by Monica Hayde
Once upon a time, there was a little boy and a little girl who had no television, no video games, not even a Talking Tracy Who Cries Real Tears doll or a Mega-Motorized Action Man. They lived in a new little town called Palo Alto, where there was a nice two-room schoolhouse, horses and buggies clomping down the streets and acres and and acres of open fields all around.
So what did our young friends do to entertain themselves after a long day of reading, writing and 'rithmetic? They got barrel hoops and rolled them down the dirt streets with a good, sturdy stick. They played London Bridge Is Falling Down or Ring Around the Rosie. They blew soap bubbles out of a wire wand.
If it rained and they had to be cooped up inside, they played jacks or marbles. Maybe Blind Man's Bluff or guessing games.
There was so much for our young friends to do that they didn't even wish for a second that they could go down to the 7-Eleven and play Mortal Kombat or flip on that "Gilligan's Island" rerun where the Professor tries to build a submarine.
This Saturday, June 4, Palo Alto's Junior Museum rolls the clock back to these halcyon days, to the year of Palo Alto's incorporation, as it presents a special Centennial event: Family Games Day, 1894-Style, an entire afternoon of supervised historic games and relaxing picnicking in Rinconada Park.
Family values don't get much better than this. Especially given that the event is free. Just pack your own picnic lunch and bring a blanket.
Deborah Bartens, museum curator, got an early glimpse of kids' reactions to such diversions as "hoop and stick" when she organized a preview of Family Games Day at Palo Verde's recent Centennial celebration. Most young people still have an amazing affinity for the most basic, simple games, she says.
"Many of these games, like jump rope, are so simple, and have been around for hundreds upon hundreds of years, yet they are still popular today, despite all the computer games and everything," Bartens says. "What is interesting is that children are just flabbergasted to hear how long some of these games have been around. They all think they're brand-new. They can't conceive that someone was playing them before they were even around."
All the gadgets and gizmos available to today's children do little to encourage social interaction, Bartens says.
"Also, kids are inside all the time," she says. "There's not enough motivation for them to even go outside sometimes."
Participating children should get plenty of fresh air this Saturday as they tackle "hoop and stick" and the "game of grace," a kind of precursor to Frisbee in which children try to pass back and forth through the air two embroidery hoops, catching them on a stick.
"This game originated as a way of teaching young girls to move about more gracefully, but boys saw it and said, 'hey, that looks like fun,'" says Bartens, who has been researching turn-of-the-century games for months.
"Hoop and stick" might look simple, she says, but it actually requires a fair amount of practice.
"Some kids get it right away, but some of the younger ones are all over the place with it," she says.
Younger children can blow bubbles from a soap mixture in a huge wash basin, try their hand at croquet, marbles or jacks, or attempt one of the many parlor games that will be offered.
Non-kissing parlor games, that is.
"In many of these parlor games, children would kiss the person who won or lost, or it was often a supervised excuse for teens to kiss the person they were sweet on," Bartens explains. "It's so funny to see the reaction when you tell that to young kids today," Bartens says. "They just turn inside out."
Bartens will be in period dress on Saturday, and she encourages anyone else to do the same.
Family Games Day
Where: Palo Alto Junior Museum, 1451 Middlefield Road
When: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 4
Cost: Free
Information: 329-2111
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