Games during the Victorian era varied based on people's
social class and age. Despite the differences, games were an important part of
most pioneer's lives, adding a bit of fun and play into an otherwise hard life.
Parlour
games were popular with both children and adults. These types of games tended to
be focused around logic and words rather than exercise. Parlour games were
particularly popular with upper to middle class people who actually had leisure
time. Despite being older games, some of these are still played today. Some
examples of these are charades, twenty questions, musical chairs, and pin the
tail on the donkey. Many more have familiar names but the actual game itself may
not be universally known. An example of this is tiddlywinks. To play, players
must use a disk to flip another smaller disk into a cup. This game got
competitive fast, and it was common for Victorian's to practice their flick
techniques in order to win the next round. Another interesting game is one
called Deerstalker. In this game one player is the "deer" and the
other is the "hunter". Both are blindfolded and positioned at
opposite ends of a large table. One of the onlookers says "Go!" and
the players begin to circle the table. The key is for both the players and the
audience to be absolutely silent. The game is over when the hunter catches the
deer.
Another
popular type of games, which were mostly played by children, were outdoor games.
Like parlour games, some of these are still played today. Some examples of these
are tug of war and hopscotch. Others have decreased in popularity but are still
very fun to play. One of these games, which we tend to play at the Village, is
Graces. Graces was originally designed in the 1830s to be played by young
ladies in order to let them exercise but in a graceful way. The game is
designed for two people with each player holding a pair of sticks and a hoop.
One player crosses their sticks and launches their hoop up into the air at
their partner. The other player tries to catch the hoop with their pair of
sticks. This game is always a hit with staff, volunteers, and visitors alike.
All of
these games were important parts of Victorian and pioneer pop culture and
helped to fill the day before the advent of radio and television. Feel free to
play these games the next time you are with a group. They are just as much fun
now as they were in the 1800s.
Hayley Nabuurs works as one of the seasonal staff interpreters at Lang Pioneer Village. She has been working at Lang for 4 years and volunteered before then.
