Cards,” The American Anthropologist (v.8, 1895).

Ancient Egypt To contemporary ears, the notion of “play in ancient Egypt” sounds contradictory. The nearly ubiquitous image of ancient stonemasons slavishly constructing pyramids without the use of modern tools while at the behest of whip-wielding overlords appears incommensurable with concepts such as amusement or recreation. Nevertheless, ancient Egyptians enjoyed a variety of leisure activities including games, sports, songs, and dance. Evidence culled from archaeological remains, reliefs, and papyri attest to the importance of “play” in everyday Egyptian life. Play is a culturally conditioned phenomenon that denotes a variety of activities pursued recreationally for amusement. To write about play in ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt

requires one to import modern concepts into antiquity and extrapolate from static evidence. Such a process potentially distorts the data by forcing it to conform to one’s own expectations, but that is all that a scholar can do. Ancient Egypt is a distant and foreign past, and one must keep in mind that much of its cultural interworkings have been lost in the Egyptian sands of time. Regarding social class, play appears to be a predominantly elite activity; ancient Egypt was no exception. Only those with excess time had the means and liberty to pursue activities of leisure. Within the highly stratified Egyptian society, lower classes worked longer hours, had access to very limited resources, and were expected to conform to the regnant status quo. Life in Egypt (especially during the early periods) was highly structured; craftsmen and their families lived in enclosed communities near their work sites, worked tediously long hours, and had little time for recreation. This is not to say that farmers and laborers did not play. To the contrary, evidence suggests that the lower classes’ play probably consisted of less formal activities, used fewer and simpler props, and probably occurred with less frequency than did the play of those with means. Of course the upper divisions of Egyptian society—the pharaohs, courtiers, and other high-ranking officials— enjoyed ornate games in a variety of venues. Perhaps the most famous example of Egyptian play is senet. Omnipresent in reliefs, papyri, and etchings, this board game played a central role in royal life. The game consisted of a board divided into a gridlike pattern of square spaces. A player moved his or her game

Most of what is known of Egyptian play and sports is from the information found in tombs, like wall reliefs and papyri.

pieces along the board in an attempt to reach the finish before his or her opponent. No intact rule books survive, however, so scholarly speculation accounts for most reconstructions of Senet’s rules and procedure. Excavators found numerous Senet boards in King Tut’s tomb and in the tombs of most of Egypt’s other wealthy kings. Likewise, cruder examples survive where stones function as game pieces and a hand-scratched piece of flat wood or rock serves as the board. Such evidence suggests that lower classes probably enjoyed Senet as well. Other Egyptian board games survive, but even less is known about them than about Senet. Taw, an imported amusement during the late Middle Kingdom era, as well as the six-person game Mehen, both use elaborately crafted animal-shaped game pieces on boards, variously arranged in rows and columns of squares. In short, ancient Egyptians enjoyed board games in much the same way today’s society does. Much ancient play included public displays and/or competitions of sporting capabilities and dexterity, although such activities functioned to keep warriors fit and prepared when at peace. Target shooting with bow and arrow (sometimes atop a moving horse) provides an ancient parallel to darts or archery. Players accrued points according to their accuracy, and presumably a winner emerged. Wrestling too was evidently popular, and surprisingly little has changed between the ancient sport and its modern practice. Many paintings and papyri depict holds and tactics analogous to the headlocks and half-nelsons of today’s sport; one mural—the Ben Hasan paintings—even depicts an ancient Egyptian “trash talking” to his opponent. Children too played sports—from wrestling to a variety of ball-type games to piggyback riding—and groups of children all playing together frequently appear on Egyptian wall reliefs. Archaeological digs uncover toys shaped like dolls, animals, etcetera, and children probably played with them in a similar manner as do today’s youth. Tomb paintings show children juggling, dancing, and playing with balls in a variety of group and solitary ways. Ancient Egyptian children played a version of Tug-of-War, ran, jumped, played Catch, and put one another on their shoulders. Static paintings make it difficult to decipher the exact nature of the games played. Still, what the scholar can reconstruct of children’s games in ancient Egypt appears similar to the variety and whimsicality of children’s

Ancient Greece



play today. Multiple children communed together, and whether such activities involved a ball (as often they did) or not, one can discern looks of amusement on the painted figures’ faces. Water played a crucial role in Egyptian life; Egypt’s population hinged upon the ability to procure water, and thus the Nile River, Red and Mediterranean Seas, and numerous irrigation channels were central to Egypt’s way of life. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that water games also figured prominently in ancient Egyptian recreational life. Egyptians devoted both a special hieroglyph and a unique goddess (Wadjet) to swimming. Depictions of young and mature swimmers decorate art works and assorted artifacts. Egyptians of means enjoyed “Water Jousting,” a game where crews of rowers maneuvered a stick-carrying combatant around a body of water on a pontoon-like boat. The fighter attempted to knock others off their boats. The last boat with a standing fighter won the game. River rafting too provided amusement for the prosperous. Seneca the Younger’s fascination with adventurous Egyptians “shooting” the Nile’s rapids attests to its uniqueness in the ancient world. From simple and common to elaborate and dangerous, water games were popular diversions for the ancient Egyptians. In sum, the evidence for play in ancient Egypt is largely inferential—one must cull from the paintings, artifacts, and literary remains to construct a portrait of games and recreation in antiquity. Still, from such evidence one can infer that Egyptians of all ages, social classes, and occupations enjoyed playing as much as we do today. See Also: Ancient Greece; Ancient Rome; Egypt; Play as Competition, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Sociology of; Water Play. Bibliography. Lionel Casson, Everyday Life of the Ancient Egyptians (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001); Manfred Decker, Sports and Games in Ancient Egypt (Yale University Press, 1992); Vera Olivova, Sports and Games in the Ancient World (St. Martin’s, 1984); Ian Shaw and Paul Nicholson, eds., Dictionary of Ancient Egypt (Harry N. Abrams, 1995); Eugen Strouhal, Life of the Ancient Egyptians (University of Oklahoma Press, 1992). Thomas Crawford Claremont Graduate University

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Ancient Greece Many of the recreational activities found in ancient Greece contain elements easily recognizable as sport or entertainment today. The holding of games every four years in Olympia, Greece, has its equivalent in the modern Olympic Movement, which has been part of world sports since the formation of the International Olympic Committee in 1894 and the beginning of the new Olympics in 1896. The Greek Olympics The ancient Greek Olympics date from 776 b.c.e., when the first winner can be confirmed. These games have also contributed to our understanding of ancient Greek values and culture. The Greeks established sport and games as a way to honor their gods and therefore made sport a central feature of religious observation. The ancient Olympics were played over five days, however, the athletes and their trainers decamped in preparation for 30 days before the competitions began. In addition, standards of play were formalized that allowed competitors and spectators to share common approaches to known spectacles. Sports such as boxing, weight lifting, and the pentathlon gained great popularity in the ancient Greek world. The pentathlon was composed of five sports including discus and javelin throwing, wrestling, running, and long jumping. The events tested a range of sporting skills. Victors in these competitions were recognized with a wreath of laurel or olive leaves and were further celebrated when crowds shouted their name and that of their families and their city. Given the importance of the city-state in ancient Greece, such tributes were of great significance. Boxing was also part of the Olympic competitions and was seen as one of the significant heavy events, held on the fourth day of the meeting. Boxers’ hands and wrists were wrapped in leather strips and their bodies were oiled. Since there were no judges, the fights were hard affairs with few rules and no time frame. Damage came through blows to the head and neck and ended only when a boxer collapsed from total exhaustion, was knocked out, or lifted his right hand in defeat. Greek wrestling was another key Olympic sport and was geared to throwing the opponent to the ground without the necessity of pinning him. The fighters fought in the nude and oiled their bodies, making mod-

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Ancient Greece

ern-style gripping holds difficult. Nudity was seen as a means of separating the Greeks from barbarians, who in Greek eyes always covered themselves in animal skins. Sweat was removed by scraping with stirgils, implements that removed excess oil and perspiration. As with boxing, there were no time limits, set ring, or even weight limits. When three falls were achieved, victory was declared. Sporting success also became a source of inspiration for poets and artists who admired the athletes’ bodies as representations of masculine beauty. Competitions featured both men (andres) and boys (paides), but the actual age classifications remain hard to determine conclusively. Yet there appeared to be a minimum age, as well as an upper division for boys of 17, after which they had to compete as men. Older athletes were welcome to compete as long as they could avoid embarrassment. There was also evidence indicating that as athletes aged, horse racing became an alternative activity. Other Greek Games The Olympics was but one part of a multitude of similar festival games that spread throughout Greece in celebration of different gods. The Pythian Games held every four years at Delphi in honor of Apollo; the Isthmian Games, played at Corinth every two years in honor of Poseidon; and the Nemean Games held on alternate years in celebration of Zeus were all popular events. Over time, festival games spread throughout Greece, so that by the 2nd century c.e., over 300 different games were held in the Greek world. By the time of the Roman conquest the Olympic games had lost their appeal, and by the end of the 4th century c.e. they had disappeared into obscurity and were replaced by the more brutal gladiatorial contests that the Romans preferred. Horse racing was also a sport that attracted many spectators, and different city-states did mount competitive teams. The sport required considerable wealth for participation. There were two basic races: those where the horse pulled a chariot, and those where the horse had a jockey. The owners in most cases did not ride the horses but provided riders. They did, though, receive the awards that came with victory. Chariots races usually had chariots pulled by four or two horse teams. In these times, the horse-drawn chariot was not of great military or economic importance. Without stirrups, saddles, or horseshoes, a horse’s value in warfare was limited. In ancient Greece, the horse was primarily a transport device that took men into battle,

and the chariot itself became largely obsolete in warfare by the 4th century b.c.e. The evidence for playing ball games in Greece is harder to document. However, there were a variety of ball-type games played that used several different types of balls: the harpastum, which was small, hard, and made of hair; the follis, a bladder filled with air; and the pila, a larger ball packed with feathers. Since our evidence remains limited, it is difficult to explain in detail how these balls were actually used. What we do understand stems largely from the writings of Galen during the 2nd century c.e. One ball game played by the Greeks was episkyros, which was a team game where the ball had to be moved across a boundary by throwing. Ball games, though, were not seen as serious games for real athletes but were useful for building team play, which appealed especially to the Spartans. A much later ball game that was popular after the Roman conquest was harpastum, meaning snatch. A small group of players, possibly as few as five, moved the ball by throwing it. Some scholars have interpreted this activity to be a game similar to keepaway. Without having clear and specific applications in the established sports arena, these games were viewed as less important and essentially forms of personal exercise and team activities. Surviving vase illustrations showed that there were still other unknown games on offer. One such game had players riding on the shoulders of others, where they moved a ball-like object. Other artifact representations showed players dribbling a ball as well as players using a ball and a stick. Besides ball-type games, other activities such as Knucklebones were played with bones, and these had several different variations in the ancient Greek world. In terms of actual rules and objectives, there is little surviving hard evidence, although some scholars have described the game as one similar to Jacks, where the bones were thrown in the air and the players tried to catch them on the backs of their hands. It was reported that it was a common sight in Greece for children to play this game. There also were suggestions that a game similar to Knucklebones amused Greek soldiers before battle during the Trojan War. In regard to the participation of girls and women in Greek sports the evidence is elusive. There were, however, many mythological celebrations of women hunters and runners. Further, there were competitions held at Heraea, where unmarried girls ran foot races in celebra-

Ancient India



tion of the goddess Hera. Winners received a crown of olive leaves and a cow was sacrificed to the goddess. Given the antiquity of the subject, it is astonishing that we know as much as we do about Greek games and sport, even though exact details are often vague. Nevertheless, sport was essential to Greek living. The gymnasium and various forms of exercise formed central features in Greek culture and architecture. Wrestlers trained in the gymnasium’s palestra section, and there were as many as 140 such sites spread throughout Greece. These sites functioned as modern-day sports centers do. Sport, competition, and victory shaped ancient Greek attitudes toward games. Games built the necessary attributes for survival in a hostile and warlike world. See Also: Ancient Rome; Athletics (Amateur); Greece; Horse Racing (Amateur); Jacks; Play as Competition, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Sociology of; Play as Entertainment, Psychology of; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of. Bibliography. Mark Golden, Sport and Society in Ancient Greece (Cambridge University Press, 1998); Donald G. Kyle, “Winning and Watching the Greek Pentathlon,” Journal of Sports History (v.17/3, 1990); Stephen G. Miller, Ancient Greek Athletics (Yale University Press, 2004); Stephen G. Miller, Arete: Greek Sports From Ancient Sources (University of California Press, 1991); Vera Olivova, Sports and Games in the Ancient World (Bloomsbury, 1986). Theodore W. Eversole Independent Scholar

Ancient India In ancient India, there were a number of civilizations that, because of their locations, developed different forms of recreation. The oldest was in the Indus Valley, which flourished from 3000 until 1500 b.c.e., largely in modern-day Pakistan and northwestern India, where some ideas appear to have originated from Sumer and other Mesopotamian civilizations. Elsewhere on the Indian Subcontinent, there were numbers of different centers of the ancient world, including that on the Ganges, where Asoka (d. 232 b.c.e.) reigned in the city of Patna, which at one time was credited with being one of the largest cities in the ancient world.

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In all of these areas, many people were involved in the making of pottery and in fashioning models of the Hindu deities, large numbers of which survive. Some of the smaller figures from the Indus Valley might also have been made as toy soldiers and the like for boys, and from the many seals that have been found by archaeologists and the size of houses, it seems likely that there would have been toys, possibly made from wood or from clay. Indeed, as many of the houses themselves were made from clay, the making of miniature versions of them, which could then be baked in the sun, was not only a common pastime but also a useful one, as many people were involved in building or enlarging their own homes. There is also evidence of people in Ancient India having pets including songbirds and dogs. Probably because of the dusty location, as well as the heat, many of the cultural activities of the Indus Valley Civilization likely took place around public bath-houses, where many of the games were played. In the Indus Valley, and indeed throughout ancient India, there were many martial arts and also recreational sports that involved a show of strength, such as racing, archery, chariot racing, horse racing, sailing, and in the areas where there were elephants and camels, riding these animals. While some games tested dexterity and skill, many existed to test strength. One of the celebrated tests of strength can be found early in the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana, which forms a major part of Hindu mythology. It involves the stringing of the famous “Great” or “Wondrous” bow by Rama at the court of King Janaka. It is while hunting a deer that Rama and his brother are drawn deeper and deeper into the woods. In Hindu India, the mythological tales such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata led to much storytelling and also dance and theatrical performances, whereby the stories were elaborated on, and some aspects became morality tales for the young, as did the later tales of the life of the Lord Buddha. Throughout Indian society, however, the caste system very much restricted activities and hence modes of play. There were also taboos connected with gender. For girls and women, the fashioning of brightly colored textiles was important, with spinning, weaving, sewing, and embroidery all skills that were learned at home, as well as, for those from higher castes, the making of parasols. Boys and men were also involved in some craft work, including woodwork, the making of fly whisks, and also

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Ancient India

There were many different civilizations throughout ancient India. Some of the children’s toys that were common to many of them were kites, spinning tops, hoops, chess, and the game Snakes and Ladders.

cane balls, which were used in games that children and young men played. While girls learned to skip from a young age to teach them coordination, boys enjoyed playing with rope. Spinning tops and hoops made from cane were used by both genders, but playing with kites was primarily undertaken by boys. Music featured heavily in ancient India, and there are many references to it in the Ramayana. Stone carvings also show people playing the vina, a wooden instrument with strings, as well as flutes, often played by girls, and harps and a variety of drums. Dancing by girls was also common throughout India, where girls and young women would show their dexterity and charm. The dance occasionally became heavily ritualized, and these are not only described in ancient texts but also shown on stone carvings in temples. In the early life of the Lord Buddha, folk stories relate to Prince Gautama Siddhartha being involved in many games in the royal palace where he grew up, and some storytellers have added elements into the story, with other children coming to the palace and playing with him, and the prince being presented with many toys— although he was not allowed to leave the palace and did not do so until he was 29 years old. Indian stone carvings, and later manuscripts, showing the period of Prince

Gautama Siddhartha’s early years show people playing musical instruments, juggling, or playing various ball games as a way of contrasting this life of “play” with his later one of a search for spiritual enlightenment. About 150 years after Buddha reached enlightenment, Alexander the Great arrived at the borders of India, and his soldiers came across the game Chaturanga, which had been played in Persia, but was now closer to the present game of Chess, which therefore probably originated in its present form in ancient India. In the Mahabharata, there is a part of this great epic when two sets of warring cousins play the game. The old boards for playing Chaturanga look similar to those used for playing the Checkers version of Solitaire. The Indians had added the King (or Raja) and the Adviser (or Bishop), with the rooks being represented by elephants, their howdahs becoming, in Europe, the “castle.” There was also the use of monkeys for the pawns of one side to represent the struggle against Ravana in the Ramayana. Some games are believed to have originated in ancient India, the most famous being Snakes and Ladders, as well as Ludo—the former is definitely known to have been played by the Jains in India in the 16th century and had its origins in the ancient Indian game of Moksha Patamu.



Mention should also be made of the early playing cards, which are also thought to have their origins in ancient India, where the game known as Kridapatram was wellknown, as was a game that featured a number of elephants including Gajapati, the “Lord of the Elephants.” Other designs involved characters from the Ramayana, although it is likely that the old card games used bamboo or domino-like tiles, with the designs being transferred to cardboard or tough card in medieval times. See Also: Chess and Variations of; Dominoes; History of Playing Cards; India; Kite Flying; Pakistan, Snakes and Ladders. Bibliography. N. Bland, “On the Persian Game of Chess,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (v.13, 1852); Haran Chandra Chakladar, Social Life in Ancient India: Study in Vatsyayana’s Kamasutra (Cosmo, 1984); Irina Glushkova and Anne Feldhaus, House and Home in Maharashtra (Oxford University Press, 1998); P.T. Srinivas Iyengar, Life in Ancient India in the Age of Mantras (Asian Educational Services, 1982); Gustave Le Bon, The World of Indian Civilization (Minerva, 1974); H.J.R. Murray, A Short History of Chess (Oxford University Press, 1963); Marie Neurath and John Ellis, They Lived Like This in Ancient India (Max Parrish, 1967); Jogesh Chandra Ray, Ancient Indian Life (P.R. Sen, 1948). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Ancient Rome Ancient Rome presented a model for how affluence affected play communally and individually over time. Play—sedentary and active, indoor and outdoor, solitary and social—was woven throughout life in ancient Rome. Country homes had porticos for playing ball or exercising. Young men and boys sometimes amused themselves by whirling along metal hoops. Parents in ancient Rome hand manufactured or supplied toys for their children, but adult play dominated recreational time in this sophisticated agricultural region, where work, and not leisure, was emphasized. Young men were encouraged to become physically strong and agile by mastering jumping, throwing, hunting, wrestling, boxing, racing, swimming, and playing handball. A “sound mind in a strong body,” mens sana in corpore sano, was culturally significant in this society

Ancient Rome

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that spawned great wealth and unprecedented empire building. Rome’s first gymnasium, Campus Martius, was built beside the Tiber so that men could exercise for recreation and military training. Etruscan Culture The Etruscan culture emerged at the beginning of the Iron Age in the area of Italy today known as Tuscany. Etruscans shared cultural traits with Greece, so Greek advances and influences were absorbed into Italy— young Etruscans played a form of piggyback ride called Ephedrismos. The Etruscans reached their peak from the 7th to the 5th century b.c.e., when they were first to exploit the mineral potential of Italy to develop a bronze industry that fueled continuing prosperity. The Etruscans extended their power over most of Italy, achieving one of the most affluent civilizations in the western Mediterranean. Markets and fairs held every ninth day became hubs for socializing and established patterns for play that Romans later expanded. When riches were introduced by the extension of conquest, the manners of the people changed when the pursuit of luxury seized all ranks. Captives and slaves of war provided labor and were exploited for entertainment, luxury, and vice. Etruscan women experienced more autonomy than did other women in the ancient Mediterranean world. Etruscan mothers reared their own children, whereas in Greece, fathers legally “raised up” the children. Dolls made of wax or terracotta were first used as adult religious articles and then were adopted by children when the rites ended. Bows and arrows, rattles, and small dishes to use for playing with dolls were popular. The Etruscans ruled Rome, building it into a city that boasted of great engineering and architecture. Public art chronicled a great abundance of natural and enjoyment of the good life. Greek-style athletic festivals never achieved the popularity, but chariot races, ludi circenses, held in conjunction with annual festivals and holidays occurred in Rome’s great hippodrome racecourse Circus Maximus, situated between the Aventine and Palatine hills. This was the first location used for public games and entertainment, where people of all ages viewed equestrian and other athletic events, which were held as early as the 6th century b.c.e. Circus Maximus became the venue for wild animal shows, venations, and massive hunts of leopards, bears, and elephants. Romans kept

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Ancient Rome

lapdogs, monkeys, nonvenomous snakes, and trained songbirds as hobbies. Small numbers of animals were kept for sport, including hounds for hunting and cocks for fighting. Romans also raised pigeons and doves on rooftop aviaries in order to carry messages. Roman Culture The Romans expelled the Etruscans from Rome in 510 b.c.e. Gladiatorial shows, menera, were established in 264 b.c.e. Once betting was introduced, racing rules and arena designs were developed to ensure fairness. When Circus Maximus was not operating, it served as an open space for entertainment including jugglers, bawdy performing artists, prostitutes, and fortunetellers. Puppetry was a popular form of entertainment in Greece and Rome. Lucius Apuleius (125–170 c.e.) chronicled that Roman marionettes could even roll their eyes.

Ancient Rome held games in the Colosseum, but children played with marbles, hobby horses, hoops, tops, and dolls.

Public games required immense planning and expense in order to make their visual and sensory impact: They were designed to awe the crowd and shape public memory. During the Roman republic, seven festivals or staged games, ludi, were organized at public expense at regular intervals throughout the year to honor Roman gods: Ludi Megalenses, for the Great Mother of the Gods (April 4–9); Ludi Cereales, for Ceres (April 12–18); Ludi Florales, for Flora (April 28–May 2); Ludi Apollinares, for Apollo (July 6–12); Ludi Romani, for Jupiter (September 4–12); Ludi Victoriae, for Victory (October 26–31); and Ludi Plebeii, for Jupiter (November 4–12), held in Circus Flaminius. Staged games, ludi scaenici, were occasions for dramatic performances where Romans came together in temporary theaters to strengthen and sustain community identity. Lude Magni and Ludi Romani, similar to Greek Olympic games, were annual celebrations that preceded circus games, ludi circenses, comprising chariot races and hunts. Public games were celebrated 66 days out of the year, and diagrams found in the Roman Forum suggest the presence of adult board games and gambling. Children built small playhouses with bricks and enjoyed games known throughout the ancient world. They played with clay marbles, bones, dice, hobbyhorses, hoops, tops, dolls, and nuts in neighborhoods. Castles or Pyramids was played when nuts were arranged in “castles” of four, three, and one on top. Boys would toss clay marbles in order to knock down the castles or pyramids in order to win the nuts. Early versions of Backgammon, Checkers and Chess were known. Children also played Hide-and-Seek just as it is played today. Heads-or-Ships was a game like Heads-or-Tails, in which children tossed coins, shouting to guess which side would come up. Adults enjoyed drinking, gambling, and playing games of chance. Alea was played with dice: tesserae, that had six sides like modern dice, and tali, which had four elongated sides that were numbered. To play, three tesserae or four tali were placed into a box made in a form of a small tower called frittillus; the dice were shaken and thrown upon a gaming board or table, and the count was tallied in the form of odds and evens. In Knucklebone, or Astragulus, the anklebone of a cloven­-hoofed animal served as a naturally good item to play with like dice. A game called Pentalitha, or Fivestones, was played as a divination (by women) or to gamble (by men). The ancient game with five knucklebones was a popular

Anti-Competition Play



pastime for women and men. The knucklebones were tossed up simultaneously, so that the thrower, turning his hand over, would receive them on his forehand; if they did not all land properly on his hand, while he kept those that did land in place, he had to pick up the rest. Sortes was a diversion similar to the lottery, in which sealed tablets were sold at equal price. Opened sortes revealed prizes of unequal value; for instance, one reward might be 100 gold pieces, and another might be a toothpick. Morra was a finger game of chance played by two people. Players simultaneously raised or compressed their fingers, and each guessed at the number of fingers raised in the opponent’s hand. See Also: Checkers and Variations of; Chess and Variations of; Gambling; Hobbies; Jacks; Play Among Animals. Bibliography. Roland Auguet, Cruelty and Civilization: The Roman Games (Routledge, 1994); J.P.V.D. Balsdon, Life and Leisure in Ancient Rome (MaGraw-Hill, 1969); John H. Humphrey, Roman Circuses: Arenas for Chariot Racing (B.T. Batsford, Ltd., 1986); George Jennison, Animals for Show and Pleasure in Ancient Rome (Manchester University Press, 1937); David Matz, Daily Life of the Ancient Romans (The Daily Life Through History Series) (Hackett Pub., 2008). Meredith Eliassen San Francisco State University

Anti-Competition Play Throughout history, play has been considered an important element in the development of children. Play serves to help children develop cognitively, emotionally, and socially, as well as serving as an expressive activity done for its own sake. Play isn’t just for children, however, as adolescents and adults may play in their leisure time as well. While the meanings and outcomes attached to the play of children and adults are different, they are nonetheless compelling. This entry will examine these different aspects of anti-competition play in our society. Play of Children The play of children in their formative years is crucial to their ongoing development. While theorists have struggled to comprehensively define play and its impact, to

33

children, the activity of play is simply fun and enjoyable and serves as an end to itself. Through study, it is known that play is very important for youth developmentally, as well as for the historical, psychological, cultural, and sociological meanings it represents. When watching children play, there appears to be no obvious goal or end conclusion, although it is easy to observe the amount of joy and satisfaction that comes from their play. Their play is also spontaneous, free, uncertain, and unplanned, as children exhibit a variety of play types, ranging from explorative and manipulative play to imitative play to play involving rules. Playing games with rules starts for children around the age of 4 years, but even though rules exist, these games are still often noncompetitive, as until about the age of 8–10 years, children cannot fully understand the concept of competition. So, for youth, their play is often characterized by a lack of competition. Although this is not a conscious choice, it is inherent in their ability to play, as evidenced by their level of cognitive development. Adolescent and Adult Play When adolescents and adults engage in noncompetitive play, it is often much more of a deliberate choice than is the play of children. The orientations, meanings, and organization of noncompetitive play activities are vastly different from those of competitive play. While the goals of competitive play include overcoming opponents, winning, and demonstrating superior ability compared with others, the goals of noncompetitive play often center on fun, mastery, escape, and cooperation. When adolescents and adults participate in noncompetitive play, they often (although not always) play in a way where there is less structure and organization. Play opportunities tend not to be formally organized in ways that competitive activities are. Similarly, the orientations of those who play noncompetitively tend to focus on the process of involvement. The end results, particularly in comparison to others, tend not to be salient; instead, becoming engrossed in the activity, creating something beautiful, and/or experiencing significant interactions with other participants tends to be most important. This also impacts the meanings of these activities for participants, as participants find the most satisfaction in these activities when they have met their goal(s). In sum, the most important aspect for many is the process or means, rather than the product or the end.

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Arcades

Anit-Competitive Play Patterns While anti-competitive play can take many forms and functions for adolescents and adults, two specific areas are explored further here. First, some adolescents, in a conscious attempt to subvert authority, choose to engage in noncompetitive alternative sports like skateboarding, snowboarding, and hacky sac. Much of the focus of these play activities is on excellence in performance, but not at the expense of competing with others. The meanings attached to these activities for the participants often center around displaying individuality, avoiding the authority inherent in many organized competitive activities, and becoming proficient in the activity. Over the past 10–20 years, as commercialization and competition have entered some of these activities, participants at times have resisted these intrusions to turn their activity into competitive sport. Efforts are made on the part of participants to maintain the definition and meaning of the activity as a noncompetitive activity, hoping to avoid the authority and restrictions that are brought into their activities by organizing agencies. Second, technology increasingly has a greater role in play patterns of children, adolescents, and adults. Over the past decade or two, the availability and prevalence of technological games has grown dramatically. The full effect of this growth is not yet known, but it is clear that when children, adolescents, and adults choose to play, they now have a much greater range of possibilities given the recent developments of electronically based activities. While it is true that many of these activities are competitive in nature, other noncompetitive activities are proving to be popular, as well. Recently, virtual reality games, in which users live a corresponding life in a cyberworld, have become popular, as well as learning activities for children. While anticompetitive play has been around as long as play itself, its purposes vary depending on the age of the participant. Further, while adolescent and adult noncompetitive play is often a conscious decision, the types of noncompetitive play available change with the times, as is apparent with the rise of alternative sports as well as technology. See Also: Cooperative Play; Fantasy Play; Hobbies; Play as Competition, Psychology of; Skateboarding; Skiing; Snowboarding; Unstructured Play.

Bibliography. Jay Coakley, Sports in Society (McGraw-Hill, 2007); D. Stanley Eitzen and George H. Sage, Sociology of North American Sport (McGraw-Hill, 2003); Mary D. Sheridan, Jackie Harding, and Liz Meldon-Smith, Play in Early Childhood: From Birth to Six Years (Routledge Press, 2002); Daryl Siedentop, Introduction to Physical Education, Fitness, and Sport (McGraw-Hill, 2004); Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer, Imagination and Play in the Electronic Age (Harvard University Press, 2005). Jessie Daw Northern State University

Arcades Arcades offer consumers the opportunity to play various mechanical games and machines for the purpose of entertainment. Game play is facilitated by depositing money, which results in a predetermined game play or action. Arcades may take the form of a distinct business locale constructed around these games, such as a video arcade that caterers to video game play offering a variety of game options. Alternately, quasi-arcades are common in public venues, such as in restaurants, malls, truck stops, bars, bowling alleys, and lobbies of movie theaters, where the games and entertainment machines are secondary entertainment used to bolster revenue from patrons. One is particularly likely to find these machines in areas where people are found unoccupied or waiting. Early Arcades Early “penny” arcades emerged in the late 1800s. These arcades may have been stable businesses set up in urban or tourist settings, but they also travelled with amusement parks and circuses. Within these arcades they had shooting galleries, various ball games, picture and peepshow machines, and the earliest coin-operated machines. Moral crusaders often critiqued the immoral nature of the arcade, particularly peepshow machines that would show brief erotic or nude “films” or picture stories. Arcades of this era drew audiences from youth and young adults primarily—persisting patrons over the course of the last century. By the 1930s pinball machines had entered the arcade scene. During the following decades, arcades remained relatively limited in many parts of the nation, with most



Arcades

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Many people enjoy Skee-Ball, a physical arcade game of skill. The game is similar to bowling in concept; however, the ball must hit a ramp and soar into a hoop for a point score. The center hoop at the top generally has the highest score.

arcade games appearing in limited numbers at public locations catering to youth and families. Growth of Arcade Games During the 1970s and 1980s, the video arcade emerged as video games such as Pac-Man and Space Invaders became available. These coin-operated video games often cost a quarter per play. The length of play was determined in part by time limits, but also in part by successful play. The more skilled a player became at a game, the longer game play would continue. During this era, multiple-player video games also entered the scene, in which two players could compete with each other in the video game. During this era, corner video arcades and arcade centers appeared throughout the United States, catering to adolescent and teen youth, particularly boys. Teens could go to the video arcade

not only to play video games and perhaps consume minor refreshments such as soda, candy, and popcorn but also to socialize. Indeed, the video arcade became a central location of teen socialization during the 1980s and as such was portrayed in various teen films of the era. Additionally, entertainment centers catering to children emerged, such as the restaurant Chuck E. Cheese. Based on the arcade theme, these centers integrated food and iconographic characters, fostering the socialization of ever-younger populations into arcade culture. Meanwhile, adult-oriented entertainment centers, such as Dave & Busters, also emerged, engaging adults with game play and food and alcohol consumption. In the late 1980s, the video arcade declined in popularity. This decline was fostered by increasingly affordable personal video consoles for the home as well as social concern about the safety of the arcade. The image

36

Arctic Play (First Nations)

of the arcade had begun to transition from a teen safe space to a space embedded with drugs and teen angst and perhaps violence. During the 1990s, the arcade decline persisted, yet the game technology continued to evolve. Video games that had already begun to integrate gun-like controllers, which the player would point at the screen to shoot, were expanding to include enclosed game booths. Games with more sensory experiences began to emerge as players began to physically ride mechanical motorcycles and jet skis that would allow the player to feel the virtue bumps and turns of the game. New video games such as Dance Dance Revolution engaged the player in dance moves. This video game is played upon a game pad with sensors to indicate player foot movement and has been noted as a positive shift in video technology, encouraging physical activity. Today, the video arcade is dominated by technology that is too large or costly for home consumption. Yet various fighter games that do not require specialized controllers or technology persist, allowing for individual play and competition for high scores and establishing skill status among peers. See Also: Amusement Parks; Pinball; Play as Catharsis; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of. Bibliography. Christopher Barlett, Richard Harris, and Ross Baldassaro, “Longer You Play, The More Hostile You Feel: Examination of First Person Shooter Video Games and Aggression During Video Game Play,” Aggressive Behavior (v.33/6, 2007); Joanna Demers “Dance Dance Revolution, Cybernetic Dance, and Musical Taste,” Popular Music (v.25/3, 2006); Robert Fox “Socializing Around Arcade Technology,” Communications of the ACM (v.40/8, 1997); Jeroen Jansz and Raynel Martis, “The Lara Phenomenon: Powerful Female Characters in Video Games,” Sex Roles (v.56/3–4, 2007). Daniel Farr Randolph College

Arctic Play (First Nations) Play is a central component of cultural vitality. Nowhere is this clearer than in the example of arctic games, a designation applied to a range of traditional activities

carried out by indigenous groups in the circumpolar regions of the globe. Within a historical context, these games served to reproduce sociocultural values, develop physical capabilities necessary to surviving the harsh climate of the north, and promote the acquisition of subsistence skills. Today, attempts to maintain traditional cultures and values have resulted in a renewed interest in play in the north. Unlike contemporary sports and games that strongly emphasize asymmetrical outcomes (i.e., winning and losing) to the exclusion of other recreational or athletic values, traditional arctic games seek to balance the needs of the community, the survival of which depends on an ethic of cooperation and sharing, with the development of individual self-reliance, an equally important communal skill. As such, traditional games encourage competitive engagement; that is, participation with an intent to compete, to do well, and to emerge as the winner, all the while promoting the success of your opponents. Games were also used in traditional northern society as a means of maintaining the skills and physical capability necessary for life in the north through play, which mimicked subsistence activities such as harpoon throwing and archery, as well as through games whose outcomes promoted the development of strength, endurance and resistance to pain. Arm Pull, for example, is a game of strength in which two participants sit on the floor facing each other with their legs straight and their feet placed against their opponent’s feet. The objective is to pull the opponent off the ground. The Knuckle Hop, on the other hand, which is intended to develop the ability to resist pain, sees participants “hop” along the floor on only their toes and knuckles until they collapse. The longest distance wins. Arctic games reflect traditional northern Aboriginal life in other ways as well. For example, while the objectives and form of play represented by these games vary widely, they all have simple rules and little if any equipment, which suits the historically nomadic lifestyles of their creators. Furthermore, the majority of these games were/are the exclusive terrain of men. This gendered access to participation is a reflection of the strict division of labor characteristic of northern indigenous communities. In contemporary northern Aboriginal society, the playing of traditional games represents one aspect of cultural preservation. In the case of Canada, for exam-

Argentina



ple, the reorganization and centralization of Inuit life that accompanied the federal government’s colonization of the north in the mid-20th century precipitated a decline in participation in traditional play because of the enforced break with “the land” as well as the introduction of “southern sports.” Despite these incursions, Aboriginal communities in the north have made a concerted effort to maintain this particular aspect of their culture with varying degrees of success. Most commonly, this act of preservation has been carried out at the community level through the playing of traditional games at village celebrations. However, with the establishment of the Arctic Winter Games in 1970, this particular component of indigenous culture was also ensured a place in the larger social sphere of northern life. See Also: Australian Aborigines; Canada; Native Americans; Play as Learning, Anthropology of. Bibliography. R.G. Glassford, Application of a Theory of Games to the Transitional Eskimo Culture (Arno Press, 1976); Michael Heine, “ ‘It’s a Competition, Not a Show!’ Traditional Games at the Arctic Winter Games,” Stadion (v.31/1, 2005); Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games, “Inuit (Eskimo) Games,” www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca /VirtualExhibits/Inuit/english/index.html (cited July 2008). Jessica Dunkin Carleton University

Argentina Argentina is the second largest country in South America, and one with a wide range of temperatures, from the hot and arid subtropical lands along the border with Paraguay to the cold and damp regions of southern Patagonia. The vast expanses of countryside and the fact that the country has welcomed a wide range of migrants have led to many different pursuits taking place throughout the country, with a detailed study of them undertaken by Jorge Páez in 1971. Buenos Aires, with a population of 12 million (2007), has long attracted Spanish and Italian migrants, but there are also substantial British, German, Greek, Eastern European, and Chinese communities. The early

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Spanish settlers enjoyed riding horses—the great Pampas being the perfect venue for horse riding and rodeos, leading to the emergence of the gaucho culture. The earliest reference to bullfighting in Argentina was in 1609, but it was banned in Argentina in 1856, although it did take place illegally as recently as 1950. Girls from wealthy families learned sewing and embroidery. Many also were involved in playing music, listening to it, and dancing. It was from the African slave community in Buenos Aires, and also from nearby Montevideo, in Uruguay, that the hard rhythm of tango music originated. Most children in Argentina were involved in playing games such as Hide-and-Seek, playing with marbles, and girls playing with dolls. However soccer—both recreational and professional—is one of the most popular pastimes in the entire country; their national team won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, and only losing in the final in 1990. Boys can be found playing soccer, often with improvised goal posts, all around the country. Most other games are also played, with the British community, through St. George’s College and St. Andrew’s Scots School, as well as the Hurlingham Club and the Belgrano Club, being centers for cricket and rugby. Recreational Activities Indeed, the British community in Argentina are responsible for introducing many of the nation’s recreational sports, such as cricket in 1806, athletics in the following year, horse racing in 1826 (with the establishment of the Buenos Aires Racing Club), rowing in 1857, swimming in 1863, rugby in 1873, polo in 1874, and lawn tennis in 1880. At both the Hurlingham and the Belgrano clubs, as well as others in the country, billiards is played, and in many nightspots around Buenos Aires and other large cities, there are regular darts competitions. The Hurlingham Club also has one of the only two Eton Fives courts in the Southern Hemisphere. The French and Catalan communities in Argentina play boule, and some older Italian migrants play bocce, in places such as San Telmo in Buenos Aires. Card games—especially Bridge and Poker—and Backgammon are also common throughout the country. Many Argentines enjoy “outdoor” pursuits, including hiking, cycling, and going to adventure playgrounds, with some traveling to Patagonia, where many youth groups organize excursions with skiing, sailing, windsurfing, ballooning, bungee jumping, and whitewater rafting. Although indoor ice-skating rinks can be

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Armenia

found in all the large cities in Argentina, many Argentines prefer to go to the south of their country in winter for skiing, skating, snowboarding, and tobogganing. At Ushuaia, there are many opportunities for crosscountry skiing. At Lake Lenas, near the inland city of Mendoza, downhill ski racing has started to attract visitors not only from Argentina, but also from overseas. In other areas, teenage boys can be found involved in skateboarding and rollerblading. In August-September 1939, Buenos Aires hosted the 8th Chess Olympiad, and this had dramatic effects on Argentine Chess for decades. The competition coincided with the start of World War II, with the German invasion of Poland; the games in which Polish and French players were to compete against Germans were cancelled, and the Germans managed to get the Czechoslovakian team excluded. Argentina came in fifth overall, and of the competitors, some 23, including the famous Polish player Mikhail Najdorf, decided to stay in Argentina, with Miguel Najdorf (as he became) remaining one of the top players in the world, with the result that many Argentines became interested in Chess. In primary schools, swings and slides, as well as sandpits, are used by children. Wargaming and modelmaking have also been of great interest to Argentine youths and men, with Revell and Airfix models being available in shops around Avenida Corrientes in Buenos Aires, and in shops throughout the country. Although Wargaming for the Ancient World and the Napoleonic Wars remain the most popular, the recent availability of metal figurines for armies (including Argentine) who fought in the War of the Triple Alliance from 1864 until 1870, when Argentine, Brazilian, and Uruguayan soldiers defeated Paraguay. The battle over the Falklands/ Malvinas has also grown in popularity in recent years. At a number of schools there are model-making and Wargaming clubs, and for adult participants, there are also regular meetings and fairs. As well as European migrants, there have also been many Chinese who have settled in Argentina, and Mahjong and Ping Pong groups are not unknown, especially in Buenos Aires. Indigenous groups are also still involved in playing games such as Pelota, originally a Basque or Catalan game. Bowling alleys and amusement arcades are popular, especially for boys and young men, with younger children still enjoying LEGOs. Computer games are overtaking board games, such as Monopoly,

in popularity, although there is a version of the game set in Argentina with the properties being the names of estancias in different provinces of the country, and the train stations being those in Buenos Aires. Hand-drawn games of Dungeons & Dragons are now largely played on computers. See Also: Arcades; Brazil; Chess and Variations of; Cricket (Amateur); Dungeons & Dragons; Skiing; Snowboarding; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; Wargames. Bibliography. Emilio Alberto Breda, Juegos y Deportes Entre los Indios del Río de la Plata [Games and Sports of the Indians of the River Plate Region] (Ediciones Theoria, Buenos Aires, 1962); Christopher Chilcott, “Falklands 2003,” Miniature Wargames (August 2003); Gustavo Levene, “Hoofbeats From the Pampas,” Américas (v.40/6, 1988); Jorge Páez, Del Truquiflor a la Rayuela: Panorama de los Juegos y Entreteniemientos Argentines [From Brag to Hopscotch: A Panorama of Games and Amusements in Argentina] (Centro Editor de América Latina, 1971). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Armenia The Republic of Armenia is a young, independent political entity, yet the geographical area and Armenian culture and heritage are quite old. Thus, this entry presents an overview of the culture of play in the historical Armenian lands, the traditions that were developed during the Ottoman era, the altered meanings of play during the Soviet Armenia, and the revival of older traditions in modern Armenia based on ethnographic studies conducted in the 19th and 20th centuries. Dikran Chituni was among the first to research children’s play during the first decade of the 20th century. His study, titled “The World of Play in the East or the National Games,” was published in 1906 as an article and became a book in 1919 with the title The World of Play in the East. Inspired by a French book, 200 Jeux d’Enfants by Harquevaux and Pelletier, Chituni unearths and describes 256 Armenian children’s games with their variants and gives detailed information on the nature of the playground, the number of players, and their



approximate ages. His detailed descriptions add an ethnographic dimension to the study. Emphasizing the antiquity of the games, Chituni argues that play is a primary quality of human beings from childhood to old age—as Huizinga’s Homo Ludens. Mottos such as “the child grows up by playing,” “play is both living and self-development for the child,” or mens sana in corpore sana are repeated in Chituni’s book. Play was defined as an activity giving meaning to idle time, and such habits as the use of a rosary were analyzed for their playlike functions. Admitting that closely living communities have similar traditions of play, Chituni argues that play still carries the “cultural marks of a people” and conveys their “moral conceptions.” Therefore, the compilation of children’s games was like an archaeological excavation, the findings of which should be professionally conserved. Decimation and deportation of the Armenians of Anatolia in 1915, their diasporic existence all around the world, the sudden and austere changes in the lives of Caucasian Armenians under the Soviet rule, and modernization in general interrupted the investigations on play. New interest only appeared in the 1950s, when Vard H. Bdoyan undertook a survey in the whole “historic Armenia” in 1951 and classified the games under 11 categories: babies’ games, delineating the relations between adults and infants; games developing creativity and manual skills in 5- and 6-year-olds; sportive games for the preservation of the “memory of Armenian traditions”; movement games, sports; games situated between play and dance; dramatic games projecting the “image of society”; games for cultural education; games played with animals (bull fights, various races); games commemorating myths; competitive games, played during feasts; and games commemorating struggles against invaders. Normative, repetitive, and restrictive characteristics of the classification were related to the ideological pressures of the Soviet regime on ethnographic studies. The inventory was compiled 1952–57, and the geographical dimensions of the study included Ararat plain, Lori, Zangezur Mountains, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and eastern Anatolia. Bdoyan’s masterpiece, Armenian Folk Games, compiled a list of 200 games and remains a reference source. Under Soviet rule, an artificial folk culture was created and authenticity was reduced to a standardized set of celebrations, monuments, and artistic performances. Though historically it was the Armenian custom to celebrate many festivals, in the Soviet and post-Soviet peri-

Assyrian/Babylonian Culture

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ods, only remnants of a once-vibrant festive life have been in evidence. Yet, in modern-day Armenia, there are efforts being made to recover and revive ancient cultural artifacts. Both religious and historical events are commemorated with celebrations, during which traditional circle dances are performed with folkloric music and historic games are played. For example, there are a number of games associated with the return of spring and the Paregentan festival—the equivalent of the European carnival, seven weeks before Easter. One is a game played with children called Karpetalakhi. In the game, two teams of men use their belts to lash at each other, with one group guarding children hidden under a carpet and the other trying to release them; when the children are finally released, they appear to be magically revived. Other games played in Paregentan include a shadow-puppet theater, spoon puppet plays, a theatrical farce called Khan Pasha, and a tightrope act with acrobats dancing above the crowd, mimicked by clowns. Further anthropological studies are needed to comment more extensively on the meaning of play in modern Armenia. See Also: Georgia; Homo Ludens (Huizinga); Memory and Play; Turkey. Bibliography. Levon Abrahamian and Nancy Sweezy, eds., Armenian Folk Arts, Culture, and Identity (Indiana University Press, 2001); Vard H. Bdoyan, Hay Joghovrtagan Khagher [Armenian Folk Games] (Armenian SSR Academy of Sciences Press, 1963); Dikran Chituni, Arevelian Khaghashkharh [The World of Play in the East], (Arzuman, 1919); Anahide Ter Minassian, “Les Jeux des Adolescents Arméniens dans L’Empire Ottoman,” in François Georgeon, Paul Dumont, ed., Vivre dans L’Empire Ottoman, Sociabilités et Relations Intercommunautaires, XVIIIe-XXe Siécles (L’Harmattan, 1997). Nazan Maksudyan Bogazici University

Assyrian/Babylonian Culture The Assyrians are perhaps best known today as disciplined warriors and skilled technicians and engineers; the Babylonians are still associated with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon mentioned in the Bible. However, the culture created by these two peoples was complex

40

Assyrian/Babylonian Culture

and sophisticated. They enjoyed literary word games as much as practicing hunting or gardening and were probably the inventors of games still played today such as Backgammon and Chess. The Assyrians were a people speaking a Semitic language who inhabited the northern part of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq); they conquered most of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Anatolia, thus dominating an area including modern Syria, Iraq, and Turkey, between the 13th and 7th centuries b.c.e. The Babylonians, who also spoke a Semitic language, created an empire that had, as its center, the metropolis of Babylon. The Assyrian and Babylonians worshipped the same gods and goddesses (though under slightly different names) and spoke closely related languages, so that these two cultures are often examined together. In turn, all aspects of their culture were heavily indebted to previous civilizations, such as the Sumerian and the Akkadian. Language Games Assyrians and Babylonians were particularly well-versed in language games. Scholars have found several examples of puns in grammar, religious, and even official texts. In particular, the myths narrating the stories of the gods and goddesses of the Mesopotamian pantheon offer several examples of word games that become central for the development, or the resolution, of the story, as Jean Bottéro has highlighted. One interesting text tells the story of the god Nergal and of his wife-to-be, Ereshkigal, the powerful and independent Queen of the Underworld. Ea, the king of the gods, manages to combine the wedding by using a language game: the goddess wanted Nergal to put him to death (ana muti), but she is given him as consort (ana muti). Another fascinating story tells how Ea played a trick on human beings. Following the tricky suggestions of Ea, Adapa, the first human being, misses the chance to gain immortality for humankind by refusing the foods that will grant him immortality. The ancient Mesopotamian cultures have also left examples of verbal duels or challenges; in a poem written in Sumerian, a language that Assyrian erudites knew and used, the goddess Ninmah challenges her husband Enki, the god who creates the humankind from clay, to find a use for the men and women he has badly crafted. Board Games Archaeological findings have shown that the early Mesopotamian cultures, and later the Assyrians and Babylo-

nians, knew a variety of board games, whose structure and rules may have had a religious content and most probably had their origins in divination practices (such as rolling the bones of animals to predict the future), as Nigel Pennick has illustrated. The so-called Royal Game of Ur, which the archaeologist Leonard Wolley found in a royal tomb in the Sumerian city of Ur, is probably the ancestor of the various board games known to the Assyrians, who used board games with 12 or 20 squares and a set of dice and small signposts to play a game possibly rather similar to Backgammon. The archaeologist C.J. Gadd was the first to suggest, instead, that the Babylonians may have been the inventors of a form of Chess. He interpreted a passage in a Babylonian augural text as a reference to a peculiar board game resembling to Chess. This is not surprising, since the Babylonians were expert mathematicians, and were interested in astronomy, the science that studies the movements of celestial objects, which was then not yet separated from astrology, which is interested in the study of the possible effects of such movements on human lives and events. There are some specific clues that suggest a Babylonian origin for Chess; for example the presence, as an element of the game, of the river (this is later found in Chinese chessboards), and the possibility that rooks were originally chariots. The chariot was a key element in the Assyrian and Babylonian war strategies and armies, so it may be possible that one of the many ancestors of modern Chess, as C.J. Gadd cautiously suggested, could be found in Babylon. Recreational Activities The recreational activities of the Assyrian and Babylonian upper classes were not limited to games of chance; the Assyrians were especially fond of hunting, and used to keep lions and other wild animals in their urban gardens. The walls of the Assyrian royal palaces are covered in bas-reliefs and sculptures representing Assyrian kings hunting lions. According to Maureen Carroll, the Assyrian kings used their royal gardens as a symbol of power, displaying their victories abroad, since the gardens hosted seeds unknown to the regions where they were located. Archaeologists have not yet located the famous hanging gardens of Babylon, which were probably built on architectural supports and formed artificial forests perhaps resembling a stepped pyramid (ziggurat) covered in trees, as ancient Greek and Roman descriptions seem to suggest.

Athletics (Amateur)



Religious festivals in honor of the gods and goddesses of the Mesopotamian pantheon were probably an occasion for playful activities, since rituals involved solemn processions, dances, and playing music. Some have thought that the Akitu festival, which was the New Year festival in Babylon, was a carnivalesque festival, during which a temporary reversal of roles took place, but Benjamin Sommer has pointed out that the reversal of roles concerned only the king, who was temporarily deprived of his dignity and resumed kingship shortly after, thus enacting the renewal of the Cosmos. Assyrian and Babylonian children used to play not very differently from children today, and their toys seem to have reflected gender differences typical of patriarchal societies. For example, young boys played with miniature weapons (such as bow and arrows), and young girls had dolls or other toys made of clay or wood. See Also: Backgammon; Chess and Variations of; Dolls, Barbie and Others; Word Games (Other Than Crosswords). Bibliography. Enrico Ascalone, Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (University of California Press, 2007); Stephen Bertman, Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (Oxford University Press, 2005); Jean Bottéro, Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia (University of Chicago Press, 2002); Maureen Carroll, Earthly Paradises: Ancient Gardens in History and Archaeology (British Museum, 2003); C.J. Gadd “Babylonian Chess?” Iraq (v.8, 1944); Oswald Jacoby and John R. Crawford, The Backgammon Book (Penguin Books, 1970); Nigel Pennick, Games of the Gods. The Origin of Board Games in Magic and Divination (Century Hutchinson Ltd., 1988); Benjamin D. Sommer, “The Babylonian Akitu Festival: Rectifying the King or Renewing the Cosmos?” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society (v.27, 2000). Maria Beatrice Bittarello Independent Scholar

Athletics (Amateur) Athletics consists of an immense variety of related sporting events. These events, referred to as track and field in the United States, fall into the categories of track, field, road racing, multisport, cross country, mountain running, and race-walking events, each of which will

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be discussed in some detail below. The discussion here begins with the official national and international types and distances of events, but also considers events now popular or gaining popularity with a broader cross section of amateur athletes. Also considered here are some of the historical, sociological, and philosophical concepts relating to amateurism itself, particularly as it relates to athletics. Track, race walking, and other racing events fall into the broad range of running events, whether run on the 400-meter track, as most formal competitions are, or on a road as is the case in longer races, such as the marathon, or in other venues. Field consists of the jumping and throwing competitions, which include the throwing of differing objects, some intended to go further than others. The jumping competitions also break into categories of height and distance. Multisport events in athletics include the decathlon, heptathlon, and pentathlon, which include 10, seven, and five different events, respectively, and are rarely seen in competitions outside of Olympic, collegiate or other national or international contests. Also included in this category is the triathlon, a threesport event, which has gained a great deal of popularity among amateurs at all levels. Other multisport events that have gained a measure of popularity among amateur racers are such events as the duathlon and aquathlon. Amateurism Amateurism as a concept likely originated in England, where, in essence, it prevented the working classes from competing against the aristocratic elite. Englishmen used the concept to help define their social status since, as Eric Howbsbawm asserts, an important aspect of amateur sport was the self-selection of worthy opponents. Upper-class and middle-class sport with its systematic emphasis on amateurism as a criterion was a spontaneous attempt to draw class lines against the masses. Under this system, leisure time was required to pursue sport, which was to be an avocation entirely independent of work. The idea among the early proponents of amateur sports was that participation for money was disdainful and did not correspond to the gentlemanly spirit of competition. The amateur athlete was considered to be untainted and morally superior. The sports clubs formed in the latter third of the 19th century were the domain of wealthy, white men in positions of power. In the United States, for instance,

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during the last third of the 19th and early part of the 20th century, the driving force in amateur athletics were the urban athletic clubs, which at the outset at were primarily interested in track and field. In the 1870s the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) promoted competitions including only amateurs, defined by the NYAC as “any person who has never competed in an open competition for public or admission money, or with professionals for a prize, nor has at any period in his life taught or assisted in the pursuit of athletic exercises as a means of livelihood,” were allowed to participate. This was the definition later adopted by the National Association of Amateur Athletes of America, and the games of any athletic club were restricted to those who met the club’s definition of an amateur and a gentleman. In the intervening years the notion of amateur has taken on a far more populist, if somewhat less clear, definition.

Early History Athletics may arguably have grown out of the ancient past, when it was prosurvival to run and throw things well. It is also arguable that the wish to prove one’s superior ability may have led to competitions against one another. In fact, even now, in terms of amateur athletics, it is a case of rivalry hinging on a qualities such as speed, endurance, strength, and skill. While the need for such attributes may have changed and any rules may have been formalized, the essence of many of the abilities required remains. The first track and field events on record appear to be the ancient Olympics circa 776 b.c.e. Foot races, as well as other events, were held as athletes represented their various city states. The first Olympic athletes, however, could not have been considered amateurs under the amateur ideal of the 19th century or even today. These ancient athletes had much more in common with professional athletes, as they were well paid both financially and in terms of prestige. It was only in the “modern” Olympic games, founded in 1896, that amateurism as an ideal for Olympic competition emerged. By 1974, the rules regarding amateurism in the Olympics had changed, thus changing the concerns about amateurism in other venues. Amateur athletics remain popular, with a great number of track and field, running, and multisport clubs available internationally to people of all ages. Today, all of the events discussed here are practiced at the amateur level in school and collegiate programs, and most are also available through other amateur associations. There

are training programs and clinics to teach children and adults alike the fundamentals of a variety of athletic events. Such clubs often put on what some call open or all-comers track meets, in which anyone—regardless of training or level of ability—can take part. Running Events Standard on-track running events usually take place on a 400-meter track and consist of four categories of events; sprints, middle distance, hurdles, and relays. There is an indoor season for athletic events as well, but because of limits of space, the concentration here will be on outdoor events. In the sprint category of athletic running are the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 400 meters. The 400-meter race is also known as the quarter mile, although, since English measures are no longer used, the tracks having been converted metric lengths, it is not precisely a quarter mile. These distances, particularly the 100 meter, are the purest expression of all out human speed. The basis in tradition of the 200 meter is the ancient Greek sprint event the “stadion” (literally, length of the stadium), however, it actually is based on a furlong, or one-eighth mile. Typical middle distances are the 800 meter (or half mile), first run by professionals in the 1830s and presumably run by amateurs before this time; 1500 meter (or metric mile); and 1600 meter (or mile). In some instances the 3000 meter (roughly two miles) is considered a middle-distance run. However, most include it in the long distance category, along with 5K and 10K track runs. There are a variety of road races. These races are run on the open road, although they sometimes end on a track. Events in this category include 5K, 10K, half marathon (21.0975K), and marathon (42.195K). Other less common distances include 15K, 20K, 10-mile and 20mile races. Road races are run by a variety of amateurs and are often less formal than school- or college-related events. The movement toward this type of road racing is considered here under the subheading of road racing and multisport. Hurdles and relays are variations on running races. In hurdles, athletes add the element of jumping to running by clearing evenly spaced barriers or hurdles on the track. Distances range from 100 meters to Steeplechase, which is a 3000-meter race. The modern events in hurdling began in England in the 1830s Amateur Steeplechase, born out of a wager among Oxford students in 1850, was initially an imitation of



horse racing. The first two-mile events included hurdles, streams, and obstacles in open country. Just like the jockeys in horseracing, the runners were given weight handicaps. Steeplechasing came to the track in Britain in 1879 and entered the Olympics in 1900. Relay adds the element of team competition, in that four athletes pass a metal baton between them, usually at evenly spaced intervals. Common distances are 400 meters (4 x 100), 800 meters, mile, and two-mile relays. Relay medleys with uneven distances are more rarely seen. Jumping Events Jumping events fall into categories of height and length. Height events are the high jump and the pole vault. The two most common length events are the long jump and the triple jump. The high jump was practiced commonly by the Celts. The first formal competition was organized in England in 1840. By 1865 the rules that remain in force today were systematized. Pole vaulting has a longer history, as it was known to the Ancient Greeks. The

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Celts, too, used poles for jumping, but for length rather than height. The Germans adapted the event to a vertical jump in 1775. In 1850, the first competitions of “running pole leaping” with heavy, stiff poles occurred. Bamboo was introduced for poles in 1900 and fiberglass in 1956, both of which changed the nature of the sport by allowing flexibility in the pole. Vertical or long jumping is equally important in athletics. The long jump was known in ancient times and was used as part of the pentathlon as early as 708 b.c.e. The Greeks practiced the triple jump as three consecutive long jumps. The Celts invented a style of three jumps in a continuous action that was later regulated, first by the Irish and then by the Americans. After 1900 the form of hop-step-jump became the three movements of the triple jump. Throwing Events All of the events that are included in this category have ancient origins. The ancient Greek poet Homer tells

When we think of amateur athletics, track and field events may come to mind first, then perhaps baseball and other ball games. Fencing is an amateur status sport, unless one is a paid instructor.

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of rock-throwing contests at the siege of Troy. In the 16th century, King Henry VIII was known for his skill in court competitions of weight and hammer throwing. Seventeenth-century soldiers organized cannon ball–throwing contests. All of these activities evolved into modern-day shot put. The hammer toss, too, has ancient origins. It was originally a freestyle run with the toss of a rigid hammer consisting of a wooden handle with a cast iron head. The hammer has now been transformed into a grip with a connection to a ball (the head of the hammer), looking somewhat like a mace. Hercules was reputed to be one of the first javelin throwers. By 708 b.c.e. the sport included throwing for distance and throwing at a target. The javelin is now thrown for distance. In 1780 Scandinavians, particularly the Finns, adopted javelin as their own and popularized the sport. Discus too has ancient origins, going back at least as far as 708 b.c.e., when the discus was made of bronze or stone. The sport was included in the first modern Olympics in 1896. Multisport Events Because they are much more rarely seen in amateur sport outside of collegiate competition, little time will be devoted here to three types of multisport: decathlon, heptathlon, and pentathlon. These events consist of combinations of 10, seven, and five sports, respectively. Each event is a combination of track and field events. Other multisport events, however, are increasing in popularity at all levels. While some might not include this event in the purview of athletics, the road running component places them among the range of athletic activities. The most popular, and most well-known, of these is the triathlon. Duathlon and aquathlon will also be discussed briefly. Triathlon, which consists of swimming, cycling, and running consecutively, has a relatively short history. In 1974 in Mission Bay, California, several friends began to work out together. Some were swimmers, some cyclists, and some runners. Friendly competition between them emerged and eventually led to impromptu competitions. In the fall of 1974 the first triathlon attracted 46 participants. Like track and road races, there are various distances involved in triathlon, including the minisprint, sprint, Olympic, Half Iron, and Ironman. The Ironman distance is the mostly closely regulated, and courses must be certified. The same is true for the Half Iron, or 70.3

distance. The most famous Ironman race, the Hawaii Ironman, began in 1978 with the combination of three previously existing stand-alone races: the Waikiki rough water swim of 2.4 miles, the Oahu bike race of 112 miles, and the Honolulu marathon consisting of 26.2 miles. Duathlon is also a three-leg event but includes only two sports, running and cycling. The participants in this instance run, cycle, and then run a second time. There are a variety of distances in this sport as well. This sport has repeatedly waxed and waned over the last 20 years but continues to have some measure of popularity among those who do not have a swimming background. Anyone who can run and cycle can participate. Aquathlon, consisting of running and swimming, is probably the least well known of these multisports. It is gaining in popularity, however, because of the fact that less expensive equipment is required and the distances are smaller, making training time more manageable for amateur athletes and space management easier for race directors. The format for an aquathlon is either run, swim, run, or simply swim and run. Other Athletic Competitions Included under the umbrella of athletics are three other sports that attract amateur participants: cross country or trail running, race walking, and mountain running. Each of these will be briefly considered here. Cross country, or the related racing that is called trail running, requires a different kind of technical skill than road or track racing. Cross country is, in many instances, a winter event, but it can be a summer event. The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) describes these runners as the “four-wheel drive vehicles of athletics,” as they face not only their competition, but also the vagaries of nature. Many amateur athletes who participate in this type of race do double duty, running trails or cross country, but returning or alternating with road or track racing. Mountain running is based on a human instinct to survive and the need to run both short and long distances on hillsides to do so. Mountain running is related to cross country in that it is a run through a predetermined course in natural surroundings. The philosophy of athletic mountain running is based on time, rather than survival or orienteering. The goal is to compete with other runners to reach the finish on a defined path as quickly as possible. Courses are designed to eliminate danger. No equipment is needed.



The history of race walking goes back at least to the English footmen of the 12th and 13th centuries, who alternated running and walking in accompanying their masters’ coaches. The competitions began in the last quarter of the 18th century and entered the Olympics early in the 20th century. Visual race walking may look unusual, but the difficulty of walking as fast as possible and in a particular form without breaking into a jog or run is challenging. History of Governing Bodies The history of governance of amateur athletics, including event certification and sanctioning as well as considerations regarding the amateur status of athletes as it pertains to the United States, is considered here. While the history and rules in other countries are different, there seem to be similar governing bodies in other nations. In America, a “win at all costs” mentality overcame the English gentlemanly ideal. This drive to win caused an early corruption of amateur tradition in which organizers of amateur athletic events began to seek surreptitious ways of compensating and subsidizing star athletes. The rampancy of this type of behavior, among other issues, led eventually to the formation of governing bodies for amateur athletics. Need of administrative help with the 1876 national championships caused the NYAC to send a call to other clubs to form an association to take up the burden of the games. The result was the formation of the National Association of Amateur Athletes of America (N4A). This association was the first viable governing body and claimed to be the national governing body for amateur sport, but within 10 years the organization lost power. It never really reached national prominence, nor did it succeed in controlling the rise in corruption that was taking place throughout the 1880s. Increasingly, clubs were offering more and better perquisites to the fastest and strongest athletes in order to lure them away from rival clubs, a matter that defied the amateur ideal of the sport. The NYAC was also fundamental in the foundation of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), a more truly national organization. Under the influence of the AAU there was a reduction of gambling and professionalism by the mid 1890s. The AAU heralded a return to the purist interpretation of amateurism; that is, the true amateur competed merely out of the love of the sport

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and not for any monetary gain. While this stance may no longer seem applicable, it did a great deal to promote the growth of amateur athletics. In fact, the whole movement toward rooting out corruption made athletics more acceptable. When upper–middle class professionals of all kinds dedicated significant time and effort to competing in and promoting amateur athletics, it reduced the image of such pastimes as frivolous and useless. This allowed amateur athletics to take root in schools and colleges, as well as society in general. By the end of the 1890s the AAU had begun to seek broader control over amateur athletics by involvement with college athletics. By the turn of the century, there was a fight for influence over amateur sports of all types between the AAU, the colleges, and the American Olympic Committee, each with its own stake in its athletes and activities. Early in the 20th century, the two developing sports movements, the modern Olympic Games (beginning in 1896) and the American intercollegiate athletic system, had both adopted the concept of amateurism, believing that it developed morally superior competitors, though there were lingering questions about amateurism. Colleges are allowed to pay all the educational expenses of their athletes, and while athletic scholarships are the norm, the current governing body for college sports in the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), provides and enforces strict eligibility rules for athletes in all sports. These rules preclude a student athlete from accepting a patronage job or taking part in product endorsement, for instance. Early on, representatives of the International Olympic Committee and other associations struggled to determine the definition of amateur. The discussions often revolved around minute points, such as whether someone who had coached or taught athletics could also participate as an amateur. The objective of these talks was to preserve the character of sport as play and not business. The debate has continued through the years until the concept has become more a technical than a moral distinction. While the AAU continues to exist, the Amateur Sports Act of 1978 changed its role in amateur sport. Previous to 1978 the AAU governed all aspects of international amateur competition and regulated amateur athletics in

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Auction Pitch

the United States. With the passage of the act, the AAU became a volunteer organization whose role was the continued promotion of amateur athletics for children and adults. The act established a new U.S. Olympic Committee to oversee amateur sports. This committee then chartered a national governing body for each Olympic sport, such as the U.S. Track and Field (USATF), for athletic events at all levels. The national governing bodies set the rules for selection of the Olympic team in each sport and promote amateur competition in that sport, including the sanctioning and certification of smaller athletic events. The line between professionalism and amateurism has become further blurred as small local races have begun to award cash and merchandise prizes. By accepting such a prize, a young collegiate or college-bound athlete can still endanger his or her amateur status for college sports in the United States

was run in 1908 in London, but contrary to popular belief, the distance had more to do with logistical issues than the direct influence of the British royal family. With the increasing popularity of multisport, a large number of triathlon clubs, some of them with duathlon and aquathlon divisions, have appeared as well. These clubs also sponsor races, either to support themselves or for charitable causes. The popularity of all of these athletic endeavors, among members of the general public and elite athletes alike, has given rise to paid training programs for amateurs, whether experienced, beginner, or recreational athletes. Some of these coaching programs are internet based, but others take place in face-to-face groups. In many of these groups the athletes simply pay for coaching, but in others, notably Team in Training, group membership depends upon raising money for a specific charitable cause.

Road Racing and Multisport In the late 1970s, there was a rise in the popularity of jogging as a fitness exercise. Thereafter, road racing was established as a populist athletic activity. Now, road racing ranges from fun runs held in towns and cities small and large, to competitive races of all lengths, to the elite marathon events in large cities worldwide. Many amateur and recreational running clubs and other groups hold these fun run/walks and races. Usually participants pay to participate in such events, as they are held to raise money for a program or charity. One notable example of a fundraising effort of this type is the Susan G. Komen race series, a series of 5K events for runners and walkers intended to raise breast cancer awareness and funding for research. While 5K is arguably the most popular distance for these road races, at least in the United States, there are many longer-distance races available, including 4-mile, 5-mile, 8K, 10K, 20K, 10-mile, and 20-mile races, as well as half marathons and full marathons. Many, though not all, of these races identify themselves as sanctioned or certified. In the United States even small road races can be certified by the USATF. The popularity of the marathon can be traced to the success of the first modern Olympic marathon in 1896. The beginnings of both the New York and Boston Marathons can be attributed to that race. The length of the race was not standardized until 1924 at 26.22 miles, or 42.195K. The first marathon of this particular length

See Also: Ancient Greece; Organized or Sanctioned Play; Play as Competition, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Sociology of. Bibliography. Amateur Sport, American Eras, www .encyclopedia.com (cited July 2008); Eric Habsbawn, “MassProducing Traditions: Europe, 1870–1914,” in Eric Howsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds.,The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge University Press, 1983); International Association of Athletics Federations, IAAF, www.iaaf.org/community/athletics/index .html (cited August 2008); United States Olympic Committee (2008), USA Triathlon, usatriathlon.org (cited August 2008); United States Track and Field (USATF), www.usatf .org (cited July 2008). Suellen Adams University of Rhode Island

Auction Pitch Auction Pitch is a card game played with a standard deck and is a member of the All Fours family that descended from the English card game All Fours, played in most former English colonies, especially the West Indies. It is the legacy of All Fours that gives us the name “jack” for the card previously known as the knave, and other members of the family include All

Australia



Fives, California Jack, and Cinch. Spoil Five is a close relation, with similarly unusual rules. The name All Fours comes from the scoring system, which awards points in four categories: the highest trump in play, the lowest trump in play, the Jack (given to the player who takes the Jack in a trump), and the Game (given to the player who takes the highest value of tricks). An amalgam of point-trick games and shorthand games like Euchre, All Fours dates from about the middle of the 17th century and may have been adapted by the English from a Dutch game. Typically a low-class gambling game for most of its history, it was introduced to the United States in the 18th century and became the most popular card game by the 1800s. In the middle of the 19th century, the rapid ascendancy of Poker threatened All Fours’ dominance of American card playing, and variants of the game developed quickly in response. Auction Pitch was originally called Commercial Pitch and is sometimes known as Sell-Out, and differed from All Fours in that there is no turn-up phase. Instead, the first card played—pitched— determines the trump suit and is sold to the highest bidder for points. The game is usually played by four, but it can accommodate two to seven players. See Also: All Fives; Euchre; Gambling; History of Playing Cards; Spoil Five. Bibliography. Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens (Beacon Press, 1971); David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, 1990); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Australia Play appears to be a universal characteristic of childhood throughout history. Children, compared with mature adults, are small, weak, have less mental capacity, and are largely powerless. They are also intensely curious, imaginative, physically active, and, past infancy, passionately attached to the company of other children.

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They inhabit a play culture shaped and patterned by the particular adult world in which they are reared, and this world determines whether the children play with sticks and stones or miniature battery-operated cars and talking dolls. It is also from the adult world that children receive the songs, rhymes, and stories (oral, written, and electronic) that provide both models for their own verbal lore and subject matter for exploration and parody. Connected and yet separate from the play activities and traditions provided by adults lies the playlore of childhood, with features remarkably common across place and time. A continuing children’s play subculture exists in communities where children are kept apart from much of adults’ daily life and sent to special institutions for learning called schools, just as it does in hunter-gather and agrarian communities, where children are closely integrated into the family’s daily activities. Australian children, both before and after European settlement in 1788, exhibit a range of playways familiar to children anywhere in the world, though everywhere marked and modified by the particular circumstances in which the children live and by the ingenuity and imagination of the players. The children of Aborigines, whose many tribes and clans have inhabited this ancient continent for at least 40,000 years, are known to have had—and continue to have—a rich variety of playlore. There is a smattering of evidence that some children from the British Isles who came to Australia after 1788, as well as some Australian-born children of immigrant families, especially those who lived outside cities (in what Australians call the bush, or outback), learned games and songs from Aboriginal playmates. There was certainly a mingling of play practices, such as marbles—whether the clay and glass European-imported variety or the local small shells and stones—and string games—the latter a popular and widespread tool for story-telling in many Aboriginal communities. Postsettlement Australia Ever since its European settlement, Australia has been a predominantly urban society, with the majority of its children having had little ongoing contact with the indigenous Australians. The waves of immigrants, which for the first 150 years were largely Anglo-Celtic, and then post–World War II, increasingly from many parts of the world, brought with them playthings and the traditions associated with play, such as dolls, balls, go-carts, and

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Australia

board games. (As always and everywhere, poor children, lacking expensive toys, made do with homemade and self-made toys: footballs constructed of tightly wrapped newspaper, dolls made from clothes-pegs, dressed colorfully in scraps of material.) The invisible luggage of the immigrant children included the playlore—games, rituals, and so on—of their pre-Australian lives. Now we have children playing marbles using an Asian method of projecting the marble, labelled the Chinese Flick; and the game of Elastics can be seen with the usual long piece of white elastic replaced by colored elastic bands joined together, an alternative technique learned from immigrant Vietnamese children. Cultural exchange in play is an everyday practice in many school playgrounds. That does not mean that there is no evidence of racial, national, and religious antipathies: adult prejudices seep into children’s lives. These same prejudices also disappear, particularly when the adult culture changes. The once ubiquitous sectarian chants of “Catholic dogs” and “Proddie frogs” have vanished in recent decades, thanks to the ecumenical movement among Christian churches. Intergender Play Small rural schools have always permitted girls and boys to play together, while many city and town schools separated the sexes in the playground until the 1960s. This effort at social engineering may be a partial explanation for the existence of a number of boys’ games and girls’ games, although historical and cross-cultural evidence suggests that there are probably deeper developmental reasons for this phenomenon in middle childhood. Even where such gender divisions were enforced (and reinforced by adult-encouraged sporting activities), children continued to draw the bulk of their play from the same reservoir of tradition and invention. An example of the commonality of children’s play interests emerged from two studies of youngsters’ collecting habits, the first in 1910 in Sydney, replicated in 1987 in Melbourne. Children’s passion for acquiring, organizing, displaying, and swapping objects, from birds’ feathers to football cards, is well known. These two studies showed that the majority of favored objects were common to both boys and girls—although girls’ collections were somewhat more diverse. Skateboarding, roller-skating, and kick-to-kick football are still visible in some suburban streets, while urban life, with its ever-increasing road traffic, and the moral

panic of “stranger danger,” has greatly diminished the street play, once a feature of Australian children’s lives. Many youngsters are also kept busy with extracurricular activities in the hours once spent in street play, such as sport teams and violin lessons. Now the school playground is the major arena for children’s voluntary play. Games known to the ancient Romans—Knucklebones, Hand-Clapping, Chasing and Hiding—co-exist with Spider Man, Batman, and singing and clapping games incorporating advertising slogans, movie stars, and failed politicians. Most of the games portrayed in Pieter Breughel’s 1560 Flemish painting Children’s Games are still performed in Australia. Imaginative Play The extensive play repertoire includes imaginative and fantasy games—little girls building “houses” from sticks, stones, and leaves among tree roots; boys and girls playing Martians and using a fallen tree-trunk as an imaginary spaceship; vigorous, noisy games involving much running, shouting, and negotiation; games of competition and skill—Skipping, Hoppy, Marbles, Knucklebones (called Jacks in Australia), elastics, rubber bands; and a vast quantity of verbal play—rhymes, riddles, jokes, secret languages, insults, chants. It is all entirely self-regulated, collaborative, and flexible. Children will adapt an old game or rhyme to a changed environment, invent new rules when desired, and utilize any material at hand. The aim, above all, is the continuity of their play. The school playground is criss-crossed by invisible lines of play—a complex map of tradition and invention created and respected by the children. Modern Issues Unfortunately, a lack of understanding of the central importance of play to children, together with a fear of litigation if a child is hurt, are resulting in more and more schools limiting recess and restricting children’s freedom to play. The effort to prevent children from engaging in their own play traditions may be futile; it is also damaging and counterproductive, educationally and socially. The first nationwide study of Australian children’s playlore was undertaken by an American scholar, Dorothy Howard, in the mid-1950s. Her extensive collection and analysis is now part of the Australian Children’s Folklore Collection, housed in Museum Victoria; the collection was recently listed on UNESCO’s Australian Memory of the World Register. The Oral History and Folklore section

Australian Aborigines



of the National Library of Australia also holds substantial audiotapes of children’s verbal lore. The first significant publication in this field was Ian Turner’s 1969 uncensored collection of children’s rhymes, Cinderella Dressed in Yella, later expanded in a second edition. There are now a number of books of and about children’s lore and language, for both children and adults, and a developing academic interest in playlore research. See Also: Australian Aborigines; Boys’ Play; Cooperative Play; Dolls, Barbie and Others; Fantasy Play; Girls’ Play; Jacks; Marbles; Pretending; Recess; Role-Playing; Tag. Bibliogrpahy. Kate Darian-Smith and June Factor, eds., Child’s Play: Dorothy Howard and the Folklore of Australian Children (Museum Victoria, 2005); Gwenda Davey, Snug as a Bug! (Brolly Books, 2005); Gwyn Dow and June Factor, eds., Australian Childhood: An Anthology (McPhee Gribble, 1991); June Factor, Captain Cook Chased a Chook: Children’s Folklore in Australia (Penguin, 1988); June Factor, Far Out Brussel Sprout! (Brolly Books, 2004); June Factor, Kidspeak: A Dictionary of Australian Children’s Words, Expressions and Games (Melbourne University Press, 2000); P.L. Lindsay and D. Palmer, Playground Game Characteristics of Brisbane Primary School Children (Australian Government Publishing Service, 1981); Wendy Lowenstein, Shocking, Shocking, Shocking: Improper Play Rhymes of Australian Children (The Rams Skull Press, 1988); Ian Turner, June Factor, and Wendy Lowenstein, Cinderella Dressed in Yella (Heinemann Educational, 1978). June Factor University of Melbourne

Australian Aborigines Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (TSI) people have been playing a rich diversity of games in organized forms for tens of thousands of years. Many traditional games were recorded by early settlers, government officials, scientists, and missionaries who travelled throughout Australia during the 19th century. Aboriginal games can be viewed in relation to their direct and indirect association to daily activities, whether economic, political, or domestic in nature, including the formation of group identity and social interaction.

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Sadly, after colonization, many traditional games were lost because of factors such as loss of land, loss of tradition, and fragmentation of Aboriginal communities. Author Ken Edwards explains that “one of the first activities to be suspended when a society comes under threat is games.” Most games are played for fun and enjoyment; therefore, they are largely abandoned in the face of an imminent threat to the survival of their people. Today, very few traditional games exist even in areas that have retained a semitraditional lifestyle. As a result, there is little literature on the topic of traditional Aboriginal games. Gendered Roles Nineteenth-century anthropologists observed that imitation games were one of the largest categories of games among Aboriginal children, as play was used in preparation for later life. Imitating elders’ camps was a common pastime for Aboriginal children across Australia. Pastimes associated with domestic aspects included caring for dolls fashioned from sticks or pieces of bark and gathering and preparing food. Noisy, fast, and potentially dangerous games, such as sham fights and battles, were acted out by boys using sharp blades of grass as spears and wooden shields to protect them from the enemies’ attack. Role-play, as in many cultures, provided Aboriginal children with an opportunity to test their understanding of traditional roles and relationships. Education Aboriginal games were also intricately linked to instruction of roles. While traditional games were often played for pleasure, most required skills that helped prepare children for the daily tasks of life by promoting mental and physical capabilities. Many games resembled hunting situations and were designed to prepare youths for warfare occasions, placing an emphasis on protection, precision, and agility—all vital for survival in a threatening situation. For example, in North Queensland young men played a game called Kalq, where they threw spears at each other and deflected them with wooden shields. Wana, a traditional game known in Western Australia, was only played by girls. It taught them to defend their young by warding off attacks from other girls with large sticks. Memory games, played by the Walbiri tribe of the Northern Territory, helped children to remember and identify the surrounding landscape. A large circle was

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Australian Aborigines preparing a meal in a lithograph from 1895. Games gave adults and children an opportunity to take a break from the daily survival tasks, such as hunting, gathering, and preparing food.

drawn on the ground that contained a variety of sticks and stones, each representing a prominent landmark in the area. Each player turned their back on the circle and named the objects in order until they made a mistake. Memory games were an essential tool in the education of children’s spatial awareness. Seasons and Resources Games played depended on the natural resources the seasons made available. For example, some Torres Strait Islander groups used beans from trees and balls made of fruit to play games on nearby beaches. On the mainland, other groups collected seed heads of spinifex, a native rolling grass, and threw them in the air, chasing and catching them. In South Australia and Victoria, games such as Keepings Off, handball, and football games were played using opossum or kangaroo skin balls filled with grass or charcoal. While different in nature and the materials used, almost all traditional games required high levels of agility, precision, coordination, and physical fitness.

Social Interaction Played solely for pleasure, games enabled both adults and children to escape the daily tasks necessary for survival, such as hunting and gathering food and setting up camp. The majority of group pastimes involved people of both sexes, young and old. Fair play was always encouraged, and the emphasis of games was not winning but, rather, promoting goodwill and interpersonal relationships. Group pastimes included swinging, skipping, and water games. Team games included Marn Grook, which means Game Ball, a traditional game played by the Djab Wurrung people in western Victoria. Each team had a leader, like a captain, and the object of the game was to keep the ball (made from opossum skin filled with charcoal) from the other side for as long as possible by throwing and kicking it to one another. Teams would have up to 100 or so men, and the games would go for days and even weeks on end. Marn Grook is said to be the Aboriginal game that provided the foundations for Australian Rules football. There are also accounts of

Austria



instances in which Aboriginal play was adapted to or imitated European play with bats and balls. While some traditional games were common to all Australian Aboriginal and TSI groups, others were limited to a small group or region. Games were often learned by watching and not by instruction, thus encouraging the development of skills such as memorizing, sequencing, spatial awareness, and language. Although providing food, water, and shelter for Aboriginal and TSI people, the landscape also afforded them the opportunity to transform their surroundings into a playground for recreational pursuit. See Also: Australia; Play as Learning, Anthropology of; Play as Learning, Psychology of; Play as Learning, Sociology of. Bibliography. Ken Edwards, Choopardoo: Games from the Dreamtime (QUT Publications, 1999); Claudia Haagen, Bush Toys: Aboriginal Children at Play (Aboriginal Studies Press, 1994); Michael Albert Salter, Games and Pastimes of the Australian Aboriginal (Unpublished M.A. Thesis, University of Alberta, 1967). Abby Cooper Australian National University

Austria The physical characteristics of Austria have influenced the leisure activities and games in which women and men there have participated. Mountainous and largely rural, much of Austria is also marked by relatively long winters. These facts helped structure how Austrians play and played. Winter activities such as sledding, ice­skating, and Eisstockschiessen (a target game played on ice or snow and similar to lawn bowling) continue to be popular, and skiing has developed over the last century or so as one of the the national pastimes. The often scattered nature of settlement patterns with individual peasant and later farmhouses resulted in the centrality of the tavern or inn (Gasthaus) for social life. The relatively modest economic position of the numerous domestic servants or resident farmhands required them to board in their employers’ homes, making the tavern even more attractive as the place for whatever limited free time these laborers may have had.

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In some areas, the rural landlords who owned the properties and leased them to subject peasants (until peasant emancipation in the 19th century) mandated the use of particular licensed inns or taverns for social activities. In these locales activities such as candlepins and card playing were popular, as were contests of strength such as arm wrestling and weight lifting. A well-known Austrian card game, Schnapsen, served and serves as an important pastime. It is recognized often as a particularly Austrian game. Playing cards were introduced early into this area. Examples from the early days of printing in the 15th century have been found. (Printing was invented and initially developed in southwestern Germany, not far from Austria.) As a predominantly Christian country and one heavily influenced by the Counter-Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries, traditional Roman Catholic practices and customs have also influenced patterns of play in Austria. Religious festivals such as church dedication anniversaries and saints’ festivals have served as opportunities for celebrations that include parades, music, and games of luck. Advent is marked still in many places by collective singing, processions with candles or lanterns, and sometimes costumed young men who play the role of mountain spirits. The longest period of festivities is associated with Carnaval (Fasching). During these weeks preceding Lent, musical performances—particularly operas, balls, and costumed galas—mark a playful period in the year. Children often dress up and are rewarded with candy. As in many places in the Roman Catholic world, the festivities culminate on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday: Fasching Dienstag. Parades and parties mark the end of the holiday season. Austria was for many years an aristocratic society. A relatively small number of nobles controlled much of the government, especially in the countryside. These nobles’ tastes influenced the pastimes and games they and their subjects enjoyed. One of the most significant of these pastimes was hunting. A legal prerogative reserved to the nobles, hunting involved many people, not just the hunters. Huge tracts of land in Austria were reserved for game and its pursuit. These tracts included a large amount of land immediately outside of Vienna, the capital city. They became known as the Prater and were opened to the public in 1766. Part of these one-time hunting grounds developed into a popular entertainment district complete with burlesque shows, rides, penny arcades, and more. Another aris-

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tocratic pastime that could turn into a public spectacle was jousting. Throughout the later Middle Ages and into the Early Modern period, noblemen competed in public contests, both on horseback and on foot. This form of male athletic competition later influenced the development of formal sports in Austria. The Austrian military supported the training and participation of its officers in equestrian and fencing competitions into the early 20th century. Athletics were increasingly politicized in Austria in the 19th and 20th centuries. Workers’ advocates strongly supported open-air activities that would attract men (and to some extent women), getting them out of the taverns and into the fresh air. Large numbers of clubs were founded to organize various activities, from bicycling to soccer. Some disagreements arose over the role of physical activity: Should it be organized around the English model of sport, with competitions, referees, and records, or should it be collective and concentrate on general physical fitness through group gymnastics and similar activities? The question remains to some extent unanswered. An urban counterpart to the tavern developed over the course of the 19th century: the coffee house. There, middle-class urbanites could partake in colonial wares, read the latest news, play board games such as chess, or shoot billiards, another popular English import. To some extent, these public places of socialization and play compensated for the limitations in private spaces available to many people in Austria at the time, particularly in rapidly growing and hugely overpopulated Vienna. The tenements, which were hastily constructed for the migrants to the city, were more reasons for alternative play areas to develop. For many, games and play could not be enjoyed anywhere else but in the public spaces of taverns, coffee houses, or sports clubhouses. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled in 1919 after the end of World War I, and suddenly Austria was without its geographic contexts. Some effort was made to reconcile the impoverished population with the new state of affairs. The old aristocratic world and its pastimes such as horseback riding and hunting were now devalued. Working-class clubs, mass gymnastics, and even paramilitary training replaced them as the political scene degenerated into civil war and then fascist takeover in the 1930s. One symbol of the attempt to cultivate a new national identity in the Austria of this first republic was the development of the board game Specu-

lation. Based largely on the U.S. game Monopoly, this version was squarely based in Austria. Players bought property not in one oceanside resort town such as in the U.S. example but in cities across the new republic. Later this game was renamed DKT (Das kaufmännische Talent: The Skill of a Salesman.) It remains one of the most popular Austrian board games. After the annexation of Austria by the German Reich in 1938, the horrors of the Holocaust, and World War II, the Allies reestablished the Austrian republic in 1945. Units of their armies remained there until a decade later, when an international peace treaty was signed, giving the second Austrian republic independence. Two themes would mark the institutional histories of play and sport in the new Austria: desires to reconnect with the sporting and political landscapes of the pre-German period, and desires to create a sense of Austrian national identity. Sports would play a significant role in the latter undertaking, particularly Alpine skiing and soccer. The country cohosted the men’s European soccer championships in 2008, giving Austrians the chance to communally celebrate, reinforcing their experience of belonging to one political unit through the playful use of flags, pennants, hats, scarfs, and bodypaint in the national colors of red and white. The unprecedented economic prosperity of Austria in the late 20th century provided the opportunity for play and leisure activities on an unprecedented scale. These provided avenues for the development of a national identity. See Also: Amusement Parks; Billiards; Bocce; Chess and Variations of; Cityscapes as Play Sites; Europe, 1200 to 1600; Europe, 1600 to 1800; Europe, 1800 to 1900; Europe, 1900 to 1940; Europe, 1940 to 1960; Europe, 1960 to Present; History of Playing Cards; Monopoly and Variations of; Skiing. Bibliography. Roman Horak and Georg Spitaler, “Sport Space and National Identity. Soccer and Skiing as Formative Forces: On the Austrian Example,” American Behavioral Scientist (v.46/11, July 2003); Gilbert Norden, “Sport in Österreich: Entstehung, Verbreitung und Differenzierung (19. und frühes 20. Jahrhundert),” Historicum (Winter, 1998–99); “Zwanzig Jahre Spielforschung,” www.spielforschung.at (cited June 2008). Joseph F. Patrouch Florida International University



Avalon Hill Avalon Hill, now owned by Hasbro and operating as a division of Wizards of the Coast, was a tabletop game company specializing in Wargames and strategic boardgames. They were not only responsible for pioneering many of the key concepts of modern tabletop Wargaming, such as the hex grid and zones of control, but were also responsible for publishing some of the most recognizable titles in the board game industry such as Civilization, Axis and Allies, Runequest, and Dune. In 1958, Charles Roberts founded Avalon Hill in order to capitalize on the success of his game Tactics. Selfpublished in 1952, Tactics was particularly noteworthy because it was based on actual war tactics and scenarios. As such, Tactics is considered to be the first modern tabletop war game. Shortly after the company was founded, it released Tactics II, the sequel to Roberts’ original game. The game, which was an improvement on the original design, featured a series of concepts that have long since become ubiquitous in modern tabletop Wargames. One might argue that many of these concepts have become pivotal mechanics in many other types of tabletop games beyond the wargaming genre. Chief among these newly introduced mechanics was the Combat Results Table (CRT), a tool to determine in-game combat success or failure. Shortly after the release of Tactics II, Avalon Hill published Gettysburg, which is widely considered to be the first tabletop Wargame based upon an actual historical battle. By the end of 1962, Avalon Hill had fallen on difficult economic times. Roberts was forced to sell the company to Monarch Printing, Avalon Hill’s printer, as a way of paying back his debt to them. Upon the sale of Avalon Hill, Roberts left the company and founded Barnard, Roberts, and Co., a small press. Monarch Printing, who changed their name to Monarch Avalon after they acquired the company, continued to run Avalon Hill as a subsidiary for 36 years until its sale to Hasbro in 1998. Throughout the 1970s, Avalon Hill continued to publish tabletop Wargames, including such noteworthy titles as Midway, Afrika Korps, The Battle of the Bulge, and Blitzkrieg. However, in addition to its tabletop Wargame products, Avalon Hill continued to publish tabletop games in other genres, a strategy pioneered by Charles Roberts before he was forced to sell the company to Monarch Printing. Among these games were Acquire,

Avalon Hill

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an economic game of acquisitions and mergers, and Twixt, an abstract strategy game, the rights to both of which had been acquired by Avalon Hill when they purchased the products from 3M’s Bookshelf Game series. During this period, Avalon not only published original titles, but also purchased the rights to republish games that had been previously published by smaller companies. Included in these republished games were Battleline Publications’ Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Jedko Games’ The Russian Campaign and War at Sea, and Hartland Trefoil’s Civilization. In response to the enormous popularity TSR was experiencing with Dungeons & Dragons, Avalon Hill also published several traditional pen and paper role-playing games (RPG), including Lords of Creation and Powers and Perils. Through a complicated agreement with the publisher Chaosium, Avalon Hill was about to secure the rights to release RuneCraft, an RPG that had established itself as the second most popular fantasy role-playing game after Dungeons & Dragons. At the beginning of the 1980s, Avalon Hill began developing numerous computer games based on their various boardgames. Platforms for these new computer games included the VIC 20, Commodore 64, and Apple II. Unfortunately, Avalon Hill saw little success with their computer games. Avalon Hill enjoyed moderate growth through the 1980s and early 1990s. However, during the mid 1990s, the boardgame industry as a whole began suffering a downturn in sales. Not only had overall sales of their board games decreased, but the company had also lost the rights to two of their most popular games, Civilization and 1830, in a legal battle with the computer game publisher MicroProse. In 1997 and 1998 Avalon Hill lost significant money in both its computer division and its boardgame division. In the summer of 1998, Eric Dott, president of Monarch Avalon, Inc. (the parent company of Avalon Hill), sold the rights to all Avalon Hill titles, all back stock, and the company name itself to Hasbro, Inc. Hasbro continued to publish games under the Avalon Hill name. In addition, they sold the rights to several games, such as Advanced Squad Leader, to other publishers. In late 1999, Avalon Hill was made a division of Wizards of the Coast, who had been purchased by Hasbro earlier that year. Wizards of the Coast continues to release games under the Avalon Hill name, including Axis & Allies, Betrayal at House on the Hill, RoboRally, and Risk 2210 A.D.

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See Also: Dungeons & Dragons; Hasbro; Role-Playing; TSR; Wargames Research Group; Warhammer. Bibliography. Avalon Hill Official Home Page, www.wizards .com/default.asp?x=ah/welcome (cited November 2008); Brad King and John Borland, Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic (McGrawHill Osborne Media, 2003); J. Patrick Williams et al., eds., Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity And Experience in Fantasy Games (McFarland, 2006). Ethan Watrall Michigan State University

Azerbaijan Located in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan was a part of the Soviet Union until it gained independence in 1991. It shares borders with the Russian Federation, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran, with its capital, the city of Baku being one of the major ports on the Caspian Sea. The Azeri people, who make up 89 percent of the population, have an extensive culture that can be traced back to medieval times. The Azeris developed many of their cultural pursuits from their position along some of the trade routes between Turkey and China, and Turkish games such as Backgammon became popular, as did later card games, which probably came from Persia (modern-day Iran). Storytellers used to take up positions in the cities of Baku, Ganja (formerly Kirovabad), and Sumgait and other places, imparting great heroic stories of Azeri history, such as Nizam ul-Mulk, as social entertainment. Music was heavily drawn on in the Persian Asiq Bard tradition with famous bards such as Dede Korkut in the 11th century, Shah Ismail and Asiq Qurbani in the 16th century, and Asiq Alaskar in the 19th century, well-known bards who are all themselves now the subjects of stories for later bards. Nowadays, the Mayzana Wedding Rap is probably the best-known Azeri music in the country. There were also many sports involving shows of prowess, strength, and skill, such as wrestling, and also horse riding and archery. There was much emphasis on horse riding and leatherware, as well as the making of saddles and bridles that were important in the lives of many Azeris. The wealthier Azeris were and are involved

in falconry both as a hunting sport and an entertainment, and often as a competition, something which was probably introduced in its present form from the Mongols. Women were involved in embroidery and sewing, including with silk, which forms such an important part of the current national dress of the country’s women. The region has also been known for carpet weaving, although this is now undertaken in Baku and other places as a home-based industry. The oil wealth of Baku, which back in 1901 accounted for half of the world’s petroleum, attracted many people from around the world, and sporting and recreational clubs were established. Many of these were destroyed in the Russian Civil War. The oil industry is still important in Baku, even though it was quickly outpaced by other oil-producing nations. During the period of the Soviet Union, sports in general became important in the everyday life of all school children, and later to the people throughout the country. This influence has created the popularity of certain sports and led to many Azeris of all ages being involved in playing soccer, as well as netball, volleyball, and gymnastics. The Russian influence led to the avid playing of Chess. Chess still remains very popular, with Azerbaijan being so close to the Republic of Kalmykia, the current center of world Chess, which has remained in the Russian Federation. From the 1950s on, many toys made in European Russia also became available in Azerbaijan. Wargaming also attracted a sizeable following, although much of it during the period of the Soviet Union was concerned with Russian military successes such as during the Great Patriotic War (World War II). Since this country’s independence there has been greater interest in events in Azeri history. See Also: Armenia; Backgammon; Chess and Variations of; Hobbies; Iran; Russia; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide. Bibliography. Michael Axworthy, “The Persian Army of Nadir Shah,” Miniature Wargames (no.226–28, 2002); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Razia Sultanova and Simon Broughton, “Azerbaijan,” in Simon Broughton et al., eds., The Rough Guide to World Music: Africa & Middle East (Rough Guide, 2006). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

B Baccarat The casino card game Baccarat has its origins in late Medieval Italy. Legend has it that it was invented by an Italian gambler named Felix Falguierein, who used a deck of Tarot cards and claimed that the game was based on an Etruscan mythical ritual involving a virgin throwing a nine-sided dice. It was introduced to France by the Italians during the reign of King Charles VIII (r.1483–98), and was known as Chemin de Fer. After it was introduced to England, it became known as European Baccarat. It debuted in the Dunes Casino in Las Vegas in the late 1950s, by which time it was available in many other casinos around the world. In history and literature, baccarat was seen as a way of either making a large fortune or losing it. The French writer Alphonse Daudet, in The Nabob (1878), makes reference to people progressing from the Stock Exchange to the Baccarat table. French short story writer Guy de Maupassant refers in his writing to men losing all their money at Baccarat, and Sir Max Beerbohm mentioned in James Pethel that he “supposed baccarat to be as good a way of wasting time as another.” Baccarat is also played in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Merry Men (1887) and John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga (1906–21); Arnold Bennett in Clayhanger (1910) noted the “terrible baccarat scandals.”

In World War I, one of the British lines was known as Baccarat, but Margot Asquith, the wife of Herbert Asquith, the British Prime Minister at the start of that war, never played Baccarat, nor Bridge, and wrote that she did not believe that it was an intellectual or literary way of spending an evening. However, many wealthy people of the period did enjoy the game. Theodore Dreiser in The Titan (1946) refers to Mrs. Cowperwood winning $25,000 playing Baccarat all night and the following day, and then losing it in the next sitting; and the fictional British spy James Bond often plays Baccarat, such as in Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale (1953), but he more often plays Chemin de Fer, a version of Baccarat where players compete against each other, rather than traditional Baccarat, where a player competes against the house. Because the odds are almost even—the casino takes a small fee—Baccarat rapidly became the chosen game of many professional gamblers, because winning involved more skill and less chance than most other games. It was also the reason why many European casinos do not offer Baccarat—the Monte Carlo Casino being one of the leading ones—and instead offer Chemin de Fer. In February 1990, Akio Kashiwagi, a Japanese billionaire property developer, went to the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City—in the United States Baccarat is common—bet $200,000 a hand, and won $6 million in 25 55

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minutes. The character K.K. Ichikawa in the film Casino (1995) is modelled on him, but Kashiwagi was murdered in 1992, at which time he had debts to various casinos estimated at $9 million. Baccarat was also the favorite casino game of the Australian billionaire and avid gambler Kerry Packer, who on April 30, 1992, went to Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and played baccarat all night, betting over $100,000 on each game, with some bets as high as $250,000. By midnight Packer had won $9 million, and the chairman of Caesar’s Palace, Henry Gluck, later stated that Packer had single-handedly wiped out most of the profit from that quarter of gaming. Many gamblers, however, do not have the luck or skill of Packer, nor the deep pockets to continue playing for such a long time. See Also: Dice; Gambling; History of Playing Cards. Bibliography. Paul Barry, The Rise and Rise of Kerry Packer (Bantam, 1993); Jean-Louis Curtis, Baccarat (H.N. Abrams, 1992); Mario Puzo, Inside Las Vegas (Grosset & Dunlap, 1977); Ralph Tegtmeier, Casinos (Vendome Press, 1989). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Backgammon Backgammon is a two-player racing game of luck and strategy, a descendant of one of the oldest lineages of board games—the table game. The earliest examples of the table game, found in the royal tombs at Ur (Mesopotamia), date back to around 3000 b.c.e. Although Backgammon is now primarily played as a recreational board game, its origins as a form of gambling are still evident in the modern game’s scoring system for tournament play. Various countries and churches have at times banned Backgammon because of its connection to gambling. Basic Table Game Mechanics In Backgammon, players roll two dice to determine movement of their pieces. The value of each die represents the number of spaces (or points) that a piece may move. A player may elect to apply both die values to a single piece’s move, but each die’s worth of movement is counted as a single move; a twice-moved piece

must land on a legal space after the first move, before the second half of the move is executed. Movement is always in a forward direction from the player’s start area to the player’s home area. Once the player has moved all of his or her pieces to the home area, he or she then bears off the pieces by moving them off the board. The player who first bears off all their pieces wins the game. In tournament play, the player earns one point if the opponent has also borne off pieces, two points if the opponent has not yet borne off any pieces, and three points if the opponent still has any pieces in his or her start area or captured (on the bar). The mechanics for Backgammon are roughly the same as for all other table games. The table game family refers to games that involve players racing multiple pieces across a board based on dice throws. Although the die rolls bring an element of luck to the games, the number of options that a player has in applying those die rolls provides the opportunity for deep strategy. Players must consider not only the tradeoffs between rushing forward toward the win versus taking a more defensive position but also the odds of various die throws occurring. For example, in most table games, a lone piece may be captured, while more than one piece forms a defensive unit. Therefore, each player must decide whether his opponent is likely to roll the number required to exactly land on any of his unprotected pieces. In Backgammon, for example, a player who realizes that a piece is vulnerable to capture from seven spaces away should act to protect it much more than a piece that is 12 spaces away, since a roll of seven on two dice is 10 times more likely than roll of 12. Evolution of the Table Game Although a possibly older version of the game was recently found in Shahr-i Sokhta, Iran, and close variations have been found in other parts of the ancient world, the game found in Ur, Mesopotamia, is commonly known today as The Royal Game of Ur. The variety of gaming boards found at ancient sites suggests that the game was played by a wide cross-section of the population, and not just by royalty. Some of the boards have intricate shell, red limestone, and lapis lazuli inlay work, while others are simple works of clay with colored squares. The exact rules of this game are unknown, but dice and tokens found inside the boards (which doubled as the game’s box), as well as later documented games, have given researchers clues about the original game’s rules. Like Backgammon, the player has a choice of



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A Backgammon set consists of a board, two sets of 15 checkers, two pairs of dice, a doubling cube, and dice cups. The objective is to be the first player to remove all of your checkers from the board.

which piece or pieces to move each turn, with the goal being to take every piece across the board to the end space. In addition, like Backgammon, players may land on an opponent’s piece to send it back to the start position. Unlike Backgammon, only one piece is allowed to occupy a space at a time, and each player has special safe spaces that the other player may not enter. The Royal Game of Ur is also one of the earliest known gambling games. Players start the game by each placing a small wager in the pot, but the amount of the pot increases during play. Whenever a player lands on one of five squares marked with a rosette, his opponent must place an additional point (the smallest agreedupon wagering unit for that game) into the pot. This means that a player who is winning will spend as much time trying to land on rosettes as moving pieces across the board. The first descendent of Ur is the game of Senet, first found in the Tomb of Hesey (2686–2613 b.c.e.). Four game boards were subsequently discovered in Tutankhamen’s tomb; many fragments thought to be clay game boards created by the laborers who build the pyramids

have also been found. Senet games often were played on one side of the game box, with a slightly simplified variation of the Ur game board on the other side. Swiss archaeologist Gustave Jéquier is credited with reconstructing the game’s rules, which are similar to other table games. The two major exceptions: both player’s pieces share the same path and direction across the board, and captures involve swapping places with the captured piece rather than sending the captured piece back to the start. Determining the rules to Senet proved an archaeological challenge because of the Egyptian style of drawing figures only in profile and with no perspective. With this drawing style, only one row of pieces ever appears in pictures documenting the game, but the game is played on a board of three rows and 10 columns. Well before the game rules were recreated, the sculptural art of the pieces and the artwork on the boards of the royal Senet games made the game’s theme clear. The game is a journey through the land of the dead. The competing playing pieces are jackals and lions. Hieroglyphics and illustrations on the board denote each square as the house of a different Egyptian god.

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Although many other variations of the table game evolved from these roots, the other two that have the most relevance to Backgammon are the Roman game of Ludus Duodeci Scriptorium and the Arab game of Nardshir. Ludus Duodeci Scriptorium was played on a 3 x 12 board, sometimes populated with symbols and sometimes with six six-letter words, two in each row, such as “Levate:Dalocu / Ludere:Nescis / Idiota:Recede” (“jump up:push off / you can:not win / get out:baboon”). During the 1st century b.c.e., the board was reduced to two rows and became more popularly known as Tabula (tables), and sometimes as Alea (gambling). Backgammon draws its movement rules and its bearing-off rules from this game. Backgammon draws its board and piece structure from Nardshir’s symbolic use of numbers. In Nardshir, the 12 spaces on each side of the board are the months of the year, and the 24 spaces total on the board are the hours of the day. The 30 pieces used in the game are the days of the month, and the dice used (like all modern dice) have opposing sides that add up to seven, the number of days in a week. Although the symbolic meanings did not carry over into Backgammon, the board layout and piece count did. The most unique aspect of Nardshir is its capture system: a captured piece does not get sent back to start on the board, as in Backgammon and most other table games, but is instead held in place until the capturer moves his piece. Although many variations of Backgammon continued to flourish under different names, the game’s rules did not change from 1743 until the 1920s. In 1743, Edmund Hoyle, who wrote the authoritative reference for many games, authored the modern rules for Backgammon. In the 1920s Americans added the doubling cube to the game. The doubling cube adds another element of betting to backgammon: a player may, at the start of his turn, double the point value of the game, if he was not the last one to do so; the other player is then given the option to resign instead of accepting the double. Players track the point value of the game (not counting the bonus for a gammon or backgammon) by which side of the cube is face-up: the six sides contain the powers of two between two and 64. Table Games and Society A cartoon in found in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii depicts two men fighting over a move in a game

of Ludus Duodecim Scriptorum. One man accuses the other of cheating, and they are both kicked out by the innkeeper. This is the earliest known anti–table games document, but many more followed. Table games played for money were banned by the church in Spain c. 305 c.e. In 520 c.e., the Codex Justinianius forbade all men of the church from playing the game at all. The Russian church later banned the game, and in 1561, Tsar Ivan IV declared the game illegal throughout Russia. The Japanese version of the game, known as Sunokoro, was popular, but only played in secret during the ban by emperor Jito between 690 and 697 c.e. References to table games and Backgammon have been found in literature throughout the Common Era, providing much of the information on how early games were played. The Hun Tsun Sii, written during the Sung Dynasty (960–1279 c.e.), documents Backgammon’s introduction to China from India. A poem in the English anthology The Codex Exoniensis (c.1025 c.e.) refers to the game. Charles Cotton’s Compleat Gamester (1726) documents several variations on Backgammon, noting that there existed many “ridiculous” variations of the game at the time. Perhaps the most bizarre documentation of the game comes from Iceland in the form of magical formulae. Players of Kotra, the Icelandic variation of Backgammon, treated the game with the same reverence as Chess and viewed victory as an important show of strength. Achieving good die rolls was considered a sign of favor from the gods rather than mere luck, bringing a completely different kind of strategy to Kotra. Some players would go so far as to pay witches for recipes for good luck charms specific to the game. One such charm calls for a dried raven’s heart to be crushed and rubbed on the dice before play in order to ensure a win. See Also: Ancient Egypt; Ancient Rome; Dice; Gambling; Luck and Skill in Play. Bibliography. R.C. Bell, Board and Table Games from Many Civilizations, Volumes 1 and 2 (Oxford University Press, 1969); Jack Botermans, The Book of Games: Strategy, Tactics, & History (Sterling Publishing, 2008); Charles Cotton, The Compleat Gamester (Imprint Society, 1970). Jay Laird Northeastern University



“Bad” Play A teenager plays a first-person shooter video game. A young girl plays with her Barbie and Ken dolls and has them go on a date that finishes with a sexualized kissing game. A preschooler watches a combat-based television program then starts running around the house kicking and punching. A group of adolescent girls and boys secretly play a Spin-the-Bottle-type kissing game. All of these play activities have been critiqued by social commentators, educators, and researchers interested in children’s play because they are seen as examples of “bad” play. “Bad” play is generally seen as play that some adults consider to be harmful to children in one way or another. Generally “good” play is play that adults consider educational or therapeutic and that represents positive social values. On the other hand, “bad” play is play that is seen as encouraging negative social values like violence, consumerism, and sexuality, or play that puts people at physical risk of harm. Adults signal their disapproval of this play by encouraging parents and teachers to ban certain activities or to intervene to change to play that is seen as representing more positive social values. There is some debate as to whether adults should intervene too much in children’s play even if it touches on topics that adults are uncomfortable with. What is often called bad play (especially play that does not do children physical harm) has yet to be linked empirically to a child’s developing problems later on. A useful discussion of this observation is play researcher Brian Sutton-Smith’s article “Does Play Prepare the Future?” in which he argues against seeing play as directly causing problems in the future but indirectly supporting a child’s developing for the future by helping a child thrive in the present. Sutton-Smith calls “bad” play that makes adults uncomfortable phantasmagorical play, in that it includes elements from children’s fantasy worlds that are often violent or obscene. Consensus is that banning the play does not make it go away. One of the most criticized aspects of play is mediabased play, most commonly for excessive violence. Violent television programs and movies often become the source of content for children’s play. Nancy Carlson-Paige and Diane Levin have written about how war play based on media is often imitative and excessively violent. They argue that although war play is common, today’s play is different because of this influence. Based on this belief they feel that play should be mediated by adults to chal-

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lenge the content of the media. Violent video games have also been criticized as leading to desensitizing children to violence. When it was discovered that the two shooters at Columbine High School were fans of these games, an effort was made to have them more carefully regulated. On the other hand, Vivian Paley and others have argued that children’s media-based violent play is not only not bad, but actually beneficial for children in that they can take on the role of powerful superheroes. And defenders of video games point out that despite the proliferation of these games, crime rates have actually been going down. One aspect of play that can make play “bad” is if the play activity puts the child at risk for physical harm. Physical risk taking is a large part of children’s play. Taking risks can lead to injury or even death. Children leap from swings or climb high up in trees. As children get older they begin to use wheeled toys like bicycles, skateboards, and scooters, which can lead to a risk of serious injury, and are even part of an extreme culture of risk taking. Older teens and young adults engage in risky activities like drag racing or binge drinking games. Adults worry about the physical risks of play and take precautions to keep children safe including using rules and even laws to limit risks. Adults try to find a balance between letting children take risks that are seen as important for development and taking a risk that leads to a serious injury. Finally, the element of play that has drawn a lot of recent interest is the idea of how popular culture impacts play in what some would say are positive and negative ways. Manufactured toys are an important part of play and are also regularly critiqued for their cultural importance and the impact they might have on developing social values. Candy cigarettes, for example, were common play materials for decades, but now have been relegated to novelty status, and most would see giving them as playthings to young children as negative. The figure most emblematic of these debates is Barbie. Barbie is an icon in the toy industry but has been critiqued for encouraging consumerism and unrealistic body ideals and encouraging sexuality outside of marriage. The concern is that allowing girls to play with Barbie encourages these negative social values when they become adults. Defenders of Barbie say that Barbie follows popular culture rather than leads it and that girls’ doll play allows them to take on powerful roles as independent women. “Bad” play is difficult to define. That is, if play has positive benefits for children, then how can it be bad? At the same time, as adults we try to shape play by the

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toys we purchase and the supervision and guidance we provide. This is a constant reminder to children that some of the play activities they enjoy are disapproved of by adults. See Also: Anti-Competition Play; Dolls, Barbie and Others; Idealization of Play; Rhetorics of Play (Sutton-Smith). Bibliography. Nancy Carlson-Paige and Diane Levin, Who’s Calling the Shots: How to Respond Effectively to Children’s Fascination with War Play and War Toys (New Society Publishers, 1990); Gerard Jones, Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes, and Make-Believe Violence (Basic Books, 2002); Stephen Kline, Out of the Garden: Toys and Children’s Culture in the Age of TV Marketing (Verso, 1993); Vivian Gussin Paley, Boys and Girls: Superheros in the Doll Corner (University of Chicago Press, 1984); Shirley Steinberg and Joe Kincheloe, eds., Kinderculture: The Corporate Construction of Childhood (Westview, 1997); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 1997).

the West Indies (Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Maarten, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, and the United States Virgin Islands) and enjoys popularity throughout the rest of the Caribbean as well. The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), a member of the International Cricket Council, oversees amateur cricket in addition to governing professional cricket in the region. The amateur cricket component of WICB’s mandate consists of promoting and developing cricket throughout the area by organizing domestic tournaments, amateur leagues, and youth leagues. Like baseball in the United States—especially baseball a few decades ago—cricket is the premier sport in the West Indies not only for spectators but also for organized and informal participants, and especially in the public imagination.

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Soccer The colonial age was largely over by the time the sport of soccer was organized, and the sport was introduced to the Caribbean through European tourists and workers, as well as through the sport’s popularity in South America. It’s a distant second to cricket in most Caribbean nations, but as a youth and recreational sport soccer is growing in popularity thanks to the media attention on professional soccer and players like David Beckham.

The Caribbean is the inhabited region of the Caribbean Sea, consisting of some 7,000 islands north of South America and east of Central America. Over the decades of European colonization of the Americas, various Caribbean islands were controlled or settled by the Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and English, and all of their influences persist in one Caribbean nation or another, along with that of the Africans who were brought to the islands as slaves. The French and British influences are especially strong, and each retain some territories in the area (as do the United States and the Netherlands). Throughout the Caribbean, sports and athletics are highly popular not only as spectator activities but especially (thanks to the climate and the isolation of islands) as participatory activities.

Karting In the Bahamas, karting is increasingly popular. While in most countries, racing is a sport left to professionals—or pursued illegally—karting licenses are available for anyone over the age of 8 years, and the fee is cheap enough that it is a popular amateur sport, with classes for children and tracks open to the public for a small fee. Karting uses four-wheel vehicles called karts, go-karts, shifter carts, or superkarts, depending on the region and the model. Childrens’ carts typically reach no more than 15 miles per hour (mph), like American amusement park go-karts; other models can reach 85 mph, and superkarts can exceed 150 mph. In some cases—like amusement parks and on tracks for childrens’ karts—there are external controls that let the attendant slow or stop the karts remotely.

Cricket Though soccer and basketball have recently risen in prominence, cricket is the traditional main sport of

Carnival Throughout the Caribbean, Carnival is a popular festival, similar in some respects to Mardi Gras—though

John A. Sutterby University of Texas, Brownsville



unlike Mardi Gras or Brazil’s Carnaval, the festival is often not celebrated the season before Lent and is more likely to be derived from a harvest calendar than a liturgical one. This varies wildly: on the island of Jost Van Dyke, Carnival is a New Year’s celebration, while Guadeloupe celebrates it on Mardi Gras, Curacao the week after Mardi Gras, Anguilla months later in August, and so on. Caribbean Carnival is traditionally populated by costumed characters similar to those of the commedia dell’arte, and crowns a king like various krewes do for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The celebration is more music-driven than Mardi Gras, featuring native dance and steel band music. In Barbados, Carnival’s popularity is usurped by Crop Over, a 12-week festival from May to August (when Carnival itself is held), celebrating the end of the sugar cane harvest. Crop Over is very similar to Carnival, especially as celebrated in Trinidad, birthplace of calypso music and calypso tents—significant parts of Crop Over. Baseball Baseball is the official sport of Cuba, where it has a long history: the Spanish outlawed baseball in the 19th century when its popularity overtook bullfights at a time when Cubans were chomping at the bit for independence, as part of a widescale attempt to “make Cubans more Spanish.” This in fact only made baseball more popular, as the sport came to symbolize Cuban independence, and later, Cuban national identity—much as the sport is associated with national identity in the United States. Professional baseball has a long history in the country, but amateur baseball continues to hold the popularity enjoyed by soccer in other Spanish-speaking countries. Boxing is popular too, and since the beginning of Fidel Castro’s socialist reign, athletics have been especially emphasized as recreation and in the schools. Baseball was introduced to Puerto Rico at the end of the 19th century by Puerto Ricans and Cubans who had played the sport in the United States, but it was not a popular sport for a long time—one familiar by name, but considered arcane in its rules, much the way cricket is to the average American. Only in the 20th century, well after Puerto Rico becoming an American territory, did the sport enjoy mainstream success, following in the footsteps of the professional leagues on the mainland. Since then, Puerto Rico has become an active part of the baseball community, integral in the so-called Latinization of the sport—Roberto Clemente, the first Latin

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The game of cricket was exported from England to all of its colonies in the 19th century and remains popular.

player elected to Major League Baseball’s Hall of Fame, was Puerto Rican and first attracted attention as a high school player. Basketball, popularized by the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA)’s presence on the island, grew in popularity after cockfighting and bullfights were banned at the turn of the 20th century. Street basketball is extremely popular among young Puerto Ricans, offering the same benefits it does on the mainland—minimal space requirement to play, flexibility in number of players, and inexpensive equipment costs. The cockfighting ban has subsequently been lifted, and Puerto Rico has become the largest center of the sport; because of the gambling that surrounds it, it remains almost entirely an adult activity, even for spectators. On the Virgin Islands—both American and British— baseball and basketball tend to be more popular than in the rest of the Caribbean, while cricket is significantly less popular, reflecting the U.S. influence. Dominoes Dominoes are a popular game in the Caribbean, often played among the family or groups of friends; even before the egalitarian present, it was a game played between men and women, children and adults, and yet at the same time tied to family traditions, as the game

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was often taught to children by their grandparents. Like other sedentary games, Dominoes is often a social occasion, something to keep the hands and mind occupied while socializing, gossiping, or mingling in the community. At the same time, it is an emotional game, with players known to chip or break dominoes when slamming them down on the table. Throughout the Caribbean, play usually passes to the right (counterclockwise) instead of the left. In Jamaica, two Domino games dominate play: Partner and Cutthroat. Partner is a double-six game played by two pairs of partners; Cutthroat is essentially an “every player for himself ” variant for two to four players. A four-player Cutthroat variant called French begins play with the holder of the double-zero domino instead of the double-six and then continues counterclockwise. Four zero tiles are played against the sides of the doublezero, creating a four-armed layout; the matching double must be played on each arm for play to continue on that arm, at which point normal matching rules apply. In Puerto Rico, the Dominoes game Chiva is essentially the same as Partner or Cutthroat, but other Domino games are more popular. The standard double six set is usually used; in the Bayamon opening variation, the players draw one bone each, with the highest value going first instead of opening with the double six. A blocked game is called trancado, the double-zero is the chucha. Puerto Rican variants include Quinientos, played to 500 points; Doscientos, played to 200 points; and Doubles in the Boneyard, a three-player game in which the doubles all remain in the boneyard and are not drawn for play. In Cuba, Dominoes are played with a double nine set, and the standard game is played by two pairs of partners, each player drawing 10 tiles (leaving 15 unused). See Also: Baseball (Amateur); Basketball (Amateur); Central American Nations; Cricket (Amateur); Dominoes and Variations of; Organized or Sanctioned Play; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide. Bibliography. Arnold Arnold, World Book of Children’s Games (Fawcett, 1973); Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Jesse Hubbell Bancroft, Games (Macmillan, 1937); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Patricia Evans, Rimbles: A Book of Children’s Classic Games, Rhymes, Songs, and Sayings (Doubleday, 1961); E.O. Harbin, Games of Many Nations (Abingdon Press, 1954); Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the

World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Nina Millen, Children’s Games from Many Lands (Friendship Press, 1943); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Ballooning Ballooning began in France, and has been around for over 200 years. The first balloon was successfully launched on September 19, 1783, by the scientist Pilatre De Rozier. His balloon, called the Aerostat Reveillon, lasted only 15 minutes in flight but ushered in a new era in flight travel. Onboard for this historic flight were a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. The very first manned attempt at balloon flight came on November 21 of the same year, when brothers Joseph and Etienne Montgolfier flew their balloon for a period of 20 minutes in Paris. Just two years later another landmark achievement took place when Jean Pierre Blanchard and John Jeffries, his American copilot, became the first balloonists to fly across the English Channel. That same year, de Rozier died while trying to duplicate the flight across the channel. On January 7, 1793, George Washington was in attendance to witness Jean Pierre Blanchard become the first person to fly a balloon in North America. During much of the 19th century, the sport of hot air ballooning reached new heights as it became an increasingly safer mode for space exploration and travel. By August 1932, Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard became the first person to fly to the Stratosphere. His height of 52,498 feet set a new altitude record and was broken several times over the ensuing couple of years. By 1960, Captain Joe Kittinger set two world records when he successfully manned his balloon to a height of 102,000 feet, then jumped from the balloon with a parachute. Much of the second half of the 20th century saw balloonists attempting to take the sport to a new level as people tried to cross the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In 1978, the Double Eagle II became the first balloon to cross the Atlantic. The three-person flight took 137

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parts. The basket is where the passengers and pilot stand, the burner is the unit, which propels the heat up into the envelope, and the envelope is the fabric balloon, which holds the air. Hot air balloons are used for a variety of reasons today. The most popular use is for commercial leisure flights. This is a flight in which members of the public take a ride in the balloon with the help of a pilot. These flights range from three to four passengers to as many as 20 passengers. Balloons have recently been used for corporate events as well as for promotion and advertising purposes. A growing trend is that of hot air balloon weddings, in which the couples can combine their love for each other with their love of flight. Another popular use for balloons is for sporting purposes, in which professionals from around the world compete against one another to see who can travel the furthest distance or reach the highest altitude. Ballooning has come a long way since the early days of the sport over 200 years ago. In recent years, the popularity of the sport has increased tremendously and shows no signs of letting up. See Also: Europe, 1600 to 1800; France; Hobbies.

Hot air balloons are inflated at dawn, as it is easier to control the balloon during the cooler parts of the day.

Bibliography. eBaloon.org, www.ebaloon.org (cited September, 2008); Christine Costanzo, Hot Air Ballooning (Coughlan Publishing, 2000); Andrew Nahum, Flying Machine (DK Publishing, 2004). Patrick Trotti Independent Scholar

hours to complete. Three years later the first balloon crossed the Pacific Ocean. The Double Eagle V, which had four passengers, took 84 hours to successfully travel from Japan to California. Both of these trips were done with helium/gas-filled balloons, and in 1987 Richard Branson and Per Lindstrand became the first to cross the Atlantic in a hot air balloon. Four years later the duo became the first to cross the Pacific in a hot air balloon as well. In 1999 Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones became the first balloonists to fly around the world, as they departed from Switzerland and landed in Africa, after almost 20 days of flying. With the invention of gas/helium-filled balloons, the hot air method became almost obsolete for a while, before it came back into popularity within the last half century. The actual balloon is made up of three main

Bandai Bandai is a pioneering Japanese company in toy and brand development and deployment. Best known throughout the world for its Power Rangers, Tamagotchi, and Gundam properties, Bandai has been active in almost every aspect of children’s toys and play, from producing model kits to running amusement parks. An early example of Bandai’s importance to the toy business was its Toyopet toy car (a small-scale model of an early Toyota sedan), which it first produced in 1950, the year the company was founded. With the Toyopet, Bandai established the company’s model of

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combining advanced production and distribution of licensed products. The story of the Toyopet toy car can be thought of as the Bandai story in miniature, as it is an early product of a distinctly Japanese version of the toy business that links physical and intellectual properties through the integration of production, branding, and licensing. While this practice is now the norm in the toy industry, Bandai’s effort represents an early and dynamic example of branded toys. Among Bandai’s most important toys and products have been its Power Rangers (Super Sentai) and Gundam lines. Both brands are tied to successful television shows as well as to videogames and other products. Gundam is based primarily on scale-model kits of giant robots. Power Rangers, known originally as Super Sentai in Japan, is meant in general for younger children and is centered around action figures and robot toys. After merging with the Japanese videogame company Namco in 1995, the Bandai Namco Group expanded on Bandai’s branding and toy strategy to create ever more sophisticatedly integrated brands, characters, games, and toys combining multiple media and markets. Namco is best known for its videogame titles, such as Tekken, as well as for amusement parks and arcades. The merger reflects the importance of companies building connections between electronic toys and videogames. Bandai has had a long, if mixed, relationship to video and computer games. While it has produced game titles for nearly every home console system, it has had less success on the hardware side. Bandai attempted—by partnering with Apple (then Apple Computers)—to introduce a crossover between a videogame console and a personal computer—the Pippin—which did not sell well. Bandai was more successful, if mainly domestically, with its hand-held Wonderswan series of game consoles. The company has since stopped producing its own hardware, focusing on licensing and software development through its Namco division. Many of its titles are based on popular Bandai characters from the worlds of Dragon Ball Z, Tamagotchi, and Gundam. In 1996, Bandai released a range of electronic portable toys, or digital pets, called Tamagotchi. Based on simple programs with liquid crystal display screens, Tamagotchi were virtual pets that owners took care of by pressing buttons to attend to the needs of the pet. Over the years there have been increasingly technologically advanced variants of Tamagotchi and, as with other Bandai lines, many tie-in products.

Bandai has had a long history as both a Japanese and international company. It is associated with both the “made in Japan” explosion in the United States in the 1950s and a strong domestic orientation. More recently it has suffered losses in the U.S. market, seeing better results in Europe. Domestically, Bandai has recently had to deal with a shrinking pool of clients, as Japan ages and fewer and fewer children are born there. In response Bandai has attempted to produce more toys for young adults as well as trying to further penetrate other Asian countries, North America, and the European markets. See Also: Amusement Parks; Arcades; Japan; Models; TOMY. Bibliography. Anne Allison, Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination (University of California Press, 2006); Carol Lawson, “Love it, Feed it, Mourn it,” New York Times (May 27, 1997); Todd Zuan, “Power Rangers Meet Pac-Man in $1.7 Billion Deal,” New York Times (May 3, 2005). Samuel F. Tobin New School for Social Research

Baseball (Amateur) The “national pastime” in the United States, evoked alongside such icons of Americana as hot dogs and apple pie (and the only major league sport conducted in July, concurrent with Independence Day), baseball has a long history and strong association with America, in addition to its popularity elsewhere. The odd man out of the major American sports, it lacks a goal and a definite endpoint—a game of potentially infinite length (there are no ties) played in finite innings in which the teams take turns playing offense and defense. The origins of baseball are unclear. There are half a dozen competing origin stories, at least one of which— the 1839 invention of baseball by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York—is known to be false, though it continues to be repeated because of the association of the name with the sport and the location of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In the end, this much is clear: There have been many bat and ball games, dating back to ancient eras, and they were especially popular in England, where cricket is the best-known example. The



sport of baseball shares aspects with English bat-andball games, as well as with tag games. Though possibly invented in England, baseball first became popular in New England in the 18th century—a 1791 Pittsfield (Massachusetts) bylaw forbids playing the game within 80 yards of the town meeting house, presumably for the sake of the windows. The sport spread as the country did, across the continent and soon beyond, taking advantage of the many available empty fields. One of the hallmarks of the sport is the unique character of each park, whether at the major league level or in amateur play. Though the infield conforms to specific dimensions, there is significant leeway in the configuration of the outfield and the park as a whole, making some parks better for hitters, worse for left-handed pitchers, etcetera. Even the amount of foul territory, which in some sense affects every at-bat, varies. Most parks, for the sake of convenience, are oriented to keep the sun out of pitchers’ eyes—though professional baseball is often played at night for the sake of ticket sales and television ratings, the sport is traditionally a day game. To a greater degree than the America’s other major team sports—football, basketball, hockey, soccer— baseball is both a team sport and an individual sport. A far greater number of individual statistics are tallied, some of them position-specific and many of them not, than in other sports. Team-driven plays do not exist to the same degree, in the same sense, as in other team sports. Though there may be runners on base, and fielders ready to catch fly balls or chase down grounders, the discrete unit of baseball play is a confrontation between two players: the pitcher and the hitter. This is also what has changed the most since the earliest days of the game, when a hitter had an unlimited number of strikes and could call for a specific pitch; the pitcher then was an enabler of the game more than the hitter’s obstacle. But now, with the pitcher doing his best to keep the batter from making a hit without throwing a ball (a pitch outside the designated zone), the fundamental act of baseball—hitting a 90-mile-per-hour ball with a stick—is widely considered the most difficult act performed as part of the ordinary activity of a sport. The fact that hitting the ball two times out of five is an almost unattainable feat, achieved only by a small handful of professional players, attests to this. The time element distinguishes baseball as well. There is no clock. Though umpires encourage batters

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to prepare quickly without dallying, there is technically no time limit enforced on them, nor on the pitcher; in the 2008 season, a minor league game was delayed for minutes when a switch-hitting batter and ambidextrous pitcher kept switching back and forth between right- and left-handed stances, each in response to the other. The game ends when it ends: when the third out of the second half of the last inning has been made. A tie-breaking run in the first half of an inning does not end the game, and many extra-innings games are played precisely because the other team is given a chance to catch back up. Organized baseball is played at many levels: Little League (childrens’ competitive league), scholastic and college leagues, and the various professional leagues. Companies often field baseball or softball teams to compete after-hours with other companies; other amateur leagues exist for teams without business-specific affiliation. But the sport is especially revered for its informal games, in which a group of young players head to an empty lot or town field, pick teams—often lacking a few positions—and play until dark. There is rarely an umpire, and house rules may develop in order to prevent arguments about certain calls, especially relating to home runs and foul balls.

Farmers play baseball in Arkansas in the late 1930s. The origins of American baseball are disputed.

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Whether baseball originated in the United States or not, it was from the United States that it spread to the rest of the world, primarily in the late 19th century (when Americans overseas introduced it to other countries, particularly throughout Latin America and in Japan) and the early 20th century, when it was the principal team sport in the country when modern media developed and turned athletes like Babe Ruth into celebrities. The popularity of youth baseball in other countries has gradually changed the character of professional baseball in the United States, as more and more of its players grew up in other countries. Baseball also has different meanings depending on culture. In some countries, baseball is used as a means to socializing the young into central ways of defining the self. In Japan, for example, the emphasis is on players coming to see themselves as responsible to their teammates, their school, and even their country—interdependence and being responsible is what matters, not independence and individual stardom. Baseball Superstitions A game so tied up in tradition naturally develops superstitious practices, observed by players at every level. “Lucky” pieces of equipment or clothing (which are not washed as long as their luck holds out) are common, as are “playoff beards”—grown when players stop shaving after the team’s first win in the playoffs. The foul line is sometimes considered unlucky, and players will avoid touching it, whether there is a game in progress or not. Midgets, albinos, and other people with unusual congenital conditions are sometimes considered “lucky” to touch—this is an especially old tradition, which would be considered insensitive to act on now. Above all else, situations in progress are not to be discussed in certain circumstances. It is the worst breach of decorum to comment on a no-hitter (or, by extension, a perfect game) in progress, and even sportscasters will usually abide by this. But it is also inappropriate to talk about a player’s statistical performance when that situation is at hand, and is seen as a jinx. Baseball and Statistics More than any other sport, the statistics generated by baseball games have long been an object of fascination among spectators. Scorecards have been provided at baseball games since the early days of organization, to give spectators something to do during the natural

breaks in action—when a new batter comes to the plate, when a pitcher warms up, when a half-inning ends and the teams switch places. Basic statistics have been maintained since before the inception of Major League Baseball; historical baseball statistics have been available to fans since the 1950s, when baseball encyclopedias were published for the first time. Computers have revolutionized statistics, allowing for the computation of highly specific information such as the performance of a particular batter against a particular hitter every time they have faced each other in tie games. One of the uses of statistics is in fantasy or rotisserie baseball, in which the real-world statistical performance of players on a fantasy manager’s team affects the success of his team in the ongoing game. Baseball and Language That common denominator has affected American speech, as well, in the form of an extraordinary number of baseball-related idioms that have made their way into everyday vocabulary, even among people who have never watched a baseball game in their lives. Something that’s close enough to a particular goal or category is “in the right ballpark.” Advancing to a certain station in one’s field is to arrive “in the big leagues,” but acting unprofessional is “bush league.” Rather than crossing your Ts and dotting your Is, you might “cover your bases,” particularly so that you are prepared if someone surprises you by “throwing you a curveball” that may be so unexpected it is as if it “came out of left field” and could “catch you off base.” If you rise to the occasion you will “knock it out of the park.” In particular, there is the use of baseball as a metaphor for sex. Just as a runner advances around the bases, so too does an ambitious young man advance through stages of intimacy. The specifics can vary from cohort to cohort, but are generally agreed on. “First base” is kissing. “Second base” is genital contact—masturbation or fondling through clothes. “Third base” has shifted in meaning as sexual mores have shifted. A “home run” is sexual intercourse. And “striking out” means to be rejected entirely—in sex or any other arena. See Also: Athletics (Amateur; Basketball (Amateur); Football (Amateur); Play and Sports Education; Team Play. Bibliography. Jim Albert and Jay M. Bennett, Curve Ball: Baseball, Statistics, and the Role of Chance in the Game

Basketball (Amateur)



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Basketball (Amateur)

and the United States and has become one of the most popular international sports. By 1932, basketball had risen to international prominence with the development of the Federation Internationale Basketball Amateur (FIBA), which still governs international basketball. The founding countries included Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland. The amateur component of FIBA has since been dropped, as professional basketball players now compete in FIBAsanctioned tournaments such as the Summer Olympic Games, but the acronym FIBA still remains, with the “BA” now denoting the first two letters of basketball. FIBA has grown immensely in size since its inauguration and now includes over 200 member countries.

A Canadian Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) instructor in the state of Massachusetts named Dr. James Naismith developed the sport of basketball in 1891. Naismith created the game to allow for competitive sport to take place indoors during harsh winter months—it began as a game to keep young athletes in shape during the winter when they were unable to perform outdoor sports. The original ball used was a soccer ball, and the original hoops were peach baskets attached to gymnasium walls. The use of these baskets gave rise to the name basketball. Peach baskets continued to be used until 1906, when they were replaced by metal-rimmed hoops attached to a wooden backboard. From these early beginnings, basketball has turned into a global sport played around the world by men and women, both young and old. Unlike many other activities that were seen as unwomanly in the late 1800s, basketball was quickly adopted as a game that women could play as well. In 1892 a physical education teacher named Sendra Berenson modified Naismith’s rules to form a women’s game of basketball. While the first official men’s game took place in 1892, the first collegiate women’s basketball game commenced shortly thereafter, in 1893. In the 1890s basketball spread to YMCAs around the country, as well as to Canada. It became popular in high schools and universities, as it required little equipment and personnel. As the game continued to grow in Canada and the United States, American soldiers then spread the game to countries around the world to locations they were stationed in. Basketball is now played at most high schools, colleges, and universities in Canada

Olympic Basketball While a basketball demonstration tournament was held at the 1904 Olympics, the first time it became an official Olympic event was during the 1936 Olympic Summer Games in Berlin, Germany. Twenty-three countries competed in the Olympic basketball tournament, making it the largest team event held at the Olympic Games that year. The U.S. men’s team was victorious in winning the first-ever Olympic gold medal, while Canada won the silver. The United States has gone on to dominate international basketball in both the women’s and men’s games, winning more international events than any other country. It was not until 1976, however, that women’s basketball was added to the Olympic program. The U.S. men’s basketball team won every Olympic gold medal until 1972, when they were defeated by the Soviet Union. The men’s team has only failed to win the gold medal three times since, with the latest coming in 2004 with a disappointing bronze medal finish. The U.S. women’s basketball team did not have the early dominance of the men’s team, as the Soviet Union won the first two Olympic events. The U.S. women have, however, gone on to win five out of the last six Olympic basketball events. FIBA dropped the amateur status of its organization in 1989, which allowed National Basketball Association (NBA) players the opportunity to compete in international basketball tournaments including the Olympics. The first year that professional basketball players played in the Olympics was 1992, leading to the introduction of the U.S. “dream team,” with NBA greats like Earvin

(Copernicus Books, 2001); Bob Elliott, The Northern Game: Baseball the Canadian Way (Sport Classic, 2005); Alvin L. Hall and Thomas L. Altherr, “Eros at the Bat,” The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture (McFarland & Company, 2002); Lawrence Ritter, The Glory of their Times (Macmillan, 1966); Alan Schwarz, The Numbers Game: Baseball’s Lifelong Fascination with Statistics (St. Martin’s, 2005). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

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Women have been playing collegiate basketball since 1893. The game was played with modified rules for women.

“Magic” Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan on the roster. While the original dream team was able to coast to an Olympic gold medal, the standard of play that other countries have been able to achieve since these games has been steadily rising. For example, in the 2002 World Championships, the U.S. men’s basketball team, a team comprising NBA players, finished sixth behind Yugoslavia, Argentina, Germany, New Zealand, and Spain. Then in the 2004 Olympics, the United States men’s team failed to win the gold medal, which they had done in each previous year since professional players were granted the right to play. College Basketball While college basketball competitions began emerging shortly after the formation of the sport, the game did not rise to national prominence until the development of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) in 1938. At the time, this was the most prestigious college basketball tournament that a team could play in at the end of the season after winning their respective division. However, a few years later, another national championship tournament emerged that would far surpass the prestige of the NIT. This tournament was held by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), gained immense popularity in the 1960s, and has since become a premier sporting event held in the United States each year. The

tournament, held in March of each year, is also commonly referred to “March Madness.” The rise of the NCAA tournament has led to the downfall of the NIT tournament. While the NIT tournament was once the premier college basketball event in the United States, it is now reserved for teams that were unable to qualify or not selected for the NCAA tournament. As such, it is now sometimes referred to humorously as the “Not-Invited Tournament” instead of the National Invitation Tournament. Likewise, when teams are losing important qualifying games for the NCAA tournament, it is common for the crowd to taunt the team with N-I-T chants. The NCAA tournament—March Madness, or simply “the tournament” to college basketball fans—is a national tournament comprising 65 invited NCAA Division 1 basketball teams. The “Big Dance” is another common term to refer to the NCAA tournament to distinguish it from other national championships, such as the NIT. The tournament is made up of Division 1 conference champions who receive automatic bids, as well as teams chosen by an NCAA selection committee. A tournament bracket is established based on team rankings, with teams being knocked out after a single loss. When 16 teams are left, it is often refereed to as the “Sweet 16,” the last eight teams are the “Elite Eight,” and the last four are termed the “Final Four.” Apart from possibly the Superbowl in American gridiron football, the Final Four of college basketball is among the biggest sporting events in the United States each year. The NIT and NCAA tournament for both men and women are not the only national college basketball championships in the United States. The NCAA is divided into three divisions, based on size and resources, and a national champion is determined in each of these divisions. There is also the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), which is divided into two divisions with a national champion in each. A National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) also exists with three separate divisions, with a national champion in each determined as well. Wheelchair Basketball New versions of basketball have been developed since its formation, with one popular form being termed wheelchair basketball. Wheelchair basketball was developed in the years following World War II for men who had experienced wartime injuries that limited their ability to play

Battlefield 1942



sports. It was developed to allow these men to experience the exhilaration and excitement of competitive sport, even though their bodies were no longer able to play the original version of the game. The game has similar rules to those of basketball, with some adaptations to allow for the use of wheelchairs and the various disabilities of the athletes that participate in the sport. For example, the hoop in wheelchair basketball still stands at 10 feet, but instead of a travel denoting more than two steps with the ball, it denotes touching the wheelchair wheels more than twice after receiving or dribbling the ball. Wheelchair basketball became part of the original Paralympics held in Rome in 1960. The Paralympic Games is an international event for athletes with physical disabilities and is held two weeks after the Olympic Games in the same host city. Wheelchair basketball has grown immensely since this time, with over 80 countries belonging to the International Wheelchair Basketball Association (IWBA), the official governing body of international wheelchair basketball. Street Ball Another common version of the original game of basketball is referred to as “street ball.” Street ball is a lessformal, urban version of basketball that is played around the world on outdoor and indoor courts. The rules of street ball are typically similar to those of the regular game, although it can be adapted to be played by as few as two players and is often played on only one hoop instead of two. The most apparent difference of street ball from ordinary basketball is the hip-hop undertones, which are often characterized by baggy clothing and flashy moves. The primary objective in street ball is still to score more baskets than an opposing team, but there is more at stake such as spectacular dunks, impressive ball handling, and demeaning trash talk. See Also: Baseball (Amateur); Athletics (Amateur); Play and Sports Education; Team Play. Bibliography. Peter J. Bjarkman, Hoopla: A Century of College Basketball (McGraw-Hill, 1998); James Naismith, Basketball: Its Origins and Development (University of Nebraska Press, 1996); Alexander Wolff, Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure (Grand Central Publishing, 2003). Curtis Fogel University of Calgary

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Battlefield 1942 Battlefield 1942 is a three-dimensional, first-person shooter (FPS) computer game developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows (2002) and the Apple Macintosh (2004). The game can be played in single-player mode against the computer or in multiplayer mode against players on the Internet, although the latter is the more popular option. As the title suggests, the game is set during World War II. Battlefield 1942 is popular not only with players, but also with the large-scale community of modders (modifiers) who write new content, levels, and simulations for the game. In this way, the game follows the tradition of games such as Half-Life and its sequel, Counter-Strike (which, in itself, is a mod), as a game that allows the source code to be freely used, adapted, and sometimes even improved by its own users. The game won various rewards on its release in 2002 but is in fact a uniformly average example of the FPS genre. In Battlefield 1942, players take the role of one of five different types of solider, each with different attributes. In this respect, the game contains a clear carryover from roleplaying games (RPGs), in which character classes often dictate a vital part of each avatar’s ability and relative strengths. Like many RPGs, this means that the emphasis of the game is shifted toward cooperative play, with each character class providing its own benefits in a group situation. Online group play involves large groups of players in opposing teams who try to either kill their way to victory or secure/ successfully defend key points on each map by gaining or losing “tickets.” The game ends when either one side has lost all of their tickets or certain objectives are fulfilled. This type of PvP (Player versus Player) scenario deliberately means that players have various gameplay options, although usually, strategic group play is the more successful route. In the online incarnation of the game, these missions are repeatedly carried out by players on opposing teams. Battlefield 1942 was one of the first games to seriously consider its online persona as a multiplayer PvP event within the game design. For this reason, the cooperative elements were heightened in the game; an aspect which, ironically, caused a great deal of difficulty during the early months of the game for players used to solo play in online FPS games (even in what might have appeared at first to be group situations). Early bugs in the game

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such as unstable spawning points, coupled with some obvious exploits and the high level of PvP grief play meant that, initially, this aspect of the game was even harder to achieve. However, these elements were gradually tweaked or removed. Battlefield 1942 demands that players form swift trust groups who need to work collectively and cohesively together in order to succeed; however, the transitory nature of these groups, as well as their unpredictability, means that the social processes needed within the game are as important to success as good gameplay. It is this latter aspect that has become a core part of PvP gaming over recent years, and as the understanding of it grows, designers often seek to introduce conflict through different goals and objectives in order to make the game both more complex and more rewarding when a win is achieved. Overall, it is also this human aspect—the fact that players are fighting against and with other people—that has led to the ongoing success of PvP online gaming. See Also: Counter Strike; Play as Mock War, Sociology of; War; Warhammer; World of Warcraft. Bibliography. Esther MacCallum-Stewart, “From Catch the Flag to Shock and Awe: How World of Warcraft Negotiates Battle” (DiGRA Conference, 2007); Battlefield 1942, www .ea.com/official/battlefield/1942/us (cited July 2008). Esther MacCallum-Stewart University of East London

prisoners drawing play grids on their cell floors and calling moves to each other between cells. In 1931, the Starex Novelty Company published the game as a pad of preprinted grids, calling it Salvo. Soon after Salvo was published, imitators appeared, including pad-and-paper variations called Broadsides and Combat. The convenience of printed grids and rules guides on each page of the game pads helped to further popularize the game. Players begin by marking a grid with the position of their ships, each of which are one grid square wide. The number and length of ships varies across rule sets, but in the popular Milton Bradley (now Hasbro) version of the game, each player has six ships, ranging in length from one square (the submarine) to five squares (the aircraft carrier), with an additional two-square ship (the cruiser). Generally, the game grid is labeled on one axis with letters and the other with numbers. Players use one grid to record their ships’ positions, and a second identical grid to record the results of their attacks. The two players alternate turns, calling out “shots” in the form of grid positions: “A-1” for the upper-left square, for example. In early versions of the game, each player called out six shots at a time, which increased the chances of hitting something, but which made deducing the position of ships more difficult, since the player being fired upon did not have to specify which squares were the successful hits. In an effort to market the game to children, Milton Bradley simplified the rules for its 1967 version, requiring players to only call out one shot per turn. In all versions of the game, when all parts of a ship have been hit, the player is required to let his opponent

Battleship Battleship is a two-player game of luck and logic. The game has been popular since its development by Russian soldiers during World War I. Although it has been published in many variations, the best known is the 1967 Milton Bradley version, which remains popular today. The game’s initial popularity came from the ability to play it anywhere with any writing implement and on any writing surface. Soldiers often improvised naval battles on scraps of paper while waiting for orders on the battlefield. According to historian John Toland, by the 1920s, the game had become a popular way of passing the time in prisons as well as on the battlefield, with

The Milton Bradley version of Battleship has toy ships and red and white markers, allowing players to keep score.

Beggar My Neighbor



know which ship was sunk. This aids the attacker in deducing the position of other ships through the process of elimination, an idea inspired by the use of sonar to detect positions in naval warfare. The cry “You sank my battleship!”—which originated in Milton Bradley’s 1970s ads—has become a part of the American pop cultural landscape. Milton Bradley also introduced plastic ships, red “hit” and white “miss” markers, and a briefcase-like set of two plastic grids for each player. The lid of the briefcase provided the “sonar” record of each player’s attempted strikes against his opponent, as well as obscuring the view of his opponents’ ship placement on the second grid. In 1983, Milton Bradley released Electronic Battleship, which took care of the details of hits and misses with lights and sound. Since then, many computer versions of Battleship have appeared, some offering enhanced game play, but all using variations of the Milton Bradley rules. See Also: Hasbro; Luck and Skill in Play; Play as Mock War, Sociology of; War. Bibliography. Jim Gladstone, Gladstone’s Games To Go (Quirk Books, 2004); Andrew McClary, Toys With Nine Lives: A Social History of American Toys (Linnet Books, 1997); Merilyn Simonds Mohr, The New Games Treasury (Houghton Mifflin, 1997). Jay Laird Northeastern University

Beggar My Neighbor Beggar My Neighbor is a British card game that may date back to a late-16th-century card game known as Knave Out of Doors, which was mentioned in a 1604 play, A Woman Killed with Kindness, by John Haywood. Regardless of when it originated, it was a very popular game by the 19th century. It has also been known as Strip Jack Naked, Beat Your Neighbor Out of Doors, Corsican Battle, Egyptian War, and Egyptian Ratkiller. The “Egyptian” versions have added rules allowing slapping the stack when certain combinations show up, allowing the “slapping” player to gather up the stack. There is also a variation played in the Caribbean known as Suck the Well Dry. The main difference in this variation is

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that when there are more than two players, the sequence of play is counterclockwise, as opposed to the clockwise sequence played in the United States and Great Britain. As can be inferred from the different names, this game has been given, it is a zero-sum, or constant-sum, game in which winning depends on defeating the opponent and taking everything they have. The game is usually played by two players, although sometimes there are more. The deck is divided evenly between the players who keep the cards in face-down piles. Aces, kings, queens, and jacks are known as “pay cards.” The other cards are considered “ordinary cards.” The players take turns placing the top card from their stack face up in the center of the table. When they place an ordinary card, face up, on the stack, nothing happens. When a player places a pay card, the other player must pay a number of cards out, the number depending on the pay card. The rate is four cards for an ace, three for a king, two for a queen, and one for a jack. The player who played the pay card then takes all of these, as well as all of the cards in the stack. If, however, the paying player plays a pay card, then the player who originally played the pay card must pay cards, and the stack reverts to the player who played the second pay card. The game continues in this fashion until one player completely runs out of cards. The game most famously appears in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, when Pip plays and loses a game of Beggar My Neighbor to Estrella while Miss Havisham looks on, encouraging Estrella to “Beggar him!” In the novel, it is used as more than a card game, as it shows a great deal about the characters. Further, it also provides an analogy for Miss Havisham’s past, with its financial and personal failures and total loss. Literary critics have also discussed it as a further analogy for the difficulties and failures of financial enterprises in Victorian England. Beggar My Neighbor is a game of pure chance, with no element of skill involved. Theoretically, it is possible that a game of Beggar My Neighbor could be played forever without a player winning, a subject that has been written about in mathematical journals. See Also: Play as Competition, Sociology of; United Kingdom; War. Bibliography. Beggar My Neighbor Rules, www.pagat.com /war/beggar_my_neighbour.html (cited October 2008); John Haywood et al., A Woman Killed with Kindness and Other

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Domestic Plays (Oxford University Press, 2008); Marc M. Paulhus, “Beggar My Neighbor,” The American Mathematical Monthly (v.106/2, February 1999); Daniel Pool, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist–the Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England (Simon and Schuster, 1994); Susan Walsh, “Bodies of Capital: Great Expectations and the Climacteric Economy,” Victorian Studies (v.37/1, 1993). Robert Stacy Independent Scholar

Belarus Belarus was, until recently, a constituent region of the Soviet Union, and an earlier part of the Russian empire. Echoing the behavior of rural children everywhere, Belarusian children played games such as Hide-andSeek and Catch—made unique by their cooptation of characters from Slavic folk tales, like the witch Baba Yaga. Games, especially for older children, were often gendered: boys tested strength and skill in games such as Lapta, similar to baseball, where players used a bat to hit a small, heavy stick; for girls, games of skill included rope-skipping, or Skakalochka. Rural kids moving to the city adapted traditional games to the urban context and developed new forms of play, such as riding on tram couplings or card-playing; they experienced less social control and had more access to tobacco and alcohol. Adult peasants traditionally spent their leisure time visiting friends, promenading in the village streets, singing songs, drinking in taverns, going to village fairs, and celebrating the many Orthodox religious festivals. Urbanization saw the persistence of such forms, but also new modes of leisure characterized by increasingly wide class divisions. The presence of masses of young working-class males in the cities encouraged the “rough” leisure of hooliganism. For the middle class, the late 19th to early 20th century witnessed the growth of restaurants, plays, “gypsy” songs, the new movie theaters, and estrada, the name for varied performance art. While earlier forms of play remained popular after the revolution, the Party founded new institutions meant to socialize youth into communist ideology and furnished “appropriate” leisure spaces, such as play-

grounds, youth clubs, and sport complexes, especially after the economy’s recovery from World War II. For example, the Minsk youth club Minskaia molodezh’ organized dance evenings, musical concerts, balls, debates, and meetings with veterans and other notables. The Party also supplied literature and a variety of new toys for children; put on plays; produced movies, radio programs, and television shows like the popular Spokoinoi nochi, malyshi; and engaged youth in communist celebrations such as parades. This patriarchal approach endeavored to supply an amalgam of fun and ideological inculcation, while striving to fulfill the Party’s promise to give all Soviet children a “happy childhood,” with intermittent success. For adults, traditional modes of leisure continued to predominate in the early post-1917 era, though many middle-class establishments were closed. Nevertheless, the Proletkul’t, a state-funded organization for workers, did supply engaging leisure, and adults participated in parades. In the mid-1930s and especially the postwar period, middle-class, and to a lesser extent, working-class citizens benefited from increased state investments into entertainment, including clubs, sport complexes, radio, and television. The post-1945 period witnessed the appearance of style-seekers—youth fascinated with Western leisure, fashion, and music. In response, the Party launched a campaign in the mid-1950s to control youth leisure, which included state-sponsored youth patrols that attempted to violently impose “proper” leisure behavior, with limited effectiveness. Fascination with Western-style leisure culture increasingly pervaded Soviet society and came into full bloom during perestroika, as officialdom ceased persecution of previously underground leisure. The Soviet demise brought a new authoritarian government to Belarus that renewed the controlling, patriarchal approach to leisure, cracking down on Western-style leisure. Contemporary play in Belarus continues to be divided by social status and geographical location, combining traditional and Communist-era forms. See Also: Play as Entertainment, Sociology of; Russia; Ukraine. Bibliography. Verena Fritz, State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia (Central European University Press, 2007); Catriona Kelly, Children’s

Belgium

World: Growing Up in Russia, 1890–1991 (Yale University Press, 2007); Stewart Parker, The Last Soviet Republic: Alexander Lukashenko’s Belarus (Trafford Publishing, 2007). Gleb Tsipursky University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Belgium Historically, Belgium was controlled by the Habsburgs of Austria and Spain. It was then a part of France, and from 1815, it was a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 1830 Belgium became independent. Traditionally one of the wealthiest parts of Europe and one of the most industrialized, Belgium has had varied types of play from simple toys and pursuits to sophisticated games with elaborate rules. Certainly as early as 1379, there were playing cards in the region, which were noted in the writings of Johanna, Duchess of Brabant, and Wenceslaus of Luxemburg. Young children in Belgium played many of the largely universal games such as Hopscotch, Skipping, Skittles, Marbles, and Hide-and-Seek. Some of these can be seen in the paintings of Pieter Bruegel the Younger, who was born in Brussels and spent most of his life in Antwerp. He includes in his works scenes of children, mainly boys, involved in street games such as Leapfrog (which was generally known in Flanders as Sheep-Jumping), Fighting on Horseback, playing with hobby horses, and also the game Trip Him Up. In one painting, Bruegel portrays a peasant mother teaching her children how to take part in a country dance, and in one of his winter scenes, he shows local men involving in skating, curling on a frozen lake, and boys with toboggans. The French influence in the region has resulted in older people playing boules, with both younger and older people taking part in recreational golf. The country has many golf courses, such as the Royal Club at Tervuren, which has hosted a number of professional tournaments. Soccer has become an important part of life for the country, with the population playing it as a recreation in school fields and courtyards across the country. In rural parts of Belgium, pelota is played, harking back to the historical connections with Spain. Since Medieval times, puppeteers have been popular in village and town festivals and markets. Most

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perform for small children and tell moral tales. In the Middle Ages, pageant plays were staged; they have had a recent revival with small theatrical groups helping to enliven market days. From the late Middle Ages, the wealth of Belgium, largely made through selling wool, meant that it became home to many printers—it is not surprising that it became a center for printing playing cards. The town of Turnhout, near Antwerp, has been known for printing and selling playing cards since 1826, and later became involved in making card games and games including dice. In 1970 the three remaining game companies amalgamated to form Cartamundi, which still produces packs of cards for casinos around the world. There have been several editions of the board game Monopoly, some using bilingual boards in Flemish and French and some in just one language. All of the games represent the entire country of Belgium, not just a particular city. A surviving Flemish painting from the 15th century shows a woman playing Chess against a man with a number of onlookers. The Flemish painter Lucas van Leyden (1494–1533), who also lived in Antwerp, painted a scene showing a woman and a man playing Chess. This painting now hangs at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany. Chess remains popular in Belgium—the Fédération Royale des Échecs de Belgique (The Royal Chess Federation of Belgium) was established in 1920, with its headquarters in Anvers. An annual Belgian Women’s Championship has been held since 1946 and an Annual Belgian Championship since 1949. There has also long been a great interest in modelmaking, especially of trains, with Belgium having had a central role in the manufacturing of trains throughout Europe. The many wars that have been fought on Belgian soil have helped nurture an extensive Wargaming culture among boys and men. The availability of many miniature figurines for wars fought in Belgium—the Revolt of the Netherlands, War of Spanish Succession, Napoleonic Wars, World War I, and World War II—has enabled Wargamers in Belgium to conduct their pursuits through school groups and clubs, and also on the internet. The Battle of Waterloo in 1815, fought in Belgium, is one of the most popular Wargame scenarios in the world, and the result has been that many Wargamers from overseas visit Belgium to study the battleground. There are regular reenactments held on the battle site that bring in many people from all over

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Belgium and overseas. The large number of memorials and battle sites for World War I have similarly attracted many wargamers to Belgium. Outdoor pursuits such as hiking, cycling, and boating on the canals also remain popular in the country. See Also: Chess and Variations of; Hide & Seek; Napoleon; Wargames. Bibliography. Eugeen van Autrenboer and Louis Tummers, The Turnhout Playing Card Industry 1826–1976 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs External Trade and Cooperation in Development, 1976); Demetrius Charles de Kavanagh Boulger, The History of Belgium: Part 1. Cæsar to Waterloo (Adamant Media Corporation, 2001); Harry Golombek, Chess: A History (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1976); Michael Rayner, “The 100 Days,” Miniature Wargames (February–June 1988). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Bezique Bezique was originally a French card game dating back to the 17th century; it is similar to Piquet, from which it is derived. It is, in its basic form, a two-player game, although there are variations for more players. It is very similar to Pinochle, which developed from the standard two-hand Bezique. Bezique’s peak of popularity was during the 19th century, when it was well known enough to be mentioned in novels. For example, when Emile Zola conducted research for what would be his novel Nana, he investigated the lives of courtesans and found that typically these women could be expected to squeeze in a game of Bezique after lunch during their busy day. Bezique was popular enough for several variations to come into existence. There is the two-handed variation, known as Rubicon Bezique, which uses four decks for play and has certain variations in the scoring. Three-Handed Bezique uses three decks and allows triple scoring; FourHanded Bezique uses six decks for its four players. SixDeck Bezique is also known as Chinese Bezique and was said to be a favorite pastime of Winston Churchill. It is similar to Rubicon Bezique, although it uses more cards and has its own scoring. Finally, Eight-Deck Bezique,

similar to the six-deck variety, but has eight decks and some scoring differences. Bezique is not played with a standard 52-card deck. The Bezique deck (sometimes referred to as a Piquet deck, in reference to its earlier form) is a 64-card deck. There are two of each value card, from seven through the ace in each suite. The two through six cards are not used in any of the variations. Ranking of the cards, from highest to lowest is ace, 10, king, queen, jack, nine, eight, and seven. In the basic two-person version, the dealer deals three cards to the other player and then three cards to himself. Two cards are dealt to the nondealing player and two to the dealer, followed by three cards dealt to each player. The remaining cards are placed face down. Sometimes this stack is referred to as the talon. The top card is turned face up. That card’s suit becomes the trump suit. The nondealing player now plays any card, face up, and then the dealer plays a card. If the dealer’s card is the same suit as the nondealer’s card, but a higher value, he wins the trick. The dealer also wins if the played card is of trump suit. With each trick, the winner takes the cards and places them in his or her own separate stack. During each trick a player may declare a meld, a pairing of cards such as a king and queen of clubs, and is awarded points for each meld. At the end of the trick, the players take cards from the talon so that they have eight cards in their hand until the talon is exhausted. The winner of the last trick takes the last card from the talon, and the other player takes the upturned card that determined the trump suit. They then play the last eight tricks, and at this time they must follow the suit placed on the table. If the second player cannot follow suit, he or she can play a card of the trump suit. If he or she cannot play the same or the trump suit, he or she can play any other card. This continues until the last trick is played. Now the players review their cards. Ten points are awarded for each ace or 10, That total is awarded in addition to whatever points were received from the melds earlier in the game. In two-handed Bezique, the first player to score 1,000 points wins. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the different forms of Bezique (aside from the number of cards) is the number of points required to win the game as well as points awarded for different combinations. Scoring is done using Bezique markers, paper and pencil, or a cribbage board.

Bicycles

See Also: Europe, 1800 to 1900; History of Playing Cards; Pinochle; Piquet. Bibliography. BBC, “Bezique,” www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2 /A646724 (cited September 2008); Frederick Brown, “Zola and the Making of ‘Nana,’ ” The Hudson Review (v.45/2, 1992); David Parlett et al., Card Games (McGraw Hill, 1995); David Parlett, A History of Card Games (Oxford University Press, USA, 1991). Robert Stacy Independent Scholar

Bicycles Leonardo da Vinci sketched a facsimile of the modern bicycle in 1490 but never built it. Another precursor was the celerifere of 1790, which lacked steering. The first bicycle was Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn’s wooden Draisienne, which debuted in Paris in 1818. Also called the hobbyhorse or running machine, the Draisienne was

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steerable and had two in-line wheels on a frame that the rider straddled as he walked. In 1839 Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scottish blacksmith, created a wooden self-propelled bike that weighed 56 pounds and used swinging cranks on the front wheel to power rods linked to levers on the rear wheel. Pierre and Ernest Michaux built the velocipede, or boneshaker, in 1865—a two-wheeled riding machine with pedals on the front wheel. Also made of wood, with wooden tires initially and metal tires later, the velocipede was a rough ride on the era’s cobblestone streets. For some time, the velocipede was considered the first bicycle, but the Draisienne now gets that honor. The velocipede was renamed “bicycle” in 1869. Once metalworking techniques advanced enough to make strong small parts, the first all-metal bicycle appeared. It was the 1870 high wheel, with pedals attached directly to the front wheel and no freewheeling mechanism. Tires were made of solid rubber, and the long spokes of the front wheel served to absorb some of the shock. As manufacturers learned that a larger wheel produced greater distance per rotation, the front wheels became larger and larger, stopping only at the length of

In 1986 bicycling was the third most popular U.S. participation sport, after swimming and general exercise. Biking enthusiasts ride for exercise, transportation, and as a way to “get back to nature.”

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the rider’s leg. With the rider high above the machine’s center of gravity, any abrupt stop because because of a rut, stone, or stray dog would cause the machine to rotate forward on the front axle. The rider’s legs became stuck under the handlebars, and the rider landed on his head, “taking a header.” At half a year’s working-class wages, the high wheel was the preserve of young men of means. Its heyday was the 1880s. The adult tricycle was the sedate alternative for the woman rider, restrained by corsets and long skirts, as well as clergy, doctors, and other dignified persons. Tricycle manufacturers introduced band brakes, rack-and-pinion steering, the differential, and other devices later used by automobile manufacturers. To reduce the risk of “taking a header,” some bicycles were made with the small wheel in front. These were “safety bicycles,” and the older models were “ordinary bicycles” or ordinaries. The English high ordinary bicycle was also called the Penny Farthing because the large and small wheels resembled a penny and a farthing set together, dating from 1871. Improved Bicycle Technology Improved metalworking techniques allowed bikes with two same-sized wheels with a metal chain, sprocket, and gear system to allow one rotation of the pedals to generate greater distances. The first chain-driven bike dates to 1884. The Rover Safety, popular between 1885 and 1900, had a saddle, handlebar grips, and a crank axle in the rear and was easy and safe to ride. Still, without shocks and with hard rubber tires, it offered a rough ride. The League of American Wheelmen, the precursor of today’s League of American Bicyclists, worked in the 1880s and 1890s for better roads. John B. Dunlop’s pneumatic tires, an 1888 innovation, meant the end of the high wheel. A mass-produced, comfortable bicycle was affordable by the working man and modest for the ladies. Bustles and corsets went by the wayside as bicycling became the hot fad. By 1910 the automobile made bikes less popular among adults. Smaller bikes for children debuted that year, but failed to catch on until after the end of World War I in 1918. Makers included Mead, Montgomery Ward, and Sears & Roebuck. Schwinn later began manufacturing bicycles. Children’s bikes incorporated elements from motorcycles and automobiles and weighed up to 65 pounds. The children’s bike boom began after World War II. The design remained popular into the

1950s with added design elements reminiscent of jets and rockets. In the 1960s lightweight bicycles became the fashion. The three-speed bicycle dates from the 1950s, and the 10-speed derailleur, common in Europe from the turn of the 20th century, became popular in the 1970s. The environmental surge of the 1970s made bikes popular, and in 1978 U.S. bike sales surpassed those of automobiles. In 1986 bicycling was the third most popular U.S. participation sport, after swimming and general exercise. In 1996 mountain bike competition was featured at the Olympic Games. Mountain bikes appeared in the 1980s. Manufacturers made bikes with 15, and then 18, 21, and 24 speeds. At the beginning of the 21st century, the mountain bike became popular. Global bicycle sales in 2007 were $61 billion, with 100 million bikes built—mainland China produced 73 million. European Union bicyclists bought 70 percent, with sales up almost 15 percent over five years. U.S. sales were up 9 percent in the same period. The lightest bike made to date, a carbon fiber model weighing 13 pounds and manufactured by China’s Giant, sold for $7,100 in 2007. See Also: United Kingdom; United States, 1876 to 1900; United States, 1900 to 1930; United States, 1930 to 1960. Bibliography. Suman Bandrapalli, “Pivotal Dates in Bicycle History,” Christian Science Monitor (February 13, 2001); Mary Bellis, “Bicycle History,” inventors.about.com/library /inventors/blbicycle.htm (cited October 2008); Bicycle Pedaling History Museum, “A Quick History of Bicycles,” www .pedalinghistory.com/PHhistory.html (cited October 2008); David V. Herlihy, Bicycle: The History (Yale University Press, 2004); Ralph Jennings, “As Fuel Prices Climb Higher, So Do Bicycle Sales,” International Herald Tribune (May 14, 2008). John Barnhill Independent Scholar

Billiards The term billiards is believed to have derived from the French word billart, meaning “mace,” which was used in the 15th and 16th centuries as a striking implement



in lawn games such as troco and croquet. It is generally thought that the indoor game of billiards evolved from these outdoor games. Although the term billiards is used in the United Kingdom to refer exclusively to the game of English Billiards, in the United States it is usually used as a more generic term for all games played on a clothcovered table with a cue (striking implement) and balls, otherwise known as “cue sports.” Cue sports include a variety different games which then fall under a number of subdivisions. Furthermore, many subdivisions of these games have their own geographically disparate sets of rules and etiquettes. The term billiards will be used only in conjunction with the British definition. Carom billiards is the overarching title of a family of cue sports that were originally played on tables without pockets, or holes in to which balls can be “potted.” The object of most carom games is to score points by striking one’s own ball, or “cue ball,” against the opponent’s, and for it to then strike the third, “object ball”; this sequence of collisions is known as a “carom.” Carom billiards is believed to have originated in France during the 18th century. Included under the heading of carom billiards are the disciplines of threecushion billiards, American four-ball billiards, and English billiards. English billiards differs from the earliest forms of carom billiards in that it is played on a table with pockets. Six pockets are located at each corner of the rectangular table and opposite each other half-way along the long sides of the rectangle. As well as scoring points by caroming, or “cannoning” (as it is now more commonly known in the contemporary games of snooker and pool), points can also be scored by potting the balls. Pocket billiards is the collective name for games that are now known more commonly as pool. Pool includes various versions including eight-ball (commonly associated with an English variation), nine-ball, straight pool, one-pocket pool, and pyramid pool. The name pool is believed to have derived from the 19th-century American pool rooms, where people would meet to pool their money and gamble on horse races. Because the pool halls often provided carom billiards tables, the term pool became synonymous with the particular offshoot of the game that became popular in these establishments. Snooker is a cue sport that was developed in India toward the end of the 19th century. Cue sports, and in particular, pyramid pool, were very popular pastimes

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among British Army officers stationed in the country at the time. One variation of pyramid pool was devised by officers in Jabalpur in 1874 by adding colored balls to the already existing 15 red balls. The variation became known as “snooker,” which was originally a military term used to refer to inexperienced personnel. It is believed that Colonel Sir Neville Chamberlain of the Devonshire regiment was playing this new variation of pyramid pool when his opponent failed to pot a ball, and Chamberlain called him a “snooker.” The types of balls required to play cue sports vary from game to game. Carom billiards balls are larger than pool balls and come as a set of two cue balls (one colored or marked) and an object ball. American-style pool balls come in sets of two suits of object balls, seven solid-colored balls and seven striped, an eight ball and a cue ball; the balls are positioned on the table differently for different games. The English version of eight-ball pool uses sets of red and yellow balls instead of solids and stripes and the balls are smaller than American-style balls. Snooker balls are also smaller than American-style pool balls, and come in sets of 22 (15 reds, six “colors,” and a cue ball). Cue sport balls have been made from many different materials since the inception of the game, including clay, bakelite, crystalite, ivory, plastic, steel, and wood. Just as with the balls, the size and style of cue sport tables varies from game to game. However, all tables are generally rectangular and twice as long as they are wide. Most pool tables are either seven, eight, or nine feet long. Nine-foot tables are most commonly used for American-style pool. English eight-ball pool tends to be played on the shorter tables. High-quality tables have a bed of thick slate to prevent warping and changes because of humidity. All types of of cue sport tables are covered with a woven wool or wool/nylon blend cloth called “baize.” The cloth of the billiard table has traditionally been green, believed to reflect the games’ origins in the lawn games of the 16th century. Unsurprisingly, the implement used in cue sports to strike the ball is called a “cue.” A cue is usually either a one-piece tapered stick or a two-piece stick divided by a joint of metal. The widest point of the taper is referred to as the “butt” and is gripped in the players’ hand. The narrowest end of the taper is referred to as the “ferrule.” A small leather pad, known as the “tip,” is affixed to the ferrule; this is the only part of the cue that makes contact with the ball. High-quality cues are generally made

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from a hardwood. Pool players tend to favor cues made from maple, whereas snooker players tend to favor ash wood cues. See Also: Bocce; Croquet; Europe, 1200 to 1600. Bibliography. D. Alciatore, The Illustrated Principles of Pool and Billiards, (Sterling Publishing, 2004); Robert Byrne, Byrne’s New Standard Book of Pool and Billiards (Harcourt Brace & Co., 1998) C. Everton, History of Snooker and Billiards (Partridge, 1986); I. Shamos, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards (Lyons & Burford, 1993). Mike Wragg Leeds Metropolitan University

Bingo Bingo is game of chance in which players race to be the first to form a specified pattern of pieces on a grid. Although there are many variations of Bingo that do not involve financial gain, the game originated as a form of lottery and is in its most popular form today a form of gambling. Like lotteries, Bingo is acceptable to a larger segment of society than games involving direct betting (such as those involving cards or dice). It is often used as a fundraising tool for churches and nonprofit organizations, and its popularity has led many casinos to develop Bingo halls as well.

American Bingo uses the numbers one to 75, and the cards feature the numbers in a 5 x 5 grid.

The Origins of Bingo In a 1957 New York Times article, Robert Daley wrote that playing Bingo predated the pyramids of ancient Egypt. However, while this may have been a common origin story at the time, no known archaeological evidence supports this claim. The Egyptian origin story may have evolved in the 1800s, when both Bingo-styled games and modern Egyptology became a part of popular culture in Europe and the United States. The mystique of ancient Egypt was often used to validate the legitimacy of an idea or activity at this time; for example, it was a popular misconception that ancient Egyptians created Tarot cards, even though the origins of Tarot can be traced back to Italy in the 1400s. Italy is also now generally credited with the origin of Bingo, since the Bingo game mechanic appears to have evolved from the Italian lottery. The Italian National Lottery today works similarly to other number-picking lotteries, but the game invented in 1530 closely resembled Bingo. Early games of Lo Giuoco del Lotto D’Italia involved calling out numbers and placing markers on cards containing a random assortment of numbers. The first player to cover a complete row on the card was declared the winner. Originally developed in Florence as a means of raising funds for the city’s public works projects, the Italian National Lottery now brings in over $75 million for the government each year. During the 1700s, the Bingo-like rules of the Lotto D’Italia spread through Europe as a recreational game under the Italian name Lotto. Although an exact date of development is unknown, in 1778, a French news item reported that Le Lotto had become a popular pastime. These early versions of Lotto, as Bingo would be called for the next 150 years, used an identical structure to the Italian game. Each card contained nine columns and three rows, with each column containing one to three numbers from a 10-number range (1–10 in the first column, 11–20 in the second, etc.); in total, 15 of the squares contained numbers, while the other 12 squares were free spaces. The first player to cover all numbers in one of the three rows was declared the winner. In 1700s Mexico, the Bingo game took on a new form—Lotería—with illustrations replacing numbers. In the Mexican version of the game, players each attempt to form a four-piece pattern on a 4 x 4 grid. The patterns are not limited to straight lines but may also include diagonals, all corners, and small squares of four. The caller (the person who randomly selects and



reads out the next piece in all versions of Lotto/Bingo) selects one card from a 54-card deck containing one of each of the Lotería symbols and reads out either the name of the card or a riddle that indicates the card’s identity. Sometimes a number is provided along with the pictures to ease the challenge of finding a match. Among Bingo games, Lotería is unique in its cultural significance as an art form. Like the Tarot, Lotería has inspired many artists to create unique decks illustrating the 54 standard symbols, including the Rooster, the Little Devil, the Sun, the World, Death, and the Little Black Man. Educational Lotto games, still popular worldwide today, began in the 1800s. The simplest educational Lotto games were developed to help young children recognize numbers and amounted to nothing more than a simplified Lotto board with illustrations surrounding each number. These games are some of the earliest examples of the simpler square boards commonly used in Bingo today. More advanced educational Lotto and Bingo games put answers to questions in each square; players must know the correct answer in order to fill in the square. This form of the game is popular for classroom review in subjects including math, spelling, reading, and even Egyptology. Modern Bingo Today, Bingo games are almost universally called Bingo. Citizens of English-speaking countries primarily play two variants. The British version more closely resembles the Italian Lotto, while the U.S. version more closely resembles the Mexican Lotería. Both versions involve a caller drawing numbers from a bin until someone calls out “Bingo!” Generally the cards are sold to the players before the game begins, and a portion of the purchase price of the cards goes toward cash prizes for the winners. The most popular mechanism for drawing numbers in public Bingo games involves lightweight balls, each printed with a unique number within the range used in the game. To ensure fairness in commercial Bingo games, a machine generally handles ball randomization and selection. These machines are sometimes designed to look complicated so that ball selection becomes part of the entertainment. Similar machines are also used in many lottery drawings, especially those broadcast on television. The version of Bingo played in the United Kingdom and some former British territories, sometimes called Housey Housey (or just Housie), uses the 3 x 9 grid

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from Lotto, with similar objectives involving covering horizontal rows. However, often in the United Kingdom, callers will sometimes use slang terms (often similar to Cockney rhyming slang) to refer to the numbers. For example, seven is “Lucky for Some,” 17 is “Never Been Kissed,” and five is “Man Alive” (an example of rhyming slang). Although these rhymes almost resemble the riddles of the Lotería, the British slang is not as standardized as the Mexican riddles. The amount of slang used varies widely; the slang for one and 90 are the most frequent embellishments. Some callers also prefer to call out the numbers as separate digits followed by the number as read: for example, “One and six, 16.” The version of Bingo played in the United States is like Lotería in its game play, but instead of the Mexican pictures, American Bingo uses numbers from one to 75, laid out in a 5 x 5 grid. Like Lotería, a range of 15 numbers appears in each column, but American Bingo adds the labels B, I, N, G, and O to the five columns. This means the numbers called are B1 through B15, I16 through I30, and so on. The lettered column labels were added aid players in looking for matching numbers, since many Bingo players do not realize that the column determines the numeric range and would otherwise search the entire card. Although the name Bingo is now used internationally, it originated in the United States. In 1928, a carnival pitchman discovered the game of Lotto in Germany. He adapted it into a carnival game, renaming it Beano. A year later, Ed Lowe, a traveling toy salesman, attended a carnival in Jacksonville, Georgia, and saw how popular and addictive the game could be: players, he reported, kept insisting on one more game until well after closing. Ed Lowe brought the game back to his faltering toy company in New York and began playing it with friends. According to Lowe, a woman who won in an early playtest called out “Bingo!” instead of “Beano!” and he immediately realized that would be a name under which the game would become popular. Lowe realized that it was impossible to patent a game that had come out of the public domain, so instead he asked the imitators who soon began competing with him to also call their games “Bingo.” He charged only a dollar a year for the privilege of using the name Bingo, realizing perhaps that having Bingo become the generic name for the game was more valuable to his sales than any profits he could realize from licensing. Bingo’s popularity as a parlor game soon led to its adoption by churches and charitable organizations as a

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fundraising tool, but technically it was a form of gambling and therefore illegal in most of the United States. In 1952, the New York State County of Appeals overturned charges against Edward P. Burns, a Niagara Falls Bingo operator who had been indicted for conducting a lottery. In 1954, New York City police stopped ignoring Bingo games and started charging Bingo organizers with criminal offenses. Citizens immediately began lobbying to legalize the game, arguing that the 1952 Court of Appeals decision set a precedent. Eventually, most states began to regulate Bingo (and similar fundraisers like lotteries and raffles), requiring organizations to provide proof of nonprofit status and to register for an operating license. Since its legalization, commercial gambling operations have embraced Bingo. Many casinos in the United States have Bingo rooms, often with state-of-the-art electronic boards for the players. Bingo is also now a popular online pastime, with many games operated for profit (thanks to the difficulty of enforcing gambling laws internationally). Some online Bingo games even let the player opt to have the computer do all the work, from marking cards to calling “Bingo!”, making it perhaps one of the most efficient forms of gambling on the internet. See Also: Gambling; Italy; Parlor Games; Play in the Classroom; United Kingdom; United States, 1930 to 1960. Bibliography. Avery Cardoza, The Basics of Winning Bingo (Cardoza, 2003); Rene Colato Lainez and Jill Arena, Playing Loteria (Luna Rising, 2005); Roger Snowden, Gambling Times Guide to Bingo (Gambling Times, 1986). Jay Laird Northeaster University

Blackjack Blackjack, also known as Twenty-One, is played in more casinos in the world than any other game. Although the game is, at the core, one of chance, the skillful player can take advantage of a number of options to increase his chances of winning. The goal is quite simple: taking one card at a time, accumulate the highest possible hand without exceeding a value of 21. Blackjack, like other banking games, pits each player against the dealer, making it a game more suited to formal betting

environments like casinos than for recreational play among friends. Origins Blackjack originated in France in the 1700s, where it was known as Vingt-Un or Vingt-Et-Un, French for TwentyOne. It is unknown exactly when the game came to America, but the rules as most widely used today were refined in Indiana in 1912. Most of the rule variations created by American casinos involved changing the payouts for various hands. The first of these bonuses to become popular was the “blackjack”: if a player was dealt the ace of spades and a black jack (aces are worth 11 and face cards are all worth 10), then the player received 10 times his original bet. The promise of such a high payout made the game more popular, but also a bad investment for the casinos, so the rule didn’t stay around long. In 1912, U.S. casinos reduced the payout to 3:2 (or 150 percent of the original bet) but made it easier to obtain by offering the payout for any “natural” 21 with an ace and a 10. Despite the removal of the high payout for a black jack 21, the name Blackjack became the standard for the American version of the game. The name is now used in many parts of the world, with other older names mostly reserved for less-popular variants. The British play both American Blackjack and Pontoon, a variation thought to be an English bastardization of Vingt-Un, as well as a completely different game called Black Jack, which more closely resembles Crazy Eights. In Australia, Pontoon refers to a copyrighted game known as Spanish 21; the name was changed so that it could be used without being licensed from the publisher. The original French Vingt-Et-Un, now seldom found in casinos, has simplified rules and is more often treated as a social game. Rule Variations and Customs In Blackjack, each player and the dealer receive two cards. Player card visibility varies by game: some allow the first two cards to be dealt face down, so only the player can see, while others require all cards to be dealt face up. In all variations, the dealer has one face-up card and one concealed (or sometimes as-yet-undealt) card, and all subsequent cards dealt to any player are left face-up on the table. Because the players are not competing with each other, none of these variations affect game play, but they have become an important enough part of the social norms of the game to be considered rules.



If, on the first two cards, the dealer has a natural 21, any players who do not also have a natural 21 immediately lose the hand. Otherwise, the dealer works from one side of the table to the other, playing out each player’s hand. At any point in the game, if a player ties the dealer’s score, the hand is a “push,” meaning that player and the dealer are tied. However, except in the case of the dealer’s natural 21, every player has an equal chance for victory or defeat against the dealer, regardless of others’ outcomes. Players have five basic options, each represented by a hand signal. Some casinos prefer that players only use hand signals in order to prevent verbal miscommunication; others ask players to use specific terminology when communicating a decision. The most common two options are “hit” and “stand.” A hit, signaled by touching a finger to the table, is a request for an additional card. A stand, signaled by moving the hand to one side on the table or by sliding the cards under one’s chips, ends a player’s turn. If the player exceeds 21 in his hand, he “busts,” and his turn ends, losing him his bet. The other options a player may pursue are only available at the beginning or end of a hand. If the two cards the player has been dealt are of the same rank (or, in some places, value, meaning that 10 through king are counted as equivalent), the player may, before taking any cards, split his hand into two, doubling his bet by placing chips next to the original bet and holding up two fingers. If a player is convinced that he has a losing hand before he’s taken any action, some casinos offer the option to “surrender” (by making a chopping motion over the bet), in which case the player loses only half the bet and gives up the hand. Finally, if the player believes that one more card will cause him to win the hand, he may “double down” by placing more chips on the table and holding up one finger; this also signals the dealer that the next card will be the player’s last, so this can only be the player’s final decision. Although there are many small variations that affect payouts or add an additional reward or restriction to play, the most common is a sixth start-of-game option, “insurance.” If the dealer’s upcard is an ace, then the players, under this rule, may make a separate bet that the dealer has a natural 21. The bet is limited to half the player’s original bet, but it pays out at 2:1, so the player can effectively “break even” in what would otherwise likely be a losing situation. However, if the dealer does

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This winning hand of an ace (sometimes used as a “soft” card) and a 10-point face card is a “natural” 21 in Blackjack.

not have a natural 21, then the insurance bet is lost, and regular play of the hand continues. One unusual aspect of Blackjack is that the ace can have a value of either one or 11. It is referred to as a “soft” card, since its value changes to whatever is most advantageous for the player. Since the goal is to have the highest-scoring hand without exceeding 21, the ace is counted as 11 until doing so would “bust” the player. At that point, the ace is counted as one, and the “soft” hand (because its value could change) becomes a “hard” hand with a fixed value. The dealer is essentially the game’s referee, with a strict mechanical function that could be replaced by a computer, but the culture surrounding Blackjack has kept the game played primarily at casino tables. When playing out his hand, the dealer does not have any choices. The dealer may not split or double down but may only hit or stand. A rule made visible to all players dictates at what point the dealer must stand, even if it means he’ll lose. If the dealer busts, then all players who have not “busted” win twice their bets back. Rules that affect game play and payouts are marked on each Blackjack table. For example, every table is marked

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with one of two rules: “Dealer stands on all 17s” or “Dealer hits soft 17.” The first rule states that as soon as the dealer has reached a total of 17, he must stop dealing himself cards, even if another player has exceeded that value. The second rule states that if the dealer has reached 17 but there are aces involved, the dealer must continue to hit. In addition, the table may have rules about payouts for naturals, availability of insurance, and other variations. On the other hand, rules about playing customs—for example, cards in hand versus cards face up, hand signals versus verbal ones, and so on—are not generally posted. Players are expected to follow the etiquette of those around them, but the dealer will generally correct a player who makes a mistake as long as it does not affect the game’s outcome. Card Counting, Cheats, and Casino Countermeasures Although, because of the limited decisions available to the player, Blackjack has a large element of luck, there is enough skill involved that casinos must carefully monitor the odds of the dealer winning and the resulting payout. Since the dealer’s role is dictated by casino rules, this mostly involves monitoring player behavior and changing table rules or payouts if the current setup proves to be unprofitable. However, players who come armed with knowledge of the probabilities associated with a Blackjack hand can develop up to a 2 percent advantage over the casino. This number becomes more significant when you consider that the house (the casino) has a 5 percent advantage over the players when only basic rules and play strategies are used. While basic playing strategy involves estimating the likelihood that the dealer has a higher total by comparing one’s own point total to the dealer’s visible card, more sophisticated composition-dependent strategies involve analyzing the specific cards in the player’s hand as well as the other cards up on the table. If there are more low cards face up on the table, for example, then the player may wish to avoid taking an additional card, since that means there is an increase chance of being dealt a high card. According to WizardOfOdds.com, a compositiondependent strategy can at best reduce the house advantage by approximately 0.04 percent in a single-deck game. Card counting is a more popular, complex, and controversial strategy. Various card-counting strategies and systems have been developed since 1962, when Edward O. Thorp proved mathematically that Blackjack could be

beaten by card counting and published his results in the book Beat The Dealer. In general, card-counting systems do not require the player to memorize exactly which cards have been played. Instead, the card-counting player adds up point values as cards are revealed in play and bases his betting on the current value of the entire table. The controversy around card counting is that although it is not a form of cheating (since it relies on the player’s skill in manipulating public information), local laws sometimes forbid it. Further, it is technically legal in most places, but since casinos, like other private businesses, have established the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason, players who are suspected of card counting are often banned. It is, however, illegal in most places to use any form of device for card counting, since then the player is receiving technical assistance to improve his odds. Thorp’s work on card counting was originally modeled on a computer, correlating the Kelly criterion, a formula used to maximize long-term profit over repeated plays of a given game, with a probabilistic analysis of card occurrences in a single-deck Blackjack game with a varying number of players. Thorp, working with his colleague Claude Elwood Shannon (the “father of information theory”), developed the first wearable computer, which was used to test these probabilities in a given game. However, the high price of electronics in the 1960s prevented such devices from proliferating; by the time such technology would have been cost-­effective, the bans were already in place. Another strategy popularized in the 1970s by professional gambler Ken Uston involved team play. A Blackjack “team” consists of players “working” different tables, making small bets on their hands while counting cards. As soon as a card count turns favorable, the player signals another player to join the table and make big bets. As long as the dealers and pit bosses (the managers of the dealers and the first line of casino security) do not notice the signals, this is a far safer way to count cards than increasing ones’ own bets at a table over time. However, the “big players” on such teams rarely last long, as they are eventually barred from casino play. From 1979 until 2002, various incarnations of the MIT Blackjack Team, inspired by Uston and Thorp’s work, played in casinos worldwide; generally an incarnation of the team would only last for a period of months before being banned in too many casinos to continue. In order to reduce the effectiveness of such card counting and other strategies, many casinos have



moved to primarily “shoe-based” Blackjack games, in which multiple decks are shuffled together and played through. The use of multiple decks reduces the player’s ability to gain a significant advantage: six or more decks shuffled together reduce the player’s statistical advantage to zero, and therefore is the preferred size. A few casinos still offer single-deck Blackjack games, but these are considered “advanced” games, as the standard way of playing involves players concealing their card values, thereby preventing the dealer from assisting them with questions. A dealer will never advise a player on what move to take, but will sometimes remind beginners of their options. At least with Blackjack, casinos must walk a very fine line between giving players the feeling that a game is winnable and ensuring that they make money. Consider, in contrast, a slot machine: the player generally feels that the machine is “in control” and expects that the outcome is a matter of luck, while with a Poker game, the player generally feels that the game is primarily skill-based, and therefore chalks up losses to poor judgment. With Blackjack, however, players differ widely in their beliefs in luck versus skill. The casinos prefer players who believe in luck, while those who play too skillfully may be asked to leave for making too much money. In certain notable cases, the casinos have even ejected players without giving them an opportunity to cash in their chips. However, Ken Uston is also famous for winning a lawsuit against an Atlantic City casino that had barred him for card counting; he argued that it was prejudicial to bar a “skilled player” who used no visible means of cheating. The New Jersey decision unfortunately did not set a national precedent, but as of 2008, Atlantic City casinos still must allow card counters, although they have now other rules-based measures in place to prevent players from obtaining too much of an advantage. Blackjack in Popular Culture The publication of Beat the Dealer in 1962 greatly increased Blackjack’s popularity as people attempted to apply the system outlined in the book. Since then, many Blackjack systems have been developed, causing occasional publishing frenzies of books that promise players a reliable method of winning. Since 2003, Blackjack has experienced a resurgence in popularity thanks to two bestselling books by Ben Mezrich, Bringing Down the House and Breaking Vegas, which together tell the story of two generations of the MIT Blackjack Team.

Blind Man’s Bluff

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In 2008, Kevin Spacey produced the movie 21, based on Mezrich’s book. Many of the exciting elements of the story, including players sneaking hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash across the country and wearing disguises to avoid casino intimidation, were based on true events. While the film was a box office hit, Asian-American groups criticized the producers for changing the principal characters’ ethnicities from Asian to Caucasian. See Also: Europe 1600 to 1800; France; Gambling; History of Playing Cards; Luck and Skill in Play. Bibliography. Ben Mezrich, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, (Free Press, 2003); William Poundstone, Fortune’s Formula (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2005); William N. Thompson, Gambling in America: An Encyclopedia of History, Issues, and Society (ABC-CLIO, 2001); Edward O. Thorp, Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One (Random House, 1966). Jay Laird Northeastern University

Blind Man’s Bluff Blind Man’s Bluff, as the game is known in thse United States, has been played by both children and adults under a variety of names and in a variety of ways for at least 2,000 years. In its most familiar form, the game consists of a blindfolded player who attempts to catch one of the other players who are silently running around, touching and teasing the blindfolded person. Once the “blind man” catches someone, he must identify that person, usually by touching the face and body to see if he can recognize the individual, and, if he can correctly do so, then that person becomes the next blind man. Though its exact origins are unknown, Blind Man’s Bluff has been played around the world for centuries and is known as Blind Man’s Buff in England, as La Gallina Ciega (Blind Hen) in Spain, and as Mosca Cieca (Blind Fly) in Italy. The game can be played in numerous ways, and some versions include tying the hands of the “blind man” behind his back, blindfolding all players except one, having the players make the sounds of different animals,

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Blinky Bill

and incorporating elements of other games, such as the decreasing number of seats from Musical Chairs. Blind Man’s Bluff reached the height of its popularity between the years of 1837 and 1901, when it was played as a parlor game in Victorian England and America. During this time, the game, formerly played by children, was appropriated by adults, where it developed new meanings and connotations. As a game for adults, Blind Man’s Bluff, like many other parlor games, purported to help adults return to the supposedly more innocent and carefree times of childhood, but the physical touching that is an integral part of the game provided adults with a culturally permissible justification for physical contact and flirtation with members of the opposite sex. After all, the rules of Blind Man’s Bluff do not specify how much or how little touching is necessary among players, and Guessing Blind Man, one of the many versions of Blind Man’s Bluff, even calls for men and women to sit publicly on one another’s laps, an action that was only sanctioned in Victorian times as part of innocent and wholesome entertainment. At the end of the Victorian era, the popularity of parlor games among adults waned, and Blind Man’s Bluff was returned to the grammar schools and playgrounds, where the game is often taught to young children. In addition to the amusement and exhilaration that it provides them, Blind Man’s Bluff helps children learn to rely on senses other than sight in navigating through their surroundings. Adults also frequently impart Blind Man’s Bluff to children with a certain amount of nostalgia for bygone, simpler pleasures and pastimes, but children find ways to add fresh elements to the game that help to keep it current and relevant for them. For example, the water game Marco Polo has its roots in Blind Man’s Bluff, and through such evolutions and variations, as well as its earlier forms, Blind Man’s Bluff will continue to exist as a game in many children’s play repertoires. See Also: Marco Polo; Parlor Games; Play as Entertainment, Psychology of; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of. Bibliography. Patrick Beaver, Victorian Parlor Games (Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1974); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964). Ramona Anne Caponegro University of Florida

Blinky Bill Blinky Bill is both the title and protagonist of a series of classic children’s books by New Zealand–born Australian author-illustrator Dorothy Wall in the 1930s. Though the first book has passed into the public domain, all three books—Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian, Blinky Bill and Nutsy, and Blinky Bill Grows Up—have remained in print for over 70 years, as well as inspiring television series and computer games. Wall (1894–1942) had moved to Sydney from New Zealand at the age of 20 years for a job in journalism; given the mild regional rivalry between New Zealand and Australia, it’s interesting to note the “quaint little Australian” subtitle of the Blinky Bill book. Quaint or not, Blinky Bill—an anthropomorphic koala bear in red dungarees—frequently misbehaves throughout his adventures. He’s not just rambunctious or curious, like many children’s book protagonists—he’s a bully, and even a bit of a misanthrope, scowling and whining throughout. The books themselves are darker than children’s books of the 21st century, with frank discussion of the numbers of koalas who were killed by hunters. The widescale death of koalas—most killed for their fur (the meat is poisonous), some killed as pests—was the first environmental issue to receive public attention in Australia, a few years before Wall wrote her books. Long before Australians worried about the destruction of koala habitats, they were startled into action by the news that nearly a million koalas had been killed in a single hunting season. The books presented a general conservationist moral. There have been several adaptations of Blinky Bill. From 1984 to 1991, Australian television ran The New Adventures of Blinky Bill, which took four characters from the books—Bill, Mrs. Magpie, Angelina Wallaby, and Walter Wombat, but not Bill’s adopted kangaroo sister Nutsy— and paired them with new Australian anthropomorphic animals: Charlie Goanna, Eric Anteater, Sybilla Snake, and Kerry Koala. The animals were played by puppets, interacting with human characters like Ranger Barry in Bollygum National Park. Not long after The New Adventures left the air, an animated series was made in 1993: The Adventures of Blinky Bill adhered more closely to the books, including all of Bill’s family in the cast of characters in a little town called New Greenpatch, presided over by the birdbrain Mayor Pelican. Though more faithful to the books than the 1980s series in some respects, Adventures was criticized for being brighter and lighter in tone;

Blocks



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Bill is cheery and wide-eyed, cutely mischievous instead of a bully, and the conservation angle is all but ignored. This tamer Blinky Bill features in some recent computer games: Blinky Bill and the Magician and Blinky Bill Kindergarten are educational games for young children, presenting and grading performance on simple puzzles. See Also: Australia; Bullying; Daydreaming. Bibliography. Dorothy Wall, Blinky Bill and Nutsy, Blinky Bill Grows Up, and Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian, (Angus & Robertson, 1933); Dorothy Wall, Blinky Bill, nla.gov .au/nla.aus-an3281107 (cited October 2008). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Blocks With their economical shape and scale, blocks beg for little hands to touch and arrange them. To the untutored eye, this is mere play. But to experts in developmental science, block play sets the foundation for numeracy, spatial skill, and creative thinking. Blocks are perhaps the simplest yet most profound toys ever devised. Founded on a few basic shapes but rendered in dozens of materials, a modest palette of blocks can come to represent nearly anything in the hands of an imaginative child. While playthings have been among human artifacts since antiquity, the archetypical building block apparently became popular starting in the mid19th century. That was when Friedrich Froebel created the “Gifts,” the first block set based on a philosophy of learning and designed for use in the classroom. Blocks’ elegant simplicity makes them accessible to toddlers and older children alike. In children’s hands, blocks are tools to probe the laws of the physical world. Building with blocks is a means to symbolize (represent) in three-dimensional space and to engage children in active problem solving as they figure out how, for example, to provide roofs for houses and just the right overall shapes to recreate scenes from their real life experience. Two-year-olds start stacking or lining up wooden blocks to implicitly investigate gravity, balance, and cause and effect. Larger blocks allow preschoolers to build structures like boxes and bridges, providing opportunities

Children will learn about gravity and balance by stacking, lining up, or fashioning blocks into structures.

for pretend play. Working together to create larger, more complex designs, 5- to 7-year-olds engage in social play that elicits cooperation, planning, and problem solving. Telling stories about the meaning of their constructions cultivates language and the creation of narratives. Block play with others allows children to learn about communication and perspective taking—behaviors key to future successful participation in the work force. A decline in playtime in American society—up to eight hours less discretionary playtime in 2008 than in 1998—suggests that children may have less experience with blocks than earlier in our history. Yet, the American Academy of Pediatrics called blocks “true” toys and urged parents to continue to buy them for their children. The geometric nature of blocks invites inquiry about the role of block play in fostering visual-spatial and mathematical reasoning. Unit block sets, with pieces that

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Bocce

are multiples of a basic shape, demonstrate proportionality, which may underpin development of number sense, measurement, and recognizing patterns and relationships. Unit blocks play a central role for many early childhood education centers, and could play a much greater role in families if their value was better appreciated. Research into the educative function of block play blossomed in the early 1970s. Early studies were primarily descriptions of block constructions. Throughout the following decades, research explored the connections between block play and developments in language, spatial sense, and quantitative concepts like counting and addition. Researchers looked for links with curricular touchstones in literacy and science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines. For example, one recent study identified a relationship between the ability to rotate objects in the mind’s eye and performance in geometry. The timeless simplicity of blocks is the key to their broad and enduring appeal. For children, they embody limitless creative possibilities. Educators see in them diverse learning opportunities. The capabilities that block play invite foreshadows many of the learning tasks children will face in school and life. This is what gives blocks their power. See Also: Academic Learning and Play; Cooperative Play; Erector Sets; Froebel, Friedrich; Lincoln Logs; Play and Learning Theory; Pretending; Toys and Child Development; Unstructured Play. Bibliography. Beth Casey et al., “The Development of Spatial Skills Through Interventions Involving Block Building Activities,” Cognition and Instruction (v.26/3, July 2008); Howard P. Chudacoff, Children at Play: An American History (New York University Press, 2007); David Elkind, “Can We Play?”, Greater Good, (v.4/4, Spring 2008); Kenneth R. Ginsburg and the Committee on Communications, and the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds,” American Academy of Pediatrics (v.119/1, January 2007); Karyn Wellhousen and Judith Kieff, A Constructivist Approach to Block Play in Early Childhood (Delmar, Thompson Learning, 2001). Wilkey Wong Roberta Michnick Golinkoff University of Delaware Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek Temple University

Bocce Bocce is a precision sport and a widespread game, whose name is the plural form of boccia, the Italian word that indicates the kind of ball used in the game itself. Its rules and characteristics are similar to those of bowls and Provencal pétanque, although bocce is more popular in Italy and other Mediterranean countries. Archaeological research has found evidence of games similar to modern bocce in ancient Egypt and in Rome. The idea of throwing an object as close as possible to a fixed target has remote origins and has appealed to people from all social backgrounds. According to findings in the Roman city of Pompeii (Italy), the Romans introduced balls in the place of previously used stones and contributed to the diffusion of the game, especially among soldiers. Apparently, Emperor Augustus was a skilled player. During the Middle Ages and early modernity, various games involving ball throwing on different surfaces were popular all around Europe. Thanks to their simplicity, such games were enjoyed by the rich and the poor alike, even though they have often been forbidden, as they were thought to bring disorder into the lives of peasants and soldiers. Bocce was included in Bruegel’s masterful Children’s Games, which is one the most suggestive representations of folk life by the great Flemish painter. Famous personalities such as Galileo, Francis Drake, Luther, and Calvin were said to be passionate players of early versions of the game. Modern Bocce Emerges However, modern bocce made its appearance later. The famous French Encyclopaedia (1751) laid down the basic rules of the game, which in France was known as boules. Two years later a learned Italian, Raffaele Bisteghi, published a codification of rules in Italian, Il Gioco delle Bocchie (The Game of Bocce). Whether played singularly or by teams of two or three people, bocce was a simple and inexpensive game, which did not require major structures or sophisticated equipment. During the 19th century, it spread across continental Europe, especially into France and Italy. In such countries it had strong roots in areas of the countryside characterized by small landholdings. Landowners used to meet in market towns to sell their goods, drink wine, and enjoy some common life, often by playing bocce. With the advent of the industrial revolution, bocce moved from the countryside to urban areas.



It became popular in southern France, around Lyon, and in northwestern Italy, where Italian industrial growth actually started. In France several different games developed out of boules: boule lyonnaise and pétanque became the most popular ones. In Italy, bocce received official recognition with the foundation of the first society, which took place in 1873 in Turin. Among the members of the Cricca bocciofila (the bocce lovers’ gang) there were also exponents of the new urban bourgeoisie, such as the writer Edmondo De Amicis, who believed in the value of this game for the mind, the soul, and the body. Bocce became an occasion of social gathering and exchange of ideas, too. The liberal state and rising entrepreneurs felt threatened by the game, which was often seen as a vehicle of socialist thoughts. In this sense, governments and some entrepreneurs reacted by cooperating in the organization of workers’ spare time—as would become usual in America in the 1920s with the diffusion of Fordist management principles. In the meantime, the earliest groups of bocce lovers in Piedmont (the region around Turin) met in Rivoli in 1897 and laid the ground for the foundation of the first regional federation. At the beginning, bocce was only played outdoors and with wooden balls. At the national level, the first organization, the UBI (Unione Bocciofila Italiana, the Italian

Bocce

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bocce-lovers union), was founded in 1919 and led by a lawyer from Turin, Massimo Cappa. With the advent of fascism (1922), the new regime wanted to take control over recreation, which, because of its popularity among the working class, was suspected to be a vehicle of socialist or antifascist ideas. Since 1929 bocce has, thus, been included in the fascist organization for free time, that is, the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (OND, the National Afterwork Opera). Fascism, however, contributed to the diffusion of the game on the national territory. After World War II, bocce remained a popular game, although several questions and disputes have since occurred. The existence of two versions, the more agonistic volo (played in Piedmont) and the more recreational raffa have often brought about problems of organization and membership. In wider terms, bocce has become always more of a sport, whose players participate in the Olympics, rather than a game. The latter has sometimes been associated with older adults or retired people and a modest youth involvement. In the last decades, however, remarkable changes have occurred. Bocce has enjoyed increasing popularity among women; furthermore, it has spread to countries with high Italian immigration, such as the United States and Australia, and regained popularity in other

The oldest organized bocce league in the United States is thought to be in Philadelphia, and the Bocce League of America was established in 1935. Public bocce courts are found across the United States, particularly on the East Coast.

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Boggle

Mediterranean ones, like Croatia and Slovenia. Finally, bocce is becoming increasingly popular as a source of good health and an incentive to develop self-­discipline and respect for colleagues and competitors; all these qualities had been envisaged as early as in ancient Greece and are still the core grounds that help keep alive this ancient game and sport.

have appeared in various television programs, including Seinfeld, King of the Hill, and Friends and in the lyrics of the Beastie Boys. A brief Boggle television game show hosted by Wink Martindale appeared in 1994.

See Also: Boules; Bowling; Europe, 1600 to 1800; France; Italy.

Bibliography. Boggle Word Game: How to Play, http://www .centralconnector.com/GAMES/boggle.html (cited October 2008); Philip E. Orbanes, The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers, from Tiddledy Winks to Trivial Pursuit (Harvard Business School Press, 2003).

Bibliography. BocceBallRules.net, www.bocceballrules.net (cited October 2008); Daniele Di Chiara, Storia Delle Bocce in Italia e Nel Mondo—Dalle Origini ai Tempi Nostri [History of Bocce in Italy and the World—From its Origins to Current Times] (Poligraf, 2005); Rico C. Daniele, Bocce: A Sport for Everyone (Authorhouse, 2000). Ernesto Gallo University of Turin/University of Birmingham

Boggle Boggle is a word game designed by Allan Turoff in 1972 and is trademarked by Parker Brothers/Hasbro. Boggle is played with 16 letter dice that are shaken in a container and spread into a 4 x 4 square grid. During a three­minute round, players seek to construct words using adjacent letters and record these words privately. After each round players read their lists, and words that appear more than once are eliminated from scoring. The longer the word the more points received, and the player with the highest point total is the winner. The sides of each die have one letter, except for Qu, as a Q would be unusable in most English words without a U following. In the last decades variations of Boggle have been manufactured such as Boggle Deluxe with a 5 x 5 grid, Travel Boggle, and Junior Boggle, with the later two being the only remaining Boggle games remaining in production. Today word games based on the same premise are readily available via the internet for casual play. Boggle, while never obtaining the cultural following of Scrabble, has earned a place in American game culture. Boggle clubs, though few, appear at various colleges in the United States, such as Dartmouth College, Berkeley College, and Grinnell College. References to Boggle

See Also: Crosswords; Hasbro; Play and Learning Theory; Scrabble; Word Games (Other Than Crosswords).

Daniel Farr Randolph College

Bolivia This landlocked South American country is one of the poorest countries in the Americas. It has borders with Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, the latter of which managed to defeat Bolivia in war in 1879 and removed its access to the sea. Unlike most other countries in Latin America, Bolivia has an indigenous majority, most being from the Quechua and the Aymará, with those of European descent making up 15 percent of the population of over 9 million (2007). Many of Bolivia’s indigenous people inherited traditions and customs from the Incas, with playing music, singing, and dancing being very important. Many musical instruments were made from wood or hollowed out llama bones. Some people in Bolivia still play the Inca game in which contestants flip pottery counters, similar to the game of Tiddlywinks. There is also another game called Picha in which players use dice. There are also two Inca board games called Tacanaco and Chuncara, in which dice are used, and as a result of the score achieved, colored beans or seeds are moved around the board. Spinning tops are still popular with many children, as is playing with dolls and making models. The Spanish brought an introduction of Spanish musical instruments, especially the guitar, as well as many of their customs. Because of the geography of the country, although there was horse-riding, it was never on the same

Bosnia and Herzegovina



scale as in neighboring Argentina. For manufactured toys, the Spanish elite were, and indeed still are, the major market for goods made or imported into the country. Until 2006, they also controlled the government, and they still dominate economic life. Wealthy Bolivians are involved in following many of the same pursuits as people in the West—Wargaming, making model airplanes, trains, battlefield dioramas made from model kits, and playing elaborate board games. Chess, Backgammon and card games form an important method of relaxation. Soccer is the main recreational sport in the country, although because of the cheap cost of living, many foreign tourists have visited the country to hike, which has since become popular with the locals. There also existed the Afro-Bolivians, many of whom, up until the 1952 revolution, lived in near-slavelike conditions. They brought with them percussion instruments, heavy rhythm beats, and the chanting that has come to symbolize saya music—now incorporated into many chants at soccer matches and the like. There is also a small Japanese population, mainly from Okinawa, and this has led to the introduction of Japanese games such as Go. Some youth clubs offer billiards and play music with juke boxes. Because of the poverty of the country, there is still little use of computer games. See Also: Chess and Variations of; Peru; South Americans, Traditional Cultures. Bibliography. Bob Cordery, “Chaco,” Miniature Wargames (v.13, June 1984); Robert Pateman, Bolivia (Marshall Cavendish, 1995); Michel Peltier, “Des Loisirs Pour une Civilisation,” Écrits de Paris (v.345, 1975); Mariano Picon Salas, A Cultural History of Spanish America: From Conquest to Independence (University of California Press, 1962). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Bosnia and Herzegovina The now-independent nation of Bosnia-Herzogovina was once part of the Yugoslav Republic. With the disintegration of that country in the early 1990s, Bosnia declared its own independence in 1992. That declaration was followed by a three-year conflict among Bos-

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nia’s ethnic Bosniacs, Croats, and Serbs. Along with every other aspect of life, leisure and play in all its forms were severely disrupted. In the years since the Dayton Accords were signed in 1995 ending the conflict, play in all its forms has made a tentative return and in some cases has helped to rebuild the country. In the years before the conflict, perhaps the most popular form of group play had been soccer. Throughout Bosnia, soccer has always been very popular, whether it was children playing informal pickup games in the streets or amateur or semiprofessional leagues of varying degrees of skill. Nearly every village had a soccer field. Soccer, like every other aspect of life in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995, was affected, however, by the fighting. First, many of the leagues and even teams broke up. Where different ethnic groups had been able to play together in the years of the Yugoslav Republic, the new situation prohibited that kind of play. Further, although this did not happen everywhere, soccer fields were sometimes the places where executions took place, and practice areas around several soccer fields became cemeteries. By 2000, however, there was some movement toward ethnic groups playing together, with Bosniac and Croat league play beginning in that year. Two years later, Serbian leagues began to play as well. As was the case in much of the old Yugoslav Republic, basketball was very popular in Bosnia. As was the case with soccer, play flourished on many levels, but, as was also the case with soccer, playing in integrated groups stopped during the conflict. In 2001, the U.S. State Department sponsored a series of basketball clinics held in different locations—some of which, like Sarajevo and Tuzla, had been battlegrounds—throughout the country. Led by Don Casey, who had coached the New Jersey Nets and Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, the program reached an estimated 500 young players of all Bosnian ethnic backgrounds. In various other areas, rebuilding parks and playgrounds has become part of an extensive effort to bring life back to normal. Other team sports at various levels of play and organization included hockey and volleyball, and these are still popular. In Yugoslavia’s history, there was a great deal of emphasis on group activities, although individual activities flourished as they always had. Many of these pursuits are being revived, and not only by the Bosnian population. The Bosnian government is hoping to use these pastimes as a means of encouraging sport tourism. These include swimming and scuba diving, mountain climbing, hik-

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Boston

ing, skiing, biking on roads as well as mountain biking, fishing, hunting, sailing, and canoeing. A very old form of individual play in the city of Mostar had been for young men to jump off the city’s famous bridge into the water below. That bridge was destroyed in 1993 during the conflict, not to be rebuilt for another 10 years. Once it was rebuilt, it once again became the scene of the very individual game of bridge jumping. See Also: Europe, 1960 to Present; Serbia and Montenegro; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide. Bibliography. Paul Bennett, “Bosnia Rebounds: Playgrounds and Sports Fields Help Heal a War-Torn Country” Landscape Architecture (v.89/4, 1999); Patrick Gasser, “Breaking Post-War Ice: Open Fun Football Schools in Bosnia and Herzegovina” Culture, Sport, Society (v.7/3, 2004); U.S. State Department, “U.S. to Co-Sponsor Basketball Clinics in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2001/2388.htm (cited July 2008); Craig Zelizer, “The Role of Artistic Processes in Peacebuilding in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” Peace and Conflict Studies (v.10/2, 2003). Robert Stacy Independent Scholar

with his hand exposed on the table. This approach to negative and precision bids was passed on to games like Skat, Solo, and Norwegian Whist. Misere and petit misere were—legend has it—named after the islands Little Misery and Big Misery off the coast of Marblehead (near Boston). The use of French is sometimes explained by Benjamin Franklin’s love of the game and introduction of it to the court at Versailles, but these are unlikely explanations. What is true is that Boston rose in popularity quickly, before its niche was usurped by Bridge; variants and alternate names of Boston are attested all over the English-speaking world. Boston can also refer to Eight-Ball, the billiards game most Americans refer to simply as pool. See Also: Billiards; Bridge and Variations; History of Playing Cards; Skat; Whist. Bibliography. G. Abrahams, Brains in Bridge (Horizon Press, 1962); Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger, 1979); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens (Beacon Press, 1971); David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford, 1990); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Boston Boston is a card game using the standard 52-card deck. It’s a trick-taking game, a Whist variant that incorporated elements of Quadrille and developed over the 18th and 19th centuries. The game was supposedly developed in the early days of the American Revolution, when Bostonians wanted a game not as associated with the British as Whist was; this may or may not be true. Some of the key developments in Boston include the mid-18th century adoption of the misere bid, a bid to lose all 13 tricks. This negative or reversed approach is not found in many widespread trick-taking games, outside of Hearts, but as a possible bid it had been introduced in a variant of the game Hombre and soon spread to Quadrille, Boston, and Tarot. In addition to misere, other possible bids included petite misere (making one discard followed by losing 12 tricks), piccolissimo (winning one and only one trick), piccolo (winning two tricks), and misere ouverte, in which the player plays

Boules The term boules is used in a number of different ways around the world. Derived from the French word for ball, the word boule(s) can be used interchangeably to describe a number of different lawn bowling games, as well as to refer to the balls used during game play. Most commonly, the term refers to the popular French game pétanque. A few of the many similar games and game variations include boules, bowls, boule lyonnaise, jeu provençal, boule de fort, boule nantaise, boule des berges, boule des flandres, boule bretonne, boule en bois bocce/boccia (including volo and rafa styles), varpa, flat green, crown green, and indoor bowls. Play is usually outdoors or on indoor courts often found in pubs and/or restaurants. The game of pétanque (pronounced PAY-TONK) is one of the more popular versions of boules. Played

Bowling



enthusiastically around the world by members of diverse ethnic groups, it is especially popular in France, where it was developed in the early 1900s, and in French­speaking communities. Families play it as an informal backyard game, French social club members play it at picnics and other gatherings, and some individuals join pétanque clubs. Local pétanque clubs are affiliated with Federation of Pétanque USA, and others are part of the Fédération Internationale de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal (International Federation of Pétanque), which has branches in 50 countries. Members in the formalized pétanque organizations take part in league play, tournaments, and world championships. The organizations also maintain sport standards that include acceptable gear standards, player behavior, and rules. Pétanque is played with metal balls or boules on any hard-packed dirt surface. Individuals can play the game as singles or in teams of two or three members. Six boules are used per team except during one-onone games, when the two players each use a set of three boules. The player starting the game draws a small circle on the ground and, with both feet in the circle, tosses the small (often wooden) target jack or cochonet to a distance of six to 10 meters. Players then throw, not roll, the boules toward the jack to score points. When necessary, distances are measured carefully to determine which boule is closest. Unlike in other similar games, in pétanque the jack is not fixed. As a result, game play is dynamic, and the outcome of a game can change quickly. Points are gained for every ball that is closest to the central jack. Rounds are played until a team reaches a total of 13 points. Matches routinely consist of a total of three games. Despite a more or less standardized way of playing the game, many folk versions abound, and most players learn the game by word of mouth or by example by playing the game with more experienced players. The boules are usually commercially made, heavy metal balls (usually steel), inscribed with a pattern to tell the teams apart. Players often make their own handmade scoreboards and measuring devices and carry cloths on their belt loops to wipe their hands often. Playing the game takes on social importance at gatherings such as family picnics and Bastille Day events. Players customarily celebrate after the game with picnic food and wine. Workers might gather for games during the lunch hour in city parks. In this tradition, local clubs

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often sponsor free lessons and provide gear for games during weekday lunch hours in public parks. In the United States, the game is enjoying a new popularity among French-ethnics, French-speakers, and nonFrench speakers alike. While groups playing pétanque advocated to park agencies for years to designate dedicated grounds for pétanque playing, this agenda now has a national importance as players formalize the game more and promote the game as a recreational pursuit within public parks. Boules-type games have a long and rich history of play. This is a testament to the fact that in many cases these games evolved from simple stonethrowing contests. These games continue their popularity today in part because of the social nature of their play and because people of all ages and capabilities can take part. Additionally, gear is relatively inexpensive and easily sourced. Like other lawn games such as horseshoes and croquet, boules provides players with ample opportunity for leisurely competition and social interaction. See Also: Bocce; Bowling; Croquet; France. Bibliography. Discover France, “Petanque: The French Game of Boules,” www.discoverfrance.net/France/Sports/DF_boules .shtml (cited October 2008); Pascal Leroy, Jouer aux Boules (De Vecchi, 2006). Jennifer Adler City University of New York LuAnne Kozma Michigan State University Museum

Bowling There are many varieties of bowling, which is played for recreation as well as at the tournament level. The three basic types are lawn bowls, indoor bowls and 10-pin bowling. The archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie uncovered evidence of bowling as early as 5200 b.c.e. in Ancient Egypt, as a ball and pins were found in the tomb of a child from that date. It was played in Ancient Greece and during the Roman Empire, and it was also played by the ancient Polynesians, including those who migrated to New Zealand. In the Middle Ages, bowling, often with stones, was popular in village and town communities, often involv-

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The American Bowling Congress, photographed c.1905, was formed in 1865 in New York City.

ing the throwing of stones in a game possibly closer to shot put. It was a test of strength, as shown by William Wallace in the film Braveheart (1995), set in Scotland. In 1361, King Edward III of England passed an edict that prevented the hurling of stones, as it would take away time that young men should spend practicing archery. The most famous historical incident connected with bowling was with Sir Francis Drake, on July 19, 1588, exclaiming, after he had been brought news of the arrival of the Spanish Armada, that there was plenty of time to finish the game and also defeat the Spaniards. It is thought that Drake was playing on the sand at low tide. The earliest lawn prepared specifically for bowling seems to have been that at Holyrood Palace in Scotland during the reign of King James IV (r.1488–1513). Many of the legal restrictions on bowling introduced by Edward III were not rescinded until 1845, and a committee was established in 1848 to establish a set of rules for bowling in Scotland. This led to the establishment of the Scottish Bowling Association in 1892. By this time there were already groups involved in bowling in England, including the Northumberland and Durham Bowling Association from 1882. The London Parks Bowling Association was established in 1901, and the English Bowling Association was formed on June 8, 1903, with the cricketer W.G. Grace as the first president. It was not long before bowling clubs and associations were established around the world, particularly where there were British communities, with the establishment of the Imperial Bowling Association. However, with many members in countries outside the British Empire, this association was transformed into the International Bowling Board, which held its first meeting on July 11, 1905. By

1915 there were bowling greens in Kobe and Yokohama in Japan, and in Shanghai and Kowloon in China. During the 1970 Commonwealth Games, 18 countries took part in bowling activities—the recreation having been recognized as a sport. The popularity of lawn bowling led to the start of indoor bowling, with many of the same rules. The reason for its establishment was largely because of inclement weather, as shown by the name of the first organization, the Edinburgh Winter Bowling Association, formed in 1905. Bowling on carpet took place soon afterwards at the Crystal Palace, and soon there were indoor bowling arenas in many British cities, the most well-known being that run by the Paddington Bowls Club at Maida Vale. There were also indoor bowling venues built in Switzerland, as well as in Canada, the United States, and Australia. Ten-pin bowling was very much a U.S. recreation, although its origins may date back to Ancient Egypt. Legend has that church cloisters were used in the Dark Ages in Germany, and King Henry VIII of England condemned the game (although he did play skittles). Its modern popularity goes back to the early years of the 19th century, when it was played in New York City, with Washington Irving’s character Rip Van Winkle, in the book of the same name published in 1818, complaining about the noise from “little men” bowling. The game had attracted gambling by 1841, when it was banned in Connecticut. In 1875 there were attempts to establish an international bowling association based in New York, but this only led to the formation of the American Bowling Congress in 1895. During the 20th century, bowling alleys were built in many parts of the world, especially in the more prosperous countries, and these alleys have become a venue for many teenagers and young people to meet. Initially, “pin-boys” were employed setting up the pins, but in 1952, machines were invented to do this automatically, which sped up the game and led to its greater popularity. There are now bowling alleys in many countries of the world, including in Africa, and in the 1980s it began to become popular in East Asia, and bowling alleys were built in North Korea. The governing body for this recreation or sport is the Fédération Internationale des Quilleurs, based in Helsinki, Finland. See Also: Skittles; Team Play; United States, 1930 to 1960.

Boys’ Play

Bibliography. George Allen and Dick Ritger, The Complete Guide to Bowling Principles (Tempe Publishers & Ritger Sports Co., 1986); George T. Burrows, All About Bowls (Mills & Boon Limited, 1915); Ray Nelson, A History of the A.B.C.: American Bowling Congress (n.p., 1984); Herman Weiskopf, The Perfect Game: The World of Bowling (Prentice Hall, 1978). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Boys’ Play Boys’ play has been conceptualized within three main research areas: sex/age differences in gender/maturity­­typing of play; play as a gendered site, and thus as a site for the study and critique of young masculinities; and cultural-commercial articulations of play culture(s) as boyhood culture. What constitutes boys’ play, or “boyish play” or “games boys play,” therefore invites ethical, clinical, commercial, literary, ethological, and historical-anthropological approaches. Sex differences in and gender-typing of play have been studied for various reasons, mainly developmental, pedagogical, clinical, and feminist. Most of this research is limited to Western classrooms, playgrounds, and more experimental settings, and to the later half of the 20th century. A lesser-developed area of research addresses differences in father and mother play styles and related aspects of gender/maturity typing in intergenerational play. Sizable sex differences in spontaneous toy choice are noted at the early age of 12 months. Even with otherwise attractive toys, preschool children like toys less if they are labeled as being intended for the other sex, and they expect other girls and boys to do the same. Toy preference on the basis of gender-typing is frequently found to be more rigid for boys than for girls. For instance, a late 1990s American study revealed a strong pattern of gender-typing in children’s toy requests to Santa. Boys asked for boy-typed or neutral (according to kindergarteners and first graders) toys almost exclusively, with preferences being strong across all ages, as opposed to a curvilinear pattern, peaking at age 5, found for girls. According to research, in the second and fourth grades and in relation to peer girls, boys progressively engaged in more aggressive and rough and tumble play

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as well as more functional, solitary-dramatic, exploratory, and group play and were more likely than girls to prefer adult-absent, peer-oriented situations. In comparison to girls’ group play, boys’ group play at age 10 to 11 years has been found to be more complex in role differentiation, interdependence between players, size of play group, explicitness of group goals, number of rules, and team formation; it also allows more age-heterogeneity. In 1970s research, fifth-grade boys played outdoors more than girls, played more competitive games, “played” less and “gamed” more, and were less likely to engage in cross-gender-typed play. Boys play more with three-dimensional toys such as blocks and other toys that invite manipulations and transformations (object-oriented play), and they build more structures as compared with girls. Preschoolaged boys engage in fantasy play both less frequently and at less sophisticated levels, and among boys such play tends to be more fantastic and physically vigorous, often including play-fighting and superhero themes. Whereas girls may be more likely to create imaginary companions, boys may be more likely than girls to actively impersonate characters. Physical and Sex Differences Boys are known to be engaged more in exercise play, play fighting and play chasing, and rough-and-tumble play. At least in experimental, single-sex settings, boys are observed to engage in slightly more physical play solicitations than girls; not much is known about cross-sex play fighting. Research suggests that such often unstructured, nonobject play allows expression of care and intimacy, development of social signalling and leadership skills, rehearsal of combative and cooperative strategies, dealing with hierarchical roles and competition, establishing/displaying social dominance in a safe way, and optimal musculoskeletal development. In early adolescence, play fighting may be subjectively associated more with the establishment of dominance than with playful interaction, and in this age group indeed seems related to displays of dominance and of aggression. This primacy of competition has been observed across play contexts, for instance, in the internal power structures that characterize “clans” of young adolescent male online gamers. Primary anatomical sex differences are unlikely to be of much concern in early play except for cases of micturation contests and sex play, where genitalia may be explicitly thematized. In Western taxonomies, sex play is more

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maturity-typed than gender-typed, tends to be homosocial at least until pubescence, may be group-based (“circle jerk”), and, in rural settings, may involve animals. The dividing line between sex play and experimentation, as between genital play/exploration and masturbation, is difficult to draw even where male virginity is culturally marked, and thus depends for its recognition on such arbitrary elements as successful penetration or consummated coitus. The clinical significance for boys seems minimal in cases of age parity. Sexologist John Money, however, provocatively aligned early “sexual rehearsal play” with the necessity for prehuman male juveniles to practice correct mounting posture. In some cultures, sexual indulgence and sporting excellence may be judged incompatible even for boys, for instance according to Western medical consensus about onanism even up to the 1930s. The discrete analytic categories to which sex differences are usually restricted (object play, fantasy play, social play, sex play) may not say much about the usually synthetic play outside experimental settings. Moreover, gender-typing is frequently reported to vary significantly with specific conditions of the play situation and copresence of supervisory figures. Some studies find no sex differences, and others find the reverse of expected

Historically, boys have engaged more in exercise play, play fighting and chasing, and rough-and-tumble play.

patterns. Even the strongly boy-typed superhero play, research suggests, is found to be attractive to girls, who may explore agency and autonomy through such play and actively position themselves as women within narratives of heroism. Interestingly, functionalist reflection on boys’ perusal of the superhero has usually been less positively formulated, for instance, as a conduit to express and “work through” feelings of hostility and aggression, to sublimate “primitive impulses,” and compensate for object loss and/or maternal rejection that would otherwise manifest itself in displaced aggression toward the external world. Furthermore, differences in which girls and boys evaluate performance goals, relationship goals, and avoidance goals are not consistently found even within the Western world. Studies on the relation between gender-related evaluative judgments and age also seem inconsistent. Systematic studies in which play- or toy-mediated gender violations related to appearance, activity, morality, and perceived physical laws are distinguished and compared are few. Contemporary research examining 3- to 11-year-olds’ knowledge of and beliefs about violating several gender norms suggests that most toy- and playrelated violations appeared not especially devalued in either sex, and that evaluations of gender norm violation vary greatly across particular items. In other words, the extent to which, and how, boys’ play can be studied in terms of gender norms requires ongoing reflection. Psychological Studies Clinical relevance of boy-typed play for boys and girls has nonetheless been debated extensively. American clinical psychology during the 1960s to 1970s expressed sincere interest in “gender deviance,” “sissies” and “gender-disturbed” or “effeminate” behavior. Retrospective studies find that self-identifying homosexual and bisexual adults report more boyhood dress-up doll play, cross-gender role-playing, cross-dressing, seeking girls as preferred or exclusive playmates, and active avoidance of rough-and-tumble play. Self-identifying lesbians report taking male-identified roles in play or fantasy and rejecting girl-typed items of dress and play. Transsexuals often report patterns of cross-stereotyped play preferences in childhood. However, what should constitute “cross-gender typed” play depends largely on the invocation of traditional stereotypes and binaries, or on the insistence on norms and the assumption of their historical continuity,



monolithic nature, and functional necessity. It also tends to be analytically tied to the gender-typing of play forms and themes rather than play styles and roles within play scenarios. Another question here is that of gender as an identifier of identity. For instance, according to a 1970s study, 63 percent of a junior high sample and 51 percent of adult women reported having been “tomboys” in childhood. Of the adults, 65 percent preferred active, outdoors (“tomboyish”) games to quiet, indoors games. Functional interpretations suggest boy-typed play equips boys with the social skills needed for masculinetyped occupational careers, while comparative interpretations suggest play has been subjected to selection pressures over the course of mammalian evolution as well as more proximal ecological constraints. This would link early sex differences in play, observed across species and cultures, to a primordial division of postjuvenile labor: hunting, conflict resolution, and territorial assertion versus gathering and mothering. In clinical and experimental settings, sex differences have often been related to sex hormones, neuro-anatomical sex differences, or sex-differentiated positive and negative reinforcement based on selective stimulation, reward, accomplishment, and punishment. It is generally accepted that play styles and preferences answer to a complex reverberation of said factors, only some of which are likely to be phenomenologically salient. It is, however, a recognized problem in this literature how to distinguish aggressive from assertive, agonistic, and energetic elements in play, and in turn, to distinguish such elements from behavioral categories not considered play and not consistently known for sex differences in incidence (“fighting”). Studies suggest that post–second wave feminism women are more likely than men to interpret boys’ agonistic interactions as aggression if they have to choose between aggression and play. In sum, categorization issues may confound theorizing of play as typical of boys, of boys’ behavior as play, and of typical boys’ play as typically male, as functional, as necessary, as beneficial, and as open or entitled to pedagogical recognition or intervention. Play and Young Masculinities Since the 1980s, a forum of gender theorists has characterized boys’ play as instrumental in the tentative effectuation, negotiation, and contestation of cultural stereotypes and politics of not male tasks or roles but masculinities—male identities. Rather than typing play

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as boyish or boys’ play as gendered, here boyish play is conversely taken to inform gender typologies. Sport, especially, has been recognized as a critical canvas for masculinity’s hierarchizing, identitarian, and existential properties. Sports are considered the quintessential testing or cultivation ground of civilized modern masculinity, functions that have rendered Western masculinity a critically pedagogical, developmental, and performative notion. The infrastructure of amateur and institutional sport is also frequently likened to a stage for masculinity as a collective project, providing uniform contexts for bonding, fraternalism, mateship, claims to privilege, and the articulation of gender difference. Games, then, may often be culturally elaborated as masculine both, and paradoxically, in terms of a continuity of their salience across male age strata (from boys to old boys and from sons to fathers) and in terms of an alleged biographic discontinuity implied by discourses of games’ “manmaking” properties. According to one study, German grade school boys were more likely than girls to list sports celebrities as “role models” (placing them on the same level as that of cinema figures and of actors), however, only 50 percent of children stated that they had such models, with no significant sex differences. Boys’ play is often conceptualized as preparatory and anticipatory, and thus, as a psychological necessity with regard to “gender development,” or maturation more generally. Anthropological reports suggest that peripubescent transgressive play by boy troupes may not only be functionally (e.g., “backyard rampages” observed in Portugal) but also emically deployed as expressing initiatory efficacy (e.g., kunyenga, sexual acts among South African street boys). However, to conclude that boys’ play, in the absence of overarching ritual paradigms, naturally takes on ritualistic, preparatory, or initiatory meanings, and thus that such play amounts to an anthropological imperative, seems to be stretching theory too far. Given the importance of matters, what is thought to introduce boys to adulthood or manhood, or to corresponding indigenous forms of status, is rarely identified by indigenous notions equivalent to play or games. Examples that lend themselves to anthropological debate on this issue include Correr el gallo or cock race (Spain), el encierro or bull-running (Pamplona, Spain), Evala or the traditional fight festival in the Kabye region of Togo for male youths, and scepter

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throwing as part of the Junii Brasovului, or The Feast of the Youth in Brasov, Romania. A Historical View In ancient contexts, traditional training schemes that led up to manhood in terms of civil entitlement and military office included competitive “sports,” of which the Athenian ephebeia and its domain of the gymnasion may be the best documented. As the Spartan annual festival of gymnopaedia, this institute has elements both of formalized training regimes and of heroic, aestheticized athleticism. Comparably, rock lifting is assumed to have been partial to boys’ admission ceremonies into farmer communities of Korea, and also of premodern Sweden, where it is still part of Strongest Man competitions. Fighting or sparring customs for boys commonly appeal equally to native categories of play, contest, dramatization, and ritual and may be better characterized by the Geertzian interpretation of “deep play.” Examples here include ói’ó (a Xavante club fight custom) and cross-sex stick-fighting partial to the Zulu Thomba (male puberty) ceremony. Initiatory customs generally characterize masculine-typed cultural dramas that transcend the modern, pedagogical idea of sport (e.g., blooding in British hunting and the alternativa in Spanish bullfighting). Current ethnographic research on playgrounds suggests that gender is “done” via a variety of conduits: language, apparel, playmate choice, role play, and inclusions and exclusions from teams, play areas (“borderwork”), or activities. This element of performativity applies to participation but also extends to spectatorship and fandom, especially as instrumentalized by television and internet. Games, sport, and physical activity are identified as informing the diverse “identity slots” of masculinity/boyishness attested especially in school environments, and to the culturally exalted archetype of the male coach. In high school, gendered hierarchies are heavily informed not so much by who plays a sport but about what sport is being played. In the Anglophone world, the symbolism of the Jock has elaborate status, such that playing esteemed and varsity sports provides “Jock insurance” compensating for more femininetyped activities. Verbal play includes examples of traditional, strongly gender-coded games of verbal duelling observed among ethnic minorities (e.g., the dozens) and in non-Western settings. In Turkey, boys aged 8 to 14 years were reported to exchange insults, the foremost goal of which appears

to be to force the opponent into a passive, feminine role. According to folklorists, this behavior can be seen as a quasi-rite of passage of a culturally specific, paradoxical relation to authority (bravery and courage versus submission to the older male) as well as an expression of male solidarity among the age group. Western history shows scores of examples in which boys’ play became elaborated with regard to programmatic, religious, or nationalist causes. Sports were conceived as socializing interventions to shape boys into colonizers, muscular Christians, national socialists, and more generally, gentlemen. Public schools, the YMCA and the Boy Scouts were frameworks that heavily depended on sports, games, and play activities. Historians relate the transformation of British men from being loutish fistfighters in the early 19th century to more fair-minded, chivalrous gentlemen obsessed with games and sports in the late 19th century to a new morality that came to the public school system around 1850. Key figures like Thomas Hughes and Charles Kingsley stressed the moral and physical beauty of athleticism epitomized by rugby, rowing, and cricket. The notion of the gentlemen, then, is historically bound up with boyhood socialization through forms of competitive play that thus emerged as specifically British. The “masculine games ethos” is shown to have had lasting repercussions across the colonial landscape from tribal New Guinea and India to South Africa and the Caribbean. Games and modern sports, gender, and nationalism often became interwoven facets of the politics of identity. Historical studies, for instance, attest to the highly gendered nature of the games of hurling and Gaelic football (U.S. soccer) and the relationship of these games to conceptions of nationalism, the body, and anticolonialism. Through the discourses surrounding these games, and other facets of the Irish renaissance, a nationalist conception of Irish masculinity emerged that distinguished Irish men from English men, Irish boys, and Irish women. The linguistic equation between “boys” (of the nation) and “men” is interestingly found both in war and in team sport. For instance, the members of the male Italian team at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games were affectionately called “Mussolini’s boys” in the press, reflecting both the times’ growing militarism and the contemporary Fascist idea of the “new man.” Spectator team sports are still recognized as pristine arenas for, or major signifiers of, masculine performance. In contemporary Britain, playground football has been



conceptualized as a series of ritualized performances, associated with the active exclusion and belittling of girls and nonparticipating boys, with heterosexuality as a social imperative, and with a key role for the body as spectacle of skill and strength. The sporting context would also, however, provide adolescent boys with an acceptable and nonthreatening medium for discussing and comparing their bodies with other males. In canonical writings, “play” has figured as an important characterization of the way children engage in the wider hierarchical ordering of masculine/feminine styles (“masculinities,” “femininities”). There is reason, however, to be critical of strict phenomenological distinctions between “gender play” (childhood), “trying on gender” (adolescence), and “doing gender” (adulthood); the same caveat applies to “sex play,” “sexual experimentation,” and “sexual activity.” The analytic application of the ludic in this sense seems ethnocentric and developmentalist; boyishness and boyhood may not be reduced to gender codes or species of “masculinity.” To see boys’ play and play culture as prefiguring, or as symptomatic of, a masculine habitus and patriarchal order, then, remains importantly contingent on analytic preconceptions. Play Cultures as Boyhood Culture The theme of boys playing in a garden was an established subject in the paintings of China’s Song dynasty (960–1279). It continued to be a favored theme among artists and craftsmen of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. Variously known as yingxitu, “pictures of boys at play,” and baizitu, “pictures of a hundred boys,” these themed illustrations appear frequently in the decoration of Ming and Qing porcelain and other minor arts. A transhistorical view suggests that the iconicity of boys’ play changed markedly as it reflected major cultural preoccupations, from a basic preoccupation with male progeny and later concerns over social rank to a more contemporary generalized interest in good fortune. In the 21st century West, by comparison, play culture as a representational domain has become a major site for political rough-and-tumble over problems associated with masculinity as “hegemonic” but also informs debates more directed at what should constitute boyhood culture. It has been the feminist contention that early intervention into perceived sex-stereotyping would aid in the reconstruction of a more gender-sensible society. Specific contemporary debates revolve around the progressive hypermuscularity of action figures of late

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20th century (would relate to later body dysmorphic disorder and testosterone use), promotion of mixedsex teams in sports (would enhance sex equity), sale of toy guns (would subvert gun control efforts), and war toys/games generally (would undo pacifist goals in pedagogy). Other issues include the banning of playground games like tag (would reduce sexual harassment), sexist/sexual/violent/racist content in digital games known to have a largely young male audience, and explicit celebrations of traditionally gendered childhood pastimes, such as the 2007 bestselling Dangerous Book for Boys. Furthermore, the contemporary American rubric of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder has been interpreted as medicalizing a play style normal to boys if not to childhood generally. Play wrestling is another example where the “sex roles” tradition of inquiry is in need of a more cultural focus. The late 1990s craze of “backyard wrestling” among adolescent boys and young adults seems to be an emulation of the mass televised mock genre of professional wrestling more than an extension of the less structured play-fights typical of middle and late childhood. The backyard phenomenon is mostly associated with American fandom, home videotaping and online hosting of video files. Even in American childhood, play fighting has long been influenced by Asian martial arts (1970s) as well as popular wrestling genres (1990s). The gendered nature of play culture has been documented widely by historians. Toy soldiers in turn-ofthe-century Britain, for instance, reflected a particular view of the nature of war by stressing the ethos of the competitive game, with its overtones of manliness, rules, and discipline. Yet research also suggests boyhood culture deserves intersectional approaches that go beyond a strictly ethical focus on masculinities. For instance, especially after the 1920s and early 1930s, the United States has seen an emphasis on highly-­organized sports for preadolescent boys, sport teams, leagues, and championships. This development was based on the rise of sport itself in all parts of the country, and more specifically the inclusion of sport in the school curriculum, as well as the rise of boys’ work organizations as a new branch of social welfare. To Americans, competitive sport promoted physical fitness, democratic living, general education, citizenship, and sportsmanship, which qualified it as among the best preventive measures for juvenile delinquency and the most important ingredient for the overall character

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development of children. The historical corollary was not just increased participation but also an intergenerational male culture based on fandom, spectatorship, multi-mediation, collector frenzy (player cards, autographs), and dress codes. An early 1970s study reported that American secondgrade boys classified their own play activities as falling into three categories: “games,” “goofing around,” and “tricks.” Recent technological formations may revolutionize the way in which boyhood, play, and gender will be cross-categorized and cross-theorized. Illustratively, contemporary research on videogaming suggests that the traditional dialectic of “boyhood/girlhood” and of “boyhood/manhood” may increasingly refer to juxtaposed subjectivities coproduced by and in turn validating the digital imaginary, a reciprocity between gamer- and avatar-based representations, without a determining role for age or sex. See Also: Action Figures; �������������������������������� Girls’ Play; Inter-Gender Play; Play Fighting. Bibliography. Jack W. Berryman, “From the Cradle to the Playing Field: America’s Emphasis on Highly Organized Sports for Preadolescent Boys,” Journal of Sport History (v.2/2, 1975); Gary Allen Fine, With the Boys. Little League Baseball and Preadolescent Culture (University of Chicago Press, 1990); Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys (Collins, 2007); Brian Nankervis, Roy Slaven, and H.G. Nelson, Boys and Balls (Allen & Unwin, 1994); Anthony J. Papalas, “Boy Athletes in Ancient Greece,” Stadion (v.17, 1991); Barrie Thorne, Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School (Rutgers University Press, 1993); Wendy Varney, “Of Men and Machines: Images of Masculinity in Boys’ Toys,” Feminist Studies (v.28/1, 2002). Diederik Floris Janssen Independent Scholar

Brag Brag, a card game that dates to the latter part of the 18th century and is similar to Poker, originated in Britain. The game spread to the United States in the 19th century and was extremely popular. The first known reference to it was in 1835, in a book titled The South-West,

authored by “a Yankee.” (At the time south-west was the term used to designate Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas.) The author describes a place where gambling was conducted: “the tables were surrounded with players, at two of which they were dealing ‘faro;’ at the third playing ‘brag.’” Brag is almost identical to an Indian card game, Teen Pathi (also known as “three card”). Brag is played with a standard 52-card deck. The dealer deals out three cards (face down) to each player after the players have anted up. After the cards have been dealt, players, in sequence, have the option of increasing the bet or dropping out (“folding”). If the player does not match the bet, they fold. The betting continues until there are only two players. These players show their hands, and the winner (whose winning hand is sometimes referred to as a “bragger”) takes the entire pot. If there is a tie, the player who “saw” the last bet loses. A winning hand is determined in the following way: the best hand is three of a kind (known as a “prial”), with three three-cards holding the first rank, which beats a straight or “running” flush (the best of these being ace, 2, 3), a “straight,” a flush, a pair, or the high card. The rankings on each of these are similar to those in poker. While playing with three cards and anteing up once is the basic and most popular version, there are variations with four, five, seven, nine, and 13 cards per hand. In the four-card variant, players would use the best three of the four cards they were dealt, and in the five-card version, players would discard their two worst cards. Other variations include being able to ante more than once or having multiple sets that may be played. There was also a variant known as “bastard brag,” played with three cards per hand with the variation of having a set of three cards face up as the communal set, and each player must, before showing their cards, remove one from their hand and replace it with one of the three communal cards. As with many card games, wild cards are sometimes called as part of the play. Brag was not only very popular among the American civilian population in the first half of the 19th century but was one of the most common ways that soldiers on the frontier spent their time. Some of the officers who played Brag became generals in the Civil War. Ulysses Grant was a frequent, although generally unsuccessful, player. In one extended game he lost $5 (then a substantial amount of money) to James Longstreet, who later became a Confederate general. Not long before the Civil War, Grant met up with Longstreet and paid

Brazil



him the money he had lost a few years before. The next time Grant and Longstreet would meet would be during the surrender of the Confederate Army at Appomattox. After the surrender, the victorious Grant approached Longstreet and asked him if he would care to play a hand of Brag to recall the old days on the frontier army. See Also: Faro; Poker and Variations of; United States, 1783 to 1860. Bibliography. Brag Rules, www.pagat.com/vying/brag.html (cited September 2008); John T. Krumpelmann, “Ingraham’s ‘South-West’ as a Source of Americanisms,” American Speech, (v.18/2, April 1943); P.J. Moran, “Grant and Longstreet,” New York Times (June 12, 1890); Pagat.com, “Brag,” www.pagat .com/vying/brag.html (cited October 2008). Robert Stacy Independent Scholar

Brazil The largest country in South America, Brazil was a Portuguese colony until the Napoleonic Wars, when the King of Portugal had to flee to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s largest city, and at that time its capital. His son declared Brazil independent in 1822, and the Empire of Brazil lasted until 1889, when a republic was proclaimed. Many indigenous people survived in Brazil, and the original migrants to the country were Portuguese. Great prosperity under Emperor Pedro II resulted in over 100,000 Europeans a year migrating to Brazil in the late 1880s. There had long been a large African slave population, with slavery only abolished in 1888. Brazil was the last major country to abolish slavery. Historically, there have been large differences between the types of activities followed by the members of various communities. Indigenous people played traditional games and made heavy use of the pife, a flute fashioned from bamboo, and the maraca, a hollow wooden handle with dry seeds inside, serving as a rattle. Portuguese settlers brought with them some of their European pursuits, and wealthy Brazilians have taken to horse riding, being involved in rodeos, and enjoying Western-style theater, music, puppet shows, and the like.

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The African community in Recife and Salvador, especially males whose ancestors came from modern-day Angola, often play capoeira, a form of judo and wrestling by which two players show their strength. The original concept came from slaves being punished for fighting who had to develop a method of testing their strength and prowess in a manner that would not attract the attention of their owners. All communities in Brazil pursue recreational sports, with futebol (soccer) being the most popular game in the country, with boys and young men playing soccer in school playing fields, courtyards, and barren patches of land in every city and town in the country. With Brazil’s teams doing well in international soccer events, many poor children hope to emulate Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pêlé) and rise from humble origins to become a world superstar. With about 90 percent of Brazilians living along the coast, swimming, surfing, yachting, and fishing remain extremely popular. Along beaches, there are always soccer games and people playing volleyball, riding bicycles, or being involved in windsurfing. Other sports that attract many Brazilians include boxing, tennis, basketball and also auto racing. Brazil has produced a number of important race car drivers. Dancing and music, especially playing in the bateria percussion bands, can be seen in frequent festivals, especially during Carnival, where the samba music attracts a large audience. Children as well as adults are involved in dressing up for the Festa do Divino held on Pentecost Sunday, especially in the towns of Alcântra and Paraty, where children don costumes fashioned after 16th century clothes. Board games in Brazil were popular in the 1960s and 1970s, with a Brazilian version of Monopoly called Banco Imobiliário (Real Estate Bank), with some street names from Rio de Janeiro and others from Sao Paulo. The game also varies from the original as it does not have the utility companies but instead has six railway stations. Wargaming has also been strong with boys and young men from Brazil’s middle class. Most of it was based on traditional themes such as the classical world and Napoleonic Europe, but the situation changed with the manufacture of miniature figurines for the War of the Triple Alliance, in which Brazilian armies, along with those from Argentina and Uruguay, invaded Paraguay in the late 1860s. There has also been recent interest in Brazil’s military involvement in World War II, with

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some Brazilian companies now making Brazilian army figurines for reenactments of battles in the Italian Campaign of 1943–45. Dungeons & Dragons was popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but the hand-drawn version has long been overtaken by the computer version. See Also: Argentina; Chile; Dungeons & Dragons; Portugal; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; South Americans, Traditional Cultures; Venezuela. Bibliography. Janet Lever, Soccer Madness (University of Chicago Press, 1983); Robert Levine, “Sport and Society: The Case of Brazilian Futebol,” Luso-Brazilian Review (v.17/2, 1980); Christopher Richard, Brazil (Marshall Cavendish, 1991); Rhoda Sherwood, Brazil (Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1988). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Bridge and Variations of Bridge is a trick-taking card game played by four players with a standard 52-card deck. Though there are both current and historical variations, when we say simply Bridge, we are referring to Contract Bridge, which in the 1920s replaced Auction Bridge as the default form of the game. Because the game is played by two pairs, with each partner seated opposite the other, traditionally the players are referred to as North and South, East and West, in reference to their seating positions and complements. History Modern Bridge is a refinement of trick-taking games that developed in the 16th century after the introduction of the Italian tarot deck (and its concept of “trump” cards). Other games in this broad family include Euchre, Hearts, Pinochle, Rook, and Spades, as well as Whist, Bridge’s direct antecedent. All trick-taking games revolve around a finite play-unit called the trick: each player in turn puts a card from his hand into play, and when every player has done so, the trick is completed and removed from play, and a winner determined according to the rules. The first player in the turn is said to have made the lead; the lead in the first

Aces are high in Bridge, followed by kings, queens, jacks, and numerically down to twos, the lowest card in each suit.

trick of the game is the opening lead. Both leading and being last have advantages: The lead sets the suit for the trick, while the last player is the only one who knows exactly what the outcome of his play will be. Key to trick-taking games are the trump cards, derived from the word triumph. In the early games using the Tarot deck introduced in Italy, the Major Arcana—those cards that were not part of any suit— were essentially a permanent trump suit, outranking all other cards. In games using the traditional 52-card deck, particular cards will be designated as trumps, meaning they have been elevated above their usual rank. Usually this is done by designating an entire trump suit, such that diamonds beat clubs, hearts, and spades (for instance). In some games, the trump suit is determined by the rules and is always the same; in other games it is determined in the course of play and may be changed during play. There are four broad subfamilies of trick-taking games. Evasion games—what David Parlett calls reversed or trick-avoidance games—are those in which players seek to avoid taking the trick. In final-trick games, the goal is to take the last trick of the game, while the tricks preceding it are of diminished consequence. The oldest form of trick-taking is the race game, which persists in Euchre, Whist, and some variations of Spades. The goal in a race game is simply to take a certain number of tricks before anyone else. The race game that was the forerunner of Whist— and is thus Bridge’s grandfather—is Ruff and Honors, an 18th century Anglophone adaptation of the French



game Triumph. In Ruff and Honors, the player with the trump-suit ace could “ruff ” the stock (the four cards left after dealing 12 cards to each of four players), which meant to take all four cards while discarding four of those in his hand. The Honors of the name refers to the extra points gained for playing face cards of the trump suit, a practice retained when Whist developed from the game. Whist was the first trick-taking game to become both popular and rigidly defined, codified in Edmund Hoyle’s books of game-playing rules; previously, most card games had varied greatly by region and context (gambling, social game, children’s game). Although variants of Whist were just as popular, the existence of those rigidly defined rules helped its reputation as a game that called on skill more than it kowtowed to chance—a game that, like Chess, could be studied, practiced, and pondered. This is the context in which Bridge budded from Whist’s stem. The first form of Bridge was called Biritch or Russian Whist, and when played or referred to today is usually called Straight Bridge or Bridge Whist. Biritch retained the card values from Whist, as well as a number of its rules, with some significant changes: the trump suit in Biritch was chosen by the dealer, whose partner’s hand became the dummy hand (exposed face-up on the table), and a call of no-trumps or biritch was introduced. The earliest written mention of Biritch comes in 1886, a time when card games were undergoing a sea change, especially in the United States, where Poker threatened the popularity of older games, and Boston’s status as the nation’s game was about to be supplanted by Bridge. With the introduction of Auction Bridge in 1904, the fourth family of trick-taking games was born, the contract family. In contract trick-taking games, players make bids—guesses—about the tricks they will take, either their number or their point value. The bid chosen for the contract becomes the one players have to meet, or prevent other players from meeting. This is the basic form not only of Bridge, but of Spades and Pinochle. In Auction Bridge, the highest bid becomes the contract. Auction Bridge provided the basic rules for bidding and play, and from that basis Contract Bridge was developed by players such as Harold Vanderbilt, the great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt. A Harvard lawyer who ran some of his family’s railway companies, Vanderbilt was an avid Bridge player who wrote extensively about the game, continuing the Whistfamily’s tradition of thinking about games, strategiz-

Bridge and Variations of

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ing with them, and modifying them. The major change was that only the contracted tricks were counted below the line toward a grand or slam bonus; other scores were tweaked to balance the game. Contract Bridge was popularized so quickly that unadorned “Bridge” soon became synonymous with it. Bridge tournaments became popular around the time Contract Bridge was being refined, and in 1937 smaller officiating organizations unified to become the American Contract Bridge League, which remains the principal officiating authority for tournaments in North America. The World Bridge Federation was founded 20 years later, governing bridge internationally. Bidding Bridge is played with partners, and communication between them is strictly restricted: there are no closed communications (any information passed between them is shared with opponents, by the nature of its disclosure), and so communication is done only through calls made and cards played. At the same time, the bidding system is such that each team must attempt to bid a contract they can actually make, without either partner knowing which cards the other partner has. This is one reason Bridge is a game that invites such contemplation and rewards attention and experience. Bridge requires a minimum bid of seven tricks, so a long-held practice is to subtract six from your bid. A bid of four spades, then, proposes a contract of winning 10 tricks, with the suit of spades as the trump. Bidding systems have developed as a way for partners to communicate back and forth about their hands in order to propose a contract. In natural bidding systems, most of the bids made relate directly to the hand. In artificial bidding systems, bids are essentially used as code for other information, like the one-club bid in the short-club bidding system, which is used to indicate that the bidder has a strong hand (and not that the bidder necessarily wants to bid clubs). Although it sounds like we are talking about secret ciphers here, conventions—the artificial calls in a bidding system— must be known to all players, and any opposing player can ask the bidder to explain the meaning of his bid. One of the best-known artificial calls is the Blackwood convention, which is used to talk about the number of aces in one’s hand. One partner bids 4NT (four no trump) in order to ask the other partner how many aces he has. The other part-

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ner, recognizing the signal, responds with a bid of five, with the suit determined by how many aces he has: clubs for no or all aces, diamonds for one ace, hearts for two aces, spades for three aces. Such conventions date back to Vanderbilt’s time, and the original strong club system was named for him. Bidding systems and their conventions complicate strategy as much as they assist, because even asking a particular question—phrased in the manner of the convention—reveals something about your hand, just as asking for threes in a game of Go Fish reveals that you have threes. Scoring If a contract is made, points are given for making the contract, for tricks above the contract’s requirements, and for various bonuses if applicable. If it is not made, points are awarded to the other team for every “undertrick,” that is, for every trick less than the contracted bid made by the team attempting to make the contract. The amount of contract points are determined by the number of tricks in the bid, multiplied by 20 if the trump suit was minor (diamonds or clubs) and 30 if the trump suit was major (hearts or spades) or if a bid of no-trump was made (the first trick in no-trump is worth an additional 10 points). The four level bonuses available are partscore (for a contract worth less than 100 contract points), game (for a contract worth 100 points or more), small slam (a bid of six tricks), and grand slam (a bid of seven tricks). A scoresheet in the variant game Rubber Bridge is divided into two columns, one for each team of partners, as well as being horizontally divided by “the line.” Points scored for meeting a contract are recorded below the line. Points scored by other means are recorded above the line. Rubber Bridge also revives the practice of honors from earlier games in the family tree, awarding bonuses for particular cards. Duplicate Bridge In Duplicate Bridge, played in clubs and tournaments, the same arrangement of cards is used by multiple groups of competing teams, in order to reduce the effect of chance on relative performance. For instance, Bridge boards will be used to hold hands in place so that they can be passed to other players, and North/South players will stay at the tables while East/West players move from one table to another, with the boards passing in

the opposite direction, so that every team plays every hand and every East/West team plays every North/South team. Bidding boxes are often used in order to allow for silent bidding, to cut down on noise. Contract Bridge Maxims A number of sayings have developed common beliefs and advice among Bridge players: Prefer length to strength. A weak long suit is better than a strong short suit. Prefer majors to minors. If in doubt, lead a spade. Play into weakness. Play through strength. Second hand plays high. Third hand plays low. Singaporean Bridge A variant of Bridge invented and popular in Singapore—so popular there that many Singaporean players are unaware that it is a variant, but so obscure in the rest of the world that few online game servers offer it as an option—is simply called Singaporean Bridge. Partners are not determined until the end of bidding, which eliminates any need or usefulness for the traditional bidding systems and conventions. The winner of the bid “chooses” his partner by declaring that his partner will be the holder of some specific card the winner does not have—the ace of clubs, for instance— and although the partner can reveal his identity, it usually is not discovered until the course of play, when the partner plays the card in question. See Also: Boston; Casino; Casual Games; Euchre; Hearts; History of Playing Cards; Luck and Skill in Play; Organized or Sanctioned Play; Pinochle; Preference; Whist. Bibliography. G. Abrahams, Brains in Bridge (Horizion Press, 1964); Elliott Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith, The Study of Games (Krieger Publishing, 1979); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); James Carse, Finite and Infinite Games (Ballantine Books, 1987); David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, 1990); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Bullying



Bulgaria Located in southeast Europe, bordering Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, and Turkey, people in the Republic of Bulgaria have been influenced by all of their neighbors, and also by Russia. Great sporting events took place in medieval times, with competitors from some other countries participating. In 1980, in a bid to win the 1992 Olympics, these events were detailed by Bozhidar Peichev in a booklet highlighting these games. Jousts and other tournaments were also held, testing battle skills. Under the rule of the Ottomans, a number of Turkish games were introduced, such as Tavla, a version of Backgammon. Chess also became popular, as did card games. Bulgaria gained its independence in 1878, and a move to Westernize the country followed. Games from Western Europe were introduced, including bowling and skittles. The poverty of much of the population meant that most children had to play far simpler games such as Hideand-Seek, skipping and Marbles. The increase in education during the 1930s led to more children participating in recreational sports, such as soccer, basketball, and netball. There was also interest in cycling and hiking, with some foreign tourists visiting the country. The British-born Elizabeth Mincoff, who married a Bulgarian diplomat while living in Sofia from the 1900s until the mid-1940s, wrote about Bulgarian lace, folksongs, and other elements of local lore. After World War II, the Communists took over Bulgaria, and it was largely cut off from Western Europe. Much money was spent on sporting facilities, and many playgrounds, adventure playgrounds, and the like were built around the country, including ice skating rinks. Children were heavily involved in the Young Pioneers movement, taking part in annual camps and hikes. Some foreign visitors to Bulgaria were involved in speleological activities such as caving and potholing (exploring vertical caves), and a local interest in this began. Chess became a very popular pastime, with the establishment of the Federation Bulgare des Echecs. After the end of Communism in 1990, there was a revival of many pre–World War II folk customs following the return of many exiles. There was also an increase in tourism to the country, and there are now amusement arcades and bowling alleys in Sofia, the capital, and other cities. Wargaming has changed to reflect the different political climates promoted by governments.

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During the late 1920s and 1930s wealthier Bulgarians tended to use games and scenes from the Balkan Wars of the late 19th and early 20th century, and the birth of modern Bulgarian nationalism. In the period of Communist rule, Wargaming focused on the medieval period, with interest in Byzantium and medieval Bulgaria; and from the 1990s on, the Wargames groups have covered all periods, including the politically sensitive ones such as World War I and World War II. However, the popularity of Wargaming among teenage boys has largely given way to playing computer simulation games. See Also: Basketball (Amateur); Bowling; Chess and Variations of; Hide & Seek; Netball; Skittles; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; Wargames. Bibliography. Bozhidar Peichev, The Olympic Games in 14th Century Bulgarian Literature (Sofia Press, 1980); R. Petrov, “Wrestling in Bulgaria,” Olympic Review (v.199, May 1984); Zahari Staikov, “Sociology of Sport in Bulgaria,” International Review for the Sociology of Sport (v.1, 1966); Zahari Staikov, “Labour, Leisure and Physical Culture: A Bulgarian Perspective,” International Review for the Sociology of Sport (v.20/1–2, 1985); I. Vassilchev, P. Bankov, and K. Vilichov, Mass Physical Education and Sport in Bulgaria (Sofia Press, 1986). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Bullying Bullying, while varying in definition and situation, is broadly defined as the infliction or threat of physical harm, verbal harassment, and coercive methods to manipulate and control peers. Bullying may be considered a form of play for those that bully. This behavior among children may begin at young ages, but becomes particularly common as children enter middle school and through high school. Some argue that this behavior becomes more common during this time span in part because of hormonal changes, but it is also profoundly influenced and reified by the frequent and numerous social transitions that occur during this period of maturation. Ultimately, the issues of bullying range from the childhood schoolyard to the hazing and initiation rituals affiliated with fraternities.

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One of the most prominent researchers on bullying is Dan Olweus, and he, more than any other researcher, has put bullying on the map as a major area of research. In general, research addressing bullying among youth has addressed its occurrence within developed nations such as the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Japan, and Australia. The experience of being bullied has been affiliated with increased risk of suicide. In recent years, being the victim of bullying has also been suggested as a factor influencing various teen retaliation killings such as those of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. The disenfranchised bullying victim may retaliate in extreme physical and violent fashions. Two Forms of Bullying Bullying may be direct or indirect in form. Direct forms of bullying would be characterized by a victim receiving bodily harm from kicking, hitting, pushing, or shoving. Indirect forms of bullying are often indicated by mental, emotional, and psychological harm through namecalling, rejection, gossip, threats, or insults. These two forms of bullying may occur separately or in conjunction. When examined in this duality, nearly every adult recalls having been the victim of bullying as a child at some point. A difficulty when examining bullying is the conflation of bullying with harassment. Gender and sexual harassment may be regarded merely as bullying or vice versa. Currently, sex and gender are not well understood in the context of bullying. Traditionally, bullies were often boys. Today, increasing numbers of girls are also enacting bully identities. The subjects of bullying are often social outcasts in one or multiple fashions—one may be gender nonconforming, believed to be nonheterosexual, engaged in stigmatized social groupings with interests in the arts, music, or sciences. Statistically, the victims of bullying are equally distributed between the genders, but with boys having greater risk for direct bullying and girls having greater risk for indirect bullying. The roles of bully and victim are not mutually exclusive—one may be bullied by one person, but may themselves be the bully of another. Among middle-school students in the United States it is estimated that approximately 27 percent of students have been bullied at least sometimes, with 10 percent being bullied weekly or more often. By high school the numbers decline to 10 percent bullied sometimes and four percent bullied weekly or more

often. At particular risk of bullying and harassment are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students, with many reporting daily incidents. In recent years bullying through the use of internet and digital resources, such as Web sites, community sites such as Facebook.com and Myspace.com, emails, and text messaging, has increasingly occurred. This cyberbullying accompanies the increasing number of youth who own and use computers and cell phones. In the United Kingdom, 6 to 7 percent of students report having received a nasty or threatening text or email message. Among these students, girls reported higher incidences of this sort. In the United States, a survey of youth 10 to 17 years old found that in the last year, 12 percent had been aggressive to someone online, 4 percent were targets of aggression, and 3 percent were both aggressors and targets. The iconic role of schoolyard bully has been noted in various films and television programs. In the movie Billy Madison, the O’Doyle family members are noted as bullies; in the Karate Kid films, Johnny Lawrence personifies a bully who is socially and physically aggressive, but is not significantly larger physically. The character of Nelson Muntz on The Simpsons, while complex, demonstrates many of the stereotypical characteristics of a bully. He is personified as less intelligent, physically larger than his peers, and disrespectful of authority and of high-achieving peers. Bullying behavior, while more prevalent among youth and teens, continues into adulthood. Bullying in the workplace may manifest in various forms ranging from health-harming mistreatment or verbal abuse to threatening, humiliating, intimidating, or sabotaging behaviors. This form of bullying is believed to be more prevalent than illegal discrimination and far more prevalent than workplace violence. It is estimated that one in six experience workplace bullying, with illegal or undocumented workers being at particular risk. Bullying is also noted in other adult institutions such as fraternities and sororities, sports teams, prisons, and the military. The satisfaction coming from controlling and bullying others is what helps explain bullying; there is no evidence that bullying can be explained by those who bully having low self esteem. If anything, bullies seem to have a high regard for themselves. Also, bullying is a symptom of a community problem, since bullying is not found as much in schools or communities where

Bungee Jumping



adults pay close attention and work hard to make community-building a central part of the curriculum. See Also: “Bad” Play; Boys’ Play; Play and Power, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Sociology of; Playground as Politics. Bibliography. Ann Frisén, Anna-Karin Johnsson, and Camille Persson, “Adolescents’ Perception of Bullying: Who is the Victim? Who is the Bully? What can be Done to Stop Bullying?,” Adolescence (v.42/168, 2007); Gregory Green, “Bullying: A Concern for Survival,” Education (v.128/2 2007); Dan Olweus, Bullying at School: What we Know and What we Can Do (Blackwell, 1993); Peter Smith et al., “Cyberbullying: Its Nature and Impact in Secondary School Pupils,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (v.49/4, 2008); Nan Stein, “Bullying, Harassment and Violence Among Students,” Radical Teacher (v.80, 2007); M.L. Ybarra and K.J. Mitchell, “Online Aggressor/Targets, Aggressors, and Targets: A Comparison of Associated Youth Characteristics,” Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (v.45, 2004).

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her. Unbeknownst to him, she had tied vines to her ankles, allowing her to survive while he jumped to his death. What was desperation for her became a deathdefying male ritual. Every April, when the vines are at their most supple, the men on the island build jumping towers, flinging themselves off headfirst toward the ground below. While boys begin with 12-foot platforms, the most accomplished men might climb as much as 100 feet high. The last diver’s success—or cataclysmic failure—would determine the success of the all-important yam harvest. Ironically, land-diving is on the wane in Vanuatu, while bungee jumping has crossed continents. It offers the heart-pounding opportunity to display the same combination of bravery and self-affirmation of landdiving without the religious and cultural context.

Daniel Farr Randolph College

Bungee Jumping Bungee (or sometimes bungy) jumping is the first and probably the best-known of the 20th century’s extreme sports—so ubiquitous that it has become a standard metaphor for risky behavior, like rocket science for intellectual challenge or sliced bread for great ideas. This high-wire game of chicken was inspired by a Polynesian rite of passage called the N’gol, practiced on Penticost Island in the Vanuatu archipelago. Polynesian society is a case study in risk taking. Beginning in the Fiji islands around 3,500 years ago, the Polynesians moved inexorably eastward in a remarkable human colonization that ended just short of South America. They set out without a single compass, map or assurance that there was anything beyond their shores but ocean. Along the way, each island developed its own variations on the rituals of the protoculture. N’gol—landdiving—is one of these variations. At its root is a myth about an abused wife. To escape her husband, she jumped from a high tree, tricking him into following

Bungee cords consist of hundreds of continuous-length rubber strands, encased in a nylon sheath.

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Bungee Jumping

Bungee cords are heavy strands of rubber, braided together to create a strong and flexible rubber rope. Long cords, matched to the weight and height of the jumper, are attached at one end to a harness. The harness is usually wrapped around the jumper’s legs below the knees at one end, and at the other to a high platform. Leaping off the platform, which can be mounted in any clear, open space, the jumper experiences a massive adrenalin rush and the sensation of freefall—hopefully without the otherwise tragic collision with earth’s gravity. The elastic cords halt the fall before impact, producing a bouncing recoil that provides a second, less-elevated rise. The first recorded bungee jump took place in 1979 as an April Fools Day stunt by a member of the Oxford Dangerous Sports Club in England. It was a dry run for the legendary jump by a group of club members in tuxedos and chest harnesses off the edge of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge six months later. Many people were driven to replicate the experience in the 1980s, sometimes with fatal consequences. However, it was not until 1988 that skier and bungee enthusiast A.J. Hackett opened the first permanent, commercial bungee jumping site at the Kawarau Bridge outside Queenstown, New Zealand. Since then, bungee jumping experiences can be found throughout the world, wherever bridges can be licensed or high cranes rigged.

As extreme sports go, bungee jumping has matured into an experience that provides thrills without significant serious risk. Jumpers at the Hackett site in New Zealand have ranged in age from a boy of 10 years to several octogenarians. Studies of jumpers have found an assortment of postjump minor physical complaints ranging from headaches and whiplash to pulled muscles and dizziness, all of which dissipated fairly quickly. Serious injuries and fatalities are few. Most are attributable to lack of care and experience by either the company offering the jump or by freelancers jumping in unsafe areas or with faulty equipment. See Also: New Zealand; Play as Catharsis; Play as Rehearsal of Reality; Risk in Play. Bibliography. John Chambers, New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands (Interlink Books, 2007); Martin Lyster, Strange Adventures of the Dangerous Sports Club (The Do-Not Press, 1997); Vanuatu National Tourism Office, “Pentecost and Maewo Islands,” www.vanuatutourism.com (cited September 2008); Craig Young, “Is Bungee Jumping Safe?” Western Journal of Medicine (v.170/5, May 1999). Cynthia L. Baron Northeastern University

C Caillois: Man, Play and Games Roger Caillois (1913–78) was a French sociologist and philosopher, whose study Man, Play and Games has, since first appearing in 1958, greatly contributed to the understanding of the relationships among play, games and culture. For Caillois, playing is a central trait of all cultures, which is why their values, customs, and beliefs are expressed in the games they play. While playing, defined by Caillois as a free and creative activity separated from ordinary life by its rules and demarcated spaces, is a universal phenomenon, games and play experiences differ both within and across cultures. He therefore qualifies different ways of playing, from unstructured to highly controlled, as well as four types of games based on the general attitude of the players: competition, chance, simulation, and vertigo. In doing so, Caillois delivers a profound lesson on the playful diversity of human culture. Relation of Huizinga Man, Play and Games can be read as a response to the work of another influential play theorist, the Dutch cultural historian Johan Huizinga, whose seminal study Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture appeared in 1938. Caillois praises Homo Ludens for its bold claim that culture derives from playing: Huizinga

suggests that studying historic changes in play provides important insight into the evolution of human societies. He indicates that modern cultural values and institutions, such as law, science, and art, stem historically from playful challenge, exhibition and improvisation. Specific forms of culture developed as archaic play became more formal and elaborate: riddle contests and word play evolved into written poetry and philosophic argumentation, verbal battles in reserved spaces evolved into juridical processes, and tribal dances evolved into theatre performances. Caillois also embraces most of the basic characteristics of play that Huizinga argues are common to different cultures and epochs. Huizinga sees playing as a voluntary activity, carried out for its own sake and therefore lacking any worldly motivation, such as monetary interests. Play takes place outside ordinary life and obeys specified rules and limits in time and space, whether these are marked by the chessboard, the tennis court or the playground. Further, play creates bonds between players, giving rise to collectives of like-minded persons who tend to exclude the uninitiated. As researcher of urban culture Ian Borden indicates in his inspiring study Skateboarding, Space and the City, skateboarders often demarcate their group identity through a certain use of clothing, space, and body language, thus maintaining their own enclosed “play-community,” whose 107

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activities and aesthetics an outsider may initially find difficult to comprehend. Unsurprisingly, Huizinga and Caillois suggest a relationship between play and religious rituals. After all, religion is often practiced in temples, churches, and other self-contained spaces, where ideal rules and codified movements bracket the activities off from ordinary life. Much like sacred rituals, play absorbs its practitioners, captivating them through a shared sense of beauty and exaltation. In his earlier study Man and the Sacred, Caillois argued against Huizinga’s tendency to fully assimilate playing and rituals, though both clearly regard play as a special cultural realm that it is important to protect from the monotony and imperfections of the outside world. Nevertheless, although Huizinga explores different play characteristics, such as theatricality, virtuosity, and improvisation, for him they serve mainly competitive behavior. As Caillois points out, Huizinga has for example forgotten to consider gambling, which is an important part of everyday play, from lotteries and slot machines to betting. This has also lead to the misplaced claim that play excludes economic interests. Even though it does not directly produce wealth or goods, Caillois argues that play often involves an exchange of property in the form of winning and losing money. Another problem is that Huizinga leaves unexplored the possibility that play may satisfy varying individual impulses and result in divergent experiences among the players. Maneuvering a horse in show jumping hardly equals horse track betting. Likewise, a rollercoaster ride does not necessarily involve the same bodily actions and sensations as performing a skateboard move down a flight of stairs. While being identifiable as play, these suggest shifting degrees of competition, chance, and excitement, as well as a panoply of other activities and experiences that seem impossible to capture in one definition. Classification of Games Play may have certain universal features, such as being free, separate, and regulated, but there are also various forms of games that involve quite diverse attitudes. If these are not explored more fully, there is a risk that we fail to understand the cultural meaning and significance of playing. Caillois therefore takes the theorizing of play a step further by devising a fourfold classification of games: agôn (competition), alea (chance), mimicry (simulation), and ilinx (vertigo). Each of these categories is based on one dominant attitude or drive among

the players, which at the same time distinguishes them from other games and their players. The four games also take place in specific arenas, such as stadiums, casinos, theaters, and amusement parks. Agôn stands for the category of competitive games, where rivals seek to excel one another in pursuits requiring physical skill or ingenuity, such as Chess, golf or football. Competitive play is often rule-bound in order to ensure an equal footing for different players to prove their skills. At the beginning of a chess game, for example, both contestants have the same number of pieces, and sometimes the less experienced player can be given the advantage. An ideal winner in agonistic play is thus someone who conquers by pure merit and, in doing so, reminds the observer of the hard work and commitment that winning a competition entails. Alea is a category of games that invokes an element of chance and therefore seemingly negates the skill and practice of agôn. Roulette, lottery, and the game of Dice all involve an expectant attitude, even a sense of abandonment to destiny, as the outcomes are hard to affect. Caillois claims that winning and losing money is an important part of games of chance. He also adds that alea can at times come close to agôn, as both seek to escape the individual differences of ordinary life by creating conditions of equality between players, whether this involves the same possibilities for proving one’s superiority or the same chances of winning money. Mimicry represents games of simulation, where one takes on a stylized role, wears a disguise, or identifies with another person, as in theatre, masquerades, or video game playing. Watching competitive play, such as a sporting event, one is often identifying with the competitors and therefore also engaging in mimicry. This can range from wearing the shirt of a favorite football team to body movements echoing actions on the playfield. But in contrast to the clear-cut rules of agôn and alea, simulation relies on an element of improvisation, as the player needs to inventively maintain the illusion of being another. Ilinx includes games that involve a desire to be seized by a sense of disorder, intimating a partial loss of control and balance, an alteration of perception. Whereas feelings of vertigo can be produced by the most mundane activities, such as spinning around or sliding down an ice-covered slope, they are also part of specific cultural arenas dedicated to vertigo. One of these is the amusement park, where one can experience the visceral effect



of being powerlessly thrown around or momentarily transported to staggering heights in a rollercoaster or another contraption. Ilinx may at times echo the attitudes of mimicry, as both are less bound by rules than other forms of games. Every category also includes a continuum between paidia and ludus, where paidia stands for unstructured and anarchic and ludus for structured and institutionalized play. Paidia and ludus describe different ways of playing games, and the variations in restraint and freedom, rules and improvisation among players. While, for example, some forms of agôn proceed along more undisciplined lines, such as when children play with a ball on the beach, other forms, such as football, operate with specified rules and take place on limited playing fields that often add more challenge to the game. Although Caillois shares Huizinga’s view that uncontrolled play usually evolves into more elaborate forms, with ludus slowly replacing paidia, he suggests that improvisation is an equally important feature in play, especially when rules are seen as restricting by players. Caillois’ fourfold categorization would be unthinkable without ludus, which “purifies” play experiences. The rules and institutionalization of games guarantees that play and ordinary life remain uncontaminated from each other. This is crucial, because the ideal rules and separate arenas of agôn, alea, mimicry, and ilinx discipline the powerful drives on which they are based. Everyday life contains elements of competition, chance, simulation, and vertigo, but they are often unrefined and therefore potentially destructive. If play and reality are confused, the pleasures of playing easily result in the “corruption” of games, breeding obsession and anxiety, as when alea turns into superstition, mimicry leads to alienation from oneself, and the pursuit of ilinx shifts into substance abuse. Everyday Playing The next step is to explore in more detail how agôn, alea, mimicry, and ilinx relate to each other in everyday playing. Caillois claims that this not only provides insight into the diversity of play experiences but also indicates the variable position of play in different cultures and epochs, as well as brings out how different forms of games shape and express cultural values, customs, and beliefs. But he is no more suggesting that games can tell us all about a culture than that other forms of culture can tell us all about play. Rather, Caillois argues that play

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is a special realm of culture that is in constant interaction with other spheres of culture, as if they were mirror images of each other. Play and reality may express the same basic drives and attitudes, but they are still separate realms as much as Wargames are different from real war or playing Monopoly from commerce. As Caillois then claims, the four categories only emerge in six possible pairs that can be further divided into three classes. Some of the categories are complementary (fundamental relations), whereas others occur together more rarely (contingent relations) or seem altogether incompatible (forbidden relations). The selfabandonment of ilinx is, for example, in stark contrast with agôn and its valorization of control and skill, as much as the visceral effect of a roller coaster ride is different from the concentrated attacks of fencing. Ilinx, then again, is occasionally related to alea, as in situations where gamblers become possessed by the game, losing control over their behavior and money. Caillois is especially interested in two fundamental relations between games, as he claims these are crucial for the transition from archaic to modern societies: mimicry and ilinx on the one hand, and agôn and alea on the other. For example, the magical rituals and festivals in traditional Australian, African, and American cultures would regularly gather people to turn their daily lives into a collective vertigo through dancing and donning terrifying masks to emphasize their possession by mystic forces. This combination of role-playing (mimicry) and ecstatic states (ilinx) was important for social cohesion, as it provided a release of collective energies and thus contributed to reinvigorating social life. Against this, the rational and calculative worldview already present in ancient Greece and, more broadly, in modern societies has displaced the eruptive rituals with more institutionalized and controlled social practices. Whether it be the struggle between political parties or the competition for market share, education, or jobs, agôn emerges as the dominant cultural form, seen as providing an equal opportunity for all to prove their skills and expertise. But rules, whether in reality or in games, do not always guarantee a fair outcome. Only small differences in players determine the winner, no matter how much perseverance and talent the other competitors possess. Likewise, despite social policies, laws, taxation, and other forms of regulation, people born into certain socioeconomic backgrounds may find it difficult to

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advance in society. This is why alea gains such a strong foothold. It balances the agonistic spirit by introducing a sense of hope in the face of the eventualities of life: Lotteries and betting games, for example, open up equal opportunities of success for all the players, regardless of their background. The element of hope is also present in the figure of the “superstar” or the “hero,” where agôn and alea come together: the superstar personifies both the hard work and good luck needed to reach the top. Interestingly, the superstar reintroduces an element of mimicry, as people identify strongly with the triumphs of the superstar, even wanting to become one themselves. Caillois further suggests that ilinx is still necessary in the modern world, as amusement parks and festivals form a desired contrast to the monotony of ordinary life. Despite the domination of the agôn-alea pairing, then, mimicry and ilinx continue to have an importance for modern societies and their play practices. Taken together, Man, Play and Games not only provides a useful classification and analysis of different types of games (agôn, alea, mimicry, and ilinx) and ways of playing (paidia and ludus) but also lends insight into historic and modern world cultures through the study of their games and playing practices. Claiming that play is a cultural realm in its own right, Caillois shows that it both shapes and expresses the beliefs, values, and rules of every society. Anticipating play researcher Brian Sutton-Smith’s important argument in The Ambiguity of Play, Caillois suggests that playing does not fall neatly into a single category and is therefore by nature ambiguous, exceeding our attempts to know it definitively. This also means that Man, Play and Games is necessarily open to revisions, prompted by recent changes in playing and understandings of play. For example, the strong distinction between “play” and “reality” appears unwarranted today, with portable technologies such as mobile phones, laptops, and digital games, blending leisure and work, play and reality. Many forms of play also seek to conquer and change the realm of everyday life, such as skateboarding, where practitioners inventively turn urban spaces that are otherwise seen as uninviting into a large playground full of new opportunities, as Ian Borden points out. Where playing begins and ends is therefore only something the players themselves know. Further, some combinations of games Caillois deems unfeasible, such as the skills of agôn and the passivity

of ilinx, are common today. Extreme sports like skateboarding and surfing are precisely based on a shifting relationship between competition and vertigo, skill and abandonment, a feeling of both “moving” and being “moved” by the circumstances. Digital games can even display multiple combinations of Caillois’ categories in the same game, allowing players to identify with characters, encounter surprises, be swept away in fast machines, or perform complex actions. Because of these minor lacunas, Man, Play and Games may actually take on an even greater significance for our attempts to understand play as a cultural phenomenon: It encourages more detailed exploration of the way we theorize playing. Rather than settling with the masterly analysis laid out by Caillois, we should venture to play with agôn, alea, mimicry, and ilinx, seeking new combinations and categories, new ways of both playing and theorizing. See Also: Gambling; Homo Ludens (Huizinga); Play as Competition, Sociology of; Rhetorics of Play (Sutton-Smith); Skateboarding. Bibliography. Ian Borden, Skateboarding, Space and the City. Architecture and the Body (Berg, 2001); Roger Caillois, Man and the Sacred (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Roger Caillois, Man, Play and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture (Beacon Press, 1955); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Kim Kullman University of Helsinki

Cambodia Located in southeast Asia, the precursor of modern Cambodia was the Empire of Angkor, which exerted control over the region in medieval times. Before then, the Empire of Funan, located in southern Cambodia and Vietnam, became renowned in China for musical instruments in the 3rd century c.e.. When the Chinese traveler Zhou Daguan visited Angkor as part of a Chinese Embassy in 1296–97, he did not mention any of the games there, and historians have surmised this might be because they were so similar to those in China at the



time that they did not merit a mention. Certainly there is evidence that playing music, kite flying, skipping, and model making were all pursued. In 1432, the city of Angkor was sacked, and Phnom Penh later became the capital. When Cambodia became a French Protectorate in 1863, it was still a small town, with the vast majority of the population living in villages scattered across the countryside. Entertainment was provided by theatrical groups and dancing, which took place around the year to celebrate various events in the agricultural calendar—the Water Festival and the August Ploughing are the two most important ones. The French community, and also the urban elite, started to pursue many of the games that were popular in France. By the 1920s, boules, a bowling sport, was played in streets in Phnom Penh, and Croquet in people’s gardens; also popular were games involving dice. By the 1930s, playing cards became almost as popular as Mahjong, which was still largely only played by the ethnic Chinese, or Sino-Cambodians. It was not until independence in 1953 that the school system was expanded to provide primary education for all children. Secondary education remained in the French language until 1971, and as a result, French games tended to predominate for older children, with soccer rapidly gaining a large following. One game called Mik in Cambodian, which the French called Marelle, was similar to Hopscotch and popular with younger children. There were also other games such as Hide-andSeek, Marbles, and miming. Model making, especially of animals and musical instruments was a pastime of older children and adults. Scrabble (with words in French or, later, in English) was very soon the preserve of teenagers and adults who were fluent in another language. As well as the foreign expatriates in the country, and the Cambodians who had traveled overseas, some older school students also started playing Chess—both Chinese Chess and the European version. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, children from wealthier families started making models and taking part in elaborate Wargaming, as well as playing with dolls and Legos. Until 1969, most of the foreign imports into Cambodia came from France or former French colonies, but later it became more common to import games from the United States. Although gambling in private, such as in Mahjong games, remained common, the only casinos in the country were government owned or regulated and were located in Phnom Penh or at Bokor in the countryside.

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During the rule of the Khmer Rouge, from 1975 until 1979, imported items were unobtainable, and with a large part of the population living in near-starvation conditions, most adults were concerned about the daily battle for survival. For children, however, with little or no organized schooling, there were opportunities for play and amusement without toys, following pursuits not dissimilar to children around the world. The war that followed the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978 led to many Cambodian refugees settling in the United States, France, Canada, and Australia. Russian technicians who worked in Cambodia in the 1980s played Chess regularly, and it became popular again with many people. When the war ended in 1991, and many of the refugees returned to Cambodia, they brought with them Western habits. There are now adventure playgrounds, amusement centers, bowling alleys, and casinos, as well as groups involved in military reenactments, Wargaming, and Dungeons & Dragons. The Artillery Park in Phnom Penh continues to be popular with foreign tourists—machine guns, grenade launchers, and even heavy artillery can be fired by those happy to pay in foreign currency. See Also: Chess and Variations of; Dungeons & Dragons; Hide & Seek; Kite Flying; Scrabble. Bibliography. Charles R. Joy, Young People of East Asia (Oldbourne, 1962); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Someth May, Cambodian Witness: The Autobiography of Someth May (Faber & Faber, 1986). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Camping and Hiking Both camping and hiking are leisure activities that bring participants into close proximity with nature. While the former can refer to organized, goal-oriented group living in the outdoors, in which young participants are supervised by trained leaders, in this case camping signifies temporarily living and sleeping in the out-ofdoors in a mobile or makeshift shelter, such as a tent, in a nonurban location, like a campground, a national

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park, or crown land. Hiking, on the other hand, refers to an extended walk for pleasure or exercise generally undertaken in the country. The two activities can take place in concert, as in the case of a multi-day backpacking trip, or independently of one another. Camping can also be combined with watercraft such as canoes and kayaks, or with automobiles, such as recreational vehicles (RVs). Hiking as a recreational activity finds its origins in the 18th century and coincides with the development of a “taste for nature” that compelled people to venture outside to walk for pleasure, as well as to creates spaces, such as trails and parks, in which to walk, and eventually to hike. Later attempts to privatize such spaces precipitated political protest. In Britain, for instance, the rambler movement, which emerged in response to the 19th-century Enclosure Acts, saw hikers take to the countryside to protest these changes. The origins of recreational camping are more difficult to pin down. Camping out for utilitarian purposes has a long history in settler colonies such as Canada, the United States, and Australia. The history of the fur trade, gold rushes, pioneer settlement, and conflicts such as the American Civil War, for example, could not be told without reference to camping. At what point people began to make their way into nature to camp out for pleasure, however, is unclear. That it was happening at least by the mid-19th century in the United States and Canada is evidenced by the emergence of the summer camp movement. Participation in both activities increased as a result of the anxieties brought on by industrialization, urbanization and the rise of corporate capitalism in the closing decades of the 20th century. In particular, concerns about the ills of modern life impelled individuals out of urban centers for “authentic” encounters with nature. Men, in particular, engaged in outdoor activities for the physical challenges that were believed to counteract the seemingly emasculating effects of modernity. Following the designation of Yellowstone in the United States as a national park in 1872, a number of Western nations followed suit in developing national park systems, which in turn created new opportunities for camping and hiking. Such opportunities were increasingly sought after in the postwar era as a result of the democratization of recreation and travel brought on by relatively widespread prosperity, the increasing accessibility of automobiles and the development of lightweight and more streamlined equipment.

Motivations In contemporary Western culture, the primary appeal of both camping and hiking is the opportunity to be in nature, which itself has different meanings for different groups. For some, nature has religious significance, as a sanctuary or a place to commune with God. For others, it is the solitude offered by being in nature or the sense of escape from “civilization” that compels them to camp or hike. Then there are those who cite the educational benefits of the nature experience afforded by camping or hiking. That camping trips have been employed in teaching a diverse range of scholastic subjects including biology, geography, and history is yet another manifestation of “nature as instructor.” Being in nature also has aesthetic appeals. This is particularly true of hiking, an activity that by emphasizing the journey over the destination has encouraged participants to appreciate the landscape through which they are moving, but also to be on the lookout for wildlife and birds. The aesthetic ideal sought after by hikers has long been associated with the breathtaking views and grandeur popularized by 19th-century authors and painters, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and J.M. Turner. Beyond the appeal of nature, there are other motivating factors for strapping on a pair of hiking boots or packing up a tent and camping supplies. The physicality of the experience, for example, furnishes the appeal for some, who emphasize the health benefits or physical challenges of camping and hiking. While for others, activities often associated with camping and hiking, such as hunting, fishing, or birdwatching, compel them into the out-of-doors. While some are attracted to the perceived seclusion offered by camping and hiking, the reality is that both activities are generally undertaken in groups. The intimacy afforded by the small participant base, the breakdown of social barriers as a result of decreased formality, and the tendency toward interdependence amongs participants creates unique opportunities for relationship building. For some such activities offer a way to reconnect with friends and family or to make new acquaintances. The social potential of experiences in nature, such as those offered by camping and hiking, in conjunction with the belief that wilderness can have a lasting impact on the individual, is the rationale behind wilderness therapy, which aims to encourage new patterns of behavior in participants and to transform conceptions of the self. This practice primarily targets atrisk youth, psychiatric patients, and inmates.

Canada

See Also: Canada; Canoeing and Kayaking. Bibliography. Stephen Kaplan, “Psychological Benefits of Wilderness Experience,” Human Behaviour and Environment (v.6, 1983). Jessica Dunkin Carleton University

Canada While Canada has some sports and other leisure activities in common with the United States, many forms of play are very much a product of both the environment and history of the country. If there is one distinguishing characteristic about play in Canada, it might be the great extent to which it is outdoors. Skills that were required for sustenance and survival in the earliest days have evolved into individual and team events. Canadian Sports Of all the sports in Canada, it is perhaps hockey that is most associated with the country. The sport as it is currently played came into being during the 19th century. Hockey is played throughout Canada by men and women and all ages on a wide variety of levels. According to Hockey Canada, which governs amateur play, there are over 4.5 million Canadians who play, coach, officiate, or otherwise support the game in an administrative or other capacity. With over 3,000 hockey arenas throughout the country, Hockey Canada also estimates that as of 2007 more than 1.5 million games are played each year, with a further 2 million practices held. While hockey is considered Canada’s national winter game, another sport of Canadian First Nation origin, lacrosse, is very popular and is considered the nation’s official summer game. Lacrosse is played formally and informally throughout the country in three major venues. There is box lacrosse, which is played indoors, and men’s field and women’s field lacrosse. While baseball is not as popular in Canada as it is in the United States, it still has a wide following. Baseball Canada, which governs the sport, states that there are currently more than 400,000 Canadians who play the

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game in 13,000 teams, with 62,000 coaches and 13,000 umpires. Curling is a team sport in which a shaped and polished stone is pushed and then slides toward a target known as a “house.” As the stone travels down the ice, team members use brooms to remove rough ice “pebbles,” in an effort to steer the stone toward the target. The game, played by a four-person team, is Scottish in origin and dates back at least to the 16th century. It is extremely popular in Canada. According to Curling Canada, 2.7 percent of the entire Canadian population plays the sport—over 754,000 people. It is most popular in Canada’s prairie provinces, and perhaps 12 percent of the population in that region have tried the sport. Another interesting statistic from Curling Canada states that at least 40 percent of all curlers pursue other active sports in the off-season such as golf, fishing, camping, or regularly working out. Football is widely played in Canada on all levels. While it is similar to American football, there are some differences. Canadian football fields are larger than American, being 10 yards longer and almost 12 yards wider. Canadian teams also have three instead of four downs. Despite these and other differences, Canadian and American high school teams adjust easily to playing according to either set of rules, depending on which side is hosting the game. Diminishing Leisure Time In common with both the United States and the rest of the industrialized Western world, Canada does have a problem with diminishing time available to pursue all of the recreational opportunities that exist. A nationwide study conducted in 2007 by Canada’s Institute for Research in Public Policy reported that the number of hours that both fathers and mothers spent working had increased, cutting down on the time they could spend in playing with their children. The average time spent each week working rose from 44.6 to 46.3 hours. The amount of time available for play declined from 31.5 hours to 29.5 hours. The only province to show a departure from this trend was Quebec. A similar study conducted in the province of Nova Scotia by the API Atlantic Research Group in 2008 reported the same results. The study found that workers in the province were working a months’ more paid time than they had 10 years earlier. In addition to this tendency to have less leisure time, the findings reported

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Curling at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Canada, in an 1875 photograph by W.J. Topley. According to Curling Canada, 2.7 percent of the Canadian population plays the sport, and there are over 1,600 curling clubs across Canada.

on how that time was used. At least 40 percent of leisure time was spent watching television, and only 20 percent was spent on sports and active pursuits. Canada’s heritage of active play, as is the case in the United States and an increasing number of places, is being reduced by more passive pursuits such as television watching and the increasing use of electronic games. Indigenous Play Among the forms of play are those developed by the Inuit (commonly and mistakenly referred to as Eskimos), who live throughout northern Canada. Inuit play is very physically demanding and is based on having to develop strength in order to merely survive in the arctic. Another interesting characteristic of Inuit play is that most Inuit games take place indoors and, except for the blanket toss and jumping games, take place within what would be an area the size of an igloo. Musk-Ox fighting is a form of wrestling with the players on their hands and knees facing each other and their heads tucked under the other’s collar bone. In this position they attempt to push each other out of a designated circle. Another form calls for the players

to lie on their stomachs, facing each other with a loop of canvas around both their heads. At a signal they try to pull each other over a line. There are also a large number of jumping and kicking games. The games, which were a form of training and building strength, now have a new importance in that formalized contests are seen as a way of preserving the Inuit heritage. There are six such competitions, known as the northern games, conducted in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The winners of these competitions go on to compete in the International Arctic Games, which are held in Russia, Finland, Greenland, or the United States (Alaska). The use of games and play to reinforce identity is, in fact, a major concern. Inuit life, as is common throughout the world, has been affected by television, electronic games, and other games such as basketball. A governmental organization, Statistics Canada, reports that both Inuit and non-Inuit children (aged 4 to 14 years) engage in about the same degree of physical play. Approximately 65 percent play sports of some type at least once a week. The same survey also indicated a baseline of three or more hours a day watching television and two or more hours a day playing video games.

Car and Travel Games



Popular Pastimes Other popular activities include paintball; downhill and cross-country skiing; snowboarding; deep sea, lake, and river fishing; hunting; snowshoeing; dog sledding; and hiking. Cycling and mountain biking, swimming, and other water sports are also popular. Team Sports Team sports played at all levels include basketball, rugby, soccer, and cricket. Like curling, this sport, which is not native to Canada, has a surprisingly wide following, although it is not as popular as it was at the beginning of the 20th century. Provincial associations throughout Canada claim that approximately 40,000 cricket players are registered, while another 50,000 play the informally but regularly. School programs are also adopting cricket as a sport. Canada’s wide array of sports and active pastimes and their ability to spur sport tourism have for a long time been looked on as an important means of national income. For several years, the Canadian Congress on Leisure Research has provided a forum for discussion and proposals to encourage sport tourism. See Also: Arctic Play (First Nations); Cricket (Amateur); Curling (Scottish); Fishing; Hockey (Amateur); Play as Learning, Anthropology of; Snowboarding; Team Play. Bibliography. Paul Arseneault, The Great Canadian Hockey Phrase Book (Nimbus Publishing, 2007); Baseball Canada, www.baseball.ca (cited July 2008); Canadian Lacrosse Association, www.lacrosse.ca (cited July 2008); Cricket Canada, www.canadiancricket.org (cited July 2008); Hockey Canada, www.hockeycanada.ca/index.cfm/ci_id/6698/la_id/1.htm (cited July 2008); William Humber and John St. James, eds., All I Thought About was Baseball: Writings on a Canadian Pastime (University of Toronto Press, 1996); Douglas Maxwell, Canada Curls: The Illustrated History of Curling in Canada (Whitecap, 2002); James Opp and John C. Walsh, Home, Work, and Play: Situating Canadian Social History, 1840–1980 (Oxford University Press, 2006); Wayne G. Pealo, Canadian Sport Tourism: An Introduction (Recreation and Tourism Management Research Institute, 2003); Stephen G. Wieting, ed., Sport and Memory in North America (Frank Cass, 2001). Robert Stacy Independent Scholar

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Car and Travel Games Contemporary car and travel games are played by people of all ages, primarily as a way to occupy themselves and avert boredom while traveling long distances via automobile, bus, train, or airplane. Often games are suggested by parents to restless children while on long trips, but these games are not exclusively for children. Some of the games that people play while traveling are niche games that have originated in the specific context of the highway. Some are adaptations of games that are found in other contexts, such as I Spy, or Car Bingo. Other games, such as Car Cricket, are loosely based on the rules of other games and applied to the context of travel. What is common to all games that people play while they travel is that they can be played within a confined space over long periods of time. There are differences between games that can be played in cars and buses and those that can be played in other forms of long-distance transportation, such as trains or airplanes. Games that have originated in the context of cars or buses are of particular interest from a sociocultural perspective because they demonstrate the influence of environment on play and can be used to illustrate how culture contributes to and is influenced by niche games. Cultural Influences The common characteristic of games that are specific to car or bus travel is the reliance on observation and rules that allow for extended play. Many of the games can be played alone, and others require interaction. From a sociocultural perspective, car and travel games are influenced by culture. The games arose with advances in automotive technology, which allowed people to make long-distance trips. Culture also influences the content of car and travel games. For example, a game such as Car Cricket is only possible with specific environmental features, and is consequentially only found in specific cultural contexts. Car and travel games have also influenced popular culture, such as in the case of the term Punch Bug becoming an alternative name for the Volkswagen Beetle. There are numerous variations of all car games, from those that are for amusement, to those that are competitive, to those that are elicit or erotic. There are games that can be distinguished as car or travel games because they make use of the environment that is unique to highway travel. All of these games involve varying degrees of observation on the part of the players.

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Some examples are I Spy games, Car Bingo, Car Cricket, alphabet games, and number plate games. In addition, there are car travel games that involve discrete observations, such as the observation of specific makes of cars such as Volkswagen Beetles (in a game that is often called Punch-Buggy), or of a car that has one broken headlight (in a game that is sometimes called Padiddle).

where there are many pubs with these types of names. The game is thought to be decreasing in popularity as the road system is being converted to large motorways that do not allow for observations of pub names. This is a good example of how a car game emerged from a specific cultural context and is changing as a response to changes in the human-made environment.

I Spy, Bingo, and Cricket I Spy games can be played in almost any context and are well suited for play in a car or bus. At least two players are required to play the game. There are no props or scoring cards needed. This game makes use of what is available in the immediate environment of the car or the landscape, as players take turns guessing what the other is observing based on his or her descriptions. The game is best played during highway travel, where there is a broader view of the landscape. The game requires skilled observation and the engagement of players. Car Bingo is a variation of standard Bingo. The car version of Bingo requires players to observe objects or animals that would be seen on a road trip and match them to these objects on a Bingo-style card. Items on a Car Bingo card might include a cow, a stop sign, a truck, or a gas station. This game may be played by a single player or as a competition between several players. Car Bingo games are manufactured and sold, but they could also be made. Car Bingo would be suited to car travel on the highway or local roads in most of the world but would not be effective in desolate areas such as the desert or thick forest. The game requires moderate skill in observation but is primarily a game of chance. Car Cricket is loosely based on the rules of Cricket, but does not require any physical movement or any materials to play. The game makes use of the context of car travel by requiring the players to observe the names of pubs they see along the way, scoring or getting “out” for features of the name of the pub. There are variations of the game, but basic rules are that a player scores a point for each leg that would correspond to a person or animal in the name of the pub. For example, a pub named Henry IV would score two points, because the king had two legs; likewise, a pub named the White Horse would score four points. Zero points are given for inanimate objects such as The Free Press. A person is called out when the name of the pub contains “head” or “arms,” as in The Carpenter’s Arms. The game is played primarily in the United Kingdom,

Car Games Some games played by car passengers involve finding letters of the alphabet in road signs or billboard advertisements. There are numerous variations of this game, but basic rules are for players to find the letters of the alphabet in sequence. Similarly, there are varieties of games that make use of car number plates. These games might involve finding numbers or letters. In North America, where there are distinctive number plates for each of the states, provinces, and territories, the game may involve the quest to find as many different plates as possible. This game might be played within the time frame of a single car trip and continued on subsequent trip. The game could be played alone or with others, for amusement or competition. One of the only car games that can be played at night is a competitive game to be the first to identify a car that has a broken headlight. This is sometimes called Padiddle, which is a nonsense word. Variations of the game include slapping or kissing the person who did not spot the Padiddle. Other variations may include removing an article of clothing for each time a player did not spot a Padiddle, presumably for players who are on a romantic date. This is an example of a car game that uses the context of the nighttime driving environment to facilitate interaction among players and, especially in the latter example, as a form of foreplay. Similarly, there are car games that involve pointing out when a player has spotted a specific make of a car. The most common version in the United States involves the Volkswagen Beetle and has become a pop culture phenomenon. Variants of the game do extend to other makes of cars. Similar to Padiddle, this game requires only that the player observe and call out their observation. In the case of observing a Volkswagen Beetle, players commonly deliver a mild punch to the arm of their fellow player upon the revelation that they have spotted the car, leading to the name Punch Buggy for the game, and causing some people to begin to call the Beetle a Punch

Casino



Bug. This is a good example of how a simple car game spread mimetically through popular culture. See Also: Bingo; Cricket (Amateur); I Spy. Bibliography. Elliott M. Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith, eds., The Study of Games (John Wiley & Sons, 1971); Thomas M. Malaby, “Beyond Play: A New Approach to Games,” Games and Culture (v.2/2, 2007); Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, James E. Johnson, and Frank H. Hooper, eds., Children’s Play in Diverse Cultures (SUNY Press, 1994). Suzanne M. Flannery Quinn University of South Florida

Casino Casino (or Cassino) is a card game played with a traditional 52-card deck, for two to four players. An Englishlanguage descendant of the Italian game Scopa (played with Italy’s 40-card deck), it is the only common card game in the English-speaking world to use fishing instead of trick-taking. The basic mode of play is that of matching outplay: each player plays a card that matches one in play on the table in order to capture it. The term fishing for a game like Casino is coined by the Chinese, for whom fishing games are the norm, as trick-taking games are the norm in the West. Cards are dealt face-up on the table in a pool, from which players attempt to capture cards by matching them with a card from their hand—any turn in which they are unable to, they instead increase the size of the pool (and the odds of anyone being able to capture a card from it) by dealing one of their cards into it. The first player to 21 points—each round has 11 points available—wins, with the Big Casino (the 10 of hearts) and Little Casino (two of spades) carrying special point values. Though fishing games are more common in the East, it’s only the terminology that’s borrowed intercontinentally; European fishing games crop up here and there throughout history, one of the earliest being the French game Culbas, played on a triangular table in the early 17th century. Casino is described a century later, in the 1797 edition of Hoyle’s. Scopa, to which it is likely related, is named for the way the player “sweeps”—or “scoops up”—the pool, while Casino is probably named

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for the Italian city of Cassino. Casino elaborates on the fishing games that had come before it—Culbas, Scopa, and the 1730 French game Papillon—with the concept of “building.” There are two types of building. A player can “build five” (or any other value) by taking a two from his hand and placing it on top of a three in the pool—provided he has a five in his hand to then use to capture it. He has to announce the build, and any other player with a five can then capture the built card instead—which explains why Casino does not simply become a game in which players build small cards into larger cards to capture. Built cards can be further built upon, but the builder must always have a card of the appropriate type at any stage of building—you cannot build a seven by playing two twos on a three unless you also hold a five in your hand. The second type is natural building and reflects games’ fascination with doubles (as seen in dice and dominoes games). Natural building works like regular building, except that cards of equal value are stacked up and combined without adding their values—two fives become one five. Building greatly complicates the game, especially among experienced players, who can read a pool and see not simply its cards, but also its potential cards to be built, as a Chess player can read a board and see moves and outcomes. Building is an American innovation in Casino, developing—probably in New York—around the years of the Civil War. It remained a regional or occasional variation until the 20th century, when it was incorporated into all accounts of the game. There are some variant rules of Casino. A five-player game can be made by removing the twos of hearts, diamonds, and clubs and dealing an extra card to each player on the last deal. Under the trailing royals rule, face cards are eligible for building with, and orphaned face cards are awarded to the player who makes the final capture. A similar game, Pasur, is played in Iran—but like Scopa, it lacks Casino’s building innovation. See Also: China; Fish; History of Playing Cards; Italy. Bibliography. Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Roger Caillois, Man, Play, and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, USA, 1990); Fyodor Soloview, Six Generations Card Games/Playing Cards: Immigration from Europe to America Edition (Six Generations Pub-

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lishing, 2004); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Casual Games Electronic video games were divided into two categories—hard-core and casual games—in the 1980s. Although both began as simple arcade games of this era, the two types have evolved in radically different directions and primarily serve different purposes and populations. Hard-core games branched from arcade games like Space Invaders but have become substantially more violent and immersive—an elite performance activity for the young, mostly male demographic. The most popular hard-core games require special consoles, fast reactions, and a substantial time commitment. Novice gamers must master arcane rules and conventions before gameplay becomes rewarding. In contrast, casual games are democratic. They can be played anywhere on almost any form of electronic device, with no special skills or knowledge. In addition, they generally maintain the simplicity and familyfriendly vibe of the famous Pac-Man. Most casual games conform to patterns from one or more time-tested analog game types: knowledge/trivia quizzes (Jeopardy!), word grids (crosswords and other word games), pattern-based puzzles (jigsaw, Rubic’s Cube), logic puzzles (matrixes and mazes), card games (Solitaire), and hand-eye coordination challenges (Pinball and other traditional arcade games). With such a wide range of possibilities, it is not surprising that the Casual Games Association documents hundreds of new game launches every year. Although the variety of forms is dizzying, casual games share several conventions. All are at heart single-player games. Gameplay is simple and intuitive—rules of play can be explained in a sentence or two. The player quickly builds confidence and comfort with initial stages that are designed to be easy to win. The game advances with only one or two modes—typing or single clicks rather than complex keyboard and modifier combinations.

Many casual gamers play in unstable environments, such as at work or on public transportation, so gameplay is easily interruptible and can usually be suspended without penalty. Gameplay tends to be open-ended— progressive but not sequential. There is often no “final” goal that marks the finish line, just a series of more challenging levels marked by higher scores. Each succeeding puzzle is a variation on a familiar theme. These characteristics make it possible to find a comfortable game and replay it frequently, building strong user loyalty for the game and the site on which it was found. In practice, the term casual games reveals itself as a misnomer. These games are casual only in that they can be accessed easily and with no planning. Successful casual games, like Pop Cap’s Bejeweled or Zuma, are actually highly addictive. Although designed for short bursts of gaming, a popular casual game can hold a player hostage for hours—a perfect way to relieve stress and wind down from work during lunch or at the end of the workday. Despite their extensive online dominance, casual games have long been the underrated stepsister of electronic gaming. This opinion has changed as Nintendo Wii’s impressive sales figures made it clear that a powerful underserved demographic had been ignored or misunderstood by the hard-core-game–driven gaming world. The demographics of casual game players conform more closely to those of the Wii than to most console games. They tend to attract an older audience dominated by women over the age of 40 years, most of whom would never answer to the gamer label. In fact, although consumers are fairly evenly divided by sex, women over 35 years old represent about 70 percent of those who actually pay for game downloads rather than just use them online. See Also: Arcades; Checkers and Variations of; Crosswords; Go; Puzzles; Word Games (Other Than Crosswords). Bibliogaphy. Dean Takahashi, “PopCap Games Executive Interview: Don’t be Stupid, Have Fun,” www.venturebeat .com (cited July 2008); Seth Schiesel, “Video Games Conquer Retirees,” New York Times (March 30, 2007); Casual Connect, “Casual Games Market Report 2007,” www.casualconnect .com (cited July 2008). Cynthia L. Baron Northeastern University



Central American Nations Central America consists of the countries in the southernmost tip of the North American continent: Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama (which, because of the Panama Canal, literally straddles North and South America). With the exception of Belize—formerly British Honduras—the Central American nations are all former Spanish possessions. Because of its proximity to the Caribbean Sea, there is a good deal of cultural interchange between Central America and the Caribbean; the Caribbean nation of the Dominican Republic is a member of the System for Central American Integration (SICA), a nascent European Union–like organization. Cat and Mouse Cat and Mouse is a Costa Rican children’s game for at least seven players and is therefore good at parties and school. Two players are designated the cat and the mouse; the rest form a circle around the mouse, holding hands, singing “Alla viene el gato y el raton, a darle combate al tiburon” (the cat and rat are coming to fight the shark). The cat tries to break through the circle to catch the mouse, while the children in the circle try to stop him by moving together to close the gaps between them or lowering their hands. Crazy Seven Crazy Seven is a memory and counting game played throughout Central America, with five or more players. One player begins counting one, the player to his left counts two, and so on around the circle. At seven and every multiple of seven, players clap their hands in unison and counting resumes in the opposite direction. Players who fail to clap are out of the game. Wall Bounce Especially popular in Guatemala, Wall Bounce is played with a tennis ball (or racquet sport ball of some kind) for each player. Players line up a short distance from a wall, and bounce the balls against it while reciting the game’s chant in time with following the directions indicated by the chant—anyone who makes a mistake is out of the game. The American game Russia, with chants like “onesies” and “twosies,” is very similar. The Wall Bounce chant is:

Central American Nations

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Sin moverse (without moving) Sin reirme (without laughing) Sin hablar (without talking) En un pie (on one foot) En una mano (with one hand) Adelante (clap your hands in front before the catch) Atras (clap your hands behind you) Torbellino (whirl your hands like a “whirlwind”—torbellino—before the catch) Caballete (clap your hands under one knee like a “little horse”) Ahora sí (“right now”—hold your arms straight in front of you to catch) Media vuelta (turn around halfway) Vuelta entero (turn all the way around) The Blind Hen The Blind Hen is a Salvadoran game for a large group of players. The player who is “It” is blindfolded and spun around, while other players circle him or her (holding hands) and chant, “Little hen, what are you looking for?” The “hen” replies, “A thimble and a needle,” only to be told, “We have it, but we won’t give it to you.” The hen must then try to tag another player while the group tries to avoid any of its members being tagged and at the same time taunting the hen and hinting at where they are with their voices. La Rayuela La Rayuela is a Hopscotch game in Honduras, where the days of the week are marked on the Hopscotch board. Players kick a marker (a rock, stick, piece of tile, etc.) onto a square, hop into that square, turn and kick the marker out, and hop out. The Pilgrim The Pilgrim is a hopscotch game played in Panama using a board unlike the one familiar with Americans: A rectangle is divided into six segments by drawing a square in it, with an X in the square (four segments in the square, plus the segments north and south of the square). Each player kicks his or her marker into square one, hops into it, kicks it into square two, hops into it, and so on, alternating directions while moving forward through the board. See Also: Bahamas and the Caribbean; South Americans, Traditional Cultures; Spanish America; Tag.

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Bibliography. Arnold Arnold, World Book of Children’s Games (Fawcett, 1972); Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Jesse Hubbell Bancroft, Games (MacMillan, 1937); Roger Caillois, Man, Play and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Patricia Evans, Rimbles: A Book of Children’s Classic Games, Rhymes, Songs, and Sayings (Doubleday, 1961); E.O. Harbin, Games of Many Nations (Abingdon Press, 1954); Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Nina Millen, Children’s Games from Many Lands (Friendship Press, 1943). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Central Asia, Ancient In the modern world, Central Asia broadly refers to the western Chinese provinces (such as Xinjiang, Tibet, and Qinghai); the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan; and the nations of Afghanistan and Mongolia. It has historically been inhabited by Turkic peoples, with Russians forming a significant minority in the modern age and Tajiks (a Persian-speaking Iranian people) making up much of the population of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. When we speak of ancient Central Asia, we are speaking principally of these Turkic peoples (and possibly related groups such as the Mongols), living in the steppes north of the Ancient Near East and the easternmost reaches of the Indo-European peoples. In earliest times, the area was inhabited by nomadic and seminomadic groups who domesticated the horse and the camel. In the last two millennia b.c.e., as empires came to power in the ancient Near East, the steppe people provided a constant source of trouble for them; Herodotus chronicles the doomed efforts of the Persians to conquer the Scythians, for instance. Ancient Sports The steppe peoples were well-known for their proficiency with horses—the Huns and Mongols were famous for it—and horseback riding and racing were popular (and practical) pursuits. One of the earliest sports in the region developed out of this proclivity: polo, probably

first played in nearby Persia in the last couple of centuries b.c.e. Like many games, polo was a form of simulated warfare, sometimes played with as many as 100 horsemen on each side. The “game of kings”—in Persia it was almost exclusive to the nobility—spread across Central Asia as far west as Constantinople and as far east as Tibet, where the word pulu for ball gave the sport its name, later corrupted by the British (who discovered it through India) into polo. Unlike in Persia, across the steppes polo was the game of the people—all the people. Those who could ride could play, hitting the ball as they rode with curved sticks similar to field hockey sticks. Leather shields were sometimes used to protect players’ legs from being struck by the sticks, and vulnerable parts of their steeds’ anatomy were likewise protected. The sport grew in popularity fast enough that rituals evolved in some parts of the world devoted to one or another god of polo, and the oldest surviving polo ground in the world dates to 33 b.c.e., in the Manipur state of India. The game of field hockey is much like polo without the mounts; while one did not necessarily evolve from the other (stick-and-ball games are common around the world), the Daur people of Central Asia developed their game of beikou sometime after the spread of polo through the region. Beikou is a short (roughly half an hour), intense game played between two teams of men fighting over an apricot root with long sturdy branches. While polo passed from the elites to the commoners, the sport of cuju began in the army and was eventually adopted by the royal courts of China’s Han dynasty. Probably beginning sometime in the 5th century b.c.e., cuju was very similar to football. A ball stuffed with feathers was used, with six goal posts on the field, some with nets between them, and some freestanding. Professional players played the game for the royal court, but it was an exceptionally popular sport among people from all walks of life—including women. Many illustrations survive of women playing cuju, along with records of a teenage girl beating a military team in a match. The sport evolved over time, and in the Song dynasty the six goals were reduced to one, in the center of the field (giving both teams equal access to it, with points accruing according to the team member who made the goal). But the game died off because that interest encouraged a commercial aspect, and the Song’s usurpation of the sport led them to shore up the professional players by requiring amateur players to

Charades



hire a professional to train them—making it no longer a sport that could be played for free, or in which skill was more important than license. Another stick-and-ball game, resembling golf more than field hockey, was chuiwan, which originated in the Song dynasty of China and spread as far as Europe when the Mongols discovered it. Little today is known about its rules beyond the hitting of balls into shallow holes in the ground from a distance—a simple game of skill that is easy to adjust for both children and adults. Early Games At the same time that cuju developed, the Chinese invented the board game xiangqi. It may have been related to liubo—not much is known about liubo’s rules to be sure. The word xiangqi means “figure game,” but may indicate a connection to the constellations; the “river” on the board is referred to as the “heavenly river” in some literature, which would imply the Milky Way. The movements of pieces on the board may emulate, or suggest, the movement of celestial objects in the night sky. Though a military strategy game, xiangqi had a strong following among the people as an engrossing game that rewarded attention and concentration. Like Chess and possibly liubo, xiangqi used a variety of figures—seven types—with different point values and different methods of movement, which is one reason the game in the modern day is often called Chinese Chess. The earliest Go board has been discovered in northwest China, from the Han dynasty—around 246 b.c.e.—but while the game was likely known on the steppes, it did not spread west with the same success as other pursuits. The Chinese were especially fond of puzzles, which were a pursuit of both children and adults. The disentanglement puzzle now known as baguenaudier was invented by the 2nd-century general Zhuge Liang and is sometimes known via its variant the Impossible Staircase. In the puzzle, a double loop of string must be disentangled from a series of rings on pillars. Many similar puzzles abounded in the era, across the steppes; unlike modern board games, such puzzles could often be created on the spot from items at hand, which could then be reused for their original purpose later. The Chinese board game liubo, dating from early in the 2nd millennium b.c.e., was popular in the area until about the 500s b.c.e. A strategy game or “battle game” like Chess, its rules are not known—rarely in antiq-

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uity were rulebooks of games written—but it involved moving figures across a grid of squares and an accumulation of “fish” or “stones” representing points. It could have been as involved as Chess, as deep as Go, or as simple as Checkers. See Also: Afghanistan; Africa, Traditional Play in; Ancient China; Ancient Egypt; Ancient Greece; Ancient India; Ancient Rome; Go. Bibliography. Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Robbie Bell and Michael Cornelius, Board Games Round the World: A Resource Book for Mathematical Investigations (Cambridge University Press, 1988); Roger Caillois, Man, Play and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); Patricia Evans, Rimbles: A Book of Children’s Classic Games, Rhymes, Songs, and Sayings (Doubleday, 1961); E.O. Harbin, Games of Many Nations (Abingdon Press, 1954); Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Nina Millen, Children’s Games From Many Lands (Friendship Press, 1943); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 1997). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Charades The tension in the game of Charades comes from trying to help the audience guess the meaning of the charade, but not to guess too quickly. There is no dramatic tension, and hence no fun, if the charade is solved without a comic detour. For hundreds of years, charades were guessing games with riddle clues, often given in rhyme with a two-part or two-syllable answer. In France the game is still played this way. In the United States and the United Kingdom, Charades are typically performed silently as an acting game for guessing. Literature on Charades is split between books on guessing games and books on silent theater or tableaux. The former is rooted in the European game tradition of courtly entertainment, most notably the petits jeux of the court of King Louis XIV, the latter, in the people’s theater of mumming and mime. Philosophical treatises on the complexities of silent enactment go back to Pla-

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to’s Cratylus (360 b.c.e.), as Socrates speculated on our potential, like the deaf, for using head, hands, and body for basic communication. Books still exist from the 1700–1900s about the enormous popularity of American and British Charades. These games were created for group entertainment, either for royalty or for one’s own parlor. They typically had poetic clues to proverbs or were riddles, often with the formula “my first,” “my second,” “my whole,” indicating a hint at the first syllable, the second syllable, and the whole proverb or compound phrase. Air-gun, archbishop, court-ship—books often contained alphabetized answers to each riddle. For example: “My first has weight; my second, humor. My whole I only know by rumor: It’s tastes, they tell me are aquatic, It’s manners, lively and erratic. Answer? Gram-pus” (A whale). The charade sometimes included a tease about its solvability. “My first means provisions, my second yields drink, my whole’s a good whish—what is it d’ye think? Fare-well.” Charades began to include what was called “dumb show” or silent enactment along with the clues in the early 1800s. Nonverbal theater itself goes back to ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, and Asia and was associated with religious ritual, dance, and pageantry. Although charades are done with pantomime, they are different from “pantomimes,” which are scripted comedies often performed for Christmas and other festive occasions. Charades may appear to be like a signed language; however, charades contain conventions, but no grammar. Today the acting game is played in teams, or with a single, silent performer acting in front of a group. The performer either makes up a clue title, or is given one to perform. The one who guesses correctly gets to go next. Standard gestures for the game include icons for the initial category: movie—turning of an old-fashioned movie camera; song—opening the mouth and silently singing; book—opening two hands together, imitating a book; and phrase—making quote marks with both first and second fingers moving up and down. Other variations include celebrities, plays, television shows, Web sites, and video games. Titles that include double-entendre are the most popular in any genre. Clues can be literal or visual puns. Touching the ear can suggest “sounds like.” Pointing to something suggests “looks like.” Pointing to one’s lower arm indicates a syllable, harkening back to the split-syllable tradition of the earlier rhyming charades. The enthusiastic touching of the forefinger to the nose indicates the

answer is correct, or “on the nose.” Incorrect answers or misunderstood clues often lead to giggling. Charades became popular in America in the 1940s and 1950s and have been incorporated into British and American television shows, and coopted by educators for teaching history and other subjects. It has been packaged into numerous variations as a board game since the 1960s, along with its recent pencil-and-paper variation, Pictionary. Most recently, scholars of animal behavior have suggested that orangutans in captivity play a charades-like game to communicate preferred foods. There is no report of the orangutans giggling, however. See Also: France; Parlor Games; Pretending; United States, 1930 to 1960; United States, 1960 to Present. Bibliography. Elliott M. Avedon and Brian Sutton-Smith, eds., The Study of Games (John Wiley & Sons, 1971); L.B.R. Briggs, Original Charades (Scribner and Son, 1891); Annette Lust, From the Greek Mimes to Marcel Marceau and Beyond (Scarecrow, 2000); A. Mayhew, Acting Charades, or Deeds, Not Words: A Christmas Game to Make a Long Evening Short (D. Bogue, 1852); Peter Puzzlewell, A Choice Collection of Riddles, Charades, Rebuses, Etc. (1859) (Kessinger Publishing, 2008); St. Andrews University in Scotland, “Orangutans ‘Play Charades’ to Communicate with People,” National Geographic News (August 2, 2007). Anna Beresin University of the Arts

Checkers and Variations of Checkers is not a single game but a family. Checkers (or Draughts as it is known in England) may have been played in Ur, modern-day Iraq, as early as 3000 b.c.e. Archaeologists carbon dated a game that resembled modern Checkers, although the board and number of pieces are different and the rules are not fully known. Less cloudy is the history of Quirkat. Egyptian inscriptions and paintings as early as 1600 b.c.e. contain references to a game like Checkers, and Quirkat was played throughout Egypt in 1400 b.c.e. Even temple walls held depictions of the game, which was played on a 5 x 5 board. Although pieces moved along the intersections of lines, rather than diagonally as in the modern game, it



used flat circular pieces in light and dark colors and had the same objective—take the opposing pieces. Plato and Homer refer to the game, and Ramses III and a female are shown on a Theban wall painting using pieces modeled after Trojan war heroes such as Achilles and Ajax. As Quirkat, the game arrived in Spain with the Arab/ Berber armies of Tariq in 711. It first appears in written history in Abu al-Faraj Ali’s Kitab al-Aghani (Book of Songs) c. 950 c.e. From Moorish Spain it spread through Europe, Hispanicized as Alquerque. An incomplete set of rules for Alquerque is in the Libro de Acedrex, Dados e Tablas of Alphonso X, an illuminated manuscript created between 1251 and 1282. Variations Around 1100, the old Arabic game of Alquerque was adapted onto an 8 x 8 chessboard in the south of France. The larger board required expansion of the number of pieces to 12 per side. The name of the game was Fierges, and the pieces were ferses. Fierges had no compulsory jumping. The mandatory capture rule came into being in 1535 in France to add challenge to the game; the new variation was called Jeu Force, and the older Fierges, now relegated to women’s play because it was less of a challenge, became known as Le Jeu Plaisant de Dames or Dames. With Jeu Force, by the middle of the 16th century the basics of the modern game were in place. This form became Draughts in England. Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand also refer to the game as Draughts. The English mathematician William Payne wrote a work on Draughts in 1756. The Dutch refined the game in the 18th century by enlarging the board to 10 x 10 and using 20 pieces a side. In this form it moved to North America and became Checkers. Checkers and Draughts games all use two types of pieces (called stones): soldiers and kings. Initially all pieces are soldiers. Players take turns moving their pieces either into blank squares or jumping and thereby capturing enemy pieces. Captures are single or multiple and are generally mandatory, with no option of ending a jump before taking all available enemy pieces. Soldiers become kings by reaching the enemy’s back row. Soldiers move diagonally; kings have more options, depending on the variant being played. Victory comes to the first player to stalemate the other, either by blocking all moves or taking all opposing pieces. If neither can prevail, the game is a draw.

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American Checkers Draughts or American Checkers plays on an 8 x 8 board with 12 soldiers a side, and limits soldiers to moving forward only, allows kings short jumps, and has other variations. Continental or international Checkers uses a 10 x 10 board with 20 pieces a side. Soldiers can capture forward or backward, and kings have longer jumps. In Poland this game is sometimes played on the 8 x 8 board. Brazil and Sweden also use the Draughts configuration for international rules. Since good players often draw, Killer Checkers is sometimes played; in this variant a player must stop at the next cell after the last jumped piece if the piece is a king. Local variants apply also in Portugal, Spain, and the Czech Republic. Thai Checkers uses eight pieces a side. Italian Checkers bars soldiers from capturing kings and sets other restrictions on jumps. There is a variant called Pool Checkers that was played in the southern United States in the 18th century. Its background is either Spanish or French, possibly both, and it resembles Russian Checkers. Other Versions Canadian Checkers uses international rules and 30 stones per side. It is popular also in Sri Lanka and India. Frisian Checkers is played mainly in Holland and, as Fri-

Although some regard Checkers as a simple game for kids, there are an estimated 500 quintillion possible positions.

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sian Draughts, was first used by innkeepers in the 18th century to draw in customers. Turkey also has a distinct Checkers variant with 16 stones on an 8 x 8 board not separated by blank squares at play’s beginning. Stones can move forward or sideways. A variant is called Kens. J. Boyler has developed a Checkers game in which red has 10 pieces and black 20. The game is called, naturally, 10 vs. 20. Red has to take all black pieces, while black’s objective is to stalemate red. Other games are Albuquerque, dating probably to the American Civil War; Christopher Elis’s Give and Take; and the Italian Kharberg/Damma played on a 5 x 5 board with 12 stones per side and, thus, virtually no empty spaces in which to maneuver. Peter Aronson offers Ring Board Checkers, and Matthew Burke uses two interconnected sets of Checkers to play Activator Checkers. Remco Industries developed Fascination Checkers in 1962. In Losing Draughts, the player unable to move wins the game. Other variations include Hide, Board Draughts, Contract Checkers (created 1935), Chip (created 2002), Surround Checkers, Fractagonals, and Polarity. The game remains popular and attracts creative players always seeking a new means of keeping the challenge in the game. Tournament Play The first world Checkers championship occurred in 1847. Tournament play began in 1847, with world championships following. Tournaments have strict rules and emphasize strategy. Soon it became apparent that certain openings were inevitably advantageous, and tournament players had two move restrictions, later increased to three moves. Andrew Anderson of Scotland defeated James Wyllie, also of Scotland, in the first world championship match in 1847. Playing Go-As-You-Please style, they had previously played four matches. Wyllie outlasted Anderson to win the title. In 1859 Wyllie lost to Robert Martins of England, but Wyllie recaptured the title in 1864 and again in 1872 defeated Martins. In 1873 and 1874 Wyllie won matches against the American W.R. Barker. In 1876 Robert Yates of the United States won the title and defended successfully in 1877 against Martins. Then he retired, later dying at sea at age 24. Wyllie regained the title and defended successfully until he lost to James Ferrie of Scotland in 1894. Ferrie lost to fellow Scot Richard Jordan in 1896. Jordan beat Robert Stewart of Scotland in 1897.

By this point the play was producing an inordinate number of draws, so the Two-Move Restriction came into being. The initial two moves of a game were taken at random from a list of legitimate moves. Six two-move openings were banned as too advantageous to one of the players. Two of them cost a piece at the onset. American Charles F. Barker, brother of W.R. Barker, tied Jordan in 1900, but Jordan retained the title, defeating Harry Freedman of Scotland in 1902 before resigning the title in 1903. Ferrie became champion. International team play began in 1905. England and Scotland had competed previously, but this was the first competition outside Britain. Great Britain bested the United States easily. The second international match in 1927 went to the Americans over the British easily. The Americans won the third match in 1973, again easily, and they won the fourth in 1983 in similar fashion. The fifth match in 1995 again went to the Americans. Alfred Jordan of England (not related to Richard Jordan, although some sources contend they were cousins) offered to play anyone in the world for his title in 1912. Ferrie declined. Stewart accepted, but the match never took place. In 1914 American Newell W. Banks tied Jordan. Jordan was regarded as world champion although he never won the title. Banks defeated him in 1917, and Jordan moved to America where he placed second several times in the American championship but never won the title. Banks lost to Stewart in 1922, then several times sought a rematch that Stewart refused. Banks claimed the title in 1934 because Stewart refused to play. Banks lost the title to American Asa Long the same year in the first match to use the Three-Move Restriction, which made the first three match moves by random selection from an approved move list. The British regarded Stewart as champion and twomove restriction as the order of play, so they refused to recognize the outcome. The British and Americans had separate champions into the 1960s, when they rejoined competition. Champion Checker Players Championship players could compete for a long time. In the American championship, Long defended against Edwin Hunt of the United States in 1936 but lost to Walter Hellman, another American, in 1948. Hellman tied Willie Ryan in 1949 and defeated Maurice Chamblee in 1951 and Basil Case in 1953. He lost to Marion Tinsley



in 1955. Tinsley beat England’s wheelchair-bound Derek Oldbury, who ignored the ban on British competition in American events, in 1958. When Tinsley retired, Hellman reclaimed the championship. Hellman defended against Long in 1962, Oldbury in 1965, and Eugene Frazier of the United States in 1967. Hellman died in 1975, and Tinsley took the title, defending against Elbert Lowder of the United States in 1979 and Long in 1981. Again in 1985 Tinsley defeated Long (recall, Long was champion first in 1934 and qualified to challenge in 1985 by winning the U.S. tournament). Tinsley defeated American Don Lafferty in 1987 and retired in 1991. Oldbury beat Richard Hallett to claim the title; Hallett had been retired from Checkers for 30 years before that match. Oldbury died in 1994, and Ron King of Barbados became champion in a match against England’s William Edwards. Ron King tied Don Lafferty to hold the title in 1996. The most recent championship was in 2003, and Alexander Moiseyev dethroned King. Tinsley, who died in 1995, lost only seven games in 45 years and is regarded as the greatest Checker player in history. The first women’s championship took place in 1986. The winner was England’s Joan Caws, who defended several times before losing in 1993 to Patricia Breen of Ireland, the current champion. By the turn of the 21st century the American Checkers championships included Two- and Three-Move Restriction, Go-As-You-Please, 11-Man Ballot, Mail Play, and women’s. The World Checkers Draughts Federation also held man–computer competitions and junior championships. In 2003 the reigning computer world champion was Nemesis. Early Checkers Computer Games The first computers and the first computer Checkers game appeared before World War II. Alan Turing, the famous computer pioneer, was the first to apply computer logic to a well-defined, rule-driven game. Because the first computers were not sophisticated or powerful enough to handle his game, Turing simulated play by making paper and pencil computations. Arthur L. Samuel wrote the first Checkers program in 1952, a learning program rather than a game-playing one. Within a few years he was playing two copies of the program against each other, eliminating the loser, and pitting the winner against yet another version. Over time, the program improved, and eventually it appeared capable of master-level play. The program famously beat a blind Connecticut Checkers master,

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Robert Nealey, but later it became known that Nealey was not as good as reputed. In 1966 the Samuel program lost eight games in a row to Walter Hellman and Derek Oldbury. Still, given the slow speed of computers at the time, the program was remarkable, and it was the first that could improve itself without the aid of a human. The Duke Checkers program, developed in the 1970s by Tom Truscott, Alan Bierman, and Eric Jensen, beat Samuel’s program in a two-game match and lost to Elbert Lowder with two losses, two draws, and a win. Lowder was careless and should have not have lost a single match. The Duke programmers challenged Marion Tinsley, but the match never took place, and the Duke program was shelved. Chinook Jonathan Schaeffer’s Chinook began in 1989. Schaeffer was working on computer Chess but decided to change to Checkers. He assembled a team that included Norman Treolar as the game expert, Robert Lake for databases, and Martin Bryant as the creator of an opening book. Many graduate students and faster computers were also essential. Chinook introduced the endgame database to Checkers. This allowed the computer to know all possible positions with eight pieces or fewer on the board. The database was six gigabytes, compressed. The Schaeffer team had its match with Tinsley in 1992, but lost four to two without the eight-piece database. For the 1994 rematch they had the full database, and the match featured six draws before Tinsley retired because of ill health (he died shortly thereafter). Chinook beat Don Lafferty, second best in the world to Tinsley, in 1995. The match featured 31 draws and a single victory. Chinook won the 1996 U.S. national tournament. The team had proved all it had wanted to, so it retired Chinook and made the database public. The database was the PC standard for years thereafter. PC games include Gil Dodgen’s Checkers and Martin Bryant’s Colossus from the early 1990s, which was probably the best PC game because it used the Chinook database as well as Bryant’s opening book. Dodgen worked with Ed Trice to develop World Championship Checkers. English players also entered the game scene: Adrian Millet’s Sage, Murray Cash’s Nexus and Nemesis, and Roberto Waldteufel’s Wyllie. Roberto had a seven-piece database at a time when Chinook was holding onto its seven- and eight-piece databases. Cash and the Trice/Dodgen pair developed the eight-piece

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database in 2001, as did Martin Fierz, and Schaeffer released the eight-piece database in 2002. In late 2007, one book contained 1,869,199 moves. Also in 2007, a 10-piece endgame book was available for purchase. Modern Computer Programs Modern programs can show every possible combination of moves when eight pieces are left on the board (some say the programs can do this at 10 pieces); the result is that computer Checkers is more a game of database searching than of strategy. The programs consistently play the best Checkers players to a draw and sometimes defeat them. The game remains popular worldwide and provides training in logic and thinking, as well as providing a great deal of fun. Although some people regard Checkers as a simple game for old men and small children, estimates of the number of possible positions reach 500 quintillion. Expert players can spend years mastering play, developing favorite strategies for both defense and attack. They study long series of forced jumps, known as strokes, that have attained classic status. Famous strokes include the Boomerang, Wyllie’s Switcher Winder, and the Goose Walk. The Canalejas Cannonball strategy is 350 years old and still can end a game in only five moves. Checkers is a worldwide game with local variations in rules, board, and pieces, but the same basics. A sign of the popularity of Checkers and the seriousness with which players regard it is the development of the online Checkers history museum, started as a means of preserving images lost in the fire at the Petal, Missouri, International Checker Hall of Fame in 2007. The World of Checkers Museum is in Dubuque, Iowa, and the American competitive Checkers organization posts online news of tournaments, as well as rankings, transcripts of championship matches, and educational material about the game and how to become more proficient at it. See Also: Chess and Variations of; France; Play as Competition, Psychology of; Play as Competition, Sociology of; United States, 1860 to 1876; United States, 1900 to 1930; United States, 1930 to 1960; United States, 1960 to Present. Bibliography. Robbie Bell and Michael Cornelius, Board Games Round the World: A Resource Book for Mathematical Investigations (Cambridge University Press, 1988); College Sports Scholarships, “A Brief History and How to Play Checkers,” www.collegesportsscholarships.com/check

ers-draughts.htm (cited July 2008); Martin Fierz, “A Brief History of Computer Checkers,” www.fierz.ch/history .htm (cited July 2008); Martin Fierz, “Checkers,” www. fierz.ch/checkers.htm (cited June 2008); Neto, Joao Pedro, “The Checkers Family, The World of Abstract Games,” homepages.di.fc.ul.pt/~jpn/gv/checkers.htm (cited July 2008); Online Museum of Checkers History, “Promoting the Future of Checkers, by Glorifying its Past,” www .online-museum-of-checkers-history.com/ (cited July 2008); Usacheckers.com, “World Championship Results,” www .usacheckers.com/worldchampionshipresults.php (cited July 2008); World Checkers Draughts Federation, wcdf.wz.cz /index.htm (cited July 2008). John Barnhill Independent Scholar

Chess and Variations of Chess has always been a fascinating game. It has a long history, with roots in ancient India. Besides the game in practice, there is a long history of literature recording past developments and tactics. Furthermore, this game has been an interesting object of theoretical speculations in psychology, sociology, linguistics, semiotics, and philosophy. It is known as the game of the kings and is not a game of chance. This led to its identification with intelligence in early computer science, whereas modern literature has shown that its self-referential logic is linked to insanity. More prominently, Chess is present as a symbol in fine arts and cinema. For these reasons, Chess could perhaps be the greatest game created by humankind. Origins As with every other creation, Chess gives the impression of having had an inventor, as in myths in which a god creates languages or other cultural artifacts. The first known tale about Chess’s creation is found in a Muslim legend that dates back to pre-Muhammadan days, according to the historian Murray. It reports the history of Qaflan, a Persian philosopher who was asked by the Queen Husiya, daughter of Balhait, to invent “war without bloodshed.” The philosopher asked the Queen to give him a gift in grains of corn upon the squares of the chessboard. On the first square one grain, on the second two, on the third



square double of that on the second, and in the same way until the last square. The total of the geometrical progression is 264-1, or 18,446,744,073,709,551,615—a quantity that would cover England to a uniform depth of 38.4 feet in grains of corn. Poets never ceased to write legends about Chess: in 1763 Sir William Jones wrote a poem on Caissa, the nymph who was the means of teaching Chess to mankind. Legends apart, Chatrang Namak (8th century b.c.e.) is the first written source explaining Chess rules and attributing its origins to India. Earlier sanskrit sources refer to Chaturanga (four angles), an early Chess ancestor in which four armies battle on a chessboard. Archaeological findings like the Butrint “King” (465 b.c.e.) are often uncertain. Because of their differential value, we need at least two figures to identify them as Chess pieces. Linguistic data are more interesting; the evolution of the term Chaturanga led to Persian Chatrang and Muslim Shatranj. The etymology of English term Rook is related to Sanskrit term Ratha, meaning “chariot.” War chariots were used in Indo-European armies before they learned how to ride (as described in epic poems like the Iliad). Chess history can be useful in reconstructing ancient Indo-European institutions. Starting from India, lexical data let us reconstruct how Chess spread across Asia to the Malay Islands, China, and Japan, starting new variants. The history of the term queen is interesting in understanding how Chess arrived in Europe. The piece was, in Sanskrit, the mantrin, meaning the Raja’s minister. The term was translated to Persian farzin, then became the arabian firzan or firz, meaning a vizier. This explains the Italian term fersa, which in the Middle Ages designated the piece we call the Queen. The term led to the French vierge (virgin). The feminization of the Indian piece minister was complete, and explains the modern Italian donna (woman). In Spanish and in English the vierge became a Queen, probably because of its position next to the King. Another explanation could be the political importance of Renaissance queens. The term remains ferz in Russian, thus indicating a possible second Chess route from Persia to Europe. A confirmation comes from slon, the Russian term for the bishop, which means “elephant”; like the Sanskrit hasti, persian pil, and Arabian al-fil (the elephant). The term became alfil in Spanish, in Italian alfiere (meaning ensign), and in French fou, meaning joker. The same linguistic data would seem to exclude an origin from the Byzantine game Zatrikion, which is similar to Chess. The

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link between the two routes has been found in Poland, where both European and Russian terms are present in Renaissance Chess, as in Jan Kochanowski’s poem Szachi. Other hypotheses on Chess’s relation with ancient Latin games, like the Latrunculorum Ludus, are neither proved clearly by archaeological findings nor supported by linguistic data. Evolution From Chaturanga to contemporary Chess, rules have different variants in relation to their geographical and historical development. In the Middle Ages, the old rules inherited from the Muslim world coexisted with modern innovations in codexes like the Bonus Socius (8th century). These codexes report a rich collection of Chess problems, often for gambling purposes. Some of them are classified as Partito a la rabiosa, referring to the modern movement of the queen. Still, the Cracow Poem (1422) reports many unfamiliar rules about the king’s and queen’s movement. Heterodox Chess, Chess variants, always coexisted with the official rules that represent just one of the ways in which the game evolved. We have heterodox chessboards, heterodox pieces like the Griffin and heterodox games like Kriegspiel. Nowadays, everyone can easily play old and new heterodox Chess, like Bobby Fischer’s game on the internet. Both the Catholic and the Orthodox churches condemned the game in the Middle Ages, thus proving the popularity of the game at that time. The Renaissance saw the standardization of rules across the European courts and international Chess activity began. Chess tractates developed Chess theory; in the 15th century, Juan Ramirez de Lucena wrote a treatise reporting both the old rules for the Queen’s movement (De Viejo) and the new ones (De dama). Portuguese player Damiano published his chessbook in Rome (1512). Chess players attained a cosmopolitan reputation and often international contests were organized. At the court of Philip II of Spain, the great Ruy Lopez was beaten by Paolo Boi of Syracuse. The Italian player Gioacchino Greco was so popular that he was invited to England, France, and Spain to exhibit his talents. A lot of contemporary knowledge, openings (the first moves), and theoretical ideas in national schools of thought and traditions originate from this period. Modern Chess In modern Chess, theoretical innovations are related to the names of the greatest players and to the cultural

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Chess has been popular since the Middle Ages, even though both the Catholic and Orthodox churches condemned it.

glories of their nations. The greatest players spoke Spanish and Italian during the Renaissance, French between the Enlightenment and Romanticism, English and German at the turn of the 20th century, and Russian after World War II. As the great world champion Aleksandr Alekhine noticed, these movements are related to artistic and cultural movement too. Philidor, a French composer and Chess player, first analyzed the pawn chains according to 18th-century rationalism; players like Labourdonnais or Mac Donnell developed the impetuous Romantic style, exemplified in historical games like Anderssen’s Immortal or Evergreen. The positional school of Steinitz and Tarrasch posed some of the basis for modern Chess thinking and are related to Positivism; Aron Nimzowitsch, Richard Reti, and Aleksandr Alekhine developed the new “hypermodern” conception by reversing the value traditionally accorded to center occupation. In the same period, Picasso’s Cubism posed a new representational con-

vention, and Arnold Schoenberg invented the new dodecaphonic musical grammar. In 1924, the World Chess Federation was founded, thus inheriting the experience of other informal organizations wiped out by World War I. At that time, the title of World Champion became formally recognized. Before that date, those considered world champions were Wilhelm Steinitz, from 1866 to 1894, Emanuel Lasker (champion 1894–1921), José Raul Capablanca (champion 1921–27), Aleksandr Alekhine (champion 1927–46, with a brief interruption by Max Euwe between 1935 and 1937). After World War II, Russian players Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, and Tigran Petrosyan took turns holding possession of the world title 1951–69. Boris Spassky obtained the title in 1969 and held it until 1972, when he lost the match to the American Bobby Fischer. This challenge inaugurated a new era in Chess and became a symbol of the United States–Russia Cold War. The young Fischer refused to play against Anatoly Karpov in 1975, probably because of psychological pressure. Karpov represented Russia until 1985, when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. After the end of the Cold War, Kasparov broke his relations with the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and created his own organization. The world title was reunified in 2006, when Vladimir Kramnik defeated World Chess Federation champion Veselin Topalov. In 2007 Kramnik lost the title, beaten by Indian champion Viswanathan Anand. Chess and Artificial Intelligence In the 20th century, Chess became an interesting topic of discussion in research fields such as information science, linguistics, sociology, psychology, and philosophy. Chess is central in the pioneering research of Alan Turing, who wrote the first Chess program in 1951. Because of the lack of computers, he tested the algorithm manually against a young researcher, Alick Glennie. The machine lost. In the second part of the century, the Russian world champion Botvinnik, an engineer, worked on heuristic Chess algorithms; nowadays, brute-force calculus is more employed by programmers, thanks to the great improvements in computer execution time. In 1997, the purpose-built Chess computer Deep Blue won a match against the world champion Garry Kasparov. More recently, a commercial software program defeated world champion Vladimir Kramnik. During the World Title Match between Kramnik and Topalov, Topalov’s



coaches accused Kramnik of using a small portable chessboard during game breaks. Both human and computer strength is measurable by the Elo score—the international standard of evaluation. Elo points are attributed or subtracted to a player’s score in relation to opponent’s strength and game result (win, draw, loss), using a complex mathematical formula invented by the american master Arpad Elo. The current World Champion Anand has a score of 2,800 Elo points, whereas contemporary software reaches an incredible score of 3,000. Nevertheless, Chess engines are not close to imitating human Chess logic: human players construct long-term plans, trying by method to start the antagonist on the way to the position they aim toward. Computers simply calculate every possible move to a certain depth: Beyond their calculus horizon, they know nothing. Perspectives on Chess Meaning In Saussure’s work, Chess became a metaphor for the positional and differential conception of linguistic value. Hjelmslev developed the comparison with formalized languages like logic and mathematics. Chess became a model of meaning in early Structuralism. Even in the analytical tradition, Ludwig Wittgenstein was fascinated by the analogies between languages and Chess. He focused on rules; the failed attempt to reduce the rules of mathematics to ones of logic led the philosopher to consider the meaning of following the rules of different games in different situations. He argues that when one shows someone the king and says: “this is the king,” this does not tell him the use of this piece unless he already knows the rules. With this model, like both Hjelmslev’s and Saussure’s, we are not capable of fully understanding how to choose between the possible strategies and plans permitted by the rules. A more suitable model can be found in Umberto Eco’s works: According to him, in Chess, a given position conveys a series of optional moves, a set of possible responses, and a chain of foreseeable (or unforeseeable) solutions. The two players’ evaluations can be, and effectively are, sensibly different. Eco agrees with Charles Peirce’s pragmatic notion of meaning as “conceivable consequences.” The most important Chess philosopher was Emanuel Lasker. The World Chess Champion studied mathematics with David Hilbert and became a respected professor of mathematics at Heidelberg University. In his book Struggle, he developed many Chess ideas in his general

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philosophy. He noticed how Chess shows an aesthetic effect: what the move says, expresses, discloses, and announces—it is that which excites and stirs the spectator. The spectator enjoys not a game of Chess but the history and drama of the game in which a chessboard is merely the stage and the pieces its actors. He discovered a meaningful relation between position, game rhythm, and passions, and conceived the match as psychological warfare. He used to study his opponents’ games in order to achieve a deep knowledge of their preferences about openings and game lines, thus discovering tactics psychologically disturbing to the enemy. In Alekhine’s example, if a player prefers a defense because of its strength and security, then when the same defense is used against him, he will feel in trouble. Lasker’s concept of psychology was related to Brentano’s theories and as such are perhaps outdated. Psychoanalysis discovered an importance in Chess quite early on; in 1931 Ernest Jones presented to the British Psycho-Analytical Society a work on the great American champion Paul Morphy. In a Freudian perspective, Chess is the sublimation of both aggressive and homosexual impulses. The great Chess player and New York psychoanalyst Reuben Fine extended this point of view, analyzing the life of many modern Chess champions. He also trained the young champion Bobby Fischer. His psychoanalytic point of view is rather old-fashioned. In spite of this, he underlined the relationship between Chess and mental disease, present in the works of contemporary psychiatrists like Dextreit and Engel. However, contemporary cognitive psychology is more interested in the role of vision and memory with respect to Chess position, or in so-called intuition. Both psychological and sociological studies investigate the greatest champions’ careers or Chess expertise in children. The gender problem is a good matter of discussion; sources report that in the Middle Ages, aristocratic women used to play Chess. In spite of this, Chess became a traditionally male competition. Nowadays, women are often seen as weaker players than men, and a women’s world tournament exists. Still, the Hungarian Chess grandmaster Judit Polgár, the only woman on FIDE’s 2008 Top 100 players list, currently refuses to participate in women’s contests. However, differences between men and women at playing Chess are not cognitive but cultural, such as the aggressive attitude of many players and the sexism of the traditional Chess training environment.

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Literature Since the Middle Ages, Chess has been present as a theme in many epic or courtly love poems, as a symbol of either conflict or seduction. In Tristan (12th century), Tristram and Yseult play Chess on their journey to King Mark’s court, during which they become lovers. The romance Les Eschez Amoureux describes in considerable detail a game in which a lady beats her suitor. In Floire et Blanchefleur, the hero is able to enter the Saracen prison in which Blanchefleur is held, thanks to winning a game against the porter. This poem became the model of many novels across Europe—an example is Boccaccio’s Philicopo. The cliché of Chess as seduction existed even up to modern times, for example in the drama Una Partita a Scacchi by Giuseppe Giacosa (1875). In modern times, the essay by Edgar Allan Poe, Maelzel’s Chess Player, anticipated his detective stories and revealed that the famous Chess automaton known as the Turk, which also beat Napoleon, was a fraud. The absolute self-referential game logic is often parodied in novels; Lewis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass is a model for further thematic developments, as in Massimo Bontempelli’s The Chess Set in the Mirror. The same logic is perhaps the key to understanding the link between Chess and insanity, such as in works like The Luzhin Defense by Vladimir Nabokov and The Royal Game by Stefan Zweig. The latter is considered, by players, the best novel about Chess. At first, the reader sympathizes with the mysterious challenger against the arrogant world champion, but then is compelled to take the champion’s side when the challenger shows signs of insanity. The theme of Nazism is also present in the short story, as in other novels like The Luneburg Variation by Paolo Maurensig, which was probably inspired by true World War II episodes, such as the death of many Jewish players, like the Polish player and problematist David Przepiórka (1942). In the same period, many of the world’s great players became instruments of Nazi propaganda, and the same Aleksandr Alekhine was forced to write a delirious article on “Jewish and Aryan Chess,” in 1941. Chess is present also in popular literature. Raymond Chandler, another Chess addict, characterizes his detective Philip Marlowe as a Chess lover in the The Big Sleep. Fine Arts From Arabian to Western middle age manuscripts, Chess is often represented in miniatures, having the same symbolic values attributed to the game in novels. Depicted

Chess positions are often readable and testify to the game’s evolution. Chess is a typical theme in Still Life: In The Five Senses by Lubin Baugin (1630)—chessmen enclosed in a Chess case are a symbol of the sense of touch. The theme also is present in contemporary still-life paintings, such as The Queen, by Audrey Flack (1976). Chess Players is another common theme in artist’s works, from Ludovico Carracci (1590, now in Berlin, Gemaldegalerie) to Honoré Daumier (1865 Paris, Musee du Petit Palais). Contemporary artists are more interested in Chess’s geometrical features than in their symbolic meaning. Chessboards were present in the art of Kandinsky after he adhered to the principles of Bauhaus; we can find the same use in Paul Klee’s Super Chess (1937). Avantgarde Chess sets were designed by both Man Ray and Yves Tanguy. Chess is a central path in the life and work of Marcel Duchamp, who was also a strong Chess player and a member of the French Olympic Chess team, captained by Alekhine. More recently, David Pelham created a minimalist acrylic Chess set in 1970; Cy Enfield created a commemorative Chess set for the occasion of the Fischer–Spassky match. However, Chess set design exists in every culture, from the abstract geometrical Muslim tradition to the realistic representation of middle age warfare in the Lewis Chess set (12th century), depicting Viking warriors, and the so-called Charlemagne set (11th century), probably realized in Amalphi. Cinema Like in figurative arts, Chess was also present in the origins of cinema: A Chess Dispute by Robert W. Paul dates back to 1903. Chess characterizes both the avant-garde, like the Expressionistic Das Wachsfigurenkabinett, by Paul Leni, in 1924, and in commercial films such as The Lodger by Alfred Hitchcock (1927), or The Smiling Lieutenant by Ernst Lubitsch (1931). In this period, Chess Fever by Vsevolod Pudovkin (1925) uses an avant-garde language to parody Chess obsession. The film also featured many Chess champions: Capablanca, Grünfeld, Marshall, Reti, Spielmann, Torre, and Yates. A possible explanation for the presence of Chess in films could be that many famous actors and directors were known Chess addicts. For example, Humphrey Bogart is represented alone while studying a Chess position in Curtiz’s Casablanca. Similarly, Stanley Kubrick inserts a game between a human and a machine in his 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); the position came from a real game (Roesch-Willy Schlage, Hamburg 1910). We

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find the same inquietude in Blade Runner by Ridley Scott (1982), where an android beats its human father at Chess, and then kills him. The metaphor of a Chess game can be found in other works by Scott, such as Black Hawk Down (2001). But the most interesting movie about Chess is perhaps The Seventh Seal by Ingmar Bergman (1957), in which a crusader—a knight—plays Chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague. In this film, the game becomes a second narrative structure, a counterpoint to the plot. As in Kubrick’s Odyssey, an actual game can be found in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Jovanovic-Manzardo, Imperia 1967). See Also: Ancient India; Game Theory; Human Relationships in Play; Inter-Gender Play; Luck and Skill in Play; Memory and Play; Play and Literacy; Russia. Bibliography. Aleksandr Alekhine, Ajedrez Hipermoderno (Editorial Castilla, 1945); N.J. Cooke, R.S. Atlas, D.M. Lane, and R.C. Berger, “Role of High-Level Knowledge in Memory for Chess Positions,” American Journal of Psychology (c.106/3, 1993); H.A. Davidson, A Short History of Chess (Greenberg, 1949); Umberto Eco, A Theory of Semiotics (Indiana University Press, 1976); Reuben Fine, The Psychology of the Chess Player (Dover Pub., 1956); Mike Fox and Richard James, The Complete Chess Addict (Faber and Faber, 1987); A.D. de Groot, “Intuition in Chess,” International Computer Chess Association ICCA Journal (June, 1986); Louis Hjelmslev, Prolegomena to a Theory of Language, (University of Wisconsin Press, 1961); Andrew Hodges, Alan Turing: The Enigma (Burnett Books, 1983); D.D. Horgan, “Chess Expertise in Children,” Applied Cognitive Psychology (v.4/2, 1990); Israel Albert Horowitz, From Morphy to Fischer: A History of the World Chess Championship (Batsford, 1973); N.V. Krogijus, Psychology in Chess, (R.M.H. Press, 1976); Emanuel Lasker, Lasker’s Manual of Chess (Dover, 1925, repr. 1960); Edgar Allan Poe, “Maelzel’s Chess Player,” in Complete Works (Harvard University Press, 1902); P. Saariluoma, “Visuospatial and Articulatory Interference in Chess Player’s Information Intake,” in Applied Cognitive Psychology (Routledge, 1992); Ferdinand de Saussure, Course de Linguistique Générale [Course in General Lingustics, 1922] (Open court Classics, 1998); H.A. Simon, and F. Gobet, “Templates in Chess Memory. A Mechanism for Recalling Several Boards,” in Cognitive Psychology (v.31/1, 1996); Gareth Williams, Master Pieces (Quintet Publishing Limited, 2000). Francesco Galofaro Bologna University

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Chile This South American country stretches along the Pacific Coast of South America, measuring 2,650 miles from north to south, but is, on average, no more than 110 miles wide. There had been a small indigenous population there for at least 11,000 years, with the first Spanish explorer arriving in 1535. The town of Santiago, now the country’s capital, was founded six years later. Initially, settlers established farms using the local population as slaves to farm them. Chile became independent in 1810. Nearly 90 percent of the population lives in cities or towns. The indigenous population used traditional musical instruments such as the zampona, the bomba, the charango, and the quena, and the “creole” population was involved in organizing masked dancing ceremonies. Many of the early migrants from Spain were from the Basque region, and this influence was seen by the playing of pelota, although today few people play this instrument. Horse riding and rodeos also date from this period. From the 18th century, flying kites became a popular amusement of wealthier Chileans, especially from September until March—it was said to have been introduced to the country by Roman Catholic monks. Gradually, kite flying came to be enjoyed by powerful people as well. There is a Chilean Kite Fliers Association, and in some competitions, five people compete against each other. There are also kites that have two lines so that two people can handle them. Activities were often organized by clubs and professional societies called gremios. Later, during the 19th century, there were quite substantial numbers of English, Irish, and Scottish immigrants, especially in southern Chile around Puenta Arenas, and at the port of Valparaiso, near Santiago. The British established the Vina del Mar Lawn Tennis Club in 1881, opening tennis courts at the Valparaiso Sporting Club in 1910. The latter was also the location of the Valparaiso Golf Club when it opened in 1897, with the British community establishing another golf course in Santiago in the Prince of Wales Country Club. At around the same time, other games were introduced, including cricket, polo, horse racing, rugby, and soccer. The first soccer game was played between British residents in Santiago in 1891, with a Briton called John Ramsay later deemed the “father of Chilean football”—the game at that time being entirely recreational. Since then, soccer has become the major recreational sport in the

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country, with boys and young men playing it in school teams and also in cities, towns, and the countryside. Other outdoor pastimes enjoyed by Chileans include jogging, basketball, beach volleyball, hiking, orienteering, and in the colder parts of the country, snow skiing, snowboarding, and tobogganing. Water-based activities, such as fishing, surfing, and water-skiing, are also popular. French migrants brought boules to Chile, and Italians brought bocce. In the mid-19th century there was also a large number of immigrants from Germany, and they brought with them German customs and folklore festivals. Late in the 19th century, there was a sizeable migration from Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe. This led to Russian games and traditions, with the playing of Chess becoming popular in schools, and the establishment of the Federacion Deportiva Nacional de Ajedrez. For the board game Monopoly, there was a Chilean version called Metropoli, which featured important streets in Santiago. The national folk dance, the cueca, involves dressing up by both men and women, and people trying to emulate the role of a rooster stalking a hen. The best examples of the cueca are said to be those on Chiloé Island on Independence Day each year, where there are also other festivities including log splitting. Wargaming has also been popular since the 1920s, especially with wealthier and better-educated families. Initially there was great interest in the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the Wars of Independence, as well as Chile’s War against Peru. During the Pinochet dictatorship, because of Pinochet’s great interest in Napoleon, Wargaming for the Napoleonic Wars again became popular. Since then there has been renewed interest in Conquistador-Inca Wargaming and also, more controversially for some Chileans, Che Guevara and various guerilla campaigns in Latin America. The increased prosperity of Chile from the late 1980s—the middle class was estimated at about 35 percent of the population at this time—has led to the establishment of ice-skating rinks, bowling alleys, amusement arcades, and clubs that have billiards, darts, pinball machines, and jukeboxes. Computer games have also become extremely common, especially in urban areas. See Also: Billiards; Bowling; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; South Americans; Traditional Cultures; Wargames.

Bibliography. Fernando Larraín Mancheno, Fútbol en Chile [Football in Chile] (Federación de Foot-ball de Chile, 1945); Him Webster, “The War Between Chile and Peru 1879–81,” Miniature Wargames (June-July, 1984); Jane Kohen Winter, Chile (Marshall Cavendish, 1991); Gertrude Matyoka Yeager, “Chinganas (Saloons), Bailes Máscaras (Masked Balls) and the Prensa Chismosa (Gossip Press): Three Aspects of Creole Culture in Nineteenth-Century Santiago de Chile,” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture (v.1, 1982). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

China Many of the games played in China date back to ancient times, and while some of them have detailed and complicated standard rules, others remain relatively simple, or have regional variations. Since ancient times, children have played with marbles, rattles, dolls, model soldiers, and kites. Other games such as Hide-and-Seek and the Cat’s Cradle would also have played for centuries. During the Han dynasty (206 b.c.e.–220 c.e.), more complicated games came to be played, and many of these were developed during the Tang dynasty (618–907) and the Song dynasty (960–1279). Many children are still involved in making large kites, sometimes as big as 16 or 18 feet across. Although traditionally made from paper or cloth, many kites nowadays are made from plastic, and can be used to twist and soar in the wind, with competitions in which kites are made to resemble birds, dragons, and sometimes fish, ships, or wild animals. Certainly one of the best-known games played by Chinese people has been Mahjong. While rich people had Mahjong pieces made from ivory, it was also possible to make them from bone, bamboo, or wood. Played on square tables, Mahjong sessions lasted anywhere from an hour to days, and traditionally the game has involved gambling, with people often playing for high stakes. Certainly in early modern China—and in some stories from as recently as the early 20th century—people were known to gamble all their possessions, including their house, their families, and even commit themselves to years of servitude on the outcome of a game. This led many people to become critical of the game, as



its gambling aspects came to be seen as more important than merely the skill and luck required to win. In the eyes of some of the public, Mahjong became associated with the corruption of the era of the warlords in the 1920s and 1930s, and it was banned by the Communist government in China from 1949, although it continued to flourish in Taiwan and among the overseas Chinese communities. Secret Mahjong In spite of its ban, Mahjong continued to be played secretly during the 1950s and 1960s, although the noise of “shuffling” the pieces usually alerted neighbors to any game. From the 1930s on many Westerners associated with China started playing Mahjong in Western Europe and North America, sets being sold in the United States by Abercrombie & Fitch. So popular was it among non-Chinese in the United States that Eddie Cantor even recorded the hit single “Since Ma is Playing Mah Jong.” It is now, once again, played widely in China, with technology allowing for the making of more readily affordable pieces, and although gambling does take place, many people play it without any monetary stake in the outcome of the game. Indeed, in 1998, the China State Sports Commission published a new set of rules for mahjong that officially removed gambling and the consumption of alcohol and allowed players to compete in pairs, as with the card game Bridge. For people travelling, Mahjong sets often came in boxes, but to help increase the patronage of the game, from the 1980s, some plastic playing card manufacturers started producing Mahjong pieces on long rectangular playing cards; however, they lacked the character of the traditional pieces, which are now often made from plastic or resin. Although Mahjong was certainly heavily associated with gambling during the 1920s and the 1930s, this was also the period where gambling dens and casinos flourished, with illegal betting taking place often with the connivance of the police or corrupt officials. This was especially true of the International Settlement of Shanghai, and more so the French Concession in Shanghai, where many laborers toiled all day to make money and doubled their wages or lost them all in games of Mahjong. This gambling permeates the novels of Andre Malraux set in Shanghai, and also the landlord class in the novels by Pearl S. Buck and Lin Yutang.

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Chinese Chess Another Chinese game that has also proved popular is Xianqi, or Chinese Chess. This game has some similarities with Indo-European Chess, except that the board has a river—symbolically the Yellow River—across the middle of it, and there are also cannons that can be fired from one end of the board to the other. This has led to the modification of Indo-European Chess called Gun Chess in which pieces can be taken without the need to move the piece doing the taking. The other major variation from traditional Chess is that the king and his guards are not allowed to leave the palace, and there is no powerful queen. Xianqi pieces are generally made of wood (and nowadays of plastic) with the Chinese figure on each piece denoting its place in the game. Overall, the game became heavily associated with battle tactics, and although it was played by members of the ruling class in China, it was also extremely popular with poor people. Indo-European Chess was played heavily in the Westernized parts of China and was so popular with the White Russian community in Shanghai that the world Chess champion Alexandr Alekhine even visited the city while on a tournament in the Pacific in 1933. By contrast with Xianqi, the game Go became more closely associated with the ruling class in China, and it became expected that scholar gentlemen should be able to play. This was largely because of the use in China of a board with 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines and 181 black and 180 white counters, providing a very high number of possible moves. Go was certainly being played in ancient times and is mentioned in the Analects by the great Chinese sage Confucius (551–479 b.c.e.). By legend, it was supposed to be a game inspired by an ancient Chinese emperor to try to discipline his son, and the oldest games found by archaeologists date from the Han dynasty. The way in which you surround other pieces was seen by tradition as being the method used to control flooding, and certainly this representational use of it has become associated with the game. However, the game is certainly not unique to China and was played, with some variations, by the Incas and also as Mancala, by many Africans, who used stones or grain seeds. During the Tang dynasty, the game Go started to be played in Japan, and indeed it is still often thought of in North America and Western Europe as a Japanese game. This is largely because of the role of Oscar Korschelt, a

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A young Chinese boy plays with a Western-style notebook computer (note the Qwerty keyboard). The introduction of a vibrant capitalist economy in China in the late 20th century revolutionized daily life—and play.

German engineer, who helped popularize it in Europe after having worked in Japan from 1878 until 1886. His description of the game, first published in 1880, was the first detailed account of the rules published in Europe, and when sets were manufactured in Western Europe from the 1950s, its association with Japan, rather than China, led to some confusion over its country of origin. The Chinese were also, probably, the first to play the game Shogi, a form of Chess in which pieces are not taken but turned to work for the player who captures them. Again this game was transmitted to Japan and is often thought of as a Japanese game. Playing With Pets As with people all over the world, many Chinese kept pets and enjoyed playing games with them. However,

since 1949, in order to reduce the population of stray dogs and cats in cities, the only animals allowed to be kept by people in urban areas were birds, and many of these are kept in elaborate cages. Owners teach the birds to sing, and the birds—in their cages—are often taken on walks, especially on particular days to parks, where the cages are placed near other birds in cages, and the birds compete with each other in songs and chirping. In Imperial China there was also a tradition by which scholars and members of China’s ruling class, the Manchus, had crickets as pets. Indeed, the Emperor Hsuan Tung (Pu Yi, 1906–67) kept his own crickets, as did many of the officials at the Imperial Court. These were kept in small containers the size of a large coffee mug, which were often made from cane, and were allowed out under close watch, occasionally being used to take part



in cricket “races” or sometimes “cricket fights” at which gambling often took place. This tradition has largely faded in China, although old cricket “cages” can sometimes be found in regional markets. Sports tended to follow the traditional tests of strength and prowess, as with most other countries in the world, such as archery and wrestling. Some of the wrestling was similar to that in Central Asia, but martial arts such as taekwondo and judo had more firmly established rules and were as much for self-defense and fitness as recreation. There were also influences from the Mongols, who ruled China during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), and the Manchus in the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), who both came from a culture heavily reliant on horses, leading to many games and activities involving tests of horse riding skills. Recreational Sports It was not until the early 20th century that the school curriculum in schools across China started to introduce competitive and recreational sports. This curriculum has seen many Chinese boys and girls become active in these sports, with table tennis (or ping pong) becoming one of the most popular of these games. Ping pong was introduced into China in the 1950s, and it was in 1971 that a match between the Chinese and U.S. teams helped lead to an easing of tensions between the two countries. China’s great success in table tennis has seen it emerge as a game played by children and young people all over China, used as a test of agility and fitness rather than solely strength. Badminton and volleyball have also proven popular, and many boys play a variation of badminton that involves a much heavier shuttlecock, with the players standing in a circle and using their feet to keep the shuttlecock airborne. Another similar game involving a ball has one child throwing the ball as high as he can into the air and naming a friend, with the other players having to stand around in a circle. The friend then has to catch the ball, go into the middle of the circle, and do the same again. If somebody does not catch the ball, they have to stand still while the ball is thrown at them. The influence of the European powers in China during the 19th century did lead to many European and North American games coming to be played in China. Tennis and Croquet were both popular in the “Treaty Ports”—the ports where the European concessions were located. These were areas that were under European

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jurisdiction, and where most of the foreigners in China lived apart from many of the Chinese people until World War II. Many of these areas boasted their own tennis clubs, and some of the large European houses in Shanghai had their own tennis courts or Croquet lawns in the gardens. Indeed, there was even a tennis court in the Forbidden City in Beijing (Peking), and Pu Yi was playing a game there when news arrived in 1924 that he was to be evicted from the Imperial Palace, forcing him to move to Tianjin (Tientsin). In Hong Kong, controlled by Britain until 1997, and where there has always been a large European and North American population, there have been cricket and rugby clubs. In nearby Macao, gambling has long flourished, with some of the most lavish casinos in the world located there. The construction of swimming pools in China in major cities from the late 1920s, and in many parts of the country from the 1960s, and the teaching of swimming at schools increased the number of people in China who take part in recreational swimming. During the 1960s, the Chinese leader Mao Zedong himself regularly swam in the Yangtze River, doing much to popularize swimming by older Chinese. Although European games have become popular in China, traditional martial arts have tens of millions of adherents, and Chinese, especially older ones, can often be seen in the early morning exercising using deep breathing and hand movements to perform qigong, an exercise seen as increasing body strength and prolonging life. Some Western customs and games were introduced by missionaries and teachers during the 20th century, with people like Gladys Aylward (1902–70) using her initiative to keep the children occupied as she led 94 of them to safety away from the invading Japanese, a story retold in her book The Small Woman (1957) and the film The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958). The British academic and sinologist Joseph Needham (1900–95) was also involved in helping a group of schoolboys escape from the Japanese, having also to keep them occupied with various games as they made it to Chongqing (Chungking). Playing cards were traditionally parts of games played by the wealthy, and some elaborate ones from late Imperial China have survived. For children from poor families, the equivalent of cards were often fashioned from paper, leaves, or bark and games of snap could still be played with even the most simple of items. As the manufacture of playing cards has become

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cheaper, from the 1970s, these became more and more accessible to most people in China, and with, from the 1980s on, factories printing playing cards for exporting overseas, playing games with cards has become more and more common. Indeed, there are a number of card games largely played only in China, and these include Atom, which involves three packs of cards; Bashi Fen (“Eighty Points”); Chinese Blackjack (similar to European/North American Blackjack but with slightly different ways of scoring); Fan-Tan, which traditionally involved heavy gambling; Four Color Cards; Gnau, which remains popular among the Chinese in Malaysia; Tichu, which combines aspects of Bridge and Poker; Tien Len, which originates in southern China and Vietnam; Winner; and Zi Pai, which uses a specially printed deck of cards. In Shanghai, Bridge clubs operated during the colonial period, and older people there and in Tianjin and other former Treaty Ports still play Gin Rummy, Patience and Solitaire. Storytellers and Puppets In villages throughout China, some of the high points of the year were the visits by the itinerant storytellers, puppeteers, travelling theaters, and circus performers. These engendered in generations of Chinese a great interest in folklore and historical epics, and small children are regularly involved in role playing from some of the more famous stories such as that of Monkey, and also the heroes of the “Water Margin” during the Song dynasty, when villagers banded together to fight corrupt officials in a story not dissimilar to that in England of Robin Hood. These shows inevitably led to children playing with puppets—both glove puppets and marionettes—and also, for wealthier boys, Wargaming. During the 1920s and 1930s, among families of expatriates in China and those of Westernized Chinese, the playing of European-style Wargames became important, with lead figures being used to reenact battles from Chinese history, and also from European history. These, and also model trains, aircraft, and other toys, were sold in hobby shops in Shanghai and other large cities, with the young J.G. Ballard in The Empire of the Sun (1984) devoting hours to making his model aircraft. Meccano also gained a large following during the same period, but after 1949, importing these toys became impossible, although they continued to be used in Taiwan, Hong

Kong, and Macao. For the board game Monopoly, there was a Hong Kong version with streets in both Chinese and English, and in 2008 production of a world edition of Monopoly with Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Taipei all represented began. Youth Movements The Boy Scout movement was established in China in 1912 by the Reverend Yen Chia-lin, and it was followed by the Girl Guide movement, with the General Association of the Scouts of China founded in Nanking in 1934. Both the scouts and the guides initially drew heavily from the European and North American expatriate population in China, especially in the Treaty Ports, but also from the children of Westernized Chinese families, and in particular Christian Chinese, and by 1941 it had 570,000 registered members. However, under the rule of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek in the 1930s, there was competition from the New Life Movement, which was established in 1934 as an adjunct of the Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party. This movement involved boys and girls helping in the community, but also—on a political front—promoted modern ways and explained better hygiene standards and spoke out against foot binding and the like, as well as emphasizing Confucian values. During World War II, boys and girls from the New Life Movement were involved in work for the Nationalist government against the Japanese. After 1949 the new Communist government in China banned both the New Life Movement and also the Scout Association and the Guide Association, but the latter two organizations continued to flourish on Taiwan and in Hong Kong. In Communist China, the Young Pioneer movement and the Communist Youth League were both established along the model of the Soviet Union, with its members symbolically wearing a red scarf, and these youth groups undertook similar activities to those of scouts and guides, although there was a political element to the training of the Young Pioneers. The Young Pioneers of China took over from various youth movements operating in Communist-held parts of China, and during the Cultural Revolution the group became known as the Little Red Guard movement, with the members of the Communist Youth League becoming the Red Guards as the social and recreational movement became intensely political. Since the establishment of the market economy in China, and with increasing prosperity, there has been

Chinese Checkers



a decline in the number of children involved in the Pioneers, and many Chinese children are now involved in computer games, which have proliferated around the country. The increasing ease of access to computers has seen large numbers of Chinese children and youth involved in computer games; many games are now available with Chinese legends, with the stories of Monkey and the Water Margin being translated from folk tales and actual role-playing into a virtual setting. Also, from about 2004 on, some Chinese earn an income by playing these games and then selling the scores they have received to people overseas, who can then play these games at a higher level than would otherwise be possible. See Also: Ancient China; Mahjong. Bibliography. Stewart Culin, The Gambling Games of the Chinese in America (Kessinger, 2007); W. H. Fan and K. T. Fan, eds., From the Other Side of the River: A Portrait of China Today (Doubleday, 1975); Peggy Ferroa, China (Marshall Cavendish, 1991); Fung Shiu-Ying, Chinese Children’s Games (ARTS Inc., 1972); William Hinton, Shenfan: The Continuing Revolution in a Chinese Village (Secker & Warburg, 1983); William Kesen, ed., Childhood in China (Yale University Press, 1975); Michael David Kwan, Things That Must Not Be Forgotten (Flamingo, HarperCollins, 2001); H. T. Lau, Chinese Chess: an Introduction to China’s Ancient Game of Strategy (Tuttle Publishing, 2003); Li Cunxin, Mao’s Last Dancer (Viking, 2003); Matti A. Pitkanen and Reijo Harkonen, The Children of China (Carolrhoda Books Inc., 1990); Sally Rodwell, A Visitor’s Guide to Historic Hong Kong (Odyssey, 1991); Frances Wood, No Dogs and Not Many Chinese (John Murray, 1998). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Chinese Checkers Chinese Checkers is a board game for two to six players that has its origin in the European game Halma. In 1928, the game came to the United States and was very popular throughout the 1930s. Players enjoy using various strategic skills to advance their marble game pieces to the opposite corner of their starting position, especially using their critical thinking, analyti-

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cal, and motor skills. Chinese Checkers continues to be popular among game enthusiasts. Halma was created in 1883 by a professor at Harvard Medical School named George Howard Monks. Monks called the game Halma, since it is the Greek word for jump, and because of his brother Robert’s fondness of the British game Hoppity. Chinese Checkers and Halma have three main differences. The players in Chinese Checkers typically use marbles as game pieces, the game board has holes instead of squares, and the game board has a six-pointed star shape, not a square design. German Patent The prominent German game company Ravensburg published and patented Chinese Checkers in 1892. The game was marketed with the name Stern-Halma, to incorporate stern, the German word for “star,” and to emphasize the game board’s hexagram shape. In 1909, game manufacturer Spears and Sons promoted SternHalma in England and had some modest success with British sales. Chinese Checkers came to the United States in 1928 with J. Pressman and Co. as the Hop-Ching Checker Game. Brothers Bill and Jack Pressman later changed the name to Chinese Checkers to reflect the growing worldwide interest in the Far East. At this time, events like the finding of King Tut’s tomb in 1922 and the introduction of Mahjong in 1923 contributed to the public’s attraction to Chinese Checkers. Chinese Checkers became widely popular in the United States in the 1930s. During this period, many toy companies produced the game and marketed it under such intriguing names as Man Dar-In, Mah Tong, and Ching-Ka-Chek. One particular game manufacturer, the Topeka company called L.G. Ballard, marketed their own highly successful brand called Star Checkers. The various names of Chinese Checkers continued until 1941 when game manufacturer Milton Bradley received a patent on Chinese Checkers. Even with this patent, modern versions of Chinese Checkers still exist, such as the game Rubido. Rubido has similar game pieces and board design, but has four levels of difficulty. Like other board games, Chinese Checkers requires some strategic planning by players to win. Since the object of the game is for players to move all of their game pieces to the opposing corner, it is advantageous for players to

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A vintage set of Chinese Checkers, which was at the height of its popularity in the United States in the 1930s. It teaches critical thinking, analytical, and motor skills.

advance quickly by jumping over other game pieces to an empty space. Some players like to make the game even more challenging by playing the fast-paced version of Chinese Checkers, where players can move their game pieces over nonadjacent pieces, or the capture version of Chinese Checkers where the pieces that are hopped over become captured and collected by players. Many players consider Chinese Checkers a classic game, since it has been around for so many decades and can be enjoyed by families. It is suitable for young players and is relatively easy to learn. In addition, it teaches critical thinking, analytical, and motor skills. The most

important aspects are that Chinese Checkers is fun and continues to delight game enthusiasts. See Also: Checkers and Variations of; Mahjong. Bibliography. Frank Hoffmann, Martin Manning, and Frederick J. Augustyn, Jr., Dictionary of Toys and Games in American Popular Culture (Routledge, 2004); David Parlett, Oxford History of Board Games (Oxford University Press, 1999). Dorsia Smith University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras



Cityscapes as Play Sites The city as a place for children’s play is a barometer for changing perceptions about safety, community, and trust in any society. The city as a place for adult play is a barometer for changing perceptions about leisure, adult pleasures, public decency, and morality. The two are inextricably linked. Where a cityscape transforms itself into a public arena for adult-only forms of play, whether in the shape of casinos or lap-dancing clubs, that city’s urban environment’s suitability for children’s play of course declines proportionally. Where playgrounds or other opportunities for children’s play survive in cityscapes, they are increasingly compromised by parental fearfulness of escalating risks to children from other city dwellers, whose interest in children cannot be trusted. Cities as places where adult “play” pushes the boundaries of moral acceptability cannot also afford spaces for “innocent” childhood play without significant tensions existing. These tensions are often mapped onto cityscapes as differentiated territories, where “red-light” districts are geographically as separate as possible from “childsafe” areas, with various recognizable gradation zones in between, and where socioeconomic distinctions differentiate neighborhoods on the basis of social class, wealth, deprivation, crime rates, level and kind of policing, and so on. Free Running and Parkour In the literal and figurative border zones created in this way, hybrid forms of play often thrive, as most remarkably with so-called Free Running and Parkour (an activity with the goal of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using mainly the abilities of the human body). Free runners and Parkour practitioners, called traceurs (male) or traceuses (female), use their athleticism to move at speed through cityscapes, where walls, fences, gaps between buildings, and so on, are obstacles to be gracefully negotiated. Largely young person’s pursuits, Free Running and Parkour exist in a liminal zone between childhood and adulthood and typically reclaim the cityscape for a pure form of playfulness, uncompromised by the tension between adult-only interests and children’s safety. It does not matter to a free runner or traceuse whether the cityscape being traversed is the rooftops of a downtown red-light district or a children’s playground in the sub-

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urbs. The cityscape is reduced to obstacle course, undifferentiated by socially determined meanings. With worldwide numbers of practitioners limited, not least by the extraordinary level of agility required, Free Running and Parkour are revealing instances of an extreme transformation of cityscapes into play sites that is partly explicable as a cultural response to the compromising of more conventional play sites by adult fears about unsafe urban environments. Free Running and Parkour resonate as distinctive early 21st-century cultural inventions because they transcend such tensions by reducing the cityscape to an abstraction. Meanwhile, media-based leisure pursuits, especially the playing of computer games, have moved most children indoors and out of the real public cityscapes. Trend Toward Indoor Play The widespread relocation of play indoors throughout the developed world was an inexorable trend of the late 20th century, as technologically mediated forms of play developed from the growing attractions of burgeoning mass media and then accelerated exponentially in the era of the computer and internet. For a period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, these technologies also underpinned the explosive development of video arcades, which concentrated new forms of semipublic electronic play in urban spaces, leading in some societies to a “moral panic” about the supposed effects on young people and the associated risks of congregating in these places, reinforced by sensationalized stories of long hours spent on obsessive or addictive behavior. But the rapid development of computer game technologies quickly moved this form of play beyond the unwieldy arcade games cabinets onto personal consoles and computers in the home. Fears about supposed effects and addictive behaviors persisted of course, but these quickly became domestic issues and had increasingly less to do with concerns about new forms of “dubious” public space for these new forms of playful activity. So urban public space by the end of the 20th century, in much of the developed world, had been largely evacuated as far as children’s play was concerned, except where fenced and monitored playgrounds persisted in appropriate neighborhoods, and even those tended to be used by parents at specific times of the day, when safety in numbers delivered some sense of collective security. The enticements of technologically enhanced forms of play in convenient domestic set-

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tings rendered children themselves complicit in this widespread retreat from the cityscape, with the latter becoming increasingly itself the object of dystopian visions in popular culture, such as several of John Carpenter’s unnerving films (e.g., Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape from New York). The way in which American popular culture in particular, at this period, amplified dystopian fears of the cityscape’s imagined decline into sordid, crime-ridden haunts for the morally suspect reveals the degree to which the real cityscape had been deeply compromised as a hospitable environment for any playfulness other than adult leisure pursuits. Urbanism and Play Three concomitant phenomena have arisen from this in relation to urbanism and play: (1) an increasing emphasis on creating new kinds of “child-safe” play spaces within the proliferating urban regeneration initiatives that are reclaiming the cityscape from those dystopian visions, underpinned as they were by the reality of socioeconomic decline in postindustrial economies; (2) a growing interest in the make-believe urbanism of computer game cityscapes, as a displacement from the real into the virtual; and (3) some promising experiments with taking the digital back out into the real cityscape again in some newly playful ways. The first of these emergent phenomena frequently redefines children’s play in urban environments within the framework of new community arts. The regenerated cityscape typically includes the outcomes of cultural regeneration policies, not just urban planning per se, and new community arts initiatives are encouraged by the creation of new spaces and facilities. Throughout the developed world, urban community cultural development schemes have blossomed, with community arts projects for young people often high on their agendas. From the Village of Arts & Humanities in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Artmakers Trust in Hamilton, New Zealand, place-making and community art-­making are being combined in an applied playfulness that gives young people new places to go in the cityscape. “Playing” via community arts significantly redefines what we mean by play, of course, but the reclamation of urban places for young people engaged in pleasurable forms of making and doing of these sorts is distinctly different from the more highly codified appropriation of play as sport, the other way in which the regenerated cityscape’s

improved facilities can offer somewhere for young people to play. Virtual Reality Play The increasingly hyper-real make-believe urbanism of computer games affords an entirely new understanding of the cityscape as a play site. Cinematic realism and three-dimensional graphic sophistication are producing imaginary cityscapes of increasingly immense proportions within the computer or games console, and multiplayer online games provide for an increasing sense that these virtual cityscapes are actually inhabited. Where the computer game and the virtual world merge, the digital cityscape becomes an intriguing blend of recognizable reality, social interaction, and fantasy. Still at a fairly early stage of development, this phenomenon of make-believe urbanism is likely to intensify, with consequences as yet unseen for our understanding of how real and virtual cityscapes may increasingly impel each other’s development. In the meantime, a number of innovative experiments have deliberately taken the digital out into the cityscape in order to clarify where we might be headed. One of these, a project of the Patchingzone initiative associated with the V2 media research centre in Rotterdam, focused specifically on play and gaming. Called “Go for IT,” this 2009 project was based on an “Interactive Urban Game,” played in a public space in the south Rotterdam city district of Feijenoord, and engaged young people in a series of interconnected encounters with “wearable” digital technology, e-fashion, and mobile communications. Projects like this are an indication that play is finding its way back out onto the streets. See Also: Adventure Playgrounds; Playground Movement, U.S.; Psychological Benefits of Play; Unstructured Play. Bibliography. Joy Keiko Asamen, Mesha L. Ellis, and Gordon L. Berry, eds., The SAGE Handbook of Child Development, Multiculturalism, and Media (Sage, 2008); Sheridan Bartlett, et al., Cities for Children: Children’s Rights, Poverty and Urban Management (Earthscan Publications Ltd., 1999); F. von Borries, S.P. Walz and M. Böttger, eds., Space Time Play: Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism, the Next Level (Birkhäuser, 2007). Dan Fleming University of Waikato



Civilization (I, II, III, IV) Civilization is a computer and video turns-based strategy/simulation game series developed by Sid Meier and first published in 1991 by MicroProse. It is one of the most successful strategy game franchises of all time, selling over 8 million copies and spawning four sequels, several expansion packs, and innumerable clones. Civilization has been released on numerous game platforms, including Atari ST, Amiga, Super NES, PlayStation, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, and Xbox 360, but its most famous incarnation is as a PC and Mac game. It remains popular, appearing third in IGN’s top 100 games of all time 2007, the second highest position for a computer game after Tetris. The game traces the emergence of embryonic civilizations from their prehistoric origins (4000 b.c.e.) through to the nuclear age and beyond. After adopting a nation, players compete against other computer-controlled nations on a randomly generated world map. The game begins with only one or two settler units, which can be used to explore the local environment, transform the landscape, and found cities. Once founded, the resources of cities can be diverted toward different activities, such as creating more playable units of different kinds including military units, creating city improvements such as temples, harbors, and later power stations and airports; improving the wellbeing of citizens; and researching new technologies. At first the game is invariably spent establishing and managing a handful of cities, setting research and development targets, and revealing more of the map through exploration, allowing the local environment to be converted into productive land. But sooner or later the embryonic civilizations in the game-world encounter each other, and competition over the limited resources—pursued through both war and diplomacy— commences. Victory is achieved either by destroying all other civilizations, reaching the end of the modern era with the highest score (2100 c.e.), or developing the technology to build and successfully launch a spaceship that reaches Alpha Centauri. One of the most distinctive features of Civilization is its knowledge and technology mapping system. By devoting resources to research, civilizations eventually “discover” new technologies that can be exploited in different ways. These discoveries are dependent on one another in a hierarchical tree; thus the player can-

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not begin working on advanced technologies, such as nuclear power, before working their way through more basic technologies, such as the alphabet, navigation and map-making, and later metallurgy, chemistry, and nuclear physics. Technological development holds the key to exploiting the game world, allowing the player not only to develop more advanced combat units, but also to keep their citizens happy and their civilization well-managed. Thus the game is more a matter of a race for knowledge than a race for power and military domination. But this pursuit of knowledge is tempered by the necessity to maintain and develop functioning city-states. The player must therefore also devote resources to developing civic amenities, building wonders of the world, and developing trade and diplomacy. Different forms of governance can also be deployed through periodic revolutions to help maintain the emerging civilization. Civilization was widely praised on its release for its ambitious scale, absorbing game play, and vast historical scope. Its potential educational uses were also widely discussed. Sequels were met with similar acclaim, each retaining the general game play, while strengthening the game mechanics, adding detail, and improving the audio and visual appeal. The original top-down map of the game world was superseded by an isometric map in Civilization II, and by a fully-rendered three-dimensional map in Civilization IV. Anomalies in the game mechanics that allowed ancient combat units to defeat modern combat units were removed in Civilization II. Culture was introduced in Civilization III, with each city rated for its cultural attainment and influence, allowing conquest of other cities through cultural takeover. Civilization III also introduced new ways of winning, including cultural domination. Civilization IV made religion a more central component of the game, with seven world faiths replacing the generic temples of the original game, changing the balance of diplomacy within the game. It also introduced a multiplayer mode, allowing players to compete against one another online. See Also: Academic Learning and Play; Age of Empires; Amiga; Play and Learning Theory; Sim City; Tetris. Bibliography.� David Choquet, ed., 1000 Game Heroes (Taschen, 2002); Guinness World Records Ltd., Guinness Book of Records Gamer’s Edition 2008 (Guinness World Records

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Ltd., 2008); J.C. Herz, Joystick Nation: How Videogames Gobbled Our Money, Won Our Hearts, and Rewired Our Minds (Abacus, 1997); IGN Entertainment, IGN’s Top 100 Games, http://top100.ign.com/2007 (cited July 2008); King, Lucien, Game On: The History and Culture of Videogames (Universe Publishing, 2002); Kurt Squire and Henry Jenkins, “Harnessing the Power of Games in Education,” Insight (v.3, 2003). Luke Tredinnick London Metropolitan University

Clapping Games Throughout history, some elements of children’s play have remained universal. Children bounce balls, jump rope, clap hands to rhythmic sequences, but the way they play or the chants they chose recite tend to be particular to their own countries and customs. Children, especially in urban environments, adopted clapping games when resources were minimal. Gender often shaped play: while boys received resources to play ball games, girls adopted hand-clapping games because no equipment was required. Whether waiting for class, sitting on a stoop, or just passing time, girls could break into spontaneous clapping rhyme games or hand rhythm sequences, embellishing rhymes that have sometimes been traces back in history for hundreds of years. All that was needed was a friend who either knew the rhymes and moves or was willing to learn them. Classic clapping games, which were learned after finger and singing games, often had unknown origins and endured from generation to generation. Some clapping games, call-and-response songs, and dances are derived from African music and traditions. Environment dictates the rules of most street games, and clapping games do not just involve playing a game—they involve social interaction and concentration. Unlike organized sports, street games provide children the opportunity to make up the rules and create new chants relevant to their experiences. Although simple rhymes that do not require coordination and communication skills can be played by toddlers two years of age and older, girls often learn chants at about five years of age, and continue to learning more intricate rhythms from partners. The finger game Pat-a-Cake, Pat-a-Cake, Baker’s Man, has been attributed to 17th-century English writer and

poet Tom D’Urfrey. The 19th-century American writer Lydia Maria Child described a variant form of the clapping game: “Clap the hands together, saying, ‘Pat a cake, pat a cake, baker’s man; that I will, master, as fast as I can;’ then rub the hands together, saying, ‘Roll it, and roll it;’ then peck the palm of the left hand with the fore-finger of the right, saying, ‘Prick it, and prick it;’ then throw up both hands, saying, ‘Toss it in the oven and bake it.’ ” The fundamental essential for clapping games has always been two individuals sitting opposite of each other. Then, each person begins by clapping their hands together at the same time, then, each person reaches out with the right hand to clap her partner’s right hand. Then, each person claps her hands again and then reaches out with the left hand and claps her partner’s left hand, and then the sequence repeats, clapping on the beat. Some games require that players pat shoulders, hands, or thighs, alternating with clapping hands with a partner. Clapping one or two hands at a time, backs of hands, the palms of hands, double claps, hands up, and hands down, are all variations that made each rhyme distinctive. With some clapping games, the goal is to progress to a faster pace both in the song and claps. Repetition, coordination, and duration give the chants used in clapping games rhythmic conviction and power. See Also: Africa, Traditional Play in; Finger Games; Girls’ Play; Singing Games; Spontaneous Group Play; Street Games. Bibliography. Lydia Maria Child, The Girl’s Own Book (Edward Kearney, 1843); Thomas D’Urfey, The Campaigners (Chadwich-Healy, 1996); Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson, Miss Mary Mack and Other Children’s Street Rhymes (Morrow Junior Books, 1990); Kyra D. Gaunt, The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip Hop (New York University Press, 2006); StreetPlay.com, “Clap and Rhyme,” Street Rhymes Around the World, www.streetplay .com/thegames/clapandrhyme.htm (cited August 2008). Meredith Eliassen San Francisco State University

Coleco While Coleco Industries produced a wide variety of toys and games until its bankruptcy in 1988, including the



Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, the company is best known for its home videogame system, ColecoVision. As such, Coleco had a lasting and meaningful impact on the landscape of video games during the early 1980s. Coleco Industries, which was originally named the Connecticut Leather Company, was founded in West Hartford, Connecticut, in 1932 as a shoe leather company by Russian immigrant Maurice Greenberg. Moving into plastic molding in the 1950s, Coleco eventually sold off their leather business and became a publicly traded company. By the beginning of the 1960s, the company was one of the largest manufacturers of above-ground swimming pools. In 1976, after an unsuccessful attempt to enter the dirt-bike and snowmobile market, they released Telstar, a clone of the home PONG unit being sold and marketed by Atari. Despite the fact that Coleco was certainly not the only company releasing home PONG clones, they enjoyed moderate success and went on to produce nine more varieties of the Telstar unit. In 1978, unfortunately, as the home videogame market moved to programmable, cartridge-based game units, Coleco was forced to dump over a million obsolete Telstar machines at a nearly crippling cost of more than 20 million dollars. Coleco president Arnold Greenberg ignored this near disaster and directed his research and development team to begin work on a new home videogame system, the ColecoVision, which he felt would set the standard in graphics quality and expandability. Released in the summer of 1982 at a retail cost of $199, the ColecoVision had the ability to display 32 sprites on-screen at the same time, along with a 16-color on-screen palette, out of a total of 32 colors. In addition, the ColecoVision featured three-channel sound. The key to this new system’s success, however, as with many of the new home systems being released at this time, was the included cartridge. In the case of the ColecoVision, Coleco successfully negotiated the right to release the smash arcade hit Donkey Kong. Beyond Donkey Kong, 12 additional cartridges were released along with the ColecoVision. While Atari had pioneered the licensing of arcade games for home play with Space Invaders, Coleco made this a key part of their strategy, aggressively seeking licenses for coinoperated games instead of concentrating on developing original games. Hitting the market in the midst of the public relations war between Atari and Mattel, the ColecoVision sold for

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around $100 more than the Atari 2600, but $35 less than Mattel’s Intellivision. The price point, combined with the inclusion of Donkey Kong, made the ColecoVision an instant success. The first run of 550,000 units sold out almost immediately. By Christmas of 1982, one million of the systems, along with more than eight million cartridges, had been sold. After the initial release of the ColecoVision in 1982, Coleco immediately released the Atari 2600 Converter. Selling for $60, the Atari 2600 Converter allowed users to play Atari 2600 cartridges on their ColecoVision. The Atari Converter was amazingly popular, and went on to sell 150,000 units in the first three months after its release. However, as one would expect, its release resulted in a flurry of litigation, starting with a $350 million lawsuit from Atari over patent infringement. Coleco countersues for $550 million, claiming that Atari was infringing on U.S. antitrust laws. The two companies eventually reached a settlement, resulting in Coleco paying royalties to Atari on every Atari Converter unit sold. By the end of 1983, the ColecoVision had sold more than 1.5 million units, surpassing the number of units sold by the Atari 2600, the Mattel Intellivision, and Atari’s new 5200 Supersystem. In addition to the Atari Converter, the 29 game publishers who were producing cartridges for the system give the ColeoVision the largest game library of any console on the market at the time. After the success of the ColecoVision, Coleco decided to invest not in the production of a new home game system, but in a home computer system instead. This was a logical step for Coleco as they, along with the other major home videogame system developers, were beginning to suffer financially as consumers turned to home computer systems, such as the Commodore VIC20 or the the Commodore 64. Coleco’s answer was the ADAM computer. The ADAM computer was released as two separate versions. One version of the ADAM was a stand-alone unit, while the other version, called Expansion Pack #3, involved a series of add-ons to the existing ColecoVision game system. The hardware for both units included 64k of RAM and 32k of ROM (expandable to 144k). Interestingly enough, the hardware also included a built-in word processor. The stand-alone system featured two game controllers, and an external cartridge slot into which ColecoVision cartridges could be inserted and played. Both systems included a full-sized keyboard, a digital tape drive, and a large printer that also served as the unit’s power supply.

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By late 1983, Coleco had received a delayed approval from the FCC on the ADAM design, and the company frantically began mass production to meet the 400,000 preorders that retailers were demanding before the pivotal Christmas season, with a retail price of $600 for the stand-alone unit, and $400 for the ColecoVision add-on package. Unfortunately, public reaction to the ADAM was mass indifference. Sales were vastly below what Coleco had originally predicted. Out of the preorders, only 100,000 eventually sold. The primary problem for the ADAM’s low sales was that it was remarkably buggy. One of the most dramatic problems was that the machine emitted a magnetic pulse when it powered up, erasing any tapes accidentally left in the drive. Matters were made worse by the fact that many of the ADAM manuals instructed users to put the tape in the drive before actually turning the computer on. Eventually, 60 percent of all ADAMs were returned to stores as defective. In 1984, with the rest of the home videogame market in a downward spiral, the consumer electronics division of Coleco lost over $258 million dollars. In an effort to bolster sagging sales, the retail prince of the standalone ADAM unit was reduced to $300. However, not even this price reduction, in addition to a billion dollars in Cabbage Patch Kid sales, could save the company from the losses it incurred as a result of the abject failure of the ADAM. By 1985, the ADAM and ColecoVision line of electronic devices was abandoned by Coleco. Shortly thereafter, in 1988, Coleco itself filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. See Also: Arcades; Dolls, Barbie and Others; Mario. Bibliography. Winnie Foster, Encyclopedia of Game Machines Consoles, Handhelds & Home Computers 1972–2005 (Magdalena Gniatczynska, 2005); Steven Kent, The Ultimate History of Video Games: From Pong to Pokémon (Prima Communications, Inc., 2001). Ethan Watrall Michigan State University

Colombia This country, located in the northwest of South America, has a population of 44 million (2007), with 6.7 million

living in the capital Santa Fe de Bogotá (generally known as Bogotá). Over half the population has an indigenous background, and as a result some pre-Columbian games and pursuits are still played in the country. Some of these—similar to Tiddlywinks—involved the use of clay flippers, now often replaced with plastic in bright colors. There are also board games similar to those used by the Incas in Peru, where dice are thrown and the score allows contestants to move colored seeds or small shells around a board, the winner being the person who encircles the other. Musical instruments were similar to flutes or recorders made from hollowed wood. Many of the skills taught to boys involving the use of slingshot and hunting have long ceased to be practiced except in rural areas. The arrival of the Spanish changed society in Colombia by introducing many European customs and musical traditions. The great wealth of the Spanish settlers in Bogotá and Cartagena saw a sophisticated society where there were regular balls—even masked balls— and theatrical performances. Chess has been popular with both wealthy and poor, and in 1939 Dr. Alexsandr Alekhine played a “blindfolded” tournament at Buenaventura in March 1939 during his tour of Latin America. The Federacion Colombiana de Ajedrez still oversees Chess in the country. Although children in Colombia have played universal games such as Marbles, Hide-and-Seek, and Hopscotch, with the increase in schools in the early 20th century, there was a move toward organized activities and a promotion of recreational sports, including soccer, which has now become the most popular recreation with boys and young men throughout the country. Boxing is common in poor communities, with some seeing it as a potential career after the success of some Colombian boxers. There was a Colombian version of the board game Monopoly—each color group represented streets in Bogotá, Cali, Cartagena, Medellín, and other cities. However, the popularity of board games has declined with the emergence of youth clubs that encourage playing pool, skateboarding, and rollerblading. There have been a number of amusement arcades and bowling alleys built, but even these have had a decline in popularity with the emergence of computer games. Traditionally, Wargaming was popular among the Spanish elite, and much of this focused on European scenarios such as the battles in medieval Spain and the Peninsula War in Spain. In more recent times, there has been greater inter-

Common Adventure Concept



est in Colombian history, including role playing for the Conquistadors such as Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. See Also: Bowling; Peru; South Americans, Traditional Cultures; Wargames. Bibliography. John Bale, “International Sports History as Innovation Diffusion,” Canadian Journal of History of Sport/Revue Canadienne de l’Histoire des Sports (May 1984); Clive Gammon, “Cradle of Champions,” Sports Illustrated (November 1980); Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Common Adventure Concept The common adventure concept emerged in the 1970s. Focusing on mutuality and democratic “leaderless” outdoor activity at the lowest possible cost, it has remained a model of noncommercial group activity since. While every group activity that shares cost, planning, and responsibilities������������������������������������� without having a designated and compensated leader�������������������������������������� could technically be called a common adventure, the model is used mainly by clubs and universities who want to encourage their students or members to go on outdoor trips. An early form of the common adventure concept was developed almost simultaneously at various American universities beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Most notable among the early proponents of the concept is Gary O. Grimm, who served as Outdoor Program Coordinator at the University of Oregon. Grimm wrote a paper titled “Union Outward Bound: An Educational Experiment” in 1970, which can be regarded as the first theoretical basis for the common adventure concept. The paper draws on B.F. Skinner’s psychological theories and is based on an antiauthoritarian belief in the benefits of a “learnercontrolled” environment. While the paper does not mention the term common adventure, many of the ideas that inform the concept can already be found in his paper.

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The term common adventure was first introduced in 1972, when Richard A. Wyman wrote a paper focusing on the legal ramifications of the common adventure concept for University of Oregon. Wyman takes the term from the 1930s court decision Murphy vs. Hutzel, in which the judge decided not to grant any damages to the suitor on grounds that both the plaintiff and the accused had been “common adventurers” and had thus shared responsibility. Wyman argued that stressing the aspect of a joint enterprise might protect the university’s outdoor program from lawsuits. He did not, however, recommend relying on this exclusively, pointing to the weakness of his defense and the possibility of charges of negligence that could be brought, if the court ruled that the university program did not provide its participants adequate supervision and leadership. As a result, Wyman advised that program personnel should not be paid by the university in order to avoid claims of negligence under common carrier law, one of the aspects Wyman was most concerned about. Both of Wyman’s suggestions were later misunderstood, leading others to develop two principles coming originally from a legal perspective but entering the level of general ideology of the common adventure concept. These principles stated that personnel could not be paid for their participation in common adventure trips (if they were employed by a university or club they had to participate in their off time) and that personnel could not share their expertise while on a trip. Not only did the latter go against the original idea underlying the concept, but both of these points were invalidated on a legal level in a court decision in the 1980s, when the court ruled that participating in trips was a “natural extension” of the program personnel’s job. As a result, many universities introduced written waivers signed by the participants. The misconceptions going back to Wyman’s paper, however, still remain in the common adventure community. Outdoor Education Programs The term common adventure entered the wider field of college and outdoor education programs when it was used in a paper cowritten by Gary Grimm and Harrison H. Hilbert, the founding director of the Idaho State University Outdoor Program. The paper, which is entitled “An Operational Definition and Description of College Outdoor Programs,” was read at an interna-

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tional conference of the Association of College Unions in 1973. The paper not only introduced the term, but also brought the concept to a wider base and attempted to give guidelines to other colleges who wished to establish similar programs. The common adventure concept’s rejection of “authoritarian” leaders on trips runs throughout this paper: The underlying idea Grimm and Hilbert formulate is that people who are trained accordingly are capable of solving problems on their own rather than relying on somebody else. They consider an outdoor environment the perfect area for self-guided problem-solving. The training Grimm and Hilbert refer to happens on trips or in preparation as members who already possess certain skills teach untrained members. Moreover, since every member on the trip has different skills, “natural leaders” emerge from the group in situations where their expertise is needed, only to reintegrate afterwards. The antiauthoritarian approach of the common adventure concept goes so far that people who come up with ideas for trips and advertise them on special message boards are referred to as “trip initiators” rather than as leaders. This is to ensure that it is not “their” trip, but rather the group’s, and that they have no special role on the trip. They merely provide the initial idea, which, however, may be modified to something quite different during planning, as Watters points out. See Also: Anti-Competition Play; Cooperative Play; Experiential Learning Definitions and Models; Hobbies; Kayaking and Canoeing; Organized or Sanctioned Play; Original Play; Play and Sports Education; Play as Education; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of; Sociological Benefits of Play. Bibliography. Gary O. Grimm, Union Outward Bound: An Educational Experiment (University of Oregon, 1970); Harrison H. Hilbert and Gary O. Grimm, “An Operational Definition and Description of College Outdoor Programs,” www .isu.edu/outdoor/great.htm (cited June 2008); Ron Watters, “Revisiting the Common Adventure Concept: An Annotated Review of the Literature, Misconceptions and Contemporary Perspectives,” Proceedings of the Annual International Conference on Outdoor Recreation and Education (Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education, 1999). Johannes Fehrle Albert-Ludwigs-Universität

Congo, Democratic Republic of The third largest country on the African continent, Congo occupies over half of the Congo River basin. It was, as the Congo Free State, a possession of King Leopold II of Belgium. Earlier, in 1908, it became a Belgian colony called the Belgian Congo, and after independence in 1960, it became the Republic of the Congo. From 1971 until 1996, the country was known as Zaire. There have been many traditional games in the country, and perhaps the best-known is Mankata, which involves making a hollow in the ground and then placing stones around those of one’s opponent in order to capture their pieces. It is very similar to the Ethiopian game Gabata, and the Japanese game Shogi, and there are several versions of it in different parts of the Congo. Other Congolese games that have survived are Nzango, Minoko, and Mangola. Collecting shells used to be more than a hobby, with some shells serving as the local currency in the Kingdom of the Kongo in the 15th and early 16th centuries. There are also many local crafts involving metalwork and bronze casting—gold and ivory were rarely used— but much of it is concerned with wood carving, especially fashioning large wooden masks known as mbuya, which were then used for dancing. The masks for the Pende tribe are particularly grotesque and are believed to be the inspiration for paintings by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Many are decorated with raffia, leaves, and feathers. The Bakuba and the Liba tribes have slightly different customs and very different masks. Music accompanying the dancing has also been very popular, with jazz and recordings of local vocalists thriving since the 1950s. For girls and women, sewing, embroidery, and weaving brightly colored cloth remain popular pastimes. During the period of Belgian rule, the country was a rich source of rubber, which was used to make bouncing balls and other toys, initially used mainly by Belgians. The colonial society led to the introduction of Wargaming using lead figurines, Meccano sets, and also Chess and card games. In 1940, there were 10 social and sporting clubs in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa). Since independence, these games have been followed by the Zairean elite, especially those who have studied or lived abroad. Many of the children of the elite, and large num-

Cooperative Play bers of poor boys and young men, follow or play soccer, and makeshift soccer games can be found in every town and most villages in the country. See Also: Africa, Traditional Play in; Belgium; Chess and Variations of; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide. Bibliography. François Bontinck, “Les Makuta Dans le Passé” [The Makuta in the Past], Zaire-Afrique (June–July, 1987); S. Comhaire-Sylvain, “Congolese Games,” Zaire (April, 1952); Pius Théophile Muka, Evolution du Sport au Congo [Evolution of Sport in the Congo], (Editions Okapi, 1970); Peter Townshend, Les Jeux de Mankala au Zaire, au Rwanda et au Burundi [Mankala games in Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi], (Centre d’Études et de Documentation Africaines, 1977). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Cooperative Play Cooperative play can be conceived of as an entertaining way to obtain readiness for life, work, and love. In a more historical sense, it can be defined as a quick sketch of society’s most sublime and ridiculous desires and dreams. According to the rules of evolution, selection takes place when different types of individuals compete against each other to survive. Certain kinds of individuals outcompete others by reproducing faster and transmitting their characteristics to the next generation. For many authors, this mechanism is called survival of the fittest, a term coined by Herbert Spencer in his Principles of Biology and used later by Darwin as a synonym for natural selection. This metaphor is no longer used by modern-day scientists, who prefer to use the term natural selection to describe the resulting process by which those who are better prepared tend to survive. The term better prepared can have many interpretations. Some people equate the term survival of the fittest with survival of the strongest or survival of the most aggressive. However, it is not true that competition is humankind’s first law. It is acceptable to use the term survival of the most cooperative under certain circumstances. The goal for evolution is selection, not the mechanisms by which it is achieved.

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Life requires a dynamic combination of competition and cooperation, yet few studies have systematically evaluated that combination. Cooperation is a biological and social process of achieving results by combining the actions of different agents. In a broad sense, agents do not have to be either rational individuals or friends in order to cooperate. Competition and cooperation do not necessarily have to be divergent strategies. Agents can be groups, sport teams, bacteria, or enemies in a war. Although those who cooperate tend to exhibit higher levels of trust, all that is needed to develop cooperation is a previously unknown number of interactions between participant agents. In sports teams, whether they are formally constituted or not, a problem arises when the quest for selfinterest by each participant leads to a poor outcome for the whole group. On a sports team, players are supposed to compete against each other for a place in the next match, but at the same time, they have to cooperate with teammates in order to win that match as a group. In this type of a situation, self-benefit is mediated by the benefit of others. It is not infrequent that the temptation to defect from others is stronger in terms of the short-term rewards for the defector. This is known as a social trap, occurring when individual agents betray partners to

On a sports team, players compete against each other for their place in the next match, but have to cooperate to win.

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get the best slice of the cake, with negative long-term effects. In these cases, we should not blame the defector, attributing his defection to “weakness of spirit” or a poor system of values. Social order, in the form of formal or informal rules, normally defines the system of rewards for each social situation. People learn how to evaluate those rewards and act accordingly. If competition is—according to capitalistic rules of social organization—the engine for social life, then specific activities in every sort of life are meant to be devoted as manifestations of that goal. The Effect of the Future The secret for cooperation to thrive without central authority is what Robert Axelrod calls “the shadow of the future.” This means that the weight of the next state, relative to the current situation, has to be large enough to make the future important. In other words, in a determined situation an agent cooperates only if he or she sees that there is a future possibility for getting rewarded because of his or her present act. That reward has to be large enough to make this agent delay his or her complete satisfaction now and wait for the next several interactions. What makes agents cooperate is merely the possibility of future encounters. Following this reasoning, another way to define cooperation is by describing it as the process under which two or more agents combine their actions and work together, once it is defined that the payoff for an infinite number of interactions will be higher than the payoff for just one or a few present interactions. In other words, there is a higher probability for future payoffs from working together than exists if everyone works for their individual interests only. Is this a selfish approach to relationships between agents, whether they are human beings or not? Probably yes. But it can be viewed as a realistic approach. In essence, every human being gets into situations under a selfish rationale: to win, to have fun, to show off, to defeat others, and so on. There is nothing beyond human nature and social organization there. But people learn very quickly that the possibility to stay and play for an extended periods of time only occurs if they cooperate with others. For most children, cooperation during playtime works, and rewards them in the long term, in the form of friendships or avoided punishments. If kids can share a swing, they can enjoy it longer. As stated before, society nor-

mally defines the rewards for each situation, and people learn very quickly how to gain those rewards. The current organization of society rewards immediate gratification to the detriment of future payoffs: Act now, call now, win now! People are continuously forced to live in the fast track, a never-ending present of instant gratification and consumption. This model of social organization is good for the economy, but not for its people. The effect of this way of thinking has been destructive in terms of the environmental effects. Play reflects this reality. A sort of social autism, in the form of a lack of subjective awareness of others’ intentions, is prevalent in most everyday play activities. Cooperative play has to be fostered because of its intrinsic dilatory individual gratification. Put in brief, in a world of egotists competing against each other to survive, who needs to play cooperatively? Survival and Cooperation What society believes in and acts upon is not a series of genetic programs, triggered by individual cells and DNA. Beliefs and behaviors are the result of historical interactions between agents. The relation between human beings and the environment is characterized by mutuality and reciprocity: human beings (in fact, all organisms) seek out and at the same time actively adjust their behavior to environmental features or affordances. During this process, the environment is transformed by human beings on a very active and never-ending interplay. Interactions with the world are recorded in the form of cultural meanings. There is no human activity out of social boundaries of meaning and ideology. From a phylogenetic point of view, human beings developed strategies to overcome genetic fates as competition long ago. Nowadays, a social order based on pure competition between individuals, groups, or societies is the result of historical injustices in the way the means of production are distributed. It is not only the result of genetic forces against which human beings are helpless. As asserted by Aristotle in his Metaphysics, cooperative construction of truth is indeed the construction of an organized world of meaning. Activities in which people have the chance to interact, with or without rules, serve themselves as “natural” opportunities to nurture and reproduce both cooperative and competitive practices using different strategies. Cooperation plays an important role in survival. This phenomenon influ-



ences the basic mechanisms of reproduction, mutation, and selection as much as competition does. Cells have to cooperate in order to generate organisms and in turn, organisms do cooperate to get healthy groups and species. In the case of human beings, nature has become social. Natural order is the social order. An ecological scale of social events should consider only whole organisms, not sets of attached biological entities. For example, senses are not only light input channels but interrelated active systems that provide and seek meaningful information from other social agents. This active process makes adaptation and living in the world possible. Social Skills One of the major contributions of John Dewey to American education is the assertion that children can learn social skills by working together in cooperation. Of course, those social skills are constructed within a system of meanings inserted into a specific ideology. Play is always attached to a particular historical moment, as in the case of a ball game played by ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures in Mesoamerica. The social meaning of that game is very different from Maya beliefs to modern soccer organizations, since both social situations have very different cultural roots and meanings. As exemplified by Jerome Bruner, children from Tengu, New Guinea, play competitive games that end up with no winners. The aim is to have fun and exhibit certain social skills, not to defeat the opposite player. Bruner believes that this dynamic could be an explanation as to why adults in Tengu society do not compete against each other in the way adults in Western societies do. For Bruner, children’s play reflects prevailing ideals in adult society. Cooperation demands that a new system of beliefs about what is important for society be developed and transformed into play situations. For example, diversity is a consequence of cooperation between any sort of individuals who have different ways of interpreting and living in the world. Nonetheless, many people prefer that schools break students into ability-based groups so that students can progress at different rates and get the kind of academic help they need. At first glance, this differentiation between human beings with different abilities or conditions sounds appealing and rational. However, solidarity arises when everyone understands that it is for the well-being of humanity that we have to face our common problems as a group. Hiding out indi-

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vidual differences is useless in play situations. Rewarding bunches of “differentiated and talented” individuals is not helpful in fostering cooperation. In terms of evolution, diversity is healthy and is an asset for social capital that, in turn, plays a vital role in the development of more cooperative relationships within groups and organizations. Cooperation improves the mechanisms to develop effective self-direction. Cooperative Play Defined Cooperative play is a sequence of activities between two or more agents in which every piece of activity is harmonized in order to achieve a previously negotiated goal. It is different to parallel play, where agents share objectives but not activities, and to associative play, where agents share activities as affordances but not objectives. During an activity involving cooperative play, every playing agent has to not only be aware of the activities displayed by the rest of agents, but also be aware of the common goals the participants agreed upon. The emphasis is on play rather than competition. Some additional conditions must be met in order to consider an activity as cooperative play: first, it becomes clear from the beginning of the interaction that the pursuit of self-interest leads to a poor outcome for all participants. In cooperative play, the rules are defined as being strongly dependent on each other’s strategy, and the payoffs consequently depend on the movements of every player. Environment fosters the characteristic habits of expansive thinking and complex problem solving. In most situations, environment can be characterized as the others that are a vital part of one’s strategy. In the case of human agents, intellectual curiosity can easily be satisfied if cooperative play is required. Each participant normally seeks paths of inquiry and interest with the help of others. There is a decisive need for open-mindedness as a tool that combines flexibility for problem solving and accepting differing points of view as viable solutions. Critical thinking and respect for evidence as a valid way to reshape one’s own opinions, in the form of “what if,” can be easily fostered by cooperative play. It can also be established that a connection exists between the extent of cooperative tendency of play and the level of role reversal and mind reading. In role reversal, every player has to figure out or assume what the other player would do in a particular situation (walking in someone else’s shoes), witnessing his or her own

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behavior from another side. Consequently, role reversal can convey significant insight and transformative learning during play. Mind reading is the capability to think in advance about what others are about to do. This natural empathy is greatly exercised during cooperative play. In cooperative play, the payoffs for players need not be the same or symmetrical. The theoretical distribution is defined at the beginning of the interaction, in the form of rules, and is controlled afterward by the very dynamics of play. This attribute emphasizes that every player is rewarded in terms of his or her own subsequent interactions and based upon his or her level of participation and, in the case of human agents, the level of compromise with predetermined rules. Does cooperative play promote mediocrity? It may, in the form of self-limiting activities in which players might minimize their own performance, seeking out obstacles as causes for failure. This can happen because of a need for risk avoidance, maintaining a minimum level of control, and protecting self-esteem. But this can occur only with intense competition, where the biggest or strongest agent always wins and everybody agrees with that uneven outcome. There may be competition involved in play, but the outcome of the competition should not be losing and sitting out the rest of the game. When everyone knows how to win and has the same opportunity to do so, cooperative play guarantees the same level of excitement and compromise as competitive play, and all this can be done without the frustration and sense of abandonment that competitive play supposes. For example, switching teams ensures that every player eventually ends up on a winning team. Cooperative play need not be considered desirable from the point of view of the society. Most forms of corruption are excellent examples of cooperative play, and school bullying is cooperative most of the time. In the beginnings of the capitalist system, trust in commercial transactions was based upon an implicit recognition of mutual dependence and cooperation. This was not necessarily meant to be a fair relationship between the poor and the rich. To this extent, it is recommended that a central authority exists to define which forms of cooperation are valid, depending on environmental, social, and historical conditions. Cooperation cannot be individually defined, and it can be hard for an isolated individual to foster cooperation in a hostile environment. For example, many schools have eliminated grades or student

ranking, since this sort of classification system works against the very spirit of cooperation. Cooperative play defines participants as belonging to a group in which everyone shares a set of goals and activities, emphasizing participation, challenge, and fun, rather than having the goal of defeating someone. With a central authority, participants learn how and when to “cooperate” with other participants, doing the same kinds of activities and viewing them as “more fun” when everyone has a role in the activity. In conclusion, cooperative play can be conceptualized as a way to change the modes by which society reproduces relationships between human beings and with the rest of the world’s species. Cooperative play can be oriented toward the goal of promoting peace, justice, respect for individual differences, quality of life, solidarity, and mutual understanding among human beings. See Also: Academic Learning and Play; Fantasy Play; Game Theory; Play as Learning, Anthropology of; Team Play. Bibliography. Robert Axelrod, The Evolution of Cooperation (Basic Books, 1984); Jerome Bruner, “Play, Thought, and Language,” Peabody Journal of Education (v.60/3, 1983); K.H. Rubin, Children’s Play (Jossey-Bass, 1980); Robert Wright, Nonzero: the Logic of Human Destiny (Vintage Books, 2001). Mauricio Leandro City University of New York

Cossacks (Napoleonic Wars) The first title in the Cossacks series was released in April 2001 by Strategy First Inc. and later re-released in April 2002 by CDV Software Entertainment AG. The game was developed by Kiev-based GSC Gameworld. Cossacks is a real time strategy (RTS) game set in 17th- and 18th-century Europe. In terms of gameplay, Cossacks follows the established conventions of the RTS genre: Players gather resources (gold, wood, food, stone, iron and coal) and use them to construct buildings and military units, which are then sent out to attack enemy armies and buildings. Like other RTSs, Cossacks places a particular emphasis on resource management, but unlike the majority of RTSs, units require constant feeding of resources. If



the faction runs out of resources, a penalty is applied. If a player runs out of gold, for example, military units that require maintenance will mutiny. One aspect of the game that sets it apart from the majority of RTSs is its historical setting. Players can choose from one of 16 factions: Algeria, Austria, England, France, Netherlands, Piemonte, Poland, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Saxony, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, and Venice. Each faction has its own selection of military units that adequately matches their historical equivalents in function. Military units are divided into four categories: infantry, cavalry, artillery, and naval. Like their historical counterparts, infantry form the backbone of the army, and though they are not as fast and maneuverable as the cavalry or as powerful as the artillery in the damage they inflict, infantry can withstand considerable punishment and are essential for taking over enemy villages. One of Cossacks’ main selling points at the time of release was its ability to field up to 8,000 units simultaneously. Another important feature of the game was the use of organized unit formations. Aside from titles in the Total War series (that are not strictly RTSs as they have both a turn-based and real-time component to them), no previous RTS offered the opportunity to form individual units into larger formations. In Cossacks, players can assign a specific number of individual units to a formation of 15, 36, 72, 120, or 196 units, as long as a commanding officer and musician are included. These can be controlled as a single entity, and once troops are grouped in the correct numbers, players can form their troops in line, column, or square formations that have an important impact on their performance on the battlefield. This creates a very different brand of tactical engagement from the RTSs of the time. With previous titles like the popular Age of Empires series, combat was more of a messy affair, with players sending out groups of units at their foes without having control over how the troops are ordered while moving or in combat. Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars is the first full-blown follow-up to Cossacks, released in April 2005 by CDV Software Entertainment AG and developed by Strategy First Inc. Napoleonic Wars automates the resourcegathering aspect of the game, leaving players to focus more on troop movement and battles. But the biggest leap forward in terms of game-play comes in the way troops are managed on the battlefield. Napoleonic Wars delivers a more decisive simulation of battles in the

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period by grouping units into corps of 120 troops each and putting greater emphasis on the importance of timing volleys correctly than its predecessor. The game does a great job of delivering the feel of Napoleonic warfare: thousands of brightly colored, tightly packed ranks of troops unleashing volleys of musket fire in clouds of billowing smoke at oncoming walls of bayonets. See Also: Civilization (I, II, III, IV); Wargames; Warhammer; World of Warcraft. Bibliography. Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars Official Site, www.cossacks2.de (cited July 2008); Daniel Mackay, The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art (McFarland & Company, 2001); Lawrence Schick, Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role Playing Games (Prometheus Books, 1991); Andreas Jahn-Sudmann and Ralf Stockmann, eds., Computer Games as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: Games Without Frontiers, Wars Without Tears (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); J. Patrick Williams et al., eds., Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games (McFarland, 2006). Gordon Calleja IT-University of Copenhagen

Costumes in Play When we hear the word costume, most of us think of young children dressing up as their favorite superhero or cartoon figure while engaging in fantasy play, but the use of costumes in play does not belong solely to the young. In fact, costumes can be a large and vital part of the culture of play from infancy through adulthood. If we ask ourselves the question, “How does one pretend to be something or someone else?,” the answer might likely include the use of a costume. Most of us have made use of a costume during fantasy play or as part of a holiday celebration as children or as adults. The definition of the term costume used throughout this writing refers to a style of dress or components of dress worn to portray the player as a particular character or genre of character other than their regular persona in informal and formal play experiences. In this sense, the role of costumes in play experiences is that of a tangible, concrete support tool that scaffolds the game or trans-

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ports the player into the chosen role. It is through an examination of play over a lifetime that we can see the importance of costumes unfold in many forms and uses. Children and Costimes In childhood, children engage in fantasy and dramatic play, often utilizing a costume during play experiences. In her classic text A Child’s Work, Vivian Paley illuminated the important role of fantasy play in early childhood. Paley’s rich, descriptive stories involve the reader in the look and feel of young children’s fantasy play. The roles of play props, including costumes, make their appearance as a mechanism for assisting the child at play—a device allowing the player to delve deeply into their play role or character. As Bodrova and Leong noted, in early childhood, most children prefer to engage in play that has a topic that is familiar to them and, as such, may often make use of costume materials that are representative or realistic in nature. The wide utilization of commercially available prop boxes in early childhood education classrooms reinforces the use of representative costume play; a firefighter box includes the necessary costume pieces, which differ from the costumes in the box used for playing storekeeper. In addition to representative costume use, young children often utilize their creative capacities by employing the power of their imaginations to create costumes out of everyday items; for example, a blanket can be used as a superhero cape or as a veil for a bride on her wedding day. During childhood, costumes appear in impromptu and structured play experiences and during secular and nonsecular holiday celebrations as children seek to explore the world, including the world of imagination. Adolescents and Adults As children grow, play during the adolescent and adult years continues to explore the use of costumes. As with children, adult use of costumes can be seen during holiday celebrations or during informal and formal play experiences. Adult costumes can be prepackaged, manufactured sets or a variety of items brought together for use by the player. A Star Trek convention in the United States or a Manga gathering in Japan are just two examples where one can find adolescents and adults exploring the use of costumes in play. In fact, a relatively new genre, titled Cosplay, delves into the costume and play experience of adolescents and adults. Cosplay, a contraction of the English-language words costumes and

play, describes a performing art experience where a player takes on the persona of a character, utilizing costumes and other relevant props. Players can engage in cosplay at both formal and informal events with other cosplay enthusiasts. Another genre of adult play and costumes can be seen at virtually every major sporting event: the team mascot. Sport team mascots are a part of virtually all levels of professional and student genres of sporting activities and typically involve the use of costumes in interactive play experiences that can be either structured or impromptu. As the player takes on the role of a character or mascot, the costume serves to scaffold the play experience by transforming the player into the desired role. The benefit of the costume use can be experienced by others beyond the player, as the costume serves to alert play observers to the play roles under performance. The Role of the Costume Crossing the generational lines of childhood and adulthood, one can examine the role of costumes in the performing arts, spanning the genres of dramatic theater, improv theater, and musical theater. The role of the costume in these venues can be as much about the audience’s perception of the character as well as the artist’s perception of the character or play role. From informal dramatic play experiences in early childhood to the formal genre of musical theatre, the use of costumes assists in creating rich, visual, and imaginative experiences for the players and their audience. Costumes have a role in transporting players and audience members into new ways of thinking, speaking, perceiving, and acting. If costumes are chosen and/or created by the player, the costume, as well as the play experience, is intimately related to the very definition of the player. However, costumes chosen for use by someone other than the player may not necessarily be considered part of a pure play experience. Pure play, or play for play’s sake, is something that can only be defined by those at play. Costumes, as a part of the pure play experience, are a supportive tool employed by the player as part of the overall experience. The role of the costume, as play itself, needs to bear personal meaning to the player. In crafting an understanding of the role of supportive play materials, the significance of a costume in play is best left to the role of the player. As a player dons the red blanket that serves as a superhero cape or the manufactured animé cosplay costume,

Counter-Strike



it is the player’s prerogative to explore the costume’s many affordances; perhaps even those beyond the original intent. In this manner, the costume can further the player’s opportunity for self-expression and overall enjoyment of the play experience. Depending on the play experience and the player, the choice of costume can be a spontaneous decision or a carefully crafted selection based upon the needs of the player, the play experience, and the play character. Costumes provide players, as well as play observers, with a tangible entry point for beginning a play experience or extending a play script in new directions. See Also: Fantasy Play; Play as Catharsis; Play in the Classroom; Pretending. Bibliography. Elena Bodrova and Deborah Leong, The Tools of the Mind Project: A Case Study of Implementing the Vygotskian Approach in American Early Childhood and Primary Classrooms. (International Bureau of Education Publising, 2001); Vivian Gussin Paley, A Child’s Work: The Importance of Fantasy Play (University of Chicago Press, 2004); Lenore Terr, Beyond Love and Work: Why Adults Need to Play (Scribner, 1999). Angela Eckhoff Clemson University

Counter-Strike Counter-Strike is a multiplayer first-person shooter game (FPS), initially developed as a modification (mod) for Half-Life, one of the most acclaimed single-player FPS games of all time, by Minh Le and Jess Cliffe in 1999. The game rapidly gained popularity with the online FPS community, leading Half-Life developers Valve to employ Le and Cliffe to further develop the game and eventually bundle it with later versions of Half-Life, distributed on Steam, Valve’s digital distribution platform. Counter-Strike is an online multiplayer game with no single-player content (although a single-player version called Counter-Strike Condition Zero was released in 2004). The game takes place on a series of “maps,” or small areas in which two teams, Terrorists and CounterTerrorists, compete over a number of short rounds (usually lasting two to three minutes) to complete a par-

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ticular objective. The two most common objectives are: bomb defusing and hostage rescue. In the bomb defuse scenario the terrorist side has to plant a bomb, which is carried by one of the players to one of two bomb sites situated on the opposite end of the map from their spawn point, while the Counter-Terrorists try to defend the two bomb sites from being bombed. If the Terrorists plant the bomb, the Counter-Terrorists have a predefined number of seconds to clear the bomb site of Terrorists and defuse the bomb. A spawn point is the area where players start off after dying. In some online FPS games, spawning is continuous, meaning when a player dies, they automatically return (respawn) in a predefined or self-chosen (depending on the game) location. In Counter-Strike, once a player dies they have to wait for the next round to respawn and rejoin the game. In hostage rescue scenarios, Terrorists need to defend a number of hostages, while the Counter-Terrorists attempt to rescue the hostages and bring them back to their spawn area. In all scenarios, a team can also wipe out the opposing team, unless that team has planted a bomb, in which case the bomb has to be defused for the Counter-­Terrorist side to claim victory. At the start of each round players may buy a primary weapon, a sidearm (pistol), armor, grenades, and other equipment such as night vision goggles or defusal kits. Both teams start with a basic pistol and 800 credits, allowing them to buy a better pistol, flak vest, grenade, or piece of equipment. The outcome of the first few rounds tends to tip the balance in the favor of one team, as the amount of money each player has depends on their performance in the previous round, mostly related to the amount of kills they attained, and modified by whether their team won or lost. All other things being equal, the losing team will find it harder to catch up, since it will have inferior weapons and equipment to the opposing team. Counter-Strike maps are relatively small. The severity of damage incurred from even one shot can be fatal. When these qualities are combined with the fact that players do not respawn in the same round they are killed, it makes for a sense of consequence to one’s actions that is unmatched in most popular multiplayer FPSs, and that allows for continuous respawning on bigger maps. Movement in Counter-Strike consists of running (the default mode), walking, crouching, and jumping. Players cannot lean sideways, throw themselves

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on the ground, or sprint, as is now becoming commonplace in most FPSs games. The most recent version of Counter-Strike, titled Counter-Strike Source, has not changed the game play in any significant way. These factors have not, however, dissuaded the online Counter­-Strike community, and the game is still considered one of the most popular and widely played games around the world, with a regular presence at all major pro-gaming tournaments. See Also: Mortal Kombat; Play Fighting; Team Play; Wargames; Warhammer. Bibliography. Daniel Mackay, The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art (McFarland & Company, 2001); Lawrence Schick, Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role Playing Games (Prometheus Books, 1991); Andreas Jahn­Sudmann and Ralf Stockmann, eds., Computer Games as a Sociocultural Phenomenon: Games Without Frontiers, Wars Without Tears (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008); J. Patrick Williams et al., eds., Gaming As Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games (McFarland, 2006). Gordon Calleja IT-University of Copenhagen

Cracking the Whip Cracking the Whip, or versions of it, have been popping up in schoolyards and backyards for centuries, as paintings from as far back as the 1500s depict contestants of all ages taking part in the action. Also known as Smack the Whip, it is an outdoors-only and wildly tuned-up version of Follow the Leader (Whether He Wants You to or Not!). The premise for the game is quite simple, and yet more than a bit complicated at the same time. One person is chosen to be the leader, and several others line up behind him or her, each holding on to one another (the second person in line holds on to the leader). As the game begins, the leader attempts to shake off his or her followers by running quickly or slowly, twisting, turning, doing double-back movements to fake them out—anything that can be imagined and physically performed. His hangers-on do everything they can to hold on, but must copy his movements. Should any player

lose their grip and fall off, they are eliminated, as are any other players behind them. Those that manage to hold on until either a predetermined period of time passes or the leader gets too tired are declared the winners. Should the leader shake everyone off, he or she is the victor. For obvious reasons, it is best to play this game outside, in an open area—preferably one that is not too wet or muddy. One of the first recorded images of this contest comes from the Fleming artist Pieter Bruegel’s 1560 work Follow the Leader, which depicts several people in a row, holding on to one another. A few centuries later, in 1872, Winslow Homer put together his own painted canvas creation. Titled Crack the Whip, it pictures several young boys running along, joined at the hands. Both of these paintings extol the long-lasting aspect of the game, probably because of its simplicity—just about anyone can play it at any time, provided that everyone is about the same size and there is enough open space to have fun. Because of its unchallenging nature in the social and psychological senses, Crack the Whip is more commonly found as an undisciplined schoolyard competition rather than in the more organized setting of a classroom or physical education class. The game does not allow for a great deal of social interaction, except for children encouraging one another to hold on so no one gets thrown off. Children may learn the social aspect of congratulations, giving each other a “way to go!” message for either throwing all others off or hanging on all the way through. The psychological benefits of the game are not many, but they are important. For example, a youngster might plot out his or her movements ahead of time, trying to out-think his opponents in the back. The fact that he or she must throw them off to escape gives extra incentive to try new things (movements) to escape or put more and more effort into old motions. The followers have their own mental game to play as well, as holding on to the last might impress their friends and classmates with their intestinal fortitude. Being thrown off may undermine their “toughness” in the social setting. See Also: Boys’ Play; Original Play; Play and Power, Sociology of; Play and Sports Education; Play as Competition, Psychology of. Bibliography. Joan Baxter, The Archeology of Childhood: Children, Gender and Material Culture (AltaMira Press, 2005);

Cribbage

Elliott Avedon Museum and Archive of Games, “Crack (or Snap) the Whip,” www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/ VirtualExhibits/Brueghel/whip.html (cited July 2008); Barrie Thorne, Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School (Rutgers University Press, 1995). Jason Norman Old Dominion University

Cribbage No one knows exactly when Cribbage was invented. The rules were formalized in the 17th century by English poet Sir John Suckling. Cribbage is a game that uses a standard deck of 52 cards and a board with holes in it and pegs to keep score. Games are normally played to 60 or 120 points. Cribbage can be a two- or four-player game, with the two-player version generally being more popular. The four-player version uses two teams of two. It is possible that the game of Cribbage was invented before the 17th century, but it is from this time that the first recorded version of the game exists. Although Sir John Suckling is given credit for inventing Cribbage, it is more likely that he just codified the rules and committed them formally to paper. Cribbage shares common elements with the French game of Piquet, especially the use of pegs to keep score. Piquet is considered to be more complex then cribbage. Cribbage also has more luck involved in it then piquet. Cribbage may also be related to an English game called Noddy, and it is possible that Noddy was the original name for Cribbage. The peg board was most likely taken from early dice games. English settlers in America brought Cribbage with them when they colonized America, and the game caught on there, especially in New England. From there it became popular with sailors and fisherman, since only two players were required. During Victorian times, the four-player version was very popular and appears in Charles Dickens’s story, The Old Curiosity Shop, in which the character Mr. Quilp not only plays, but cheats at Cribbage. Cribbage was also popular in the U.S. Navy during World War II. The name is believed to been derived from the extra hand the game has, which is called the “crib.” This extra

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hand, made up of cards discarded by the players, is scored by the dealer each round. The board, which has either 60 or 120 holes on it, is used to keep track of each player’s (or team’s) score. Two pegs are used in a leapfrog fashion to record each side’s score. This allows the other side to see whether the score was recorded correctly or not. Cribbage boards can be very elaborate. Eskimos made Cribbage boards to trade with sailors and fisherman, using the ivory from walrus tusks for parts of the boards. Originally souvenirs for the sailors, these boards are now museum pieces. King Gustavus IV of Sweden signed his abdication on a Cribbage board. Each round of Cribbage consists of three parts. First, cards are dealt to each player, who then discards cards to the “crib.” The second part involves the players taking turns playing cards and scoring points for certain combinations. The final part consists of each player totaling the points in their hands for certain combinations of cards. To make the game more interesting, one card is pulled from the deck (not all the cards are dealt to the players), and this card can be combined with cards in the player’s hand during scoring. Of course, this card is not revealed until after players have discarded their cards to the crib during the first part of the round. During the third part is when the dealer gets to score the points for the cards in the crib. Once this is done, the deal is passed to the next player. Play continues until one player (or team) scores the required number of points. Gambling is possible in Cribbage by placing a wager on the difference in each side’s score at the end of the game. See Also: Dice; Europe, 1600 to 1800; Gambling; Peg Boards; Piquet; United Kingdom. Bibliography. American Cribbage Congress, www.cribbage .org (cited August 2008); Douglas Anderson, All about Cribbage (Winchester Press, 1971); Dan Barlow, Play Cribbage to Win (Sterling Publishing Co., 2000); Jack Botermans et al., The World of Games: Their Origins and History, How to Play Them, and How to Make Them (Facts on File, 1989); Frederic V. Grunfeld, ed., Games of the World: How to Make Them, How to Play Them, How They Came to Be (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975); John Scarne, Scarne on Cards (Crown Publishers, 1973). Dallace W. Unger Independent Scholar

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Cricket (Amateur)

Cricket (Amateur) Cricket is a team game devised in Britain and recognized from the 18th century on, then introduced to various segments of the British Empire. It is a game that is played across the ages, from schoolboys to village elders, and it has played a part in a developing British society over the last few centuries. A cricket game comprises two teams of 11, with two umpires on an oval-shaped field. One team is batting and the other is fielding, and then they trade positions. Runs are scored while batting during an inning, which is further divided into overs, which consist of six balls being bowled. There are variations now, including Twenty20, which is based on limited overs and played by county cricket teams, while indoor cricket is played during the winter. It is one of the few games, like golf, that can take most of the afternoon, including a break for afternoon tea. It has a language of its own—“silly mid off ”—some of which has entered general language use, such as being “on a sticky wicket,” while often being portrayed in art and literature as a gentleman’s game. The Origins of Cricket The origins of cricket are not clear, but it is believed to have developed out of folk games played by children living in the Weald before it was taken up and played

Close fielders put pressure on the batsman during a game of cricket, as one of the two umpires observes the action.

by the gentry and aristocracy, mainly between 1660 and 1830, and involved a considerable amount of betting—for example, around £20,000 was bet on a series of games between Old Etonians and England in 1751. In 1677 there was the first recorded instance of a member of the aristocracy attending a cricket match, and by 1700, its popularity ensured the game was mentioned in local press. This took the form of advertisements of forthcoming matches. Gambling was an important part of these matches as they were played by gentlemen who had plenty of time and money to spare. As previously suggested, the first part of the evolution of cricket from a medieval folk game to the modern sport took place in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire, under the patronage and direction of wealthy landowners. Cricket moved out of these boundaries in the second half of the 18th century. Consequently this meant the center of cricket was Hambledon until the MCC (Marylebone Cricket Club) was formed in 1787. It was the MCC that laid down the code of laws that were adopted throughout the game, and even today, they have custody and are the arbiters of the laws of cricket throughout the world. The Georgians played cricket for fun, but during Victorian times, cricket became very important, and they played for their spiritual and mental regeneration. It was legalized by the English parliament in 1845, which was also the period when county cricket was instigated, followed later in the 19th century by international cricket. Victorians felt playing cricket would give them strength of character and a positive image. It was seen as incredibly important because its values were used by politicians, philosophers, preachers, and poets, while it provided a sense of stability during a period of social, political, and technological flux. This meant that the village cricket team was seen as a release from the tedium of agricultural and industrial labor. However, laborers were barred from playing with the bourgeois and aristocratic teams; therefore, they had to play among themselves. This later evolved into professional teams, while the amateur teams remained the bastion of the upper classes. By the turn of the 20th century, the cricket ground and club within an English village was as important to the community as the church and pub. As the British Empire expanded, the colonizers introduced cricket to India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, and South Africa, among other regions, as the colonial communities associated cricket with gentil-

Croatia



ity and “civilization.” The Indians and Pakistanis refused to accept the Christian and other gospels that were being preached to them by the British colonizers, but they did adopt cricket, and were determined to play it at least as well as the colonizers. As can be seen in contemporary competitions, they are very successful at it. During Victorian times, women were discouraged from taking part in cricket in any serious way, as it was deemed a “male-only” sport and not suitable for women, because it involved running and other perceived unladylike behavior. The Women’s Cricket Association began after World War I and the drive for women’s emancipation. It was established in 1926 but is still not as widely supported as the male version. Cricket now has to compete with soccer and, to a certain extent, rugby and golf as a leading sport, certainly in Britain, though it is a game still played in schools and villages at an amateur level. See Also: Boys’ Play; Gambling; India; Pakistan; Spontaneous Group Play; Team Play. Bibliography. Christopher Brookes, English Cricket: The Game and its Players Through the Ages, (Readers Union, 1978); Neville Cardus, English Cricket (Collins, 1946); Brian Stoddart and Keith P. Sandiford, eds., The Imperial Game (Manchester University Press, 1998). Vanessa Harbour University of Winchester

Croatia The Republic of Croatia was, until 1991, a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, but historically it has had close ties with Italy. The region was dominated by Venice during medieval and early modern times, and then was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I. With its own cultural identity stretching back to medieval times, a vast 90 percent of the population are ethnic Croats, and 96 percent speak Croatian. Many traditional Eastern European games and pursuits were played until the early 20th century. Men were involved in woodwork, metalwork, and leatherwork, spending much time with their boys, teaching them about crafts. Josip Broz (Tito) spoke of his childhood in the village of Kumrovec in Croatia in the late 1890s and

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1900s, during which he said he was involved in playing with other boys from the village, fighting Slovene boys from nearby, fishing and hunting for hickory, and also taking part in gymnastics at school. He also spoke fondly of pikusa, which was a combination of hockey, cricket, and golf, with five boys on each side. Although small girls often played in streets with boys, women and girls predominantly remained in the family home, where they would be involved in spinning, weaving, and sewing, making some of the costume that has come to represent Croatia, from the pill-box cap to the loose pants worn by men. Indeed, it was the brightly colored ties made in Croatia that became known in France as cravats before becoming fashionable throughout the world. Lace and quilting are also popular. For men working in the fields, especially shepherds, the playing of flutes, a instrument that resembles the bagpipes, and also yodeling were common. Traditional Game One traditional game, which celebrates the victory of the Croats over the Turks, is the Sinjska alka, which takes place in August and involves horsemen dressed in 18th-century clothing. Another great historical and cultural event is the Split Carnival, where there is much storytelling and folk reenactment. With more children attending school since the 1920s, there has been a great emphasis on recreational sports, such as table tennis, soccer, volleyball, basketball, and netball, as well as hiking and camping. Scouts from Croatia were active starting in 1913, and the Yugoslav Scout Movement was one of the founding members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement; however, its membership ended in 1948. During the Communist period, boys and girls joined the Young Pioneers Movement and were involved in civic activities as well as camping and hiking in other parts of the country, and the Savez Izvidaca Hrvatske (Scout Association of Croatia) has been reestablished. Playing cards and Chess are both popular, the latter being heavily promoted in schools by the Croatian Chess Federation. The most popular recreational sport in the country remains soccer, with the country doing well in recent international tournaments, and overseas Croatians dominating other teams, such as that of Australia. See Also: Bosnia and Herzegovina; Chess and Variations of; Fishing; Slovenia; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide.

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Bibliography. Phyllis Auty, Tito: A Biography (Longman Group Ltd., 1970); Vladimir Blaskovic, Croatia (Speltar, 1974); Croatian Chess Federation, www.crochess.com (cited July 2008); Vladimir Dedijer, Tito Speaks (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1953); Milos Velickovic and Ljubomir Milojevic, Sport in Yugoslavia (Sportska Knjiga, 1952). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Croquet The exact origins of Croquet are unknown, but it was certainly played in the 16th century. King Louis XIV of France played a game called Le Jeu de Mail, which involved hitting a ball through several hoops with a mallet. In the British capital, a similar ball game was played known as Pall Mall, but this involved hitting the ball through a raised arch, making the game far more difficult. Because of the area in London in which it was played, it is the origin of a street named Pall Mall. Playing continued intermittently in England, Ireland, and France under a number of rules until 1857, when the Briton John Jaques, a manufacturer of sports equipment in Britain, wrote a book about the game. In 1867 Walter Jones-Whitmore wrote about Croquet in the magazine The Field and organized the first Croquet championship, which was held at Evesham, Worcestershire. This proved very popular, and in 1870 the British championship was held at Wimbledon at the All-England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (as it was then styled). The size of the Croquet court was increased from 48 feet to 50 feet, and the set-up of the hoops was agreed upon as the Hale Setting, which continued until 1922. The Croquet Association was formed in 1896, with organizations established for Croquet in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 1900 Croquet was offered as an Olympic sport, and was the first to allow women to compete—but it was never again offered in the Olympics, although Roque, a variation, was played in the 1904 Olympics. Although there are professional Croquet games and a tournament, most often Croquet is played as a social game, and has been very popular in England and with anglophiles around the world. The U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes spent $6 from government funds to purchase some Croquet balls, creating a minor scandal

The “American” six-wicket version of Croquet is widely played in both the United States and Canada.

at the time. Gradually, Croquet scenes started appearing in paintings by the U.S. artists Winslow Homer and Norman Rockwell, the French Impressionist Édouard Manet, and the post-Impressionist Pierre Bonnard. Croquet gradually became a social game and was enjoyed by the British upper class. Gerald Hugh TyrwhittWilson, 14th Baron Berners, donned a turban made from brocade when he played Croquet with Diana Mitford and her sisters, and Winston Churchill replaced the tennis court at Chartwell with a Croquet lawn. Mention should also be made of references to Croquet in fiction. In Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited (1946), Sebastian Flyte injures his foot while playing Croquet, and P.G. Wodehouse, in his last book, Sunset at Blandings (1977), has a scene with the Chancellor of the Exchequer playing Croquet at Blandings, shadowed by his security guards. As well as the upper class, many houses of the British and American upper middle class started installing their own Croquet lawns, with the game’s popularity mirrored in the literature of the time. Agatha Christie grew up in Ashfield, Devon, a house with its own Cro-

Crosswords



quet lawn, and Croquet appears in some of her murder mystery stories, and John Galsworthy mentions Croquet rules in The Forsyte Saga (1906–21). H.G. Wells wrote The Croquet Player (1936), in which he uses the game as a metaphor for a man who ponders his existence. As a pastime, Croquet has risen and fallen in popularity because of coverage in the press. There was renewed interest in the United States after an American polar explorer played Croquet near the South Pole; and in 2006, after the British deputy prime minister John Prescott appeared in the press playing Croquet, there was a 300 percent increase in the sales of Croquet sets at a leading British superstore. It still remains popular at many holiday resorts around the world, including in India and the West Indies. See Also: Bocce; Boules; Bowling; Tennis (Amateur) and Variations of. Bibliography. James Charlton, Croquet: The Complete Guide to History, Strategy, Rules and Records (Turtle Press, 1977); David Drazin, Croquet: A Bibliography (Oak Knoll Press and Roefield Press, 2004); Nicky Smith, Queen of Games: History of Croquet (Trafalgar Square, 1991); Charlton Thompson, Croquet: Its History, Strategy, Rules and Records (Penguin, 1988). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Crosswords The crossword puzzle is the most universally played puzzle game worldwide, and the most familiar and ubiquitous word-based game in history. According to the U.S. Department of Census’s 2006 Compendia, when adults are quizzed on their frequent leisure activities, over 30 million Americans pick up a crossword puzzle occasionally every year, and almost 13 million of those do so at least twice a week. Crosswords can be found in close to 100 percent of the world’s daily newspapers. With the addition of reprints in magazines, solvers anthologies, and the thousands of puzzles available on the internet, the number of people who solve crossword puzzles, at least occasionally, is probably incalculably large.

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History Invented at the turn of the 20th century by Arthur Wynne, the editor of the “Fun” section of the New York World newspaper, and initially named “word-cross,” the first crossword puzzle was a simple affair. It was vaguely reminiscent of an ancient mystical word puzzle called a word square. Word squares have been found engraved in walls as far back as Roman times, and one was excavated in Herculaneum, the second city lost to the Vesuvian eruption of 79 b.c.e. The word square is a block of letters filling an equal number of columns and rows. Words appear twice, once horizontally and once vertically, in the same order left to right and top to bottom. Later variations on the word square were played as puzzles and did not require identical words on both axes; the words simply needed to interlock using all the grid spaces. Wynne borrowed this concept, which he recalled from puzzle books of his childhood in England, but rotated the square into a diamond with a hole of blanks in its center. The grid squares were numbered to indicate where the horizontally and vertically interlocked solutions began and ended. Clues were simple definitions of short, common words. Soon after the introduction of the word-cross, a compositor’s error fortuitously renamed the puzzle “crossword,” and the name stuck. Within three years crossword puzzles had become an American cultural mania. Anyone who has followed the history of Sudoku, the latest puzzle phenomenon, would recognize the pattern, although compared with crossword’s enormous cultural effect, Sudoku is still a mere fad. Puzzle Structure

This basic structure that Wynne created slowly evolved into the familiar American crossword puzzle, which conforms to several basic structural rules. In theory, a grid can be made to any size dimension. In practice, American crossword sizes range from 13 x 13 to 25 x 25, and tend to be built with an odd number of squares in the rows and column grid. The puzzle is always symmetrical on the diagonal. That means that if there is a black square in the fifth grid box from the left in the top row, there will be one at the fifth grid box in the bottom row, reading from the right. Or, more simply, if you flip the puzzle upside down, the grid will look the same both ways. Puzzles are expected to contain more white squares than black ones. The proportional guideline has become more flexible in recent times, but most well-designed

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Crosswords solved word adds information about the longer or more obscure clues as the interlocking grid provides multiple entryways into the puzzle. There are no fixed rules about the puzzle clues themselves, although there are many accepted conventions. Clues are usually “straight,” i.e., definitions and descriptions. They are salted with fill-in-the-blanks on the easy side and pun/wordplay clues (usually indicated with a question mark) on the more difficult side. All words must be at least three letters long, and none should repeat in a solution (although some clever puzzle constructors have been known to use the same definition for different solutions). Definitions and answers should maintain parallel grammatical forms—if the clue’s definition is in the plural form or is couched in the past tense, the answer should be as well. In addition to accepted conventions, there are predictable patterns that become obvious to frequent solvers. In American-style puzzles, short obscure words and names, like “ort” or “Otto” with a multiplicity of strategically useful vowels appear frequently enough that many solvers think of them as puzzle words.

The first crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne and appeared in the New York World on December 21, 1913.

puzzles still conform to an approximately 6:1 ratio in what is referred to as an “open” grid. All of the white squares must connect with at least one other group of white squares—there can be no white boxes in an island of black squares, and every across definition must have at least one letter in it that is used in a down definition as well. In addition, the puzzle’s white squares must all connect—you cannot have a puzzle with self-contained white grids divided from each other by black squares. Solving a puzzle is, by design, a cumulative process. Each

Cultural and Language Aspects Unlike Sudoku, which easily crosses countries, classes, and professions intact, crossword puzzles depend on command of the language and general popular knowledge. A puzzle designed for a TV Guide reader, considered unchallenging by another American solver, might be completely opaque to an accomplished New Zealand crossword puzzle lover, despite the common language. Although not thought of as a level game, the crossword puzzle is easily configured as one. That is because crossword difficulty is not solely determined by the answers, many of which will be common short words and abbreviations even in moderately difficult grids. In easy puzzles, word definitions are extremely straightforward and can usually be looked up in dictionaries by newbies. Easy puzzles also provide helper hints, like letting the solver know that the solution contains a phrase, or even how many words to use. But knowing the definition of a word is less than half the battle of mastering the crossword. Languages are rich and often have words that are spelled identically but mean different things. English is particularly full of ambiguity. So many English words are synonyms of other words, or have multiple and often contradictory definitions. A seemingly innocuous clue can have many equally pos-



sible interpretations, effectively obscuring the answer. As a result, a puzzle creator can create many puzzles out of one grid. By substituting different clues the grid could be geared to the casual player or designed to stump an accomplished cruciverbalist—the Latin-derived description (cruces = cross; verbus = word) that the crossword puzzle elite use to describe their avocation. Will Shortz, the editor of that gold standard of American crosswords, the New York Times crossword puzzle, has been a popularizer of a once-infrequent crossword puzzle element, the theme. Themes can be hinted in the title of a crossword, or be alluded to in a clue in the puzzle itself. Many rely on puns, but others involve word-play that substitutes, transposes, or alters familiar phrases with alternative words, or even with graphic symbols. Discovering the theme increases the likelihood of solving the puzzle, which may remain completely obscure otherwise. This strategy tends to localize crossword puzzles even more, as people with less familiarity with the language, or with American popular culture and slang, may find them tough going. The British Crossword Puzzle To their respective devotees, the crossword puzzles of the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States are hardly mentionable in the same breath. Americans maintain that the UK versions are not really crossword puzzles at all, but another form of word puzzle entirely. UK puzzlers disparage the U.S. puzzles as simple quiz games, with no real intellectual challenge. In either case, puzzlers of each type tend not to overlap. There is little question about the genesis of the UK version, as the American crossword puzzle was firmly established as a popular mania in the United States years before it crossed the Atlantic. The migration took place in 1924, when the Sunday Express reprinted one of Arthur Wynne’s puzzles with several clues adapted for the UK audience. But the crossword in the UK (and in many Commonwealth nations) quickly morphed into a different animal. Within a year of the first American puzzles reaching England, a challenging alternative became the rage among readers of the Tory Sunday newspaper The Observer. The puzzle was created by the British linguist Edward Powys Mathers, whose use of the alias Torquemada (the most infamous head of the Spanish Inquisition) revealed his penchant for difficult and painfully obscure cluing. This variant, cleaned up and shorn of the most unfair and esoteric

Crosswords

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A British crossword grid has a higher percentage of black squares to white, and a basketweave visual pattern.

clues, eventually made its way to other UK newspapers and pushed out the American version completely. British grids are also squares and conform to many of the same basic structure rules as American grids, with one notable exception. Their grids contain a much higher percentage of black squares to white ones—from 25 to 50 percent of the main square—making a “closed” grid. The visual pattern tends to create alternating rows like a basketweave, where the first row is almost full of white boxes and the next row only contains white boxes to continue a down clue. The result is twofold: there are few letters in common between horizontal and vertical clues, and there is a larger proportion of longer answers to short ones. Determining one or two crossing clues is much less helpful than it is to an American solver. The most striking differences between the two types of crossword puzzles are found in the clues themselves. British puzzles never contain straight clues. That’s why they are called “cryptic”—as in the definition “having a hidden meaning.” The name comes from the same root as “cryptography,” the study of codes. This label both explains the nature of the clues and characterizes their unfathomability to the majority of American crossword puzzlers. Each clue is a self-contained riddle. As any child who has read the Harry Potter books knows, word puzzle riddles are more popular and prevalent pastimes in Britain than they tend to be in the United States.

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Because the clues must be decoded before the puzzle can be solved, it is harder for a new solver to find an easy opening to a cryptic puzzle. UK puzzles often define parts of the word, using puns and anagrams. For example “Coldplay” might be defined in a simple UK puzzle clue as “icy birth of Ibsen.” “Birth” is a code word similar to the American question mark or word form—a hint that “icy” will provide the first part of the answer. For the second part, you’d have to know that “Ibsen” was a playwright. A common clue pattern is the hidden word—a word that is stashed in plain view in the clue itself, usually by dividing it between two clue words. Usually a word that precedes or follows the hidden word is the “straight” definition of it. However, even an experienced solver can misinterpret a cryptic clue and mistake a hidden word clue for an anagram. An inexperienced or non-UK solver can simply miss the definition when the word itself is not familiar. The differences in names of common objects in British and American English can create a barrier as well. For example, lorry = truck, boot = trunk, and roundabout = rotary, to name just a few better-known differences. Add to these complexities the same cultural knowledge required in an American puzzle, and it is not surprising that there is as little crossover in crossword types as there is between devotees of American football and British rugby. Modern Culture A variety of memorabilia from the golden age of crosswords in the 1920s testifies to the era’s obsession. Memorabilia with the distinctive crossword grid, songs with titles like “Cross Word Puzzle Blues,” and some books were even written with crossword themes. By the 1930s, crosswords had joined Mahjohng and other Roaring Twenties manias as persistent but no longer ubiquitous interests. Today, at the turn of the new century, crosswords are experiencing a small rebirth as a visible element of popular culture. At least two marriage proposals in the 1990s were delivered (and accepted) through clues in New York Times puzzles. Wordplay, a documentary about the world of crossword puzzles and Crossworld, about puzzle competitions and the crossword obsession, have helped to spark interest. Crossword puzzles are diversions with automatic bragging rights, as those who routinely complete the New York Times Sunday puzzle can testify. But some argue that they are good for more than a Sunday morning break with

coffee. They are seen as a comparatively painless way to deliver information and hone mental acuity. Benefits of Crossword Puzzles The type of mental gymnastics and omnivorous memory for trivial details that make a good cruciverbalist have led people to study whether doing crossword puzzles (or other mind-exercising tasks) might stave off age-related dementia. Newspapers have been quick to publish the work of psychological researchers who adhere to the “use it or lose it” credo. As a result, a host of self-help authors have recommended crossword puzzles as a way to keep the mind active and alert. The jury is still out on whether such mental puzzles can really help to maintain cognitive brain function in the aged or those afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, as other studies have indicated that crossword puzzles measure general knowledge better than they arrest mental deterioration. However, the ranks of crossword puzzlers have swelled as many senior citizens turn to the daily crossword puzzle for mental aerobics. Crosswords are also used to convey new information. Several computer programs have been developed to automate the more tedious elements of designing a new crossword puzzle, like creating the symmetrical grid and numbering the clues. All that is required to create a simple puzzle is a list of words. Besides helping professional constructors develop a puzzle more quickly, this software has brought crossword puzzles into the classroom. The most obvious beneficiaries are elementary school children. Web sites for elementary school teachers frequently share lesson plans for using crosswords as a painless gateway to understanding new words and spelling them correctly. Because the software is so accessible, students can not only solve puzzles the teacher creates but also build their own puzzles and share them. Their familiarity in classrooms has encouraged children story authors to incorporate crossword puzzles in fiction once again. In 2003, Who Sent the Valentine, Rachel?, a children’s mystery novel that centered around a Valentine’s Day card with a puzzle enclosed within it, was serialized in the Los Angeles Times. What works for children’s acquisition of knowledge may work equally well for adults. Crosswords, being a visual grid, can provide a link between word and image to help people acquire a second language. Studies have also shown that crossword completion offers an enjoyable mnemonic format for supporting standard classroom lectures.

Cuba

See Also: Scrabble; Sudoku; United States, 1900 to 1930; Word Games (Other Than Crosswords). Bibliography. Michelle Arnot, What’s Gnu. A History of the Crossword Puzzle (Vintage Books, 1981); Patrick Creedon, Wordplay (Grinder Productions, 2006); David Z. Hambrick, Timothy A. Salthouse, and Elizabeth J. Meinz, “Predictors of Crossword Puzzle Proficiency and Moderators of Age­Cognition Relations,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (v.128/2, June 1999); Anthony Mollica, “Crossword Puzzles and Second-Language Teaching,” Italica (v.84/1, Spring 2007); George W. Rebok, Michelle C. Carlson, and Jessica B.S. Langbau, “Training and Maintaining Memory Abilities in Healthy Older Adults: Traditional and Novel Approaches,” The Journals of Gerontology, Series B (v.62/31, June 2007); Marc Romano, Crossworld (Broadway Books, 2005); Kate Ruder, “The Aging Brain, How to Keep Your Mind Sharp,” Diabetes Forecast (v.60/6, May 2007). Cynthia L. Baron Northeastern University

Cuba The largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba was occupied by the Spanish from the early 16th century until 1898, when U.S. troops invaded as part of the American-­Spanish War. The United States pulled out its soldiers in 1902, establishing a number of military bases there. In 1954 Fidel Castro began a guerilla campaign against the Cuban government, taking power on January 1, 1959. Since then, the Communist Party has been in power in Cuba. Of the many influences in the country, the most important are Spanish, African, and North American. The Spanish and African lifestyles encouraged music, and AfroCuban music—both playing instruments and listening to it—remained a very popular pastime in the country. The U.S. influence on Cuba can still be seen through the popularity of baseball. It started early in the 20th century with some U.S. teams having scouts in Cuba who signed up promising young players such as Adolfo “Dolf” Luque who went to the United States to play for the Cincinnati Reds. Baseball is now played at schools throughout the country, and by members of youth groups, university teams, and the like. Boxing is also heavily promoted and because the Cuban boxers did not play in professional

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competitions, they were allowed to compete in the Olympic Games, where they achieved remarkable success winning many gold, silver and bronze medals. Of the other sports, the main recreational one is basketball, known locally as baloncesto. Some of the elite used to play tennis and squash prior to the Communist takeover, but neither has retained much of a following. Even soccer, which remains the most played game in the rest of Latin America, does not attract many of Cuba’s youth, although cross-country running and athletics have become popular in recent years, as have swimming and diving. A local game that has developed is Jai alai, which involves tossing a ball and catching it in a basket attached to one player’s hand. This developed from the Basque game Pelotari. Prior to 1959, there were casinos, nightclubs, and golf courses that attracted wealthy North Americans and others. However, these were closed down by Castro, and sport and activities have been influenced by the state rather than by the private sector. The lack of contact that most Cubans have had outside their own country, until recently, has also led to improvising with traditional games such as jigsaws, Hide-and-Seek, and building blocks. Under the Communist government, more daycare centers were established throughout the country, catering to children as young as 3 or 4 months old. This allowed both parents in many families to go to work, as compulsory education was enforced, and even older Cubans were encouraged to attend night schools. The increase in the school population led to far more organized sporting activities, and with boys and girls in the Young Pioneers Movement, many take part in hiking and camping. Because of the trade blockade against Cuba, there are local industries making sports equipment such as baseball bats, gloves, and balls. Chess has had a very large following in Cuba, and José Raul Capablanca was the international Chess champion 1921–27. The establishment of cultural ties with the Soviet Union led to an increase in the profile of Chess throughout the country, coordinated by the Federacion Cubana de Ajedrez. Dominoes is also played by many people throughout the island, with slightly different rules that follow the Spanish ones. These involve taking scores up to double nines. Board games have never made much of an impact on Chess and Dominoes, although some of them have had a strong following. During the 1930s to the 1950s, Wargaming was popular with many boys and men reen-

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acting important battles, especially those having to do with the Spanish Reconquista and the Spanish Civil War. Interest in the latter continued after the Communist takeover, although with a totally different emphasis, but there has never been much interest in Cuba for games about the wars of Che Guevara in Latin America or the Cubans in Angola. See Also: Baseball (Amateur); Basketball (Amateur); Chess and Variations of; Dominoes and Variations of; Wargames. Bibliography. Joseph L. Arbena, ed., “Sport in Revolutionary Societies: Cuba and Nicaragua,” Sport and Society in Latin America: Diffusion, Dependency, and the Rise of Mass Culture (Greenwood Press, 1988); Emily Morris, Cuba (Heinemann, 1990); P. Parsons, “The Battles with Ché,” Miniature Wargames (January, 2001); Paula Pettavino and Geralyn Pye, Sport in Cuba: The Diamond in the Rough (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994); Ana María Váquez and Rosa E. Casas, Cuba (Childrens Press, 1987). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Curling (Scottish) Historians do not agree whether Curling began in Scotland or in continental Europe, nor do historians agree when the sport was invented, though Time magazine records it as originating in 1500. Evidence dating from the 15th century in the form of paintings and old Curling stones support the earlier existence of this remarkable game or sport. This ice sport is played with two teams in which members slide “stones” (weighing under 44 pounds) at targets on the ice. Curling is similar to other games such as Quoits, Lawn Bowling, and Shuffleboard. It is now usually played on artificial ice instead of frozen lakes. Besides the Olympics, other tournaments are held for juniors (under 21), seniors (50 and up), and women, who have played since the 1890s. In 2006 the Winter Paralympics introduced Curling with specialized wheelchairs with which the players enjoyed Curling. According to the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, founded in 1838 in Edinburgh, which is the national governing body of this sport, Curling’s first written

record is from February 1541. John McQuinn, a notary, wrote the account of the match between himself and a monk at Paisley Abbey, across the ice. Curling is often considered Scotland’s game, as can be witnessed by the intensity with which Curling is played, and its popularity since at least the 1500s, as well as its immortalization in poet Robert Burns’s Tam Samson’s Elegy in 1786. Curling spread worldwide, first being picked up by Canada, and then by the rest of the world. Curling has been part of the Winter Olympics since 1998. Bonspiels, known as Grand Matches, were two- to three-day events initially held outside until the first indoor rink was constructed in Glasgow in 1907. The first Grand Match was held January 15, 1847, and the last was held February 7, 1979, on the Lake of Mentieth. The Bonspiel was played between North and South Scotland. These tournaments were excellent chances to socialize with other Curlers during a weekend celebration of food, drink, and game. Today, Curling championships continue and clubs are still strong in membership across the world. Clubs offer a chance to socialize with different social classes and friends with similar interests. This Scottish winter sport has found popularity among young and old, men and women, the able and disabled alike. See Also: Canada; Europe, 1200 to 1600; Europe, 1960 to Present; Team Play. Bibliography. Am Baile, “Curling Bonspiel,” www.ambaile .org (cited July 2008); K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth, eds., “Curling,” World of Sports Science (Cengage Gale, 2007); K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth, eds., “Wheelchair,” World of Sports Science (Cengage Gale, 2007); Dorothy Jane Mills, “Curling,” International Encyclopedia of Women and Sports (Macmillan Reference USA, 2001); Morris Mott, “Curling,” Berkshire Encyclopedia of World Sport (Berkshire Publishing Group, 2005); Morris Mott, “Curling,” in Encyclopedia of World Sport: From Ancient Times to the Present (Berkshire Publishing Group, 1996); Royal Caledonian Curling Club,“Grand Match,”www.royalcaledonian curlingclub.org (cited July 2008); Royal Caledonian Curling Club, “History of the Game,” www.royalcaledoniancurling club.org (cited July 2008); David B. Smith and Bob Cowan, “Curling History,” curlinghistory.blogspot.com (cited July 2008). Michelle Martinez Sam Houston State University



Cyprus The fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean, Cyprus has long historical ties with Greece, with Greeks colonizing the islands as early as 1200 b.c.e. In later years, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians, Romans, and the Venetians held the island, with it being conquered by the Turks in 1571. It was placed under British administration in 1878, and when Turkey entered World War I, it was annexed by the British. They held it until 1960 when Cyprus gained independence. In 1974, following a military coup in Cyprus, Turkey invaded to safeguard the Turkish population, mainly located in the northern part of the country. This led to the establishment of what has become the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, although it has only been recognized by the Turkish government. Many of the traditional ancient Greek sporting events such as running, archery, and wrestling were certainly popular in Cyprus in ancient times, when boys heavily practiced the use of a slingshot. This continued through the various occupations, with the Romans establishing gladiatorial arenas and using the island as a source of wild animals for some of their events on the Italian mainland. Under the Venetians, some Italian pursuits were introduced such as falconry, Chess, and the use of playing cards, but their culture never succeeded in making much of an impact beyond the coastal region, and even then it was restricted largely to the elite. It was during the long rule of the Ottomans that, gradually, pastimes such as playing cards and Backgammon started to be played in villages throughout the island. With the British came many British toys and games, and it was not long before the heavy Army and Navy presence on the island developed a great interest in Wargaming, still popular with many boys and men. Much of it has traditionally focused on the Crusades, with Cyprus having played such an important part in them, but gradually the availability of different types of miniature figurines led to a greater interest in Byzantine military history. The British presence also led to the establishment of the Girl Guides Association of Cyprus in 1912, and the Cyprus Scots Association, established in the following year. After the Turkish invasion, differences gradually emerged in Cypriot society, with the northern Turkish population, generally already more conservative, becom-

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ing isolated and remaining playing Backgammon, cards, and Dominoes. They have been allowed, since the early 2000s, to engage more in international trade, resulting in newer games being introduced and the establishment of groups such as the Northern Cyprus Turkish Scouts. The Greeks in the rest of the island, through greater engagement with the West and increased prosperity, took to computer games from the early 1990s, and amusement arcades, halls with pinball machines, and bowling alleys can be found in Nicosia. With a warm climate, Cyprus has long attracted many tourists, especially from Britain and northern Europe, and a number of these have settled in the country. As a result, there have been many recreational sporting clubs catering to sailing, fishing, badminton, cricket, cycling, golf, soccer, squash, tennis, and skiing in the winter. See Also: Arcades; Backgammon; Dominoes and Variations of; Greece; Turkey; Wargames. Bibliography. Adrian Fleetwood, Getting a Life in North Cyprus (Rustem Bookshop, 2006); William Mallinson, Cyprus: A Modern History (I.B. Tauris, 2008); Ulf Metzker and P. Hadjiagelis, The Socialization of Adolescents in Cyprus (Pedagogical Institute, 1982). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Czech Republic The Czech Republic was created from the splitting of Czechoslovakia in 1992 into the Czech Republic, with its capital Prague, and Slovakia. The region has been wealthy since medieval times and as a result there have been many forms of play. Good King Wenceslas, from the Christmas carol of the same name, was based on the Czech king Václav, who was murdered in 929 b.c.e. During the Middle Ages, great tournaments were held in Prague, which included jousting and other tests of strength and military prowess. Boys from wealthier families spent their time as pages, with many working to master heraldry. Descriptions of fairs from the late Middle Ages mention juggling, fire-breathing, bear-baiting, fortunetelling, the sale of “lucky” potions, and other forms of entertain-

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ment. Puppets—both hand puppets and string puppets (or marionettes)—were also common throughout the region then known as Bohemia. Festivals such as the Fastnacht are celebrated each year before the Christian period of Lent, with folk-dancing in the streets, fancy dress parades, and general merriment. Because of the wealth of Prague, from the 16th century on, many games such as those involving playing cards became common among the wealthier people, and an increase in schooling led to the start of schoolorganized sporting events including rowing. In spite of the devastation of the region during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), the region recovered economically, and as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until World War I, Bohemia became the center for much of the culture of central Europe, including music, theatrical performances, and the manufacture of toys such as dolls for girls and mechanical items, which came to interest generations of boys. Chess in particular was a popular pastime, with many Chess pieces in Bohemia made with “Crowsnests”—raised thick platforms. From the 1930s, some of the Czech Grandmasters were internationally recognized as being among the best in the world. The Sachovy Svaz Ceske Republiky still oversees the playing of Chess in the Czech Republic. The country—as Czechoslovakia—was an independent country after World War I, and from after World War II until 1990, it was controlled by a Communist government. During the years of independence, there was a heavy emphasis on school sports and pastimes, with soccer becoming popular, as well as tennis, golf, hockey, and other recreational sports. Hiking and cycling also attracted many people, and the Sokol movement organized gymnastic performances. During the Communist period, there were close ties with the Soviet Union, and it became hard to get Western games in the country, although circuses and dancing remained popular, and there were a number of ice-

skating rinks built in the country. The situation changed completely in 1990, and many Western European–style amusement arcades were established, as well as there being an increase in ice-hockey stadiums, 10-pin-bowling alleys, and a Grand Prix circuit built in the city of Brno. During the Communist period, children were encouraged to play with electrical circuit boards at schools, and there has long been an interest in robotic toys, remotecontrolled cars, and airplanes, which has continued to the present day. There was a Czech version of the board game Monopoly, with the streets all depicting Prague. However, board games lost their popularity during the 1990s, with many children taking to computer games. Wargaming for the events of the Hussite Wars, the Thirty Years’ War, and the Seven Years’ War has long been popular, and there are now many computer games that refer to that conflict and others involving the Czech Republic. See Also: Amusement Parks; Chess and Variations of; Monopoly and Variations of; Wargames. Bibliography. Paul Grace, “Brazen Hussites: A Wargamers’ Guide to the Hussite Wars 1419–1434,” Miniature Wargames (October, 2001); Rob Humphreys, Czech Republic (Wayland Publishers Ltd., 1997); MaryLee Knowlton and David K. Wright, Czechoslovakia: Children of the World (Gareth Stevens Publishing, 1988); Mick Nichol, “The Campaign of Prague, April–May 1757,” Miniature Wargames (March–April, 2001); Lundek Pachman, Checkmate in Prague (Faber & Faber, 1975); Michael Peters, “Lion of the North: Fast Play Rules for Combat During the Thirty Years War,” Wargames Illustrated (no.127, April 1998); F.A. Toufar, Sokol: The Czechoslovak National Gymnastic Organisation (George Allen & Unwin, 1941). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

D Darts The game of Darts, in which spiked darts are thrown at a circular target, remains a popular game in Britain, especially in public houses (hotels) and in British communities around the world, although now people in many other countries also play the game. The first record of the game Darts took place in the town of Dartford, in Kent, in the southeast of England. It is believed that the original dartboard might well have been the cross section of a tree, or the end of a wine barrel. Some people have suggested that the original darts were arrows that boys threw at the target board to test their skills. Certainly, the game seems to have been used for training by archers in the Middle Ages when practicing, and was said to have been practiced by English archers before the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. At around the same time in Japan, the Ninjas had used much larger darts called throwing spikes to attack their opponents, but there was never a move toward their use in Europe. King Henry VIII of England played Darts, and a set of “Biscay elaborated darts” was given to him by his second wife, Anne Boleyn, in 1530, three years before they were married. Anne Boleyn’s father had lived in France, and she grew up there, so it is possible that her darts were of the style used by the French who lived on the Bay of

Biscay. As a game, Darts continued to be played by many people, and it has been reported that the Pilgrims played Darts on the Mayflower while sailing to America. The game was largely played in Britain and North America until the mid-19th century, when interest began in the countries in the British Empire, later spreading to other countries. In about 1900 the rules for the game started to be standardized, with a target made out of paper being patented in the United States, and leading to the current board being patented in Britain in 1906. The game is still played in public houses throughout Britain, mainly by men, and also in schools, again mainly by boys. In the 1920s the first Brewery Leagues were established in Britain, and it was not long before a national Darts association was established. In 1927 the London newspaper News of the World established a nationwide competition, and by World War II, the game was regularly played by British soldiers. The News of the World Individual Darts Championship started up again in 1947, and the British National Darts Association was established in 1954. There are regular tournaments in England and around the world. The game has also been televised in some countries, not just in pubs and hotels, but also in youth clubs and schools. Because of a concern of possible injury when children play, new versions have been made using magnets instead of pointed tips. 167

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Because of its portability, it was not long before the game of Darts was being played around the world, and many recreational groups took it up, often using different dartboards that have sometimes been decorated with the faces of well-known politicians or other public figures. There are now many Darts groups around the world, including the American Darts association, the Darts Federation of Australia, the National Darts Federation of Canada, the Czech Darts Organization, the Danish Darts Union, the Dutch Darts Organization, the German Darts Organization, the Hungarian Darts Federation, Italian Darts Association, the Norwegian Darts Organization, the Polish Darts Federation, the Swedish Darts Organization, and the Swiss Darts Association. See Also: Europe, 1200 to 1600; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of; Team Play. Bibliogaphy. Dan William Peek, To the Point: The Story of Darts in America, Including a History of the Sport in Great Britain & Ireland (Pebble Publishing, 2001); George Silberzahn, How To Master The Sport of Darts (Totem Pointe Books, 2004); Paddy Whannel and Dana Hodgdoon, The Book of Darts (Henry Regnery Co., 1976). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Daydreaming Psychologists use the term task-unrelated images and thoughts (TUIT) to describe daydreaming episodes. A daydream can be triggered by a situation, a memory, or sensory input and is considered to be an aspect of the imagination connected with the emotions. A daydream, or series of daydreams, can precede episodes of creative innovation. Athletes, musicians, and other performers utilize a form of daydreaming when they practice visualization. As the individual prepares for a competition or performance, they form a mental picture of the desired successful outcome. The unique characteristic of daydreaming is that it occurs in solitude. However, if the daydreamer begins to confuse these mental images with reality, the daydream is considered to be a hallucination. Psychologists estimate that one-third to one-half of a person’s thoughts while awake are daydreams, even

though a single daydream rarely lasts more than a few minutes. Psychologist Jerome L. Singer argued, “probably the single most common connotation is that daydreaming represents a shift of attention away from some primary physical or mental task we have set for ourselves, or away from directly looking at or listening to something in the external environment toward an unfolding sequence of private responses made to some internal stimulus.” The daydreamer experiences an inner process creating pictures in the mind’s eye of mental sequences of an event or a situation or creatively constructed images that he or she has never actually experienced or may have varying degrees of probability for taking place. The daydreamer may use these monologues intérieurs or inner voices to escape from reality temporarily, to overcome a frustrating situation, or to satisfy hidden wishes. Psychologists have been interested in the cognitive or information-processing model of daydreaming, for what it reveals about the complexity of human motivation. William James (1842–1910), in his The Principles of Psychology, introduced the term stream of thought to describe daydreaming as a process of waking awareness that comprises the experiences of direct perceptual responses, and the complex interplay of such responses with associated phrases, memories, fantasies, fleeting images, and inner voices. Daydreaming can reveal how experiences and memories are internally organized. Daydreaming and make-believe play in children can be considered to be manifestations of a natural cognitive capacity at certain developmental stages from circumstance and events in a child’s environment. According to Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), daydreams are derived from the primary process mechanisms of condensation, displacement, and pictorial representation that link to wish fulfillment. Freud asserted, “The psychical process of constructing composite images in dreams is evidently the same as when we imagine or portray a centaur or dragon in waking life.” Freud uncovered a link between dreaming and imagination, while Carl Jung (1875–1961) took the dream-thoughts of directed daydreams and reduced them to archetypes. Freud felt that people who experienced daydreams were unfulfilled and that daydreaming and fantasy were early signs of mental illness. Defining Daydreaming The semantics of daydreaming, synonymous with “reverie,” has changed over time. Philosopher John Locke



(1632–1704) considered a daydream to be “when ideas float in out mind, without any reflection or regard of the understanding.” British essayist Joseph Addison (1672– 1719) asserted, “If the minds of men were laid open, we should see but little difference between that of the wise man and that of the fool; there are infinite reveries and numberless extravagancies pass through both.” Lexicographer Samuel Johnson (1709–84) did not define daydream in his Dictionary of the English Language, but he defined the word toy as a “wild fancy; irregular imagery; odd conceit.” Johnson also defined the term revery [sic] as “loose musing; irregular thought.” Daydreaming in Literature During the late 18th century and early 19th century, the perception of daydreaming in men was seen as simple reflections or meditations that were not expected to have some objective outcome, or an intellectual process involving the imagination. However, daydreaming in women was associated with laziness and novel reading. American lexicographer Noah Webster (1758–1843) developed The American Spelling Book, also known as the “Blue-Backed Speller” as a means to standardize spelling and punctuation in the United States. Webster’s 1787 edition contained a story about a female daydreamer called “The Country Maid and her Milk Pail.” “When men suffer their imagination to amuse them, with the prospect of distant and uncertain improvements of their condition, they frequently sustain real losses, by their inattention to those affairs in which they are immediately concerned. A country maid was walking very deliberately with a pail of milk upon her head, when she fell into the following train of reflections: The money for which I shall sell this milk, will enable me to increase my stock of eggs to three hundred. These eggs, allowing for what may prove addle, and what may be destroyed by vermin, will produce as least two hundred and fifty chickens. The chickens will be fit to carry to market about Christmas, when poultry always bears a good price; so that by Mayday I cannot fail of having money enough to purchase a new gown. Green—let me consider—yes, green becomes my complexion best, and green it shall be. In this dress I will go to the fair, where all the young fellows will strive to have me for a partner; but I shall refuse every one of them, and with an air of disdain, toss from them. Transported with this triumphant thought, she could not forbear acting with her head what thus passed in her imagination, when

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down came the pail of milk, and with it all her imaginary happiness.” Daydreams of future wealth and glory were part of a gentleman’s leisure activities. Washington Irving (1783–1859) first use of the word daydream in relation to play appeared in 1820 in his Sketchbook: The Voyage when he described, “one given to daydreaming, and fond of losing himself in reveries.” During the second half of the 19th century, there was a rebellion against the Industrial Revolution when crowded cities became unhealthy places for families. Poor families could not dispense with their children’s labor, but new middleclass families could and did forego the contributions of children. Children’s literature reflected this change, when authors such as Charles Kingsley (1819–73) who wrote The Water-Babies, and Kenneth Graham (1824–1905) who wrote At the Back of the North Wind, began creating alternative imaginary landscapes in stories for children. The adult concept of romanticized and cherished childhood was once seen as just a preparation stage for adult life. While rural and working class children retained their working role within families, the lives of middleclass children were increasingly set apart from adult responsibilities. Industrialization, immigration, and urbanization worked to distill the distinctions between classes. By the 1860s, there was a truly poor underclass and a working class employed in factories or as hired farm labor that contrasted with a growing middle class layered by levels of education, wealth, and occupation. Modern Studies Dutch anthropologist Karl Groos (1861–1946) wrote about the role of fantasy play in children and how it was built around taking on adult roles as parents, teachers, and adventurers. Interpreted from this perspective, daydreaming became an important tool for information processing for a child to integrate complex external environments into a set of organized memories. In the beginning of the 20th century, educators studied daydreaming in conjunction with secretiveness in children, examining what young children kept secret and the motives for such secretiveness. Daydreaming presented a need for secretiveness when the daydreamer anticipated the impossibility of explaining; the uselessness of explaining; the fear of being misunderstood; the fear of discouragement, of disillusion, of disbelief, or of lack of interest; or the fear of ridicule, displea-

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sure, of being thought foolish, of being made to feel ashamed, or having pride wounded, of losing another’s good opinion, of disgrace, of curtailment of liberty, or punishment. In the 1960s, textbooks used for training teachers provided strategies for combating daydreaming that included language similar to texts that described drug use. By the late 1980s, most psychologists considered daydreams a natural component of the mental process for most individuals. Individuals may not admit to daydreaming because it presents a window into the workings of the inner mind and the sense of one’s own personality and the individual’s desire to preserve privacy. Daydreaming first occurs during childhood, sometime before age 3, as part of the origins of thinking that are linked to make-believe and pretend play that all humans experience. These early daydreams set the pattern for adult daydreaming. Children who have positive, happy daydreams of success and achievement generally continue these types of mental images into adulthood. These daydreamers are most likely to benefit from the positive aspects of mental imagery. Daydreams related to play become an impetus for problem-solving, creativity, and accomplishment, whether children are playing with dolls or playing games that can be used to practice skills that will be later needed in adult life. Daydreams can be a form of visualization that the daydreamer acts out in real life. The child left alone tries to imitate the actions and behaviors of adults. As children grow to adulthood, they gradually internalize make-believe games and play them out privately in their own imaginations. See Also: Fantasy Play; Maypole Dancing; Play as Entertainment, Psychology of; Playing Alone; Pretending. Bibliography. Sigmund Freud, The Freud Reader (W.W. Norton & Company, 1995); Karl Groos, The Play of Man (Appleton-Century Crofts, 1901); William James, The Principles of Psychology (Harvard University, 1981); Jerome L. Singer, Daydreaming and Fantasy (George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1976); Jerome L. Singer, The Inner World of Daydreaming (Harper Colophon Books, 1976); Jenny Tyrrell, Power of Fantasy in Early Learning: A Connective Pedagogy (RoutledgeFalmer, 2001). Meredith Eliassen San Francisco State University

Denmark Denmark, with a population of only six million people, has made significant contributions to the development of play theory, research, policy, and practice. In 1961 the International Play Association was formed in Denmark. Danish children are required by state policy to have multiple play breaks throughout the school day. Many innovations in play were born in Denmark such as child-built adventure playgrounds. Opportunities for play abound in Danish culture and civil society. Play facilities exist in public spaces such as airports, shopping centers, museums, and town squares. School grounds and parks with playing fields and play equipment are in neighborhoods throughout Denmark. Role-playing has made an impact on Danish educational opportunities. Danish culture and society see play as a critical social experience for children and adults to develop independence and willingness to take calculated risks. This strong cultural orientation has influenced play in Denmark and abroad. The International Play Association has deep roots in Scandinavia and Denmark in particular. Early in the 1930s the movement to preserve and support children’s right to play gained momentum. As a result, Danish children were encouraged to build their own play habitats or adventure playgrounds. Today, play and the right of the child to play are taken seriously by educators and municipal leaders. Naturlegepladsen i Valbyparken (nature playground in the Valby city park) in a southern suburb of Copenhagen was designed by Helle Nebelong and is recognized as being one of the best-designed playgrounds for children in the world. It includes natural and built elements such as hills, elm tree branches and trunks, huts and towers of metal and wood, sand, and gravel areas all brought together by a circular wooden bridge that is raised a few feet from the ground and runs through and around the play areas. Madsby Legepark, the largest playground in Denmark, is in Fredericia. Typical Danish playgrounds include both built and natural elements and allow for considerable openended play. Museums such as the Vikingeskibs Museet (Viking Ship Museum) in Roskilde and the Københavns Bymuseum (Copenhagen City Museum) have extensive play areas for children that allow for dress-up; play with toys, artifacts, and replicas; playing of period games; and movement through thematic playscapes. Throughout the world children and adults covet Danish-developed LEGO bricks building toys. The word

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See Also: Amusement Parks; LEGOs; Play and Learning Theory; Role-Playing. Bibliography. Diane E. Lang, “Free to Play Outdoors?: A Cross-Cultural Comparative Study,” Play Rights Journal: An International Journal of the Theory and Practice of Play (v.29/4, December 2007); Markus Montola and Jaakko Stenro, eds., Playground Worlds: Creating and Evaluating Experiences of Role-Playing Games (Ropecon RY, 2008); Helle Nebelong “Nature’s Playground,” Green Places (May 2004). Diane E. Lang Manhattanville College The LEGO brick building toy is an iconic Danish invention, launched in its present form in 1958.

LEGO is derived from the Danish expression leg godt which means “play well.” The world-famous LEGOland amusement park is in Billund, Denmark. This unique park facilitates play through miniature train rides, a mock driving school for children with small electric cars, roller coasters, and other such amusements. The most intriguing feature of the park is the opportunity to play with huge numbers of LEGO blocks and to see displays of the hundreds of imaginative options one can explore through playing with LEGO. Denmark is home to an extensive network of roleplay game players. There are many role-playing conferences each year in Denmark. The two largest are Fastaval in Århus in the spring and Viking-Con in Copenhagen in the fall. This excitement for role-play as a forum for fun and learning has lead to the development of the Østerskov Efterskole secondary boarding school in Hobro, which has a comprehensive curriculum completely taught through role-playing. Subjects are combined according to inspiration and relevant themes. Veterans from the Danish role-playing scene and designers of educational as well as entertainment games, Malik Hyltoft and Mads Lunau developed and founded Østerskov Efterskole. Enrolling about 100 students per year, this innovative school conforms to governmental standards regarding the subjects taught and final exams, but it uses alternative pedagogy. The organizing theory behind this school is that the flow of the games and roleplays will induce students to learn.

Dice Dice are one of the most common elements of chance in games, and one of the most ancient. Dice have been revered as divine messengers that offer a glimpse of the future, and reviled as the source of gambling, cheating, and ultimately spiritual decay. Legal and moral concerns aside, dice are, at their core, random number generators. The numbers that can be generated by a set of dice depend on the markings, faces, and number of dice thrown. The most common modern die is six-sided, with sides numbered one through six by means of painted indentations that have come to have a set, recognizable pattern of positioning. In gambling, dice are commonly thrown in pairs, but in other games, especially war games, a player may be required to throw as many as 20 dice on a turn. Dice are thought to have evolved from the astralagus, a fortune-telling device made of an animal’s hoof that, when thrown, lands with one of four faces up. However, the astralagus is not the earliest method of divination through randomness. There are earlier references in history to drawing lots, flipping coins, and dividing yarrow sticks into arbitrary piles as methods of determining a random value. The use of random number generators for divination may have led to the use of random number generators for unbiased decision-making. References to randomness as an unbiased decider can be found in ancient records recording judgments. If no fair means of deciding a case could be determined, a random number would make the decision. Using randomness

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The most common die is six-sided, with painted indentations to indicate the numbers one through six.

for decision-making led to betting on the outcomes of the random decision, or gambling. An aspect of fatalism often came into play. Tacitus, the Roman historian, writes that in the 1st century c.e., Germanic soldiers were so committed to dice gambling that they would, upon losing all of their money, make a final bet wagering their freedom. The result of losing such a bet was to be sold into slavery, but the soldiers considered it an honor. Another mention of Germanic soldiers states that they would decide the fates of their captors—whether to kill them or sell them into slavery—based on a roll of the dice. Even in modern times, dice still are linked to the debate over free will, captured famously in the quote attributed to Albert Einstein: “God does not play with dice.” Einstein believed that the mechanics of the universe could be explained through scientific means, but this quote takes the careful path of not denying God’s existence, instead only asserting that God would not make any decision randomly. Einstein asserts that any event that appears random actually has a chain of causality leading up to it. Dice have been present in the humanities, especially mathematics, philosophy, and literature, since their invention. Plato asserted that God plays with dice, perhaps inspiring Einstein’s opposing view. Aristotle’s students explored probabilities using dice in Problematica, and mathematicians including Fermat and Pascal studied statistical projections using dice. In literature, God is often portrayed as judging people for playing with dice. These are most often morality tales, however, having to do more with defying God or cheating or making gambling a priority above everything else. In

the Mahabarata, an early masterwork of Indian literature, battling families bet their fates on the roll of loaded dice. Sometimes, however, God is on the side of the dice player. A legend of Olaf Haraldsson, an 11th-century king of Norway, tells how he wagered his kingdom on a roll of the dice against the King of Sweden. Although the Swedish king rolled a 12, the highest possible roll on two dice, Olaf claimed that God would let him roll higher. Upon his rolling, one of the dice split in half, resulting in both its six and its one side landing face up, which when added to the other six, resulted in a score of 13. St. Olaf is now the patron saint of Norway, perhaps more for his folkloric feats than his historic ones. Dice and Corruption At various points in history, societies have outlawed dice in order to prevent the corruption of their citizens. The two main points of moral disfavor for dice games were the loss of property (and sometimes liberty) from gambling and the prospect of cheating. The Compleat Gamester, written by Charles Cotton in 1680, decries the moral decay caused by game of Hazzard, a forebear to Craps. The author describes how men would become addicted to the game, losing interest in everything except the prospect of winning, often leading to ruination of their lives. This social concern led to dice falling out of moral favor in mid-18th-century England. Games produced during this time often substituted a “tee-to-tum”: a cube with a stick running diagonally through it to create a spinning top that worked very much like a die in determining random values, but was regarded as “family friendly.” The “tee-to-tum” continues its existence today as the dreidel, a spinning top used in a popular Jewish holiday gambling game. However, the substitution of a different form of die did not prevent the other form of moral corruption: cheating. According to apocryphal sources, dice as far back as ancient Pompeii were “loaded.” Prosecution for dice scams is documented back as far as the 14th century. At the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth ordered police searches to track down loaded dice. Two common methods of cheating with dice are weighting one side so that the opposite face comes up more, and placing only the three most favorable numbers for a game twice each on a cube. Early Uses of Dice Archaeologists have uncovered many earlier versions of dice; as of 2008, the earliest known dice are estimated to

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date back to the 24th century b.c.e., from a tomb in Mesopotamia. The ancient Greeks created the standard for dice used today, in which the numbers on opposite faces of the die total seven (six plus one, five plus two, three plus four). The symmetry gave players assurance that the markings of the die were evenly distributed across the faces so that no subtle weight differences from the markings could interfere with “true randomness.” The 15th-century philosopher Desiderius Erasmus observes that in early uses of dice, the quantity of counters on the divining surface represented the current state of the prediction, and that this led to the use of tokens to track winnings in gambling. The notion that a counter representing each player’s score could be moved along a numbered track presented an easier means of spatially perceiving who was ahead, and this led to a cognitive shift in game play. Erasmus says that with this change, players’ attentions began to focus on the movement of the counters, regarding the dice as the means of movement. This shift in focus led to the concept of “race games,” a classification coined by David Parlett in 1999 for games in which there is movement from start to finish in a linear fashion. Senet, a precursor to Backgammon that represents the spiritual journey through the underworld, is the earliest known game to use random number-based movement; a copy of the game was found in the tomb of the pharaoh Hesey (2686–2613 b.c.e.). In addition to being the first known game to use counters for movement, Senet is also the earliest known game to incorporate the idea of each player controlling multiple pieces in the race from start to finish. In giving the player the choice of which piece or pieces to advance each turn, an element of strategy was introduced to the game space. This eventually led to the development of games such as Chess, in which the magnitude and direction of each piece’s move is predetermined by the rules, so that strategy, rather than luck, determines the winner. Although many pure strategy games such as Chess represent a battle, Wargames since the 18th century have often used dice to determine the outcome of combat, the high or low roll of the dice representing the victory of one set of troops over another. This randomness is a substitution for having to determine the outcomes of potentially thousands of individual conflicts, but it is no mere shortcut. Statistical models (for which dice are a popular topic of study) often employ randomness to similarly simplify overly complex systems, in a reversal of Einstein’s idea: For simulation purposes, God does play with dice.

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Role-Playing Games Role-playing games, a 20th-century invention, are an outgrowth from Wargames. In role-playing games, the focus is on storytelling, with each player taking on the role of one or more characters undertaking a quest. In these games, the roll of the dice determines not only skill in combat, but also wisdom, luck, charisma, and other nonphysical characteristics. Unlike in Wargames, where a single roll of the dice generalizes the results of many individual encounters, in Dungeons & Dragons, each roll determines success or failure in applying a character’s skill to one task. The level of determinism dictated by the dice recalls the original application of dice: to determine future fates as dictated by the gods. See Also: Diplomacy; Dungeons & Dragons; Gambling; Game Theory; Risk in Play; Spinning Tops; Wargames; Warhammer. Bibliography. Deborah Bennett, Randomness (Harvard University Press, 1999); Jack Botermans, The Book of Games: Strategy, Tactics, & History (Sterling Publishing, 2008); Charles Cotton, The Compleat Gamester (Imprint Society, 1970); Ricky Jay, Dice: Deception, Fate, and Rotten Luck (Quantuck Lane Press, 2003); David Parlett, Oxford History of Board Games (Oxford University Press, 1999); F.R.B. Whitehouse, Table Games of Georgian and Victorian Days (Peter Garnett, 1951). Jay Laird Northeastern University

Diplomacy Avalon Hill’s Diplomacy is a military strategy board game set in pre–World War I Europe. It not only underscores but also demands the shrewd and often deceitful making and breaking of alliances between would-be superpowers vying for domination of the continent. Allan Calhamer developed Diplomacy throughout the 1950s while a student of 19th-century European history, political geography, and law at both Harvard University and Harvard Law School. The game achieved its final form in 1958 and saw mass production in 1960. In a 1974 essay written for Games & Puzzles, Calhamer recalls drawing inspiration for his game from an article in Life magazine contending that a world government constituted by mul-

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tiple Great Powers of relatively equal strength would provide a system of checks and balances adequate for maintaining world peace and allaying geopolitical aggression. “Regardless of whether such a plan would have worked or could have been brought about in the real world,” Calhamer writes, “the system of multiple and flexible checks and balances offered itself as a possible basis for a strategic parlour game of some depth and colour.” Diplomacy unfolds on a map of circa-1900 Europe, which is divided into 76 discrete land and sea “provinces.” Seven players represent diplomats from major military powers—France, Great Britain, Germany, Austria­-Hungary, Italy, Russia, and Turkey—who order armies and fleets to both defend and capture provinces with the aim of controlling at least half the board by game’s end. Certain provinces contain supply centers whose capture infuses more resources into the controlling power’s forces (in the form of additional pieces deployed on the board). Unlike similar military strategy games (for example, Risk or Axis & Allies), conflict in Diplomacy is resolved without rolling dice; therefore, combat outcomes are not left to chance. Instead, players privately compose written orders for their units, which can move into unoccupied adjacent provinces, attack neighboring enemies, defend secured territories, support advancing units controlled by any power, or convoy units across bodies of water. When orders are revealed, unit movement occurs simultaneously (not in the turn-based fashion more common of the Wargame genre). These moments of revelation are filled with tension not because players worry about the caprices of dice, but because they can never be entirely confident their human ally-opponents have acted as anticipated. Diplomacy’s eponymous core element occurs between players in seclusion, often behind locked doors in hushed whispers. Playing the board game indeed means spending a significant portion of game time—hours, minimally, but entire weekends, more frequently— away from the board in clandestine negotiations. Calhamer wanted Diplomacy to be a game “principally of manoeuvre rather than annihilation.” It is notoriously cutthroat, predicated on a striking paradox: No player can accumulate resources and territories without the support of other diplomats, yet winning the game necessitates emerging as a single dominant superpower. Thus, diplomatic sessions inevitably involve duplicity; all seemingly good-natured gestures of collaboration

are nevertheless motivated by rapacity. “Loyalty, honesty, frankness, gratitude, chivalry, magnanimity—these are the hallmarks of the good friend, the good husband and father, the nice guy we all hope our daughters will marry,” writes Richard Sharp in The Game of Diplomacy. “In the amoral world of Diplomacy, however, they are the hallmarks of the born loser.” Because units’ starting locations are prescribed by Diplomacy’s rule book and not randomly assigned, players have developed diverse, nuanced opening, and mid- and end-game strategies (similar to the treatment afforded chess). Postal play began in 1960. Three computerized versions of the game have existed since the 1980s, yet serious players prefer email as a tool for corresponding via the computer over long distances. More than 50 years after its invention, Calhamer’s “strategic parlour game” enjoys enduring worldwide support through fan publications and an annual international championship competition, the World Diplomacy Convention. See Also: Avalon Hill; Games of Deception; Risk, the Game; Wargames. Bibliography. Allan Calhamer, “The Invention of Diplomacy,” Games & Puzzles (January, 1974); Fernand Gobet, Moves in Mind: The Psychology of Board Games (Psychology Press, 2004); Richard Sharp, The Game of Diplomacy (A. Barker, 1978). Bryan G. Behrenshausen Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

Dodgeball Dodgeball is a game many American and Canadian youth are exposed to at an early age, often during elementary school during gym class. Students are divided into roughly equal-sized teams and compete to remove players of the opposing team by hitting them with a ball. The goal of this game is two-fold—to hit the other team’s players and to dodge the balls that are thrown at you. Players may return to play if a teammate catches a ball. Often this type of game continues for extended periods of time given the flow of players in and out of play. Numerous versions of this game exist dictating the number of balls in play, various additional physical skills



such as shooting the ball through a basketball hoop, and whether players out of play just sit on the sidelines or are engaged in other activities. This game has been a mainstay of elementary physical education, and to lesser degree middle and high school, over the course of the last century, given the simple rules and low cost of sports equipment. Many children thrill in playing this game that in some manners feels like a free-for-all, a game with few rules and much running and dodging. However, many adults reflect upon the Dodgeball play of their youth with disdain, recalling the sting of the ball and the boredom accompanying sitting on the sidelines while out of play. Despite the positive and negative recollections of Dodgeball it remains an iconic game of American childhood play. Indeed, the traditions of this game have entered into the media, with episodes of Freaks and Geeks (1999) and South Park (1998) addressing the violent nature of this game. The iconic status of this game was additionally demonstrated by the 2004 film Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. This comedy demonstrated both the violent aspects and the positive team-centered aspects of this game. In recent years this game has become subject to significant critique and debate in the health education field. Some physical education teachers argue that the game teaches valuable fleeing and dodging skills, while encouraging running and other athletic engagement. Yet, the least-athletic students, who may benefit most from more activity, are often the first students knocked out of play. Indeed, a fundamental critique of Dodgeball is the elimination nature of this game. The targeting of the least-athletic and least-skilled players first puts these players out of play early. This perpetuates a system of social stratification and stigmatization of the less skilled while simultaneously limiting their engagement in physical activity. Another critique is that children should never be made into targets, particularly among their peers. Such targeting may encourage and engage students in bullying. Indeed, some students, especially the more skilled athletes or dominant boys, may delight in “pegging” a fellow classmate. If a student is “beaned,” they may be teased and stigmatized, especially if one cries because of the physical pain of a particularly hard throw. However, others embrace this game as one of the few “reality” games left that gives students a peek at the adult world of competition. As more and more children are engaged in athletic games where everyone is a winner, it can be important to also note the competitive nature of the social world.

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See Also: Play and Sports Education; Play as Competition, Sociology of; Team Play. Bibliography. Michael T. Shoemaker, “Is There a Place for Dodgeball in Physical Education?” The Journal of Physical Education, Recreation, & Dance (v.72/4, April 2001); National Amateur Dodgeball Association, www.dodgeballusa .com (cited June 2008); Pamela Powers “Beyond Dodgeball, Kickball, and Duck Duck Goose,” Independent School (v.66/4, Summer 2007); Rawson Marshall Thurber, dir. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (20th Century Fox, 2004). Daniel Farr Randolph College

Dolls, Barbie and Others Dolls are commonly understood to be small figures that model the human form. Generally used as children’s toys, dolls help to explain the educational and cognitive, social, and emotional values of play. As dolls have become more clearly tied to children and play, a wide array of types of dolls has emerged. Many of these dolls spring from the increased merchandising and marketing of the 20th century. However, dolls are often used within adult contexts, as collectible items and objects in religious and spiritual rituals. All of these dolls exist in a multitude of forms, with wood, wax, papier-mâché, porcelain, bisque, china, rubber, celluloid, plastic, and cloth offering options for their production. Playing with dolls, most commonly believed to be a type of girl’s play, indicates healthy psychological development. Whether it involves rocking a baby doll to sleep or dressing up a Barbie, playing with dolls is a means of learning about the world. In an educational sense, this socialization results from being able to transform activities normally associated with work, to reconcile reason and pleasure, to conquer the demands of time, to express desire, and to exercise imagination. Those cognitive abilities are tempered by the social value of play, which attempts to mold children into good citizens by allowing them freedom within limits and by teaching them gender expectations. Through playing with dolls, children learn to be parents (most commonly, girls learn to be mothers), to groom, and to accept changes in relationships. An emotional value of play joins these two

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African-American dolls were introduced to the line of Barbie dolls in 1967, which now includes many ethnicities.

forces, offering the ability to develop coping skills, work out problems, and assess and deal with trauma. When combined, these three values of play mean that the act of playing with dolls carries educational, formative, and recreational purposes. Dolls for Play Dolls designed as children’s playthings are far more common than either ritual or fashion dolls. Presumably created since the beginning of time, these objects of play became even more prevalent during and after the Victorian era, when childhood was first accepted as a distinct and separate stage of life. Instead of seeming like miniature adults, children were allowed the first 12 to 14 years to develop as individuals. They were still expected to learn appropriate gender roles and social practices, a process in which dolls could help. From the 19th century dolls, frequently took the form of babies

and young children. Although adult figures did remain, they were less common. The French bébé, which appeared in the late 1870s, is a fine example of this simultaneously educational and recreational feature. Modeled on healthy and generally chubby children, baby dolls were used to teach girls how to be mothers and sisters. In coaching girls to rock, diaper, clothe, and feed their baby dolls, adults instructed them in the art of motherhood. Since women have often been delegated to the home, this training—along with playing house—was much like an apprenticeship program. Playing with baby dolls is also a means of explaining how to deal with real babies. Baby dolls are commonly offered to girls when their mothers are expecting another baby. With the doll, a child can act out its frustrations at no longer being the only or youngest child. The child can mimic her mother’s actions and feel part of the process of caring for the new child. Before the invention of the Barbie doll, baby dolls were among the most common toys sold. Changes in their appearance occurred as new technologies became available. Baby dolls that could sit were introduced in Europe beginning in 1860. They were followed by baby dolls with celluloid heads (1862) and the advent of the American market for baby dolls (1865) with the Horseman Company’s dolls. Other dolls take on the appearance of a slightly older child or an adult. These dolls offer girls a chance to develop friendships and to explore their own personalities. Although some care of the doll is still necessary, dolls modeled on older children and adults allow for conversation, tea parties, and virtually any activity a girl might undertake with another child. That imaginary play is another important form of socialization: the girl learns how to behave with other girls by playing with her dolls. One of the most famous of this type is Barbie, who has intrigued little girls, worried parents concerned with their daughters’ body image, and succeeded in capturing the market for dolls modeled on adult women or sophisticated teenagers from her debut at the New York Toy Fair in 1959. Created by Ruth Handler, this doll was based on the concept of paper dolls, which could be dressed in any fashion and whose clothes could be changed quickly. Noticing her daughter Barbara’s interest in creating grown-up worlds for her paper dolls, Handler decided to design a teenage fashion model doll. The result was an 11 1/2-inch-tall rigid plastic doll wearing a black-and-white striped swimsuit and sporting a ponytail of blonde hair.



Selling for $3, this original Barbie (named for Handler’s daughter) became the staple product of Mattel, the corporation Handler and her husband Elliot founded to market and produce the doll. The Handlers were not content to leave Barbie alone in this fashion world. Within the first two years, five different versions of Barbie were created. Originally joined at the neck, arms, and legs, these first versions offered slight variations in features and great alterations in available clothes. Vinyl soon replaced plastic as the material used to create the dolls, and a whole host of friends joined Barbie. In 1961, Ken, a 12-inch-tall male doll with a six-piece, jointed body, became Barbie’s male escort. He was joined by Midge (1963), marketed as Barbie’s best friend, and Skipper (1963), Barbie’s little sister; while Midge was modeled on the same basic proportions as Barbie, though with individualized features, Skipper displayed a nine-inch-tall, six-piece jointed body. Two friends for Skipper—Skooter, who could pass as Midge’s younger sister, and Ricky, who could pass as Allan’s (Ken’s best friend and Midge’s boyfriend) younger brother—were also introduced in 1963. Allan first appeared in 1964. Later, in 1966, Barbie’s more modern cousin Francie, an 11 1/4-inch-tall, more buxom version of the original doll, was produced along with Tutti and Todd, Barbie’s twin sister and brother (six and a quarter inches tall each). An African-American Francie doll followed in 1967. These variations on the Barbie theme have continued to the present. A variety of ethnic Barbies, including Hispanic, Filipina, Native American, and African American versions, have been released. Collectible Barbies have also become increasingly popular. Fashion designers ranging from Yves St. Laurent to Christian Dior, Versace to JeanPaul Gaultier, have designed clothes for the collectible versions of Barbie to wear. Ties to movies have also been made, with dolls based on characters like Scarlett O’Hara, Wonder Woman, Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Jo from Little Women, and Belle from Beauty and the Beast; dolls based on famous entertainers like Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Elvis, and Cher; dolls based on historical figures like the Empress Eugenie and the Empress Josephine; and dolls devoted to the glamorous life (including countless princesses and fashion models). While baby dolls have been tied to learning nurturing skills, Barbie dolls seem to be tied to different social skills. With extreme and sexualized body proportions—her measurements would work out to 39”-18”-33” on a 5-

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foot-9-inch real woman—parents and teachers worry that Barbie provides an unrealistic ideal of beauty. In response to that complaint, Mattel altered the doll’s proportions to reflect a smaller chest measurement (36 inches) and a larger waist measurement (23 inches). While there is no empirical research that supports the assumption that Barbie or any other doll might create problems later on, questions about the effect Barbie has on girls’ self-esteem and body image continue to be debated. Fashion Dolls Like Barbie, fashion dolls tend to focus on the significance of appearance and clothing style. From the 14th century, these dolls were used to introduce and support costume style. Monarchs and courtiers alike made presents of fashion dolls, offering a vision of the latest fashions in couture and coiffeur. In many ways, these dolls served as catalogs; sent to faraway ports from Paris, the fashion doll modeled fashionable life for those who could not be in the city. Russian princesses and American colonists alike could learn what the well-dressed European woman was wearing by ordering and looking at a European doll. So valuable were these dolls as fashion models that special regulations for exporting them were passed in Paris; rather than focusing on economic concerns, these regulations governed the specifications for measurements of the dolls and their clothes, an attempt to make life-size copies of the clothing possible. With that purpose in mind, the need for fashion dolls to appear lifelike seems only natural. Springing from the German tradition of wooden manikins used as models for drawing and painting, this doll has a more realistic body that approximates the human form, which allows for the accurate modeling of clothes. When that accurate modeling was not possible, two-dimensional paper dolls could fill the gap. Drawings of realistic-looking men, women, and children could be dressed with cutouts designed to fit their bodies. Although these paper dolls were not particularly useful as artists’ models, they did allow for a vision of how certain costumes and hair styles would look when placed on the human body. Among the most famous modern fashion dolls are those created between the 1930s and 1960s, notably Winnie and Binnie Walker, Cissy, Miss Revlon, Toni, Ginny, Jill, and Barbie. Each of these dolls allowed girls to dress them, style their hair, and, occasionally, apply their makeup. In emphasizing the processes of grooming, the dolls do have an educational purpose. However,

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their principle purpose has often been to display the fashion trends of the era. In the 19th and 20th centuries, fashion dolls have become collectible items. Generally produced from more breakable materials like china, porcelain, and bisque, the fashion doll has maintained its emphasis on high-style couture. Collectors categorize them according to those styles, but also according to the shape and material composition of their heads and bodies. Spiritual and Relic Dolls The earliest examples of dolls had very few recreational uses. Instead, dolls were used as relics and idols. Imbued with a spiritual or ritual significance, these figures from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome might have been used as children’s playthings, though they seem to have been more firmly attached to fertility and fecundity. Marriages were consecrated with dolls (as they still are in India); achieving sexual maturity (Africa) and reaching marriageable age (Syria) were signaled by giving and displaying dolls. In these instances, the doll serves a broader societal and ritualistic purpose. The Katchina doll of the Hopi Indians functions as a symbol of blessing instead of as a toy. Believed to be the representation of the spirit beings (Katsinam), the doll—importantly not an idol—is given to a young girl. She and her family then hang the Katchina doll in their home as a physical symbol of the blessing given to the girl and her family. Though not an object of worship, the Katchina doll is offered respect. Crèche dolls fit into the same category. Designed to physically illustrate the birth of Jesus, these dolls range from highly elaborate figures to primitive representations. Whatever their style, crèche dolls depict Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus, along with a variety of animals, shepherds, and wise men or kings. Depending on where they were created, the dolls can be made of materials as varied as wood, terracotta, wax, and porcelain. Their clothing also differs, with different makers choosing to use the representative dress of their own time and place or the dress they believed contemporary to the nativity. Given their religious significance, crèche dolls were rarely if ever used as toys. They were displayed in churches, museums, and homes (especially during the Christmas season) to denote the owners’ Christianity and social status. No single material was used to make these earlier dolls. Wax, wood, clay, ivory, marble, bone, leather, cloth, and wood dolls have all survived. Nor do their forms

show a consistent style. Some, like the Egyptian paddleshaped dolls, offer hair made of clay pellets, voluptuous curves, and fertility symbols as decorations. Others, like the terra cotta figures discovered in Grecian temples dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, Aphrodite and Artemis, display jointed figures, contemporary styles of headgear, dress, and musical instruments. Doll Forms Over time, dolls for play have taken a variety of forms. Wooden dolls were popular from the 17th century, when they were fashioned by artisans in England and Germany. Early versions of wooden dolls offered a turned body, hand-carved features with paint and gesso finish, and painted eyes. Generally, the heads of these dolls were disproportionately large. When compared to later dolls, these wooden dolls seem particularly crude. Ironically, the dolls’ quality deteriorated over time, as less care was taken with each individual doll. A specialized version of wooden dolls—nesting dolls—seems exempt from that deterioration of form. Russian in origin, nesting dolls stack dolls within larger dolls. The human form appears only through the brightly-painted exteriors. Although nesting dolls have evolved to include a variety of images, they were originally meant to celebrate motherhood and fertility. Wax dolls were also available to children in the 18th century. Not as common as wooden dolls, these were widely available in Catholic countries, whose doll makers used wax to create crèche dolls. Wax dolls were available

Dolls can range in craftmanship from a simple cloth or cornhusk doll to an intricate fashion or porcelain doll.



in either a child or adult form, with the adult form tending to be more of a collectible or display item than a toy. Papier-mâché dolls, whose heads were created from soaked paper that was thickened with a hardening agent and adhesive, became economical and practical in the 1820s. By attaching the papier-mâché head to a cloth body with wooden arms and legs, doll manufacturers could relatively quickly turn out dolls for sale. By the 1840s, another relatively inexpensive doll joined these. The rag doll, which was officially patented in 1873, was created entirely from fabric. Layers of glued cloth were pressed with dies to create the doll’s head, which was then stuffed and painted. The head was then attached to a stuffed cloth body, to which hand­-­modeled and hand-stitched legs and arms were sewn. Particularly popular in America, the rag doll has become a symbol of folk art and folk toys. Like cornhusk dolls, rag dolls were often made by women who could not afford to buy dolls for their daughters. These home-made toys were fashioned out of the materials available. Porcelain dolls, on the other hand, were considerably more expensive. Although examples from the 1840s still exist, the porcelain doll’s beginnings are unknown. The dolls tend to be more delicate and fragile than their wooden, wax, and cloth predecessors. China and Bisque, both variations of porcelain, were used primarily to make doll heads, arms, and feet, all of which were then attached to a cloth body. Occasionally, however, an entire doll was created out of porcelain; given their extreme delicacy, these dolls were rarely intended for use as playthings; instead, they were meant to be collectible items for display. Toward the end of the 19th century, dolls became more realistic. Features were changed, with fixed glass eyes, jointed limbs, and lifelike proportions becoming increasingly more common. When combined with improved methods of mass production and increased world trade, these advances in doll making allowed for the marketing and merchandising of particular dolls. With the 20th century came named dolls, available in exactly the same form to children around the world. Some of the most famous of these dolls help to tell the story of all of the types that preceded them. Doll Trends The Kewpie doll illustrates the popularity and significance of baby dolls. Designed by Rose O’Neill, the Kewpie doll—whose name comes from a diminutive version

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of “cupid”—first appeared in bisque in 1913. Modeled on O’Neill’s baby brother, the Kewpie doll quickly became popular. Many other materials were used to manufacture the dolls, who also sprang to life in stories and who were featured in merchandise as varied as clock cases, inkwells, and jewelry. By the 1920s, the Kewpie doll, now made principally out of celluloid, was the doll to have. Immensely popular, the doll offered a baby for whom a little girl could care. Similarly, Raggedy Ann and Andy became friends for the girls who owned them. John Barton Gruelle, a political cartoonist, created the first Raggedy Ann for his daughter Marcella by drawing a face on an old rag doll. When Marcella delighted in the doll, Gruelle applied for a patent based on his hand-drawn illustrations of Raggedy Ann. Soon after receiving the patent, Marcella died and Gruelle began to publish stories that featured Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. The first dolls were produced by the Gruelle family in 1918 and were used to promote the stories. The stories were successful (and are still in print), and the dolls have enjoyed constant popularity. Depression and Wartime Dolls As the 1920s passed, Americans were able to buy fewer dolls. The Great Depression severely limited the ability of families to purchase new dolls. So important were dolls, though, that new doll clothes continued to be made and given as gifts. Even in the heart of a catastrophe, the doll’s significance was underscored. Manufacturers, too, persisted in marketing dolls, focusing on a few, “must-have” dolls. Although unavailable to the masses, these dolls served as models for the dolls that would follow. The DyDee doll and Betsy Wetsy introduced dolls who could drink form a bottle, wet a diaper, and blow bubbles; their realism emphasized the manner in which dolls could be used to teach childcare principles to girls. Another type of dolls—paper dolls—suggest a means of dealing with a lack of money. Paper dolls could be cut from magazines, where they and their clothes were preprinted, or drawn and cut from old newspapers. Created for centuries, S. & J. Fuller of England produced the first manufactured paper doll in 1810; J. Belcher of Boston followed with an American version in 1812. Increased marketing of dolls also started during the Depression. One brand of dolls—the Madam Alexander dolls—began to gain popularity. Taking their inspiration from celebrities and current events, these dolls

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became especially popular after the 1934 birth of the Dionne quintuplets in Canada; the Madame Alexander versions of the babies helped to boost doll sales to $22 million in 1936. Another increase in sales figures came from dolls based on movies (like the 1937 Snow White dolls released to accompany the Walt Disney movie) and cartoons (like the Little Lulu dolls introduced in 1939.) Shirley Temple dolls figure into the same phenomenon. Not particularly educational, these dolls used the actress’ fame and movies to market a model for maintaining optimism while overcoming the adversity of everyday life. With the advent of World War II, doll production and sales decreased. Cloth dolls replaced their rubber and celluloid counterparts as those materials became increasingly necessary for the war effort. With the end of the war, doll making entered an era widely known as the golden age of dolls. Increased spending power and consumerism also led to the practice of owning more than one doll. With dolls that spoke, smiled, clapped, and danced, it was not difficult to encourage parents to buy one more doll for their daughters. The Golden Age of Dolls Three types of dolls appeared in this golden age. The first type included baby dolls like Tiny Tears (1950), Bonnie Braids (1951), Sister Belle (1961), and Chatty Cathy (1960s); the second included dolls based on movies and television shows, like Mrs. Beasley (1967), a doll who appeared in the television sitcom, Family Affair; the third were a variation on fashion dolls. These dolls encouraged girls to play dress up and to learn about current trends in fashion. Unlike more traditional fashion dolls, these were marketed as playthings, for which a wide array of clothes, fashion accessories, houses, and furnishings could be purchased. Virtually every doll manufacturing company released a doll like this: Vogue produced the Ginny doll (1951); Madame Alexander created Wendy (1953) and then Winnie Walker (1953), Binnie Walker (1953), and Cissy (1955); Ideal offered Miss Revlon (1956), Little Miss Revlon (1958), and Toni Walker (1958). None of these dolls created the same sensation as the Barbie doll, though. New types of dolls have been developed continually since this golden age of dolls. Among the most famous of these dolls are Cabbage Patch Kids. Invented by Xavier Roberts in 1976, they allowed children to “adopt” a doll. Throughout the 1980s Cabbage Patch

Kids enjoyed immense popularity. Many other new dolls have addressed the growing concern with displaying the ethnic diversity of the United States and the world at large by producing dolls of every color. One doll that addresses that concern is Chatty Cathy (1984), an African-American version of Mattel’s 1960s-era Chatty Cathy. Still other dolls have celebrated the popular culture of the time, building on the possibilities first noted with the Mrs. Beasley doll. Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Smurfs are examples of dolls that gained increased popularity because of their exposure on television. See Also: Girls’ Play; Human Relationships in Play; MotherChild Play; Playing “House”; Toys and Child Development. Bibliography. David Cohen, Development of Play, 2nd edition (Routledge, 1993); Carolyn Goodfellow and Faith Eaton, Ultimate Doll Book (DK Adult, 1993); M.G. Lord, Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll (William Morrow and Company, 1994); Yona Zeldis McDonough, ed, The Barbie Chronicles: A Living Doll Turns Forty (Touchstone, 1999); Juliette Peers, Fashion Doll: From Bebe Jumeau to Barbie (Berg Publishers, 2004); Helga Teiwes, Katchina Dolls: The Art of Hopi Carvers (University of Arizona Press, 1991); Susan Waggoner, Under the Tree: The Toys and Treats that Made Christmas Special 1930–1970 (Stuart, Tabori and Chang, 2007). Anastasia L. Pratt State University of New York

Dominoes and Variations of Dominoes evokes the image of an interconnected system, the elements of which aid and determine one another. The image was given shape by an idle variation of the game of Dominoes in which rectangular tile pieces are put on edge in long lines, then the first tile is toppled causing the rest in line to fall in a precise and predictive manner. The outstanding legacy of this image in the 20th century, besides a common analogy referred to as the domino effect (often quoted in the context of global warming, for instance), meaning a chain of small events that cause similar events leading to catastrophes, is the so-called domino theory. A geopolitical theory



that emerged in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, from the analogy first proposed by President Eisenhower in 1954 to justify military intervention in Vietnam (and reiterated in the 1980s by Ronald Reagan to justify intervention in Nicaragua), the domino theory states that if one country comes under Communist control, the neighboring countries will also come under Communist control. Needless to say, the fall of Communist regimes in eastern Europe after 1989 illustrated a reverse of the pattern. These theoretical applications do have a connection to the games of strategy encompassed by Dominoes in their different variations and demonstrate that sometimes games have the role to synthesize real-life situations on a larger scale. Granted, the correlation of matching numbers is replaced by physical implications, but this goes to show how a certain tradition (in this case Asian) is usually translated into the Western canon. The logical effect wanted by the individual or collective games played with Dominoes (the deck or pack of a domino set) is matching one end of a piece (also called bone, card, tile, ticket, stone, or spinner) to another piece identically or reciprocally numbered. The standard set comprises 28 pieces, marked from double six (six-six) to double zero (0-0). The pieces having a common end constitute a suit, and the quality of the pieces is expressed in weight: the bone with most dots is the heavier. The game is known throughout the world in different variations. In China Dominoes are known as early as the 12th century, but the dotted cards of the Chinese had no blank faces, as do the ones familiar to contemporary players. On the European continent, dominoes first appear in the middle of the 18th century in Italy and then in France. It is difficult to determine what the connection is between the modern game of Dominoes and these initial manifestations or whether the Chinese model was “borrowed” by Italians. Keeping in mind that the missionary activity of the Catholic Church to China developed in the 17th century and was very intense in the first half of the 18th century, as well as the visits of secular Europeans to the Asian continent, it is not improbable that this is the channel through which the Domino game entered Europe. The game is not characteristic of European types of card-games; based on principles of numerology and mathematics, the Domino game is an Asian heritage, inspired by the Indian cubic dice. The principles of this “matching” game have generated, as shown above, deterministic clichés.

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Most commercial domino sets are made of synthetic materials that approximate the look and feel of ivory.

The most spectacular manifestation of these clichés is an internationally acclaimed event—the Domino Day. The purpose of this event, initiated by the Dutch Robin Paul Weijers in the 1980s together with Endemol, is to set a world record in the number of falling domino tiles. The aim of the game is not only to establish new records, but to put on a majestic show that demonstrates the interconnections between the pieces. The participating teams invest great efforts to set up the tiles in a physically viable manner, so as to also produce an aesthetic outcome. Domino Day is indicative of the way in which Western European culture transforms a set of rules and game principles from a distinct tradition and, minimalizing its logical prerequisites, turns them into a game of illusions. However, this was not the initial procedure, as a glimpse into the different variations of Domino games show. Modern Variations At the outset, in Europe as well as in America, Dominoes was played according to the original model, taking on different forms to suit the social context. The most commonly played variations of Domino games are Domino Whist, Matador, and Muggins (all fives). The Whist is a Domino game for four players and is inspired by the notorious card-game. Each player has seven bones, and

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the game ends when one player has exhausted the last bone or the ends are blocked. The Matador is a common draw game with the usual object of going out first and collecting points based on the bones still in one’s opponents hands. In Muggins points are earned when a player plays a bone, with the result that the count (the sum of all open ends) is a multiple of five. A special variation emerged in Texas, called 42, a trick-taking game played with a standard set of double-six dominoes. This game was created in 1887 in Trappe Springs by two young boys, members of a strict conservative Southern Baptist sect who were forbidden to play cards. It is often referred to as the “national game of Texas” and continues to be very popular in much of the state. Tournaments are held in many towns, and the State Championship tournament is held in Hallettsville the first Saturday of March each year. Other popular variations of Dominoes include Bendomino, Chickie Dominoes (Chicken Foot), Concentration, Double Fives, and Domino Trains. Dominoes, similar to Poker, is played at a professional level, and matches and tournaments are often televised in Latin America. Organizations and clubs of amateur Domino players exist around the world. Some organizations, including the International Federation of Dominos and the Fédération Internationale de Domino (FIDO), organize international competitions. See Also: All Fives; China; Dice; Play and Power, Sociology of. Bibliography. Edmond Hoyle et al., eds., Hoyle’s Rules of Games, 3rd edition (Signet, 2001); Dennis ����������������� Roberson, Winning 42: Strategy and Lore of the National Game of Texas (Texas Tech University Press, 2004); Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964)�. Ilona Denes Central European University

Donkey Donkey is a children’s card game played with a traditional 52-card deck, in which cards are exchanged between players (instead of being played into a pool as in more complicated games). Special Donkey decks are often sold, with various animals in place of the usual

four suits. The goal is to collect four of a kind in a fourcard hand by discarding one card at a time. Each discarded card passes to the player to the left, who can keep it if he wishes, so long as he discards another card so as to keep his hand at four cards. Once someone has four of a kind, they have won the game and should lay their hand down as quietly as possible. The other players then need to react by laying their cards down, whether they have a set or not. The last player to put his cards down loses the hand. This gives him a letter “D.” If that player should lose more hands, he collects letters to spell the word Donkey. The game is lost when one person “collects” the letters to spell the word Donkey. A similar version of this game is called Pig. Instead of laying the cards down, a finger is laid aside your nose indicating that you have your four of a kind. The last person to notice this gesture is dubbed the “Pig.” See Also: Casino; Fish; History of Playing Cards. Bibliography. Elliott Avedon, The Study of Games (Krieger Pub., 1979); Roger Caillois, Man, Play and Games (University of Illinois Press, 2001); David Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, 1990); Brian Sutton-Smith, The Ambiguity of Play (Harvard University Press, 2001). Bill Kte’pi Independent Scholar

Dozens, Playing the The expression the dozens refers to dramatized exchanges of insults between two opponents, most typically involving the other’s mother as indirect referent, and with a variable stress on overall performance, diction, phrase rhythm, or rhyme. It is part of 20th-century African-American urban speech culture, with likely but disputable roots in African history, as well as enduring resonance in contemporary pop culture, particularly television game shows (MTV’s Yo Momma, running 3 seasons in 2006–08), standup comedy (e.g., comedian-audience interactions), and Web sites. What qualifies as its historically salient properties, functions, merits, and hence, what informs its status as “game” or “play,” has been assessed variably across academic disciplines and their timeframes, ranging from 1930s–1960s social psychology of the lower-class black family and folk-



lore to intersectional research into race/ethnicity, gender, life phases, language, and contemporary media. The Dozens (a range of etymological suggestions has been proposed) have been variably known as being “played” or “talked,” as “giving” or “putting” a person in the Dozens, as “yo’ momma fights” or as featuring “yo’ mama jokes,” or as (involving) trash-talk, cussing, blowing, snapping, sounding, woofing, dissing, capping, cracking, bagging, hiking, joning, ranking, ribbing, serving, signifying, slipping, wolfing, sigging, or screaming. In some attested taxonomies, the Dozens typically amounts to a contest based on repertoire and verbal audacity that takes place between young children as they recite formulaic rhymes, while joning, among older participants, though sharing stylistic features with the Dozens, has rather a direct recognizable relationship to context and occasion, and is more directed at the individual, more improvised, and not expected to amount to a clear-cut contest. Dozens are commonly classified “clean” or “dirty,” referring to the inclusion of sexual slurs; accepts any public space as its natural setting; and has a traditional dramatis personae of befriended male peers, set against the background of a responsive audience. Themes of innuendo may include the full spectrum of sexual transgression, from female promiscuity, infidelity, and homosexuality to bestiality, and address the opponent or his family, most typically his mother or sister. The practice has been ethnographically attested as early as in third grade, among girls and across ethnicities, but is widely recognized as reaching its ultimate form among male black youth. Audiences play a critical and triple role: to stir up and arbitrate (by being responsive to perceived verbal agility, improvisational skill, humorous content, and overall efficacy to top the opponents’ turns and hence to entertain), as well as to bear witness to victory and loss. Thus, the Dozens fits within the urban ethnic template of street “battling” (compare rap and breakdance). Anthropologically, the Dozens has been examined within a range of analytic contexts: insult-based oral genres, mediation and ritualization of in-group conflict (insults rather than violence, if a potential prelude to violence), and (less satisfyingly) joking relationships and kinship systems more generally. To categorize the Dozens as play usually pertains to its folkloric classification as informal contest or to its providing of a passive or active socializing context, either in terms of form (humor, agonistic speech, public speaking, ethnic speech

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patterns) or content (semiformal reiterations of a sexual order). Theorists have offered divergent functional interpretations, which variably highlight elements of humor, gender/masculinity, aggression, “ritualization,” socialization, racial history, subcultures, peer group systems, and language in use. Functional interpretations have ranged from psychoanalytic (management of child-adult separation anxiety, sublimation of aggression, catharsis) to social-pedagogical (male initiation, verbal skills training, sex education) and psycho-cultural. Some culture-based interpretations suggest that the Dozens, along with other genres such as “performing the Toasts” (long narrative poems that detail the exploits of heroes, badmen, and tricksters), inscribes a meta-social commentary on ghetto life and thus amounts to “deep play” (Clifford Geertz), a game with stakes superlative to the “mere” play it appears to be, in particular the persona of the male ghetto survivor. Others argue that the Dozens provides a dynamically adaptive conduit for the consolidation of group ties. For instance, humor would relate to the negotiation of gender-sexual hierarchies and masculinities within pupil and peer cultures. At this point controversy exists whether to see the Dozens as positive coping strategy or as maladaptive symptom. Some interpretations stress ethnic/racial and personal resilience and conflict resolution, while others suggest the practice elaborates an internalized racial selfhatred or “neurosis.” The Dozens in mass cultural representations has been criticized for its potential for the cultivation of misogyny as well as racist auto-stereotyping and denigration of black facial and body features. See Also: Play as Competition, Psychology of; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of; Social Psychology of Play; Teasing. Bibliography. Lige Dailey, Playing the Dozens: A PsychoHistorical Examination of an African American Ritual. Ph.D. Dissertation (The Wright Institute, 1986); Alan Dundes, ed., Mother Wit from the Laughing Barrel: Readings in the Interpretation of Afro-American Folklore. (Prentice Hall, 1973/1990); Thurmon Garner, “Playing the Dozens: Folklore as Strategies for Living,” African American Communication & Identities: Essential Readings, Ronald L. Jackson, ed. (Sage, 2004). Diederik Floris Janssen Independent Scholar Ilona Denes Central European University

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Dragon Quest There are two significant games carrying the name Dragon Quest: the first is a pen-and-paper or tabletop role-playing game (RPG), the second a computer RPG. The RPG’s name is conjoined: DragonQuest. In the United States, the digital game had to change its name to Dragon Warrior because of the trademark conflict, though the demise of the pen-and-paper game meant the name of the digital game later changed in 2003. DragonQuest the RPG was published in 1980 by Simulations Publications (SPI). It was one of the second generation of RPGs, which helped advance the genre out of the wargame-based, combat-heavy roots established by the first versions of Dungeons & Dragons. DragonQuest used a skills system to allow detailed character creation, one of the first games to do so. By allowing players to create characters that do not follow a set class, but rather have more breadth and depth, the rules directed players toward putting more thought into the characterisation of their creations than previous games. From a ludic standpoint, DragonQuest is interesting because of the way it handles damage taken by characters in combat. Very experienced characters are not very much more durable than novices. Tactically, this means that the “tank” approach to combat (when one very durable character takes the punishment the enemy is dealing out) does not work, which results in very active participation in conflict by all characters. This system also means that experienced and less experienced characters can mix more easily—in most RPGs the potent characters would not be challenged, or the weak ones would be killed instantly, or at least be unable to do much. In general, combat, though heroic in nature, tends to be more realistic than in the games that preceded it. However, DragonQuest’s rule structure has greatly influenced modern games. Magic is split into a number of “colleges,” each providing different spells. Examples include the various elemental colleges (air, earth, fire, water) and less obvious ones (summoning, rune magic). This is another example of the way the game seeks to add flavor and character, and it broke with what many saw as the mechanistic magic common to early RPGs. DragonQuest is presently owned by Wizards of the Coast, who acquired it when they purchased TSR, who in turn acquired it when they took over SPI. The trademark has been abandoned, allowing Square Enix to take

it up, implying that the game is moribund, and indeed has been out of print since 1987. In spite of this, the game still has many devotees worldwide. The computerized version of Dragon Quest is a longrunning series with nine core games and various spinoffs. It was developed in Japan by Chunsoft and published by Square Enix. In the United States, the game was known as Dragon Warrior to avoid trademark infringement. Numerous versions of the game have been released for a slowly increasing complexity of console. All essentially follow the common tropes of computer RPGs: players battle monsters and solve puzzles, become more powerful as they do so by gaining experience, and find gold, which they spend to buy better equipment. The series is incredibly popular in Japan, though overshadowed in the West by other Square Enix offerings, most notably, the Final Fantasy series. The soundtrack of the game is orchestral and has a following of its own. As a very early example of an RPG, many of its features (notably its two-dimensional top-down perspective) have gone on to become standard for the genre. See Also: Dungeons & Dragons; Japan; Role-Playing; Wargames. Bibliography. Daniel Mackay, The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art (McFarland & Company, 2001); Lawrence Schick, Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role Playing Games (Prometheus Books, 1991); J. Patrick Williams, et al., eds., Gaming As Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games (McFarland, 2006). Justin Parsler Brunel University

Dragon Warrior The electronic videogame Dragon Warrior was originally titled Dragon Quest when it was released to Japanese audiences in 1986. It was released for the Japanese game console the Nintendo Family Computer, or Famicom. In 1989 the game was released for North American audiences and the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES. The game was later ported to several other Nintendo console platforms, including the Super Famicom, Game Boy and Game Boy Color, and Japa-



nese cell phones. The importance of the game in the context of the Japanese mobile sector has been noted by Dean Chan. The game was later used as a promotion for the Nintendo publication, Nintendo Power. The first game spawned a series of subsequent Dragon Warrior titles in North America and Dragon Quest games in Japan. It was not until 2005 that North American Dragon Warrior titles took on the title Dragon Quest because of a naming conflict with the North American role-playing game Dragon Quest, a competitor to Dungeons & Dragons. Copies of Dragon Warrior were given to subscribers, and the magazine devoted long articles over several issues to the game. Dragon Warrior is an early and notable example of an electronic role-playing videogame. As the player progresses through the game they are awarded experience points and gold for the successfully defeating enemy creatures encountered along the way. As experience points are gained, the player increases in levels, which in turn increases their character’s abilities. Battles occur in a turn-based fashion, where the player and encountered enemy take turns taking action against one another. Players have the ability to fight an enemy in combat, attempt to run away, use an item, or cast a magical spell. This turn-based approach is very similar to how play is structured in pen-and-paper role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons. The narrative of the game is also one that is pervasive throughout videogames and role-playing games in particular. The princess, or love interest, of the main character has been captured by the game’s villain, and the main character must advance and save her from peril. Frequently this opponent also poses as a threat to the broader populace of the world. In the process of defeating the villain, the player acquires new skills necessary to defeat this ultimate enemy. By defeating his foe, the hero not only rescues the princess, but also rids the land of a malevolent tyrant. The game used an overhead, two-dimensional, style of display, which has carried over to many electronic roleplaying videogames even now. This style of visualizing a game has become so recognizable that many gamers explicitly associate it with electronic role-playing games immediately. It has been recognized by many game players and game developers as having had a significant impact on the electronic role-playing videogame genre. Developed by the Japanese videogame development company Chunsoft, the game originally featured spell

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names that were largely nonsensical in Japanese. When an English version of the game was created, it was translated into a stylized version of early English. Spells were given names related to their function, and references to Arthurian literature were added to the games narrative. One instance of “Puff puff ” being offered to a player was also removed from the U.S. version of the game. While Dragon Quest has spawned numerous sequels in Japan, only a small number have been localized for the U.S. and European markets. Because the hardware of the NES made it difficult to generate pseudo-random numbers similar to the rolling of dice in role-playing games, Dragon Warrior made use of numerous other mechanisms to generate apparent randomness. An example of this can be found in how the name of the character chosen at the beginning of the game affects how quickly the player’s skills adjust as levels are gained through the awarding of experience points. See Also: Dice; Dragon Quest; Dungeons & Dragons; Fantasy Play; Play as Entertainment, Sociology of; Role-Playing. Bibliography. Dean Chan, “Convergence, Connectivity, and the Case of Japanese Mobile Gaming,” Games and Culture (v.3/1, 2008); Dustin Hubbard and Dwaine Bullock, “Dragon Quest Shrine: Dragon Warrior” www.dqshrine.com/dw (cited July 2008); Lawrence Schick, Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role Playing Games (Prometheus Books, 1991). Casey O’Donnell University of Georgia

Dungeon Lords Dungeon Lords is a role-playing game (RPG) released for the PC in 2005 by Heuristic Park. The game is usually played by a single player, although multiplayer options also exist. Dungeon Lords borrows heavily from successors such as the Oblivion series, the Baldur’s Gate games, and even earlier, from games such as Might and Magic. It is known for being one of the most disastrous video games ever launched. Dungeon Lords is very similar to many games in the fantasy roleplaying genre that have continued in popularity throughout the history of digital games. The game uses a first-person or distanced perspective whereby the

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player sees their avatar from behind and slightly above. The world within which a player moves is large and three-dimensional; scale is usually depicted through the use of maps that the player can access. Fantasy themes are common, and magic is usually a reality within each world. Players must guide their avatar through a narrative­-orientated fantasy world, carrying out quests and slaying monsters. These actions reward them with experience points, and more specifically to Dungeon Lords, advantage points. Using points to boost a character’s statistics makes them grow as a character, and allows them to specialize their abilities within a chosen class. As with most RPGs, the classes available in Dungeon Lords are based on an approximation of the classes originally used in Dungeons & Dragons. Dungeon Lords was not a success and is known for its complex interface, poor performance, and bugged game play. When the game was released, it was heavily criticized for pre-emptively distributing a game for commercial retail when many features were incomplete, missing, or did not work. The box for the game also had the wrong specifications listed, meaning that many computers could not run the game, as they did not fulfil the memory or graphical requirements. A review of the game stated, “Dungeon Lords marks a new low for how incomplete a game can be and still get released.” To give an idea of how poor the game was upon release, many buttons in the tutorial did not work, items disappeared from the player’s inventory, and NPCs (nonplayer characters) were frequently bugged, did not offer rewards when prompted, or simply disappeared. Later reviews acknowledged the faults inherent within the game, but also argued that Heuristic Park had done a great deal to remedy these aspects. As with many games released on the market, the company improved content with subsequent patches and editions, which aimed to correct the majority of early problems. However, when the company collapsed in 2005, no further support was available and much of the game remained unfinished. Dungeon Lords seems to have suffered both from overambition and poor implementation of the innovative ideas it tried to implement. As a result the player is confused rather than enthused by the new directions the game attempted to take. Dungeon Lords’ preemptive release may have been a result of Heuristic Park’s internal problems, or as a response to the phenomenal success of massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs). By 2005, World of Warcraft

already had five million active users, and with Oblivion IV as a strong contender for the single-player market in the same genre, Dungeon Lords may simply have been an attempt to corner some of the market by default. See Also: Dungeons & Dragons; Role-Playing; Wargames; World of Warcraft. Bibliography. Dungeon Lords Official Web site, www .dungeonlords.com (cited July 2008); Daniel Mackay, The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art (McFarland & Company, 2001); Reviews of Dungeon Lords, www .metacritic.com (cited January 2009). Esther MacCallum-Stewart University of East London

Dungeons & Dragons Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game (RPG). It was initially published by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974 and has since gone through several editions that have tweaked or otherwise updated the rule system. The game is single­-­handedly responsible for modern RPGs; although it grew from several similar games and systems, its combination of statistical game-play and imaginative role playing means it is a truly original text and one of the most influential games ever developed. It is estimated that over 20 million people have played Dungeons & Dragons, and that it has 5.5 million active users; however, the influence of D&D is far more widespread than these figures would suggest. D&D rules, characters, and class systems are still used as a basis for many games of all genres. Dungeons & Dragons is the progenitor of literally thousands of spin-offs within the genre as well as having tremendous influence upon, if not actually being the origin of, the realms of computer gaming, live-action role-playing, fantasy literature, and online gaming. An example of this influence might be the 150 million accounts created on Runequest, the 11 million active users in World of Warcraft, or the 4,480,000 hits generated from entering “Dungeons & Dragons” into a Google search. D&D is a structured game that somewhat paradoxically also depends on free-form action on the behalf



of the players to succeed. Players adopt the roles of characters within a narrative setting and are allocated points for various social and physical attributes relating to their character. These are grouped roughly by strength, dexterity, constitution, charisma, wisdom, and intelligence. These statistics govern other abilities, such as how fast a character can react, or what are known as “modifiers”—numbers that determine how well or badly a character can respond to other circumstances. Characters come from various races and have a class that defines what type of action they can perform. Combat and other actions that require skill or luck are decided by dice roles, which are then modified according to each player’s relative skills; otherwise, the game is played largely without pieces, although figures, maps, props and exterior elements such as music are all frequently introduced by enterprising players, and there is a flourishing subindustry to provide elements such as map paper and miniature figures to represent the player. Despite this, the bulk of the action takes place primarily within the players’ collective imagination. D&D Hierarcy The game itself is run by a Dungeon Master, or DM, who decides on the form of the narrative. Events such as encounters with monsters or NPCs (nonplayer characters), the environment and narrative setting, and any trials, quests or actions that need to be performed are created by DMs, who also act as arbitrator and chairperson for the play session. The players (one or more—an average group is usually between five to seven people) decide the substance of play through their actions and decisions, visualizing and describing how their characters act in each situation as part of a consensual narrative. These actions may vary greatly from the DM’s initial intention as the game is deliberately not linear in form and is instead determined by player decisions rather than a driven narrative. In fact, one of the beauties of the game is the ability to solve (or not) the problems created by this dynamic. Game Variations Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is hugely open to interpretation. Many players engage in extremely ludic versions of the game, where dice, statistics, and detailed movements are all charted in high detail while the game takes place. Others play very narrative versions, where characterisation is key, and the ludic elements merely

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facilitate this. The game is such that both extremes may also take part in the same game at the same time—D&D is very much up to the interpretation of the individual, and it is this capability within the game that seems to account not only for its enduring success, but also for the multiplicity of influences and spin-offs it has produced. The initial fantasy setting has been reinterpreted within many other genres, with science fiction, horror, established worlds such as the Buffyverse, Westerns, and time periods such as the 1920s or Dark Ages all being some examples of how the game can be reinterpreted. Popular reinterpretations of D&D through slightly different rules or settings have spawned the tabletop role-playing genre (so called because a flat surface is usually needed to place dice, character sheets, and miniatures, but no other equipment is required) and include systems such as GURPS (Generic Universal Roleplaying System), Call of Cthulhu, Vampire the Masquerade, and Warhammer. Player Interactivity One of the core elements that has made D&D so successful is the open-ended nature of game play, which positions the player as hero travelling through a continuous landscape, rather than focusing on specific winning conditions. While players are encouraged to engage cooperatively together, the game emphasizes the role of the individual in situations that are more reminiscent of action adventure films or fantasy novels than simply adhering to a game of rolling dice and sliding statistics. Rather, the game dynamic enables a situation in which characters are able to perform extraordinary deeds and take active roles in the development and mythology of whatever world they are taking part in. Campaigns—games that last over several sessions—allow for character development both statistically and psychologically. A great deal has been written about the relative immersion and agency given to characters within these games by players—their ability, quite literally, to shape their own destinies and to map out lives through imagined selves is one of the core strengths of the game, and has also allowed D&D to develop in such multifaceted directions as a result. The Influence of D&D Although the game itself is still immensely popular, its influence can be seen in many other texts. Several popular fantasy series have been developed from characters initially played in D&D or similar games—George R.R. Martin’s Wild Cards series, Feist’s Magician, and the

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Dragonlance series are all strong examples of novels or series that originated directly from campaigns in which the author played or was DM, and used the source material for their novels. Long-haul series such as Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time and the Eddings’s Belgariad sequences all contain archetypal D&D characters who, while they may not be directly sourced from games, are easily recognizable to their audiences. The tropes created by the character class system in D&D have also had lasting influence on digital games, founding the RPG genre and enabling staple elements such as the selection of fundamental character class, the dependence on leveling up by gaining experience points, statistics allotted to abilities such as strength, intelligence, a pool of health, and mana points available to the player, armor and clothing that is class dependent and grants statistical benefits when worn, and turn-based combat systems. This common language has provided a fundamental basis to the genre. When Gygax died in 2008, thousands of obituaries appeared online on blogs, forums, and news pages. The dedication of patches and

content updates in World of Warcraft and Ultima Online was testimony to the acknowledgement by the gaming community of the importance that Dungeons & Dragons has had in the fantasy genre, and The Guardian described Gygax as “the father of role-playing games ... one of America’s most talented writers and game designers.” See Also: Fantasy Play; Maple Story; Role-Playing; Runescape; Silkroad Online; Warhammer; World of Warcraft. Bibliography. Dungeons & Dragons Official Homepage, www.wizards.com/dnd (cited July 2008); Daniel Mackay, The Fantasy Role-Playing Game: A New Performing Art (McFarland & Company, 2001); Lawrence Schick, Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role Playing Games (Prometheus Books, 1991); J. Patrick Williams et al., eds., Gaming as Culture: Essays on Reality, Identity And Experience in Fantasy Games (McFarland, 2006). Esther MacCallum-Stewart University of East London

E Ecarté Ecarté is a trick-taking card game, typically played by two people using a 32-card deck with all cards between two and six removed. In Ecarté, the ace ranks between the 10 and the jack, leaving the king as the highestranked card. As in Euchre, trump is determined at the beginning of each hand, but in Ecarté, the card values remain the same when trump. Ecarté gets its name (literally, “discarded”) from its unusual system of proposing and discarding. After the cards are dealt, the nondealer has the opportunity to trade cards from his or her hand with cards in the deck by proposing to the dealer. If the dealer accepts, then both players may trade in any number of cards from their hands. This process continues until either the nondealer is satisfied with the hand or the dealer refuses the proposal. Ecarté developed from a game called Triomphe, but should not be conflated with the Triomphe referred to frequently in texts by French writers as far back as the 15th century. Although it shares the same name as the Ecarté predecessor, the term triomphe (meaning triumph, from which we get the word trump) likely indicated an entire class of trick-taking games with a trump system that eventually codified into the ancestors of later games such as Euchre, Loo, Whist, and Ecarté. A text from the 17th century describes a four-person game played with

a 52-card deck called Triomphe that was ubiquitous in France. In the 18th century, Triomphe referred to a twoperson game played with a modified deck that developed into the modern version of Ecarté in the 19th century. Despite its relative obscurity in the 21st century, Ecarté was widely popular in both Europe and the United States in the 19th century. Although the game requires a fair amount of skill, its chance elements and fast-paced game play made Ecarté widely popular as a gambling game. During the Restoration period in France, after the battle of Waterloo, Ecarté became extremely fashionable in Paris salons and casinos. In 1820, Ecarté was introduced to the United States, and although the game never achieved the status in the United States that Euchre acquired, the game was prevalent enough to be the subject of several treatises written by American authors. Most of these authors, writing near the turn of the 20th century, decried the gambling aspect of Ecarté and the tendency of many players to cheat at the game. Overturning the king when deciding trump or merely possessing the king of trumps immediately scores the player a point, a fact undoubtedly taken advantage of by experienced cardsharps. Despite the censure by these writers of Ecarté’s association with gambling, they all assert that the game is enjoyable for its simple rules and capacity to be played by amateurs and experts alike. These same authors attempted to highlight Ecarté as a “scientific” 189

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game that could be exhaustively explored through statistical analysis and probabilities. They formulated a set of hands that would likely win three tricks, termed jeux de règle, on which the player should bid. Ecarté is largely unknown to modern card players. As a gambling game, Ecarté survived in French casinos into the 20th century before being replaced by Blackjack and Baccarat. Never as popular as in Europe, Ecarté in the United States was eclipsed by Poker early in the 20th century as the premier card game for gamblers. In modern times, Ecarté enjoyed popularity in Germany until the 1960s and is still played in isolated gaming circles in France. See Also: Euchre; History of Playing Cards; Loo; Whist. Bibliography. Cavendish, The Laws of Écarté Adopted by the Turf and Portland Clubs: With a Treatise on the Game (Thos. De La Rue, 1897); E.O. Harbin, Games of Many Nations (Abingdon Press, 1954); David Sidney Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, 1990). Steve Stanzak Indiana University

Ecuador This South American country is located on the equator and has borders with Colombia and Peru. With a population of 13,700,000 (2007), about 2 million live in the port city of Guayaquil, and 1.4 million live in Quito, the country’s capital. Descendants of the Spanish account for only 7 percent of the population, with an additional 3 percent being of African descent. Many indigenous customs and games survive. These include Inca games that involve flipping counters—originally made from clay, but now more often from brightly colored plastic. Picha, another Inca game, involving dice, was also common, as were the two Inca board games, Tacanaco and Chuncara. Both of these involve throwing dice and moving colored beans, seeds, or in coastal regions, small shells, to various parts of the board. Jívaro music, played by many indigenous people, involves flutes made from hollowed pieces of wood or bones from llamas. Archaeologists have also found small spinning tops in the region, as well as statuettes, some of

which were made for religious reasons, but others perhaps as toys. Boys were certainly involved in learning hunting skills, with the use of the slingshot, or archery. The Spanish settlers in Ecuador formed a wealthy but small society and introduced European musical instruments, such as the guitar, now popular in Ecuadorian society. Board games imported from the United States, Peru, Argentina, and Europe also have a small following, including games such as Backgammon, Bridge and Chess; Chess is overseen by the Federacion Ecuatoriana de Ajedrez. The small African population brought with them customs that included making percussion instruments and the marimba, with Afro-Ecuadorian music becoming increasingly popular throughout the country. In Quito, Guayaquil, and other urban centers in the country there are youth centers that offer pool tables, and simple bowling, as well as listening to jukeboxes and playing pinball machines. With some growing prosperity in the country, these centers have increased in number, size, and popularity. Since the early 20th century, recreational soccer has been popular throughout the country. There has also long been a following for Chess—the French world champion Alexsandr Alekhine performed famous “blindfolded” Chess tournaments at Quito and Guayaquil in March 1939. See Also: Boys’ Play; Chess and Variations of; Peru; South Americans, Traditional Cultures. Bibliography. Paulo Carvalho Neto, Diccionario del Folklore Ecuatoriano [Dictionary of Ecuadorian Folklore] (Editorial Casa de la Cultura, 1964); Elizabeth Jane Townsend, “Festivals of Ecuador,” Américas (v.3/4, 1978); Judith Wilgus de Isas, “Fiestas Folklóricas Ecuatorianas” [Ecuadorian Folk Festivals], América Indígena (v. 34/3, 1974). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Egypt Play has been an important aspect of Egyptian society from ancient times until the present. Recreational activities in ancient Egypt were an important part of children’s lives, and when adults took part in recreation,



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Ancient Egyptian musical instruments ranged from the very simple, such as percussion instruments, to the very complex, such as harps. Singers were an integral part of Egyptian music, accompanied by drums, reed-pipes, or one-stringed fiddles.

their activities often combined both relaxation and productivity, such as fishing. In the Middle Ages, recreational activities were geared for the enjoyment of both adults and children alike, such as storytelling. Egyptian children and adults today usually engage in recreational activities along class and gender lines. Children in ancient Egypt had carefree periods in their lives dedicated to play until they reached their teens, when they were expected to marry and bear children of their own. The types of games children played when they had carefree time after work varied from physical activities such as wrestling, throwing stones at targets, playing Tug-of-War, swimming in the Nile, Leapfrog, racing, and dancing, to imaginary activities such as using small doll-like figures of animals and boats made out of clay, wood, or stone. Balls were made of leather skin filled with dry papyrus reeds. Children in ancient Egypt were also encouraged to spend their free time doing arts-and-crafts projects, such as making charms honoring their favorite gods, playing with pet dogs and birds, or playing with spinning tops.

Ancient Egyptian adults enjoyed leisure activities as well. Noblemen and pharaohs held parties in which they were entertained by musicians, dancers, and singers. Wealthy families often had their own garden next to their house in which they could relax and be kept cool by fanbearers waving palm-frond fans. For common people, their pastime was often activities that were both relaxing and yet productive, such as fishing in the Nile, or hunting. Some adults played a game in the river in which men in light reed boats tried to tip the opponent’s boat with poles. People of all ages and classes in ancient Egypt played boardgames such as Mancala, Mehen, Game of 20 Squares, Hounds and Jackals, Senet, and the Royal Game of Ur. Egypt’s Middle Ages During the Middle Ages, Egyptian children and adults in all strata of society, rural and urban, often participated jointly in leisure activities, which were primarily storytelling and music. Popular literature recited in public was usually impromptu, not written, and handed

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down orally. There were also shadow-plays performed by puppets or hands in front of a light and behind a screen. The most widespread genre of stories was that of romance, and among the most popular collections of stories was The Thousand and One Nights. At the heart of stories about adventure and travel was the hero overcoming forces of evil, whether men, demons, or personal passions. Poetry writing was an important activity in the lives of educated men, and recitations of poetry were performed for the wealthy and rulers. Music during the Middle Ages in Egypt figured into all aspects of life, from pure leisure time to work time. In addition to ceremonies and important occasions, songs accompanied harvest and work. Songs for ceremonial entertainment were sung unaccompanied or accompanied on drums, reed-pipes, or one-stringed fiddles. Men, women, and children often danced spontaneously in lines or groups along with the music at these festivities. In courts, the musician was a regular figure, playing for the ruler and marking his distance by concealment behind a curtain. Men of religion often condemned music and defined the conditions on which performing and listening to music were permitted, forbidding music that aroused temptation or used blasphemy and obscenities. Modern Egypt In Egypt in modern times, socioeconomics greatly define the type of play in which children and adults engage. Soccer is the most popular sport in Egypt, particularly among men and young boys in cities and villages alike. Class differences shape the type of organized play and recreation in which children and adults partake. Families with some means are often members of various sporting and social clubs, where they can participate in such activities as soccer, karate, handball, swimming, yoga, and horseback riding. The more exclusive clubs also have dog-walking areas. Extracurricular activities are rare for most children; a 2004 United Nations Development Programme survey found that 67 percent of Egyptian schoolchildren had never participated in extracurricular activities. For families that can afford them, video games are very popular among children. Egyptian television offers cartoons and learning programs for children, including the Arabic-language production of Sesame Street. Children in urban areas have very little outdoor space for play because of the density of buildings; however, there is a widely visited public zoo in Cairo as well as a

recently constructed 74-acre hilly park called Al-Azhar, built on what was once a landfill and now made available at reduced prices for the surrounding neighborhood, which is among the poorest in Cairo. In rural areas, children often play in the Nile, the contaminated water of which is the primary source of the high levels of the parasite bilharzias infecting Egyptian children. Activities for adults outside of work are often divided by gender. Men tend to spend their free time playing board games, like Backgammon, and watching soccer matches in cafés. It is rare to find women in cafés outside of the upper-class areas, which include many Western café chains. Women often spend their free time visiting indoors with extended family. Many Egyptian women follow closely the popular soap operas on television, and all Egyptians eagerly look forward to the special radio series that are produced during the month of Ramadan. Unmarried male and female youth socialize in groups. See Also: Ancient Egypt; Backgammon; Music, Playing; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; Spinning Tops. Bibliography. BBC, “Leisure Time in Ancient Egypt,” www .bbc.co.uk (cited July 2008); Marcelle Duschesne-Guillemin, “Music in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt,” World Archeology (v.12/3, February 1981); Albert Hourani, A History of the Arab Peoples (Harvard University Press, 2007); Martin Rowe and Helen Rizzo, “Egypt,” in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Children’s Issues Worldwide (Greenwood Press, 2008). Heidi Morrison University of California, Santa Barbara

Erector Sets In 1912, Dr. Alfred Carlton Gilbert developed the Erector Set. A miniaturized version of the girder system used to build railroads, the toy envisioned a new version of childhood and endeavored to teach boys the principles of engineering. Hugely successful, the Erector Set became a mainstay of American toys. Gilbert developed the Erector Set in the same era that saw the invention of Meccano and Tinkertoys, after watching construction workers erect the electrical system of a railroad with steel girders and rivets. Convinced that a childhood version of that system would allow boys



to learn more about engineering, Gilbert developed a toy that he first called the Mysto Erector Structural Steel Builder, which included actual metal tools—the girders and rivets of the construction trade—in smaller sizes. As Erector Sets developed, those tools came to include a variety of parts: metal beams with regular holes, nuts, screws, bolts, pulleys, flanges, motors, and gears. By offering these tools for building, Gilbert hoped to encourage construction and engineering abilities among America’s boys. He believed that the ability to solve problems and create structures, no matter how small, would prevent boys from descending to the level of aimless, pessimistic, disaffected youth without skill or purpose. His Erector Sets and his Erector Tips magazine attempted to shape boys into efficient men by giving them the ability to build. Indicative of the Progressive Era that witnessed the emergence of an energized and activist nation, this focus on solving what he called “the boy problem” made the Erector Set one of the most successful educational toys in American history. First offered at a time when skyscrapers were becoming popular and engineers were earning more money a year than doctors, playing with the Erector Set seemed like the first step toward a lucrative career. Businessmen and industrial psychologists touted the Erector Set’s ability to encourage constructive instincts; parents paid a considerable sum to buy the toy and invest in their sons’ futures. Americans saw the Erector Set as a means of producing the next wave of scientists and engineers who could continue to make life better and easier. Innovative Advertising In part, that message was relayed through advertising. Beginning with the 1913 New York Toy Fair, the advertising campaign for the Erector Set also made history. This was the first toy to have its own ad campaign. Using the slogan “Hello, boys! Make lots of toys!” the Erector Set took to the pages of Popular Mechanics, Good Housekeeping, and The Saturday Evening Post. By choosing magazines with such a varied readership, the campaign effectively targeted every demographic within the family. Fathers and grandfathers could be inspired to buy this engineering toy for their sons and grandsons when reading about science, mechanics, and engineering; mothers and grandmothers when reading about how to improve their household and its efficiency. The boys themselves could be stirred by the Youth’s Companion or by a more family-oriented periodical. In asking for the

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Erector Set, boys seemed to reinforce society’s hope for technological advancement and their parents’ dreams for their financial success. That advertising strategy proved incredibly successful: Within three years, sales had reached $1 million; by 1935, more than 30 million Erector Sets had been sold. “A Good Investment” Given the costs of buying the Erector Set, that number is staggering. Prices varied in the early years, with the cheapest sets selling for 50 cents and the most expensive for $25. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Erector Set cost $70, which was more than a month’s wages. Prices did begin to drop by the 1940s, when one version (the Gilbert AllElectric Erector Set) cost $19.95. Seeming less like a toy than a tool, the Erector Set was durable and seemed a good investment. Made of actual steel before and after World War II, during which it was made of wood, the Erector Set was sturdier and more realistic than the Meccano set. Steel beams with a slight lip along the edge were bent at 90 degree angles to allow for the creation of very sturdy, square, hollow support beams when four were nested side-to-side. These bigger beams could then be combined with other tools to create a seemingly infinite number of structures. Even when the specific components shipped in the distinctive red metal boxes (which replaced the original wooden boxes in the mid-1930s) changed, nuts, screws, and bolts could always be counted on to fasten pieces together and build simple machines. Collectors have identified three main types of Erector Sets. The first type was built between 1913 and 1923. A cruder version of the modern Erector Set, this type used a 1 1/8-inch-wide girder as its main building part. These sets were numbered from No. 0 to No. 8, with each set offering a different number of parts and costing a different amount: the cheapest set—No. 0—provided a handful of parts in a cardboard box for 50 cents; set No. 1 provided enough parts to create 27 models for $1; set No. 2 could produce 39 models for $2. The prices continued along that vein, though sets No. 5–8 also included toy motors. At the top of the line, set No. 8 provided six gears, four propeller blades, 14 axles, 24 pulleys, five tires, three pinion gears, 32 perforated strips, 230 small screws, 200 12-inch girders, 222 shorter girders, a screwdriver, and a motor—all for $25. To test the market, A.C. Gilbert sponsored contests that asked young builders to send photographs of their

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creations to his company. Offering prizes like cars and ponies, the contests encouraged young boys to use their imaginations and to build beyond any instruction book or set of plans. The contests also served as an ingenious form of market research. A constant stream of new ideas for projects and models arrived in the form of entries to the contest; these new ideas then resulted in increased marketing of sets and projects specifically focused on boys’ interests. New Erector Sets In part these new ideas also led to “The New Erector” set, typical of the period 1924 to 1962, known by collectors as type 2 sets. The redesigned steel girders in this type were 5/8 inches wide instead of the original 1 1/8 inches. More realistic in appearance, these sets included additional parts, including plates of a variety of shapes and sizes and models to use within a larger design. The largest and most elaborate sets were produced between 1924 and 1932. They peaked in 1931 with a shipping weight of 150 pounds for a wooden box measuring 2 1/2 feet square and eight inches thick. This enormous version of the Erector Set had enough parts to make hundreds of models, including a Hudson steam locomotive four feet long and a five-foot-long zeppelin. The Great Depression and World War II changed the Erector Set by limiting the elaboration of parts and sets, yet production of the sets did not stop. During the Depression, the Erector Set could seem like a ticket out of despair, a plan for the future. Familiar models like the Ferris Wheel, Parachute Jump, and Refrigeration Plant helped the toy gain momentum, and innovations like the electric train set, which replaced the Hudson Locomotive model in 1938, brought new attention to the product. Further changes needed to occur during World War II, when steel was in short supply. Erector sets from that era were created in wood, a change that did not last past the end of steel rationing. In 1948, another retooled version of the Erector Set appeared. Featuring the ability to create a Walking Giant (approximately two feet tall), the set weighed in at 40 pounds. For the next decade, no new sets appeared, though robots and space-related models were added in the 1960s as the United States entered into a Space Race with Russia. By 1963, type 3 Erector Sets were being produced. Created by the Jack Wrather Company, which took over the A.C. Gilbert Company after Gilbert’s death, these

sets were redesigned by the Product Design and Development Company. Instead of trussed girders, the sets now featured strips of steel with evenly spaced holes. More plastic parts were introduced, and fewer models were illustrated in manuals. These Erector Sets, which span the period of 1963 to 1988, offered a Powermatic motor and a two-drum hoist. Changes in packaging accompanied these more fundamental design changes. The Erector Set has become a mainstay of American construction toys. Mentioned in countless patents, including those for Flexible design construction toys, toy building elements, construction toys, and interlocking blocks, it is seen as a forerunner of toys designed to teach spatial thinking and to encourage mechanical and engineering pursuits. It has also served as a useful tool for adults making models for larger products. Besides its obvious use in planning buildings, robots, and other steel structures, the Erector Set has been used in projects like that of William Sewell, Jr., and William W.L. Glenn, two medical students at Yale University who used a set to create a heart pump in 1950. That pump was successfully used in experimental bypass surgery on dogs. See Also: Blocks; Hasbro; Legos; Lincoln Logs; Meccano; Playskool; Tinker Toys. Bibliography. William M. Bean and Al M. Sternagle, Greenberg’s Guide to Gilbert Erector Sets: 1913–1932 (Greenberg, 1993); William M. Bean and Al M. Sternagle, Greenberg’s Guide to Gilbert Erector Sets: 1933–1962 (Greenburg, 1998); Susan Waggoner, Under the Tree: The Toys and Treats That Made Christmas Special 1930–1970 (Stuart, Tabori and Chang, 2007); Bruce Watson, The Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made (Viking, 2002). Anastasia L. Pratt State University of New York

Estonia Located in the Baltic, Estonia was a part of the Russian Empire until it gained its independence in 1920. Occupied by the Russians, then the Germans, then again by the Russians, it was incorporated into the Soviet Union, only becoming independent again in 1991. With the majority of the population speaking Estonian, a lan-

Ethiopia



guage unrelated to others in the region, it has not been as heavily influenced by the Russians and Germans as other countries in the region. Culturally aligned to Scandinavia, many of the pastimes of early medieval Estonians had much in common with those of the Vikings. Many games involved practicing for prowess in battle such as axe-throwing, chopping wood, archery, running along the oars of boats, and the like. Adventure playgrounds, popular with boys in this country, are a reminder of past history. The country is windy for much of the year, and kite-­flying and ballooning are popular. Much Estonian folklore was preserved in singing and music, and both of these were popular pastimes for adults as well as children. In Estonia, large choirs sung, sometimes numbering in the thousands of people. The first Estonian national song festival held in 1869 was a major event in the country’s history. Bell-ringing— both hand-bells and church bells—has also been a traditional pastime. Because of the pleasant summer weather in Estonia, many people enjoy camping or going to the beaches, with winter pastimes including skiing, skating, snowboarding, and tobogganing. As the climate for over half the year can be bleak, indoor games are popular, and chief among them is Chess, run in the country by the Eesti Maleliit. Paul Keres (1916–75) was born in Narva, which was then in the Russian Empire, on the Estonian-Russian border, and went on to become the European Chess champion three times after participating in his first public Chess competition at the age of 13. With Keres, Estonia ended up in third place at the eighth Chess Olympiad at Buenos Aires in 1939. Keres’s book, The Theory of Chess Openings, published in three volumes between 1949 and 1958, remains one of the standard works on the subject. Other prominent Chess players from Estonia include Friedrich L.B. Amelung (1842–1909), who published some 230 endgames; Andreas Ascharin (1843–96); Leho Laurine (1904–98); and Johannes Türn (1899–1993). The county’s bestknown living Chess player is now Jaan Ehlvest (b. 1962). Backgammon, card games, Darts and Dominoes also have a great following in the country. Throughout the Soviet period, Wargaming societies flourished, with groups involved in replaying battles fought in medieval times or the wars between the Swedes and the Russians. Since independence, the battles in World War I and World War II have become

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more politically acceptable and have risen in popularity. With the increased Westernization of Estonia, and the return of some Estonian exiles, there has been a rise in the number of amusement arcades, bowling alleys, and other entertainment centers. As more Estonians speak a Western European language (mainly German or English), the importing of foreign games has also become more common, with clubs formed for Dungeons & Dragons and Warhammer. An Estonian version of the board game Monopoly exists, with the important streets of Tallinn marked. See Also: Chess and Variations of; Finland; Latvia; Lithuania; Wargames. Bibliography. Peter J. Babris, Baltic Youth Under Communism (Research Publishers, 1967); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Michael Spilling, Estonia (Marshall Cavendish, 2000). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Ethiopia The northeast African nation of Ethiopia has a population of 76.5 million, of which only 13 percent live in urban areas. Many people in the countryside (as well as large numbers in towns and cities) live in poverty. Traditional lifestyles focus around the village, and because of its distinct heritage, there are a number of games that are unique to Ethiopia. One of these is Kwosso, in which two teams with up to 100 men in each team, compete for possession of a ball made from goat skin. The game can last for an entire day, and most men only wear loincloths because of the heat—and with tackling and collisions, injuries do occur. It is often played in the sandy plain in the desert near the Afar (or Denakil) Depression in the north of the country, close to the border with Eritrea. Another popular Ethiopian game is Feres Gugs, or Yeferas Guks. Participants ride on horses, with the attacking team armed with wooden staffs, with the task of unseating the defenders, who have wooden shields covered with hides. This game as well can lead to serious injuries. A more sedate game is Gabata, which is believed to have been played since medieval times. It is similar to

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the Egyptian (and Inca) game Mancala and the Japanese game Shogi, and it involves players using different­colored seeds to surround and capture the seeds of the other player that are then—unlike in the Japanese version—placed in a storage bin. The Ethiopian version of Hide-and-Seek played by children is Debebekosh, and the Ethiopian version of jacks is called Kelelebosh. A type of field hockey known as Ganna is also popular, but has nowhere near the following of soccer, which was introduced to the country by the Italians in the 1920s. The first soccer club in the country was the St. George Sports Association, founded in 1935, just before the Italian Invasion. The Allies drove out the Italians in 1941, and two years later, under British tutelage, the Ethiopian Football Federation was established, with Ethiopian soccer players competing against teams from Egypt and Sudan in 1957. Soccer continues to be played around the country by boys and young men, who compete as part of school or community groups. Athletics have also become popular, with many boys involved in cross-country running, inspired by the success of several Ethiopian Olympic gold medal winners. Other young people in Ethiopia are involved in volleyball, tennis, boxing, swimming, and basketball, with cycling and hiking growing in popularity. Few girls or women participate in sports, generally remaining involved in indoor games and handicrafts, although the Ethiopian female runner Fatuma Roba won an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996. The Italian connection with Ethiopia, dating from well before their invasion in 1936, can still be seen by older men playing bocce. Card games, Draughts, and Checkers also attract many people. Chess has clearly had a long history in the country. The British political servant Henry Salt (1780–1827), when visiting what was then known as Abyssinia, found a version of Chess being played that had three differences from the European version: pawns could only advance by one square, bishops could only move three squares, and pawns could not be exchanged for another piece when they reached the end of the board. Welled Selasse, the Ras of Tigre, gave Salt a collection of Abyssinian chessmen made from ivory, and they are now displayed in the British Museum. When the British Consul Walter Charles Metcalf Plowden later went to Abyssinia, he became a good friend of Emperor Tewodros (Theodore) II and followed the Chess game in more detail. Plowden discovered a number of other variations that he outlined in his book Travels in Abys-

sinia (1868). The Abyssinians believed that checkmate using two rooks was not honorable, but using two bishops was. They also found that if a player only had the king, the opponent had only seven moves to avoid a checkmate. The Italian influence in Ethiopia led to the introduction of Wargaming, with the Italians preferring to play reenactments of their invasion in 1896, which had culminated in their defeat at Adowa. This later became a common theme in games played by Ethiopians. See Also: Africa, Traditional Play in; Chess and Variations of; Wargames. Bibliography. David Buxton, The Abyssinians (Thames & Hudson, 1970); Frank Catinella, “The Italian Wars Against the Dervish,” Miniature Wargames (April, 2003); Steven Gish, Ethiopia (Marshall Cavendish, 1996); Imbakom Kalewold, Traditional Ethiopian Church Education (Teachers College Press, 1970); Richard O. Niehoff and Bernard D. Wilder, Non-Formal Education in Ethiopia (Institute for International Studies in Education, 1974). Justin Corfield Geelong Grammar School

Euchre Euchre is a trick-taking card game typically played by four people in two partnerships. Originally played with 32 cards, Euchre now uses a deck of 24, with all cards between two and eight discarded. Its most distinctive characteristic is a trump system in which the jack of trump (called the right bower), followed by the jack of the same color (the left bower), are elevated to the highest­-ranking cards. From the mid-19th to the early20th century, Euchre and Poker were regarded as the national card games of the United States. Although its popularity in the United States has since declined, Euchre retains a strong following in certain regions, particularly the Great Lakes. The game also remains popular in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Many writers at the turn of the 20th century speculated that Euchre came from the similar game of Ecarté played by French settlers in Louisiana. Other sources hypothesized that it developed from the French game



Triomphe, or was adapted from Ecarté by American sailors who named the right and left bowers after the main anchors of a ship. More recent scholarship suggests that the game is an offshoot of the Alsatian game Juckerspiel, likely brought by German immigrants to America in the late 17th or early 18th century. Euchre made a lasting contribution to card decks by introducing the joker, likely in the 1850s. In Euchre, it outranked both bowers as the highest trump. The name of the card came from name of the game, Jucker, rather than from the card’s design; the joker card was initially blank. However, by the end of the 19th century, the traditional jester image became prevalent. Euchre has gained the reputation as a game played by the lower class, as opposed to more formal and complex games, such as Bridge, that are regarded as indicators of social accomplishment. This concern with status is inherent in the structure of the game itself in its elevation of the bowers (from the German bauer, meaning farmer) above the royalty. This meaning also works in English, jack being the designation for common man. In modern practice, this association with farming and the lower classes is embraced in certain regional folk traditions, particularly in scoring rituals. For example, scorekeepers will often slightly uncover a pip on their scorecard so that it is “sprouting.” In another scoring custom, when one team reaches nine points and is considered “in the barn,” the occasion is marked by vocalizations of barnyard animals. At the score of 10, the players “enter the barn” and pantomime milking a cow. Euchre has also been associated with sociability and playfulness since its introduction to the United States. Near the turn of the 20th century, the game was touted as an alternative to Poker, Whist, and Cribbage because it was simpler, more casual, did not involve gambling, and could be played by experts and amateurs alike. Less formal in its game play, players often gossiped, flirted, and told stories in-between or even during hands—a practice that would have been frowned upon in many other games. Progressive Euchre, a tournament-style variation of the game, emphasizes Euchre’s social aspects. A large group of players form temporary partnerships that last the duration of one game before they move to a new table and switch partners. The hosts coordinate the movement of players, introduce guests to each other, and facilitate conversation. Although Euchre has lost its place as the preeminent social game of the United States, the informality and sociability that

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characterized the game a century ago is still common among modern players. See Also: Bridge and Variations of; Ecarté; History of Playing Cards; United States, 1783 to 1860; United States, 1860 to 1876; United States, 1876 to 1900. Bibliography. Sarah Ethridge Hunt, Games and Sports the World Around (Ronald Press Company, 1964); David Parlett, A History of Card Games (Oxford University Press, 1991); David Sidney Parlett, The Oxford Guide to Card Games (Oxford University Press, 1990). Steve Stanzak Indiana University

Europe, 1200 to 1600 Play in medieval Europe was considered to be an educational activity for children to learn adult roles. Play was ephemeral—a passing entertainment—designed to instruct naturally. Between 1200 and 1600, Europe experienced sustained urbanization as a result of a series of population explosions. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, Christians traveled in military expeditions to win the Holy Land from Muslims. Exploration and migration brought new paper and printing technology to Europe that was used to produce the first board games and playing cards. During the late 1390s, the Great Plague killed an estimated 30 to 60 percent of Europe’s population, irrevocably altering its social structure. With such a loss of manpower and resources, there was little time, nor inclination, to play. Feudalism allowed for the emergence of city-states that extended trade and cultural exchanges throughout the Mediterranean. The Renaissance, the transitional movement in Europe between medieval and modern times beginning in the 14th century, brought a resurgence of nationalistic spectacles filled with mock battles, processions, athletic competitions, citywide celebrations, revelry for a saint’s days, and pageantry for visiting dignitaries. Early Games Wandering minstrels traveled and performed songs with lyrics that chronicled romances from distant lands. These itinerate musicians and storytellers declaimed tales of his-

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In Pieter Bruegel’s 1559 painting Children’s Games, children are depicted playing with dolls, hoops, tops, dice, and a hobby horse, and riding on rails and barrels, performing acrobatics, climbing trees, giving piggyback rides, wrestling, and swimming.

toric events and carried news. Wandering minstrels were often retained by nobility to entertain like jesters and played lutes, harps, violins, bagpipes, pipes, and drums. When the songs ended, jugglers and acrobats performed. From the 1200s to 1400s, troubadours (lyric poets) of knightly rank replaced minstrels in southern France and northern Italy, promoting a sensibility of courtly love. Doll play was not restricted to children. Peddlers sold miniature ceramics, jugs, and cookware, as well as utensils. Girls played with dolls to develop practical skills like sewing, along with imagination, role-playing, and imitation. Hobby horses and imitation horses were popular with boys and girls. Metal models of knights in armor have been found that date back to 1300. Playing with marbles developed dexterity. Games such as Dice, Cards, Checkers, and Chess were popular because they developed strategy and memory. Play often incorporated ordinary materials and foodstuffs in games like cherry stones, marrow bone,

buckle-pit, spurn point, cobnut, and quoiting. With cobnuts, the objects were used in game play as well as for currency for measuring gains and losses. The popular guessing game Handy-Dandy was played with a small object hidden in the palm of a hand behind the player’s back. With widespread illiteracy, the Catholic Church encouraged parish priests to act out scenes from the Bible. As time passed, the scriptural stories were embellished, so the Bible drama became a form of entertainment. Play also reflected the activities of changing seasons and church calendars. Prior to Lent, boys held cockfighting games on Shrove Tuesday, and children played with tops during Lent. During spring and early summer, holidays including Rogation Week, Pentecost, and Midsummer Day festivals provided occasions for communal play. On Midsummer’s Eve, children gathered to entertain each other with music and songs. From late June to September, children participated in



the harvest season. Nutting—seeking and harvesting nuts—became popular group play accompanied with bonfires and games. All Saints Day, November 1, came at the time of the pig slaughter, and pig bladders were used to make balls that were used in playing Croquet, Shuttlecock, Skittles, and tennis. Latter Games Archery was a popular sport in medieval times, along with fishing and bird hunting. Parents encouraged boys to learn military skills by enacting battles using bows and arrows, so violence was part of boy’s play. Quintain was a military training drill that entertained spectators. A post was fixed upright in the ground, and a young knight on horseback dressed in armor and carrying a shield rode past and struck the post (or objects affixed to the post) with a sword. Cock-Stele was a cruel throwing game where a chicken was buried up to its neck in the ground, and young men threw sticks or arrows (cocksteles) at its head. However, boys were discouraged from tormenting other animals by throwing sticks and stones at birds, dogs, pigs, or horses. Board games can be traced back to ancient times and were introduced in Europe during the 14th century as a form of educational play. Draughts, also called Ladies’ Game and Game of Ferses, along with Merelles (also called The Mill) and Backgammon, became popular toward the late 1400s. In Draughts, a form of Checkers, two people alternated moves on opposite sides of a playing board. One played dark pieces, and the other played light pieces. Most commonly, the board alternated between red and black squares. In 1300, Jacques de Cessoles, a French Dominican friar, wrote a treatise on Chess as it related to human affairs, written in Latin and published in Genoa. The object of a Scandinavian board game called Fox and Geese was for the geese to surround the fox so he could not move; the fox could win by capturing a number of geese so that he could not be trapped. Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder, in his painting Children’s Games (1559), depicted over 200 children and adolescents playing a variety of games during the summer in different configurations. Some children played alone, while others played in pairs or groups. Much of the play represented games that were imitative or that required skill or athleticism. Objects depicted in the painting include dolls, hoops, tops, dice, windmills, a mask, and a hobby horse. Boys can be seen spinning tops with pearshaped peg-tops. Active play included dancing, riding

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on rails and barrels, acrobatics, tree climbing, piggyback riding, wrestling, and swimming. Rattles, children’s bells, noisemakers, and other children’s percussion instruments are also depicted. Early windmills (similar to pinwheels) consisted of a piece of cardboard cut like a cross with a pin placed at the end of stick, so that when the child ran the pinwheel against the wind, the wheel would twirl. Children in this era would fly kites that were sails affixed to one end of a pole. Tops, prills, and whirligigs remained popular throughout the Middle Ages. A handball game similar to the Roman game, using a leather-covered, inflated-bladder ball, was played by players who wore a hollow wooden brace over their arms and hands to give them more power in their hitting. Goff, an early version of hockey, was played with a curved club, and the object of the game was to drive the ball between two small sticks pounded in the ground some distance away. Stool-ball, which was later transported to the New World, was a game played by setting up a three-legged milking stool and having players roll three stones toward it, attempting to hit the stool. A defender stood near the stool, attempting to block the shots. Stool-ball later evolved into cricket. A wicket substituting the stool, a club was introduced to the game to hit the ball, and each hit counted as a point for the defender. The following rhyme depicts how stool-ball was an Easter game played for small stakes, such as a tansy or Easter-cake. At stool-ball, Lucia, let us play, For sugar, cakes, or wine; Or for a tansy let us pay, The loss be mine or thine. If thou, my dear, a winner be, At trundling of the ball, The wager thou shalt have, and me, And my misfortunes all. Indoor games, including Blind Man’s Bluff, Piggy in the Ring, Hand-In-and-Hand-Out, and Penny-pricks, were introduced in Europe during the Middle Ages. ShoveGroat was played on a table or board, with a number of parallel lines positioned about an inch apart. Playing cards were introduced in Europe in the last quarter of the 14th century. The earliest cards were expensive, as they were painted by hand. Printed woodcut decks were introduced during the 15th century, and suits varied in different regions. In Germany, the suits developed were hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns—still used today for Skat, while Italian

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and Spanish cards of the 15th century had swords, batons, cups, and coins. A tarot deck was introduced to Europe from the Middle East during the early 15th century, but the cards were not necessarily used for divination. The board game called Goose, developed by Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco de Medici (1541–87), became popular at the end of the 15th century. This game consisted of a card printed with a large spiral track of 63 squares in the form of a snake. Fourteen of the squares bore a picture of a goose, two dice were used, and the counters were moved according to throws from the tail to the head, and if the counter landed on a picture of the goose, it moved on the same number of squares given by the last throw, repeating until it reached a space without a goose. Some squares bore obstacles that might make the player lose ground or have to return to the beginning. The object of the game was to be the first person to reach the end of the journey. See Also: Bowling; Checkers and Variations of; Chess and Variations of; Cricket (Amateur); Hobby Horses; Marbles; Maypole Dancing; Music, Playing; Skat; Tennis (Amateur) and Variations of. Bibliography. Hugh Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500 (Longman, 1995); Andrea Immel and Michael Witmore, eds., Childhood and Children’s Books in Early Modern Europe, 1550–1800 (Routledge, 2006); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000); Iona Opie and Peter Opie, Children’s Games With Things (Oxford University Press, 1997); Nicholas Orme, Medieval Children (Yale University Press, 2001). Meredith Eliassen San Francisco State University

Europe, 1600 to 1800 In 17th-century Europe, rich and poor alike shared a passion for play. Men and women from all rungs of social hierarchy bowled, played tennis, played cards, gambled, danced, and went to town fairs. The majority of Europeans still lived in rural areas, worked on small farms, and followed the seasonal rhythms of the year. Working in groups, they sang songs, told stories, or played games to relieve the monotony of shelling, spinning flax or wool,

hoeing, mowing, and harvesting. Though people adhered to traditional recreations, economic changes, political upheavals, and religious contests transformed play. A more commercial, secular, urban, and individual­-oriented life spawned novel, affordable games for children and adults. New sports, holiday resorts, cultural events, and literature enriched, and also erased, traditional forms of play. Increasingly, Europeans produced goods for national and international economic markets, rather than local communities. These economic changes sharpened the distinction between work time and playtime, childhood and adulthood, and play itself became a commercial opportunity. “Leisure” acquired new valences of meaning in English, French, and Italian. The 18th century witnessed the birth of the “modern” world, and with it, modern conceptions of play. Sports in the 17th and 18th Centuries Europeans played an array of sports, some more physically demanding than others, throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Bowling continued to be a perennial favorite, in addition to skittles and croquet. Variations of football were played in Paris, London, and Florence. Enthusiasm for particular sports could dwindle rapidly. In 1600, tennis was one of the most popular physical games among all ranks of society in France. At the end of the 17th century, 114 tennis courts existed in Paris. By 1700, only 10 remained open in the city. Europeans recognized both the pleasurable and the practical purposes of playing sports, though they exercised to achieve different ends than we do today. A European gentleman would ride horses, fence, and dance in order to exhibit his body’s “natural” grace and self-control, not his physical strength. By playing sports, one could strive to attain the 18thcentury ideal of being a “polished,” “polite,” and “genteel” person. In the 17th century, books about leisure pastimes and sports such as The Compleat Gamester: or, Instructions How to Play at all Manner of Usual and Most Gentile Games, Either on Cards, Dice, Billiards, Trucks, Bowls, Chefs, also the Arts and Misteries of Riding, Racing, Archery, Cockfighing, portrayed the activities of the aristocracy. In the 18th century, aristocrats, noblemen, and royalty could no longer claim propriety over leisure. Sports such as horseracing—formerly a roughly organized, spur-of-the-moment affair—became spectator events by the 18th century. In the 1600s, newspapers in Britain started advertising the dates and locations of



horse races. By 1722, 112 cities and towns were holding race meetings. A racing calendar was established in 1727, and special racecourses were built for spectators. Audiences of thousands watched professional jockeys, gambled on horses, and generated large profits for the racecourse owners. England exported horseracing to France, and then to America. Cultural Amusements In addition to sports, urbanites living in Paris and London, as well as the villagers in the countryside, could attend musical performances or theatrical productions in their own neighborhoods. The expansion of the theater in England provides a striking example of how rapidly the availability of leisure activities increased in a century. During the reign of Charles II (1649–85), the English theater was popular but poverty stricken. In the first half of the 18th century, 1,095 new plays were written, and the number doubled to 2,117 during the second half. Provincial towns kept apace with theater construction in urban centers, leading one historian to state that by 1770, England had more theaters than it does today. In 1660, true opera and ballet did not exist in England. A century later, audiences could watch pantomime, puppet shows, comic operas such as Gay’s Beggar’s Opera, ballet, and even an equestrian circus in London, replete with wild animal trainers, conjurers, jugglers, and trapeze artists. The 18th century witnessed the advent of the tourist industry. Guidebooks instructed tourists who visited Paris to attend the theater at the Palais-Royal or the Faubourg St. Germain, where people played billiards, cards, and ball games. In England, towns like Bath and Tunbridge Wells, long visited for the healing power of the water and the spas, turned into holiday towns replete with dancing, theater, and music. One could eat, listen to music, look at paintings, and dance in the famous Vauxhall and Ranelagh gardens in London. Early modern Europeans also shared a rich literary culture. In the 18th century, publishers printed fiction and plays; books on cooking, gardening, and hunting; and children’s literature. The malleable and affordable chapbook, an inexpensive 24-page publication, provided literature to suit all tastes: chivalric romances, pious tracts, jest books, folktales, abridged novels, and recipes. People found tales about criminals particularly fascinating. They bought glossaries of the “canting” speech spoken by criminals and printed versions of the lives and confessions of

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prisoners, always published after a round of hangings. The almanac, which included a monthly calendar, astrological predictions, and saint’s days, was the best-selling publication in Britain. By end of the 17th century, over 400,000 copies were sold annually. But the growth in printed materials often perpetuated and preserved oral traditions. Children of the wealthy and the poor alike grew up listening to the stories, rhymes, and songs—the “old wive’s tales”—of mothers and nursemaids. An abundance of 17th-century “commonplace books,” notebooks that young people used to record proverbs and expressions, which they would later employ in speech, still exist in Spain, Italy, and France. People collected ballads and songs and pinned them up on alehouse walls. Songs popularized by cheap print would be heard the day after publication in the streets and in taverns. Gambling, Games, and Politics If Europeans enjoyed physical and intellectual games, they also liked to play with their money. In early modern Europe, people from all walks of life gambled. The French court had no inhibitions about gambling. Parents used playing cards to teach children geography, history, and classics; they were an educational toy that caught on in England. Gambling was also the form of play that received the most scrutiny from local officials. In England and Spain, towns designated particular alehouses or other places where people could gamble legally. An abundance of legislation against gambling in Barcelona attests to the popularity of this recreation in the city. Regulations existed in Florence against playing Dice, cards, or shooting at targets at certain times and in certain places. The “reformation of manners,” a broadly defined effort to reform traditional culture, resulted in increased disciplining of people that shirked their religious obligations to attend church on Sunday to bowl, play tennis, dance, or bet at cards and dice in alehouses and taverns. In 1698, 32 societies for the reformation of manners were active in London. In Britain, games became a key source of political animosities. Charles I reissued the Book of Sports in 1633, allowing “our good people’s lawful recreation” on Sundays after church, which included dancing, archery, leaping, May-games, Whitsun-ales, Morris dances, and Maypoles, but forbid bull and bear baiting, and bowling. The king’s support of leisure activities intensified the religious and political antagonisms that led to civil war in Britain, and to Charles I’s beheading. Though strict restrictions

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on play died out in 1730s, the reformation of manners morphed into the moral philosophies that dictated social behavior in 18th-century Europe. As the “middling sort” gained access to a variety of leisure activities, they sought to imitate the aristocracy and to distinguish themselves as part of a “polite” and genteel culture. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the courts of Queen Elizabeth I and Louis XIII were entertained at court by bear baiting. In the 18th century, the same games provoked criticism from people who sought to empathize with the pain and suffering of all living creatures. Festivals and Fairs New games, books, and holiday resorts coexisted with traditional forms of communal recreation in Europe. Carnivals, festivals, feast-days, religious holidays, and fairs punctuated the early modern European calendar. Festive celebrations included the 12 days of Christmas, Lent, early May, Pentecost, the feast of Saint John the Baptist, Our Lady of mid-August, and All Saints’ Day. Eating, drinking, and dancing during these celebrations reinforced the social glue between inhabitants of a particular village or city. Though the main events of festivals might be serious religious processions and church services, the fun would start afterwards. In 17th- and 18th-century Catalan towns, festivals began with a civic procession and illuminations, and were followed by three days of dancing. In 17th-century Spain, towns would hire musicians to accompany the church mass and the civic procession. The musicians would continue to play all night for the townspeople. According to 18th-century writer Henry Bourne, English people sang carols on Christmas and on New Years at the doors of wealthy people in return for gifts. Children actively participated in festivals. For example, on Twelfth Night, described by one historian as the greatest festival of the year, a child hid under table and an adult cut a piece of the Twelfth Night cake and asked the child which adult at the table should be given the piece of cake. During the second part of the Twelfth Night festival, everyone drank a toast to the person who found the traditional bean in his portion of the cake. This person became the “bean king”—a scene that Flemish and Dutch painters often depicted. Festivals and fairs featured an array of activities. For example, festivals such as those in Lyon, France, involving masking, costuming, hiding, charivaris (a ritual of wearing masks and making noise to shame someone in a community), parades, collecting money, poetry, bonfires,

playing games and athletic contests, occurred throughout Europe. One historian claims that the list of games played at festivals would include more games than Pieter Breughel depicted in his famous 17th-century painting Children’s Games. At fairs, such as the famous Bartholomew Fair in London, crowds enjoyed musical performances and watched plays, clowns, and rope-dancing while consuming copious amounts of drink and meat. Dress up, now relegated to the play of children, used to be an activity enjoyed by all ages during festive events. The American children’s holiday Halloween is a vestige of the pleasure that people of all ages derived from donning costumes, disguising themselves, and participating in rituals in early modern Europe. In both Britain and continental Europe, men and women participated in mumming, a tradition in which they cross-dressed or dressed like government officials and went to neighbors’ houses to dance and sing in disguise. Twelfth Night, Shrove Tuesday, and the November festivals also offered opportunities for Europeans to enjoy costuming. Festivals and fairs served a myriad of complex, and seemingly contradictory, purposes in addition to the pleasure of socializing over food, drink, and dance. Rituals of play also challenged authority, contained an element of unpredictability, and might ferment political unrest. A well-orchestrated procession of local leaders during a festival reinforced their authority, but it also exposed them to critique. Wearing costumes and disguises could also serve political purposes. In France, numerous royal and local edicts were passed against masking and mumming in order to stave off potential criticism of political leaders, fighting, conspiracy, and seditious activities. The festival could even lead to revolt and bloodshed. For example, an uprising against the royal tax officers was staged as a masquerade in Dijon, France. The Catholic Church slowly eliminated one festival, called the Feast of Fools, during which a child would be elected bishop and perform a mock-mass, but young men adopted its rituals, forming “fool-societies” or “play-acting societies.” Evidence of these youth societies of “misrule” has been found in France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, England, and Scotland. In London, a group known as “Lady Holland’s Mob”—an unruly crowd that assembled at the Hand and Shears tavern on the eve of the opening of a fair—parodied the official administration of the fair and contested the city’s authority. The ritualized practices of these youth societies could have



darker aims. They led public ceremonies to punish and humiliate people who committed sexual crimes such as fornication, wife beating, and infidelity, or who transgressed gender roles, such as domineering women. Perceptions of Play Though the carnivalesque culture of the fair and the festival persisted into the 18th century, ideas about what constituted appropriate play, and who should participate in it, were changing. In 1600, a sharp distinction between the world of the adult and the child did not exist. The diary written by the doctor of Louis XIII, future king of France, provides evidence of a culture of play that both children and adults participated in. As a young boy, Louis took part in court ballets and watched farces and comedies, wrestling matches, bullfighting and bear fighting. He sang and played the violin and the lute and participated in the collective religious and seasonal festivals. Unlike Louis XIII, the majority of adults and children lived in the countryside. Instead of attending plays and sporting matches, children helped adults with agricultural work, tending livestock, fetching water, or gathering firewood, and like adults, they combined work with play. Young shepherds went swimming, carved wood, and climbed trees. Children roamed the woods and the fields and played Hide-and-Seek, Blindman’s Buff, and Tug-of-War. They delighted in toys such as marbles, whip-top, battledore-shuttlecock, kites, and footballs. They also imitated the violence found in adult life and engaged in more devious activities. They shot at birds or stole their eggs, tormented other animals, and played games like “bait the bear” or “badger the bull.” In 1692, John Locke challenged a long lineage of thought that defined play as idleness, wasted time, and even sinful, in his publication Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Locke construed play as a fundamental activity for children, and his views gained wide currency in 18th-century Europe. French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau published Emile in 1762, a guide to raising the ideal citizen, starting in infancy. The child, viewed as an incomplete and inadequate adult in the 16th century, would become a sentimentalized object of innocence and purity in the 19th century. In the 17th century, a single French word, bibeloterie (knick-knackery) described the miniature toys, “German toys,” and “Italian baubles” that both adults and children collected. Even in 1730, no shops existed in England that manufactured toys specifically for children. By 1780, toyshops were everywhere. The ubiq-

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uity of the toyshop serves as a marker of transformations in the meaning of play. The ideal childhood, separated from the adult world and defined by playing games, redefined play itself as the activity of children and made the time to “play” more ephemeral. The 18th century marked a turning point in the history of play. Though more adults could attend concerts, visit parks, and cheer at sporting events, “playing games” increasingly described the activities of children. Over the course of the next century, the saturnalian carnivals and the festivals of misrule, where people of all ages could enjoy moments of playfulness together, would quietly disappear. See Also: Blind Man’s Bluff; Costumes in Play; Croquet; Europe, 1200 to 1600; Europe, 1800 to 1900; Europe, 1900 to 1940; Europe, 1940 to 1960; Europe, 1960 to Present; Folk Dancing; France; Gambling; History of Playing Cards; Horse Racing (Amateur); Ireland; Italy; Kite Flying; Maypole Dancing; Morris Dancing; Play and Literacy; Reading; Soccer (Amateur) Worldwide; Tennis (Amateur) and Variations of. Bibliography. Philippe Ariès, Centuries of Childhood; A Social History of Family Life (Alfred A. Knopf, 1962); Hugh Cunningham, Children and Childhood in Western Society Since 1500 (Pearson Education Limited, 2005); Natalie Zemon Davis, “Youth Groups and Charivaris in Sixteenth-Century France,” Past and Present (v.50, 1971); Adam Fox, Oral and Literate Culture in England, 1500–1700 (Oxford University Press, 2000); Colin Heywood, A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times (Polity Press, 2001); Majorie Keniston McIntosh, Controlling Misbehavior in England: 1300–1600 (Cambridge University Press, 1998); Neil Mckendrick, John Brewer, and J.H. Plumb, eds., Birth of a Consumer Society (Indiana University Press, 1982); John Mullan and Christopher Reid, Eighteenth-Century Popular Culture (Oxford University Press, 2000). Christine M. Walker University of Michigan

Europe, 1800 to 1900 Europe endured seismic challenges and changes in the years between 1800 and 1900, as a series of political, social, and economic revolutions swept across the continent. Industrialization and urbanization, which

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began in the late 18th century and exploded in the first decades of the 19th century, changed the daily lives of tens of millions of people across the continent. These twin forces led to the expansion of both the middle class and the industrial working class and established the modern system of exchanging labor for cash wages. These changes had an impact on sports and play. Agrarian societies live by the seasons; urban societies live by the clock. The shift to urbanization altered how Europeans viewed time, with sharp lines now drawn between “work” time and “leisure” time. Organized team sports, for example, gave working-class men an opportunity to get physical exercise in the outdoors after days spent doing repetitive work in airless factories. Urban middle-class men and women were encouraged to spend time in the out-of-doors to encourage good health, while indoor games and other amusements were part of building social communities and personal mental acuity. For middle- and upper-class children, the idea of childhood as a time of play and education was almost entirely an invention of the 19th century. This philosophy was aided by a growing commercial sector that began to churn out games and toys at an expanding rate throughout the second half of the century. Sports and Play The 19th century saw the rise of competitive sports in both Europe and the United States. Most of the spectator sports we enjoy today have their roots in the period between 1800 and 1900, as does that premier international showcase of athleticism, the Olympic Games. The development of modern sports was aided not only by the growth of the middle class and changes in how people viewed leisure time but also in the dominant philosophical trends of the period. Romanticism, for example, emphasized communion with nature, helping spur the popularity of outdoor sports like hiking and mountaineering. Classicism was even more influential, given the interest in Greek and Roman principles of the strong body as the necessary adjunct of the strong mind. Millions of young men sought physical perfection in a growing variety of team and individual pursuits. While some sports, like cycling, were the result of new inventions, the vast majority derived from preexisting sports that found new forms or were introduced to new audiences. What were once purely regional sports now spread out across the continent. Pursuits once open

only to the aristocracy or upper class became available to the middle class. Routine pursuits were recast as leisure activities. Team sports became a stand-in for combat in the long, mostly peaceful period between the 1870s and the start of the World War I in 1914. For centuries, fencing was a sport of the nobility. It was, in the strictest sense, a martial art—a practice that encouraged discipline, athleticism, and the adoption of a strict code of honor, but also had practical applications in combat or in settling issues of “honor” on the dueling field. By the mid-19th century, dueling was on the decline. Rather than abandon the practice, it was slowly shifted to a nonlethal sport, much as children are sent to practice karate or tae kwan do today. Fencing was popular among the upper and middle classes, particularly those who attended private schools, but never really filtered down to the working class. It was prevalent among the French, Germans, Italians, and Hungarians beginning in the early part of the 19th century and was one of the first Olympic sports. The sport’s governing body, the Federation Internationale d’Escrime, was established in France at the turn of the 20th century. Skating is a good example of the practical turned into the pastime. Historians are not sure when the people of northern Europe first learned to attach blades to their footware to slide across the winter ice. The oldest known pair of blades were found at the bottom of a Swiss lake; carved from the leg bones of an animal and meant to be tied on with leather straps, they were dated to about 3000 b.c.e. Iron skates originated around 1250 b.c.e. Skating became particularly important as transportation in the Netherlands, becoming the fastest way to move up and down frozen canals in the winter. This eventually led to the development of speed-skating, which by the end of the century had become a popular wintertime sport across Continental Europe. The English picked up skating from northern Europeans but soon modified it to fit their geography. Unlike the Netherlands, England had few rivers or canals to use as speed-skating straightaways. Instead, they were confined primarily to small ponds. So they began to skate in geometric patterns, or “figures.” The growth of figure skating was helped by the development of the steel skate in the 1840s. In this newer model, the skate blade was built into the shoe, allowing for turns and flexibility not available in older, strapped-on versions. Figure skating was carried back to the Continent, where the French and other cultures moved away from the strict geometry of



the “English style” to embrace the more flowing, dancelike approach evident in the sport today. Regional sports also became a pathway for cultural continuity in an era when millions of Europeans were setting out for North America and parts beyond. Bocce, a bowling game, had been enjoyed by Italians since the days of ancient Rome; by the 19th century, it was mostly a passion of the peasant class. Bocce was carried to America by those immigrants who arrived in huge numbers in the wake of a series of natural and political disasters in Italy beginning in the 1870s. More than a century later, bocce remains a popular sport in some Italian-American communities and is often seen as a tie to the mother country. Historians see both the paths of cultural transfer in the development and movement of sports throughout the 19th century, but they also see the ways in which different cultural attitudes toward sports were indicative of the different approaches to the world as a whole. For example, in Great Britain, the focus was more on team sports, such as rugby, rowing, and early forms of soccer, where the point was to work together to dominate and defeat the opposing team. It is impossible not to see echoes of the nation’s aggressive pursuit of colonial domination in their preference for rough team play. Less than 100 miles across the English Channel, Continental Europeans tended to prefer individual sports, such as swimming, diving, skating, skiing, and fencing. These differences were not static—there were plenty of Europeans who played soccer or joined rowing teams, just as there were plenty of Englishmen who enjoyed gymnastics and tennis and skating—but the preferences were clear. At a time when the divisions between the aristocracy, the upper class, the middle class, and the working class were becoming ever more stark, there was a real separation between “amateur” and “professional” athletes. Professionals were often working-class men who earned money in the rougher, less respectable sports like prizefighting and horse-racing. Amateurs, even those who spent most of their time training or competing in tournament play in dozens of sports, were seen as more pure and wholesome. This attitude found its highest form in the rebirth of the Modern Olympic Games in the final years of the 19th century. The Olympic revival was the brainchild of a French aristocrat named Pierre de Frédy, the Baron de Coubertin. He had devoted his life to reforming the French educational system and believed that physical education was a critical

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Children run home from school in a photograph from the late 19th century, thought to be of either England or Ireland.

component of building both strength and character. On a visit to Great Britain in 1890, he learned about the Wenlock Olympian Games, an annual competition organized by a local educator named William Penny Brooks in the rural Shropshire town of Much Wenlock. In 1850, Brooks had proposed the event “for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighborhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the awards of prizes annually at public meeting for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainments.” Taking this idea and drawing on the interest in the ancient Greek games spurred by archaeological digs at Olympia, Coubertin called for a congress at the Sorbonne in Paris in June 1894 to discuss the possibility of a universal sports competition. By the end of the meeting, the members had established the International Olympic Committee, elected Coubertin as president, and set a date for the first games. The first Olympiad was held in April 1896 in Athens, with 241 athletes representing 14 countries in athletics, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, and wrestling. Non-Athletic Games Not everyone in the 19th century wanted to take up rugby or swimming: Then, as today, the exercise of the brain was considered more interesting than the exercise of the body. As in sports, the games favored by people in

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the 1800s were often the same as those played by their ancestors for centuries, but even old amusements, like cards and board games, became more widely available as the years progressed. Advances in Printing Much of this was because of industrialization and advances in printing. Prior to the 19th century, board games were mostly handmade. The development of the industrial printing press by English and German industrialists in the early years of the century, and the increasing availability of cheap, wood pulp paper, lowered the costs of printing, while the adoption of chromolithography by the middle of the century made it possible to cheaply print multicolored prints, rather than relying on hand painting. All of this drove costs down and flooded the market with thousands of different games. The American-based Milton Bradley Company alone produced more than 400 games and puzzles by century’s end. Many of the new board games were variations on foreign games brought back to Europe by colonial adventurers. The British, in particular, were fond of bringing back versions of games from lengthy stays in India and Asia—sometimes so highly modified that only cultural anthropologists can see the shadows of the original games in their Westernized forms. The exchange of games had been going on for centuries, but mass production and competition between game manufacturers greatly accelerated the process. Card games increased in popularity as playing cards became less expensive. Like board games, there were relatively few innovations in card gaming; most were variations on the same games that had been played, in one form or another, for centuries. However, with the growth of cheaper, mass-produced books that explained what had once been regional games, players were able to draw from a much larger pool. For those who did not like to play cards, parlor games were another way to pass the time with friends and family in those decades before the radio and the television. Anyone who has seen a production or read Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol might remember the scene where Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present are watching his nephew Fred Holliwell and his friends play games; in Dickens’ original story, a singing game called Glee is followed by Blind-Man’s Bluff, then a word game called Yes or No. Parlor games could be quite intricate and often relied heavily on knowledge

of history, literature, the Bible, and the pop culture of the times. Popular books were also helpful—Cassell’s Book of In-Door Amusements, Card Games and Fireside Fun, published in 1881, gave rules for some 300 games. Some of these are still familiar today: Russian Gossip, for example, would today be instantly recognized as Telephone. Cassell’s and countless other game books also detailed games for children, who were becoming a major consumer market by the 1850s. For centuries, childhood had been treated as an apprentice adulthood. At least for those outside the aristocracy, more time was dedicated to learning trades than playing games. (After the Protestant Reformation, there were also fears that too much time spent in idle play was dangerous to the soul.) Children had always had toys and games, but they tended to be homemade and small in number. The growth of the middle class created a new class of children: those who did not have to go work in the factories or the fields and who were not members of the aristocracy. They were born into families that believed in the power of education to lift an individual to a new station in life. More emphasis was put on a child learning how to expand their minds, both in the schoolhouse and in their idle hours. The majority of early board games, for example, were based on literary or historical themes. The first jigsaw puzzles were usually maps pasted to a stiff board and cut around the borders as a way to teach geography. While there would always be an emphasis on educational toys, as the century progressed, they also came to be seen as a way to teach children about larger social issues, including gender roles and modern advances in technology. Little girls learned about their place in life while playing with new toy stoves and tea sets and dolls, while little boys played with toy trains and tin soldiers. Middle-class parents usually had spending money and a desire to show their status: The purchase of the latest in toys and games for their children became not just a way to show love to a cherished child but also another way to display wealth. This became easier as mass production lowered the cost of goods in the final quarter of the century. See Also: Bicycles; Blind Man’s Bluff; Europe, 1200 to 1600; Europe, 1600 to 1800; Europe, 1900 to 1940; Europe, 1940 to 1960; Europe, 1960 to Present; History of Playing Cards; Horse Racing (Amateur); Puzzles; Reading; Skating; Tennis (Amateur) and Variations of.

Europe, 1900 to 1940

Bibliography. Robert Crego, Sports and Games of the 18th and 19th Centuries (Greenwood Press, 2008); Patricia Evans, Rimbles: A Book of Children’s Classic Games, Rhymes, Songs, and Sayings (Doubleday, 1961); Colin Heywood, A History of Childhood: Children and Childhood in the West from Medieval to Modern Times (Polity Press, 2001); Glenn Kirchner, Children’s Games Around the World (Benjamin Cummings, 2000). Heather K. Michon Independent Scholar

Europe, 1900 to 1940 Playing is important part of growing up, but at the beginning of the 20th century, childhood lasted far shorter than it is believed to today. Children were compelled to grow up and mature far more quickly. That was largely because of the fact that children in the villages and poorer children in the towns had to start work at a very early age and had little free time. That is why children entered the adult world at a very early age, and the nonexistence of a clear border between the world of children and the world of adults was also reflected in the games they played. In large families where several generations lived together, children’s rights were not as respected as today, and parents did not believe that children had a need to play. On the contrary, they considered play as a waste of time, being of the opinion that it was far more useful for children to perform one of the many household tasks. In infancy and early childhood, play was the activity through which children learned to recognize colors and shapes, tastes and sounds. It was not until the second half of the 20th century that it was considered that the right to play was a child’s basic right. The beginning of the century, with its dark overtones of war, shortages, and social upheaval, also contained the seeds of change, which would bloom in later years. Changes with regards to the nature and needs of children became visible, and a child’s environment was considered to be important for healthy development and their right for self-expression. Data on European children’s play include descriptions of toy collections, games, and orally transmitted folklore and has been gathered mostly by folklorists, ethnologists, or art historians. Literature on adult play appeared much later in the second

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half of 20th century and mainly included descriptions of gambling games, card games, and the like. Play and Learning In infancy and early childhood, play was a learning activity and also provided pathways to social connections. Elementary school children used play to learn mutual respect, friendship, cooperation, and competition. For adolescents, play was a means of exploring possible identities, as well as a way to blow off steam and stay fit. Even adults had the potential to unite play, love, and work. As it was the setting for play, education, and sometimes sleeping, having a nursery became common in 18th-century Victorian houses. It had direct connections to the family bedrooms or kitchen through a special corridor. This spatial separation of children in the middleclass home paralleled the rise of a specialist servant— the nanny—to care for them. The removal of children from the best rooms in the house was the evidence that children were seen as unique beings, rather than simply as tiny versions of adults. Special furniture, china, and toys support this notion, as do small playhouses built by famous architects. Most 20th-century houses, especially those built after World War I, were smaller and servantless. With the disappearance of servant quarters and with the identification of the kitchen with the mother (rather than with a servant) came an increasing integration of children’s spaces into the heart of the house. Bedrooms for children were next to parents’ bedrooms; bathrooms were shared. In general, the early 20th century saw a relaxation of social regulations. In the early 20th century, kindergartens became more common. In England, they tended to take the form of a specially shaped classroom attached to a primary school, while in the rest of Europe the kindergarten tended to be a distinct building. This was associated with the Waldorf School Movement, which began in 1919, when Rudolf Steiner started Die Freie Waldorfschule for the children of the workers at the WaldorfAstoria cigarette factory in Stuttgart. More common in the 1920s and 1930s were kindergartens designed in a modern style, like the 1934 nursery school on the outskirts of Zurich, where direct access to the outdoors, ample lighting, and light, moveable furniture, scaled to young children, were provided. In the early 20th century, Progressive pedagogical theorists (like Karl Popper in Germany) began to

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apply the basic philosophy of the kindergarten movement—attention to the development of the whole child—to primary and secondary school students. In Europe, progressive educational reform attempted to bring students into closer communion with the natural landscape. Early in the 20th century, open-air schools— with neither heating nor glazing—were built primarily for tubercular children; the first of these was the Forest School established in Charlottenburg, Germany, in 1904. By the 1920s, open-air schools were recommended for non­tubercular children as well. In Frankfurt, Germany, architects designed decentralized schools called pavilion schools, with one-story wings disposed over large open sites to increase light and air circulation. Although there were some French pavilion schools, like in Suresnes, France retained a tradition of density, building multistory blocks with outdoor space on rooftop terraces. The first known use of sand for play is the heaps of sand called sand bergs in the public parks of Berlin in 1850. The kindergarten movement in Germany included sandboxes in their design in the latter half of the century, and in 1889 the newspaper of the Pestalozzi/Froebel children’s houses described how to build a sandbox. From the earliest photographs of sandboxes in Europe, we can see that they had wheelbarrows, rakes, buckets, and spades, and molds of animals and other shapes. Today, implements are usually limited to smaller tools made of plastic rather than metal. The Growth of Toys Toys became important tools of play. From the early 20th century, depictions of toys were still mainly found in portraits of children of the middle and upper classes. The toys that appear in these paintings are not there to emphasize the person’s affluence but merely attributes that designate a child. The same difference existed in the first decades of the 20th century between paintings and photographs. On occasions worth being preserved for posterity, children were set in an imaginary environment of luxury, and toys were added to make the scene perfect. Even if we do not know to whom the toys actually belonged, these images provide us with useful information, because the toys in the pictures had to be modern, popular, and something the children would be proud to possess. For most of history, the majority of toys had been made at home. Wood, clay, and lead were the earliest toymaking materials for cottage industries, while jewel-

lers and goldsmiths made toys for the very rich. Soon after each inventive advance in the industrial revolution, mass production provided toys at consumable prices. Means of mass distribution were also in place by the beginning of the 20th century, and there has been much change in the course of this century. The traditional source of all toys at this time was Germany—Britain was also well established—but World War I ended German dominance in the toy export trade. The British and French toy industry was given a boost because of the absence of German imports during World War I, although it remained very much a home market. World War II again severely disrupted the European toy industry. After the war ended, manufacturers began to use synthetic fibers. The expanding market for factory­-made goods changed the world of child’s play. Children who grew up playing with folk toys of the conventional form like dolls, balls, carved animals, wheels, or discarded objects, such as sticks or rags, were slowly converted into entertainment all over Europe. Before the mass production of toys, play was seen as an expression of the natural spirit of childhood and not of bonding with objects. Its focus was more social than material interaction. It was not assumed that children needed a profusion of toys. They were a specialty product, mainly enjoyed by the upper classes, and were part of folk culture. These objects were crafted by parents, relatives, and children. Occasionally, they were made by local toymakers as gifts for special occasions. Most children from the beginning of the 20th century did not have purchased toys. The first toy factories and toyshops appeared around the end of the 19th century, and dolls, wooden horses, wooden trains, and balls could be bought in those shops. But, as the toy industry was not on a large scale, toys were usually handmade and very expensive, and only wealthy, urban families could afford them. Most children made their own toys, mainly from natural materials, using wood or paper. The first marbles were fashioned from hardened earth, and balls were formed out of discarded articles of clothing, most often socks or pig bladders blown up and later layered with leather taken from old shoes. Kites were made from parts of maize, and other toys were made from paper pasted together with a mixture of flour and water instead of expensive glue. Large-scale toy production did not begin until between the two world wars, and it was only after World War II that more children could acquire bicycles, rollerskates, ice skates, scooters, and leather footballs.



At the beginning of the 20th century the toy industry was heavily rooted in German manufacture, as it had been throughout the 19th century. Despite this, there were several well-established toy businesses flourishing in Britain. Conservative by nature, the toy business was not adventurous. Toys that had been favorites in the 19th century remained firm favorites until the outbreak of World War I in 1914. Among these, selected according to the gender of the child, were clockwork toys, dollhouses, spinning tops, magic lanterns, push and pull toys, puzzles, rocking horses, and dolls. The new century brought with it two new toys, which became phenomenally successful. The first of these, Meccano, was designed by Frank Hornby in 1899 to encourage his son’s interest in mechanical engineering. It was highly innovative, because it was made of metal as opposed to wood, which was usually used for making construction kits. The industrial advances of the previous century had made educators aware of the importance of encouraging technical training for young men, and the advantages of this new toy as an instructive and amusing hobby were very clear. The second of the new toys, designed by Richard Steiff in 1902, was the first soft toy bear, which became known by its familiar title, the Teddy Bear, after 1906. Learning Through Play With infants, rather than giving their children toys, adults taught children simple games to teach them to walk; to make them aware of their hands, fingers, and toes; and to teach babies to concentrate and communicate with eye contact, facial expressions, and voice. Rhymes and games were taught in the home or in the infant school; children also learned them directly from one another when playing outside together. Children’s folklore, such as rhymes, jokes, and riddles, were purely oral in transmission, circulated rapidly, and showed both continuity and variation. Riddles, for example, lightened the strain of heavy work. Boys all over Europe enjoyed teasing girls with sexual riddles, but riddling was also a contest of wit. Preindustrial society required children to do their share of the farmwork. What free time they had after these responsibilities could be spent playing games such as various forms of Tag, Hide-and-Seek, ball games, and Hopscotch. Counting rhymes were utilized to determine the role of participants in games. Children came to understand their environment because of the songs and games they were involved in. Children’s folk games reflected the inner life of kids, their gifts, and their preferences. Many

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categories of folk games were played in Europe: amusing (funny); satirical; counting out items (versified or not); songs dedicated to animals and plants; games related to nature’s calendar (invoking rain, sun, rainbows, or wind or driving away thunder or rain); games related to the major events of human life, sometimes played with playing objects too; and tongue twisters or puns. Street Games Children’s street culture was passed from one generation of city children to the next and between different groups of children as well. It was the most common in children between the ages of 7 and 12 and was the strongest in urban working-class industrial districts, where children could play on the streets for long periods without supervision. Because in most cases it is difficult and perhaps inaccurate to equate a certain age group with certain games, except when we divide games in children’s games and adult’s games, they are divided by the action that is performed. Games are usually grouped in games of competition, combat games, chasing, tag games, counting out games, guessing games, games of dexterity, games of strategy and chance, clapping games, singing games, parlor games, party games, role play games, and so forth.

A vintage German teddy bear. Richard Steiff designed the first soft toy bear in 1902, after sketching bears at the zoo.

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In games of competition, children competed either in knowledge and skills taught at school or physically with or without the aid of requisites. Such games were popular in villages and towns. They usually comprised running, hiding, and testing physical strength. Village children had more space to play such games, and town children were deprived of many games because of the lack of physical space and the danger of breaking things in the home. But even town children had more space than they do today, because cars were few and far between until the 1950s, and children could play safely in most town streets. In winter, steep streets were transformed into perfect toboggan slides, and with a little extra effort put into treading down the snow and pouring water over it, entire streets were transformed into ice skating rinks. Competition and tag games like jump rope, Hopscotch, Hide-and-Seek, and chasing, demonstrated a combination of skills, strength, endurance, and patience. Hopscotch, which originates in Britain, was also known in Slavic and Romanic language cultures. Clapping games were thought of as girls’ games, although boys and adults played as well. They were thought to be a part of oral culture and were accompanied with singing or reciting a rhyme. After World War I, it became common to celebrate children’s birthdays in urban areas. Invitation cards became collector’s item in the 1920s, functioning as social souvenirs. Girls started collections of paper napkins, often brought home from birthday parties, beautiful packaging, including matchboxes, tin boxes, and fancy bottles; boys collected more “manly” items. Role Playing Role-playing games most often imitated characters with authority and responsibilities. Games that imitated the adult world, in which the roles are separated, were imitated by children. They were normally restricted to young children and, aside from their straightforward purpose of fun, could sometimes also serve the purpose of allowing children to explore adult roles and relationships. Role playing revealed a lot about children’s psychological state, their perception of gender roles, home life, incomes, and their interpretation of the world around them. Children imitated jobs or professions they come into contact with, such as hairdressers, salespeople, car mechanics, or teachers, or made their own little theatres. The main goal of playing Doctor and Patient was to discover each other’s bodies, especially “forbidden” parts, and this game even involved experiments with sexual play. Little girls often

imitated their mothers, emulating jobs they saw performed around the home: they cooked, sewed, and made toys in the form of furniture, thus creating the impression that they had their own little home. While acting like a family, they learned about family relationships and other family arrangements. Boys liked to emulate their fathers, doing what was considered men’s jobs, but they often played War too. The 20th-Century Effect of War The enemies have changed during the 20th century; cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers have been replaced with enemies from real 20th-century wars. Fascist and Nazi youth associations attracted large majorities of young people in Italy under Mussolini’s rule and in Germany under the Nazi dictatorship. In these state­-sponsored movements, young people found a variety of leisure opportunities, a strong national identity, and clearly defined gender roles. Because leaders encouraged members to put youth group duties above all other responsibilities, many youth joined in order to undermine the traditional authority of parents, school, or church. This practice reinforced their core beliefs that individuals owed primary allegiance to the state, and that youth and not their elders would shape the future. Through the Hitler Youth, the Nazi state controlled virtually all educational, vocational, and recreational opportunities and effectively coordinated propaganda, peer pressure, and intimidation techniques to claim, at its peak, more than 95 percent of German youth as members. On the other side, communist organizations in eastern, central, and part of southern Europe worked to educate young people in communist values and to aid the party to build communism. They provided political education for young people, sponsored communist cultural events and literacy campaigns, oversaw a range of activities in the schools, and served as a training ground for future membership in adult parties. With the Russian revolution in 1917, interest in children and youth crested. The state hoped to mold children to create the new Soviet citizen, though officials also reflected the older aristocratic interest in childhood as a time of learning. Education spread widely. As the birthrate dropped, many parents devoted great attention to their individual children, providing tutoring or private lessons in dance or acrobatics. Highly competitive schools and opportunities for advancement within the Communist Party beckoned to successful children, and many parents tried hard to pro-



tect their offspring and encourage them to excel. Then, after a decade or two of peace after World War II ended, young people returned to characters from the novels of Karl May. Gendered-based games that imitated the adult world have been preparing young boys and girls to the roles designated to them by their sex. Because the prewar village children had little time to play, they usually played while working in the fields or in the short breaks. As children were usually looking after the livestock if they lived in mountainous regions of Europe, there were a number of games they played during long hours spent looking after livestock at pasture. Those games involved running, hiding and seeking, making swings, and carving toys or instruments from wood. Only children from richer families had a specific time designated for play, usually after having done their homework. The children, who spent much of their days outside, played in a natural playground without boundaries or fences, surrounded by trees, fields, creeks, and ponds, and playing with rocks, pieces of wood, mud, living structures, or animals. Games Across Europe A traditional children’s party game was Blind Man’s Bluff, known under this term in United Kingdom and Ireland and other names elsewhere in Europe (such as Blind Mice in Slovenia). The game was a variant of Tag, played in a spacious area, such as outdoors or in a large room. The most popular games in southeast Europe were Crooked Wolf, Hide-and-Seek, and Leapfrog in Bulgaria, and a sort of baseball was taught in schools in Romania. Under the Communist regime, schools would take children from towns into the country to teach them seasonal agricultural work. Greek children played guessing games, like Blind Man’s Bluff, Ring a Ring o’ Roses, the Flea Flies, and Have You a Light. There were also older games, which were a combination of singing and reciting certain words and movements. In Hungary, as in other countries, children in towns jumped rope and played hula-hoop, while in most countries that emerged after the breakup of former Yugoslavia, the favorite games were Hide-and-Seek, Piggy in the Middle, Leapfrog, and Hopscotch. One of the most popular older games was a kind of a precursor to today’s cricket, the aim of which was to hit a wooden object as far as possible with a wooden bat. Adolescents preferred party games, in particular ones with an erotic charge, and these games provided them

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an opportunity to find and test potential mates. Games were a form of amusement at festivals, especially Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Lent, and at weddings. Dancing and singing were often part of games. Card playing, and in some settings drinking and gambling, flourished among the lower classes in pubs and bars. Card playing was part of a men’s world, but later the whole families and children had their own card plays to relax. Sports, such as wrestling, were also practiced by young men in Slovakia, Georgia, and elsewhere. Ball games, ice skating, skiing, and sledding were common in Northern and Central Europe or in other parts with temperate climate. Games using animals, especially bullfighting, and ball games such as football were widely practiced in Spain. Bullfighting was viewed as a symbolic representation of human struggle against death, as well as an explicit expression of the overt sexuality associated with the Spanish male. In Greece, a form of shadow-theater, usually performed in the open air with a small orchestra of musicians, was very popular. Although games had different names in different countries, they were similar, and their ultimate aim was to demonstrate the most skillful, the quickest, and the most astute. See Also: Blind Man’s Bluff; Boys’ Play; Bulgaria; Europe, 1940 to 1960; Europe, 1960 to Present; Greece; Hide & Seek; Ireland; Romania; Russia; Slovenia; Spain; Toys and Child Development. Bibliography. William M. Clements, The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife: Vol. 3, Europe (Greenwood Press, 2006); Brady Eilís, All In! All In! A Selection of Dublin Children’s Traditional Street-Games with Rhymes and Music (Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann, 1984); Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society, www.faqs.org /childhood/index.html (cited October 2008); Iona Opie, The People in the Playground (Oxford University Press, 1993); James Opie, Duncan Chilcott, and Julia Harris, eds., A Collector’s Guide to 20th-Century Toys (Wellfleet Books, 1990); Halina Pasierbska, Must-Have Toys: Favourites of the 20th Century (Museum of Childhood Bethnal Green, 2004); Milan Ristoviæ and Dubravka Stojanoviæ, eds., Childhood in the Past: 19th and 20th Century (Association for Social History, 2001); Tanja Tomažiè, Igraèe [Toys], (Slovenski Etnografski Muzej, 1999). Mojca Ramšak Center for Biographic Research

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Europe, 1940 to 1960 The war years from 1939 to 1945 meant great shortages of every kind, and the life of Europeans was subject to many restrictions. Between 1941 and 1945, children were killed in huge numbers throughout Europe during military operations and in concentration camps. Overall, 1.5 million Jewish children; children from Greece, Romania, Hungary, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Yugoslavia, France, and Germany; gypsy children; Slavic children; children who had the wrong nationality or religion or whose parents had the wrong political affiliations; or those who did not fit Hitler’s concept of the Aryan race, died in the concentration camps of the Third Reich. Gypsy children and physically disabled children suffered pogroms and murder under the Nazis. Children took part in military conflicts through their activity in resistance movements in German- or Italian-occupied countries. Older children were occasionally used as informants or took part in sabotage actions. Others were told how to behave in case of an inspection of the home, remaining silent about illegal persons living in the house or apartment. In Germany during the last period of the German defense in fall 1944 and spring 1945, many boys between the ages of 12 and 16 years were drafted as German troops on both the Eastern and Western fronts. During World War II, about 10,000 underage German boy soldiers were imprisoned in the largest Allied camp for child soldiers in France. Just before the end of World War II, about 70,000 German refugee children under the age of 15 were sent to Denmark, where they received inadequate medical care. It is estimated that in 1946, almost all refugee children under the age of 2, and in total about 7,000 refugee children, died in camps in Denmark of malnutrition and lack of medical care. Huge armies of orphans were left without parental care—left to the mercy of the state or relatives, or on the street. The traumas and psychological scars resulting from a wartime childhood have been suffered by generations, and they were forced to grow up quickly, their childhood having been wrested from them by war—they were not able to have a normal education. When war becomes a part of everyday life, with its overt and covert violence, it cannot help but change children’s lives and their concept of the world. Rationing, introduced early in the war, continued long after the war ended. World War II devastated many urban areas in Europe, and children in these areas began creating their own play spaces in

bombed-out areas in their neighborhoods, using whatever materials and equipment could be found. Most children played with toys that had been handed down from older children or made at home. The misuse of children for political and propaganda purposes was mainly linked to the 20th century and mass political parties and movements such as Nazism, Fascism, and Communism. Sports, culture, and other organizations for children and young people became tools in the hands of national political and religious movements and leaders (such as Benito Mussolini in Italy, Adolf Hitler in Germany, Francisco Franco in Spain, Josip Broz Tito in Yugoslavia, Enver Hoxha in Albania, Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania, Todor Zhivkov in Bulgaria, and Josip Visarjonovi Stalin in Russia). Political leaders in European countries were represented as spiritual fathers, teachers, and protectors of all children in their countries. Post–World War II Environment In the period immediately following World War II, children had the use of several key rooms in their homes, especially the multipurpose or living room. Other important spaces for children’s play were basements and backyards. Postwar basements were spaces of escape from parents, especially for teenagers, and were the ideal setting for listening to music and playing games such as ping pong, which required too much space to fit into the upstairs rooms. In 1945, recreation programs evolved from a relatively minor area of government and grew to an enormous, complex, and profit-seeking enterprise. In the 1950s there was a rise in the birthrate, and children and youth were flooding schools and recreation centers. Immediately after the conclusion of World War II in 1945, the growing divide between the Eastern and Western forces set in motion the wheels that would escalate into what would later be known as the Cold War. After such a brutal and bloody conflict in the first half, the latter half of the decade was dominated by enforced social upheaval as soldiers returned to their homelands, demanding government recognition for their sacrifices. Countless thousands of refugees sought return to their lands or to new homes abroad, and the slow process of recovery began to take place. Europe was far from wealthy before or after the war ended, and in the 1950s, materials for toy making were still in short supply. There were restrictions on imports,



and rationing continued to be a problem for all industries. Britain still had a toy industry, whereas German manufacturers were badly affected by the war. During World War II, toy production in Europe decreased, and some factories began to manufacture munitions instead. At this time, many homemade toys were produced, using materials that were available. One of the recurrent themes in the progress of toymaking since 1940 was the search for realism in toys. To make a true model of something takes a great deal more time and trouble than to make an approximation, and therefore miniature toys are often judged by how true to life they are. The advent of plastic made it so much simpler to produce realisticlooking models, and plastic model kits were a growing area of the toy industry from the 1940s onwards. Although materials continued to be difficult to obtain for many years after the war, the potential of the new synthetic fibers as useful and economically priced replacements for silk boded well for the future of soft toys. Plastic educational toys, in prewar form, became available again in limited quantities. Toys played a part in the rebirth of postwar Europe as vital objects of trade and as educational tools. Postwar European societies were about to experience the beginning of the consumer age. At home, the demand for toys rapidly increased and was probably fuelled by the shortages that families had suffered for so long. Children still played with the toys that their parents had played with—teddy bears, guns, building kits, scooters, dolls, dollhouses, and tea sets. Model vehicles were top sellers, and the production of die-cast toys was a huge business on an international scale. Cultural Expectations Nevertheless, the phrase “first work and then play” was still present in daily lives of children and many of them lived by the rule “never play before you finish your homework.” This rule pertained to both boys and girls, as school had been mandatory for both since the second half of the 19th century. What had changed was the attitude and strong awareness that girls would not be useful for postwar society if they remained illiterate. By the late 1940s, European child experts also advised parents to avoid superstitions—which were still firmly present, especially in rural areas—and to help children get rid of shyness and to encourage greater independence. Shy children risked being rejected by their peer groups as being too submissive. After the war, the definitions of

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appropriate masculine and feminine behavior started to change slowly. For instance, when there was a shortage of food before the war, especially in some rural patriarchal areas, girls and women were given less to eat than boys and men. This attitude had changed, and equality of the sexes became more and more visible. European cultures with strong Catholic or orthodox religious traditions that were patriarchal fostered sharp gender divisions, whereas more egalitarian protestant cultures offered greater role flexibility for both males and females. Spain, Italy, Greece, and Albania, for example, emphasized gender roles more than Denmark, Netherland, Sweden, and Norway. Through explicit and unspoken messages, girls were encouraged to model themselves on their mothers and other women they knew or encountered in stories, schoolbooks, and television programs. Boys were encouraged to model themselves on their fathers and other male figures. The 1950s was a decade of conservatism, following the mass upheavals of the war and a time when redevelopment and urban growth, including nurturing the ideal of the nuclear family, really began to take hold. Many modern cultural phenomena, such as the generation gap, started in the 1950s, stimulated by the Beat Generation and their works, which contrasted drastically with the conservative society of the decade. This decade also revolutionized entertainment, with the mainstream introduction of the television, the rapid growth of the recording industry and new genres of music, and movies targeted to teenage audiences. Many modern toys like hula-hoops and Frisbees were also invented in the 1950s. Because of the conservative nature of the era and the sometimes violent suppression of social movements, seeds of rebellion grew and were manifested through rock-and-roll music, and movies emphasized rebelliousness. These precedents would serve as the forerunners to the social revolution of the 1960s. Marketing to Children In the 1950s, the first mass-marketing strategies and television advertising to the world of toys appeared in the most developed countries of Western and Northern Europe. Previously, advertising was only minimally important, and marketers were not aware of children’s consumption practices or their influence on their family’s spending habits, and thus took little interest in them. Toy manufacturers were achieving success through efficiencies in

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the production process, without mass market advertising. Children loved collecting stickers with famous names from history, especially actors and actresses, political figures, famous thinkers, comedians, nasty characters, and sports figures. Marketers introduced a new strategy, including collector’s items for children with products for adults. Cigarettes, soap, coffee substitute, chewing gum, and many other products contained collectibles for children. Before World War II, the Walt Disney Company in the United States launched a strategy of integrated consumption of trademarked goods, which appealed to young consumers and collectors. Film, magazines, cards, posters, soap figurines, bubble gum, printed napkins, and toys built up a total universe of desirable objects and experiences. This strategy was so successful that it turned much later into the contemporary business of merchandising, which puts trademarked characters on wallpaper, videos, computer games, towels, schoolbags, pencils, erasers, and clothes, as well as in fast food. Even though such collecting worried some adults because of its prearranged character and the way it commercialized childhood, it mirrored the conditions of modern culture that also affected the adult world. Children were included in international conventions for the first time in 1949, when the rights and protection of children in war—as part of the civilian population— were mentioned in the fourth Geneva Convention. With the war having recently ended, there were calls to ban toy weapons. Boys, in particular, had for centuries played with weapons of all sorts, improvised or store-bought, playing Robin Hood and Cowboys and Indians as part of everyday life. After 1953 such war toys were discouraged, but between the world wars the German companies produced a large range of resin figures, representing soldiers from many countries, although the majority of toys represented German soldiers and Nazi party leaders, such as Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring. Furthermore, growing concerns about toy safety in general were forcing firms to rethink some of their products in the 1950s. The concern about the potential health hazard of lead gradually induced firms to switch to plastics. Soft-toy makers had to be scrupulous about the safety of their own products, and all imports of dolls and soft toys had to be tested for hygiene. This was because earlier items had been found to be full of stuffing that was far from safe for small children. New toys included LEGOs, launched in 1932 in Bilund, Denmark. In 1949, the company produced around 200

different plastic and wooden toys, including automatic binding bricks, a forerunner of the LEGO bricks we know today. At first they were sold exclusively in Denmark, and in 1955 the first real exporting of LEGO began with shipments to Sweden. By the end of the 1950s, the company expanded to Germany, Switzerland, France, Great Britain, Belgium, and Sweden, and by the end of 1960s to Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria and Spain. Lego products were developed in such a way that there was something for all ages and stages of development: from toddlers, schoolchildren, and teenagers to young-at-heart adults, whether they preferred creating their own designs or building pre­designed models. Western Influences Plastic hula-hoops became popular in Europe in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Soon shaking one’s hips and twirling hoops around their waists became popular in gym classes and acceptable to do in public for both girls and adult women. Similarly famous was another toy for all ages, a flying disc called the Frisbee or Frisbie. In the 1950s most children’s toy dolls were representations of infants, but this changed when the Barbie doll was invented in 1959 in the United States. Ruth Handler, who created Barbie, believed that it was important for the doll to have an adult appearance, and early market research showed that some parents were unhappy about the doll’s chest, which had distinct breasts. Barbie, with her clothes and accessories, was a status toy for girls— Barbie had become a cultural icon. At the same time, the popularity of Play-Doh was rising—a nontoxic modeling clay compound similar in composition to bread dough and available in several colors. Large, bright, colorful, hygienic, and safe toys were made relatively cheaply for the preschool market in particular. The advantages of new technology and the question of toy design were then addressed in various ways. The toy industry was still unconvinced that it could be desirable to bring in marketing professionals and child psychologists when working on a new product line, particularly if it was connected with educational toys. Radio and Television In the 1940s, when radio was still regarded as a new medium, special children’s programs were broadcast in order to attract young listeners. As such programs became popular, production increased. Children and teenagers took pleasure in listening to programs spe-



cifically aimed at children, as well as other programs. As with other electronic media, radio was met with worries from the adult world. In Sweden, as in other countries, it was a common fear that too much listening could make children passive and less eager to play. In the 1940s, Swedish teachers expressed worries about being regarded as mere loudspeakers by children accustomed to passively listening to radio. However, compared with reactions to other electronic media, radio seems to have incited relatively few moral panic attacks. This can be explained in part by radio’s supposed usefulness in education. In the 1950s, when television was introduced, researchers in Britain came to the conclusion that television reduced radio listening more than it reduced any other activity. In spite of this, one in three children said that if they had to do without radio, they would miss it quite a lot. The study also noticed that children who had been watching television for several years listened a little more often to the radio. This was described as a revival in line with reports of adults’ media behavior. While radio programs could not compete with television programs, other types of programming held listeners’ interest, including panel games, discussions, music, and sports commentaries. In the 1960s people in villages of southern and central Europe were brought together by radios and television sets. Communal village or family listening and watching of telecasts died out in the 1980s, when these activities became individual, even in demographically challenged rural areas. The consumer society that followed World War II provided parents with the tactic of disciplining children by denying toys or the right to watch a favorite television program. Adults set firm boundaries and rules and punished with time-outs and isolation. While more and more parents worked to survive or to achieve or maintain middle-class status, many children were on their own without parental guidance much of the time. Television became their nanny. See Also: Denmark; Dolls, Barbie and Others; Europe, 1900 to 1940; Europe, 1960 to Present; Frisbee; Germany; LEGOs. Bibliography. Duncan Chilcott and Julia Harris, eds., A Collector’s Guide to 20th-Century Toys (Wellfleet Books, 1990); Jaipaul L. Roopnarine, James Ewald Johnson, and Frank H. Hooper, Children’s Play in Diverse Cultures (SUNY Press, 1994); Lego Corporate Web site, Lego Timeline, www.lego .com (cited October 2008); Halina Pasierbska, Must-Have

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Toys: Favourites of the 20th Century (Museum of Childhood Bethnal Green, 2004); When We Were Kids, www.wwwk.co.uk (cited October 2008). Mojca Ramšak Center for Biographic Research

Europe, 1960 to Present Today, play is considered to be a key part of the daily care of infants. Current child-rearing literature emphasizes the importance of early-childhood development for achievements later in life. As a result, parents in industrialized societies often feel a real sense of urgency in stimulating their children enough, often through toys. Since the 1960s, many books have been published on infant play, most consisting of suggestions for activities and games for parents and babies, such as singing songs, making the baby laugh, offering a variety of objects for the baby to examine, and popular games. While it can be assumed that parents everywhere have entertained and interacted with their babies in similar ways, such books reflect how modern theories of child development became mainstream during the 20th century. Most recent child-rearing manuals recommend almost exactly the same types of toys for different stages of development. Mobiles, for example, are considered to be ideal toys for babies from 1 to 3 months, giving the baby a stimulating object to look at. Toys for newborn babies are designed to gently stimulate the developing senses of sight, hearing, and touch. Unbreakable crib mirrors are also very popular playthings for newborns, based on research showing that babies are most interested in faces. As the baby’s vision develops, experts suggest the introduction of objects with high-contrast colors. Floor gyms are also popular toys, giving babies something to look at and reach for before they learn to sit up (between 6 and 8 months). Throughout the first year, rattles, musical toys, soft balls, and toys are recommended to follow babies’ growing comprehension of the world around them. By the end of the first year, as infants learn to crawl and acquire more small motor skills, toys like stacking cups, plastic telephones, busy boxes, board books, blocks, and push-pull toys are considered to be more appropriate. Books for babies are

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often grouped with toys, and more and more picture book classics have been transferred to the more durable board book format. Other formats created for very young children are the bath book and the cloth book. Many of these books are nearly indistinguishable from other stuffed toys. Toy Production Lower costs and wider production of toys were facilitated by the rise of factories, which meant that basic toys were more broadly integrated into everyday life, appearing in schools, clubs, and family leisure activities. Wood gave way to synthetics, inclu