Recreation

From the collection of the

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•San Francisco, California
2007

Triumphant Living

WHAT CAN BE done to make "every man a king," "every life a masterpiece"; to
help every man "to play a real and significant part in life's great game"; to
enable each youth to "sing his song" ; to make life a "glory and not a grind" ;
to bring it about that every one shall b'e "happier than the happiest of us now are,"
that "the habitual state of happiness should be greater than the happiest moments
most people have experienced."

True it is that "the most valuable thing which comes into a life is that
experience, that book, that person, that incident, that emergency, that accident, that
catastrophe — that something which touches the springs of man's inner nature and
flings open the doors of his great within, revealing its hidden resources."*

The purpose of the recreation center is life — life in all its fullness — life that runs,
that sings, that lifts, that has power, that flows back into the home, the church, the
factory and gives greater meaning to everything that happens from hour to hour and
makes even silence and rest more significant.

A recreation center that is only a recreation center is not so much — any more
than a school that is only a school. Few persons praise the old-time saloon of the
nineties and yet there were certain qualities in those saloons that the community
recreation centers of today have not yet captured — a depth of reality, genuineness,
vitality — no imitation, no phoniness. A newsboy, unsympathetic to the saloon, for
years going in and out of many of them, could not help feeling the saloon keeper's
nearness to his people, his simplicity, his understanding of men- — of their joys and their
sorrows, his natural gifts of leadership, a knowledge of life beyond the academic and
the bookish. Here, rightly or wrongly, men felt that they lived.

Some recreation centers — but only a few — have caught the best of the reality and
the vitality and the simplicity of certain of the old-time neighborhood saloons of the
nineties. There is no reason why the recreation centers of the country as a whole
should not somehow find that same vitality, that same closeness to the soil, that same
closeness to the immediate joys and sorrows of the common man. The professional
glad-hand never takes the place of sincere human interest.

Only a small percentage of men are born with the qualities that make for a good
community recreation worker, that make for leadership for happy, triumphant living.
For these few training of course is most important. Society some day will not waste
these few so gifted on jobs that are much less important than leadership for triumphant
living now.

HOWARD BRAUCHER.

* This quotation and the phrases are from "How to Get What You Want" by Orison Swett Marden, published by
Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York City.

MacMurray College Library
Jacksonville, Illinois

£• ftk Q

J a^tt.«»v'1A v "•**-» *

APRIL, 1939

Courtesy Passaic County, N. J., Park Commission

SKY DREAMS

Far from this stale city, My heart to joyous rhythm,

Among the quiet hills, There my thoughts in crystal gleams

Where brooks their songs are singing, Rise out beyond the morning

And the laurel glory thrills To the sky's highway of dreams.

— Rex M, Cate, Manhasset, N. Y.

Sunbeams

oat lights

-xV-S— J

The Design and Construction
of Playground Theaters

EVERY PLAYGROUND should provide opportunity
for creative expression through handcraft,
music and creative art. All children, and
most adults, for that matter, love to express them-
selves dramatically, and it is because of its part in
helping to satisfy this secret yearning that the
theater has become so valuable a facility in a well-
balanced playground development. The word
"theater" must not be given too literal an interpre-
tation, however, because physical and financial
barriers often demand that much be left to the
imagination.

Sunbeams for footlights, grass for the stage
floor, the sky for a canopy, and perhaps the leafy
limb of a tree for the proscenium arch — these are
nature's contributions to the theater of childhood.
It is in this secret spot, a new world of the play-
ground, that dreams become pulsating realities.
To understand children is a prerequisite to under-
standing the design of the playground theater.
Old formulas must be thrown away and we must
become as children if we are to overcome success-
fully the obstacles that confront the designer.

In the general classification of outdoor theaters,
ranging from the gigantic stadium bowl to the
simple naturalistic hillside overlooking a level
clearing in a fragrant woods, the playground
theater seems somewhat removed except when in-
troduced as a facility in some of the larger and
more extensively developed playfields. The small
playground theater differs fundamentally from
other outdoor theaters in its functional use. Here
the emphasis is placed upon the participant rather

By F. ELLWOOD ALLEN

National Recreation Association

than on the spectator. Plays are produced not so
much for the purpose of entertaining an audience
but primarily for the value of creative dramatic
expression. In the playground theater a simple
charade prepared on the spur of the moment may
constitute the dramatic high point of the day.

It is obvious that the playground theater need
not rely on elaborate settings and props for stage
effects, and as its use is confined almost entirely
to morning and afternoon hours, there is no prob-
lem of artificial lighting, for sunbeams are the
footlights.

The type of playground theater depends on a
number of factors: size and topography of the
play area; extent, size, and arrangement of other
facilities; and the need as demonstrated by the
enthusiasm and interest of the community.

The playground theater may be one of three
distinct types which, for want of a better descrip-
tion can be classified as informal, semi- formal,
and formal.

The Informal Theater. This type is recognizable
as a theater only to those who have claimed it as
such. A quiet corner of the playground, a shady
spot under a tree, or an open stretch of lawn can
easily qualify. There is no defined stage with
wings or backstage area, no space especially de-
signed for spectators. In fact, there are none of

3

SUNBEAMS FOR FOOTLIGHTS

the characteristics of a theater apparent. Yet to
the children it is their theater and to them it is
very real.

There is hardly a playground of satisfactory
size that cannot dedicate some small portion of
the area to dramatic use. It need not be used ex-
clusively for this, as this type of playground thea-
ter can be adapted to many activities and can
become a valuable contributing factor in a mul-
tiple use program. The sketch at the head of this
article illustrates a corner of a playground which
could easily be adapted for a theater of this type.
The sand box and benches in no way interfere
with the use of the area as a theater.

The Semi-formal Type. A theater of this type is
simply the expansion or building up of the in-
formal. The stage may be either clearly or only

partially defined by a low hedge, wall, or terrace.
Groupings of shrubs can be adapted as wings and
trees and shrubs provide the necessary stage back-
ground. Such a theater, when pointed out to the
uninitiated, is easily recognized, and its function
is clearly translated. The element of balance is
not necessarily applied, but balance may be present
in its occult form. The size, shape and arrange-
ment of the theater varies with the existing physi-
cal and cultural features of the playground. The
apron of the stage separates the spectators from
the actors, as in the typical theater.

The Formal Type. Here will be found all the

characteristics of the conventional theater. It is

in many ways comparable to the indoor theater in

that there is a well-defined, elevated stage, and a

(Continued on page 43)

May Day Celebrations

THE TRADITIONAL May Day
celebration is heightened
in importance year by year.
There is probably no single
holiday which arouses in chil-
dren and adults alike so keen
an appreciation for the truly
poetic, for the beautiful in na-
ture, as does May Day with its traditions and
customs perpetuating the worth of everyday liv-
ing. The traditional May Day, with its beribbon-
ed Maypoles, animated dancers, and merry song-
sters, has unusual charm and appeal whether in an
atmosphere of simplicity or in a more elaborate
setting.

May Day celebrations offer those in charge un-
limited opportunity to give full play to their
powers of imagination and their ability. The di-
rector may reveal his knowledge and skills by
successfully adapting the traditional May Day to
the theme chosen. In doing this his technical skill
in craftsmanship, stage setting, costuming, danc-
ing, singing, stunts and games is plainly displayed.
Most important of all is the demand made upon
his ability to inspire participants to such a degree
that they will lose themselves in the characters
they portray.

Outstanding festivals are the outgrowth of
careful planning and skillful direction. Continued
progress and growth call for a still greater appre-
ciation of the fundamentals which constitute a
traditionally correct May Day. Unless a May Day
celebration embodies the folk traditions and cus-
toms which are universally recognized as typical
of the welcome to spring; unless it shows an ap-
preciation for such classical
observances as the crowning
of the May Queen, proces-
sions, rituals, ceremonies,
dancing, music, singing,
games, dramatic interludes,
correct costuming, and the
winding of the Maypole, it
will not be recognized as an
authentic May Day celebra-
tion.

Program

The May Day theme, if
based upon a central story or

"I have seen the Lady of the May
Set in an Arbour (on a holiday)
Built by the May-pole, where the
Jocund swains
Dance with the Maidens
To the Bagpipe strains."

— From Browne's Pastorals.

Is it too much to hope that through May
Day observances we may recapture some-
thing of the joyous spontaneity and the
happy social intermingling which were
so large a part of life in older days?
Folk customs and festivals are as sig-
nificant today as they were in the fif-
teenth and sixteenth centuries. Let us
continue, through such festivities, to
glorify the rich heritage which has been
preserved for us. And let us make more
meaningful our everyday recreational ac-
tivities by dramatizing them in a com-
plete and beautiful festival observance.

play, gives pleasing continuity
and dramatic interest. There is
a rich store of legends and in-
formation connected with any
of the following suggested
themes and characters.

Conflict Between Winter and
Spring. Suggested characters:
Jack Frost and his Sprites, Snow Flakes, Wind,
Snow, Sunbeams, Flowers, Lady Spring and At-
tendants, Flower Girls, Garland and Basket Danc-
ers, Spirit of Spring.

Awakening of Spring. Suggested characters :
Winter, Snow Lady, Spring, Butterflies, Flowers,
Summer, Autumn.

Spring in the Garden. Suggested characters :
Snow, Rain, Weeds, Flowers, Gardeners, Birds,
Butterflies.

Spring in the Forest. Suggested characters:
Trees, Woodmen, Nymphs, Dryads, Rabbits,
Brownies, Fairies.

The Myth of Ceres and Proserpina. Suggested
characters : King Pluto, Maidens, Flowers, Villag-
ers, Phoebus and Sun God, Mercury. (Refer to
story.)

Fairy Tales such as "The Sleeping Beauty," "Snow
White," "Cinderella," etc. (Refer to stories.)

Going A-Maying in Merrie England, or Revels of
Robin Hood and His Merrie Men. Suggested char-
acters: Heralds, Trumpeters, Robin Hood and
His Merrie Men, Woodmen, Chimney Sweeps,
Jack o' the Green, Village Groups, Milkmaids,
Gypsies, Shepherdesses, Haymakers, Alan-a-Dale,
Ellen-a-Dale, Queen's Attendants, Maid Marian,
Jesters, Archers, Strolling
Players, Tumblers, Jousters,
Pyramid Builders.

May Day in Many Lands.
Folk customs, dances, music
and games of many nations
may be used.

Plays

"The Enchanted Maypole." A
pageant-play by Marion C. Hoi-
brook. Relates to the first May-
pole in America, closes with a
May Day program. Included in
Little Plays for Little People,

MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS

compiled and edited by A. P. Sanford and Robert Haven
Schauffler. Dodd, Mead and Co., 449— 4th Ave., New
York City. $2.50.

"May Treasure." A short play for children Included
in The Knight of the Funny Bone and Other Plays for
Children, by Frances Cavanah. Walter H. Baker Co.,
178 Tremont St., Boston, Mass. 60tf

"Little John and the Miller Join Robin Hood's Band,"
by Perry B. Corneau. A play in 2 scenes for 7 boys and
extras. Old Tower Press, Lockport, 111., 35^

"May Treasure." A short play for children. Included
play for the grades and junior high school. Roman
Floralia, Old English and modern May Day episodes are
included. N. R. A., 15#

"Troubadours of Provence," by Marion Holbrook. A
May Day fragment for high school or college use based
on the old Provencal custom of holding a tournament of
song each May Day. N. R. A., 100

"Pageants and Festivals Suitable for May Day Cele-
bration." This bibliography will be sent upon request by
the National Recreation Association.

Dances

May Day is a time when a variety of folk and
other dances may be used.

English Country Dances

The following are available separately for 25 ^
each from the H. W. Gray Co., Agents for No-
vello and Co., 159 East 48th St., New York City.
Dance directions and music included.

Gathering Peascods Sellinger's Round

Mage on a Cree Ruf cy Tufty

Ribbon Dance Sweet Kate

"An Introduction to the English Country
Dance," containing the description together with
the tunes of 12 dances, by Cecil J. Sharp. H. W.
Gray and Co., $2.25. Includes the following:
Sweet Kate Gathering Peascods

Rufty Tufty Mage on a Cree

English Morris Dances

The At orris Book, by Cecil J. Sharp, Herbert
C. Macilwaine and George Butterworth, in five
parts with descriptions of the dances. H. W.
Gray Co., $2.00 each part.
Part I — including:

"Bean Setting" (Stick dance)
"Country Gardens" (Handkerchief dance)
"Rigs o'Marlow" (Stick dance)
"Blue-Eyed Stranger" (Handkerchief dance)
and eleven others

Part II — including:

"Old Mother Oxford" (Jig)

"Jockie to the Fair" (Jig)

"Rodney" (Stick dance) and thirteen others

Morris Dance Tunes (music for the above
dances) collected from traditional sources and ar-
ranged with pianoforte accompaniment. H. W.
Gray Co., $1.50 each set.

Set I — including :

"Bean Setting" (Stick dance)

"Country Gardens" (Handkerchief dance)

"Rigs o'Marlow (Stick dance) and five others

Set II — including :

"Blue-Eyed Stranger" (Handkerchief dance)
and six others

Set III — including :

"Rodney" (Stick dance)

"Jockie to the Fair" (Jig)

"Old Mother Oxford" (Jig) and six others

Folk Dances

Folk Dances and Singing Games, by Elizabeth Burcli-
enal. A revised collection of 26 folk dances of Norway,
Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Bohemia, Hungary, Italy,
England, Scotland and Ireland. Music, full directions and
numerous illustrations are given. A number of dances
have been incorporated which did not appear in the origi-
nal volume. G. Schirmer, Inc., 3 East 43rd St., New
York City. Board, $1.25 ; Cloth, $2.75.

Folk Dances from Old Homelands, by Elizabeth
Burchenal. Music and detailed descriptions of 33 folk
dances from Belgium, Czecho- Slovakia, Denmark, Eng-
land, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania,
Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and the United
States. G. Schirmer, Inc. $1.50

Proof of a Revised Edition of "Good Morning," by
Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford. Comprehensive collection of
plain quadrilles, contra-dances, lancers, minuets, reels,
schottisches and round dances. Steps and calls are given
and music for each type. Dearborn Publishing Co.,
Dearborn, Michigan. 15#

Maypole Dances

Second Folk Dance Book, by C. Ward Crampton. A.
S. Barnes and Co., 67 West 44th St., New York City.
$2.40. Collection of 32 new folk dances with music and
descriptions. Includes Swiss May Dance, Maypole Dance,
and Cornish May Dance.

Popular Folk Games and Dances, by Mari R. Hofer.
A. Flanagan Co., 920 North Franklin St., Chicago, 111.
75^. Contains 54 games and dances of different nations
with music, words and instructions. Includes : Swiss
May Dance and the Cornish May Dance.

Dances Suitable for Court Attendants
or Flower Groups

"Dance of Greeting" included in Twice 55 Games With
Music, C. C. Birchard and Co., 221 Columbus Ave., Bos-
ton, Mass. Edition with melody and words, 25^ ; com-
plete edition (piano accompaniment only), 75tf.

"Hunsdon House." Dance directions and music avail-
able from H. W. Gray Co. 25tf.

MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS

Co:tr:csy Department of Playground and Rccrcati'ii, Los Angeles

Processional

March of the Priests — Mendelssohn
Coronation March — Meyerbeer

Singing Games

The singing game is one of the earliest forms
of recreation and may well be included in the May
Day program. Children in the audience may be
invited to participate informally in these. One
might use such games as "Rabbit in the Hollow,"
"Ride a Cock Horse," "Shoemaker's Dance,"
"Farmer in the Dell," "Did You Ever See a Las-
sie," "Here We Come Gathering Nuts in May"
and others.

References:

Tzvice 55 Games With Music. C. C. Birchard and Co.
Edition with melody and words, 25tf; complete edition
(piano accompaniment only) 75^.

Folk Dances and Singing Games, by Elizabeth Burch-
enal. G. Schirmer, Inc. Board, $1.25 ; Cloth, $2.75.

Children's Old and Nezv Singing Games, by Mari R.
Hofer. A. Flanagan Co. 50^.

Songs

Songs of May Day are legion, and there are
many fragmentary snatches of popular old songs

which are very appropriate. The list which fol-
lows is merely suggestive :

Come to the Fair

Galway Piper

Selections from Robin Hood

Fairy Song from "Midsummer Night's Dream," etc.

From the National Recreation Association you
may obtain upon request a bulletin entitled, "Now
Is the Month of Maying," which lists a number of
spring and summer songs.

Other References

Hcigh-Ho for a Merry Spring. Includes complete
plans for a simple spring festival. N. R. A., 15tf. (Also
appeared in RECREATION Magazine, April 1935)

The Festival Book, by Jennette C. Lincoln. Contains
information as to early May Day customs, Maypole
dances with the use of streamers, selected national folk
c'ances adapted for Maypole festivals, suggestions as to
accessories and costumes appropriate for such pageantry,
as well as complete details for a pageant. In addition it
has a section which would be helpful in regard to events
which lead up to the crowning of the May Queen, the
Pageant March, the Queen's Dance, the Wreath Dance,
etc. A. S. Barnes and Co. $2.40.

Bibliography on Dancing and Singing Games. N. R. A.
10*.

8

MAY DAY CELEBRATIONS

Building the Program

Careful planning in building a truly beautiful
May Day program is essential. In building the
program, interest must first be aroused. This may
be accomplished by poster pictures suggestive of
the chosen May Day theme. Neighborhood libra-
ries will gladly cooperate by displaying a few appro-
priate books in conspicuous places. These books
should be descriptive of May Day customs, Robin
Hood stories, nature myths, and tales of Spring.

May Day stories told during the story hour will
further stimulate interest in the May Day. The
children and adult participants should be told that
the May Day observance is an ancient, world-wide
rite, and not an interest peculiar to a few people.
When children are participating in singing games,
those typical of the May should be chosen during
this period.

Greater excellence of performance will inevit-
ably result from careful application of the fol-
lowing suggestions :

Greater spirit and interest will be given the
program when entering groups remain to welcome
and applaud succeeding participants. This helps
to achieve an atmosphere of traditional revelry in
the celebration of the May. Mass effects heighten
the program.

Group singing as the May Queen is crowned
gives greater meaning to this important ceremony.
This also enables every participant to share in the
honors bestowed upon the Queen.

Pleasing color schemes may be effected with
colored crepe paper accessories.

Each participant should be effectively garbed,
and care should be taken to fit the costume to the
wearer. An adult should be made responsible for
the fitting of costumes. Bodices should cover the
top of skirt; correct and uniform hem lines are
important; decision should be made beforehand
just how many inches each costume should be
from the floor. It is advisable in many instances for
a participant to take his costume home the night
before the performance for correct adjustment.

When a play is used in the May Day, the speak-
ing characters should come close enough to the
audience to be heard. However, dancing groups
should be placed far enough back
for good perspective.

A floral bower for the May
Queen is much more effective
than a plain throne chair.

Smoothness is one of the prime

Much of this material has been
taken from information issued
in bulletin form by the Depart-
ment of Playground and Recrea-
tion, Los Angeles, California.

essentials in giving character to the performance.
This fundamental festival technique should be in-
creasingly adhered to, for any stops or breaks in
a festival program are disastrous.

An English May Day

To make these suggestions more practical, an
outline is given for an English May Day, "May
Day Revel on Nottingham Green," an adaptation
by Minnette Brodke Spector, Supervisor, Depart-
ment of Playground and Recreation, Los Angeles,
California. This festival, based upon the tradi-
tional Robin Hood story, is divided into three
episodes. As a prelude, selections from De Koven's
"Robin Hood" may be played, followed by a
flower dance to the accompaniment of Scott's
"Dance Negre." Group leaves the stage at com-
pletion of the dance.

At the beginning of each episode, a Herald, an-
nounced by two trumpeters, relates to the audi-
ence in a few lines, the action about to take place :
" 'Tis Sherwood Forest you now shall see,
In days of ancient chivalry ;
Before you here shall live again
Bold Robin Hood and his Merry Men."

Episode I — Sherwood Forest. The scene of the
first episode is in Sherwood Forest. As German's
"Nell Gwynn" is being played, milkmaids, shep-
herds, and haymakers pass to their work on the
outskirts of Nottingham. Robin Hood and his
Merry Men enter, as Alan-a-Dale summons them
with his hunting horn. As they proceed into the
forest, they frolic and sing "A Hunting We Will
Go" by Buccolossi.

Episode II — Nottingham Fair. After the Her-
ald announces the change of scene from Sherwood
Forest to the Nottingham Fair, merchants enter
and arrange their wares in various stalls which
have been set up as part of the scenery.

As music of "Woodland Whispers" by Czibulka
is played, a pleasing atmosphere is created as
groups of haymakers, shepherds, and milkmaids
pass to and fro. The villagers then enter spirit-
edly, led by the Burgomaster singing Martin's
"Heigh-ho ! Come to the Fair." During the sing-
ing the revellers enter, and upon completion of
song they beckon the villagers and all to join in
"Sellinger's Round." When the
dance is finished, all sing "Twick-
enham Ferry" by Maizails. A cry
for another dance follows the
song and all dance "Sweet
Kate."

(Continued on page 44)

Science
I ndoors

and

Out

By

H. HENRY PLATT

HOW A FOREST

PREVENTS EROSION

Elizabeth Peabody
House in Boston be-
lieves that children
should have the op-
portunity to experi-
ment, to explore
and to carry on sci-
entific research

WAI/T WHITMAN has told us, "The truths of
the earth continually await." We know that
they await children everywhere. Our chal-
lenge is to help boys and girls to find them, to
give them greater opportunities to discovei
things for themselves, to get them acquainted
with the out-of-doors, to show them how
things grow, and how to become aware of the
wonders of the world; in short, to experience
nature at first hand.

At Elizabeth Peabody House in Boston, we
have discovered that children from seven to
fourteen years old are especially eager for op-
portunities to handle, experiment and discover
things for themselves through science. In
small groups of eight to ten, under the leader-
ship of volunteers from colleges and industry,
we are offering them such opportunities. But
we always have more eager applicants than
our groups or equipment can care for.

In the crowded West End of Boston where
ihis settlement house is located, housing is a
serious problem. Many children have no play-
ground but the gutter. There is little room at
home. The street is the natural meeting place.
Even in better neighborhoods and bigger homes
children are often sent out of doors to play
because their parents can't be bothered with
their questions or can't answer them. So the
Science Department at Peabody House pro-
vides one answer for the eager questions of the
under-privileged child and an opportunity to
do many things.

Because the children so
eagerly desire to partici-
pate in such activities, the
work of the science clubs
seems important to us.
This is especially true when

Mr. Platt, who is director of the Sci-
ence Department of Elizabeth Peabody
House, presented this paper at the Nat-
ural Science Section of the Outdoor Rec-
reation Conference held at the Massachu-
setts State College on March 12, 1939.

we consider that many schools do not offer science
courses in elementary or junior high school grades.
In the Boston public schools, science is not offered
until the seventh or eighth grades. In the
ninth grade it is an elective. If a pupil is
taking a college course, he usually takes
ancient history instead. In the high schools
science courses usually do not begin until the
junior year. In some such courses there is
little or no laboratory work, in which case the
teacher performs the experiments and the
pupils copy the facts into their notebooks.

About a hundred and fifty children take part
in the science activities at Elizabeth Peabody
House. It is our concern not only that these
children shall become acquainted with nature
and develop scientific interests, but that
through these avenues they shall develop good
habits for work and study. After experiment-
ing for more than twelve years with our science
program, we believe it has demonstrated that
science teaching gives valuable preparation for
life and citizenship. We are ambitious to see
similar science clubs and related out-of-door
projects developed until they can reach the
thousands of children, not only in the West
End but in all of greater Boston.

In our Science Department general sciences
are the basis of all our club work, including
nature study, astronomy, aircraft, photography,
chemistry, physics, biology, and the "science
of common things." All these open exploratory
paths for the under-privi-
leged city child from seven
to eighteen. We respect the
value of the science instruc-
tion in the schools and the
groundwork which it pro-
vides, but we feel that there

10

SCIENCE INDOORS AND OUT

is still a large opportunity to be helpful to these
children in the out-of -school hours.

We try to make it an adventure. A phil-
osophy of wonder governs all our science
work. We lead the child into the adventure
of discovery and the even greater adventure of
building his discoveries into a fabric of fact.
We want to use the natural curiosity of child-
hood and to stimulate that quality in those
who may seem at first to have but little of it.
For why should a boy wait for college to raise
tadpoles from frog's eggs, or to study plant
molds, or scoop specimens from a pond? Why
shouldn't he learn to know a flower by its leaf,
an animal by its tracks, a tree by its bark?
Our youngsters have been eager to know the
whys of growing things ; to find out not only
how a machine runs, but why. They are in-
terested in the stars, and eager to find and see
the hidden beauties of the world.

Elizabeth Peabody House has always sought
to make the most of its community resources,
and has been interested in more extended use
of the Metropolitan Park system for citizens,
and especially for children. But transportation
and leaders make getting these children out on
Saturdays, Sundays, and after school some-
thing of a problem. Fortunately, the Middle-
sex Fells is near at hand. There a child may
tramp for miles without hearing even the honk
of an automobile. And there is also the Blue
Hills Reservation and the nearby seashore.
Once there, children may enjoy themselves to
their hearts' content.

Our science program is carried on through-
out the year, for the environs of Boston afford
facilities for studying forestry and geology,
and for collecting specimens. In the summer,
much of our science work has been done at
our camp in Sharon, Camp Gannet; only
twenty-five miles from Boston. Its location is
ideal for nature hikes, exploration, and the
collection and preparation of nature specimens.

A Camp Museum

Until the hurricane leveled it, we had a
museum at camp. There the science work was
planned in summer, although the program was
carried on out of doors. But it provided a
headquarters and a clearing house for projects
and a center of activity. It was an old building
with an air of mystery about it — a former
garage, rebuilt, painted and transformed by the
campers themselves. There were two rooms

with screened windows on all sides. The
rooms were carefully dusted and cared for by
the museum "curators," appointed to such
posts of honor by the campers because of
scientific knowledge. The larger room was
used as an exhibition hall, the smaller for the
biological laboratory. All equipment, shelves
and exhibit cases, were built by the children
from scrap lumber and chicken wire.

Picture a group of boys taking turns in
carrying in a pail full of interesting things for
display; or a proud camper, exhibiting to his
family on visitors' day the leaf prints which he
had made, or his rock collection, or the camp
curiosity corner and charts explaining the
growth of trees, or the thousand and one things
to be seen.

The camp museum was an open book, ex-
hibiting the wonders of natural science as
they revealed themselves to children. Exhibits
varied from time to time and might include
anything from leaf prints to exhibits of the
life cycle of an insect, or studies of soil con-
servation and erosion control. The biological
laboratory facilitated the study of the develop-
ment of fish and frog eggs and such micro-
scopic organisms as could be found in fresh
water pools, and was the center for preparation
and construction of museum exhibits. The boys
also built a turtle pond and a rock aquarium to
house specimens.

And a Nature Trail as Well

One of their most interesting projects was
the nature trail. There the campers learned to
study "nature in the raw," and many fas-
cinating experiences? were theirs. They
learned not only how things look, but how
they smell and taste and sound. Cleverly
written little waterproof tags, placed near
things to be observed, marked the trail and
lured one on. First came a bird sanctuary
started by campers. Then a termite colony,
with headquarters in an old tree stump. One
division of the trail leads to the beach, where
swamp life might be studied in a nearby pond.
Along the trail were challenging charts and
questions. And at the end of the trail stood
the museum.

Nature Instruction Programs

Correlating the indoor and outdoor aspects
of the program are the nature instruction pro-

SCIENCE INDOORS AND OUT

11

grams. These include studies of birds, flowers,
trees, insects, rocks, stars, aquatic life and
animal life. The textbook is nature itself, with
the camp library for reference. Collections are
made for the museum. Work is done on the
nature trail. Nature handcraft is thoroughly
enjoyed, particularly by the younger children,
who make smoke prints of leaves to take home.
An outstanding contribution of the forestry
class was the construction of an Indian village.
Some years ago a small piece of land was re-
forested by the children and an Indian village
was built of the salvaged trees. It consists of
a small clearing in the woods with four leans-
to, a council ring, flag pole, and a small place
for outdoor cooking. The village has been used
for overnight camping parties and for classes
in pioneering. During the season when girls
are at Camp Gannett, the village is used for
sleeping quarters for boys. The village pro-
vides for them a suggestive illustration of the
values of pioneer organization and the princi-
ples of forestry and woodcraft.

Projects which include research and special
work by the children stimulate competition
and give opportunity for the recognition of
achievement. The child receives a mimeographed
certificate signifying that he has become a junior
forester, a naturalist, a biologist, according to his
accomplishment, and is given a special place at
council fire ceremonies. The children work hard
for such recognition and receive their certificates
with great enthusiasm and appreciation.
For children who

do not stay for

long periods at

Camp Gannett,

there is a special

all-day and over-
night program.

Such children are

taken almost daily

to camp from Bos-

ton in small

groups. They

sleep in the In-
dian Village, if

they remain over-
night, and do their

own cooking.

Every moment of

their stay at camp

is full of interest

for them.

During spring vacation, nature institutes
are held at the camp, and science clubs are
brought out from Boston- for special programs
such as tree study, or the collection and sup-
pression of insect pests. These programs have
interesting speakers and are illustrated by
movies.

Indoor Science Clubs

From the beginning it was felt that a
properly handled science program should be a
year-round one. Such a program can be ex-
ceedingly helpful in aiding the child with his
school work. Geography, history, painting,
drawing, reading and many other activities
which were formerly considered dull tasks
often take on new interest through the light
which a science program can shed upon them.
Although in summer the program is properly
almost entirly an out-of-doors one, it is natural
when school begins in the fall to continue the
program in Elizabeth Peabody House.

The dream of many a boy is a complete
laboratory of his own where he can experiment
and discover things. To many children who
participate in our science activities, this dream
becomes a reality. Our equipment is not
elaborate. Most of it was donated by interested
individuals and institutions. We do, however,

Members of the Science Department of Elizabeth
Peabody House preparing their exhibits for the
Fifth Annual Science Fair held last February

12

SCIENCE INDOORS AND OUT

have a room equipped with laboratory tables
and gas and running water, as well as a small
dark room for photography. Lack of equip-
ment has made adequate apparatus and suffi-
cient supplies a challenge in themselves. With
the help of an art instructor, test tube racks
have been made from old plywood. Glue bottles
were turned into alcohol lamps. And from time
to time discarded materials have been donated
from college laboratories, often bringing with
them the active interest of the donating pro-
fessors.

It is easier for a settlement to get volunteer
leaders for science groups than for other types
of work. For this reason a varied program can
be offered. By using the particular interest of
the child possibly photography or chemistry —
and limiting membership in a club to ten, the
initial interest can be widened to include an al-
most limitless range of supplemental activities
in such fields as aircraft, biology, and many
others. One group may want to prepare news-
paper, another to broadcast a radio sketch,
and there is a steady growth of interest.

Our various science clubs begin to work with
boys and girls as young as seven, and some
members of our groups are as old as eighteen
or twenty. The activities include experimenta-
tion, popular science talks and demonstrations,
trips to industrial plants or museums, radio
broadcasts, publication of science news, and
•opportunities for members to get practical ex-
perience in the application of science to their
every day lives. The clubs meet once a week
for discussion and laboratory work. The
children study and experiment at home. In
addition, there are special meetings which
supplement this program.

Annual Science Fair

Each child is encouraged to tackle a prob-
lem and continue research in it until he has
found the solution. Once a year the work of
the individual and of the clubs crystalizes at
the Annual Science Fair with its exhibits and
demonstrations. The clubs choose their own
subjects, and the individual members of the
group work on research projects, helped by the
club leaders who act in an advisory capacity.

The Annual Science Fair usually presents
exhibits prepared by about 150 boys and girls.
These are not ordinary, "dead" exhibits. Every
exhibitor is on hand to demonstrate and ex-

plain the results of his research. Numerous
industrial, educational, and scientific concerns
cooperate with advice and technical assistance.
The projects presented are important com-
mercially, or in their presentation of scientific
information.

Last year about 2,500 people attended the
Science Fair in the four hours that it was open
to the general public. News of the fairs is
covered by the leading press and radio
agencies. Some of the Science Fair exhibits,
such as the chemical man which was exhibited
two years ago, attracted widespread attention
both on the radio and through the press. The
exhibits are of value not only to their makers
but to parents and the general public. They
give the children an opportunity to interpret
what science means to them, and what can be
done by such clubs. They give the individual
child a sense of achievement in the application
of what he has learned.

A Group Enterprise

The aim of our program has been group
enterprise, carried on by the individual mem-
bers of the group under the leader's guidance.
The scientific problem selected must be such
that it can be divided among the individuals
and then worked out in group experience.

Take, for instance, the problem of oxygen
and its relation to daily life. Members set out
to find out what oxygen is, where it is found,
its manifold uses, and then to relate these facts
to their daily experience. Centering all activi-
ties of the group around one such problem at
a time, the work proceeds through planned ex-
periments, demonstrations, notebooks, editing
a science journal, collection of specimens, and
the planning of exhibits. All these train the
hands, eyes and minds of the boys. Concerning
the problem, we ask — What are you trying
to find out? What are you going to use? What
did you particularly observe? What are your
conclusions? How do they apply to everyday
life? And on these questions we base our out-
line for experiments.

Last year and the year before, the General
Electric Company invited one of our outstand-
ing boys to go to Schenectady, New York, as
the company's guest at its laboratories to par-
ticipate in a non-commercial radio program
called "Excursions in Science." In 1937, the
(Continued on page 47)

Leadership, Organization and Program Making

m

Boys' Club

A few suggestions
for democratic pro-
cedure in the boys'
club program

Courtesy Iowa WPA

INCREASINGLY leaders of youth are coming to
believe that the most effective results in youth
development are obtained not through direct
verbal instruction, but rather within a favorable,
stimulating and happy environment containing the
right living relationships and large opportunities
for engaging in interesting, worthwhile activities
of varied kinds.

The following suggestions are designed pri-
marily to be of help to those leaders who are con-
cerned with questions of recreational leadership,
organization, and program-making in boys' club
groups. Many of the principles and procedures
recommended, however, will apply equally well to
girls' clubs.

General Observations and Principles
In work with recreational groups and clubs an
informal, friendly, democratic atmosphere should
be maintained in which unnecessary institutional
restrictions and controls are absent.

Basic to effective work is an adult leadership
with the disposition and capacity to respect the
individuality of each member of the group, and
possessing insight into youth nature and needs,
understanding of democratic procedures, and
broad social and cultural equipment and vision.

Not only must the environment be informal,
friendly, and democratic, but also rich in stimula-

tion to enjoyable and creative participation and
expression.

If richness of experience is to be made possi-
ble, a plan must be developed that encourages the
expression of individual interests and abilities on
the part of the members. The fullest recreational
expression of the members is the aim, and not the
execution of some ready-made program.

Full freedom must be provided for members of
the group to make and execute plans on their own
level of interest, need, and ability, and at their
own pace.

Since the individual is the focus of concern,
each member should have a sense of being im-
portant and of having status in the club. The
sense of "at-homeness" and of "belonging" is one
of very strong force in work with boys of club age.

All members should share in the obligations as
well as the privileges of the club. Responsibility
and self-direction are essentials in democratic citi-
zenship and are learned through acceptance of re-
sponsibility and of the consequences of one's own
acts or the acts of his group.

Potentially, the program of the club is as broad
as the total range of experiences and relationships
that grow out of the common interests and activi-
ties of the members of the group. Actually, the
program of the club will and should be limited by
factors of time, the nature of the sponsoring

13

14

IN BOYS' CLUB GROUPS

agency, aptitudes and interests of the leader, and
the adequacy of physical facilities.

It should be kept in mind at all times that the
individual boy, with his distinctive needs, differ-
ences, and interests, is our constant and dominant
concern, and not the promotion of any particular
organizational scheme, or any particular set of ac-
tivities, or the realization of any preconceived
skills or points of view. The leader is interested
in activities, of course, but chiefly to the extent
that they conform to individual and group inter-
ests and needs.

Leadership .

In club work, as in any work involving human
relationships, leadership is the key factor. Any
person who assumes responsibility for the group
experience of boys in their leisure time is assum-
ing a task of tremendous proportions. Let no one
take the responsibility lightly; the human values
involved are too important. Consider the follow-
ing suggestions regarding leadership.

The leader should be emotionally mature. This
is utterly essential to proper leadership. What-
ever the nature or purpose of the club, the lead-
er's personality will have its influence on the boys.
Emotional immaturity unfits the leader for doing
the best job possible.

The leader should be interested in seeing boys
grow as happy, constructive, self-responsible
citizens.

The leader should be committed to the demo-
cratic respect for personality, and should know
and practice the techniques of democratic pro-
cedure at all times.

The leader should be equipped with patience
and a large sense of humor. Human growth is a
slow process.

The leader must always be honest and depend-
able in all his dealings with the group. If a leader
thinks he can deceive a group of boys regarding
his motives and desires, he deceives only himself.

The leader is both counselor and "pal." He
must, therefore, maintain a certain dignity with-
out becoming stilted and grave in his manner, and
must maintain the natural relationship of friend
without becoming sentimental in manner.

The leader should understand "boy psychol-
ogy." He should understand and have respect for
the longings, ambitions, interests, desires, urges,
and problems of boys of club age. Without this
understanding and respect he cannot ever guide

the recreational experiences of his boys as he
should.

It is not enough that a leader should under-
stand "boy psychology" in general. He should
know each boy in his group — his interests, capaci-
ties, problems, and needs. Among other things
this means an understanding of the social forces
in the community which are 'affecting the boy's
life for good or for bad. For example, if it is at
all possible, it is wise for the leader to become ac-
quainted with the home life of each boy. He
should also know the several organizations to
which the boys belong and what the several social
agencies are doing which are trying to serve the
boys' leisure time needs.

The leader should be attractive in personal ap-
pearance, fair and open-minded in all his behavior,
and versatile in his ability to follow out interests
which develop in his group.

The leader should be an active citizen in his
community, fully alive physically, enjoy social re-
lationships, and be a constant student of current
social thought and movement. Boys' club work,
it must be kept in mind constantly, is much more
than a matter of amusing boys. It is a matter of
helping them to become capable of increasingly
more complete living. The leader, therefore, must
be growing constantly in the completeness of his
own life — physically, morally, spiritually, socially.

Organizing a Club

One of the most basic things to keep in mind in
connection with the question of organization is
this — there is no one fundamentally sound basis
upon ivhich all types of groups should be organ-
ized. In previous suggestions it has been urged
that the individual is the focus of concern and
that the "club process" is simply an effective
means for contributing to the individual in terms
of his recreational interests, capacities, and needs.
If this is our point of view, then it seems clear
that the form an organization assumes should be
suited to the peculiar purposes which are to be
realized by the group. Thus Club A and Club B
may have different forms of organization because
of the different purposes of the two groups.
Furthermore, form of organization assumed by
Club A may change from time to time as Club
A changes its purposes. In short, organization
should always be secondary to purpose; it is a
means, not an end.

IN BOYS' CLUB GROUPS

15

Present practice in connection with organization
is extremely varied. For example, one leader may
rush into the task of organizing his club the first
time he meets them. He attempts to place upon
them some type of standard ready-made organiza-
tion machinery. This leader is at one extreme of
the organization scale. At the other extreme is the
leader who allows the purpose and the activity of
the group to determine its organization.

Let us look briefly at certain types of groups as
they relate to leadership and organization.

There is the club which is discovered after it is
already formed, in which some natural motiva-
tion has brought the boys together and created the
group consciousness. This group may be ade-
quately unified from the start, knowing what it
wants, and proceeding to put its wishes into prac-
tice. This club will require little direction from
the leader during the first few meetings. His con-
cern should be to suggest such organizational
machinery as will protect the original interests of
the members, preserve their initiative and self-
dependence, and give encouragement to further
group effort and to the broadening of purpose.

There is the club which is already formed when
the leader comes to it, but which is wandering
about both in its purpose and program. In such a
situation the boys need the leader's help in clari-
fying their ideas and pur-
poses. Organization of such

Whenever possible, the program of the
boys' club will include winter sports

quantity and type will be needed as will clearly
develop the club purpose, make easy the carrying
through of club efforts to successful conclusion,
place upon each member responsibility which he is
capable of achieving, and expand the satisfactions
of each member of the group.

There is the group which is yet unformed when
the leader comes to it. It may be a neighborhood
group of boys which a leader desires to organize
into a club. It may be a group of boys in a
church or in neighboring churches. It may be a
group of boys with one or more common interests
in a community center. In any event, the leader
and the boys must make clear to themselves the
interests and purposes that animate them and
must devise such organizational machinery as will
make the club an effective vehicle for the expres-
sion of their interests, and as will stimulate the
club to broaden and enlarge its interests. At no
point in the planning of the organization is the
leader justified in forcing his ideas and plans upon
the club. He must endeavor to sense the latent
interests of the group and its capacities and sug-
gest organization procedures and program activi-
ties in line with them.

In making plans for the organization of any
new group, it should be kept in mind that before
persons of any age act in accordance with a plan,
they must be ready to act.
There are two very good rea-

Courtcsv Reading, Pa., Department of Public Playgrounds and Recreation

16

IN BOYS' CLUB GROUPS

sons why a leader who tries to "put over" on a
club his own objectives and program has not
adopted the best procedure: (i) To the extent
that the leader has prepared group opinion in ad-
vance so that the members are in readiness for his
suggestions, to that extent will the conditions be
favorable for success. If readiness is not created,
the program or policy proposals of the leader
start under a definite handicap and each step that
follows in the development of the leader's plans
may easily develop hostility. (2) The chief argu-
ment against the attempt of the leader to "put
over" his own created plan, even if the group
should be receptive, is that through this procedure
the boys are being denied the opportunity to know
the joys of choosing, planning, and creating. We
learn initiative by being given the opportunity to
initiate. If we are concerned with producing boys
who know how to develop intelligent and respon-
sible plans and purposes, we must give them this
opportunity in their club work. If a leader would
maintain the interest of his boys on an ever in-
creasing basis, he should so guide a project or
activity or plan that the boys share experience
with him and with each other at all stages of the
development of the project.

The Mechanics of Club Organization. In line
with the foregoing discussion, it is obvious that
the first meeting of the group should be directed
by the club leader, not for the purpose of "sell-
ing" some pre-arranged scheme of his own, but to
guide the group in frank discussion of the aims
and purposes of the club. The purpose of this
first meeting is as much to get acquainted as it is
to discuss details of organization and objectives.
Even if the members are "in readiness" to pro-
ceed with haste, it is wise for the leader to "slow
down" the proceedings so that interests and pur-
poses are clearly defined. The leader is concerned
with developing a large amount of enthusiasm in
the first meeting, but growing, cumulative interest
is to be preferred to high enthusiasm of a super-
ficial nature which is not based on full under-
standing of and loyalty to the interests then ani-
mating the members.

Such matters as choice of a club name, emblem,
colors, slogan, password, code, initiation ritual,
membership, relations between the leader and the
club, meeting place, writing of constitution, elec-
tion of officers, may be discussed in an informal
manner without any motions or resolutions being
passed. If, however, a number of these matters
have been discussed among the members prior to

the meeting to such an extent that they are defi-
nite as to what they want, positive action may be
taken at the first meeting.

Whatever the content of the discussions, they
should be as informal as possible. If the group
is too large to conduct a free round table discus-
sion, it may be wise to adopt some form of par-
liamentary procedure even at this first meeting.

The meeting should not end without the desig-
nation by the group of a temporary chairman and
secretary to function until a more permanent form
of organization has been set up. A constitutional
committee (three or five members) may be ap-
pointed or elected to draw up a constitution which
will be presented to the group at its next meeting.
The time and place of the next meeting should be
determined. (See a later paragraph for sugges-
tions regarding club headquarters.) Dues or an
assessment may be collected in order to cover im-
mediate expenses.

Again, it should be emphasized that the details
of organization mechanics should be developed as
the club functions and modified as the program
grows and changes. Such organization features as
colors, emblem, slogan, pass-word, code, and ini-
tiation ritual may be entirely out of harmony with
the interests and purposes which the club pro-
gram will carry out. Whatever the club aims may
be the organization should be devised to fit these
aims, and should be so flexible as to permit modi-
fication as club aims change.

Adoption of a Constitution. It is well for the
leader to work with the constitutional committee
in an advisory capacity during the drawing up of
the club constitution. By all means avoid making
the discussion and adoption of the constitution a
tedious and interest-killing task. Depending upon
the experience of the boys, the length of the con-
stitution, and the number of debatable provisions
in the constitution, it may be wise to consider
only portions of the constitution at any one meet-
ing. Whatever the final procedure decided upon,
do not let discussions of mechanics interfere with
the development of interest in worthwhile club
activities.

The following outline is suggested as a basis
for a constitution which can be used by most
clubs. It can be simplified or enlarged in terms of
the interests and purposes of the club members.

Outline of the Constitution

Preamble. The preamble states the ideals and purposes
of the organization in general terms.

IN BOYS' CLUB GROUPS

17

Article 1. Name of organi-
zation.

Article 2. Purpose. (If a
preamble is not used, the pur-
pose of the group can be
stated at this point.)

Article 3. A. Grounds for
admission of new members.

B. Membership quota (if
any).

c. Method of application and
admission of new members.

Article 4. Meetings and
quorum.

A. Time and place of regu-
lar meetings.

B. Order of business (at reg-
ular meetings).

c. Provisions for calling of
special meetings.

D. Number constituting
quorum.

Article 5. A. Elective officers.

B. The terms of these officers.

c. Method of election.

Article 6. Duties and powers of each officer.

Article 7. Committees : A. Standing committees, ap-
pointed or elected, and terms of these committees.

B. Duties and powers of each standing committee.

c. Special committees.

Article 8. A. Minor officers (such as captains, editors,
etc.).

B. Terms of office, and appointment or election.

c. Duties and powers of each of these officers.

Article 9. A. Method of drawing up budget.

B. Authorization and procedure in payment of bills.

Article 10. A. Method of replacement of vacancies in
elective offices.

B. Method of impeachment of elective officers.

Article 11. Rules of parliamentary law. (Designation
of authorities to be followed.)

Article 12. Method of amendment of constitution.

The foregoing outline may be modified in any
way that the group sees fit. A number of the
articles may be made into by-laws if the group so
chooses. The form of the constitution is not
highly important. The main point is to secure a
practical working document which expresses the
mind of the club members and is sufficiently flexi-
ble to fit changing purposes and activities.

Order of Business. Although it is not necessary
for a club to adopt a regular order of business,
experience has proved that the following of reg-
ular business procedure is in many cases a saver
of time and effort. In most cases a regular order
of procedure will involve : roll call, reading of
minutes, recognition of bills and communications,
report of standing committees, report of special

There is never-failing interest for
boys in model airplane construction

committees, unfinished business, new business,
and the planned program for that meeting. This
or any other particular order of business may be
suspended at the suggestion of the leader and the
vote of the members. The reason for wanting to
change order might be a planned special program
which would consume all of the time available for
the meeting, the absence of members who are in-
terested in certain business, the fact that few are
present when an important matter is due for con-
sideration, or some similar reason.

Group Headquarters. The meeting room in
which the boys have their headquarters and the
buildings in which their work is carried on are
important elements in the effectiveness and worth
of the club program. The headquarters and work
and play rooms can be so designed as to stimu-
late activity and to develop new interests. Mem-
bers of a club should be able to feel as much at
ease in their meeting room as they would in a
vacant lot or in their own homes. We have earlier
pointed out that the feeling of belonging, of "at
homeness," is an important factor in boy develop-
ment. The headquarters room should be simply
furnished, with sturdy material, and clean. If it
can be arranged, it is desirable that the boys fur-
nish the room themselves in accordance with their
own wishes. Meeting rooms in modern commu-
nity centers, schools, or churches, which must be

18

IN BOYS' CLUB GROUPS

shared by several groups, can be so arranged that
groups of approximately the same age can share
the same rooms and facilities and have easy con-
tact with each other. Where it is necessary to use
a school classroom as headquarters, the leaders
must take responsibility for leaving the room neat
and orderly at the close of the meeting. Pen-
nants, banners, posters, and other decorations
and equipment should be removed in order that
the room can be used for class purposes the
following day.

Discipline. Interest and environment, including
group morale and opinion, should be utilized in
controlling behavior, rather than direct disciplinary
control and authority. When boys are interest-
ingly and happily occupied, when quarters are at-
tractive and roomy, when there is democratic co-
operation in planning and carrying out policies
and activities, there is little likelihood of what is
generally called misconduct.
A membership that has been
guided in assuming real re-
sponsibility and in func-
tioning creatively will de-
develop good group morale
and standards and will only
rarely require the direct ex-
ertion of adult authority.
In no event should the
leader attempt to superim-
pose upon the group his
own "code of behavior."

Pledges to abide by codes or laws, even when
voted by the group, are not desirable features of
a club program. When confronted with a situa-
tion of misconduct or failure to adjust properly,
the leader and those members of the group not
involved in the situation should study carefully
the underlying individual difficulties and attempt
their correction rather than resort to punishment.
This procedure is not as simple as the exertion
of direct adult or group authority, but it secures
infinitely better results in terms of "boy develop-
ment."

Records. Within the life-history of any club it
is always possible that there will be a change in
adult leadership. To the end that the new leader
may become acquainted with the problems and
achievements of the club and its several individual
members, it is wise for the leader to keep a per-
sonal record covering a number of informational
items. For example, this record should contain a
description of the original formation of the group,

"Everyone is interested in the boy. He is
one of the most fascinating, baffling, in-
triguing problems in our civilization. Noth-
ing is wrong with him. He just doesn't fit
into life as we have organized it today. He
needs the out-of-doors and we often coop
him up in a city. His abounding energy
calls for a forty-acre field, and we confine
him in city streets and tenements. His un-
conscious protest we label cussedness, and
his uncontrollable urge for fun we adults
call lawlessness." — R. K. Atkinson.

its achievements, and its changing interests and
activities. It should also contain information re-
garding the relationships of each member in the
group, and general information regarding his
home and neighborhood relationships. In short,
the leader should preserve for his own use, and
for the use of any future new leader, such infor-
mation as will be of help in planning and carrying
out a growing program of varied, interesting
activities.

Simple attendance and membership records, as
well as permanent records of the minutes of all
meetings, will be kept by the club secretary.

Inter-Club Council. If several clubs are organ-
ized within a community center, church, school, or
other agency, it is wise to have an Inter-Club
Council composed of representatives from the
various clubs. This Council can function in a
number of ways. For example, (i) if the situa-
tion is a community center,
the Council can study the
purpose of a new club
which is seeking member-
ship in the center and de-
termine whether the club is
worthy of membership. (2)
It can, in consultation with
the community center di-
rector and his staff, exercise
the power of conferring
upon a new club a charter
which is good as long as the

objectives are fulfilled as set forth in their con-
stitution and as approved by the Council. (3) The
Council can serve the important function of help-
ing to establish the feeling on the part of the
several groups that they are a definite part of
the whole community center organization. (4)
The Council can promote cooperative social and
recreational activities involving the participation
of all clubs.

Developing the Program
Types of Program Procedure. Procedures of pro-
gram development in club work can be grouped
into three general classifications :

There are clubs that are subjected to a mini-
mum of domination by the adult leader and are
fairly free to plan as they wish in terms of their
growing interests and experience, but nevertheless
function along time-honored lines of organization
and program activities. They choose a name, elect
officers, adopt a constitution, choose a pin and

IN BOYS' CLUB GROUPS

19

colors, elect captains, appoint committees, learn
parliamentary procedure, conduct hikes, play a
few athletic games, arrange parties, and similar
activities. This is the traditional procedure in de-
veloping a program and organization. We have
set forth these procedures in brief detail in pre-
ceding paragraphs for any who may want to fol-
low them.

There are clubs that specialize in some one ac-
tivity, such as dramatics, music, athletics, nature
study and activities, public speaking, etc. Such
clubs are often highly valuable both to the mem-
bers and to the larger program of the agency
under which the specialized club operates. Even
though it may be true that there are larger possi-
bilities of personality growth and enjoyment in an
expanded club program, there are situations in
which a group interested in dramatics, for ex-
ample, is not greatly interested in other forms of
activity. The group leader, therefore, must not
ignore the fact that interests may be highly spe-
cialized, so that the attempt to substitute a new
activity for the original leads to resentment, irrita-
tion, and sometimes to disruption of the group.

There are clubs that develop a program in terms
of their own most dominant group interests. In
these groups the leader serves in the capacity of
counselor, and responsibility and initiative are
thrown upon the boys at every possible point. The
starting point in these clubs matters little, just so
a whole-hearted interest provides the original im-
petus to organization. With the whole-hearted in-
terest as a foundation (whatever it may be), the
group is helped by a wise, patient, and versatile
leader to broaden its interests until its activities
cover a wide field.

General Principles of Program Development.

The program should serve the needs of the
group. A long list of activities does not auto-
matically mean that there has been effective club
work. The activities carried on are merely means
by which the end of developing creative, happy,
cooperative, democratic personalities is served.
For this reason the program must always be flexi-
ble and varied and not traditional and mechanical.

The program should expand in terms of the ex-
panding interests of the members. Needs and in-
terests are not the same things. Present interests
are always the beginning point in striving to real-
ize aims that are based on needs. When we push
program development ahead of interest and en-
joyment, we lose our group. The central law of

learning is whole-hearted and enjoyable participa-
tion in activity. We learn most when we enjoy
what we are doing and we tend to repeat what we
enjoy. This is not to say that the leader must not
strive constantly to broaden present interests of
the members. If left to its own devices a boys'
club may continue indefinitely to play basketball,
without beginning to realize the possibilities for
development inherent in even this comparatively
narrow interest.

Discovering and expanding the interests of the
club members is, then, a continuous process. The
leader, therefore, must be constantly alert to note
new interests as they appear and to give these in-
terests opportunity for expression. We have
warned previously, however, that it is important
not to "force" an activity too much. A leader's
enthusiasm for an activity does not always repre-
sent the enthusiasm of the group. Through con-
versation with individual members of the group
from time to time, through friendly participation
with them in their activities, through observation
as they talk, work, and play, through studies of
their hobbies, through tests and games of varied
sorts — through these and similar means the leader
can discover expanding group interests.

The program should be flexible and growing.
The program should be so flexible that changes
can be made as needs and interests come to light,
so that there is constant adaptation. This does not
mean that no activities may be started which will
require a long period of time. On the contrary, it
is wise for the group to map out a tentative pro-
gram outline covering a period of months, but
with such flexibility that new interests may be
brought in and utilized at the first opportunity.
There should always be enough variety introduced
so that there is something to challenge and stimu-
late the members, and monotony voided.

The program should provide for a maximum of
initiation and participation by the boys themselves.
The importance of this principle becomes obvious
when we recognize that the program is for the
boys (and not the boys for the program), and that
enjoyment and learning flow from creative plan-
ning and whole-hearted participation. Definite
help from the leader is necessary in many cases,
but his role is that of guide rather than that of
dictator.

As long as an activity yields enjoyment to the
boys, and as long as it continues to serve their
needs, it should be continued as a fundamental
(Continued on page 47)

What They Say About Recreation

*«^PHERE is SOMETHING new in the world today,
| something out of which a new and finer
world can be built — and it is civilized lei-
sure."— Dr. Harry A. Over street.

"I believe profoundly in democracy. Democracy
is a living, vital thing, changing its pattern with
the generations, and living because it changes. It
has evolved through many centuries ; it has known
contributions from many races. But if history
tells us anything at all about democracy, it is that
the way to its achievement is not the way of com-
pulsion but the way of freedom. No state ever
became a democracy because it was compelled to
be. Democracy is an outgrowth of the voluntary
reactions of free people." — Dr. Harry Woodbnrn
Chase in Planning the Future with Youth.

"We don't have to sell recreation in terms of
some intrinsic goal. We can interpret it as it is.
What it is is something which meets the basic
needs of human beings. And we are striving to
see whether it can also meet the needs of a demo-
cratic society. That is all."

— Eduard C. Lindeman.

"Children have got to have, first, the raw ma-
terial out of which to build bodies, wills and per-
sonalities. Then we have got to surround them
with every opportunity for development to their
fullest powers. There must be a community ac-
ceptance of recreation as a vital part in com-
munity living. . . . We've got to begin thinking of
recreation as a dynamic for character. . . . Crime
and delinquency will never be reduced until the
community decides to do something about it, to
mobilize all its forces to meet clearly defined
needs. You can't cut welfare budgets and crime
budgets at the same time." — Ethel Collestcr,
President, Iowa State Parent-Teacher Association.

"We make a ridiculous fetish of health nowa-
days. ... Let us, therefore, give play, recreation,
and the other popular arts their proper place be-
side the fine arts, and thus avoid the common
error which degrades play to a medical instru-
ment."— Richard Cabot.

20

"Beauty pays. And if we ever should attain to
universal enthusiasm for it many of our sorest
economic problems would disappear. We then
would find more of the satisfaction in activities
that are not costly. We would have a standard of
living, as distinguished from the standard of
spending. And that, after all, may be what we
must have before we can climb the heights of sat-
isfying life. On those heights dwells serenity, and
serenity and beauty are sisters."

— James C. Dcrieux.

"Are we doing the best we can to prevent the
delinquent child or youth from becoming more
lawless and more of a threat to the security and
happiness of the rest of us? Are we doing the
best we can to check the forming of delinquent
habits and to turn his energies and interests into
pursuits that are permissible in society as now or-
ganized and that will release him from his anti-
social drives? Above all, are we agreed upon the
most effective measures to prevent children from
becoming anti-social and delinquent?" - From
Progress Report, issued by the New Jersey Juve-
nile Delinquency Commission.

"Leisure time provides opportunity for one of
life's most enriching experiences — the making of
friends. A beautiful sight or experience is twice
as beautiful when shared with a friend. On the
streets, in the factories, in the rooming houses, in
the schoolroom and even in the church many
lonely people may be found. Being a friend is one
of the finest leisure time activities." — From Youth
Action in the Use of Leisure Time.

"We are coming to realize that there must be in
the new leisure some room for self-direction, for
grown-ups and children alike ; that recreation can
be too much regimented, and too exclusively pur-
sued in artificial groups. ... As in many other
forms of community enterprise, emphasis in the
field of recreation is now being laid on helping
individuals to develop their own programs in ac-
cordance with their own tastes and desires, rather
than in developing patterns into which the indi-
vidual must fit." — Joanna C. Cole or d in Your
Community.

Dramatics for the Camp Community

Some informal suggestions are offered
the inexperienced dramatics counsellor

THE FIRST JOB of dramatic counsel-
ling in camp is likely to prove a
distinct shock to the well-trained
dramatics person, particularly if she has had
experience in producing and directing for only
college or community groups. So much that
has been considered of primary importance
must be forgotten or dispensed with ; so much
that seems new and strange must be learned.
The job here is not professional, in the usual
meaning of that word. It is a recreational-edu-
cational job, and as such its aims are different
from those of the professional theater, even
before the special camp problems within the
wider recreation program are taken into con-
sideration.

What would you think of the following as a
fairly comprehensive definition of camp (or
any recreational — educational) dramatics? "For
the purposes of a summer camp program,
dramatics may be considered a recreational-
educational activity which has as its purpose
the provision of opportunities for the develop-
ment of the individual and of the group
through increasingly satisfactory participation
in dramatic activity of either a formal or in-
formal nature."

That probably sounds like a large order, and
it is, but there is more to come when the special
problems of camp recreational activity come to
be considered. You see, when Thespis gets to
camp, she is likely, along with the rest of us,
to go a bit wild. The
poor dramatics counsel-
lor, whether experienced
or not, suddenly finds
herself confronted with a
situation which calls for
immediate and drastic
action. Often enough
there is little or no ma-
terial at hand. Hastily she
must cast about to find
the right thing to do.

By KATE HALL

Washington, D. C.

"In the field of human relationships the
camp may make a significant contribution
to the spiritual growth of the individual.
In a camp where the dominant note is joy-
ousness and a zest for living there will
be many opportunities for the devejopment
of spiritual qualities. This expression may
take the form of the construction of beau-
tiful things from actual materials, or it
may use dramatics, dancing or poetry as
its medium."— From The Place of the Or-
ganized Camp in the Field of Education.

Now the job of dramatic counsel-
ling is a tough one, not because it
is really hard, but because it is
different from other forms of dramatic work,
even within the recreational-educational field.
Time is almost always important in the world
of the theater, but in camp it becomes a par-
ticularly troublesome problem. First of all,
something new must be planned for every eve-
ning in the week, including Sundays, if the
dramatics counsellor is in charge of all evening
recreation, as well as play production — and she
almost always is. Next, a suitable place for
preparation and performance must be found.
And finally, one must somehow get hold of
the performers for rehearsal. This is no easy
matter, since dramatics usually has to take a
subordinate place to sports in camp life. This
last fact must be faced, and made the best of.
It is the normal thing in outdoor life and is
probably a good thing for most of the children
involved.

Some of the Problems

Scarcity of time plus scarcity of equipment
equals what? There you have a neat little
problem for the young counsellor to solve. The
whole business becomes largely a matter of
improvisation, adaptation, makeshift and in-
genuity. Often the project must be put over
by sheer force of personality.

Here it is Monday, the
opening night of camp.
As dramatics counsel-
lor you are probably in
charge of that program,
even though it will most
likely be given over to
games and singing, so that
the children may get ac-
quainted. Tuesday night,
if the weather permits,
you are planning a camp

21

22

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

fire; one of the counsellors has agreed to tell
some stories and the dancing teacher to give
a short solo performance. On Wednesday
night, however, you really must bring the
children actively into the program. They must
feel that they, and not the counsellors, are to
be the active force in the summer program.
The director has probably suggested that you
work up a little play or pantomime.

At first, forty-eight hours seems a terrible
short time for preparing a dramatic per-
formance, but later in the summer you will
come to be thankful for such an unusual dis-
pensation of Providence. There is nothing
you can do about it tonight until the children
have gone to bed. Then, if you can catch the
harassed head counsellor, you must snatch a
few minutes with her to go over the lists and
decide which children will be best to use in the
opening performance. In itself this is a ticklish
problem. If you are new to this camp, it will
be twice as hard.

You and the head counsellor must thrash
out such questions as these : Shall you use old
campers who have done things like this in their
former summers and can be quickly licked into
shape for entertaining purposes? Or would it
be better to draw the new ones in at once, not
only to see what they can do, but to make them
feel right away that they are an active factor
in the camp life? Should you mix the groups
in order to help them get acquainted more
quickly, and perhaps run the risk of having the
experienced actors run away with the show?
Shall you use the younger children at the risk
of boring the older, or vice versa? If you use
several groups, how are you to get them all in
for rehearsal? Would it be better to have an
outdoor or an indoor performance? (If you
plan to have it out of doors, you must always
reckon with the weather and be prepared to
adapt the show to an indoor presentation at
the last minute.) Shall you use a set play or
pantomime and hope to get the children to
learn it in such a short time? Or would it be
better to improvise something? Can you de-
pend on the group you have chosen to help
with the improvisation, or will most of the
burden fall on you? Where will you get the
costumes? The scenery? Is there a make-up
box in camp? What general tone should be
given to camp dramatics, anyway? And how
on earth are you to get hold of these children

for rehearsal? As you will see, the answers to
these questions will involve a neat balancing of
the educational and entertainment factors in
the situation.

Tomorrow will be a full day in the camp
calendar: the water and land sports will be
organized; the children must be divided into
age and ability groups; trunks must be un-
packed, shacks cleaned and straightened; the
group must be initiated into all the details of
camp routine. You yourself probably have
charge of a shack of children. You will have
to supervise all their comings and goings for
several days at least, until they are thoroughly
used to things. Also, if the staff is small, you
may be doing some other jobs as incon-
gruously mated with dramatics as office work
for the director or teaching swimming or ten-
nis. Wednesday is likely to prove almost as
busy, and there will be shifting arrangements
in the schedule, and all sorts of emergencies to
meet. Somehow on Tuesday you must get a
dramatic performance for Wednesday night
under way. This first performance will be of
great importance to you in your new job. It
has to "go over big." And not only that; you
have to be planning ahead for Thursday and
Friday and all the other nights, and in two
weeks' time your first big show of the season
is scheduled. In addition, and of far greater
importance, is the effect on the children of this
opening performance and still more of their
part in it. Time is remarkably telescoped in
camp. The spontaneous reaction of the children
actors, stage hands and audience toward this
first night's performance may well indicate the
success or failure of the entire summer drama-
tics program as an integral and meaningful
part of the total program.

Now all these problems seem quite different
from those you have met with in other situa-
tions. Things are even more confused and
hurried than in the average public school,
where at least you know where to find your
actors when you have time to rehearse them !
However, there is much to be said for your
comfort : such a job can be done and done well,
because it has been done many times in just
such situations.

A Lesson from the Italian Strolling Players

Perhaps you will remember the Commedia
delle Arte, those delightful Italian strolling

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

23

players of the fifteenth and
sixteenth century ? Their
method was almost en-
tirely improvisation and
adaptation. You may find
that you can learn a great
deal from their methods.
A Commedia delle Arte
troupe was made up of a
number of actors and
actresses, each of whom

"What is a play, and why do people like
to make plays? A play is not real life.
It is a kind of game played by people
who are pretending to be somebody else,
in a place that is pretending to be an-
other place, in a time that is pretend-
ing to be another time. . . . People of
all ages love to play this kind of a game,
and to watch other people play it; and
they have always liked to do this ever
since the world began." — Marguerite
Fellows Melcher in Offstage.

had become identified for
professional purposes with one type of
character. Most of these had definite names,
and all had completely defined characteristics.
You will remember Pantolone, the Doctor
from Bologna, the Spanish Captain, Arlec-
chino, the maid servants, the zanies, Colum-
bian, and others.

Now, these people had no set speeches, no
script from which to study their lines or busi-
ness. Likely enough they would arrive in a
town in the morning and set up the show — a
bare platform stage with little or no equipment
— in the market square. The head of the com-
pany would post at the entrance a brief
scenario of the story to be acted that day, the
actors would glance through this, and the play
would begin. The scenario served only as an
outline of the action, to keep the incidents
arranged coherently and in a sequence that
made for the best dramatic interest. The
players, finding themselves in a given situation,
were expected to use their own wits in de-
vising extempore dialogue and pantomime. In
the course of time each of these actors must
have become a wizard at invention, and the
troupers acting together for some time would
be able to play upon the theme of the story
with agility and humor. But in spite of their
proficiency in dialogue, their real stock in trade
was pantomime — the suggestion of meaning
by a gesture or a glance, and above all the
creation of a character by bodily posture and
movement.

Just such a method as this might prove
very fruitful to you in your present situation.
Suppose you devise a set of scenarios and set
your children to fill them out with pantomime
and gradually with interpolated dialogue, until
at last they are capable of making up animated
conversations on the stage. Another idea

would be to concoct a
"serial" scenario and carry
your same set of characters
over from week to week.
The interest of both child-
ren and adults in continued-
next-week radio programs
is witness that such a
method would not prove
displeasing to your audi-
ence at any rate. I should
be careful, however, not to
use any of the stock characters from con-
temporary comic strips, animated cartoons or
radio programs, as the stories and acting are
likely to become merely repetitious and imi-
tative. Either story book, legendary or his-
torical characters set in situations which give
rise to considerable action and well-defined
characterization, or "every-day" characters
with whom the children are familiar, set in
ordinary or extraordinary circumstances with
the same requirements, would be productive
of more originality and spontaneity. As for
your actors, this method would give the group
who is handling the "continued story" a chance
really to grow in the art of pantomime and
the improvisation of dialogue. No training
could be more valuable for a group of children
who are especially interested in acting — and
there is always such a group, clamoring to "be
in" every dramatic performance you give. In
addition to the increase in knowledge and skill
which might come as a result, the recreational
value of dramatics as an outlet for joyous self-
expression would not be easily forgotten or
lost in using methods such as those outlined
above.

Creative Dramatics

Of much the greatest value, of course, is the
type of dramatic method known in the pro-
gressive school and recreation systems as
"creative dramatics." It is very difficult to
succeed with creative dramatics, however, un-
less dramatics can be established in your camp
as a regularly scheduled activity, either for a
specially interested group or for all the
campers who may need it. Given this, your
points of emphasis will depend on the needs as
well as the aptitude of the group, but you will
probably want to give as much all-round train-
ing as possible, in the short time allowed by a

24

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

camp season, in acting, production, and in the
making or creating of original plays.

This type of dramatic activity is much more
difficult for the counsellor than simply pro-
ducing plays for an audience at stated intervals,
but it has obvious advantages for the partici-
pating group and will prove delightful and
stimulating to the audience as well, if skill-
fully handled from the beginning. The young
actors not only receive a broader training in
expressing character and situation through
flexible use of the body and voice, but they
also learn at the same time to make their own
plays (so much more fun than playing some-
body else's play!) and to produce these plays
themselves. In addition, you have had a
chance at straightening out various personality
difficulties through the excellent therapeutic
value inherent in this type of dramatic work —
an aim which should never be lost sight
of in any type of recreational-educational
dramatics.

If the level of entertainment for the camp
group is not quite up to par, never mind. Re-
member that your children have had a fair
start toward becoming creators in the theater,
or at least toward having a creative attitude
toward it. This does not mean that you should
encourage or even permit careless or slipshod
work; you must expect and get from the
children the best of which they are capable at
any given period, but only an encouraging atti-
tude on the part of the counsellor is likely to
bring such a condition about.

When, because of pressure of time and other
activities, it is not feasible to conduct an in-
formal but regular class such as the one here
described in a particular camp group, perhaps
a similar plan, combined with the giving of
regular plays for the entertainment of the
camp audience, may work. At any rate, a little
"creative experiment" never
hurts any group at any
time. While this type of
dramatic work is being
tried in the more progres-
sive schools and recreation
centers throughout the
country, camp people do
not want to lose the oppor-
tunity to carry on the good
work, and to initiate it for
those children who have

"If drama has been right, If It has given
satisfaction to a group, then as the bus
comes to take them home when camp Is
over, they will be saying, 'Good-by, Rosa-
lind!1 "See you next winter, Wendy!'
The great pleasure of all the arts lies In
happy recall. This is as It should be, for
the mother of the arts was Memory. From
Memory the arts came and they will live
again In minds enriched by their pres-
ence, if they are truly her progeny."
— Abb'te Graham In The Girls' Camp.

never had a chance for this kind of self-ex-
pression. Camps avowedly exist for the pur-
pose of developing both the minds and the
bodies of children, and for giving them a
chance for a good and wholesome time during
the summer. If they are to do any dramatic
work, beyond simple entertainment, which has
its place very definitely in the scheme of
things, if understood as such, they will develop
more skill, practice more self-reliance, and
enjoy themselves more in the creative drama-
tics field than by just producing plays, how-
ever skillfully they are rehearsed and presented
by the director.

However, in many camps, even this com-
bination may be difficult to achieve amid the
exigencies of the sports program. Moreover, in
the majority of camps the dramatics counsel-
lor is asked to stage as many plays and to use
as many children as possible, and at the same
time to take the children out of the schedule
no more often than she absolutely has to. She
does not have the campers in a class where
she can continuously and progressively help
them to make and produce their own plays; so
she must have on hand a stock of ready-made
plays available and useful for this kind of pro-
duction. Anyone who has tried will agree that
assembling this material is not so easy as it
may sound.

Plays to Use

Many of the plays which are best adapted
to camp use carry royalty, and the camp which
can or is willing to pay for these is very rare.
In cases where the royalty charges refer to any
kind of production, it is best to write directly
to the author or to his publishers to ask them
for a reduction. Sometimes, when the produc-
tion is strictly within the camp audience group,
no charges will be made. Sometimes a reduc-
tion is granted, and often
the fees for one-act plays
are quite small anyway,
usually about $5.00. In
other cases, there will be a
statement in the copyright
of the play that the royalty
applies only to perform-
ances where there is a
paying audience. If thi& is
true, the director won't
need to worry, of course.
(Continued on page 48)

Our National Pastime

WHATEVER its stimulat-
ing effects generally
may be, there seems
no doubt America's national
game inspires widespread in-
terest at this time of the year on
the Broadways and the Main
Streets alike.

This is baseball's one hun-
dredth's year of official existence.
Because an active boy decided to
improve on his favorite outdoor game by adding
the factor of running, modern baseball had its
beginning. Abner Doubleday could not have for-
seen that the result of his experiment would be a
highly specialized game played on a nation-wide
scale and thrilling millions of Americans from
March to October.

Every year about this time the American sports
fan is subject to an awakening of his baseball
consciousness. While he goes about the monotony
of his daily work, often in weather still bitterly
cold, a part of his mind is in sunny Florida, Louisi-
ana, Texas or California, while his favorite base-
ball team is preparing for the rigors of the com-
ing season. The newspapers keep him informed
as to the condition of his established stars, the
possibilities of newcomers for strengthening the
team, the squabbles between owners and players
over salaries, and give him a line on the relative
skills of his favorite club by reporting the results
of early practice games.

Always, with much fanfare, a civic dignitary
will toss out the first ball,
and a season of 154 games
per season will be on.
Months later the team win-
ning the most games in
the American and Na-
tional League, respectively,
will meet in the World
Series. The first team to
take four out of seven
games wins the world's
championship.
Baseball's Interesting
History

This year all over the country
baseball will celebrate its cen-
tennial. What's back of it all?

By VINCENT FARRELL

Recreation Director

West Side High School

Newark, New Jersey

most every town and hamlet
in the country has some kind
of baseball team, amateur or
professional — relatively few
modern baseball fans know
much about the colorful history
of baseball.

Abner Doubleday is popularly
credited with the founding of the
game, and baseball's "Hall of
Fame" is located in his home
town of Cooperstown, N. Y. Actually baseball is
a combination of the English games of cricket
and rounders. The influence of cricket is per-
haps the strongest, although because of the dif-
ficulty of gathering enough cricket players living
in one locality to make up a match, cricket never
attained a great popularity in this country.

Early baseball had no bases at all, as does
cricket, and the first bats were simply boards
whittled down to fit the hand with a flat hitting
surface in the general style of cricket bats. The
cricket term "hands," for "innings," was used in
early baseball, and the pitcher, who was forced
to pitch underhand as in cricket, was allowed a
short run before releasing the ball. The player
or team hitting the ball most often in a set num-
ber of tries was the winner.

Doubleday added the base, calling it "One Old
Cat." In the early game the batter was required
to run to the base and back after hitting the ball.
He was out when touched or hit with the ball
between home and the base. There were usually
only two boys on the team.
Later, as more boys began

It is always a matter of pride to a city when

boys who played their first games of baseball to play, two more bases
on the community's playgrounds develop into were added and the game
big league players. And many of the nation-
ally known players were playground boys. In
Sacramento, California, for example, the fol-
lowing World Series players were all former
participants in the Sacramento Winter League
program: "Stan" Hack, Chicago; Joe Marty,
Frank Demaree, Myril Hoag. Alexander Kam-

pouris, son of a Greek barber, was a player on diamond, setting the bases
the high school team. Henry Steinbacker of njnety feet apart and the
the Chicago Sox also played on the Sacra- itchet,s box forty-five
mento playgrounds. The Great Ma.U of The

Cleveland was a Sacramento lad. Earl Mc-

Despite the tremendous Neeley of Washington, World Series hero, distance between the bases
interest in baseball — al- was at one time a playground director. has remained the same but

25

was given the name base-
ball.

Alexander J. Cartwright,
one of Doubleday 's play-
mates, who was studying
draftsmanship, created the

26

OUR NATIONAL PASTIME

the pitcher's box has been moved back to sixty
and one half feet from home plate.

As the bases were added the number of players
grew. In addition to the pitcher and the catcher,
a player was added to each base and a roving
fielder installed. Then came the outfielders, and
the roving fielder found his place because most
players were right-handed and naturally hit more
balls in that direction than any other.

A feature of "Town Ball," immediate prede-
cessor to baseball, was the pelting of the runner
with the ball. Instead of throwing to the bases or
tagging the runner, "Town Ball" called for the
fielders to hit him with the "pill." Thus "Bean
Ball" is one of the oldest institutions in the
national pastime.

Doubleday invented bases, cut the sides down
to eleven, and had the fielders throw to the base
or tag the runner to make the put outs. From
1839 to 1845 batters used wagon-tongues, rake
and axe handles, and branches of trees for bats.
The first custom-made bat was ordered by Pete
Browning, a slugger with the Louisville Club, in
1884. It weighed forty-eight ounces and was
thirty-seven inches long.

Early Rules of the Game

Under early rules a team had to score twenty-
one runs to win the game, regardless of the num-
ber of innings, but each team had to play an equal
number of innings. From 1839 to I9°° tne rules
were being changed constantly, but there has been
few important rule alterations since the turn of
the century. The Knickerbocker Club of New
York was the first organized baseball team and
played the first match game in 1846, winning 23
to i in four innings.

The first intercollegiate game was played be-
tween Williams and Amherst in 1859, and in the
same year 1,500 persons paid the first admission
price (50 cents) to see a baseball game between
Brooklyn and New York at the Fashion Race
Course on Long Island. Amherst won 66-32 in
twenty-six innings, after four solid hours of play.
Sixty-five runs were necessary to win the game.
Every player on each side had to be put out to
complete an inning in those old days.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president to be-
come an ardent fan. In 1860, when a committee
of the Chicago Convention called at his Spring-
field home to notify him of his nomination, he

was out on the town commons playing ball. When
a messenger rushed out to him to inform him of
his visitors he turned and said, "Tell the gentle-
men that I am glad to know of their coming, but
they'll have to wait until I make another base hit."

Collegiate baseball contributed one of the game's
most important inventions in 1877 when Fred
Thayer, captain of the Harvard team, devised the
catcher's mask. Credit for the shin guard goes to
Roger Bresnahan who first wore them in a game
played in 1908. Two years before the invention
of the mask, Charlie Waite, Boston first baseman,
shocked his colleagues by appearing on the field
with a thin leather glove. He was ridiculed as
being a "sissy," but he stuck to his glove and in
five years the idea had taken root among ball
players. In 1890 Buck Ewing, Giant catcher, pro-
duced the catcher's mitt.

It Can Never Happen Again !

In professional baseball, at least, there will
probably never be a recurrence of a happening in
the game between Brooklyn and Philadelphia in
1886. The score was tied at the end of the eighth
inning when the umpire raised his hand and an-
nounced, "Game called." Both fans and teams
gasped with astonishment until the umpire ex-
plained, "On account of the supply of balls being
exhausted." Six balls had been knocked over the
fence and lost !

And On They Go !

The National League was formed in 1876, and
the American Association was forerunner of the
American League in 1882. The American Asso-
ciation disbanded in 1891, and in 1900 the Ameri-
can League was formed with eight clubs. The
National League was reduced from twelve to
eight and three years later, in 1903, a national
agreement was signed banding the American
League with the National League and the Na-
tional Association of Minor Leagues, as "or-
ganized baseball."

From these beginnings began the parade of na-
tional heroes — from Napoleon Lajoie, Honus
Wagner, Ty Cobb and Rogers Hornsby, to Babe
Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe Di Maggio at the bat ;
and from Christy Mathewson, Rube Marquard
and Rube Waldell, Grover Cleveland Alexander
and Walter Johnson to Dizzy Dean, Carl Hubbell
and Vernon Gomez in the pitcher's box.

A

Neighborhood

Makes Its Own

Playground

LAWRENCE C. WOODBURY

Boys' Director

Central Square Center

East Boston Social Centers Council

WITHIN A YEAR East Boston, Massachusetts,
a neighborhood of 733 families with almost
1,500 children, has attained its objective of
obtaining land and constructing a playground for
its own use.

It started when a number of socially-minded
citizens, including an Italian nurse, a WPA
worker with several children, a mother of nine
children, five young men and several volunteer
leaders at Central Square Center, met to organize
a playground association. This group studied the
needs of the district, a natural neighborhood of
eighteen blocks bordered by the Boston harbor on
one side and electric car tracks on the other. Each
family was visited, and the names and ages of all
children were secured. The need for a safe play
area was discussed with the families, who proved
willing and ready to cooperate in any project which
would improve neighborhood play conditions.

It was found that with the nearest playground
one mile away most of the children were playing
on the streets, sidewalks, and on the deserted, un-
safe wharves near-by. The Police Department re-
ported a high percentage of accidents to small
boys and girls in the district. The children were
for the most part a destructive group owing to
their lack of satisfying, wholesome play oppor-
tunities.

The playground association gradually enlarged
its membership to a total of twenty-three indi-
viduals, all interested in securing the playground
so badly needed by the neighborhood. Through
the cooperation of S. Max Nelson, general di-

A notable example of successful
accomplishment by community enter-
prise may be found in one of Bos-
ton's most depressed neighborhoods

rector of the East Boston Social Centers Council,
a conveniently located piece of land containing ap-
proximately 15,000 square feet was leased from a
savings bank. As the association had no money,
the Centers Council agreed to pay the yearly
rental fee.

The land secured was once the site of a large
factory of which nothing remained except parts
of chimneys, iron boilers, cement foundations, and
rubbish. In the clearing of this much labor was
involved. The boys and young men, realizing the
possibility of having their own playground, turned
out in large numbers to help clear away the de-
bris. Corner gangs, poolroom loafers, settlement
house boys' clubs, and others labored for weeks
with borrowed picks and sledge hammers leveling
off the land. Fathers came out at night, first to
give advice and then, catching the spirit, to con-
tribute their labor as well.

The city's Public Works Department, delighted
at this attempt of the citizens to provide a play-
ground through their own efforts, donated hun-
dreds of truck loads of gravel and loaned a num-
ber of city welfare laborers to help with the proj-
ect. These men worked long after hours to com-
plete the grading of the land. A surveyor volun-
(Continued on page 50)

27

By

JAMES V. MULHOLLAND

Director of Recreation

Department of Parks

New York City

The Multiple Use

',....,.•; Y: of .

Recreation Facilities

THE MULTIPLE use of playground and park fa-
cilities is very important in communities where
land values are exceedingly high and there are
few neighborhood recreational facilities. A
superintendent of recreation is always anxious
to obtain the widest possible use of all available
facilities because of the ultimate value to the
neighborhood. A proper layout and design
assists the superintendent and the playground
director in the organization of the playground
activities and aids in eliminating many play-
ground accidents. It is for these reasons that
architects and playground executives should
confer on the layout and design of all recrea-
tional facilities for the widest possible use.
Taxpayers, and school authorities also have a
vital interest in this matter.

In New York City, careful consideration
has been given to this matter. The New York
City problem, perhaps, has been more difficult
due to the cost of land, density of population,
and lack of facilities for all age groups. In a
few neighborhoods it was necessary to take care
of all age groups on an area 100' x TOO'. The

28

question of apparatus, activities, age of par-
ticipants, neighborhood cooperation, all had to
be carefully considered before recommending
a particular layout and design.

Wading Pools

We have found that by designing wading
pools for multiple use they can be used foi
group games, basketball, and volley ball. The
wading pools in New York City are approxi-
mately 9" x 12" deep at the center. They are
practically level, with only sufficient grade to
carry off rain water. Nearly all of them are
drained towards the center. In one of our large
wading pools, at the Roosevelt Playground
located at Chrystie and Forsythe Streets, Man-
hattan, we use the pool during the summer
months for wading from 10 A. M. to 5 130 P. M.
and then, at 8:30 P. M., after the pool has
drained and surface water evaporated, the
same area serves for dancing. During the fall
of the year the wading pool area is used for
basketball, group games, volley ball, paddle
tennis, roller skating, and similar activities.
In the spring, on this large wading pool, we
play softball with a 14" ball. The area is thus
used by children and adults at different times
according to schedule, and, being floodlighted,
it is open until 10 P. M. Our smallest wading
pool, approximately 40' x 75', is used during
the day by children, and at night by adults.
During the winter months the wading pools
are floodlighted for ice skating and some are
used for snow sculpture and snow architecture.

THE MULTIPLE USE OF RECREATION FACILITIES

29

Wading pools, therefore,
form an important part of
the design of a playground.
Their successful use in New
York City warrants careful
consideration by authorities
of other cities.

Outdoor swimming pools become basketball courts, and
wading pools skating rinks and other sports areas in
New York City's plan for multiple use of facilities

Swimming Pools

The swimming pools of the Department of
Parks of New York City are constructed in a
similar manner for a multiple recreational use.
These have been used during the fall and spring
for basketball, handball, volley ball, paddle ten-
nis. The backboards and equipment placed in
these pools are portable and are removed dur-
ing the summer months so that the entire area
can be used for swimming purposes. Here,
again, the facilities have been planned in a
unique and novel manner and have proven ex-
tremely successful. The dressing rooms of
bath houses have been used as indoor game
rooms during the winter months, and many of
them are sufficiently large to accommodate 400
dancers. A weekly indoor dance during the
winter months is one of the activities taking
place in some of the buildings used during the
summer for dressing purposes in connection
with the outdoor swimming pools. The basket
system is used, thus providing a large area in
all buildings used for dressing and shower
purposes.

Other Facilities

The fixed equipment used for such games as
basketball, volley ball,
tennis, is so affixed to the gg|
ground with a sleeve de-
vice that the piping can
be easily removed, mak-
ing available the entire
area for other games and
sports such as softball,
modified games of soccer,
and roller skating. Park-
ing fields near the Ran-
dall's Island Stadium are
also marked out so that
they can be used for soft-
ball when the parking
fields are not occupied by
cars. Some of the hand-
ball courts of the Depart-
ment of Parks are the
back walls of a field house.

Handball courts as far as possible are erected
in batteries of four to six, and the area in
front of the wall have been used for roller
hockey and social dancing.

Other facilities used for recreation have in-
cluded areas under elevated structures such
as bridge approaches. In these areas have been
installed handball, tennis, and Bocci. It is in-
advisable to locate wading pools under elevated
structures as it is very desirable to have as
much sunlight as possible where wading pools
are located. A good example of recreational
facilities placed under elevated structures can
be found in New York City at the Bronx and
Queens approaches to the Tri-Borough Bridge.

We have found that a careful study made by
the playground supervisor and architect prior
to the development of the play area of neigh-
borhood conditions, ethnical and recreational
tastes and desires, the size of the area, the
recreational needs of the neighborhood, and the
popularity of activities, will bring about a wide
use by children and adults of the facilities
when they are completed.

(Continued on page 50)

The 0reen Revolution

UNHERALDED, UHSUHg,
and even unnoticed,
the green revolution
continues to spread ; to gain
new converts by the thou-
sand each year. Slowly but
surely it has been creeping
into our educational insti-
tutions. It has gained so
firm a foothold in schools,
in colleges and even in the
primary grades that it ap-
pears extremely doubtful if it can ever be weeded
out.

Seventy-six million seed, bulb and nursery
catalogs were distributed in the United States last
year. A single seed house sends out more than
2,000,000 catalogs every year.

Last spring more than 175,000 persons each
paid $1.00 to visit a single exhibition of flowers,
the International Flower Show held in New York
City. A dozen similar big shows are held each
year the country over, not to mention local shows
by the tens of hundreds.

The coming of the age of specialization had
its decided influence on horticulture and ama-
teurs began to interest themselves in one
favorite plant or flower. These enthusiasts
presently banded together in national societies
for the study and improvement of their chosen
specialties. Today strong and influential na-
tional organizations exist for the promotion of
most of our important garden flowers: roses,
peonies, delphiniums, chrysanthemums, dahlias,
and many more. Even the lowly gourd has its
organized devotees.

A still later phase was the organization of small
local garden clubs, for the most part women's
clubs. As these increased in number they united
into state and finally into national organizations.
For two or three decades they
have been, and promise long to
be, the most vital and effective
influence upon gardening in
America. The movement was
initiated by green-fingered
groups in many women's cul-
tural clubs. As the movement

30

By FREDERICK FRYE ROCKWELL

A door may open anywhere;
Upon a wood or path or lawn
Or crowded street or road, or there
Where none pass by from dawn to dawn:
But, if you'd have a mind at peace,
A heart that cannot harden,
Go find a door that opens wide
Upon a little garden.

E. M. Boult.

These extracts have been taken
from an article by Mr. Rockwell
which appeared in the January,
1 938, issue of the "Journal of Adult
Education." They are published by
permission of the American Asso-
ciation for Adult Education.

grew, however, every type
of woman gardener found
a niche in one of the many
organized clubs.

Now too the men have
organized. The national
organization, the slogan
of which is "More Pants
in the Garden," is pub-
lishing an amusing yet
thoroughly practical
monthly bulletin. Today

the American market offers almost too much in
the garden field — narrative garden books, per-
sonal experiences, encyclopedias, practical
handbooks, poetry, monographs, and sectional
books pour from the presses in an unending
stream.

State colleges and other educational institu-
tions have begun to assume an important role
in the green revolution. Today a large num-
ber of state experiment stations devote much
of their energy to ornamental horticulture.
Some of the state colleges, such as those of
New York, New Jersey, Ohio and California,
have attained international reputations for re-
search and discovery, and also in the purely
aesthetic side of the garden movement. The
Agricultural College of New Jersey initiated
the first well organized and really successful
effort to utilize radio in the garden field. The
Radio Garden Club now conducts two pro-
grams each week over a coast-to-coast net-
work.

The green revolution spreads and educa-
tional forces of the country in an ever increas-
ing measure give it further impetus. It has its
own specific aim — the creation of an America
more beautiful. But it has a social significance
far beyond this. A country of
home gardens is a country of
good citizens, a country of
men and women who love
peace. It would be difficult
to overestimate the stabiliz-
ing and humanizing effects of
the green revolution.

A Lollipop Land Party

Suggestions for a Mother's Day party when
mothers are entertained by their daughters

BACK TO ROMPERS and bibs ^ JULIA

goes this attractive party
where the years drop away

and mothers laugh and play together in Lollipop
Land. Mothers come wearing sun-suits, rompers,
or short dresses and pig-tails, and bringing favor-
ite toys. Daughters appear as nursemaids — a pro-
tective role which they find delightful. Daughters
wear plain dresses, aprons and caps. (Cooking
school outfits do very well.)

Room Decorations

The color scheme of this party is pale green,
with bright-colored balloons and wall decorations
for accent. Cover the ceiling with pale green
paper streamers radiating from a central chande-
lier. Hang balloons among
the streamers. Giant pots
of lollipops standing here
and there in the room are
most effective. They are
made as follows : A num-
ber of long and round bal-
loons (not in fancy shapes
or painted) are blown up,
tied tightly and fastened
to the ends of sticks about
3*/2 feet long. These sticks
may be cut from saplings ;
or bamboo sticks may be
bought at the florist's
(price about two for five cents). Tie
cellophane over the balloons and
fasten with Scotch tape. These are
the lollipops. For jars in which to
plant them, paint metal wastebaskets
or large tin cracker cans with silver
paint. Or cover the cans with dark

ANNE ROGERS green or black cr6pe paper Fffl

jars with sand. The giant lolli-
pops should be made the day of
the party, for balloons deflate if left too long.

The frieze for the walls shown at the top of the
page is made of wrapping paper on which are
pasted amusing paper figures representing lolli-
pops with arms, legs and faces, and gum drop
dolls and animals. To make the figures, cut out
circles, ovals and longer pieces of kindergarten
paper of various colors. These pieces represent
gum drops and lollipops of different shapes. Com-
bine to form dolls and animals. Paint in features,
and arms and legs for the lollipops. Another ef-
fective room decoration is made by covering
screens with light green paper on which have been
pasted some of these lolli-
pop figures. If you do not
have the giant lollipop
plants, have little ever-
green trees in jars, hung
with real lollipops. Fill in
corners of the room with
plants, flowers and foliage.

Invitation

Invitations to mothers
are written on pale green
paper with amusing
sketches of lollipops with
faces, arms and legs, simi-
lar to frieze.

Come to Lollipop Land
Lollipop Land where the babies all play
And walk with their nurses is not far away.
Please come and see it ! And dress as a tot !
Wear the most juvenile clothes that you've

got.
Playmates you'll like are all coming too,

31

32

A LOLLIPOP LAND PARTY

Just make a note that we're looking for you !

Place : Hour : Date :

Please bring a baby picture of yourself.

O
x

ox

Activities

Upon arrival, children and nurses have their
names pinned on them: Baby Marjorie Randall;
Nurse, Joan Randall.

Baby Picture Contest. Lay all the baby pictures
on a table; put numbers on their backs. Give
guests pencils and paper and have them guess who
the babies are. Prizes : lollipop, skipping-rope or
ball to mothers with best two lists.

March. While a spirited march is played, babies
and nurses march in pairs. Bring the line around
to form a large circle. All hold hands, then drop
them, ready for circle games. If there are more
than thirty people at the party,
split the circle in the middle to
form two smaller circles. Each
circle has a leader to direct the
games. Then the following jolly
games are played:

Find the Leader. Everybody
is standing for this game. The
player who is "it" is sent from
the room while another is se-
lected as leader. When "it" re-
turns and stands in the center of
the ring, all the players are tap-
ping feet, nodding heads or do-
ing something else initiated by
the leader. The gesture is chang-
ed frequently by the leader,
while "it" tries to determine who the leader is.
When "it" guesses correctly the leader becomes
"it" and another leader is selected.

Baby Snooks, the Lone Ranger and the Wolf.
Everybody sits on the floor. Divide the circle into
three groups and assign to teach group a part as
follows :

Baby Snooks — "Waaaaa !"

Lone Ranger — "Hi — yo — Silver"

The Big Bad Wolf— "Wooooooo !"

The leader tells the story of Little Red Riding
Hood, using these characters named. As each
character is mentioned the group waves arms and
shouts the proper response. The following story
may be elaborated as the storyteller wishes : "Once
upon a time there was a charming girl named
BABY SNOOKS who was loved by a cowboy, the
LONE RANGER. BABY SNOOKS lived near a great
forest and in this forest dwelt the big bad WOLF.

o

Join, kands
Join hdttds

x 0
X 0

x o

To divide, la rye, c/rcle,

One day BABY SNOOKS decided to visit her grand-
mother who lived deep in the heart of the forest.
THE LONE RANGER urged BABY SNOOKS not to
go into the forest where the WOLF lived but BABY
SNOOKS insisted upon going and would not let
THE LONE RANGER accompany her. "I'm not
afraid of the big bad WOLF/' said BABY SNOOKS
as she put on her red cloak and started out with
her basket on her arm. But when she entered the
forest and saw the eyes of the WOLF gleaming at
her from behind a tree she was sorry THE LONE
RANGER was not with her. The WOLF followed
BABY SNOOKS step by step getting closer and
closer, and behind him came THE LONE RANGER.
Just as the WOLF was about to spring on BABY
SNOOKS, THE LONE RANGER killed him with his
trusty rifle, and saved BABY SNOOKS' life. "LoNE
RANGER, my hero, you've killed
the WOLF and saved my life,"
said BABY SNOOKS as she fell
fainting in his arms.

Game ends with everyone
singing "Who's Afraid of the
Big, Bad Wolf" from Walt Dis-
ney's "Three Little Pigs" (see
end of article for publisher).

Little Tom Tinker. Players are
still sitting in a circle on the
floor. Divide circle into three
sections and sing as a round :
Little Tom Tinker was burnt by a

clinker and he began to cry
Ma ! Ma ! Poor little innocent b'y.

Music for this song in "Twice
55 Games with Music," Red Book. (For publish-
er's address see end of article.)

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush. Players
stand in a circle, join hands and move in a circle
singing first verse. The other verses are acted out
in pantomime. After each new verse the first
verse is repeated as a chorus.

Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush, the mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
So early in the morning.

This is the way we wash our clothes, etc.
So early on Monday morning.

This is the way we iron our clothes, etc.
(Tuesday)

This is the way we mend our clothes, etc.
(Wednesday)

This is the way we sweep the floor, etc.
(Thursday)

o

A LOLLIPOP LAND PARTY

33

This is the way we bake the bread, etc.
(Friday)

This is the way we scrub the floor, etc.
(Saturday)

This is the way we go to church, etc.
(Sunday)

Music for this song is in "Twice 55 Games with
Music," Red Book.

Jump, Jim Crow. Still standing in circle, play-
ers are instructed by the group leader on the sim-
ple motions for this delightful singing game :
Jump, jump and jump, Jim Crow!
Take a little twirl and then away we go !
Slide, slide and stamp just so
Then you take another partner and you jump Jim Crow!

Music and actions for this song are in "Twice
55 Games with Music," Red Book.

Hunt the Slipper. Players sit on the floor in a
circle. The slipper may be a ball, a beanbag, paper-
weight, or some other easily handled object. Play-
ers hold their hands behind their backs, going
through the motions of passing an article from
hand to hand. The person who is "it" sits in the
middle and guesses who has the slipper. Whom-
ever she catches becomes "it." Do not let a game
of this type run on for any length of time with the
same person "it." Ask for a volunteer and re-
lieve the unsuccessful player before she becomes
tired or embarrassed.

Flowers of Lollipop Land. This is a guessing
game played with pencil and paper while the play-
ers are still seated.
An amiable man — Sweet William
The pulse of the business world — Stocks
A bird and a riding accessory — Larkspur
A pillar of a building, a syllable that rhymes

with dine — Columbine

A flower between mountains — Lily of the Valley
A dude and an animal — Dandelion
The place for a kiss — Tulips
A wild animal and a bit of outdoor wearing ap-
parel— Foxglove
A lot of sheep — Phlox
What he did when he pro-
posed to her — Aster
The person to whom she re-
ferred him — Poppy
A favorite object for win-
ter sports — Snowball
Prizes: Small bouquets of
lollipops in lace-paper frills.

Intermission. Players get up,
move around and talk.

This party, arranged for from sixteen
to sixty persons, is one of a number
of such events described in a book on
Parties and Programs for Parents'
Days by Miss Rogers to be published
at an early date by the National Rec-
reation Association. The Lollipop Land
Party, as well as many other social
events described in the book, may be
successfully used on other occasions.

Gum Drop Dolls. Everyone sits on tne floor,
wherever she happens to be. A piece of newspa-
per or a paper towel or paper napkin is given each
person to work on. A tray containing gumdrops
of different sizes and shapes, pipe cleaners,
matches, toothpicks and cloves is passed around.
See who can make the best gumdrop doll.

Paper Dolls. Instead of the gumdrop dolls you
may prefer paper dolls. Pass around colored kin-
dergarten paper and ask each person to tear out
a paper doll.

Lollipop Lady. Soft music is heard. (Suggestion
for music is given at the end of article.) The over-
head lights are turned out, leaving only low lights
burning. The Lollipop Lady comes in. She wears
a billowy dress of light green tarlatan and a cap
of the same material which floats in a short veil.
Small gold bells are sewed at the bottom of her
dress and crescent moons of gold paper are pasted
here and there on the dress. Her belt is a gold
ribbon. Her perfume is that of a flower — some
fresh scent such as lily of the valley. She carries
a tray on a ribbon around her neck, or a basket on
her arm, full of lollipops. She smiles radiantly,
tossing lollipops to each child and to each nurse.

Refreshments. These are passed around on trays
by some of the nurses. They consist of sherbet
in cups, on plates, and cookies cut in the shape
of animals and dolls. On each plate have a lace-
paper doily on which is pasted a picture of a
baby face cut from a magazine. Napkins should
have pale green as the principal color. Recipes
for sherbet and cookies are :
Lemon Sherbet

2 quarts boiling water
1 quart sugar

8 lemons (more if a really tart sherbet is desired)
White of one egg beaten stiff'

Boil sugar and water until clear. Add lemon juice to
syrup and strain. Pour syrup gradually into the beaten
egg white. Freeze an hour or more.
Doll and Animal Cookies
3 egg whites

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
\l/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1-1/3 cup chopped almonds or

filberts

J4 cup powdered sugar
% cup all-purpose flour
Beat the egg whites until stiff,
add sugar gradually. Mix the lemon
rind, cinnamon and nutmeats to-
gether. Add to the egg whites.
(Continued on page 52)

Writing for Publication

LCE MANY a favored individual
foreordained to success, the
Mesa Writers' Club was born
of humble parentage, and from its
infancy was marked for success. It was sired by
an ambitious and energetic director of recreation
who, back in the early months of 1937, was look-
ing for new worlds to conquer.

Although he had already originated a large
number of widely varying activities in the field of
organized recreation, Joseph Smith Jarvis, Parks
and Playgrounds Director of the City of Mesa,
deep in Arizona's famed Valley of the Sun, had
not yet found an outlet for his own secret and
suppressed longing to write something. It oc-
curred to him that others, too, might be afflicted
with that impelling urge to write which persists in
some of us like an exasperating plague. Then
why not add a Writers' Club to the constantly
lengthening list of clubs and activities ? Why not,
indeed !

The idea became an actuality on the night of
April nth, 1937, when, at the invitation of Mr.
Jarvis, some eight or ten would-be authors met
for the purpose of forming a club and outlining a
program that would stimulate writing as a form
of recreation. Miss Ida G. Wilson, the City Li-
brarian, became the first President and Miss Mary
Alice Bell, a teacher in the grade schools, was ap-
pointed Secretary. A committee was appointed to
draw up a constitution and plans were laid for a
membership drive. Meetings were held twice a
month in the homes of the members. At each
gathering a program chairman was appointed for
the following meeting so that variety and quality
of entertainment would be maintained. Occa-
sionally guest speakers discussed various phases
of writing. Original articles and poems were read
by members and then filed in a club file at the
library.

Several members of the club succeeded in hav-
ing articles published, and
this gave steady impetus to
the desire to do more writ-
ing. One evening the inevit-
able happened. Someone pro-
posed that the club publish a
magazine of its own ! "Great !"
somebody else agreed — "Why

34

By GEORGE ML ROY

Editor, "Cactus Cuttings"
Mesa, Arizona

"Why are writers given so little atten-
tion in the recreation program?" queries
Mr. Roy in submitting his account of the
Mesa Writers' Club. We thoroughly be-
lieve that such groups as he describes
should be given every encouragement,
and we shall be glad to have informa-
tion to pass on about similar clubs.

not?" The decision was unani-
mous. After several more meetings
in which the matter was discussed
at some length and tentative plans
were drawn up, the author of this article agreed
to act as the editor. The Parks and Playgrounds
Board consented to finance the project, and the
local high school superintendent generously
donated both his secretary and his mimeograph
machine to take care of the press work.

A splendid dinner — our first annual banquet —
was arranged to herald the introduction of our
first volume, with the Parent-Teacher Associa-
tion acting as caterers. Guests included WPA of-
ficials from the state recreation office and friends
of club members. That first issue was enthusias-
tically received. Members mailed copies to all of
their friends and clamored for more. A few
copies, placed experimentally on the newsstands,
quickly disappeared. Soon the edition of 250
copies was exhausted.

The highlight of the venture was the success
encountered "back East," last summer when Mr.
Jarvis, attending the National Recreation Con-
gress at Pittsburgh, distributed some thirty or
forty copies to government workers and recrea-
tion leaders from the Eastern centers. Perhaps it
was the attractive cover, depicting a typical desert
scene — cactus and all — which appealed to the in-
quisitive Easterners. At any rate, the available
copies were quickly taken up and Mr. Jarvis re-
turned from his trip with glowing accounts of the
enthusiasm which our little magazine had aroused.
He even reported that plans had been made to
publish similar magazines in the East as a direct
result of our humble contribution. We hope those
plans materialized and that magazines are even
now being published by writers' clubs along the
Atlantic seaboard. We would be happy to ex-
change copies with any of them.

Early in 1938 the members of our little club
began clamoring once more
for a magazine and so plans
took shape for a second vol-
ume. This time, guided by
the experiences of our first
venture, the articles were
chosen with greater care —
(Continued on page 52)

Play Space in New Neighborhoods

IN PITTSBURGH, Pennsyl-
vania, two large public
housing projects being
constructed in adjoining
neighborhoods have afforded
a basis for effective cooperation
in neighborhood re- planning.
Through an arrangement between
the city and housing authorities,
part of a municipal playground
of 5.8 acres on three levels lying
between the two sites will be used
for housing, and in return the
city will receive a new 12-acre
area on one level. Among the
recreation features to be provided
on this area, which will be oper-
ated by the city Bureau of Recreation, is an out-
door swimming pool. The city authorities have
acquired a site immediately adjoining the field on
which they are to erect an elementary school
which will contain an indoor swimming pool.
Thus through cooperative planning the people
will have the benefit of a level recreation area
more than twice the size of the former play-
ground, and it will be available for both school
and community use. A junior playground of 1.3
acres is being built in one of the projects. Co-
operation in Pittsburgh is being facilitated by the
fact that the chairman of the housing authority is
the city councilman in charge of the park and
recreation bureaus and that officials and techni-
cians of the local city planning commission are
also serving the housing authority.

This example of cooperative planning for rec-
reation space is taken from the appendix to the
report "Play Space in New Neighborhoods" re-
cently brought out by a committee appointed by
the National Recreation Association at the request
of the Society of Recreation Workers of America.
Unfortunately, this type of planning has not char-
acterized many public or private housing projects
in the past, according to the committee's report.
In fact, in its statement of the play space problem
the committee says :

"Present building practice offers a hope that adequate
light, air and open lawn areas will be provided in new
housing projects. Yet there is little indication that the
new neighborhoods being created are to have adequate
open space suitable for and permanently dedicated to

A committee report on stand-
ards of outdoor recreation
areas in housing developments

The committee responsible for
preparing this report consisted
of George D. Butler of the Na-
tional Recreation Association,
Chairman; C. E. Brewer, Recre-
ation Commissioner, Detroit,
and E. Dana Caullcins, Superin-
tendent of Recreation, West-
chester County, New York.
Copies are available from the
National Recreation Associa-
tion at twenty-five cents.

recreation use. Well kept lawns
and shrubbery have aesthetic
value but they are no substitute
for active play space. Unless
definite steps are taken to estab-
lish properly located recreation
areas of suitable size and development
in new neighborhoods cities will be
obliged to acquire such areas later at
much greater cost."

Holding that the responsibility
for seeing that recreation needs
are not overlooked in the plan-
ning of new housing develop-
ments, the committee states that
the responsibility for meeting the
problem is a common one shared
by subdividers, public housing
authorities, city planning commissions, recreation
departments, city councils, school authorities, and
the taxpayers.

The report presents a body of recommenda-
tions, outlines the principles which guide its sug-
gestions and then offers a detailed discussion of
the requirements and standards involved in rec-
reational planning for housing developments.

Recommendations

The committee presents the following recom-
mendations for the prevention of past mistakes
and the assurance of well balanced outdoor recre-
ation for people in new housing developments :

1. In the initial conception of any housing proj-
ect, due consideration for the recreational needs of
the people to be housed, in consultation with local
authorities responsible for city recreation service.

2. Play lots within each block or for each group
of dwellings except in developments where back-
yards are provided for individual families.

3. Within each neighborhood whether com-
posed in part or entirely of the housing develop-
ment, a properly situated playground.

4. A playfield for young people and adults
within easy reach of every housing development.

5. Wherever practicable, utilization of space
not occupied by buildings for informal recreation.

6. Consideration of indoor recreation facilities.

7. Consideration of the problems of operation,
maintenance and leadership.

35

36

PLAY SPACE IN NEW NEIGHBORHOODS

Fundamentally a Planning Problem
The three principles underlying the above rec-
ommendations are : first, that provision of recrea-
tion areas in housing projects is primarily a prob-
lem of city and neighborhood planning; second,
that intelligent provision of outdoor recreation
areas demands an understanding of their types,
essential functions and requirements as to size,
location, design and facilities ; and third, that the
need for indoor recreation facilities must also be
considered and that they must be planned in rela-
tion to the outdoor features. Furthermore, it is
essential that methods of financing and adminis-
tering areas and facilities be considered.

The essential elements in the planning of a
neighborhood unit of a city are the playground,
school and indoor recreation center which serve
as a focus of the neighborhood and its common
life. The solution of the recreational needs of
persons to be cared for in new housing develop-
ments should be approached from the standpoint
of neighborhood play space requirements. This
principle has been recognized to some extent by
public housing authorities.

Many agencies share in the responsibility for
providing outdoor recreation spaces. It is not the
province of this report to suggest the division of
responsibility but it does hold that only as each
agency, public and private, understands, accepts
and meets its share of the responsibility can rec-
reational needs be met. Studies of local recrea-
tion needs must be the basis for sound, coopera-
tive planning. Some recreation areas in housing
projects have proved unsuccessful because de-
velopers did not understand the essential func-
tions of areas and their requirements.

Essential Types of Areas
Of the several types of municipal recreation
areas essential to a well balanced public system,
three have special applica-
tion to housing projects.
They are play lots, play-
grounds and playfields.

The play lot is the sub-
stitute for the backyard.
In general, it should be
provided in the central
open area within each
block or adjoining each
group of dwellings. In
projects serving family
groups such a lot should

The Advisory Committee assisting in the prep-
aration of the report were: Frederick J. Adams,
Professor of City Planning, Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology; F. Ellwood Allen, Spe-
cialist in Recreation Facilities, National Rec-
reation Association; Charles S. Ascher, Sec-
retary, Committee on Public Administration,
Social Service Research Council; Louise P.
Blackham, Recreation Consultant, Hillside
Homes, New York City; W. Burke Harmon,
Real Estate Operator; Seward H. Mott, Chief,
Land Planning Division, Federal Housing Ad-
ministration, and Clarence S. Stein, Architect.

be provided for every thirty to sixty families. The
required space for the play lot is from 1500 to
2500 square feet. This presents no serious space
problem. If the play lot is not restricted to chil-
dren up to eight, some 2000 to 4000 square feet
may be required. In the play lots should be a few
pieces of simple, safe and attractive apparatus
such as chair swings, low regular swings, low
slides, a sand box and simple play materials.

For children from five to fifteen there should
be a children's playground located at or near the
center of the neighborhood where it may be
reached easily and safely from all the homes. In
densely built up sections no child should be
obliged to go more than a quarter of a mile to
reach the playground. A desirable space standard
is that of one acre for each one thousand popula-
tion. In most neighborhoods an area between three
and five acres is needed. The playground must
have good design and effective development in-
cluding such features as an apparatus area, open
space for informal play, fields and courts for
games, an area for quiet games, crafts, etc., shel-
ter house, wading pool and possibly a play lot for
the very young children. In the past a common
mistake has been to develop exceedingly small
playgrounds which create difficult problems of ad-
ministration, discipline and maintenance. A sin-
gle large playground, designed on a functional
basis eliminates the shortcomings raised of small
play areas for older children.

In order that young people and adults may have
an opportunity for recreational activities within
walking distance, there should be a playfield
within a half mile to a mile of every home, the
distance depending upon the density of the popu-
lation. Ten acres is a minimum size. A playfield
should be provided for at least each 20,000 of
population and there should be at least one acre
of playfield for every 800 people.

In addition to these fea-
tures every multiple family
development affords op-
portunity for introducing
on the building site a
number of recreation ac-
tivities which do not re-
quire the setting aside of
special spaces, which in-
volve very little if any
construction or mainte-
nance costs and which can
(Continued on page 53}

The National Recreation Association

ON APRIL 12, 1938, the National Recreation
Association arrived at the ripe old age of
thirty-two. Today the Association is inter-
ested in the promotion of satisfying recreational
opportunities, not only for little children, but for
people of all ages, all races, all colors, wherever
they may be. It is interested not only in physical
activities, important as they are, but also in every
other form of wholesome, developmental, leisure-
time pursuit, calculated to give answer to the deep
hunger of human beings for expression, the
absence of which in their lives may mean a chok-
ing of the best that is in them — a form of spiritual
death.

Broadly speaking, the National Recreation As-
sociation is concerned with the leisure-time prob-
lem of America.

The National Recreation Association wants to
see many things happen, many advances made. It
wants to see the establishment of recreational fa-
cilities and services in all communities of the land
wherever they may now be non-existent.

It wants a keen appreciation by all school au-
thorities of the great significance of growing lei-
sure to human life and to the future of America,
together with the direct implications for educa-
tion inherent therein.

It wants to see communities ready to open to
young folks ample opportunity to continue with
their music, art, craft work, their nature, dra-
matic, reading, civic, social, and physical activity
interests during free time.

It wants to see civic organizations, dedicated by
their constitutions to civic service, become in-
creasingly active, cooperatively active in efforts to
persuade public officials to get the right concep-
tion of the recreational needs of the people, and
then to appropriate adequate funds therefor.

It wants to see a children's playground within
a quarter mile of every home in built up sections ;
a neighborhood park and playfield for every
15,000 to 30,000 of the population in larger cities,
and at least one such in smaller places ; a baseball
field for every 5,000 of the population; a tennis
court for every 2,000; a swimming pool 60 by 150
feet for every 15,000 persons, but accommodating
more if the pool is larger, with at least one pool
for every community; an indoor center in every
major section of a community. Also many other

-ooks to the Future

By EUGENE T. LIES

This month the National Recreation Asso-
ciation will celebrate its thirty-third
birthday. It is, therefore, an appropri-
ate time to publish these extracts from
an address made by Mr. Lies, a member
of the staff of the Association, at the
Regional Recreation Conference held at
Louisiana State University last spring.

fine things to meet the carefully ascertained needs
of the people.

The National Recreation Association wants to
see well trained workers everywhere, not merely
caretakers, not mere cheap political appointees,
but persons chosen on a merit examination basis
and continued in their jobs on a merit-checking
basis.

It wants to see great advances in cooperative
thinking, planning, and action in reference to the
leisure-time problem. This hope applies to the
getting together of public officials and boards,
also to the getting together of such public officials
and boards with private or semi-public agencies
plus schools and churches.

It wants to see, in every state of the union, a
home rule statute to permit municipalities to go as
far as the people want to go and are willing to
pay to go in providing for their recreational needs.

It wants municipalities to pass regulations re-
quiring a reasonable percentage of the area of
every new subdivision to be set aside for recrea-
tional use by the people.

It wants to see more volunteers of the right
type, especially hobbyists, enlisted in both public
and private leisure-time agencies.

It wants to see organized more and more citi-
zen groups who will relate themselves helpfully
to public recreation in their communities.

It wants to see more summer recreation sys-
tems expanded into year-round systems — since
people go right on living during the spring, fall,
and winter seasons.

(Continued on page 53)

37

You Asked for It!

Question: What has been the experience of
recreation workers in using amplifying systems in
their recreation programs? For what types of
programs are they especially effective? Does the
expense make them prohibitive or do they pay for
themselves in the added effectiveness of the pro-
grams ? What about upkeep ?

Answer : Over eighteen months ago the Recre-
ation Association of Boulder, Colorado, purchased
a portable sound system which we have found in-
dispensable for use at many of our events. We
have used it regularly for twenty-one different
types of social gatherings throughout the year as
follows :

The weekly free social dance held at Central
Center originated through a demand of twenty-
five young people for cheap, wholesome dance
surroundings. As we were paying for the sound
system at that time, we made a charge of five
cents per person per evening. The dance has
grown to an average attendance of 220 people per
night, and it is now free. A collection is taken up
at each dance to purchase floor wax. Floor man-
agers, hall monitors, and parking custodians are
chosen by the group to assist the two recreation
leaders. The music selected is from the most fre-
quently requested popular tunes. Following the
termination of the dance season in the spring, the
dance committee gets together at an informal
banquet. Washington Recreation Center and Lin-
coln Recreation Center each have a dance night
during the week, and enjoy both folk and social
dancing. This is also free and the average attend-
ance is fifty-six. Two afternoons per week ele-
mentary grade children are enjoying folk dancing
through recordings at Central Center. The mari-
onette players, whether playing to a group of
fifteen or fifty, use the microphone because of
ability to maintain a natural voice with consistent
volume.

For P.T.A. meetings, clubs, church groups, and
other social gatherings, the system is invaluable
for dinner music, dance accompaniment, and voice.

A discussion group of young people meets each
week to hear the Forum of the Air, have their
own discussion afterward, and dance to popular
tunes for a social period.

Santa Claus inaugurates the season on Decem-
ber first, and the public address system is used for

38

greeting him on his arrival. We furnish appro-
priate music prior to the arrival of the band and
Santa Claus riding on the fire truck. The address
system is then used by Santa Claus in interview-
ing his little friends, and most of all in bringing
together children and parents separated by the
crowd. During the week preceding Christmas the
system is placed in a car parked near a street
light in the business district, and carols are played
for an hour and a half. One church used the
Christmas records for their Christmas Eve
services.

At the close of the Yule season comes the
Twelfth Night ceremony when we use the micro-
phone for amplification of choral singing and
solos. It would have been very difficult to keep
people at a safe distance from the huge bonfire of
Christmas trees without the use of the system.

In directing activities at large picnics and club
outings, instrumental numbers and voice amplifi-
cation assist considerably in the program and the
direction of games. The Annual Easter Egg Hunt
is conducted with a minimum of disorder because
of the control of children made possible through
the use of the loudspeakers.

The annual Hallowe'en party for the school-
age children of Boulder is held in two sections at
the University of Colorado Field House. One
thousand six hundred children attended the party
in 1938. Public address systems are a necessity in
both the smaller group's activities in the women's
gymnasium and the larger children's activities in
the field house.

The high school play day held in May is more
easily controlled from a central point of view with
the aid of the amplifying system to announce win-
ning groups, special attractions, and to maintain a
festive spirit.

The football games at the high school are an-
nounced throughout in the collegiate manner. The
softball leagues are conducted with the aid of the
public address system for the games as they pro-
gress, music between games, and special announce-
ments. This keeps the sound system busy from
four to six nights each week during the summer,
but only after the playgrounds have closed for the
day.

(Continued on page 53)

WORLD AT PLAY

School Center
Activities

HIGHLAND PARK,
Michigan, reports that

from the beginning of

November 1937, all of

the schools, including the high school and Hackett
Field House, were open for gymnasium, audi-
torium, and pool activities in the evening. Partici-
pating in the evening programs were over sixty
organizations including clubs, fraternal organiza-
tions, Camp Fire girls, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts,
church, and youth groups. The workshop in one
of the schools was open to the public for the third
successive vear.

Playgrounds and
Reading

FROM time to time the
Association receives
information regarding
efforts which are be-
ing made to interest playground children in read-
ing. In Long Beach, California, for example, di-
rectors at various times have operated book clubs
with duly appointed officers. A recommended
book list from the public library a block away
from one playground was posted on the bulletin
board, and reports were given at the weekly meet-
ings by members who had read any of the books.
Points were given for the activity which counted
toward the playground certificate. Another di-
rector at Long Beach reports an effort to work
out a lending library, borrowing books from the
public library and loaning them to the children.
Still another director arranged to have a long ban-
quet table indoors with magazines and a few chil-
dren's books on it. This table was particularly
popular in the heat of the day.

May Day— Child
Health Day

"THE health of the
child is the power of

the nation." This will

be the slogan of May

Day — Child Health Day 1939, which as usual will
be sponsored by the Children's Bureau, Washing-
ton, D. C. It is the hope of the Bureau that com-
munity groups will arrange for the presentation
to the public of child health needs in the com-
munity, for planning by interested groups of joint
efforts for advancing child health during the year,
and for launching new child health projects. It is
urged that school children as a climax to the year's

health education program will show by exhibit,
demonstration, organization, and plays what they
have learned about safeguarding their own and
the community's health, and will celebrate in fes-
tivals and games the progress made during the
year.

Winter Sports
Popular

THE Union County,
New Jersey, Park Sys-
tem reports that on
Sunday, January I5th,

21,000 skiers, coasters, and tobogganists swarmed
over the hills at Galloping Hill golf course. From
early morning until eleven o'clock at night these
winter sports enthusiasts were gliding down over
hill and incline. Few accidents were reported. In
most cases, states the report, either carelessness or
lack of courtesy were contributing factors in the
injuries which did occur.

A Bird Sanctuary
for Durham

A BIRD sanctuary of
1 6.8 acres, initiated in
Durham in 1938 and
near ing completion,

will be a unique addition to the city's recreational
facilities. The park was built to attract wild birds
and wild life and will provide a splendid oppor-
tunity to study wild bird life which will be at-
tracted to the area by feeding stations, bird houses
and by trees and shrubs planted there.

More Facilities
for Oakland

THE Oakland, Cali-
fornia, Recreation De-
partment, reporting
achievements for 1938,

states that through WPA help the $1,400,000 mas-
ter project was drawn up and approved, giving
the city through the next few years an oppor-
tunity to build facilities in keeping with the
growing population.

An Easter Breakfast
Table Contest

AN attractive feature
of the annual Phila-
delphia Flower Show
is the Easter break-
fast table contest in which women's clubs of the
city participate. Each club provides a table and
furnishes it completely with china, table linen and
centerpiece. The display, roped off, is easily visi-

39

40

WORLD AT PLAY

Keep Your Pitching
Horseshoe Equipment

UP-TO-DATE

Write for catalog of the DIAMOND
line of horseshoes and accessories,
the complete line of official equip-
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• Many Styles of Horseshoes

• Official Courts • Stakes

• Stake Holders • Carrying Cases

• Rule Books • Score Pads

DIAMOND CALK HORSESHOE CO.

4610 Grand Arenu*
DULUTH, MINN.

"Jbrfy Approaches to
Informal Singing"

Price $.25

Just off the press — a
pamphlet of suggestions
by Siebolt H. Frieswyk of
the staff of the National
Recreation Association for
some interesting methods
of varying group singing
and making it even more
enjoyable than it would
otherwise be. Helpful dia-
grams are included.

National
Recreation Association

315 Fourth Avenue New York City

ble to visitors who enjoy expressing opinions on
the entries. Two of last year's most successful
entries expressed, respectively, the religious and
the non-religious aspects of Easter. The first table
was set with heavy white damask and delicate
gold-banded white china. An exquisite small
modernistic statue of the Madonna in clear colors
surrounded by a low arrangement of narcissuses
formed the centerpiece. A prayer-book bound in
white and gold lay on the table. The other table
had plum color and gold as its theme. The center-
piece was purple anemones and yellow calendula
in a low bowl. The china, a charming rough pot-
tery in a lighter shade of plum, appeared to ad-
vantage on mats of wisteria colored linen. There
was an amusing pottery dish in the shape of a hen,
in which colored eggs were piled.

Activities for Girls — The Recreation Depart-
ment of Evanston, Illinois, is providing many ac-
tivities for girls. There are forty-five after-school
or early-evening clubs with varied programs, with
approximately sixteen girls in each class. Many
of the leaders are college girls employed part time.
About once a month the leader accompanies the
girls on an outing either at club time or on a Sat-
urday. At Christmas time each club made three
doll houses to be presented to welfare agencies
for distribution. Activities for women include
classes in gymnasium, volley ball, tap dancing,
swimming, bowling, badminton, handcraft, piano
instruction, softball, and hockey. Opportunities
are offered for mixed groups in badminton. A
shelter house was open for winter use with heat
provided and a WPA leader placed in charge.
Here roller skating, old-time dancing, social danc-
ing, ping-pong, and table games were conducted.

Rural Teachers' Open House — As a gesture
of friendliness and appreciation of the coopera-
tion of community friends and parents of the
students in their classes, the teachers of rural St.
Louis County in Minnesota introduced, three
years ago, the Teachers' Open House. To
this event adults of the community are invited to
enjoy the winter play areas and facilities at night
following which entertainment of one sort or an-
other and refreshments are provided by the local
school faculty. The Teachers' Open House has
been most heartily enjoyed by the community and
faculty alike. In many communities it is fast be-
coming a tradition and a "looked for" event.
Twenty-three of these events were given by the
teachers last year.

WORLD AT PLAY

41

Music Week, May 7-13, 1939 — Another Mu-
sic Week is approaching as the National Music
Week Committee again makes its appeal for a
widespread observance of the week through ac-
tive participation, concert attendance, and listen-
ing in the home to the better type of musical radio
program. As in previous years the National Com-
mittee recommends the featuring of American
music since the occasion offers an appropriate op-
portunity to give recognition to our American
composers and to acquaint the American public
with their work. The Committee further urges
American communities to encourage their local
music groups. Orchestras and bands, whether
professional or amateur, glee clubs, mixed
choruses and chamber music groups, school or
adult, are all an asset to any city or town, and are
not only a stimulus to the cultural development
of the individual member but also a means for
enriching the life of the community.

The National Music Week Committee, whose
headquarters are at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New
York City, has available a number of pamphlets
and other material which will be helpful to local
groups promoting observances. Information re-
garding these publications may be secured from
Mr. C. M. Tremaine, secretary of the Committee.

Playgrounds First! — Edward J. McCormick,
M.D., Grand Exalted Ruler, Benevolent and Pro-
tective Order of Elks, places playgrounds first in
the list of services which local Elks carry on. —
From Survey, February, 1939.

News from Los Angeles — Touch football is
proving a safe and satisfying substitution for the
regulation sport for an army of Los Angeles boys,
according to an announcement issued by the Play-
ground and Recreation Department. Thirty-five
playgrounds were reported in the touch football
tournament conducted in all sections of the city, '
with the grand play-off between the winners in
eight sections of Los Angeles scheduled for De-
cember loth. The interplayground tournament
was held for loth, nth, and I2th grade boys in a
number of high school auditoriums. Other boys
from nine to fourteen years of age competed in
intramural touch football leagues organized with-
in each playground.

The Lamp Clubs, which offer every Los Angeles
girl between the ages of nine and sixteen years
not a member of a character-building club an op-
portunity to affiliate with a municipal group, are

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to be expanded. There are now thirty- four such
girl groups in the city. Membership entitles a girl
to go camping, to learn woodcraft and nature
lore, and to acquire skill in arts and crafts, home-
making, and citizenship.

Chicago Recreation Commission Receives
Budget Increase — The Finance Committee of
the City Council of Chicago, Illinois, with the ap-
proval of the Mayor has increased the appropria-
tion to the Recreation Commission from $20,000,
which was received by the Commission last year,
to $25,000 for the present calendar year.

The Twenty-Fourth National Recreation Congress
will be held in Boston, Massachusetts

OCTOBER 9-13, 1939

Headquarters will be at the Hotel Statler

Additional information will be
issued at an early date

42

WORLD AT PLAY

GROUP WORK INSTITUTE

May 29 - June 16, 1939

Western Reserve University

• A three weeks' institute for experienced group
workers including credit courses in Principles of
Group Work, Supervision in Group Work, Work with
Individuals in Groups. The Use of the Creative Arts
in Group Work, and Methods of Workers' Education.
A bachelor's degree from a college of approved
standing is required for admission.

For information address

SCHOOL OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

Western Reserve University

Cleveland, Ohio

Camp Education — The December, 1938, is-
sue of the Phi Delta Kappan — a journal for the
promotion of research, service, and leadership in
education — is devoted to the subject of camp
education. It contains a number of articles on the
subject of camping by Elmer D. Mitchell, Bernard
S. Mason, Dr.. Henry S. Curtis, Joseph E. Maddy,
L. H. Weir, and others. Copies of this issue may
be secured from the executive offices of Phi Delta
Kappan at 2034 Ridge Road, Homewood, Illinois,
at 35 cents each.

ADVENTURING
in NATURE

A venture in a comparatively new
field of activity for the recreation
movement, Adventuring in Nature,
by Betty Price has already received
favorable mention by nature
specialists.

With its suggestions for simple collec-
tions, playground museums, nature
trails, informal exploring trips, nature
clubs, games, handcraft, and other
activities, the book offers a wealth of
information to recreation workers,
club leaders, and camp counselors.

. . . Price $ .60

National Recreation Association
315 Fourth Avenue, New York

Unique Community Center Developments in
England — The magazine, Community^ the Jour-
nal of Social Science in Birmingham, England,
tells of the organization of the unemployed into
community clubs. These were known as the
Feathers Clubs inasmuch as the insignia of each
club carried the "three feathers" of the Prince of
Wales crest. These clubs aimed to meet the oc-
cupational and recreational needs of the family as
a whole and, when there was a nursery school
available, the parents of the children automatically
became eligible to membership, subject to ap-
proval of the house committee.

In 1934 a Feathers Club Association was formed
to coordinate the activities of the present clubs
and plan for additional clubs in the future. Un-
employment was at first a requirement for mem-
bership but is no longer so. The majority of the
members have now regained employment. Each
club has its workshop and is equipped to meet the
occupational needs of its unemployed members.
The clubs are in a position to link themselves up
with other social organizations, joining in their
classes and interchanging activities. These clubs
are self-governing and almost entirely self-sup-
porting except for the salaries of leaders.

Midyear Park and Recreation Conference —

The annual Midyear Conference of Park and
Recreation Section of the League of Wisconsin
Municipalities was held in Madison on January
25th and 26th. Among the topics discussed were
the following: Does nature study provide recrea-
tion? Who is liable for accidents in your parks?
Where should you locate your parks and recrea-
tion facilities?

Boys and Girls Week — The 1939 observance
of Boys and Girls Week will begin on the morn-
ing of April 29th and conclude on the evening of
May 6th. From the National Boys and Girls
Week Committee, Room 950, 35 East Wacker
Drive, Chicago, Illinois, may be secured an il-
lustrated folder known as the Advance Herald for
Boys and Girls Week which is designed to stimu-
late interest in the event. There is also available
a manual of suggestions giving detailed instruc-
tions for the carrying out of the program out-
lined in the Advance Herald. Copies of these two
publications may be secured free of charge from
the Committee of which S. Kendrick Guernsey is
secretary.

WORLD AT PLAY

43

The Irene Kaufmann Settlement Celebrates
Its Forty-fourth Anniversary — The Irene Kauf-
mann Settlement of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of
which Sidney A. Teller is director, received from
Henry Kaufmann an additional gift of $100,000
recently. Since 1908 Mr. Kaufmann has given
more than $2,000,000 to the Settlement which was
founded by Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann as a me-
morial to their daughter, Irene. This year the
Settlement is celebrating its forty-fourth anni-
versary, and at its annual meeting it presented a
"living" annual report which consisted of demon-
strations of the work of the Settlement instead of
long reports, speeches, and statistics.

An Indian Village — A large and modern
trailer camp is being erected in connection with
the New York World's Fair in which there will
be many recreational facilities. An Indian Village
is being planned where parents may leave their
children under the care of practical nurses and
recreation workers. For others there will be fa-
cilities for shuffleboard, horseshoe pitching, hand-
ball, and a large outdoor swimming pool. Other
recreational facilities will consist of a library with
a reading room, a game room, and an outdoor
movie.

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Dancing in Richmond — The Bureau of Parks
and Recreation, Department of Public Works,
Richmond, Virginia, is stressing the organization
of dancing groups. Square dancing clubs are be-
ing successfully organized, and two are in opera-
tion with twenty to twenty-five couples in each.
There are two social dancing clubs with a mem-
bership of two hundred older boys and girls who
meet each week. The social dances are supervised
by leaders from the Bureau, and there are present
chaperons from the neighborhood.

An Annual Spring Festival — The thirteenth
Annual Spring Festival of the English Folk Dance
and Song Society of America will be held on the
afternoon of April 2Qth at the Seventh Regiment
Armory, Park Avenue, New York City. Of this
annual festival John Martin, dance critic of the
New York Times says, "It constituted one of the
major dance events in New York."

Over 600 dancers from various Eastern cen-
ters will participate that afternoon. By far the
greatest number participating are adults, the ma-
jority of whom do the English dances as a hobby

and find that they offer them exercises and a
highly enjoyable recreation of a social nature. The
festival climaxes the season's dance activities and
offers a spectacle of great beauty. The program
will include Morris, Sword and Country Dances,
the latter both English and related American. A
large number of the country dances this year will
be danced by the entire body of participants at
one time. This massed dancing is considered one
of the highlights of the festival because of its
great beauty of color, movement and pattern.

Mrs. Arthur O. Choate is chairman of the Fes-
tival; Miss May Gadd, Director of the Society,
will direct the program. Information may be se-
cured from the headquarters of the Society at 15
East 4Oth Street, New York City.

Sunbeams for Footlights

(Continued from page 4)

larger area for spectators, corresponding to the
auditorium under roof. There should be no pro-
vision made for permanent seats in a theater of
this type. The seating in the auditorium, which

44

SUNBEAMS FOR FOOTLIGHTS

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is usually a turf area, should be directly on the
lawn, or in portable seats. The element of bal-
ance is emphasized by symmetry in this type of
theater. Wings and background of plant materi-
als, well-screened backstage area, a definite stage
apron, and often a sloping amphitheater, are char-
acteristic elements of the design. In many ways
this type of theater corresponds to the "garden"
theaters associated with schools and college cam-
puses, and large private estates. Its size, shape
and general construction will again depend on
existing conditions and needs.

The illustration of a proposed play field-park
for Watertown, South Dakota, shows a theater of
the formal type. It is interesting to note here the
sloping auditorium, the dry wall forming the
apron of the elevated stage, the formal arrange-
ment of clipped plant material wings and back-
ground, and the well-screened ample backstage
area. There are various approaches both to the
auditorium and the stage. The introduction of
trees in connection with the screen planting of
shrubbery adds much to the sky line and mass
effect of the planting.

In the design of a playground theater the rela-
tion to other recreational facilities must be taken
into consideration. In a multiple use program its
function as a theater may be secondary. Every
playground should provide some area for quiet
games and outdoor handcraft. It is logical to con-
sider the theater either a part of or adjacent to
this area. The theater should be removed as far
as possible from the vicinity of noisy and active
games and should be within easy access to the
entrance of the playground. It should never be
necessary for children to cross active play areas
in order to reach it. If possible it should be con-
venient to the shelter building or point of control.

Simplicity should be the keynote of the design,
regardless of the type of theater selected for the
playground. Care must be taken in the selection
of plant material from the standpoint of texture,
type of growth, and hardiness. The arrangement
of these plant materials should be functional as
well as attractive to the eye. When not in use the
playground theater is a definite landscape feature
of the area and is a means of introducing beauty
into an otherwise unsightly spot. There are many
playgrounds which are bare of trees and shrubs on
which it is difficult to visualize such a develop-
ment. This is especially true in playgrounds ex-
hibiting a pronounced evidence of overuse. Un-
for^unately all playgrounds are not beauty spots
and much can be done to give the necessary
aesthetic touch, through judicious and simple
planting.

If a playground is fortunate enough to possess
one or two trees, or possibly a group of trees in
some favorable spot, then these may form the
nucleus around which the theater may unfold.

NOTE : The construction of playground theaters will be
discussed in a future issue.

May Day Celebrations

(Continued from page 8)

Episode III — Coronation of May Queen. The
Herald announces the coming of the May Queen
and her court. The procession is led by the shep-
herdesses, who form an arch through which pass
the Queen, her ladies-in-waiting, the Queen's
court, jesters, pages, and flower girls, to the ac-
companiment of De Smetsky's "Marche Royale."
All sing "Happy Days" by De Koven, as the
Queen mounts her throne and is crowned with
due ceremony. The shepherdesses then entertain
the Queen with a minuet. As they finish their
dance, the villagers call to the jesters to entertain
the Queen, and they do so by characterizing
Hofer's "Juggler Dance."

Following this, the milkmaids dance "Gathering
Peascods." At completion, a group of gypsies run
in and take places for their dance, for which the
music of the "Italian Peasant Dance" may be
used. At completion of dance, the Burgomaster
announces to the crowd :

"Hear Ye! Hear Ye! The Archery Contest! The

Archery Contest!

All archers are invited to participate. The winner
will be given a place among the King's Forest-
ers, and he who shoots straightest of all will be
given the prize of a golden arrow.
Archers, to your places !"

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46

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During the archery contest, the first and second
movement from "Round of Country Dances" by
Dorothy Berliner may be played. Robin Hood
and his Merry Men take their turn in the archery
match. Robin, the winner, is awarded the golden
arrow, which he presents, ceremoniously, to the
Queen. The villagers then all join in the "Morris
Stick Dance" to the music of Grainger's "Shep-
herd's Hey."

Following this, all sing the "Morris Dance

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Philip H. Slocum

Ox FEBRUARY /th Philip H. Slocum, Director
of the Joliet, Illinois, Bureau of Recreation,
died after an attack of angina pectoris. For fifteen
years Mr. Slocum had been in charge of the recrea-
tion program in Joliet, and his passing came as a
shock to the entire community.

Philip Slocum's first recreational experience
was gained before the World War in work with
the Y.M.C.A., in New Bedford, Massachusetts,
and Newport, Rhode Island. After service in the
war he returned to New Bedford where he opened
the first community center at Catherine Street
School and was active in organizing recreation
activities for boys. Two years later, in 1921, he
went to Richmond, Indiana, to take charge of the
recreation program. In 1923 he took up his work
in Joliet.

Speaking of the widespread influence Mr. Slo-
cum exerted, the Joliet Herald News said :

"Philip Slocum possessed a rare gift of organi-
zation, a surpassing ability to win the cooperation
of any individuals or groups with whom he
worked. Whether he was developing a single
child's interest in a new game or directing a league
of four thousand players, he always successfully
attained his objective. The players inevitably
benefited from their association with the recrea-
tion director. Unconsciously he taught rules of
the game of life not found in books. By his own
perpetual practice he taught the finest sportsman-
ship, fair play, self-control. The death of Mr.
Slocum was mourned today by men high in city
affairs, and by men and women and boys and
girls who loved him as their playtime leader."

Song" by German. As they finish singing, the
shepherdesses take their places and dance "Green
Sleeves." Upon completion, the revellers take
center of stage and proclaim :

"Come all ye lads and lasses,
Join in the festive scene,
Come dance around the Maypoles
That will stand upon the green."

As all groups run to the Maypole and remain in
place, the Queen's attendants dance to Schubert's
"Greeting." When they finish, they give a signal
to the Maypole dancers to commence their dance.
At completion of the Maypole dance, all sing De
Koven's "Farewell to Old Sherwood."

The Herald then announces the end of the
revel, all groups triumphantly leave the stage

SCIENCE INDOORS AND OUT

47

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in the following way : Jesters, Queen, her attend-
ants, Burgomaster, Robin Hood and his Merry
Men, dancing groups, and villagers. The music
for the recession is "The Village" from "Scenes
Poetizue" by Gedard. This is played until groups
are completely out of sight.

NOTE: The important thing to remember in this fes-
tival is the spirit injected into it by the May Day merry-
makers, all of whom remain on the scene after complet-
ing their dance. This spirit reaches a high climax of
expression when all cheer and applaud after each dance
or song. Quiet, eager interest is evinced by all during
each number, which should progress without any stops or
breaks.

Science Indoors and Out

(Continued from page 12)

General Electric Company awarded the Science
Department of the Elizabeth Peabody House
its Thomas Edison Medal for outstanding work
in promoting science activities for children.

Now opportunities for enlarging our science
work open up almost every day. We are con-
vinced that science, indoors and out, offers

one of the best possible opportunities for
children. It aids their general educational de-
velopment, helps them to a keener interest in
life, and points out that interest toward a
creative future, either as a vocation or avoca-
tion. Equally important is their fresh young
interest in present constructive activities, their
acquaintance with nature and its wonders, and
a resultant awareness of the possibilities of
creation and conservation which help to make
them responsible young citizens. Such training
cannot help but have an important effect on
their characters and daily lives and make them
better able to plan for and direct their own
future.

Leadership^ Organization and Program
Making in Boys' Club Groups

(Continued from page 19)

part of the club program. Just as the leader should
be alert to discover new and expanding interests,
so he should be alert to observe waning interests
and to foresee the death of an activity. When he

48

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

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sees that the boys are losing interest in something
they have been doing, he should guide them in
making new program plans.

The leader should freely use the abilities of
persons with special talents in guiding the develop-
ment of the program. It is not at all necessary for
a good leader to be a jack-of-all-trades in leisure
time activities. Obviously, the leader should seek to
develop his knowledge and abilities along all the
lines of endeavor which the boys may undertake,
but he should also not hesitate to use persons in
the community with specialized abilities when the
effective development of the program calls for
specialized knowledge and skill. Leaders should
not attempt to give boys the impression that they
know everything. Often the fullest growth pos-
sible comes when leader and boys set out to ac-
quire together certain informations and skills. All
club work should be a process of mutual sharing,
learning, and enjoying.

Dramatics for the Camp Community

(Continued from page 24)

However, there is a growing list of short and
entertaining plays for children which carry no
royalty. Such lists may be obtained from the
National Recreation Association or from the
National Service Bureau of the Federal
Theater Project, WPA, 1697 Broadway, New
York City.

Since many of these plays are scattered
through various more or less expensive an-
thologies of one-act plays, the best thing for
the young dramatics counsellor to do is to
type, during the previous winter, copies of all
the useful plays she can get hold of in the
public library or borrow from friends and ac-
quaintances. Several carbons should be made
of each play for the use of the leading actors
in the camp production. (Hand copying by the
children, after the play is cast, causes a dis-
tressing delay in beginning rehearsals, and also
reduces by just that much drudgery the fun
of the whole proceeding.) On each manuscript
there should be careful notes as to royalty
and publishers. In this way the director may
build up an excellent library of plays situable
to camps. Of course, when plays can be ob-
tained inexpensively printed, it is highly desirable
to have them in this form.

There are also a number of good books on
the various phases of directing, producing, and

RECREATION ACTIVITIES IN STATE PARKS

49

teaching dramatics that should be included in
the camp dramatics counsellor's personal
library. If I were able to own only a few
books which would help me as a director of
camp dramatics, I believe I should choose the
following volumes first : Creative Dramatics, Wini-
fred Ward; The Process of Play Production,
Crafton and Royer, or Acting and Play Produc-
tion, Andrews and Weirick; Seven to Seventeen,
Alexander Dean (plays) ; Ritual and Dramatised
Folkzvays, Jasspon and Becker (plays), and Con-
stance D'arcy Mackay's books of children's
plays. If in addition the dramatics counsellor
owns a good book or two of ballads and story
poems, and has stored in her head (or on
paper if necessary) a fund of appealing stories
full of action and dramatic possibilities, she
should have plenty of literary dramatic material
to last for quite some time. The rest of her
material is a thing of imagination, and if she
has that, she really will not have to worry
too much about the limited library she may
happen to have available.

Plays which are useful for camp should
usually be lively and full of action, the speeches
short, the parts fairly evenly divided among
the various actors, the costumes easy to im-
provise from the materials at hand, and the
setting simple and capable of quick change.
Also, when the camp is for only boys, or only
girls, it is necessary to find a play in which it
is not too hard for the children to play parts
that would normally be assigned to the op-
posite sex. This would mean cutting out the
all-too-common type of comedy in modern
dress.

In planning the whole program for the
summer, it is also best to provide for variety
in the kind of plays to be given, so that the
dramatic fare may be well balanced. The
plays need not be of uniformly high calibre,
but there are enough good plays for children
available to prevent the necessity of resorting
to trash. Even when entertainment is the chief
end in view, camp dramatics can be kept at a
fairly high intellectual, moral and artistic
level. It is the responsibility of the camp
dramatics counsellor to see that this level is
maintained, not only for the sake of the
audience, but more particularly that the camp-
ers participating may benefit to the full by
working in a worthwhile dramatic atmosphere.

NOTE : Miss Hall's article will be continued in the May
issue of RECREATION.

Recreation Activities in
State Parks

RECREATION PROGRAMS in state parks under the
leadership of Works Progress Administration
workers are proving very popular, according to a
resume prepared by WPA at its Washington
headquarters. The experiences on which the re-
port is based cover at least six states and approxi-
mately twenty-five parks within these states.

In most instances the recreation program oper-
ated by WPA is sponsored by the state agency in
charge of state parks usually called the State De-
partment or Division of State Parks. From one
to seven leaders are being supplied to an indi-
vidual park according to its size, attendance, and
the type of program conducted. The leaders are
usually under the supervision of the WPA dis-
trict or county or area supervisor in whose terri-
tory the park is located.

There are no reliable statistics available on the
individuals coming to the parks and participating
in the programs. It is estimated, however, that
from 45 to 65 per cent of the participants are
adults. Park attendance varied from 10,000 for a
season in one park to 60,000 for one week end in
another. The individuals included campers who
stayed overnight or for a longer period, tourists
who were in the park for only a short time, and
people from near-by communities who came to the
park for only special occasions.

The recreation program is operated mainly in
the summer for periods of about seventy-five days.
Many of the state park officials, however, have
become so enthusiastic over the program that they
have asked to have it carried through the winter.

The duties of the recreation leaders in the parks
vary greatly, including the following: acting as
host or hostess; planning a recreation program
and directing people in activities'; keeping a bul-
letin board or some other means of informing the
public on the activities offered ; organizing people
of neighboring communities to attend programs in
the park and to use the park facilities for their
special events, festivals and play-offs of league
games, and organizing leagues and groups among
the campers in the parks.

The recreation program includes a wide range
of activities — nature study, arts and crafts, pup-
pets and marionettes, hiking, camp fire programs,
community singing, dramatics, festivals, games
and sports of all kinds, horseback riding, first aid
instruction, swimming and water sports, and win-
ter sports.

50

A NEIGHBORHOOD MAKES ITS OWN PLAYGROUND

CHARACTER
AND CITIZENSHIP

brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing — or
not doing —

To lay the foundation for good citizenship

To build good character

To develop personality

To solve community problems

To safeguard democratic institutions

To improve family life

To promote recreation and good health

To encourage cooperative activities

The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Educa-
tion for Character and Citizenship. It is
of particular value to:

Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and
Directors

Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation

Leaders of Other Character Building
Agencies

Miss Maria Leonard, Dean of Women, Uni-
versity of Illinois, says: "I wish to tell you how
much help I feel CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP
is to us who are trying to build youth. The name
of the magazine itself emphasizes the two great-
est goals in building youth. The sooner that
character and citizenship can be made the basis
not only of all human relations but of education
itself, the sooner a new era will be ushered into
America."

Send your order to

National Council on Education
for Character and Citizenship

5732 HARPER AVENUE

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

j*

> Please record my name as a sub
scriber to CHARACTER AND CITIZEN-
SHIP as checked below.

One year subscription at $2.00

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY ... ... STATE

Nat. Rec.

A Neighborhood Makes Its Own
Playground

(Continued from page 27)

teered to make the proper grades, and near-by
factories loaned drills to break up the cement and
iron pipes.

When all the preliminary work was completed
last fall, the playground association sponsored an
opening ceremony. This included a monster pa-
rade in which 700 children marched, some of them
carrying placards which read: "i,455 children and
no playground, so we made one." The other pla-
cards read: "Play is life for the child." Field day
contests at which public officials officiated were
also a part of the program.

The playground association, in a series of meet-
ings, has planned for future developments. Start-
ing this spring there will be handball, volleyball,
tether ball, baseball practice, horseshoe courts, and
paddle tennis for the older boys and girls. There
will also be several bocci alleys for the Italian
fathers and a small children's area with sand
boxes, swings, and slides. Activities will be su-
pervised by members of the association with the
help of several Central Square Center volunteer
leaders who live in the neighborhood. During the
winter- the association sponsored two dances at
which a considerable sum of money was raised for
playground equipment.

The entire project aside from reaching its main
objective, that of giving the many children in the
neighborhood a safe place to play, has accom-
plished much in addition. It has to its credit the
splendid achievement of having changed the atti-
tude of many individuals. Boys who formerly
had a reputation for destructiveness are now work-
ing to improve the playground. Parents, now edu-
cated to the value of wholesome play and recrea-
tion, are taking full advantage of the many
opportunities at the settlements and recreation
centers.

The Multiple Use of Recreation
Facilities

(Continued from page 29)

We have found it advisable to hard surface
all of the play areas of limited size in con-
gested areas as such a type of development will
serve a great many more people than it will
if the earth surface is retained. An asphalt
surface of a play area of sufficient size in a
(Continued on page 52)

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

51

Twenty-five Years Old

A FAMILY SUPPER and neighborhood program
featuring activities of the rural countryside
was a fitting opening ceremony on February 5,
1939, to the twenty-fifth anniversary and found-
ing of the Little Country Theater, at the North
Dakota Agricultural College, Fargo. The famous
little theater, founded by Alfred G. Arvold, was
once a dingy, dull chapel. It is today a country
life laboratory typifying the average neighbor-
hood community center in a small town or the
open country.

During the four days which followed oppor-
tunities were given for the public to inspect the
theater and study its operation; plays were pre-
sented; demonstrations in make-up, costuming,
sound and lighting were given; and a speech
clinic held. Addresses and symposiums on vari-
ous phases of drama and rural social life were
other features of the program. From throughout
the state came 4-H Club puppeteers, talented in-
dividuals representing rural community and
homemaker clubs, bands, choruses, and other mu-
sical groups — all examples of home talent that
had been developed in rural communities.

Membership of a male chorus which performed
consisted of eight farmers, three farm laborers,
two painters, two teachers, two students, a clerk,
mail carrier, minister, carpenter and blacksmith.
The representative of one community not only
told how he had made a violin from a cedar
fence-post, but also played it. On display were
hobbies of rural folk including a mounted butter-
fly collection, miniature stage settings, marion-
ettes, character dolls, lighting effects, and rare
books on the theater and country life.

The climax to the silver jubilee celebration was
an evening devoted to "Plays of the Yesteryears,"
highlighted by a series of tableaux and short ex-
cerpts from many of the dramas that had been
presented in the Little Country Theater in years
past, including such well known productions as
"Little Women," "Peter Pan," "Peer Gynt,"
"Elizabeth, the Queen," "The Good Earth," "Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," "Cappy Ricks," "David
Harum," and others. Taking part in the program
were college students and graduates who came
from many communities, representing many
vocations.

It was a gala event and a great tribute to the
Little Country Theater and the influence it has
had on the lives of individuals and communities.

Magazines and Pamphlets

Recently Received Containing Articles \
of Interest to the Recreation Worker (

MAGAZINES

Minnesota Municipalities, February 1939

"Crookston's New Winter Sports Arena"

Camping World, February 1939

"Summer Camp Insurance, Fire Insurance — Part I"
by Norman M. Godnick. This is the first of a
series of articles on camp insurance appearing in
Camping World.

School and Society, February 11, 1939

The Association of American Colleges and the Social
Security Act

School and Society, February 18, 1939

"The 'Love of Strenuous Activity Among College
Women' Myth" by Mary C. Baker

Progressive Education, December 1938

"Some General Characteristics of Adolescence" by
Caroline B. Zachry

Character and Citizenship, March 1939

"Beyond School Walls" by Paul J. Misner
"Conservation and Citizenship" by W. P. Beard
"Guidance — A Community Approach"
by Agnes Samuelson

The Journal of Health and Physical Education

March 1939

"I Have to Teach Recreation" by Mabel Madden

National Parent-Teacher, March 1939

"Rating with the Group" 'by Gertrude Chittenden

The Regional Review, February 1939

"The Human Factor in Recreation Planning"
by R. C. Robinson

Junior League, March 1939

"Why Be a Volunteer?" Mary Cooper Robb

PAMPHLETS

First Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public
Recreation, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 1938.

Thirty-Second Annual Report, Board of Recreation Com-
missioners, East Orange, New Jersey, 1938.

Twenty-Fourth Annual Report, Department of Recrea-
tion, Detroit, Michigan, 1938

Annual Recreation Report of the Department of Recre-
ation, Provo City, Utah

January 1st to December 31st, 1938

Annual Report, Playground and Recreation Association
of Wyoming Valley, W ilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1938

Annual Report, Mount Vernon Recreation Commission,
Mount Vernon, New York 1938

1938 Winter Bulletin, Department of Recreation, Detroit,
Michigan

Annual Report, Recreation Department, Austin, Texas,

1938

• Annual Report 1938, Department of Recreation, Kala-
mazoo, Michigan

Annual Report 1938, Recreation Commission,
Plainfield, N. J.

Facts About Recreation in Davenport 1938
Department of Recreation, Davenport, Iowa

52

WRITING FOR PUBLICATION

First Annual Report 1938, Kane Playground

Kane, Pennsylvania

Annual Report 1938 Park Department, Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma

Annual Report 1938, Recreation Department,
Salt Lake City, Utah

Annual Report 1938, Department of Recreation,
Two Rivers, Wisconsin

Seasonal Report of City Playgrounds 1938,
Salem, Oregon

Annual Report 1938, Miles City W.P.A. Recreation,
Miles City, Montana

Annual Report 1938, Houston Recreation Department,
Houston, Texas

Annual Report of the Delaware County Park and Recre-
ation Board 1938, Media, Pa.

Annual Report Board of Park Commissioners for Year
Ending March 31, 1938, Winnetka, Illinois

Annual Report Community Service 1938,

Memorial Community House, Whiting, Indiana

Annual Report 1938, Recreation Department,
Portland, Maine

Homestead District Playgrounds, Supervisor's Report

1938, Pennsylvania

Annual Report 1938, Bureau of Recreation, Department
of Public Works, Pittsburgh, Pa.

What's Ahead for Rural America?

Youth Section, American Country Life Association,
March 1939, 744 Jackson Place, Washington, D. C.,
price $.15

Social Relationships and Institutions in an Established
Rurban Community, South Holland, Illinois

by L. S. Dodson, Resettlement Administration,
Washington, D. C.

The Bulletin of The Association of College Unions,

The Report of Proceedings of the Nineteenth An-
nual Convention held at the Minnesota Union, Uni-
versity of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, De-
cember 1-3, 1938.

The Multiple Use of Recreation Facilities

(Continued from page 50)

congested area also makes available an area
which can be used by both children and adults
for many activities, including roller skating,
softball, basketball, and volley ball.

The multiple use of community recreational
facilities is extremely important in providing
the widest possible use of facilities and in help-
ing to solve problems of children's play and
of the leisure of adults.

degrees F; time, 25 minutes. Ice when cold with confec-
tioner's sugar frosting if desired.

A Lollipop Land Party

(Continued from page 33)

Chill. Mix the powdered sugar and flour together and
spread on a board. Drop nut mixture onto this, knead
lightly, and roll out to Y* inch in thickness. Cut out with
doll and animal cookie cutters and place on a buttered
cookie sheet. Bake in a preheated oven : temperature, 325

Music for Lollipop Lady: Victor Record No. 11832,
dream pantomime from "Hansel and Gretel." $1.50 plus
postage from G. Schirmer Inc., 3 East 43rd Street, New
York City. Or secure from your local music dealer.

"Twice 55 Games with Music" — The Red Book. C. C.
Birchard and Co., 221 Columbus Avenue, Boston, Massa-
chusetts. Edition containing words and melodies, 25# ;
complete edition with musical accompaniment, 75<f.

"Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf." Irving Berlin
Inc., 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City. Or secure
from vour local music dealer.

Writing for Publication

(Continued from page 34)

and there were more to pick from. The result was
a somewhat larger and much more attractive num-
ber, although this time we unfortunately used a
faulty machine for cutting some of the stencils
and so the press work was somewhat less appeal-
ing. But we ran more cuts this time and they
greatly enhanced the finished work. Our second
annual banquet was the occasion of the introduc-
tion of our second publication to our public.

One incident serves to illustrate the possibilities
of such a project. One of our members wrote a
short play called "Meet the Professor" which we
published in our second volume. This play so ap-
pealed to the boy who assisted with the mimeo-
graphing that he asked for permission to use the
play in the grade school he attends. One can
imagine the thrill that afforded the girl who wrote
the play!

The recreational value of our Writers' Club and
the stimulating results achieved by our publica-
tion have gone far toward popularizing recrea-
tional writing in our community. The project has
caught the public fancy and each meeting of the
club brings added applications for membership.
We are doing things, and we are growing. A few
months ago we were privileged to broadcast a
program over a radio hook-up. That provided a
great deal of fun.

Already, with our latest issue barely off the
press, plans are being formulated for publishing
a bigger and better issue for the current year,
with more and better articles and more cuts. The
annual banquet and with it the appearance of the
current issue of the club magazine has already be-
come a fixed tradition !

We cannot help but wonder why so little atten-
tion is accorded writers in our recreation pro-
grams. Surely no form of recreation is more

PLAY SPACE IN NEW NEIGHBORHOODS

53

wholesome, more stimulating, and more produc-
tive of constructive results, than that of writing.
Most people would like to write. Many of them
have tried it at one time or another, and would
again, if they could receive the stimulus afforded
by an organized group such as our Mesa Writers'
Club enjoys.

Play Space in New Neighborhoods

(Continued from page 36)

be carried on without leadership. Thus lawns may
be used for croquet, badminton, paddle tennis,
group games and paved courts and other areas for
showers, shuffleboard, hopscotch and other court
games. The outdoor areas should be supplemented
by such indoor facilities as game rooms, work
shops and rooms suitable for parties and a variety
of group activities. Both indoor and outdoor fa-
cilities and areas should be included in the recrea-
tion plan.

Finance and Administration
Some of the most troublesome problems in con-
nection with recreation areas in housing projects
relate to finance and administration. Satisfactory
solutions for them are likely to be found only as
realtors and public authorities sit down and work
them out together. It is pertinent at the outset to
work out a definite plan for assuring proper oper-
ation and maintenance. The problem of leader-
ship should also be faced in considering planning
and design. Certain types of play space may bet-
ter be omitted than provided without adequate
supervision. In a number of cities leadership at
recreation areas in housing projects is now fur-
nished by the local recreation department.

The National Recreation Association

(Continued from page 37)

It wants to see schools and colleges everywhere
cut loose from the rank tradition that star teams
must be developed — at all costs — regardless of the
rest of the student body, who can merely buy
tickets to see the few play and who get exercise
only for their vocal cords.

In other words, it wants to see general partici-
pation as against meager participation.

It wants to see such agencies as the Y.M.C.A.
and the Y.W.C.A., the Boy and Girl Scouts, the
Camp Fire Girls, the Hebrew and Catholic cen-
ters, and the social settlements flourish.

Finally, the National Recreation Association
trusts that in the interests of a still better and

" Roads to Music Appreciation "

By A. D. ZANZIG

A brief statement of the essentials of musical
growth for listeners and some descriptions of
fundamental ways of proceeding in these
essentials will be found in this pamphlet.

Designed to provide a short cut for the leader
or teacher to basic insights into the purposes,
the choices of music, and the procedures
through which he himself can work in this
field, it will also serve as an introductory
guide for the mere listener and for the
recreation or educational director who wishes
to gain in a short time a better understanding
of what his music teacher or leader is striving
to do. A helpful bibliography is given.

Price $ .25

National Recreation Association

315 Fourth Avenue New York City

more glorious America there will come about
general and genuine conviction in high and low
places that "Man does not live by bread alone,"
and further that "Depending upon the use made
of it, leisure can degrade or elevate people. ... It
can bring everlasting grief or minister to con-
tinuing happiness. The use of this gift of mar-
ginal time, by individual and nation, veritably
involves human destiny."

You Asked for It!

(Continued from page 38)

The regular Sunday night combined church
services in the bandshell are carried through the
loudspeakers so that people may sit any place in
the park and hear plainly.

At the bandshell the public all-playground
demonstrations and exhibits are augmented by
sound for musical accompaniment announcements.
Talent shows are produced with the playground
master of ceremonies in charge. The regular city
band concerts held in the bandshell during the
tourist season are amplified for solos and an-
nouncements by the public address system.

The annual Fourth-of-July "Pow Wow" cele-
bration uses three public address systems for

54

YOU ASKED FOR IT!

various group control uses. Ours was used for
"barking" in front of the marionette concession.

The public address system is rented to organi-
zations for private dances and allowed to use rec-
ords free; this pays for the recordings for the
whole department.

We hope to arrange time for use of the system
and the bandshell for quartette and other im-
promptu singing, and for the development of
music appreciation. The police department is con-
sidering the use of the system for traffic warnings
at downtown intersections. Microphone tests
for good speaking and singing voices may be
attempted.

Our experiences have shown that best results
were obtained through the use of better grade ac-
cessories. The sound equipment should reproduce
both the high and the low tones equally well. The
maximum volume for voice with our unit is
twenty-five watts, and for music, eighteen watts.
This is sufficient volume to enable people stand-
ing a block away to hear clearly. There should
be very little record scratch. Feed-back (humming
oscillating noise) should not be audible when us-
ing the microphone, and when using maximum
volume the quality of musical tones should not be
distorted. We have found one hundred feet of
microphone cable a necessity, as well as two hun-
dred feet of lead-in cable from the speakers with
about a hundred feet separating the two. A light
pick-up arm on the turntable saves records, as
does constant changing of needles.

The wisdom of our investment in this equip-
ment has been proved not only through the cheap
maintenance figures but through splendid per-
formance. The original cost was $148.00 which
included an eighteen watt amplifying unit, one
turntable, two speaker units, a microphone, a
small radio, two hundred feet of wire, and twenty
recordings. The turntable, amplifying unit, and
recordings were used equipment. We built the
turntable box, the loudspeaker horns, and the rec-
ord containers. Upkeep amounts to about $14.00
per year. Recordings include folk dances, square
dance, popular, novelty, classical, and Christmas
music, of which 78 per cent are 22^f and 35^
records, and 22 per cent are 75^ records. From
the standpoint of future service it is wise to pur-
chase through a local merchant, or have him build
the system. Since most of our microphone uses
are for voice amplification we use a directional
dynamic type.— £>. W. Pinneo, Director of Recre-
ation, Boulder, Colorado.

Why They Subscribe!

What School Activities brought to its
readers the past year for only $2.00!

School Activities

in their school

means . . .

For the PRINCIPAL

School and community in-
terest— attention that is
always given to things
going on.

School interpretation — dem-
onstration of what the
school is doing, exhibi-
tion and explanation oi
the work that justifies the
modern school.

School spirit, harmony with-
in and among school
groups, school loyalty
and goodwill.

For the TEACHER

Material for assembly and
community programs.

Practical ideas and sugges-
tions for clubs and home
rooms.

Plans for parties, banquets,
and socials.

For the STUDENT

Always an educative some-
thing-to-do.

A wholesome good time —
a happy eventful school
life.

A rich experience in genu-
ine democratic living.

47 articles on Ad-
ministration and
Supervision of Ex-
tra-Curricula r Ac-
tivities

articles on School

Assemblies
14 articles on

Athletics
56 articles on Clubs

1 1 articles on
Commencement

7 articles on Debate
13 articles on
Dramatics
7 articles on Fi-
nancing Activities

6 articles on Home
Rooms

7 articles on Music
20 articles on

Parties

23 articles on Pro-
gram Material

8 articles on School
Publications

3 articles on School
Spirit

12 articles on Stu-
dent Government

10 articles on Mis-
cellaneous Ac-
tivities

Also scores of pithy
Editorials, News
Items, Book Reviews,
etc.

This is more usable
material than sev-
eral books at many
times the cost would
have brought to
them!

(Completely indexed
in Education Index)

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and advisory board —

— SCHOOL AC-
TIVITIES speaks with
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of great importance
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SCHOOL ACTIVITIES MAGAZINE

College Hill
Topeka Kansas

"The Magazine with a Big Place in Every School"

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

The Costume Book for Parties
and Plays

By Joseph Learning. Frederick A. Stokes Company, New
York. $2.50.

HERE is A comprehensive and elementary book on cos-
tuming in which the descriptions of all sorts of cos-
tumes are so clear and nicely illustrated that the amateur
costume-maker would have little difficulty in following
them. There are descriptions of twenty-seven national
folk costumes, the costumes of nine historical periods,
and the oft-sought directions for the making of many
of our most fanciful costumes — from Peter Pan to the
Witch who reigns supreme at almost every Hallowe'en
festivity. The book will be of special service not only to
those concerned with the making of costumes from inex-
pensive materials but to those who find it necessary to
adapt available garments to meet special needs. Simple
pattern guides are given for tunics, caps, and other com-
monly used garments. The 138 illustrations by Hilda
Richman are not in color, but the accompanying text
describes the color schemes.

How to Win at Checkers

By Millard Hopper. Published, by the author at 422

First Street, Brooklyn, New York. $.15.
II ERE is A simple guide to skill at checkers for the new-
*• comer in the field who wants to know the purpose of
each move he makes. Seven lessons are given in the book-
let which is profusely illustrated by diagrams showing the

various moves.

The Barnes Dollar Sports Library

A. S. Barnes and Company, New York.
II ERE is A NEW SERIES of books on sports covering the
* techniques, rules, and plays of our most popular
sports, all published at the uniform price of $1.00 each,
and designed for coaches, players, and enthusiasts. Each
volume is illustrated. The following books are now avail-
able : Baseball, by Daniel E. Jessee ; Modern Methods
in Archery, by Natalie Reichart and Oilman Keasey ;
Track and Field, by Ray M. Conger; Better Badminton,
by Carl H. Jackson and Lester A. Swan ; Basket Ball, by
Charles "Stretch" Murphy ; Fundamental Handball, by
Bernath E. Phillips ; and Football, by W. Glen Killinger.
Further volumes to be included will cover golf, swim-
ming, tennis, skiing, skating, winter games, fencing, box-
ing, wrestling, etc.

Shellcraft

By Ruth Lippincott Walworth. Bruce Humphries, Inc.,

Boston. $1.00.

THE RESPONSE to an earlier edition of this book has led

• to the publication of this profusely illustrated book

which contains an added section on jewelry as well as

much of the material which appeared in the first edition.

Folk Songs of America

By Robert W. Gordon. Issued by Folk-Song and Folk-
lore Department, National Service Bureau, Federal
Theater Project, 1697 Broadway, New York. $.25.
THIS BOOK, reprinted by special permission of the New
* York Times, includes interesting information concern-
ing the basic origin and development of the American
folk song. It is also a comprehensive collection of folk
songs themselves — some mountain songs from North
Carolina; Negro work songs, spirituals, and "shouts"
from Georgia; Negro chants; outlaw songs; jailhouse
songs; lumber-jack songs; the old ballads; nursery
songs ; and songs of the pioneers.

Mr. Gordon not only presents the songs but also ex-
plains the mode of their presentation. We are given sum-
maries both of the background of the songs and of their
actual use. We learn how Negro spirituals are actually
used and developed, and why the songs of cowboys and
lumbermen are usually sung after work instead of on the
job, as is the case with sailor chanteys and Negro work-
songs. Music has not been included.

Encyclopedia of Sports

By Frank G. Menke. Published by Frank G. Menke,

Inc., 235 East 45th Street, New York. $2.00.
AA R. MENKE has given us a wealth of information in
' » » this encyclopedia representing "filtered facts from
2,000 books and the independent findings of twenty
years." Starting with the amazing fact that Americans
spend about four billion dollars annually in pursuit of
their favorite sports, Mr. Menke gives us information re-
garding the history and development of games and sports
of all types. As a result of his research, the author has
come to the conclusion that a combination of running and
hurdling was mankind's first competitive sport ; that
throwing was second, and wrestling combined with
punching — the old rough-and-tumble manner of fighting —
was the third sport. Field hockey, requiring nothing but
a branch from a tree and a pebble, is probably the oldest
of games and lawn bowling, its youngest brother.

A Practical Bibliography of Recrea-
tional Activities

Compiled by C. O. Jackson. Curriculum Library of the
University High School. University of Illinois,
Urbana, Illinois.

I N THIS FIFTEEN PAGE mimeographed bulletin a carefully
' selected and classified list of books, pamphlets, and
magazines is given. Mr. Jackson states in his preface that
in many cases the 'bibliographical references have been
read and evaluated personally. Where this was not pos-
sible, reliable book reviews and recommendations of com-
petent individuals have been accepted. Anyone interested
in securing a ropy may do so by sending a letter or postal
card to the Curriculum Library, 203 University High
School, Urbana, Illinois.

55

56

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

Successful Stunts.

Kit 46. Edited by Katharine and Lynn Rohrbough.

Cooperative Recreation Service, Delaware, Ohio. $.25.
Here is a collection of stunts — there are sixteen of them
with twenty-five stunt hints — which are both social and
dramatic : "social because they enlist a large part or all
of the group as participants and their fun depends upon
cooperative action ; dramatic to the extent that they have
plots and are highly imaginative." The recreation leader
will find them a helpful addition to his "just-for-fun"
library.

Stories for Parents.

By Jean Schick Grossman. Child Study Association

of America, New York. $.05 each.
The Child Study Association has issued the first four
of its proposed series of leaflets, "Stories for Parents,"
designed to present in simple and attractive form material
which will help parents of limited educational background
in meeting some of the problems which arise in the home.
The leaflets are (1) "A Game of Jacks" (a discipline
situation) ; (2) "A Promise" (on keeping one's word to
children) ; (3) "A Happy Day for the Whole Family"
(on encouraging children's success) ; (4) "Dad Comes
Home" (a typical "hard times" situation in the home).

Personal Experiences — A Two-Act Play.

By Ada Louise Barrett. Womans Press, New York.
$.35. Royalty $1.00.

This play, particularly designed for the use of Y.W.C.A.
groups, relates the experiences of five girls who are out
of jobs looking for employment. There is opportunity
for good acting in the play, and there are some amusing
situations.

Teachable Moments — A New Approach to Health.

By Jay B. Nash, Ph.D. A. S. Barnes and Company,

New York. $1.50.

A radical departure from the usual book on health,
this little volume lays down some simple, understand-
able rules which may be followed at no expense. Through-
out Dr. Nash stresses the importance of play and the
provision of adequate facilities, and leaves with his
reader the thought that the will to live is the driving
force of life in general and of health in particular. "What
man needs/' he says, "in fact, wants, is scintillating
worth-while activities which are balanced by challenging
workshop patterns in his leisure."

"The Call to Youth."

National Council of Catholic Women, 1312 Massa-
chusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. $.35.
This booklet contains the seventeen talks of the 1938
"Call to Youth" series conducted by the National Council
of Catholic Women in cooperation with the National
Broadcasting Company. Of special interest to recreation
workers are the discussions of "Youth Creates Beauty,"
"Leadership of Volunteers," "Youth in Action," and
"What Youth Demands."

Social Agency Boards and
How to Make Them Effective.

By Clarence King, Professor of Public Welfare Ad-
ministration and Community Organization, The New
York School of Social Work. Harper & Brothers,
New York. $1.25.

This book traces the origin of Boards of Directors,
defines their functions as they have been developed, cites
some of the disadvantages of such boards, and indicates
how they should be organized. The subject of officers,
board meetings, relations between executives and the
board, and other helpful topics are treated in simple and

very readable fashion. A very good bibliography of eight
pages is found at the close of the book.

This is a helpful guide for executives who are dealing
with Boards of Directors.

Manual of Knitting and Crocheting.

Compiled by Sarah Barnes. William H. Horstmann

Company, Philadelphia. $2.50.

Is knitting your hobby? If so, here is a book you will
want ! Its publishers have endeavored through it to as-
sist the reader to solve the various problems of knitting
and crocheting and "to induce the worker to think for
herself." The volume is arranged in five sections with
actual photographic illustrations, full working instruc-
tions, and detailed charts.

Programs with a Purpose.

Mignon Quaw Lott. Pentagon Court, Baton Rouge

Louisiana.

Under this title Mrs. Lott has issued a series of bul-
letins containing five safety programs which approach the
problem from the constructive side and attempt to popu-
larize the information which everyone should have
through the medium of entertainment. It is suggested
that anyone interested in learning how to secure the ma-
terial and the expense involved communicate with Mrs
Lott.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-Prcsident
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCIIER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan Cty, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

More What?

Eat more food.
Wear more clothes.
Sit in more chairs.
Sleep in more beds.
To what end?

Ride in more autos.

Reside in more houses.

Clutter houses with more trinkets.

No.

Rather

Sing more songs.
See more sunsets.
Walk more paths.
See more birds.
Sail more seas.
Catch more fish.
Jump more waves.
Swim more swims.
Take more sun baths.
Act more plays.
Take more pictures.
Paint more paintings.
Create more beauty.

Write more poetry.
Read more books.
Think more thoughts.
Dream more dreams.

Rest more.
Create more.
Love more.
Worship more.
Live more.

Howard Braucher

939

May

Photo by L. B. Sharp

THE FOREST FLOOR

The forest floor is mine —
My friends are there;
Small plants and dark earth
Nestle close to trees,
Reaching high to sunny air.

Life is calm and sweet
On the forest floor,
Small lives' cool retreat —
Where rarely rougher winds
Disturb their quiet lore.

Courtesy Life Camps, Inc.

Green around a grassy place
Where insects drone,
Making sunny lace
With shadows of the leaves
Stretched above my home,
On the forest floor.

Come with me some day,
To meet my forest friends,
Down a winding way —
Through the woods together,
Beyond where the city ends,
To the forest floor.

M. R. Nichols

The program for this year's observance
of Joseph Lee Day, in honoring the mem-
ory of Joseph Lee may fittingly be dedi-
cated "to the children who this summer
will play safely on public playgrounds;
to the youth of the country whose con-
structive use of leisure may become one
of the bulwarks of the American way of
life; and especially to those men and
women who are following Joseph Lee's
example — that body of laymen who are
giving of their time, energy and re-
sources to help keep strong and grow-
ing the national recreation movement."

National Joseph Lee Day

And its significance for the inter-
pretation of community recreation

THERE WAS a hush on the playgrounds of the
nation. Flags were lowered to half mast ; tens
of thousands of children listened reverently
for a few moments to the story of Joseph Lee, the
friend of little children. Then came a rush of
joyous activity as the children and their leaders
entered into the events that had been planned to
observe National Joseph Lee Day. The record of
what happened on that day is not only in the files
of a host of grateful executives but is deeply en-
graved on the hearts of those who shared the fun
and fellowship of that memorable day. Children
had learned of a great man, suitably called "one
of God's playfellows," who gave his life and for-
tune that they, and all children to come after them,
might have a chance to play. So they played that
day in memory of Joseph Lee.

And now requests have come from all over the
United States for a second observance of Na-
tional Joseph Lee Day. After careful considera-
tion the Board of Directors of the National Rec-
reation Association have acceded to that request
and have set Friday, July 28th, as the day.

As we look forward to another Joseph Lee Day,
perhaps the most helpful thing we can do is to
review some of the things that actually happened

last July. While the reports from the field
will be referred to, it is well known that
many celebrations occurred of which we
have no written record.

The purpose of National Joseph Lee Day, ac-
cording to the National Committee, was to com-
memorate the life and work of Joseph Lee and to
interpret the importance of community recreation.

What Was Done to Interpret Community
Recreation

The efforts of interpretation were significant.
A large number of cities all over the United
States and four countries participated in some
way in the observance of Joseph Lee Day. In all
of these some attempt was made to acquaint chil-
dren and adults with the life and work of Joseph
Lee, through the newspaper, the radio, and by
events on the playgrounds and in community
centers.

In several hundred cities where there was no
active observance the newspapers carried editori-
als in honor of Joseph Lee, used his picture, or
reported on activities in some other city which
actually observed the day.

A special letter with the brochure was sent to
columnists whose materials are syndicated. Bruce
Catton wrote a column on Joseph Lee and Joseph
Lee Day which was widely printed, constituting
the bulk of the publicity in non-participating
cities. Most papers used it as an editorial, but
some credited the copy to Catton. One paper used
it in the "Voice of the People" signed "An
Anxious West Sider."

59

60

NATIONAL JOSEPH LEE DAY

National and local broadcasts carried the mes-
sage over every network in the country. Com-
mentators made special note of the day, and dis-
tinguished speakers such as Charles Francis
Adams spoke of the life and work of Joseph Lee.

Local broadcasts were made in some cities, ty-
ing in the local situation with the national com-
memoration.

Proclamations declaring July 28th as Joseph
Lee Day were made by Governor Hurley of Mas-
sachusetts and by the mayors in a number of
cities. Mayor James E. Dunne of Providence,
Rhode Island, issued the following :

PROCLAMATION

Thursday, July 28th, will be known
throughout the nation as "Joseph Lee Day,"
and thousands of children and adults will
take part in festivities, exercises and games
in celebration of the day, observed for the
first time this year.

Joseph Lee, who died last year, was
known as the "father of the playground
movement in America." He gave his en-
tire life to the promotion of good causes
and most of his inherited income he gave
away quietly to advance playgrounds, edu-
cation, social service, housing and other
civic improvements.

As Mayor of the City of Providence, I
am heartily in accord with this movement
of setting aside a special time to pay tribute
to the life and work of Joseph Lee. Ap-
propriate exercises will be held on the play-
grounds of our city in order to bring the
attention of those gathered there just what
Joseph Lee meant to the Playground Life
in our nation.

Activities

The type of activity which occurred most fre-
quently was the informal, usually brief memorial
program, on the playground around the flagpole,
or in the evening when adults were present.

Many cities combined commemorations of
Joseph Lee Day with a track meet, a field meet
or swimming meet. Some used the day to run off
finals in tournaments started earlier in the sum-
mer. Among the happiest events was playing the
favorite games of Joseph Lee, singing his favorite
songs, and dancing his favorite dances. No
speeches or formal ceremony could mean so much
to the children as these simple joyous activities.

Libraries and stores cooperated by displaying
special exhibits of recreation books, pictures and

material about Joseph Lee. Where attempts were
especially made to interest adults with the pro-
grams of the playgrounds and community centers,
there were displays of arts and crafts work, na-
ture collections, and similar exhibits.

The pageant "Pursuit of Joy" which was sent
out by headquarters was used in a number of
cities and was very well received. In Westchester
County, New York, fourteen towns cooperated in
the pageant using a cast of 500 children and play-
ing before a large audience.

The Child's Biography of Joseph Lee was used
in a number of localities, posted or read or dis-
tributed.

Addresses at Service Club meetings on the sig-
nificance of the life and leadership of Joseph Lee
carried the message to a wide spread group of
influential adults.

Various other activities such as soap, clay and
sand modeling of Joseph Lee's head or profile,
essay contests, carnivals, circuses, fairs, story
telling hours devoted to Joseph Lee, festivals and
nature hikes were a part of the many programs.

Having learned that Joseph Lee loved picnics
and hiking through the woods, one city built a
part of jts celebration of National Joseph Lee
Day around a nature program.

Significant Observances

Boston, as Joseph Lee's home for many years,
had a particularly fine Joseph Lee Day. Charles
Francis Adams had spoken over the Columbia
Broadcasting System from Boston on July 25th,
so Boston was prepared for the Day. Governor
Hurley designated July 28th as Joseph Lee Day
"to memorialize the services of one of the fore-
most citizens and benefactors of the State of
Massachusetts and of the whole nation."

At the dedication of Joseph Lee Playground in
the morning, the President of the City Council
gave the dedicatory address and the Fire Com-
missioner also gave an address. The remainder
of the ceremony was given over to group play
engaged in by 2,000 children. In the afternoon
there were playground demonstrations on all park
department playgrounds, and an adult arts and
crafts exhibit on Boston Common. In the eve-
ning, 1,000 boys participated in the Greater Bos-
ton Playground Olympic Games at South Boston
Stadium, and on Boston Common the adult rec-
reation project of WPA, Drama Division, put on
a pageant with episodes depicting Joseph Lee's
battle for Boston playgrounds.

NATIONAL JOSEPH LEE DAY

61

Courtesy East Orange, N. J., Board of Recreation Commission

Boston newspapers cooperated very well and
gave the day a great deal of publicity. Commis-
sioner Long of the Park
Department headed a large
Boston Committee.

Houston, Texas, had al-
ready planned on July 28th
as the date of their folk fes-
tival, the crowning event of
the summer program. They
dedicated this program of

folk dances by representatives of the many na-
tionalities to Joseph Lee. The Mayor of Houston
issued a procla-
mation making
July 28th Joseph
Lee Day. On play-
grounds through-
out the city the
week was given
over to activities
in memory of Mr.
Lee.

Approximately
300 children and
adults were cast in
the festival "Heri-
tage" illustrating
the contributions
made by the va-
rious nationalities
to our national
life. There was

Joseph Lee always advocated a wide range
of play activities, and on Joseph Lee Day
no type of play, from games to dramatics,
was neglected in the tribute to the man
whose life was so largely devoted to
making play opportunities fully available
to the children and youth of America.

an audience of about 2,500.

In Jacksonville, Florida, the
big event of Joseph Lee Day was
a city-wide swimming meet
climaxing a day of games, ath-
letics and various kinds of tour-
naments. Ribbons awarded at the
swimming meet for first, second
and third places, mentioned Na-
tional Joseph Lee Day. There
was also a proclamation by the
Mayor and libraries displayed
Joseph Lee's writings.

Lincoln, Nebraska, featured
visitors' day on all the play-
grounds, inviting the public to
come out and see what was being
done. In the evening there were
entertainments on the grounds
and a member of the local committee, headed by
Mrs. Fred R. Easterday of the National Commit-
tee, was at each playground
to welcome visitors.

The Library reported that
circulation of recreation
books went up during the
week and that the Joseph
Lee exhibits attracted a
great deal of attention.
Some of the stores featured

Joseph Lee Day in their advertising and some had
window displays. Radio Station KFOR broad-

Covrtesy East Orange, N. J., Board of Recreation Commission

62

NATIONAL JOSEPH LEE DAY

Marlbel Smith and Associates

casted invitations for four
days to listeners to visit
playgrounds on Joseph Lee
Day.

Los Angeles had appro-
priate activities on nearly

all playgrounds. Their special event was the dedi-
cation of the Joseph Lee Wading Pool and Foun-
tain in Echo Park.

San Francisco, in addition to dedicating a tree
to Joseph Lee, had an outstanding set of exhibits
in San Francisco department stores. Large parch-
ment scrolls reading "Joseph Lee Day — The San
Francisco Recreation Department honors the
memory of Joseph Lee, Father of Recreation —
July 28th, 1938," were displayed in many depart-
ment store windows. There were stories of Joseph
Lee told at story hours on the playgrounds and
clay modeling of his head and profile. The Mayor
issued a Joseph Lee Day Proclamation and among
all the publicity was a cartoon concerning recrea-
tion and Joseph Lee Day.

California recreation executives from eighteen

The festival, "The Pursuit of Joy," presented
on Joseph Lee Day under the auspices of the
Westchester County, N. Y., Recreation Com-
mission in cooperation with local recreation
groups, introduced activities of many types.
A group of children from the West Harrison
playgrounds is shown in an Italian folk dance.

cities voted unanimously
for a "Recreation Week"
which should fuse with an
Annual Joseph Lee Me-
morial Event.

In Reading, Pennsyl-
vania, dedication of the city's new Joseph Lee
Playground featured a speech by Mayor Stump,
who said : "Every cent expended for playgrounds
is money spent in the wisest manner. Playgrounds
will become more important in the future when
adults will have shorter working hours and more
leisure. More playgrounds mean less juvenile
delinquency."

Playground flags were at half mast all day.
Two cities, Memphis, Tennessee, and Detroit,
Michigan, had different observances. Memphis
dedicated the entire summer program to Joseph
Lee with special activities during the week of
Joseph Lee Day. In Detroit there was no ob-
servance on July 28th but the climax of the sum-
mer season on each playground was a "Joseph Lee
Day." These wind-up celebrations took the place
(Continued on page 106)

WHAT'S NEW about the din-
ghy? Just this. Formerly
used as a tender by large

motor boats or yachts and propelled by oars or by
means of a motor, it has, by the addition of sails,
become a smart sailing yacht. The dinghy has
been streamlined — at least in Chicago !

With all its facilities for water sports, Chicago
has until recently lagged in small boat building
chiefly because of the prohibitive cost. This was
changed when the Lake Michigan Yachting Asso-
ciation of Chicago took a hand. Believing that the
growing youth of
Chicago would
benefit by an inter-
est in boating, the
Association secured
from Phil Rhodes,
noted naval archi-
tect, a simplified
type of plan for a
speedy little dinghy.
The Chicago Park
District was then
asked to organize a
number of junior
yacht clubs from
among the boys who
participated in park
activities.

Thus originated the now
famous Rainbow Fleet, or-
ganized to bring Chicago's
great lake front to the youth
of the city who might other-
wise have no opportunity to
become acquainted with the
sport of sailing on Lake
Michigan. There are now
thirteen clubs in the fleet which have built a total
of twenty-four boats.

Any Chicago boy between the ages of fourteen
and nineteen, even though he has had no previous
sailing experience, may become a member of the
junior yacht club at no expense to himself. To
date the Lake Michigan Yachting Association has
purchased all materials for the construction of
thirty of these sailing dinghies, and no expense
has been spared in securing the best of materials.

By F. E. KARDES

Technician, Crafts Department

Dinghy racing as an organized sport is
comparatively new. During recent years
it has become quite popular in the East,
and has reached the stage where inter-
collegiate races are held. And now, in
Chicago, the Rainbow Fleet sponsored by
the Lake Michigan Yachting Association
of Chicago and the Park District is dot-
ting the waters of lakes and lagoons.

The hulls are built of mahogany
and oak, the spars of spruce, and
the fittings and hardware of
bronze.

The boats are made in the various craft shops
maintained by the Park Department. As boat
building is a somewhat new phase of craft work,
it was found necessary first to give the various
craft instructors a thorough understanding of the
required technique. This was accomplished by
holding a series of institute sessions and having
the instructors construct the first boat. As was

expected, difficul-
ties were encoun-
tered, but in gen-
eral the work was
carried out success-
fully, and now many
of the junior yacht
club members are
capable of carrying
on the boat build-
ing program with
little or no instruc-
tion.

Safety Measures

The finished din-
ghy remains the
property of the
Rainbow Fleet but is avail-
able at all times during the
sailing season for use by
members who have passed
the swimming and safety
tests established by the Park
District. During the build-
ing program technical in-

struction is given the boys
in sailing, and they are required to pass certain
swimming tests. In addition to these tests they
are given the opportunity to take the Junior Red
Cross life saving and first aid course.

• One of the principal requirements in the swim-
ming test is that a boy must be able to swim two
hundred yards in open water and demonstrate his
ability to swim fifty yards fully clothed in deep
water. The first test qualifies him to be a crew
member in moderate weather; additional tests

63

64

BOAT BUILDING IN THE CHICAGO PARK DISTRICT

carry him through various
stages to unlimited skip-
per privileges.

Except in the case of
races or intercity regat-
tas, all sailing is done in
the protected waters of
Burnham Park Lagoon.
The sailing is further safe-
guarded by the presence
of the instructor, life guard
lookout, and an emergency
lifeboat which is always

"Boat building is a fascinating, socializing
sport, and while the boy is dreaming of skip-
pering his craft in a leisurely lake or lagoon
he is unconsciously laying the foundation for
the development of dexterous hands, a healthy
body, and a contented mind. Building a boat
requires a high type of craftsmanship, teaches
exactness in wood working, and in the neces-
sary fitting and joining it develops superior
mechanical skills. In fact, the construction
work, and the swimming and sailing tests re-
quired all aid in building the faculties on
which depend accurate judgment. The train-
ing the boy receives cannot fail to help
produce a sound balance between mind and
body, as well as a broader outlook on life."

four other craft shops car-
rying on a major boat
building program. The
members of the Gage
Park Yacht Club alone
produced fifteen Class "B"
or eleven and one-half
foot dinghies last winter.
The National One design,
a seventeen foot boat, has
been quite popular and
about ten have been built in
different parks. Another
boat which is being built

ready to speed to the aid

of a disabled or capsized dinghy.

The boat designed for the Rainbow Fleet by
Mr. Rhodes is a modified Frostbite dinghy of the
center board type, 10 feet in length, 52 inches in
beam, and carries 75 square feet of sail. Carry-
ing out the theme of the Rainbow Fleet, the sails
are multicolored, and each club has its own burgee
in the same colors. Every junior club is organized
as a regular yacht club, having its regularly
elected commodores, vice-commodores, and other
officers.

Interest Grows

With the advent of the Rainbow Fleet, the gen-
eral interest in boat building has grown by leaps
and bounds and has spread to older boys and men
who are desirous of building boats which they
may retain as their own property. Exhibits
in the various boat
and sport shows
have aroused so
much interest in
small boat building
that our facilities
and instructional
staff are being tax-
ed to the utmost,
and two new shops
have been establish-
ed the activities in
which are confined
entirely to boat
building.

In addition to
the parks in which
Rainbow Fleet
boats are being
built, there are now

extensively at this time is
the Sea Gull which is eighteen feet in length.

Building is not confined entirely to sailing boats
as several small motor cruisers are now under
construction and two Sea Scout groups are build-
ing twenty-six foot cutters.

One of the principal reasons for the popularity
of small boat building is the fact that splendid,
seaworthy boats may be built for as little as $100.
As this cost is spread over the period necessary to
construct the craft, it puts boat building within
reach of hundreds of men and older boys in our
city. Needless to say, of course, the splendid shop
facilities of the Park District and competent in-
structors are essential to a boat building program
of this magnitude.

Kayaks and Canoes as Well

The desire of many boys to build even cheaper

boats than the sail-
ing dinghies has re-
sulted in an exten-
sive program of
kayak and canoe
building. In this
type of work
elaborate shop fa-
cilities, machinery
and equipment are
not required, and
there are about
twenty parks in
which large num-
bers of such craft
and other water
sports equipment is
being built.

(Continued on
page 106)

The Craft Program 0oes to the Waterfront

By MARGUERITE ICKIS

New Yorlc City

DURING THE PAST few years
much consideration has
been given to the impor-
tance of correlating crafts very closely with other
recreational activities. So far, the waterfront crafts
seem to have been a neglected field. The use of crafts
with nature study has long been employed where
nature prints, plaster casts and aquariums help to
motivate the program. More and more we find
those leaders interested in recreation music, mak-
ing shepherd pipes or simple stringed instruments
for use with their community singing group. Per-
cussion instruments are easily constructed and are
becoming popular for use with the dance.

Let us consider the possibilities that waterfront
crafts have to offer and see if they cannot be
made more popular in the outdoor program this
summer.

Waterfront crafts are not new; in fact, they
are probably among the oldest on record. Primi-
tive man must have sat along the shore or river
bank while he fashioned his boat out of materials
he found that would float. Today we look back on
dugout and birch bark canoes with carved or
painted paddles and fibre fish-
nets as curiosities, but many of Haye you ever thought of all the

tie large gourds to their babies to
keep them afloat should they fall
overboard. Pieter Brueghel, a
Flemish painter of the i6th century, in his famous
painting of children playing games has shown a
child keeping afloat in a stream by means of
waterwings.

Very often the camper or the craftsman who
loves the open seeks the woods for an interesting
medium from which to create his craft. He might
fare equally well if he were to take a stroll along
the shore. There he can find beautiful shells to
set his creative mind to work, or the driftwood
and rocks washed in from other shores might
stir his imagination. If he wishes to make some-
thing simply to utilize material at hand, creating
projects from shells or driftwood will satisfy this
urge. Or, if he wants to add pleasure to his stay
at the waterfront, let him make games that can
be played in the water.

The educational angle, too, can be considered in
selecting a craft. Why not make a weathervane
and place it on the waterfront so the boats can be
brought to shore properly and docked according
to the direction of the wind?

There are many kinds of ba~

them represent the superb crafts-
manship of primitive
man. South American
Indians on Lake Titi-
cara fashioned boats
from bundles of straw
and wheat. A famous
Carthagenian, Hannibal,
in his fight with the
Romans is credited with
building a boat under
which were tied hun-
dreds of gourds to make
it float.

Waterwings are an-
other form of water-
front craft that seems
to have been used for
many centuries. For
thousands of years
Chinese living on boats
have been accustomed to

things you can make from shells?

rometers that are easily con-
structed and lend in-
terest to the study of
weather. Nautical in-
struments such as ones
used in making charts
may also be made. A
chip log, like those used
years ago, will afford
much pleasure to chil-
dren in measuring how
fast their canoe or row-
boat is traveling.

Things to Make
From Shells. Every
shore offers an abund-
ance of shells, and yet
almost no use has been
found for them in the
craft field. Not so many
years ago nearly every

65

66

THE CRAFT PROGRAM GOES TO THE WATERFRONT

farmer's wife used a large
shell as a trumpet to call
the men folk in from the
field at meal time (Figure
i). Such a shell trumpet
might be useful today in
camp, or for signaling while
on a hike. They are easily
made by boring a hole in the
side of the shell and cutting
off the apex in which to
blow. There should be many
uses for the broad flat shells
similar to those of the fresh
water clam. They can be
used as individual bake
dishes (Figure 2) ; paint
pots for the craft room
(Figure 3) ; or bulbs may

be planted in them, converting them immediately
into dish gardens. The smaller shells may be
pierced and strung together with elastic for brace-
lets (Figure 4) ; or they can be fashioned into
boutonnieres. Very attractive necklaces can also
be made by combining them with native seeds
(Figure 5).

Games. Games that may be contrived with lit-
tle craft knowledge are as numerous as the in-
dividual's capabilities for imagination. Two sim-
ple games are suggested —

With an old fish net and two bobbers
you can have an absorbing beach game

marked off for scores as
shown in the illustration
(Figure 6). Two fisher-
man's bobbers are tied to-
gether with a short string
and used for tossing at the
net. The bobbers will loop
through different holes to
make their points.

A Water Ball. The water
ball and animal shown in
Figure 7 are designed for
play days or pageants ; they
are easily made and can be
as colorful as desired. They
are made from wrapping
paper and colored with
waxed crayons which pro-
tects them from the water.

The small diagram next to the ball shows its gen-
eral shape before it is sewed together. They last
longer if the seams are bound with a piece of
paper an inch in width which is folded in the
center and sewn with yarn or thread. Kapoc is
used for the stuffing, as it is light in weight and
its greasy quality tends to keep the water from
seaping inside. If the ball is large, clump up some
paper and use it for the center. Then cover it
with kapoc so the project will not become too ex-
pensive. Such balls and ani-
mals have lasted for three

one for use in the water and .... . .. , ,

Why miss the fun of a water ball when

you can have one which costs nothing? davs m the water-

Other Articles.

the other for the beach. There
is a water quoits game
readily to be recognized
as being adapted from
the one used on land or
more familiarly known
as "Horseshoes." It is
made by placing a round
stick about fifteen
inches long in the cen-
ter of a round flat
board, with a long rope
attached to the bottom
in order to anchor it at
a given spot. Rings can
be fashioned from cork,
light wood or pressed
paper. .

The beach game is
made by tying fish net
between two poles and
numbering the squares

The

bathing belt is made of
hard seine twine, Num-
ber 36, such as the cord
used in making fish
nets. There are nine
strands of string the
measurement of the
waist plus five inches,
and two longer lengths
are left at each end for
whipping. The original
of this belt was made
by a fisherman of Ber-
muda. (See Figure 8.)
Old bathing caps
make excellent lining
for washcloth holders,
especially for use on an
overnight hike. They

THE CRAFT PROGRAM GOES TO THE WATERFRONT

67

may also be used to line compacts or a powder
puff bag.

A Novel Checkboard. The checkboard illus-
trated may be used either at the waterfront where
the swimmers are checked as they go in and out
of the water, or as an achievement board, which
is placed usually in the recreation hall. If it is
installed at the waterfront, it is suggested that
each child cut his own fish out of tin and paint
it the color of his cap. He may cut a mummy, a
gold fish, a trout or any fish he chooses, and
punch a hole near the eye and another near the
top of the back. He hangs the fish up by the
hole in the back while in swimming, and by the
hole in the eye while on land. If the board is to
be used as an achievement chart, the fish may be
made of colored construction paper or cardboard.

Using Fish Nets. For many years, the wives of
the fishermen along the Virginian shores and
other coasts made nets while their husbands were
making practical use of them on their fishing
trips. Finally a machine was invented that could
produce thousands of yards of fish nets in a single
year, so that the women could no longer compete
with the market. The Works Progress Adminis-
tration, finding these women destitute several
years ago, discovered a commercial use for net-
ting and now they have a new use for their skill.

Scarfs made from net are now being sold at all

And where will you find a more
ingenious checkboard than this?

From an old fisherman in Bermuda came
the directions for making this belt

summer resorts, and in the past season new ones
appeared dyed in beautiful colors. Netting is also
being used for curtains, luncheon cloths, bed
spreads and other decorations appropriate for
summer use. These projects can be made at any
waterfront and are useful as accessories or for
decorations in the cabins or homes.

An attractive bathing suit bag would be very ap-
propriate for the waterfront and it can easily be
made from fish net. Usually someone can be
found in the neighborhood that can teach netting,
and certainly there is an opportunity to visit the
fishermen along the shore and be introduced to
the ancient craft in its real setting. The bags can
be made in any size, and if they are made from
regular fish cord it is not necessary to line them.

NOTE : Miss Ickis, who prepared this article for the
readers of RECREATION, is author of Nature in Recreation
which is reviewed in this issue of the magazine.

A Hobby Craft Program for Cleveland

CRAFT PROGRAMS are not new
in recreation though adult
crafts are comparatively
new in our program. In our
first experiment, the open-
ing of a well equipped work-
shop for adults, we were
not seeking for novelty of
approach or presentation,
but for a definite goal to
strive for which would be
within reach of our limited
resources. Should our effort
be to turn out skilled craf ts-

By MARGARET E. MULAC

Division of Recreation
Cleveland, Ohio

What is to be the purpose of the program?
What crafts shall be offered? How can the
leadership available be most effectively
used and the limited funds at our disposal
most efficiently spent? How may the op-
portunities for craft activities best be
presented to the public? In the answers
to questions such as these lay the solution
to the problems faced by the Cleveland
Division of Recreation in planning its
program of crafts for adults.

men concentrating only on
those with evident talents? Should our attempts
be in the direction of producing pieces suitable for
exhibition or should the emphasis be placed on the
individual's reaction to the craft?

Crafts as Hobbies

We decided to develop the program on the
hobby basis with the emphasis on the individual
rather than the craft. Our whole objective in the
program became that of giving opportunities of a
varied nature to every interested person ; of help-
ing him find the activity that interested him most,
and of developing an interest which would grow
with experience and have a lasting value for the
individual.

With this principle in mind, the question of
what crafts to pre-
sent took on new
importance. We had
to decide whether
to choose the "fad"
type of craft that
crops up now and
then, runs its short
course with a burst
of enthusiasm and
dies, or to spend
our limited funds on
materials and tools
for crafts that have
long been recogniz-
ed and practiced.
We decided with-
out hesitation that

68

our policy would be to concen-
trate on the long established
crafts. Jewelry, metal craft,
marionette making, wood-
craft, leather craft, and
game craft took their place
on the list along with rug
making, weaving, sewing,
and quilting. A number of
other crafts, as, for exam-
ple, ceramics, enameling and
bookbinding, were tempo-
rarily omitted because of
the initial cost involved or
lack of trained leaders.

Leadership and Materials
How could we stretch our leadership to cover
the entire program? Each of the seven leaders
had other duties three days of the week, leaving
only two full days for each leader for instruction
in crafts. Each leader decided which craft he
liked best and was most proficient in, then made a
special study of it and outlined a series of short-
term projects. Thus instead of seven miscellan-
eous craft leaders we had a staff of craft special-
ists, each prepared to answer questions on his
particular specialty and well able to conduct a
program in that particular craft.

With a large program in mind and a very small
pocketbook, our next question was how can we

make each dollar do
the work of five?
Is it advisable to
buy materials or
spend all our money
on permanent tools ?
We bought per-
manent tools. The
purchase of a lathe,
buzz saw, jig saw,
and an electric
motor nearly ex-
hausted our budget
allotted to wood-
craft. Through
careful buying we
managed to secure
a hammer or two,

(Continued on
baae 106)

A Rovers1 Archery Course in Milwaukee

THE ROVERS' ARCHERY course in Milwaukee had
its origin in one of the boys' clubs maintained
by the Department of Municipal Recreation
and Adult Education. The boys had become adept
making their own bows and arrows and in shoot-
ing at regulation targets, and interest was some-
what on the wane. There was need for devising
a plan which would catch the imagination of the
boys and make them feel more akin to the Indians
they were emulating, whose feats with the bow
and arrow were far famed.

Animal Targets

And so the idea of a rovers' archery course
came into being. Why shoot at a regulation tar-
get when you were reliving the days of the Indian
roaming the forest with bow and arrow in search
of food? "Shoot at animals," was the answer to
that question. So the boys began constructing
targets which would represent animals.

These targets are made of six thicknesses of
corrugated cardboard sewed or wired together.
(Corrugated cardboard can be obtained from any
local merchant.)
On the face of
each target is
painted the pic-
ture of an animal
or bird, usually
one and a half
times larger than
life size. Deer,
bears, wild fowl,
geese, rabbits, clay
pigeons, foxes,
lions, tigers, and
other denizens of
the forest are cre-
ated. In painting

Making the tar-
gets and other
articles of equip-
ment is a large
part of the fun
of archery for
Milwaukee boys

By RICHARD G. BREEDEN

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

the animals every effort is made to approximate
their natural colors. Water colors have been
found most satisfactory for the purpose. It is
helpful to make a sample target base out of ten
so that it can serve as a pattern in making other
targets.

When the targets are completed they are
mounted on two or more stakes, depending on the
size and weight of the target and the number of
supports needed, and driven into the ground at
least a foot for support. If this is not done, when
the arrow hits the target it will jar and crack the
whole structure. Wiring the target to the stake
is more practicable than nailing it because if an
arrow hits a nail it is liable to break.

Through the use of these targets the boys learn
much about animals and conservation. They come
to realize the incorrectness of putting a doe on a

69

70

A ROVERS' ARCHERY COURSE IN MILWAUKEE

target instead
of a buck and
of shooting
such birds as
robins and blue-
fa i r d s. They
also become in-
genious in plac-
ing their tar-
gets, sometimes
concealing the
animal in his
native habitat.
A lion's head,
for example,
will be discov-
ered coming
out of the brush. These de-

also seimcircu-
lar to conform
with the loca-
tion of the tar-
gets. The dis-
tances between
the targets
vary, and they
are never shot
at from a range
greater than 40
yards; from 15*
to 20 yards is
the usual shoot-
ing distance.
The advan-

Photo by Larry C. Whiff en tagCS of this

Moving targets are popular and there Plan are that shooting can con-
vices make shooting more dif- are various types which may be used tinue on all the targets at one
ficult and increase the shoot- time and that individuals shoot-

er's skill. ing at a particular target need not wait for people

Type of Targets. Moving targets are popular. A shooting at an adjacent target to complete their
target is cut out in the shape of an animal and
hung from an easel, and a cord is attached to it
so that it may be swung either automatically or by
hand. Other types of targets may be used. I have
seen an old mattress rolled together with perhaps
a head on it and an apple on top of the head — a

perfect setting for the William Tell act! The
greater variety of targets the more interesting will
the rovers' course be.

The Course

There are two types of rovers' course ranges.
The first type is semi- circular in form, and is de-
signed more especially for tourna-
ment use ; the other is the form of a

large circle.

An ideal location for
a range is one in which
there is a semicircular
hill in the background
to stop arrows in flight.
It is highly desirable
from the standpoint of
safety to have a rather
high embankment in
back of the targets to
stop arrows which miss
the mark. The targets
are placed in a semi-
circular form and the
position of shooting is

Sample Score Card

15

(6

17

2*

35

40

~2~3~

5-0 T

3^

«^1S23

0UL

*• IT"

l^_£uy.

rounds before picking up their arrows. Since
safety must be taken into account at all times, this
is a major consideration. It is interesting to note
in this connection that since the recent revival of
this sport no one has been killed by an arrow.

The second type of rovers' range involves a
large circle. Here again it is ideal, though not
absolutely necessary, to have a fairly high em-
bankment surrounding the circle to stop arrows
which have missed their mark. This method of
layout is somewhat similar to that of clock golf
in which players shoot at one target and go on to
the next, the range changing from target to tar-
get. If properly laid out a regular
archery shooting range can be made
to accommodate both a
rovers' range and an
archery shooting gallery
by having the rovers'
course encircle the arch-
ery shooting gallery.
Each target will accom-
modate six people at a
time, and it is possible
to have as many groups
of six as there are tpr-
gets.

At least a square acre
should be set aside for
this activity, and it is
desirable to have sev-

«¥

.-/ ROVERS' ARCHERY COURSE IN MILWAUKEE

71

eral acres if possible. As a safety precaution ade-
quate signs should be posted indicating that shoot-
ing is going on. No one should be allowed to get
behind the flight of arrows, and spectators must
remain in back of those shooting.

Scoring

In scoring no target counts more than ten or
twelve points. Rings are drawn around the tar-
get, and the most vulnerable part of the animal
carries the highest score. The more difficult the
target, the lower the score for the reason that the
more experienced archer, although he does gain a
hit in the more difficult target, will not in the end
have a great deal higher score than the poorer
archer. In this way the less experienced and suc-
cessful archer will not be discouraged by his score.

It is well to use a standard method for scoring
each target, taking into consideration the contest-
ant's shot and the size of the target.

By using higher mathematics, our groups have
devised a scoring system which is uniform for all
targets. It takes into consideration the diameter
of the bull's-eye, the diameter of the arrow, and
the shooting range or distance. The following are
the elements of the formula :
S= maximum possible score
K= constant. It is determined by assuming a
score for one target and working the
problem backward.

D= diameter of the bull's-eye in inches
d= diameter of the arrow in inches
R= range in yards

Formula: S = K (D+d)
R

The group has also devised a score sheet which
makes use of the above formula. Across the top
of the sheet is the diameter of the bull's-eye in
inches, and down the left-hand side is the range
in yards. All possible scores are worked out
ahead of time, so it is merely a matter of consult-
ing the card and adding up the scores to deter-
mine the final score.

Although this is a rather complex method of
scoring, it has many advantages over the average
method of scoring. The extreme accuracy in
scoring is its outstanding characteristic. Archery
associations all over the country have faced the
problem of a uniform scoring system in order to
hold telegraphic meets. We believe we have
solved this problem.

General Suggestions on Equipment
We have found that it adds to the boys' inter-
est in archery if they make their own equipment.
In Milwaukee the boys buy their own material,
and the average type of wood they can afford is
ash or hickory or rock elm. If this is bought in
large quantities in six foot lengths about eight
inches wide and ripped into proper bow widths
of 1^4 to il/% inches, it is possible for the boy to
make a bow stave for about 35 cents. If a better
type of bow is desired, lemon wood or yew or
osage orange should be used. The last two woods
mentioned are the best.

The boys make two types of bows — the Indian
flat bow and the round bow. The flat variety is
easier to make and more mathematically correct
than the round bow, though the latter type is
more beautiful when completed.

We usually buy the arrows in the dowel form
28 inches long. The boys put steel heads on the
arrows, fletch them, and cut in knocks. They also
make their own strings out of either No. 12 or
No. 25 linen thread which is marked in different
ways in different parts of the country. Many of
the boys have gone even further and made their
own archery tackle. Such things as quivers, arm-
guards, and finger tips are examples.

Why Have a Rovers' Course?

A rovers' archery course has a number of ad-
vantages. It makes archery more interesting;
though less scientific in certain respects it is more
fun ; it accommodates more people at a time and
has all of the physical values of the regulation
game. A recreation department will find it well
worth while to develop one of these interesting
courses.

NOTE : In submitting this material Mr. Breeden ex-
presses his appreciation to Vincent E. Victoreen for his
work on the uniform scoring formula and scoring sheet
and to C. G. Whitman for his design of targets.

"Along with the revival of interest in all sports
of the individual type, archery is being used by
a fast-increasing number of men, women and chil-
dren as an absorbing leisure-time activity. There
are probably several reasons for this growth of
interest. One is the fact that the new method of
shooting which is being developed is easier to
learn and tends to be more accurate than the old.
Another is the development of more efficient and
accurate bows and arrows, and the fascination
many people find in the making of their own arch-
ery tackle." — From Modern Methods in Archery.

What fThey Say About Recreation

// |OY IN PHYSICAL RECREATION may be com-
.1 pounded of many elements, including pleas-
ure in the actual activity, relaxation and
change, pleasant surroundings, companionship,
anticipation and memory. There is satisfaction
in doing well some physical thing." — Dudley B.
Reed, M.D., in Keep Fit and Like It.

"We must see youth clearly — our boys and girls
who long to be happy, to go places, to feel and
experience life; who want to work at tasks they
love, and play with those they love, and some day
become the parents of children they will love ;
who want a part in making over this world along
lines of their own adventurous thinking and who
dream of rendering their service to humanity." —
Frances S. Pettengill, President, National Con-
gress of Parents and Teachers.

"Always people have liked to make plays. Some-
times they have made them just for fun: to amuse
themselves and others, and to make people laugh.
Sometimes they have made them as artists paint
pictures, and musicians compose music, and chil-
dren build block houses : for the joy of creating a
thing of beauty." — Marguerite Fellows Melchcr
in Offstage.

"I do not care by what term you call what I
have in mind. You may call it culture if you like.
What I am pleading for is the recognition of the
supreme importance of the enrichment of the
inner life of the youth of today and tomorrow.
In so far as education can accomplish this, much
that distresses us in the inequalities and injustices
and confusions of the life about us will vanish."
— Dr. Harry Woodburn Chase in Planning the
Future with Youth.

"There is nothing more essential to the liva-
bility of communities than an allowance for an
adequate background of open land. Such allow-
ance as this will become more important as the
margin of human leisure continues to widen." —
Karl B. Lohmann in Regional Planning.

"There are new forces in the world, new pa-
trons of architecture. A new architecture is being
born — an architecture for the people. It is proj-

72

ects of social value, parks, swimming pools, tre-
mendous dams and power plants and schools that
form the great architecture today. A new vision
of decently housing all the people has come in like
a breath of fresh air. That is what has changed
and is changing our architecture today. The
architect is beginning to realize his opportunity
and his duty to the people. They are his really
significant patrons." — Talbot Hamlin in Bulletin
of the American Library Association.

"Today, with vastly increased leisure and edu-
cational facilities, the common working man can
become as broadly educated as were formerly only
the aristocratic few. And if the masses are taught
to use their leisure in such a way as to enrich
their lives, this can be made a more civilized
world." — Dr. Harry A. Over street.

"It is just as much a symbol of patriotism to
have the nation's schools lighted at night as to
have flags flying over them in the daytime." —
Mark McCloskev.

"A challenging job confronts us all. The home,
the church, the school must each do its part but
you as playground directors and recreation lead-
ers have an equally important task to perform.
Yours is essentially a great adventure in social
relations and a splendid opportunity to mold the
character of the plastic material with which you
work." — Frank S. Gaines, Berkeley, Calif.

"We need a new conception of life. It must con-
cern itself less with the number of years we live
and more with how we live them. After all, there
is plenty of evidence that some men live more in
ten years than others do in ten decades." — Gabriel
Heatter in Faith.

"The great problem before us today is to create
a civilization that does not degenerate under lei-
sure. This can be done only by setting in opera-
tion forces making for a culture that recognizes,
as no civilization since the fall of Rome has been
required to do, that leisure must be a means and
not an end ; that its value is measured by what we
do with it as to whether it lifts or lowers us in
the world of spiritual values." — Dr. Philip Seman.

Sunbeams for Footlights

IT is FUN to build a
playground theater.
There is a thrill in
transforming almost
overnight a corner or a
barren portion of a play-
ground into a thing of
real beauty which will

serve many purposes. The playground theater
adds to the general landscape development of the
area. It is simple and inexpensive to construct and
economical to maintain. The planting of decidu-
ous shrubs or evergreens, the establishing of a
lawn, or the introduction of a tree or two may be
all that is necessary in the construction process.
In the case of an existing lawn area, it becomes
merely a problem of adaptation.

It must be clearly understood that this article
is dealing with the natural types of playground
theaters which depend entirely upon natural fea-
tures for effects. This means, of course, that
there will be no artificial scenery, draw curtains,
or specially constructed wooden stages, as is typi-
cal of the indoor theater. The structural theater
of the playground with its artificial scenery and
effects, sometimes permanent but often portable,
has been used successfully in various playgrounds
throughout the country. This type of theater is
very popular and adapted to certain types of dra-
matic productions. It usually means the introduc-
tion of a portable stage in as desirable a setting as
possible, which is immediately removed after the
production is over. The construction of a per-
manent theater of this type which will materially
contribute to the aesthetic value of the playground
involves a great deal of expense.

The permanent natural theater which we are
discussing is inexpensive
to construct. It is made
up primarily of living
plant materials, ever-
changing in character. Each
season of the year brings
forth different color and
texture effects. Even in
the wintertime, if care-
fully planned, it can be a
thing of unusual charm.

It would be well per-

Some suggestions for the design and
construction of playground theaters

By R ELLWOOD ALLEN

National Recreation Association

In the first part of this discussion of play-
ground theaters, which appeared in the April
issue of Recteation, Mr. Allen outlined three
types of theaters — the informal, semiformal
and formal, and presented a plan for the pro-
posed playfield-park for Watertown, South
Dakota, showing a theater of the formal type.
In this article he continues his discussion
of natural types of theaters which depend
entirely on natural features for effects, and
takes up problems of grading, drainage, soil,
and types of plant materials to be used.

haps to mention briefly
some of the general prob-
lems involved in the con-
struction of the natural
playground theater, such
as grading, drainage, soil,
and types of plant ma-
terials, before discussing

the individual problems pertaining to each theater
type.

Grading. Abrupt changes in grade should be
avoided. The grade should be uniform regardless
of slope. If the stage is elevated there should be
a slight pitch toward the apron for surface drain-
age. This pitch should not exceed an inch and a
half for every ten feet. (See Figure 3.) When
the stage and the auditorium are on the same
level it will only be necessary to provide enough
slope for surface drainage. (See Figure 2.) The
direction of the pitch depends on the size and
design of the theater and the topography. A
pitch from the periphery of the theater to a point
at the imaginary or actual center of the stage
apron (provided with a catch basin) would be
ideal. Terracing is not recommended for the play-
ground theater except where the slope of the audi-
torium is so steep that terracing is necessary for
erosion control. Terraces are expensive to con-
struct and very costly to maintain. All top soil
should be removed and stored before the grading
operation, and then replaced over the area for the
establishing of a turf.

Drainage. Drainage is a very important factor
in the construction of the outdoor theater. If the
soil is porous and has natural drainage, very little
needs to be done. If, however, the soil is heavy
or impervious, it will be necessary to provide sub-
drainage by tiling. One
catch basin will probably
be necessary at the low
point to carry off surplus
surface water. The size
and type of basin will de-
pend entirely on the size
and topography of the
area. Often a six inch vit-
rified tile with wrought
iron grating connected
with proper underground

73

74

SUNBEAMS FOR FOOTLIGHTS

outlets will serve for all practical purposes. The
principles covering drainage for any lawn, play,
or planted area are applicable to the playground
theater.

Soil. As the theater is constructed of living
plants, the soil should be prepared according to
standard planting specifications. At least three
inches of top soil will be necessary for the estab-
lishing of a turf area. Beds for plant materials
should be carefully prepared before planting and
should be provided with sufficient top soil to in-
sure satisfactory growth. It will probably be
necessary to supply some form of fertilizer both
to the soil of the lawn area and of the planting
beds, either in the form of commercial fertilizer
or barnyard manure.

Types of Plant Material. Plant materials should
be selected to serve their special use, namely for
screen purposes. This means that dense foliage
will be necessary where plants are used for wings
and background. The habit and character of
growth of the plants should be carefully studied
as well as their
adaptability to
shearing or
pruning. Only the
hardy, tested vari-
eties should be
used, and those
producing pleasing
effects. Varieties
having thorns and
briers should be
avoided because of
the danger of in-
jury, and tearing
of clothing. It is
possible to select
materials that will
not only serve for
screen purposes
but produce very
pleasing winter,
spring, summer,
and fall effects.
They should be
planted at the pro-
per time, either in
the fall or in the
spring. Fall plant-
ing is usually con-
sidered better than
spring planting as

the season is longer and the soil in better physi-
cal condition.

Care should be taken in the selection of the
seed mixture for the lawn. In the Atlantic coast
region and north to the Great Lakes, Kentucky
bluegrass has no superior for general lawn use.
A mixture of Kentucky bluegrass seven parts,
red top two parts, white clover one part, by
weight, has proven very satisfactory in producing
a durable lawn for concentrated use.

General Considerations. A planting and grad-
ing plan of the area should be prepared before
actual construction is begun. This plan would show
the size and arrangement of the beds, the type, size,
number and placement of plant materials, the lo-
cation of all drainage and water supply features,
and the existing and proposed elevations. Shrubs
are usually grouped in masses and rarely used as
specimens in this type of development.

Figures i, 2, and 3 illustrate respectively the
three types of playground theaters previously
mentioned — informal, semiformal, and formal.

SUNBEAMS FOR FOOTLIGHTS

75

!-!•-£•£•! i

This plan illustrates the arrangement of a proposed play-
field showing the relation between the playground theater
and other facilities. It is interesting to note that the
theater is located near the shelter and away from noisy
types of activities. The tennis and horseshoe courts act
as transition between the quiet area and that devoted to
field activities. The plan takes advantage of a terrace
slope for its auditorium and has a low elevated stage
supported by a retaining wall. The wings and backstage
areas are formed by mass planting of deciduous shrubs.

All plant materials
suggested in these
plans are adapt-
able to the north-
eastern coastal and
Great Lakes regions
of the United States.
Figure I shows the
general arrangement
of suggested plant-
ing for the informal type of playground theater.
The stage is merely a part of a level lawn area in
the corner of a playground. Around the border
are plant materials for screen effects and to im-
prove the general landscape appearance of the
playground. The dotted lines in the beds repre-
sent the outline of one particular variety of shrub.
For example, five Spirea Thunbcrgii would be
necessary for the space indicated for that variety
in the plan. The shape of the bed provides a

partial wing. The
imaginary apron of
the stage would ex-
tend from this ex-
treme point to the
tree located thirty
feet away. Such an
arrangement is easily
adapted to other uses,
in addition to dra-
matics. It can be used for quiet games, for arts
and crafts, and is an excellent location for the
storytelling hour.

Figure 2 illustrates the semi formal type of
playground theater. There is only a slight change
in grade. The stage is not elevated, but a low,
dwarf privet hedge is designed to act as a divi-
sion between the auditorium and the stage. This
should be kept low, and not allowed to grow over
twelve inches high. A mass planting of Weigelia

76

SUNBEAMS FOR FOOTLIGHTS

rosea forms one wing of the stage and the exten-
sion of the planting bed with the Siberian Dog-
wood forms the opposite wing. Here again the
area can be used for many types of activities as
well as for dramatics.

Figure 3 illustrates the formal type of play-
ground theater, with elevated stage. A dry wall
two and a half feet high forms the apron of the
turf stage. The wings and background shown in
hatch are solid blocks of sheared evergreens,
usually six feet high. There is an ample back-
stage area, completely screened by the surround-
ing shrubbery borders. Access to the stage is pro-
vided from the rear. The wall of the stage can be
of any type of material — stone, brick, concrete. For
pleasing effects and low construction cost, a dry
stone wall is most satisfactory. This type of wall
requires no foundation, and if the bonding ma-
terial is soil the joints between the stones can be
plajited with alpines with interesting results. These
plants should be placed in the wall at the time of
construction and not inserted after the wall is
completed. In this way the roots of the plants
will have direct contact with the soil, which should
be thoroughly packed around them.

There are many alpines suitable for wall treat-
ment. Among the outstanding species are Dian-
thus deltoides, Saphonaria ocymoides, Sedums in
variety, Alyssum, Phlox subulata, Campanula gar-
ganica, Arabis, and many others. These plants
are profuse bloomers and many of them are ever-
green throughout the year. They are all very
hardy. While the plan indicates Hemlock for the
wings and back-
ground, there are
many types of
evergreens satis-
factory for this
purpose. Arbor
Vitae, upright
Junipers, and
Yews are often
used for such
purposes. Any
evergreen that
can withstand
severe shearing
and attain the
necessary height
is satisfactory
for wings and
background.If
deciduous shrubs

are used for this purpose, it is best to select those
that adapt themselves to severe shearing and pro-
duce dense foliage from crown to top. Various
types of privets are the most satisfactory, and they
are inexpensive. The introduction of trees in con-
nection with the stage not only provides shade but
helps to create a more pleasing skyline effect.
Elms, maples, and oaks are standard hardy varie-
ties used but the occasional introduction of a semi-
weeping willow, such as Salix elegantissima adds
variety and beauty in color and effect.

The width of the proscenium depends on the
type of use and the size of the area. Thirty feet
is usually considered a desirable width for most
activities. This type of theater is more difficult to
adapt to other playground uses than the informal
or the semi formal types. It is probably not feasi-
ble to construct the formal type unless there is a
keen interest in dramatic and musical activities.
Careful planning and programming, however, can
find many uses for it. It does have the distinct
advantage of inviting use.

The question of dressing rooms is often im-
portant in the outdoor natural theater. Usually an
adjacent shelter building or similar structure is
used for this purpose. It is sometimes practical
(Continued on page 108)

This picture illustrates the effective use of alpines in
the construction of a dry retaining wall supporting
the stage. These plants are very striking through-
out the entire year, contrasting with the harshness
of the stone and softening the severity of the wall.

Rainy Day Programs for Camps

By DAN DRYDEN and BILL SCHAFER

THE PROBLEM of providing a good program for
rainy days has long been a "headache" for
camp leaders. One of the reasons it has been
a problem is that it has been approached in the
wrong light. If counselors and directors could
look upon the rainy day as a boon, the problem
would be half solved. Variety is one of the things
we try to plan for in any recreation program, so
why shouldn't we accept a change in the weather
and put it to use as we would any new activity ?

It is not a bad idea to plan for a lull in activi-
ties once in a while and the rainy day is just the
time for a let-down. By this we do not mean that
the day should become boresome or that time
should hang heavy on the campers' hands. There
are plenty of activities which can provide a lot of
fun and may be a welcome relief from the usual
more athletic type of program. If it is felt that
something exciting is needed to vary the program,
there is no lack of games of a more robust type
which may be played indoors, even if the space is
fairly limited.

Perhaps one of the best things counselors can
do is to give the campers a chance to use their
own ingenuity in dealing with the rainy day. That
is one of the things camp is supposed to develop,
and this is a good chance for a little practice. In
most cases weather has little effect on the natural
exuberance of children. They will find a great
many things to do if left to their own devices.
Of course something is needed to fill in the gaps
when the youngsters run out of good ideas tem-
porarily. For you may bank on it that they will
not be at a loss for something to do for very
long! If they run out of ideas that are acceptable
to the camp, they will soon concoct schemes that
may be somewhat devastating. However, if coun-
selors are on the lookout they
may be able to provide the neces-
sary stimulus or added ingenuity
which will produce a good activity
from a hazy or imperfect idea.

Why not, in the first place,
prove to campers that bad weather

The authors of these practical
suggestions on how to take the
gloom out of rainy days at camp
are both associated with the rec-
reation program of the Children's
Aid Society of New York City.

can be pleasant ? The explanation of this paradox
will be apparent Lo the reader who has spent a
cold, blustery evening before a pleasant fire when
the sound of the wind and of the rain beating on
the roof has "seemed actually to add to the warmth
and snugness of the room.

Another easily demonstrable point is that
many activities enjoyed during sunshiny weather
are just as pleasant to pursue in the rain
— if one is properly equipped. We don't know
whether the experts agree with us, but in our
youth we did a lot of fishing in the rain and en-
joyed it, especially trolling for bass and pike. We
do not remember whether the catch justified our
belief that a light rain enhanced our chances, but
we do remember the main thing about it — and
that is that it was fun! Hiking or just going 'for
a walk in the rain will give campers a view of
beauties of nature not to be seen in fair weather.
Anyone who has seen a spider web adorned with
crystal raindrops or who has walked with the
summer rain in his face will appreciate this.

Swimming, too, can be fun if it is not overdone
and the air is not too cold. Perhaps it should be
suggested that this sort of activity should be en-
tirely voluntary, but that enthusiasm or a show of
interest on the part of counselors will engender
greater participation and also greater enjoyment
on the campers' part. Campers also like to run
naked or almost so in a heavy downpour and it
can be done without harmful effects if care is
taken that it is not continued until the children
become too cold and that they have a good rub-
down afterwards.

A spirit of informality and do-as-you-please
will allow for relaxation and spontaneity. All or
as many as possible of the various camp depart-
ments should be available to the
campers. All counselors should
be "on tap" and ready for any-
thing. The craft shop, of course,
should be open, and it will in all
probability be well attended. Sug-
gestions for rainy-day work

77

78

RAINY DAY PROGRAMS FOR CAMPS

Box Refoij

L

Shot Put

Peanut Party

Test

Friendly

HiKma m tK« Rai r\

Pillow Fiejht

Treasure Hunt

We admit that a rainy spell of
several days is a trying situation,
but with the proper attitude in
the leaders and a knowledge of
the many things that can be done
most of the unpleasantness can
be relieved. Make provision for
the comfort of the campers by
providing neatsfoot oil or any
other waterproofing material. It
is a good idea, too, to have a sup-
ply of old clothing on hand to
replace wet outfits. Check camp-
ers' blankets to see that they
haven't become damp from the
atmosphere; if they have, they
may be thoroughly dried in a
commercial laundry.

A Few Rainy Day Programs

The following programs for
rainy days are by no means new,
but can be adapted to almost any
camp. We have used them and
found them both practical and
popular with the campers.

Scavenger Hunt. Prepare a list
of articles that are difficult to find
on a rainy day. Organize group
into teams and give each team the
list of articles; the first team to
return with all the articles wins
the hunt.

Suggestions for the list are: a
dry leaf, a snail, a butterfly, a
mushroom or puffball, a fish-
worm, a spider web.

might include decorating the slickers or the can-
vas jackets youngsters are wearing these days,
and making miniature gardens. Certainly there
should be a place for wrestling, tumbling, boxing,
and general rough-housing. A few of the camp-
ers might like the chance to gather around the
piano and sing informally. Others might enjoy
just poking the fire to their own satisfaction!
Time spent about the fireplace in a good old-
fashioned bull session is not always wasted. There
is a good opportunity on rainy days for practice
in signalling and perhaps Indian sign talks. Quiet
games such as cards, Monopoly, Parchesi, check-
ers and chess will pass the time both pleasantly
and profitably.

Treasure Hunt. Treasure hunts have long been
a popular program at camps. A rainy day will
give it added thrills and adventures. Make the
trail difficult, but not dangerous, to follow.

Cowboy and Indian Fight. This may be played
outdoors or indoors, if space is available. The
group is divided into two teams — Cowboys and
Indians. Each member of both teams is given a
number of gummed stickers. At the signal, "War
declared," teams try to capture each other by
sticking a gummed sticker on an opponent, thus
eliminating the captured player from the fight.
The team wins which captures all of its opponents.

This is an excellent game when played outdoors
(players wear trunks or bathing suits) where

RAINY DAY PROGRAMS FOR CAMPS

79

players can stalk opponents and hide behind
foliage and rocks.

Indoor Track Meet. An indoor track meet can
be held in a very limited space. The group is
divided into teams — a small number of players on
each team. The events in the track meet may be
such as:

Shot put — Shot is a blown up paper bag or

balloon.

Javelin throw — Javelin is a piece of broom

straw.

100 yd. dash — Dash over marked area hopping

on one foot.

High Jump — on one foot.

Broad jump — on one foot.

Discus throw — Discus is a paper pie plate or

cardboard disc.

Relay race — relays hopping on one foot.

Medley relay — crab walk, backward walk, and

snake walk.

Pole vault — standing pole vault for distance,

using broom stick for pole.

Hammer throw — Hammer is blown up paper

bag with string attached.

Peanut Party. Use the same organization as for
the indoor track meet, and offer novelty events
and races. Each team winning an event is per-
mitted to send a representative (the one with the
largest hand) to take a handful of peanuts. The
teams keep the peanuts until the events are fin-
ished and divide them among the members. Sug-
gested events for the party are:
potato race, using peanuts ; a race
in which peanuts are pushed with
nose ; needle-threading race in
which contestants race over given
distance, thread needle and re-
turn ; cracker eating race in which
each player eats three crackers and
whistles ; and a match box relay.
In this stunt the first player sticks
his nose into one end of the lid
of a match box. He passes it on
to the second player by pushing
the other end onto the nose of
the second player withdrawing
his own nose. Neither player is
permitted to touch the lid with
his hands.

Stunt Party. The stunt party is
a program of events that are
mainly entertaining. Little or-

ganization is required as volunteers participate in
the events. Encourage all of the members of the
group to enter into at least one event. Suggested
events for the party are :

Chef's hat boxing — paper bag is placed on the
heads of the boxers for hats ; object is to knock
opponent's hat off.

Paper tear-outs — Give every member of the
group a piece of paper. By folding or tearing
the paper countless numbers of figures and de-
signs can be made.

Friendly enemies — Two contestants, blindfold-
ed, lie prone on the floor facing each other. They
grasp left hands and hold swatter (roll of
paper) in their right hands.

A starts by calling to B, "Where are you?"
When B answers, "Here," A strikes spot where
voice came from. In return B asks A where he
is and attempts to hit him.
Chinese get-up. Two players sit on the floor
back to back, with arms folded. Each presses
against the other's back and attempts to rise to
a standing position without unfolding his arms.
Handkerchief pick-up — A handkerchief is
placed on the seat of a low chair. Player, stand-
ing on one foot with arms folded behind his
back, bends forward and attempts to pick up
the handkerchief with his teeth.
Pilot's test— Blindfolded player leans forward
and rests forehead on short broomstick. Object

(Continued on page 109)

flamy Day in Jhe 5hof>

\

and Indians

in •('he R«t*\

THE OLD battle cry of
recreation leaders
"Playgrounds for
Children" is now giving
way to a new and more
far-reaching slogan "Play-
grounds for Everyone" — for
youngsters, mother and dad,
big brother and sister, and the
man and woman next door.
Formerly a playground was
open from nine in the morning until five at night.
Now playgrounds are open, with supervision,
from nine in the morning, or earlier, until dark
and, in many instances, until ten or eleven at
night. The old playground program consisted
largely of games, sports and swimming, with a
smattering of dancing, handcraft and dramatics
for children. Many playgrounds displayed signs :
"For children under sixteen years of age," and
parents visited the playground at the closing ses-
sion or on a special occasion to watch a play,
exhibit or demonstration of the activities of their
children.

A Center for All!

The new conception of a playground is a gath-
ering place, a community center, so to speak,
where children have the use of the facilities and
play space during the day, but where everyone in
the neighborhood can congregate at night for
games, swimming, handcraft, movies, hobby in-
terests, social dancing, band concerts, or just to
sit around and talk with neighbors and friends.

Concerts. In Cincinnati, under the direction of
Robert E. Coady, Supervisor of Playgrounds, the
playgrounds are rapidly becoming the summer
neighborhood meeting place, with particular em-
phasis placed on programs for adults after 5 130
P. M. In cooperation with the Board of Park
Commissioners and the Federal Music Project,
band and orchestra concerts are given two or
three times a week on different grounds. On the
day of the concert available benches are delivered
to the playground by the Recreation Commission,
chairs are borrowed by some members of the
audience from houses in the vicinity, while others
bring their own boxes, stools, or folding chairs.

80

As you plan your summer program
ask yourself this question: "Are
our playgrounds serving adults?"

By MABEL MADDEN

Supervisor of Community Activities

Public Recreation Commission

Cincinnati, Ohio

Dances. Social dances
are conducted in many
districts one, two, or three
nights a week by the
Playground Mothers
Clubs. Where WPA orchestras
are used admission is free;
where private orchestras are
employed the charge is two
dances for five cents. The
Playground Mothers Club,
with the playleader, assumes complete charge of
the dance, including employment of the orches-
tra, sale of refreshments, and chaperonage. Any
profits derived from the dances are used by the
clubs to purchase material for costumes, pay the
carfare of the children for inter-playground
games, and for special treats for the children.
These dances are conducted especially for the
'teen age boy and girl, to give them a place where
they can dance in out of doors in pleasant sur-
roundings and with wholesome supervision at a
very small cost.

Everyone Helps! Other money-raising activities
conducted by the Playground Mothers Clubs with
the assistance of the playleaders are carnivals,
festivals, and bake sales. Booths are erected by
the Recreation Commission, often with the help
of the men in the neighborhood. When these car-
nivals or festivals are held on Saturday, parents
and friends throng the grounds all afternoon and
evening, purchasing the articles for sale and par-
ticipating in the many progressive games of skill
which are placed at intervals on the playing field.
The men, particularly, take a sporting interest in
making a better score than their opponents.

Handcraft. In several locations "Ladies' Night"
is celebrated once a week, with softball diamonds,
the wading pool, and other facilities reserved for
the exclusive use of girls and women. Some of
the community center handcrafts, knitting and
leather-tooling classes continue all summer, meet-
ing in the playground shelter building under the
covered shelter, or simply in a cool spot under
the trees. Last year one of the community center
photography classes met each week during the
summer at the playground shelter building, the
members traveling from there to one of the parks,

PLAYGROUNDS AS COMMUNITY CENTERS

81

the conservatory, the Zoo, or some other interest-
ing place to take pictures and compare, discuss and
criticize photographs taken on previous trips.

Swimming. Cincinnati, unfortunately, is one of
the few large cities that does not have a publicly
owned swimming pool for adults, and in spite of
the many songs and poems written about the
"Beautiful Ohio," it is not safe for swimming.
When one of the playleaders suggested a few
years ago that the children's wading pools be kept
open at night for adults, no one believed that
grown men and women would want to try to swim
in pools having a maximum depth of three and a
half to four feet. The experiment was made,
however, and much to everyone's amazement the
pools are crowded on hot nights with boys and
girls and men and women from sixteen to sixty
years of age. One or two large floodlights at-
tached to the shelter building outlets serve to il-
luminate the pools and the surrounding space. A
charge of five cents is made to cover the extra
service of caretaker and playleader, and in some
districts a small profit is realized.

Play Days. Community play days, with three or
four playgrounds in the district combining for a
celebration at the largest or most accessible area,
are another source of stimulating good fellowship
and better community spirit. Committees, with
representatives from each place, are formed to
assist the supervisor and
play leaders in organizing
the program. Wherever
possible the Federal
Music, Theater and
Vaudeville Projects are
enlisted to provide en-
tertainment.

Pageants. Two years
ago Cincinnati discon-
tinued the city-wide
playground pageant and
substituted a pageant on
each playground to
demonstrate to the par-
ents one part of the
playground program.
The pageants include
dancing, dramatics,
tumbling and singing,
and of course the par-
ents and relatives attend
to see little Johnny and

On this summer's playgrounds many young
people will be absorbed in making things

Mary perform, even if they are only members of
a large chorus. Many times the supervisors, stand-
ing on the sidelines, have heard remarks to the
effect that "I certainly had no idea the children
were doing anything like this," or "I thought all
they did on the playground was swim and play
games." The playground pageant, as well as the
handcraft and hobby exhibits can be excellent edu-
cational and publicity media for selling the play-
ground program to men and women who other-
wise think only of the playground as a "safe"
place where children are "watched" by play-
leaders.

On the Fourth of July. Independence Day, com-
ing so soon after the closing of school and the
opening of the summer playgrounds, can serve the
triple purpose of helping children to appreciate
the advantages given them by the Declaration of
Independence and the efforts of the great patriots
who made it possible for us to live in a de-
mocracy; to give them a joyous holiday without
the dangers of fireworks; and, through parades,
athletic events and short historical tableaux, to
bring large numbers of adults to the playground
early in the season, thereby creating an interest
which can be fostered throughout the summer. In
most neighborhoods the Playground Mothers Club
helps sponsor the Fourth of July celebration,
sometimes in cooperation with the local Welfare
Association, by giving small
inexpensive prizes for the
best costumes and win-

Courtesy WPA, Iowa

ners of athletic events,
and a treat, generally
ice cream and cake, to
every child participat-
ing in the parade and
program. In a similar
way, Labor Day can be
a fitting climax to the
season's activities.

Co -Recreation. The

evening program, if
carefully conducted,
should provide a con-
structive social outlet
for the young men and
women in the neigh-
borhood. Often we have
found that a group of
young women playing
(Continued on page 110)

Travel Tours via Wishful Thinking!

PLAYGROUND chil-
dren in Leomin-
ster, Massachu-
setts are going abroad

"via imagination," and are having almost as much
fun withutheir trips as if they were the real Mc-
Coy! Under the direction of Mrs. Mary Rocca
travel tours have been conducted to France, Italy,
Japan, England, Poland, and other foreign coun-
tries. How ? It really is quite simple.

First, the children gather around in a circle to
start planning their trip to another distant land.
Paragraphs concerning the various countries are
read from a travel book to help in deciding what
shall be the next trip on their list. Comparisons
are made between our country and the foreign
ones. Transportation, food, dress, historical
features, and modes of living are discussed. An
effort is made to answer all questions and to
obtain a clear picture of other countries.

In outlining their trip, the map of the country
is used to locate the important cities and rivers.
Parts of books are read about these places to pre-
sent a general picture of the country itself. Nat-
urally the group must carry along a dictionary of
the language used in each country visited, and in
this way members learn conversational expres-
sions in many foreign languages.

Next, the children get down to business with
time-tables, bus and
steamship pamphlets,
and plan in detail the
actual traveling involv-
ed. This gives them an
idea of what the trip
will cost, including rail-
road and steamship
fares, food, tips, sou-
venirs and similar ex-
penses. Each child has
his own expense book
in which he jots down
the sum agreed upon to
cover the whole trip.
After deciding definite-
ly on the date of de-
parture and the number
of stops en route they
are off — with the aid of

82

An adventure in vicarious traveling which
proved both recreational and educational

a map and a certain
amount of imagina-
tion!

As the trip pro-
gresses, the children spend their money, which is
carefully budgeted, and subtract it from the main
total, being careful to have enough for the return
trip.

The good thing about a vicarious "crossing" is
that no one can possibly become seasick! Once
on the other side of the water, some time is spent
at each of the foreign cities on the list, and the
children learn for themselves the historical facts
of the country, noting the differences in customs,
food, and ways of living, and being very careful
to pay the exact amount for guide and taxi ser-
vice with the air of a connoisseur.

Stamps and souvenirs are often brought in to
make the trip seem more real. Many times the
children draw pictures of some of the places, and
often they are taught to weave articles or to make
metal ornaments like those of foreign countries.
Once in a while some child has a relative or a
friend abroad and through this contact may be
able to add very interesting knowledge to the trip.
Upon returning home, each child tells about the
part of the trip he enjoyed most. The expense
books are checked and balanced, and a general
discussion follows which helps in planning the

next trip. Each trip be-
comes longer and more
interesting. The chil-
dren soon become well
enough acquainted with
many countries to feel
quite at home in them.

This project in vica-
rious traveling has
proved to be both edu-
cational and entertain-
ing. Children as well as
(Continued on page 110)

Ail ready for a trip
even to the suitcase

Photo by Leo Meister, Newark, N. J.

There are many themes
which are adaptable for use
in the summer playground
program, and in them dra-
ma, music and handcraft
may all be introduced
in happy combination

ast Orange, N. J., Board of Recreation Commission

On Wings to Fairyland"

U^^N WINGS To FAIRYLAND" was the delight-
^^/ fill theme on which the Playground and
Recreation Association of Wyoming Val-
ley built last summer's entire playground program,
with the exception of the athletic program which
was run separately. The idea of "On Wings to
Fairyland" was the feature, week by week, the
fairy tales of different lands, correlating the musi-
cal, dramatic, storytelling and handcraft activities
with the countries under discussion. The season
ended with a final pageant in Kirby Park bringing
together 3,000 children in the costumes repre-
sented by the fairy stories.

The theme was unusually well chosen since it
was culturally worthwhile and at the same time
interesting, colorful, and adaptable to children of
all ages, especially to young ones. From the di-
rectors' standpoint it was an
easy program to put on be-
cause of the variety of
handcrafts involved and
the wealth of available
program material of all
kinds.

"On Wings to Fairyland"
First Week— Get Ac-
quainted Week

Handcraft: Insignia for
leaders, bean bags for
relays.

For a number of years the Playground and Rec-
reation Association of Wyoming Valley, Penn-
sylvania, has adopted a theme for its summer
playground program. In 1937 it was a "Friend-
lier Neighborhood." Last summer "On Wings
to Fairyland" was the theme developed with
great success. Many playground directors,
cogitating on the subject of this summer's
program, will find in "On Wings to Fairy-
land" a perfect portmanteau of ideas. The
outline of events as described by Ruth Sweiey,
Director of Recreation, is given here, with
a few changes of minor importance to
make it more adaptable to countrywide use.

Music: Get acquainted songs.

Storytelling: Explain plan for summer. Tell
and act out Taffy was a Welshman, Little Red
Riding Hood, Little Boy Blue and other simple
stories.

Second Week — Germany Week and Music Week

Handcraft: Seven Dwarf dolls, caps, animals,
German toys, fruit banks.

Music : Festival on every playground. Use old
German airs and folk dances. Music from Walt
Disney's Seven Dwarfs.

Storytelling: Pied Piper, Hansel and Gretel,
Legends of the Rhine. Smaller children: The
Easter Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, The House
that Jack Built.

Dramatics : Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Puppet show.
Third Week — British Isles
Week and Folk Festivals

Handcraft: Build fairy
castles from oatmeal boxes,
chip carving, dolls of dif-
ferent northern countries.
Music: Folk songs of
Ireland, Scotland, England.
Storytelling: Sleeping
Beauty, the Frog Prince,
Tom Tit Tot, Puss in
Boots, Alice in Wonder-
land.

83

84

'ON WINGS TO FAIRYLAND'

Dramatics : Old King Cole, Sleeping Beauty.
Folk festivals on all playgrounds using dances
and tunes of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.

Fourth Week— Orient Week and Kite Week

Handcraf t : Oriental lamps, trays, pottery, para-
chutes, kites.

Build set for Aladdin and the Lamp.

Music : The Chinese Fan and other songs.
(See song list.)

Storytelling : Aladdin and the Lamp. The Great
Bell of Pekin.

Dramatics : Aladdin and the Lamp.

Kite tourneys.

Fifth Week — France Week and Puppet Shows

Handcraf t : Columbine and Pierrot puppets.

Music: Alouette, En Passant par Lorraine and
other songs. (See list.)

Dramatics: Puppet shows on all playgrounds
using the Columbine and Pierrot.

Sixth Week— Mexico Week and Handcraft Week

Handcraft : Scarfs, Mexican hats, boleros, belts,
tambourines.

Music: La Paloma, Cielito Lindo and other
songs. (See list.)

Stringed music groups.

Storytelling : The Talking Bird and other Aztec
stories.

Handcraft exhibition on each playground.

Seventh Week — America Week

Handcraft : Rip van Winkle set, Negro dancing
dolls, Eskimo sets, totem poles, Indian craft.

Music : Sour wood Mountain, Li'l Liza Jane and
other songs. (See list.)

Storytelling: Traditional American stories, In-
dian stories, Pioneer stories.

Dramatics: Mary Had a Little Lamb, Hickory
Dickory Dock, The Little Turtle, Frog Went a
Courting, Old Bang 'Em.

Eighth and Ninth Week were filled with pre-
paration for the final pageant and play, Rip van
Winkle.

Songs Used

We are not listing here the songs used for the
first get-acquainted week as they are miscellaneous
sociability songs and action songs such as The
More We Get Together and Looby Loo. The
members accompanying the following songs refer
to the list of song books which follows :

Second Week — Germany

Hansel and Gretel Dance (1)

Where Has My Little Dog Gone?

The Generous Fiddler (6)

Du, Du, Liegst Mir Im Herzen (6) and (3)

A Walking Song (6)

Schnitzel bank (3)

Johnnie Schmoker (4)

Ach Ja

Ach du Lieber Augustin (3)

Broom Dance (1)

Whistle While You Work (Walt Disney's Song Hits)

Heigh-Ho (Walt Disney's Song Hits)

Third Week— British Isles

Jack and Jill (7)

Sing a Song of Sixpence (7)

Billy Boy (4)

Little Sir Echo (4)

Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat (1)

Frog Round ( 1 )
Muffin Man (1)
The Duke of York (1)
The Keeper (6)

Fourth Week — Orient

The Chinese Fan (1) The Rabbit and the Turtle (11)

Sing-a-Ling-a-Ling (4) Cherry Blooms (11)

Old Mother Wind ( 9 ) From Nippon Bridge ( 1 1 )

Fifth Week— France

Alouette (1)

The Apple Tree (9)

Balloons (9)

Sixth Week — Mexico

I Saw You (6)
Tarentella
La Paloma (4)
Juanita (5)

En Passant Par La Lorraine (6)

Vive la Compagnie (4)

On the Bridge at Avignon (13)

Cielito Lindo (6) and (3)

Papoose (9)

In Old Madrid (12)

Spanish Cavalier (12) and (5)

To Jerez We Will Go (11)

Seventh Week — America

Sourwood Mountain (6)

Li'l Liza Jane

Home on the Range (10)

Dogie Song (10)

O Susanna (12)

Night Herding Song (6)

A- Jogging Along (6)

Cape Cod Chantey (6)

Old Bang 'Em (6)

The Turtle (9)

Frog Went a Courting (6)

Hickory Dickory Dock ( 1 )

Where to Find the Songs

1. Twice 55 Games with Music, Red Book. C. C.
Birchard & Co., Boston. 25#

2. The Golden Book of Favorite Songs. Hall & Mc-
Creary Co., Chicago, 20tf

3. Time to Sing. Edward B. Marks Music Corp., R.C.A.
Building, Radio City, New York City. 25tf

4. Get Together Songs. Lorenz, 91 Seventh Avenue,
New York City. 20tf

5. Sociability Songs. Rodeheaver Co., 124 N. 15th St.,
Philadelphia. 20tf

6. Songs for Informal Singing, Sets I, II and III. Na-
tional Recreation Association, 315 Fourth Avenue,
New York City. Price 10# each, $7.50 per 100.

7. Treasure Chest of Children's Songs and Games.
Treasure Chest Publications, Inc., New York City.

"ON WINGS TO FAIRYLAND"

85

8. Let's Sing Mother Goose. Ella Sonkin & Sophia
Bregman, Harold Flamer, Inc., Publisher, New York
City. 60tf

9. The Music Hour — One Book Course. Silver Burdett
& Co., 45 E. 17th St., New York City. 84tf

10. Community Song Leaflets. National Recreation As-
sociation. $1.10 per 100.

11. Botsford's Collection of Folk Songs, Vol. 1. G.
Schirmer, Inc., 3 E. 43rd St., New York City. $1.50

12. Twice 55 Plus Community Songs, Brown Book. C.
C. Birchard & Co., 221 Columbus Avenue, Boston.
15<£; with accompaniments, 75#

13. Fifty Favorite Songs for Girls and Boys. Whitman
Publishing Co., Racine, Wis. Also obtainable in ten
cent stores. 15tf

Some of the songs such as Cielito Lindo are
found with dance arrangement in Parties, Musical
Mixers and Simple Square Dances, published by
the National Recreation Association. 50^

Stories Used

The numbers accompanying the following titles
refer to the list of story books which follows.

Great Bell of China (6) Aladdin and the Lamp
(4) and (5).

France

Columbine and Pierrot (17) Cinderella (i)
and (n) Jack and the Beanstalk (n) and (i).

Mexico

The Talking Bird (7) Pepe and the Parrot (8)

America

Rip van Winkle (9)

Where to Find the Stories

1. Told Again, Walter de la Mare. Alfred A. Knopf,
501 Madison Avenue, New York City. $3.00

2. Fairy Stories and Fables, James Baldwin. American
Book Company, 88 Lexington Avenue, New York
City. 56tf

3. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. The Macmil-
lan Company, 60 Fifth Avenue, New York City. $1.00

4. Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Edited by F. J.
Olcott. Henry Holt and Company, 257 Fourth

Germanv Avenue, New York City. $2.00

Edited by Laurence Houseman. Garden City Publish-

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Walt Dis- ing Company, Garden City, New York. $1.00

ney's story adapted from the original story (12). 5 The children's Book, Horace Elisha Scudder. Hough-

Hansel and Gretel (10) Legents of the Rhine ton, Mifflin Company, 2 Park Street, Boston, Massa-

(13) Raven of Stolzeneck chusetts. $4.00

(14). On playgrounds everywhere this summer, in 6- The Chinese Wonder Book,

activities of all kinds, children and older Norman Hinsdale Pitman.

British Isles boys ancj g;r|s as we|| wi|| turn fo fne E. P. Button and Company,

King Arthur Stories (15) fairy stories and legends which will never 30° Fourth Avenue, New

The Frog lose their power to thrill young and old. YorkCity.$3.00

Prince (10) — — 7. The Talking

Sleeping

Beauty (i)
Tom Tit Tot
(2) Puss in
Boots ( 2 )
Alice in Won-
derland (3).

The Orient

The Flying
Carpet, The In-
visible Cap,
The Gold Giv-
ing Ring and
the Smiling
Club (18) Ali
Baba (16) Ali
of Cairo (4)
Arah and His
Camel (5) The

Courtesy East Orange, N. J., Board of Recreation Commission

Bird, Idella
Purnell and
John Martin
Weatherwax.
The Macmillan
Company, New
York City.

$1.75

8. Pepe and the
Parrot, Ellis
Credle.Thomas
Nelson and
Sons, 381
Fourth Ave-
nue, New York
City. $2.00
9. Rip van Win-
kle, Washing-
ton Irving. The
Macmillan
Company

(Continued on
page 111)

'The Strong and the Brave"

An Indian playground pageant
given last summer in Reading,
Pennsylvania, by the Depart-
ment of Public Recreation

By CATHERINE HERB

Supervisor
Dramatics and Storytelling

IN THE SUMMER of 1938 the overhead theme
chosen for the Reading playgrounds was that
of the Plains Indians. Two very helpful ad-
visors were William "Lone Star" Dietz, foot-
ball coach at Albright College, a full-blooded
Sioux Indian, and Fred Cardin, Senior High
School music director and a Quapau Indian.
During the usual playground leaders' insti-
tute both these men lectured on handicraft,
customs, music, dances and legends of the
Plains Indians. Most of the games, dances,
songs and handicraft learned there were later
incorporated into the final pageant. In this
way the pageant was merely an outgrowth
of the summer's work.

The events of the pageant centered around
two orphaned, outcast children in the Pawnee
tribe — Ishnela, "Lonely Heart," and Whean,
"Little Girl." As is the custom among Indians,
wandering orphans remain outcasts because
the instinct of self-preservation is too great.
The children try to join in the games of the
small children, the tournaments of the older
boys, the work of the women and finally the
council of the men. There Ishnela hears that
the men are planning to attack a neighboring,
hostile tribe whose stealthy ways Ishnela
knows. He tries to interrupt their "War
Dance" and also their march toward the
enemy. Finally, in desperation, they all drive

86

An exhibit of Indian handcraft
articles made during the summer

him back to the village, reaching safety just
as the hoots of the enemy are heard outside.
Because of Ishnela's insistence and bravery,
which has saved them, the men decide to admit
him into the tribe, and to change his name.
Now follows the "Change-of-Name" ceremony
in which he is killed as his old self and revived
as his new self with the new name "Chi-tan
Wa-lit," the "Strong and the Brave." After
the celebration he is given the honor of lead-
ing all the members of the tribe in a snake
dance which incidentally leads all of the per-
formers off the field.

Organization

After the third week of the playground
season, each leader was asked to give the num-
ber of boys and girls, ages 6-8, 9-12, 12-up,
the number of tomahawks, tepees, tom-toms,
and any other particular talent which the
playground could provide. From these lists
were made the final assignments. Those who
could provide older boys were assigned the
parts of the braves ; those who had more small
children were given the little girls' games.
As far as possible nearby playgrounds were
grouped together in the pageant, thus facili-
(Continued on page 112)

Courtesy Department of Recreation, Sioux City, Iowa

In Step with the Playground Procession

ME EARLY, Mother
dear," the alert play-
ground director will
say this year, not because he is
to be Queen of the May, but
because the playground pro-
cession is almost under way
and it behooves him to be on hand to join the
lively marchers ! So many splendid, colorful pro-
grams will be put on all over the country by re-
sourceful recreation directors and energetic play-
ground supervisors that we wish we could have a
roll call and beat the drum for each one. This
being impossible, we are jotting down a few of
the news items that have come our way about last
summer's program. Some of them may prove
adaptable to your playground program, if you
haven't already tried them.

Junior Fire Fighter Clubs. When the "clang
clang" of the fire bell is heard, where is the child
who does not run to follow the engine?

Four years ago Park Roberts, an Akron fire-
man, after careful study came to the conclusion
that fire prevention must be recognized as a prob-
lem demanding constant education and further
that it must be directed primarily at youth rather
than adults. Today there are 20,000 members en-
rolled in the Junior Fire Fighter Clubs in Akron,
Ohio.

The activities of the program are varied. Radio,
dramatics, debates, demonstrations, lectures, and

The playground procession will
soon be on its joyous way, skip-
ping and dancing through America
to the music of song and laugh-
ter. Won't your city join it?

motion pictures are all used in
the club program which has
been adopted as a part of the
curriculum in all elementary
schools of Akron with regular
firemen acting as instructors.
During the school term regu-
lar meetings are conducted on schedule once every
two weeks in each of the sixty elementary schools.
Specially made 16 mm. motion pictures accom-
panied by simple synchronized lectures on various
fire problems are the core of each meeting
program.

In the spring of 1937 the Akron Recreation
Commission suggested that the Junior Fire
Fighter Club program be incorporated in the sum-
mer playground program in order that the fire
prevention education might continue during the
summer and outdoor demonstrations be conducted
which would be impossible in the winter indoor
club program. A station wagon painted a fiery
red, completely equipped with loud speakers and
demonstration equipment, each day all summer
long attracts club members and their friends to
several scheduled key playgrounds throughout the
city to take part in a demonstration dealing with
the chemistry of fire, proper extinguishing meth-
ods, first aid, and other allied subjects. There
were fifteen clubs last summer on the playgrounds,
and they were of unfailing interest.

A Whistling Contest. New York City whistlers

87

88

IN STEP WITH THE PLAYGROUND PROCESSION

There'll be music, and plays and
pageants, lantern parades, hikes
and picnics, and circuses as well

rallied round last summer when the Department
of Parks announced a whistling contest! The
contest was open to all types of whistlers, whether
finger or lip, and to two age groups, those under
eighteen and those over this age, with separate
divisions for boys and girls. The classifications
were: whistling soloists (classical, semi-classical
and popular songs), whistling novelties, and bird
imitators. Each contestant was required to par-
ticipate in the borough eliminations in order to be
eligible for the finals at Mullaly Playground. The
winner of each classification in the borough elimi-
nations, from both age groups of the boys and
girls divisions, qualified for the city-wide compe-
tition. Persons prominent in the radio and whistl-
ing world acted as judges.

Venetian Nights in Oklahoma City. The an-
nual evening beach festival presented at Oklahoma
City is an event of color and beauty. For the past
two years the festival has been titled "Venetian
Nights." As complete darkness settles upon Lin-
coln Park Lake, floodlights over the water and
beach are extinguished, and from one end of the
lake three long columns of lighted lanterns wend
their way towards the judges' stand in the center
of the bathing beach. Small children carry their
lanterns along the beach; older boys and girls
form a column out in the water about knee deep.
Far out in the lake a motor boat pulls a train of
beautifully decorated lantern floats on boats in a
winding course about the lake.

Last year numerous lanterns were displayed on
a float near the center of the lake, and when the
parade was at its peak thousands of fireworks
when set off creating a beautiful background for
the spectacle. On the float was an accordion Vene-
tian band producing lilting melodies which floated
back to the thousands of listeners along the shore
line. So successful has the beach festival been
for the past two years that it will be repeated this
summer ; the theme this year will be Noah's Ark.

Attractive Articles from Scrap Wood. Day-
ton, Ohio, playgrounds and community centers
find boys perennially interested in woodworking.
Several hundred prune boxes and orange crates

secured through the city relief bureau were con-
verted last year into over 6,000 articles. The fol-
lowing were some of the articles made: corner
shelves, book ends, wall brackets, tie holders, cor-
respondence files, sewing kits, towel racks, pipe
holders, ash trays. Each one of these articles was
made in several different models; tops in variety
were book ends and ash trays, numbering twenty
models each.

Storytelling in Cincinnati. Storytelling hours
for the benefit of both children and adults were
made possible through the unselfish assistance of
the Cincinnati Story League. The storytellers
visited the play streets, hospitals, orphanages and
other institutions.

Hobo Day Picnic. The Hobo Day Picnic was
an outstanding feature of the special activities
promoted on the Davenport, Iowa, playgrounds
last summer. Children were encouraged to don
Mother's and Dad's old clothes, -paint their faces,
bring their lunches and enjoy a full day at the
playground. Many picnic games, races and novel
events carrying out the Hobo Day theme proved
popular with the children.

Special Activities During Heat of the Day.

Realizing that harmful results could occur in
the promotion of strenuous activities during the

IN STEP WITH THE PLAYGROUND PROCESSION

89

heat of the day, Kansas City, Missouri, play-
grounds last summer placed emphasis on the fol-
lowing mid-day activities (in addition to dra-
matics, music, handcraft and nature study) : mar-
ble golf, clock golf, golf baseball, mumblety peg,
knife baseball, shuffleboard, O'Leary, tether ball,
horseshoes, stick bowling, checkers, marbles, do-
do boards, caddy, ring tennis, hand tennis, nine
man mill, loop tennis, box hockey, hop scotch,
homemade games, top spinning, story telling and
target pitching.

Wheel Day. Friday, July i, was Wheel Day on
all the Davenport, Iowa, playgrounds, last sum-
mer. Boys and girls had an opportunity to test
the speed of their scooters, wagons, kiddie cars,
bicycles, and anything else that ran on wheels.
Climaxing the local contests an inter-playground
wheel contest was held in which finalists in the
playground championships competed for city titles.
One of the most amusing races was the "used
tire" event in which boys eight years of age at-
tempted— in most cases successfully — to roll huge
tires over the finish line. Another of the more
exciting races was the cross country bicycle race.
Hazards were erected to check the speed of the
cyclists and a large crowd watched breathlessly
while the boys hurdled the barriers.

Photo by Leo Meister, Newark, N. J.

And there'll be athletic contests
and games, roller skating races,
handcraft and clubs of all kinds

Original Playground Songs. Playground chil-
dren of Salem, Massachusetts, turned poets last
summer and wrote playground songs which were
not only sung but used as accompaniments to
marching, and, in some cases, as themes for singing
games. The following tunes were chosen: The
Ranger's Song, Columbia the Gem of the Ocean,
Notre Dame Alma Mater, If I Had One Wish to
Make, Heigh-Ho, I Love to Whistle, Happy Days
Are Here Again, Anchors Aweigh, Shipmates
Stand Together, Something About a Soldier, Stars
and Stripes March.

Baseball School. One of the features of last
summer's city-wide program in a midwestern city
was a baseball school in which instruction was
given both in batting and fielding by some of the
city's ace baseball men to midgets, juniors and
seniors. Seventy-five boys, chosen for their inter-
est and faithfulness in attending the school were
given a trip to Chicago, to be guests of the Chi-
cago Cubs. In spite of the fact that Old Man
Weather played his meanest trick by sending
enough rain that the game was called off, the boys
proclaimed it a great holiday and spent an inter-
esting half-day at the Brookfield Zoo.

Around the World in Sport. For Salt Lake
City's children's parade, (part of a city- wide cele-
bration), "Around the World in Sport" was
chosen as the theme. Each playground represented
at least one country and portrayed the sport most
typical of the country. The spirit of fun and
drollery prevailed, and a steady roar of laughter
and applause greeted the frolicking youngsters as
they passed by.

Playground Caps and Other Handcraft Projects.

The making of playground caps was an original
and much liked feature of Salem's last summer's
handcraft program. It was fun for the children
to make the caps and it was fun for them to
wear them at the annual field day meet. Other
projects that were enthusiastically carried through
were: burlap belts of Tyrolean design; leather
chain purses, pocketbooks, pouches, billfolds and
wrist pocketbooks; doll needlecases (felt) ; spool
knitting ; bead work, table mats woven with jersey

90

IN STEP WITH THE PLAYGROUND PROCESSION

loops. All of these articles were fairly inexpen-
sive to make.

The girls at several Chicago playgrounds made
in their art craft clubs little peasant aprons to be
kept in their playground lockers and worn at club
meetings.

Carnival Capers. August I3th was a far from
unlucky day for the children of Provo, Utah.
Weeks before this date hundreds of busy fingers
had fashioned gay crepe paper into attractive fes-
toons and pompons. Large, life-like cardboard
animals, with a carnival air about them, had ap-
peared at the various play centers and fanciful
costumes bloomed like tulips. At 6 130 on August
1 3th, the parade went
into action. Led by boys
and girls of the Drum
and Bugle Corps, bears,
giraffes, trained ele-
phants and other strange
beasts dazzled the on-
lookers. Hundreds of
children appeared in
costume as Indians,
cowboys, freaks and
snake charmers. Eighty
floats were entered and
approximately 800 chil-
dren took part. After
the parade, twelve side
shows were opened at
North Park in the new-
ly lighted softball dia-
mond and a sixteen-act
Karnival ''bigger than a
and better than a circus
presented.

Olympics in Webster County,
Iowa. At the first annual Webster County, Iowa,
playground Olympics conducted last summer
under the sponsorship of the City Recreation
Commission of Fort Dodge, events included pad-
dle tennis for men and women, checkers, tether
ball, chinning the bar, horseshoe pitching, soft-
ball throwing, and volleyball for men and women.
Each member of the winning and losing softball
and volley ball teams playing in the Olympics was
awarded a ribbon, the awards being made at the
playground jamboree which was the closing event
of the season. The cost of the yards of ribbon
badges totalled not over $5.00; thirty-one yards
of ribbon were used and were typed by members
of the staff instead of being printed commer-

show
' was

"No, I'm not too little to go to
the playground. Please, Mother!"

daily. This summer it is planned to add Chinese
checkers, tennis, croquet, and swimming to the
list of Olympic events.

Step-by-Step Development of Dramatics. Plau-
dits to Salem, Massachusetts for its very reason-
able approach to the treatment of playground
dramatics! The first week saw dramatics in its
most rudimentary form, the pantomiming of sim-
ple scenes familiar to the children, such as scenes
in a doctor's office, a bus or a store. The next
week, the director chose a simple story and guided
the children in its pantomimic presentation in
three scenes. The following week, the children
themselves chose the story and pantomimed it

with the help of the in-
structor. The next step
was the introduction of
dialogue and by the lat-
ter part of the season
the children were writ-
ing and acting their own
plays. The last two
weeks were given over
to preparing for and
staging a play on each
of the playgrounds.
These plays were adapt-
ed from well-known
tales, such as Hansel
and Gretel, Tom Saw-
yer, Alice in Wonder-
land, Red Riding Hood,
and The Three Bears.

Theater Trailer Unit.
A theater trailer unit decorated in
circus fashion was in constant
use in the Akron, Ohio, play-
ground dramatic program all
summer. Equipped with sound, lights, scenery
and piano, the unit was scheduled on playgrounds
for one or two days at a time. The marionette
plays, part of the program, attracted especial at-
tention and interest.

Playground Booster Clubs. St. Paul, Minne-
sota, has playground booster clubs similar to
Parent-Teacher organizations connected with the
schools. The chief function of the clubs, which
meet monthly, is to help the Playground Bureau
to provide the necessary materials for their re-
spective community centers. The majority of such
clubs have furnished pianos, chairs, tables, and
dishes for their centers. The clubs also assist or-
(Continued on page 113)

Photo by Leo Meister, Newark, N. J.

Dramatics for the Camp Community

BETWEEN the produc-
tion by the director
of "regular" plays
and the creation by the
children of their own productions
there is an intermediate stage in which
the campers, may take the initiative,
but which is more or less impromptu,
so that it does not require so much time for plan-
ning and rehearsal. These brief performances
may take the form of "stunts," in which case they
are played in a humorous manner, or they may
have the dignity of amateur dramatic tourneys.
The result will depend upon the spirit in which
the plan is first presented to the children. A great
deal depends upon the tact and the enthusiasm of
the director.

One dav we announced a contest between

*•

groups of campers to take place that very night.
The problem was for each group to take a ballad
or a story-poem and arrange it in any dramatic
form that seemed most interesting. We submitted
a list of poems for them to choose from, but sev-
eral groups thought of better ones, and we, with
"hands off," waited eagerly for the evening's
performances.

At the performance, what amazed us most was
the high imaginative level of the whole affair,
though the groups had been made up arbitrarily,
not divided according to ability. Some of the
younger children did good work with nursery
rhymes ; there was the usual "Young Lochinvar,"
unusually well done, and a version of "There
Were Three Gypsies" acted in pantomime to the
singing of the poem. Best of all was a perform-
ance of one of A. A. Milne's
delightful poems, "King
John's Christmas" from Now
We Are Six. This was some-
thing we counselors had nei-
ther suggested nor expected,
•and it was really thrilling to
see what those girls of high
•school age made of it. The
India Rubber Ball remains in
my memory as one of the
funniest and most convincing
"" characterizations" I ever
:saw. It was a real triumph of

A few specific suggestions for the
guidance of the dramatic counsellor

By KATE HALL

Washington, D. C.

The first article of this series, appear-
ing in the April issue of Recreation, dis-
cussed the general situation in regard to
dramatics as it exists in the average full-
time summer camp, the objectives of a
good camp dramatics program, and some
of the methods which may be used in
reaching these objectives. In this article
certain specific suggestions for more or
less informal dramatic activity are offered
from the writer's experience in summer
camps in which sports constituted the
major part of the total camp program,
and in which little opportunity was
provided for regular classes in dramatics.

the imaginative spirit
which sometimes finds its
best release in self-expres-
sion through informal dra-
matic activity. After that we discov-
ered even more possibilities in Mr.
Milne. "The King's Breakfast" is
particularly rich in pantomimic pos-
sibilities, and, although I have never tried, per-
haps the Pooh books.

Source Material

The dramatics counselor should certainly own
a good book of storytelling ballads, such as Vir-
ginia Olcott's Storytelling Poems. The Robin
Hood ballads are useful for groups not too old to
feel sophisticated about them. (Naturally these
appeal more to boys than to girls.) "King John
and the Abbot of Canterbury," "King Robert of
Sicily," "The Highwayman," "Young Lochinvar,"
are all good ballads which dramatize well. They
may be used for performances like these or as the
basis for a real "created" play. Mother Goose
rhymes are a fertile source, of course, and any
story-songs, such as "There Were Three Gypsies,"
or the delightful French folk song, "Malbrough,"
as well as less literary efforts such as "Frankie
and Johnnie" (a mild version) or the nonsense
"backwards tale" which begins : "A long time to
come, I remember it well."

When there is not time for the children to plan
and "make" it, the counselor can often adapt a
simple story by combining a group of old English
songs, or songs of several countries. If these are
folk songs already familiar to the group, they can
be used effectively with sim-
ple pantomime and dance.

Another useful idea is to
take excerpts from certain
well-known material like
Shakespeare's comedies. We
have often used the "Pyra-
mus and Thisbe" episode
from the rustic scenes in "A
Midsummer Night's Dream,"
sometimes in pantomime, ac-
companied by the reading of
the scene, sometimes with the
characters speaking their own

91

92

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

parts. It always seems to go over well, and is not
very hard to do. The fairy scenes from the same
play prove to be good material when cut or pan-
tomimed. There are also scenes from "Twelfth
Night" and "The Merchant of Venice" that may
be done in the same manner. I have seen a high
school girl pantomime the Launcelot Gobbo scene
beginning "Certainly my conscience will serve me
to run," with the most delightful effect.

Of course if the children have time to learn
lines and take part in a number of rehearsals, all
the better, and if you have the opportunity to pro-
duce a whole Shakespearean play, such as "A
Midsummer Night's Dream," what better place
could you have than the naturally beautiful set-
tings of the out of doors ? If this kind of cutting
seems sacrilege to you, then I shouldn't do it, but
personally I think Shakespeare wouldn't mind a
bit ! I have seen dramatizations by children made
from the Lamb stories of these plays, with songs
and some speeches taken from the plays them-
selves. They seemed to me a very delightful in-
troduction to the richness of the Shakespearean
study which would come with their high school
and college days. Of course what holds good for
Shakespearean plays also holds good for certain
other dramatists in the annals of English, Ameri-
can and even foreign-language literatures. There
are no royalties on any but the more modern
"Classics," and if the cutting is done with rever-
ence it would seem to be in the good interest of
all theaters to give children a chance at doing
plays that have stood the test of time.

In the list of "creative materials" are included
many simple fairy and folk tales, fables and
myths. Sometimes the younger children will avail
themselves of this material to make a play, even
when there is no place on the camp program for a
group in experimental or creative dramatics. I
remember once being asked to attend a production
("show," I suspect they called it) in the shack of
some of the youngest girls in our camp. I was
both amazed and delighted to witness a very effec-
tive production of "The Sleeping Beauty," drama-
tized, acted and well directed by these nine and
ten year olds, without benefit of counselor. No-
body had known what they were up to, and their
pride in this achievement was delightful to be-
hold. It made me wish there were more time in
that camp for the development of such originality.
One should watch for spontaneous productions
of that sort and encourage them quietly without
nipping them in the bud with what the young im-

presarios would doubtless regard as uncalled-for
interference on the part of grown-ups !

Well-known stories like "Little Black Sambo,"
"The Three Bears," "AH Baba and the Forty
Thieves," and "The Three Wishes," may be acted
more or less spontaneously, either in pantomime
while someone else tells the story, or by combining
this scheme with some spoken dialogue. Of course
these, along with the more elaborate fairy and folk
tales, may also be used for more complete and
finished dramatizations.

One word of warning concerns the possibility
of over-use of the most familiar stories. Try to
help the children recollect or discover stories less
often used for dramatic material. A judicious use
of the others is all right, but if the children con-
tinuously follow the path of least resistance in this
way a situation may arise as ludicrous as that now
existing among new puppeteering groups, where it
has almost come to be necessary that "Hansel and
Gretel" is produced as the first play of every
group !

"Operas"

At one camp we had a girl about fifteen years
old who loved to give impromptu versions of
what she called "operas," but who could never
make a success of them when she was asked to
elaborate them in the recreation hall for the whole
camp group. They were most entertaining per-
formances, however, if you could catch a pro-
duction on the wing and be swept along by the
enthusiasm and personality of the young impre-
sario. These "operas" were largely a hodge-
podge of the stories of the various operas she had
seen or read about, with the rest being "made up"
as they went along, and with the pantomime and
songs impromptu. The result was quite colorful
and very funny.

This kind of activity is useful in developing
originality and spontaneity. It should be en-
couraged, or even casually suggested by the dra-
matics counselor, if she thinks there is any latent
or budding originality in camp. The interest of;
the other campers permitted to participate or to
watch her performances never failed to manifest
itself enthusiastically, and we came to feel that
they had more real dramatic value for our chil-
dren than many of the more elaborate productions
at the recreation hall.

This girl, incidentally, was a very good charac-
ter actress if she could be caught out of one of
her "moods"; she learned quickly and worked

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

93

Courtesy Life Camps, Inc.

Where life is all drama as
the campers relive the ex-
citing adventures they have
just had and make new plans

hard at rehearsals. With
a little time and some
skillful handling on the
part of the dramatics
counselor, spontaneous
productions like these
"operas" might be made
over into more finished
performances.

While we are on the
subject of operas, I
might mention that cer-
tain scenes from Gilbert
and Sullivan are excel-
lent material for short
dramatic episodes. The
"Willow, Tit Willow"
scene from "The Mi-
kado," for instance, with Ko-Ko and Katisha, is
always fun. If you have a copy of Light Operas
the Whole World Sings, you will find more than
enough material ready to hand, particularly if
there is a volume of Gilbert's texts at hand. Ex-
cerpts from Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel"
are effective and easy to do. Of course, this de-
lightful little opera is often given by the children
in its simplified form in its entirety.

Naturally, you need a good pianist for this kind
of work, but you need her anyway ! Once I didn't
have one for the whole summer (or even a piano),
and I had to substitute my own voice and the
guitar as accompaniment for my own attempts at
pantomime and for my colleague's dancing classes.
We managed — but if you can get them by hook
or by crook, do have a piano and somebody who
can play it! No other equipment is more neces-
sary to a camp dramatics director.

Pageants and Rituals

Often the dramatics counselor is called upon
for the production — and sometimes for the writ-
ing and planning — of pageantry or ritual for vari-
ous special occasions. If these occasions are tra-
ditional, you will simply have to adapt yourself
to circumstances and do your best to enter into

Photo by L. B. Sharp

the spirit of the group who cherishes them. If the
occasion is a new one for celebration, you will
probably have to make the script yourself.

One such production used many times in our
camp was an adaptation for pantomime and dance,
played to the accompaniment of music, and with
a preliminary reading of the story, "Le Jongleur
de Notra Dame." This is a legendary French
medieval tale which has an operatic version, and
which Anatole France has written beautifully in
short story form. The version we use is my own,
adapted for our special needs. It has become part
of the tradition of the camp and is given on a
special Sunday once every summer.

There are many other religious, semi-religious,
Biblical, or legendary tales which can be used in
the same way. The Ruth and Naomi story, ar-
ranged for pantomimic production accompanied
by reading, in Ritual and Dramatized Folkways,
Jasspon and Becker, is another excellent example
of what can be effectively done with this type of
material. You will need only a few rehearsals,
except for special small groups, and if the setting
is right and the atmosphere simple and sincere,
you will find that you have done a very appealing
piece of work.

94

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

Pantomimes, Too

Very lovely pantomimes accompanied by music
can be easily arranged from the more dramatic
star myths, either the Greek and Roman tales, the
Chinese and East Indian myths, or the legends as
told among the Red Men of North America. The
Greek story of the Great and Little Bears is one
such legend that lends itself well to damatization,
and the story of the Lyre, which is really that of
Orpheus and Eurydice, is equally effective. If
there is a teacher of rhythmic dancing in the
camp, you will probably find it more satisfactory
to get her to work the story out in dance drama
form, unless you decide to collaborate and make a
real dancemime of the production.

For example: in dramatizing the Greek legend
of Lyra, the first scene pictures Orpheus, with his
lyre, weeping over the grave of Eurydice and re-
fusing to be comforted by his friends, the nymphs,
until one of them suggests that he go to Hades
to seek her.

The second scene presents his meeting with the
Furies and how even they give way before the
wonderful power of his music. In the third scene,
he pleads before Pluto and Proserpine and his
music is so moving that he is allowed to take Eury-
dice back to the regions of earth, provided that
he does not look at her until they have reached
the upper air. When he is unable to resist the
temptation, she is carried back to Hades by the
Furies ; Orpheus drops his lyre and goes away in
a frenzy of grief.- Jupiter comes and lifts the lyre
to set it among the stars, where it becomes our
constellation, Lyra.

In this last scene, which can be continuous from
the time Orpheus meets the Furies, or from the
time he presents himself before Pluto, as soon as
Jupiter disappears with the lyre, a group of girls,
dressed in flowing robes and carrying torches,
enter and form the shape of Lyra on the hillside,
as the appropriate ending for the story. We have
used this legend several times in our camp, as it
is a great favorite with the children. The Furies,
in particular, enjoy themselves. Such productions
are splendid examples of the fusion of several
self -expressive art forms — here of pantomime,
dance, music, and poetry, as we had a specially
written prologue read as an introduction to one
production of this star legend.

Simply costumed with Greek robes and tunics,
these little pantomimes, especially if done out of
doors on a moonlight night, take on a quality of
delicate solemnity and ritual-like beauty. The

nature counselor may tell the story beforehand,
even if it is well known to the entire audience, or
a clever poet may arrange it in simple rhythmic
verse and have it read as a prologue to the action
(see paragraph above).

A Few General Suggestions
For reading of this kind, a warm, clear, sympa-
thetic voice is desirable. Often such voices, sur-
prising in their richness, may be found among
both counselors and campers who are not inter-
ested in acting but who can give much pleasure by
contributing their talent in this way. Music, too,
is always a desirable accompaniment to the action
of a star legend, whether or not there is speaking.
A good pianist can arrange a selected score from
her repertbire. Victrola music may be used with
effect, if the sound is arranged to come through
the loud speaker of a radio.

A word about the settings for camp productions
may not be amiss here. Since this article is not
intended for dramatic directors who are working
where there is a regular auditorium or even a
stage, it is not necessary to go into the designing
and making of stage sets. One of the chief charms
of camp dramatic productions is the flexibility
both necessary and desirable in the planning of
the season's productions. It is good training for
both actors and audience, for director and scene
designer, to make use of as many different places
in the camp environment as possible, for the vari-
ous plays, pageants and dance dramas. If the cli-
mate permits, the outdoor environment should be
used frequently, at least for pantomimes, dances,
pageants, and plays which require many actors
and not much talking. Even the speaking out of
doors, so often an obstacle when untrained voices
must try to adapt themselves to the larger tones
that are necessary for good audibility, is not so
hard to manage in camp, where the audience is
comparatively small and may be closer to the act-
ing area than in a regular amphitheater or sta-
dium. Most children with normal speaking voices
can be taught to project their tones effectively
even in a large stadium, but we are presupposing
limited time for teaching by the director of camp
dramatics.

A Rewarding Experience

In setting camp plays a great deal of reliance

should be placed on the wits and imagination. All

the "regular" experience the dramatics counselor

(Continued on page 114)

With the Day Camps of Pittsburgh

By LOUIS C SCHROEDER

Superintendent
Bureau of Recreation

THE DAY CAMP movement in Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania, was launched by the Federation of
Social Agencies in 1933. Since 1937 the Bureau
of Recreation has assumed complete direction of
the city's day camps, the Federation of Social
Agencies lending its aid in times of need. The
purpose of the founders was similar to the ob-
jective sought by other cities with similar proj-
ects, namely : to give the so-called underprivileged
and malnourished children an opportunity to en-
joy the benefits of a camping experience. This
means a contact with nature, an inviting daily
program of. activities under trained leadership,
and a supply of carefully selected, nourishing
food.

Purpose. The day camps are primarily for chil-
dren whose ages range from eight to thirteen
years. The selection of campers during past years
has been made by case workers of the Federation
of Social Agencies. A new plan will be adopted
this year when the selection will be made of chil-
dren who are on the public and parochial school
milk list. School nurses who serve both schools
and the City Department of Health will, in 1939,
do the choosing.

Medical Examination. All prospective campers
must pass a strict medical examination by the
city doctors. Those having physical and organic
defects are not accepted. These examinations are
held on Fridays in the public schools or recreation
centers in the districts in which the campers re-
side. A pass is given to each child who has been
accepted, and this serves as his identification card.
The case workers and the camp counselor assist
the doctors in the recording of results. Approxi-
mately 600 to 700 children are examined weekly.

Camp Sites. Pittsburgh is indeed very fortu-
nate in having large, beautiful parks easily acces-
sible within its corporate limits. The six that have
been used in the past two years — Schenley, Frick,

Courtesy Life Camps, Inc.

Photo by L. B. Sharp

The fun of cooking his own meal is an
experience many a day camper may enjoy

Riverview, Highland, McKinley, and McBride —
have splendid camping facilities. The Bureau of
Parks designates certain sites for the day camps,
thus insuring protection and privacy. These have
shelters and open fireplaces.

Transportation. The children are taken from
their home districts to the city parks by special
chartered trolley car. They gather at nine o'clock
each morning — Monday to Friday inclusive — at
a designated street corner, where they board the
trolley cars. The camp counselors assume charge,
and accompany the children at all times. The
children are carefully counted as they board the
cars, and again at their destination. The "buddy
plan" is used, and by this method a careful check
can be made. The arrangement with the trans-
portation company calls for movement after rush
hours in the morning, and the return trip to their

95

96

WITH THE DAY CAMPS OF PITTSBURGH

home areas before the rush hour in the evening.
The plan is altered for Friday evening when a
special camp fire program is held. The children
leave the parks on this night about eight-thirty
o'clock. One trolley car is employed for each day
camp site, and the load is varied from 75 to 125
children.

Personnel. The day camp personnel consists of
a camp director, an assistant camp director, six
head counselors, twelve junior counselors, and
volunteers. The directors and counselors are
under the Civil Service Commission. Theoretical
examinations are held each spring, and the suc-
cessful candidates are chosen from the list. The
personnel of each of the six day camps operated
in 1938 called for one head counselor, two junior
counselors (i male and I female), and a number
of volunteers.

Matters relating to food are handled by a dieti-
tian who is under contract to supply meals. She
has a corps of workers to assist in the handling
of food. The daily luncheons are transported by
auto to the camp sites.

All administrative matters are taken care of by
the office of the Bureau of Recreation.

Training Institutes are held weekly throughout
the camping season for all members of the ac-
tivity staff.

Meals. Since the camps are made up of children
who are malnourished, special consideration is
given to the question of the noon day meals. Each
child is given a half pint bottle of fresh milk with
the meal and again at three o'clock. A sample
weekly menu consisted of the following:

Monday

Ham Salad Sandwich
Jelly Sandwich on cracked
wheat bread
Milk
Fruit
Cookies
Wednesday
Date and Nut Sandwiches on

white bread

Jelly Sandwich on cracked

wheat bread

Milk

Fruit

Thursday

Corn Chowder

Bread and Butter Sandwich

"Some-mor-es"

Milk

Fruit

Friday (Lunch)

Egg Salad Sandwich

Jelly Sandwich on

cracked wheat bread

Milk

Fruit

Friday (Supper)

Baked Beans

Apple Sauce

Roll

Milk

Fruit

Tuesday

Vegetable Salad

Cheese and Pickles

on rolls

Milk

Fruit

The National Recreation Association an-
nounces the publication early in May of
a pamphlet, Day Camping, prepared by
Maude L Dryden. Comparatively little
has been written up to the present time
on this phase of the camp movement. In
view of the increasing attention being
given day camping, this new publication
with its practical suggestions for organ-
ization, administration and program mak-
ing has a helpful contribution to make.

Thursday is the day for the "cook-out," when
children, under the direction of the counselors,
prepare their own meals.

The Activities Program. The program of activi-
ties for a day camp composed of malnourished
children needs be different from the camp having
normal children. A lesser attention needs be paid
to the more vigorous games and sports. Mal-
nourished children do need a mild form of daily
exercise, but one must not lose sight of the fact
that they are sent to the day camp primarily to
build up reserve power. So all forms of strenuous
competitive activities are taboo. The program of
physical activities consists of regulated hikes, folk
dances and singing games, circle and ball games,
and other types which do not tax the organism.

The program of activities is in no way re-
stricted. In addition to the physical recreation
program, others are offered, such as handicrafts,
drama, music, and nature study.

The handicraft program has been particularly
stressed. Every attempt is made to use material
around the camp site. Frequently pottery is made
from clay discovered near the camp. All kinds of
articles are fashioned out of wood, and arrow
heads are formed out of soft stone. The Bureau
of Recreation supplies a limited amount of ma-
terial such as unbleached muslin, paper, cord, soda
straws, and oilcloth. Indian lore proves most
popular, and many are the articles made by chil-
dren, including tom-toms, head-dress, tomahawks,
and gourds.

Drama has always played an important part in
the day camp program. Every camp has its plays
which are, for the most part, made up by the
children themselves. One of the crowning achieve-
ments of the camp is to show
visitors their little plays.
Boys make properties; the
girls, their own costumes.

What would a day camp
amount to in the lives of the
campers, if it were not for
music? The days seemed to
be a continual round of song.
The Pittsburgh day camps
(Continued on page 114)

A Modern Playground

in

BOUNDED ON ONE side by railroad tracks and on
the other two sides with steep hillsides, a tri-
angular tract of bleak lowland owned by the
City of Cleveland lay deserted and forgotten for
many years. It served no purpose. Today the sec-
tion is a beehive of activity. Several thousand
men are busy with trucks, excavating machinery
and picks and shovels remaking the terrain. The
ground has been leveled, trees planted, the course
of a creek straightened, two hills of shale re-
moved ; in fact the area is hardly recognizable as

Cleveland discovers
a forgotten area and
transforms it into
a vast playfield

By
J. NOBLE RICHARDS

Recreation Commissioner
Cleveland, Ohio

the old location. In an-
other few months will
emerge one of the largest
and most extensive rec-
reational areas in north-
ern Ohio.

Known as Brookside
Park No. 2, the area is
situated adjacent to the
Brookside Zoological
Gardens on the south-
west side of Cleveland, a
few miles from the cen-
ter of the city. Few rec-
reational facilities are available in this section of
the city and the completion of the playground will
provide a needed safety valve. The development
of Brookside No. 2 is just one part of the major
recreational building program undertaken by the
city. The scope of this playfield is so great, how-
ever, and the facilities so comprehensive, that it
stands out as the most important recreational de-
velopment in Cleveland in several decades.

The selection of the site is a fortunate one for
large crowds are drawn to this section of the city
by the zoo. Formerly some recreational facilities
were provided in the area adjacent to the zoo
grounds. These consisted of ball diamonds, ten-
nis courts, a swimming pool and picnic grounds.
The land occupied by these facilities will be used
for expanding the zoological buildings ; all athletic
activities will be moved to the new development.
A portion of Brookside No. 2 was one of the
old city nurseries. For years it had been neglected
and unused. At the recommendation of Parks
Director Hugo E. Varga, Mayor Burton author-
ized in 1937 a large WPA park and recreation

97

98

A MODERN PLAYGROUND IN NO MAN'S LAND

program to rehabilitate and "streamline" the park
and recreational facilities of Cleveland which have
fallen short of modern requirements during the
last decade or more. In 1937 Mr. Gordon Cooper
was commissioned to prepare general landscape
architectural plans for this fifty-four acre tract of
land, formerly used as a city nursery. Ideally
located and of about the right size, it was decided
to construct an athletic field that would be second
to none in the country. A WPA project employ-
ing over 4,000 men at one time was approved, and
work began in the early part of 1938. Total cost
of labor and materials being used in construction
is estimated at approximately $2,000,000.

The first major task in renovating the territory
was to straighten and confine Big Creek which
winds through the center of the area. Stone em-
bankments were built and a 32-foot hard surfaced
road constructed along the stream. For a distance
of one-half mile the road and a walk, ten feet
wide, border the creek, providing a pleasant and
attractive thoroughfare through the park and
playgrounds.

Five distinct divisions of recreational facilities
are being built. These include a regulation foot-
ball field with a quarter mile running track around
it. Eight baseball diamonds, five large ones for
hardball and three small fields for softball, have
been laid out. Eleven hard surfaced tennis courts
and several picnic areas in secluded spots are
almost ready. A large swimming pool and a
smaller diving pool are in process of construction.
In addition, a large and adequately landscaped
bath house will be built at the north end of the
swimming pool.

The large swimming pool will be 200 feet long
and 50 meters wide, the regulation width for
Olympic swimming events. The diving pool, lo-
cated at the north end of the swimming pool, will
also be 50 meters wide, but only 40 feet in length.
A lo-meter diving tower is planned as well as
several three-meter and one-meter diving boards
for all types of diving competition. Permanent
seats of eight tiers will be built on the east, south
and west sides of the diving pool for spectators;
those on the east side will also be available for
bathers.

At the north end of the pool is the large bath
house with showers, locker facilities and equip-
ment for filtration and chlorination of the pool
water. Four small buildings of identical archi-
tecture will be located at each corner of the pool,

one for athletic field equipment, one for equip-
ment and control of the tennis courts, a rest room
and a shelter house. Athletic field, pools and ten-
nis courts lay side by side. This plan permits the
use of buildings surrounding the pools to be used
for all three activities. Bleachers are also being
built on the west side of the athletic field for
spectators.

South of the tennis courts is an area set aside
for children's apparatus, swings, sand boxes, a
shower basin, see-saws and similar equipment will
be placed here.

Two large parking spaces, to accommodate ap-
proximately 450 cars each, are located near each
entrance to the area. A foot bridge over Big
Creek connects the north and south sections. Just
south of the swimming pools is a picnic area. It
will be equipped with stakes for pitching horse-
shoes, picnic tables and seats and outdoor fire-
places.

Just north of the railroad tracks which form
the northern boundary to Brookside Park No. 2,
and close to one of the entrance drives is Cleve-
land's city-owned amateur baseball stadium. Fitted
with lights for night games, the stadium was first
used at night last summer. A record crowd of
100,000 persons attended the opening game and
throughout the season thousands of Clevelanders
visited the stadium to witness amateur games.
Although not an integral part of Brookside No. 2,
the stadium is near enough to be included in the
recreation field. Tiers of concrete seats have been
in existence at this location for almost twenty
years, but as part of the renovating of this base-
ball stadium two additional tiers on each side of
the original will soon be constructed. When fin-
ished it will be among the largest and best equipped
athletic fields in the country.

On a bluff overlooking and to the east of t
area, an animal house with large runs is bein;
built. Other buildings are being erected in the
zoological gardens and when completed will serve
to make Brookside Park a well balanced unit. A
few minutes walk from any spot, will enable one
to reach any of the facilities for all popular sports,
the zoo, picnic grounds, the large baseball stadium
or walks and wooded areas.

With the modernization of Cleveland's recrea-
tional areas and with the development of Brook-
side Park No. 2, as well as some other large
athletic areas, Cleveland has decidedly taken a
great step in advance.

The What, Why and How of Handcraft

on a
Small

Budget

Courtesy WPA, Des Moines, Iowa

THE ARTS AND CRAFTS of our forefathers, if
they are known and appreciated, express the
urge to create something beautiful out of the
materials at hand and to fill the commonplace
needs of everyday living. This urge is the
inner spirit of man that has found expression
through the ages and has given him a place
above the animals. What is there which gives
us more faithful records of the history of man
than his works of art? Cities may fall, dates
and heroes may be forgotten, but the creative
expressions live. Primitive man and the Indian
worked with materials of their native habitat.
They made things of beauty and necessity for
everyday comfort.

Knowing that summer days are ahead and
that lively boys and girls will be crowding our
playgrounds and recreation centers in a few
iveeks, we are confronted with the problem:
What can we use for materials? Why should
^e use them? How can we make them func-
:ion in our recreation program?

In order to find the answers to these ques-
:ions, approximately one hundred men and
vomen of Westchester County met for a six
weeks' course during March and April at the
bounty Center Workshop in White Plains,
STew York. The opening meeting found them
iager to discuss what was meant by using

By IDA Jo FULLER

Instructor, New York University

materials with very little expense. Some
people call these materials junk or rubbish, but
we feel that bits of discarded materials, a few
simple tools, and a happy, creative child take
such experiences out of the "tin can" class.

By adding local material, such as seeds,
shells, dried weeds, pits, drift wood and many
others, we have very good media for excellent
experiences and experiments. The experience
is of far greater importance in the development
of the child than the finished product and
should be gauged to the ability of the child.

"What Can We Use for Materials?"

This question was most interestingly an-
swered in Westchester County by exhibitions
each week of work done by leaders and
children, as well as by experiments done in the
class. The idea of sharing with children as
well as with adults was found to be a basic
factor in the creative life. If more material
than one could use in his own work was at the
disposal of a member of the group, he was glad
(Continued on page 115)

99

Campaigning for Industrial Salvage

IN 1932-33, the Flint, Michi-
gan, schools found them-
selves financially embarras-
sed because of a fifteen mill tax
limitation which cut school rev-
enues to nearly one half of what they had previ-
ously been. This forced all departments to make
decided cuts in school budgets and reduced so
drastically supply budgets in the industrial arts
department that the teachers of this subject had
to resort to collecting materials from salvage
dumps about the city. Realizing that industries
had salvage which might be used, some of the
teachers recommended that contacts be made with
all the city's industrial plants to learn whether this
material might not be used in the shops.

The Chamber of Commerce undertook respon-
sibility for making the contacts, and the manager,
Mr. John Routzen, wrote letters to the heads of
all Flint industries, thus paving the way for our
approach to them. The officials of the companies
with whom we talked were cordial and sympa-
thetic, and immediately began saving material for
us.

The next step involved making arrangements
for a Board of Education truck to collect the ma-
terial from industries on regular schedules. So
much material was given the schools that it be-
came necessary at once to provide storage space.

100

By HARRY A. BURNHAM

Supervisor of Industrial Arts
Public Schools
Flint, Michigan

The Superintendent of Schools,
Mr. L. H. Lamb, who was
greatly interested in the pro-
gram, arranged for a former
coal shed 80' x 30' belonging to
the Board of Education to be turned over for the
use of the project. All materials are now collected
and sorted in this building, and all deliveries made
from it. Two men are employed by WPA to sort
and distribute materials to the shops through sal-
vage requisition blanks which are turned in by the
industrial arts teachers.

When the program was first organized the Flint
Board of Education truck was used, but this was
found to be expensive so the work is now being
done by a truck from the Mott Foundation with
no cost to the Board of Education except for gas-
oline and oil. This arrangement was made by a
business man who is vitally interested in securing
salvage for the schools.

All School Departments Benefit

Other school departments are now making use
of this service. For example, the elementary
grades use orange crates and salvage pattern pine
for some of their work. The physics department
uses the old radios for their radio instruction, and
the art department utilizes the salvaged leather in
(Continued on page 117)

This Year It's Boston

Yes, This Year It's Boston —
October 9-13!

BOSTON, the home of Joseph
Lee, the scene of some of
the earliest beginnings of
the recreation movement, will
welcome the Twenty-Fourth
Annual Recreation Congress
during its sessions to be held at
the Statler Hotel, October 9-13.

To Joseph Lee, as perhaps to none other, goes
the credit for the fact that the recreation move-
ment has grown so remarkably for more than
thirty years, and that this is the Twenty-Fourth
Annual Recreation Congress. A movement that
can continue to bring people together in Congress
from all parts of the country for so many years
has something of unusual vitality and has struck
its roots deep in the life of the nation.

Let us take a look at the Congress which last
year brought together over 1,400 persons from all
parts of the United States and from Canada. You
might think that a Recreation Congress set up by
the National Recreation Association was intended
for public recreation workers only. Far from it.
There are hundreds of delegates from private or-
ganizations of all kinds. People from gardening
clubs, representatives of industries, educators,
legislators, housing authorities, hospitals, life in-
surance companies, churches, libraries and social
work councils, social agencies, governments, all
are there to learn and to share their experience in
recreation. Editors, students, manufacturers and
distributors of materials used in recreation and
leisure, planning consultants, landscape architects,
extension agents of State Universities, leaders in
camping, in 4-H Clubs and Future Farmers of
America, youth groups, all share in the discussion
and enjoy the fellowship of the great gathering.

What do they do, you ask? Well, while they
come from many walks of life, and while they
differ in race, creed and politics, they come with
one dominant interest — to learn how they can do
a better recreation job in their communities. They
listen to the best inspirational speakers that can
be secured. They attend group conferences where
under able leadership they discuss the most im-
portant recreation problems that community lead-
ers face today. They hear people from other cities

It is fitting that the Recreation
Congress should be going back to
Boston this year. It will be like a
return to a cherished shrine. The
memories of Joseph Lee will inspire
and enrich its deliberations. His
home and the scene of his early ef-
forts to provide playgrounds for the
children will be of interest to all.

than their own tell of successful
experiences and profit by the
hearing. They tell their own ex-
periences for the benefit of all.
They also learn of the relation-
ships of the various parts of the
great national movement the ex-
perience of which is pooled and
made available through the Na-
tional Recreation Association to any recreation
workers who want- such information.

When the discussions are over, there are demon-
strations of puppets, special moving pictures, a
splendid array of recreation equipment on display
and a special room where people may arrange ap-
pointments with the specialists in all phases of
recreation work. Last year 684 interviews were
arranged besides the many, many conversations
that occurred in the hotel lobby, the corridors or
in private rooms. A splendid display of the latest
and best books on recreation will be there. A large
exhibit of printed matter gathered from all parts
of the country will be available for inspection.

One night is dedicated to fun — Play Night —
when dancing, square and formal, is enjoyed by
the delegates.

A large group of Board members are in the
Congress each year and they will have special con-
ferences where their particular problems will be
discussed. And they do enjoy getting together
when there are no professionals around !

The recreation movement is really a laymen's
movement. It was started by laymen, and its
policy making groups today are solid lay citizens.
No more important or helpful group will be found
in the Congress.

One simply cannot describe the genial fellow-
ship that is found all during the days of the Con-
gress. Bill Jones of Rhode Island meets Sam
Smith of Texas to swap yarns about common
knotty problems. Daisy Dean meets Sarah Swift
to talk about work for women and girls on social
recreation. Meeting new friends, renewing ac-
quaintances and pumping old timers is a part of
the joy of the Congress.

Much is being said these days about democracy.
Well, the Twenty-Fourth Recreation Congress
will have something to say about democracy too, if
(Continued on page 118)

101

WORLD AT PLAY

, „ _. MR. JOHN D. ROCKE-

A New Park Is G,ven f has en

Greater Cleveland (o Gr^r cleveland

the old homestead of

his father, a beautifully developed tract of 266
acres lying in the heart of the city, partly in East
Cleveland and partly in Cleveland Heights. Mr.
E. D. Taylor, well known landscape architect, has
prepared a booklet with illustrations — artist's
drawings and maps — descriptive of the property
and plans for its development. This will add very
materially to the fine park development of Cleve-
land and will stand as another monument to the
generosity of Mr. Rockefeller.

LAST YEAR, according
American Anglers Have

_. ,r to the January 23rd
a Busy Year . r ' .
• issue of Time,

6,000,000 United

States residents took out fishing licenses ; probably
twice that number went fishing. They spent more
than $10,000,000 on tackle alone — twice the
amount spent in 1933. Of every dollar spent for
sport equipment in the United States last year
twenty-four cents went for fishing tackle. The
major reason for the current increase in interest
in this sport, according to Time, is a vogue for
deep sea angling, increasingly popular in the past
five years since it has been dramatized in
news reels and publicized by such fishermen as
Zane Grey, Ernest Hemingway, and President
Roosevelt.

Feeding the Birds
of Wisconsin

FOR SEVERAL years the
Wisconsin Conserva-
tion Department has
conducted an extensive

winter bird feeding ground, and this year $11,410
was set aside for snowy weather dinners for
pheasants, partridges, grouse, and prairie chicken.
Each of Wisconsin's seventy-one counties re-
ceived a basic dollar allotment arrived at through
relating the number of birds stocked to the num-
ber packed in 1938. From 200 to 250 tons of grain
were used for feeding. To assist cooperating
schools, sportsmen, and civic groups, the Conser-

102

vation Department has made available leaflets de-
scribing the construction, erection, and location of
feed hoppers.

Cincinnati's Drama
Tournament

ON MARCH I4th and
1 5th the fifth annual
one-act play tourna-
ment conducted by the

Drama Advisory Council of the Public Recreation
Commission of Cincinnati, Ohio, was held. Since
its introduction five years ago the tournament idea
has grown in popularity with the result that many
groups including church organizations have held
their own tournaments. Following the contest one
play was broadcast over station WCKY.

Judging was done on the following basis: 50
per cent for presentation covering casting, light-
ing, costumes, make-up, the tone, spirit and
smoothness of the performance and the degree of
success attained in conveying the idea of the play
to the audience ; for acting, meaning aggregate in-
dividual interpretation, technique, speech and
voice, 30 per cent was given ; for the selection of
play, dramatic qualities, appropriateness of the
group presenting it, and value of the play, 20 per
cent was given.

A Museum on the
March

THE Metropolitan Mu-
seum of New York

has undertaken to

serve the many neigh-
borhoods of the city from which few if any per-
sons ever do or can come to its galleries. Special
exhibits such as Art of China, Arms and Armor,
Ancient Egypt: Its Life and Art, the Art of
Japan, European Textiles and Costume Figures.
Ancient Greece and Rome, and the Near East
were shown in various institutions such as the
Public Library, high schools and colleges, and
branches of the "Y." The high schools were
found to have special advantages because the ma-
terials could be used as collateral in many school
subjects and could be seen by students from all
parts of the city instead of only by the general
public in the neighborhood. Over a five year
period the actual attendance for a total of 2,596
exhibition days was 1,450,031.

WORLD AT PLAY

103

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Send at once for this interesting game which promises
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The "K" Baseball Game will immediately win enthusi-
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A College Play Day — Nearly twenty colleges
and universities in Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky
sent delegations to the University of Cincinnati to
participate in the Tri-State Play Day held in
March. The event was sponsored by the Women's
Athletic Association of the University of Cincin-
nati and the Women's Division of the Depart-
ment of Physical and Health Education.

A Municipally Owned Seashore Resort —

Within ten minutes' ride from the center of
Bridgeport, Connecticut, is Pleasure Beach Park,
an island of approximately thirty-seven acres, 75
per cent of which is devoted to an amusement
park, the rest to parking and roadways. In addi-
tion to an excellent beach a half mile long on Long
Island Sound, there is a 150' by 50' salt water
swimming pool supplied with clear, filtered salt
water by a wellpoint system which uses the sand
of the island as a natural filter. The park was
originally a private enterprise operated by private
concessions on city-owned land with city-owned
buildings. In July, 1937, the city was obliged to
place a receiver in charge of the project and to
operate it as a municipal function. At the close of

the 1937 season the city began making improve-
ments in the park, paying for them out of its cur-
rent budget. A new pier was built and the well-
point system was installed. Throughout the sum-
mer season weekly dances were held in a spacious
ballroom. The Bridgeport symphony orchestra, a
WPA project, gave weekly concerts on Monday
evenings. A charge of five or ten cents was made
for the special attractions such as scooter planes
and sky rockets. A children's playground is pro-
vided, and there are picnic groves and athletic
fields and a stage. There is no charge for admis-
sion and parking is free.

A Year-Round Recreation System for Al-
bion, Michigan — Albion, Michigan, has insti-
tuted a year-round recreation system which is a
comparatively new venture for the city. Chase
Hammond is director of the department for which
$2,500 was appropriated as the first year's budget.
Two thirds of this amount was given by the
Board of Education ; one third by the City Coun-
cil. Cooperation by WPA in the provision of
workers has helped greatly in securing a maxi-
mum use of the facilities and funds available.

104

WORLD AT PLAY

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Social Clubs in New Brunswick — Social
clubs are becoming more popular each year in
New Brunswick, New Jersey. During the past
year the clubs met once a week at the homes of the
members. The groups discussed current topics of
the day and took part in such activities as knit-
ting, cooking, sewing, and crocheting. Refresh-
ments usually concluded the evening's program.
The clubs also took educational trips during the
year and enjoyed theater parties in New York.
Each group of girls was sponsored by a recrea-
tion leader. At the present time there are six
such clubs with v several more in the process of
formation.

The Audubon Camp — The National Asso-
ciation of Audubon Societies, 1006 Fifth Avenue,
New York City, announces the 1939 season of its
nature camp to be held at the Todd Wild-life
Sanctuary, Muscongus Bay, Maine, from June 16
through August 31, 1939. Adult campers are en-
rolled for one or more two-week periods. Dur-
ing this time all classes are held out-of-doors
where living forms of natural phenomena, includ-
ing birds, insects, plants and marine life, are
studied first hand.

Club Organization in Danville, Va. — The

Danville, Virginia Recreation Department an-
nounces an increase in the number of clubs or-
ganized, both for children and adults. Twelve
clubs are listed in a recent staff bulletin including
an Adults Chess Club with seventeen members
and a Boys and Girls Piano Club with a mem-
bership of thirty.

An International Association for Workers'
Leisure — An international conference on work-
ers' spare time was held in Brussels, Belgium, on
December 10 and n, 1938, to draw up a consti-
tution and rules for an international organization.
The conference was attended by the representa-
tives of seventy-nine organizations, including
twenty national associations. The name chosen
for the new organization was International Asso-
ciation for Workers' Leisure. The executive
committee consists of twenty-five members ap-
pointed for a period of three years. Between
meetings of the executive committee, which must
take place at least once a year, the current busi-
ness of the association will be handled by a secre-
tariat composed of the five officers of the associa-
tion. Brussels was chosen as the headquarters of
the new organization.

A Group Work Institute — The School of
Applied Social Sciences, Western Reserve Uni-
versity, Cleveland, Ohio, will hold its annual Group
Work Institute on May 29 — June 16, 1939. Staff
workers' courses will be offered in Principles of
Group Work, Problems in Supervision of Group
Work, the Understanding of Individuals in Groups,
the Place of Creative Art in a Group Work
Agency, and Methods of Workers' Education.
Further information may be secured from the
director of the Institute.

Folk Dance Evenings in Detroit — Six of De-
troit's leading folk dance societies during January,
February, and March offered a course in folk
dancing for teachers, recreation leaders, club ad-
visers, and folk dance enthusiasts. After a demon-
stration of a particular dance by the teaching
group those attending were given an opportunity
to participate. Emphasis was placed on the cor-
relation of the various folk arts. With this in
mind, the teaching group wore costumes, and
there was an exhibit each evening of background
materials, textiles, pictures, handicrafts, bibliogra-
phies on folk life, and reference to folk music. So
far as possible traditional instruments were used

WORLD AT PLAY

105

to accompany the dancers. Six evenings were
jevoted to the course.

New Playgrounds for New York City — On

^\pril ist the Department of Parks opened offici-
illy two new playgrounds which will add materi-
illy to the recreation facilities of the districts in
tvhich they are located. One area, obtained by the
Department of Parks from the Board of Trans-
portation for an indefinite period, includes eight
:ennis courts, nine handball courts, a volleyball
:ourt, and a sitting area for mothers and guard -
ans of small children. This area is surrounded
jy continuous rows of benches under shade trees
with two separate sand pits for the children to
slay in. The second playground, adjacent to a
Dublic school, was the first parcel of ground pur-
:hased jointly by the Park Department and the
Board of Education and developed in collabora-
ion to the advantage of both departments. Be-
sides being completely equipped with play ap-
)aratus, the area also provides facilities for hand-
jail, basketball, paddle tennis, roller skating,
lockey, and ice skating. These two areas bring
he total number of playgrounds available in New
fr)rk City to 383 ; 275 of these have been added
:o the park system since January, 1934.

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A Nature Study Camp — The Huerfano
jroup of the Colorado Mountain Club will conduct
i nature study camp from June 11-25, *939 at
:he Cuchara Camps ten miles south of La Veta,
Colorado. The program each day will consist of a
norning hike, an afternoon of games, projects or
lovel teaching methods, followed by an evening
:amp-fire program with songs and entertainment,
ind a lecture feature. There will be three all-day
rips. Further information may be secured from
Paul W. Nesbit, Superintendent, Huerfano County
Eiigh School, Walsenburg, Colorado.

Federal Music Project Orchestras — Two or-

rhestras of the Federal Music Project played for
:he recreation groups of Dayton, Ohio, through-
out the entire year. During the summer months,
:he large concert orchestra was assigned to play
:hree concerts a week, one each at Walnut Hills
Park, McKinley Park and Island Park. The
iverage attendance at each of these concerts was
ipproximately 150. During the community center
season, the dance orchestra played an average of
ive nights a week for community dances.

National Aquatic Schools— The American
National Red Cross announces a number of
aquatic schools to be held during the summer
for instruction and training in life saving,
swimming, diving, first aid, water stunts and
games, canoeing, boating, aquatic pageantry,
and accident prevention : Camp Kittiwake, Pass
Christian, Mississippi, June 7-17; Camp Caro-
lina, Brevard, North Carolina, June 11-21;
Camp Letts, Edgewater, Maryland, June 11-21 ;

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106

WORLD AT PLAY

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Culver Military Academy, Culver, Indiana,
June 15-25; Camp Kiwanis, South Hanson,
Massachusetts, June 18-28; Chautauqua Insti-
tution, Chatauqua, New York, June 19-29,
Camp Manhattan, Narrowsburg, New York,
June 19-29; Chautauqua Institution, Chautau-
qua, New York, August 23-September 2 ; Camp
Carolina, Brevard, North Carolina, August 24-
September 3. Further information may be
secured from the Director, First Aid and Life
Saving Service, American National Red Cross,
Washington, D. C.

A Contest in Travel Letter Writing —
The Instructor, the magazine for elementary
teachers, published at Dansville, New York, is
offering $1,000 in cash awards for the best
hundred letters of 500 words or less on "Where
I Would Like to Go on My Vacation This
Year — and Why." The contest is open to all
persons professionally identified with schools
and colleges, and also to students in teacher-
training institutions. The closing date of the
contest is June 10, 1939. Further details may
be secured from W. D. Conklin, Travel Editor
of The Instructor.

National Joseph Lee Day

(Continued from page 62)

of the children's pageant and circus of other years.
The observance in Escanaba, Michigan, con-
sisted of abolishing swimming check fees for the
day. As children came to swim, instead of being
asked for check fees, they were asked to think
about Joseph Lee "who was always more inter-
ested in the enjoyment of others than he was in
his own." Material about Joseph Lee was posted
on the beach bulletin board.

(Continued from page 64)

Various kayak and canoe clubs which have been
formed in the parks ars enjoying week-end river
trips and other sojourns in the surrounding
locality.

A series of local dinghy regattas are planned
each summer, and this year we hope to have
number of exciting kayak races on the local par
lagoons.

A Hobby Craft Program for Cleveland

(Continued from page 68)

a few necessary chisels, and some glue, screws,
nails, and paint. A motor, buffers, blowtorch, vise,
and small metal craft tools went into the makin;
of the jewelry kit; similar tools comprised th
metal craft kit. Game crafts boasted a small jig sa
and a drill press in addition to the necessary sma
tools. Materials for Keene cement craft wer
bought for experimental purposes in order to sta
this program. Luckily our leather craft speciali
had her own tools so this craft was initiated with-
out expense to us and will continue in this man-
ner until we are able to buy the necessary supplies.
At this point all of our grant of $150 from the
Cleveland Foundation had been exhausted in one
delightful orgy of spending! "Flat broke," we
faced the problem of getting materials for the
first classes scheduled to begin the first week in
January — and that only a week away! How we
did it is still a surprise to all of us, but the
classes started on time with the necessary ma-
terial and enough to carry them for a few class
periods. This gave us a breathing spell in which
to raise other funds or gather more materials.

The Working Program

With a kit of tools for each craft, a specialist,
and twenty- four weeks of the winter program
left, we were faced with another question : how
could we distribute our assets so that every perr
son could have an equal opportunity to share?

It was a problem in simple magic. Twenty-four
weeks, seven centers, seven craft kits, and seven
specialists were all thrown into the high hat, the
magic words were spoken, and the solution came
quickly ! The craft program of each center would
be divided into six four-week periods, each period
to run afternoon and evening two days a week —
all the time and space each center could devote to
the craft program. At the end of the four weeks,

the modern dust alia yer

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108

A HOBBY CRAFT PROGRAM FOR CLEVELAND

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kits, leaders, and crafts would depart to another
center, making space for another experiment with
a different craft. Thus in a period of twenty-four
weeks groups in each center would have a fair
taste of six different crafts.

Four weeks, you may say, is a very short time
in which to accomplish anything in a craft that is
new to you. You are just getting started. What
can you hope to do in that period? Can anything
worth while be accomplished?

These questions were in our minds as we began
the program. We were sure, however, that at the
end of the experiment we would have valuable
information on the following points:

We would know which crafts were most popu-
lar at the various centers. This would enable us
to spend our crafts budget to the best advantage.

Since the space allotted to crafts was limited in
each center, we would be sure of using that space
to the greatest advantage.

Leadership could be concentrated on the most
popular crafts instead of being spread around a
craft program of doubtful value and importance.
If at the end we could have information which
would enable us to use most effectively money,
leadership, and space — all of which were limited
— the experiment would not have been in vain.

Working on this basis, we have given every
center's clientele the opportunity to try each craft
long enough to determine which was suitable to
the individual. At the end of the first four weeks
a number of individuals have said to us, "I haven't
had enough of this craft. I'd like to know more
about it." If, on the other hand, at the end of the
four weeks' program the individual feels satisfied
and is looking forward to the next experiment, we
know that person has not found the medium

which will serve him as a hobby for years to come.
Too often too much emphasis is given to mass
recreation and not enough to individual. We rec-
reation leaders are still "figure-conscious" and rate
the value of the activity by the number attending.
We know that this program will never make itself
known through mass demonstrations, but the pos-
sibilities to the individual are unlimited.

It is time for programs for the individual to be
considered and promoted. Hobby craft programs
seem to be the answer.

Sunbeams for Footlights

(Continued from page 76)

especially in the larger type theaters, to set up
'tents as portable dressing rooms for each produc-
tion. This is a very simple process and has been
used successfully.

Adequate maintenance of playground theaters
is very essential. It should always look neat and
trim and ready for use. The beds should be kept
cultivated. Lawn areas should be mowed, and
shearing and pruning should be done when neces-
sary. During dry seasons it will be necessary to
water both lawn and shrubs frequently. The main-
tenance of the informal type of theater is negli-
gible. The semiformal type requires more atten-
tion because of the increase in the number of plant
materials used, and the problem of mowing is
complicated by the stage hedge. In the formal
type a more difficult problem of maintenance is
presented. The mowing of the lawn is more com-
plicated because of the stage wall and the wings.
If the wall is planted, it will require some atten-
tion. The wings and background will have to be
sheared regularly. If the plant materials for screen

RAINY DAY PROGRAMS FOR CAMPS

109

MARKS THE SPOT

WHERE AN ACCIDENT

WAS PREVENTED

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Interior frame is strongly braced spring steel.

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purposes are selected carefully as to character and
growth, no more than ordinary attention will be
required.

The construction of a natural outdoor theater
requires a. knowledge of plant materials and hor-
ticultural practice. Anyone who can make a lawn
or plant a shrub satisfactorily can construct an
outdoor theater of this type, provided an adequate
plan has been prepared in advance.

Rainy Day Programs for Camps

(Continued from page 79)

is to revolve around broomstick three times and
then walk in a straight line.

Quiz Program. This is similar to the radio quiz
programs. Ask novel and humorous questions
and encourage campers to ask their own questions.

Fire Building. Building a fire in the rain offers a
new challenge that campers will be eager to ac-
cept. Equip them with only two matches and let
them find their own tinder in the woods. Excel-
lent materials for starting fires are pine knots,

ground cedar bark, birch bark, old squirrel and
field mouse nests. This may lead to preparation of
fire building kits and practice in making fire by
friction and with flint and steel, all of which can
be done on rainy days.

Sunshine Pool. We are all weather prophets.
Write down camper's prediction of the time the
sun will come out and see who is the best weather
prophet.

Pet Show. Give the campers some time to make
pet animals out of clay, wood, paper, corks, and
rags, and place them on display. Judge for the
largest pet, smallest pet, handsomest pet, homliest
pet, most unique pet, and other characteristics.

Storytelling. There is no better time for story
telling than on a rainy day with the group gath-
ered about a fire place. Encourage the campers to
tell stories.

An excellent variation is the progressive story.
One of the members of the group starts a story
and each member around the circle adds to it.

Whittling Contest. Give ca"mpers a limited time

110

PLAYGROUNDS AS COMMUNITY CENTERS

+ MITCH ELL ^V

PLAYGROUND APPARATUS

= a*t ideal fruilet fasi

Write for Free Literature on
PLAYGROUND or SWIMMING POOL EQUIPMENT

MITCHELL MFG. CO.

Dept. R-5 MILWAUKEE, WIS.

to select a piece of wood and to whittle some
object. Judge for most original production; the
fastest made.

Impromptu Dramatics. Numerous entertaining
acts can be developed with little preparation and
property. These could include skits, stunts, story
acting, singing, magic tricks, acrobatics. Try to
stimulate originality in the acts.

All children like to masquerade. If the cos-
tume department is open to them they will have

Day Camping

By MAUDE L. DRYDEN

At last a pamphlet on
day camping!

• Problems of organization, plan-
ning the site, facilities, supplies,
transportation, meals, activities,
leadership, and other consider-
ations entering into day camp-
ing are all discussed in this
practical pamphlet by a worker
who has been one of the pioneers
in the field.

Ready for distribution
May 10th

. . . Price 25 cents
National Recreation Association

315 Fourth Avenue
New York City

no end of fun in "dressing up" in a large variety
of ensembles. As a finale a nut parade may be
held to show off the costumes.

Pillow Fight. What boy doesn't like a pillow
fight? Variations in pillow fights are passible by
having contestants sit astride a horizontal pole or
stand on a narrow plank, and by blindfolding
them.

NOTE : For the attractive sketches used in this article
we are indebted to Bill Schafer, one of the authors of
this article. It will be of interest to our readers to know
that Dan Dryden, joint author, has collaborated with his
mother, Mrs. Maude Dryden, in the preparation of a
pamphlet on Day Camping which will soon be off the
press, and ready for distribution through the National
Recreation Association.

Playgrounds as Community Centers

(Continued from page 81)

volley ball will need two or three extra players
and will induce some young men to join them.
Generally the men are, or appear to be, reluctant
to play with girls. They have such a good time,
however, that others join them. After a few
nights it becomes the accepted thing, and on many
grounds young men and women play volley ball
together night after night. On dance nights they
come early to play a game or two before the dance
begins.

It is a really inspiring and soul-satisfying ex-
perience to walk onto a playground in the early
twilight hours to find the place teeming with
activity ; young men and women playing, shouting
and laughing together; men and women playing
shurHeboard, table tennis and checkers, or just
talking with their friends and neighbors — in short, *
making the playground a real community center.

Travel Tours via Wishful Thinking!

(Continued from page 82)

adults are curious about different people and in-
terested in them, and by going on imaginative
trips to foreign lands they acquire knowledge al-
most as vivid as if the experience were real.
Most of them probably will never have an op-
portunity to see a real foreign country, but the
next best way is almost as much fun. They learn
also to acquire a friendly feeling for foreign
countries and a closer bond of relationship to all

"ON WINGS TO FAIRYLAND"

111

lations which, after all, is the foundation of every
Teat civilization.

A penny for your thoughts?

No siree, not mine !

Would be the reply of the children in Mrs.
Mecca's group if such an offer were made to them.

And who wouldn't? For their thoughts have
vings — beautiful, white, sailboat wings that carry
hem far, far off to distant shores of foreign
ands, to the sunny banks of the Lido, and lovely
/enice, to the snowy slopes of Switzerland, and
o gay Paree. Whether they go on a freighter, a
:attle boat, or Queen Mary cabin class, what dif-
erence does it make to these children with the
vorld at their feet? They may not come back
vith candid camera shots of Notre Dame and the
"hamps Elysees, but you may be sure the beauti-
'ul pictures their imaginations have created for
hem will last through the years.

"On Wings to Fairyland"

(Continued from page 85)
(Children's Classics) New York City. $1.00

.0. Tales from Grimm, Wanda Gag. Coward-McCann,
Inc., 2 West 45th Street, New York City. $1.50

11. Book of Fables and Folk Stories, Horace Elisha
Scudder. Houghton, Mifflin Company, Boston, Massa-
chusetts. $2.00

2. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Wanda Gag.
Coward-McCann, Inc., New York City. $1.00

13. Silesian Folk Tales, James and Carey Lee. Ameri-
can Book Company, New York City. 56tf

14. Wonder Tales from Goblin Hills, Frances J. Olcott.
Longmans, Green and Company, 114 Fifth Avenue,
New York City. $1.75

15. The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, Howard
Pyle. Charles Scribner's Sons, 597 Fifth Avenue,
New York City. $3.00

16. Ali Baba and Other Plays for Young People or
Puppets, Mrs. Helen H. Joseph. (Out of print. Con-
sult at libraries.) Harcourt, Brace and Company,
383 Madison Avenue, New York City.

17. My Book House (a set of books), Edited by O. K.
Miller. The story referred to is in Volume 3. Book
House for Children, 11 West 42nd Street, New York
City. Per volume, $2.75 ; per set, $33.00

18. Fairy Tales of the Slav Peasants and Herdsmen,
Alexander D. Chodzko-Allen, London.

For more ideas on stories for children, see "For the
Storyteller," Mary J. Breen, published by the National
Recreation Association, 35^

Handcrafts

The handcrafts program in connection with the
summer's program was particularly ingenious,
much of it originating with the Playground and
Recreation Association of Wyoming Valley. The

"Parties and Programs
for Parents Days"

By JULIA A. ROGERS

PROGRAMS for Mother's Day, Father's
Day and All-Family Days are offered
in this book, but Mother receives special
prominence/ '-r— .

There are suggestions for mother's day in
the home, for social affairs and banquets
in which daughters entertain mothers;
there are banquets for fathers, programs
for parents' days in church, community
and school, and many other events.
And for the help of those responsible for
planning programs tableaux, sketches,
pantomimes, and skits are given and many
source materials are presented.
Price $.75 paper bound
$1.25 cloth bound

National Recreation Association

315 Fourth Avenue New York City

fruit banks mentioned were a clever idea and easy
to make — papier-mache made over clay forms and
painted to look like apples or other fruit. The
fairy castles were made of oatmeal boxes and
mailing tubes, covered with a clay mix. The dolls
were made of inner tubes, cloth and other ma-
terials; some were made over milk bottles and
designed to be used as door stops.

Parade and Rip van Winkle Play

The wind-up of the season was the colorful
Parade from Fairyland and the Rip van Winkle
pageant. Each playground had a float in the par-
ade portraying one story (not Rip van Winkle) in
costumes and decoration of float. The Wilkes-
Barre Railway Company cooperated by furnishing
free transportation.

Other Activities

Aside from the activities in connection with
"On Wings to Fairyland" each playground had
scheduled games for the three age groups in vol-
ley ball, baseball and quoits, twice and three times
every week. A midsummer track meet was held
in each neighborhood and a final event in Kirby

112

"THE STRONG AND THE BRAVE"

A

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magazine for only

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to prove to you the reason teachers
are turning to this new type of crea-
tive schoolwork and methods. Un-
equalled in the amount of usable proj-
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money will be refunded. Mail today,
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Park. Each playground conducted a pet show
hop scotch and jacks tournament and other specia
events.

"The Strong and the Brave"

(Continued from page 86)

tating group rehearsals during the week be
fore the performance. Two final rehearsals
were held at Lauer's Park, where the pageanl
was given. The younger children came to only
one of them.

The park was made to represent an Indian
village with a large council fire in the center.
Tepees of all descriptions, made as play-
ground projects, were used in a semi-circle
around the fire. The material used ranged from
burlap and blue-dyed muslin to real skins.
Grouped around the tepees were many ever-
green trees donated by the city from its over-
crowded watershed near one of the city reser-
voirs. The costumes were made by women of
a WPA project. The ornaments, by the
wearers.

The playground orchestra provided the
music before the pageant and for the dances.
The signal to start was the igniting of the fire
and the arrival of the sixty tom-tom beaters
ranging in age from seven to nineteen. They
set the mood for the entire show with their
kegs covered with taut inner tubing. Leaders
were assigned to each group, thus easing the
problem of discipline and direction. Next fol-
lowed the dedication of the tepee by two
braves and a woman from the playground*
where the tepee was made. Then entered the
other women and braves, with the latter lining
up for the soldiers' dance. After this the
women did the Owl dance.

As they were finishing, the small children
rushed across the field pursuing the Medicine
Men who then supervised the little girls in
"Squirrel in the Trees" and "Cat and Rat,"
and the little boys in "Step on the Rattler"
and "Rat on His Lodge." The final players
led all the little children in a grand "Follow
the Leader" to the bleachers where they could
watch the rest of the pageant. As they were
leaving, the next group of boys and girls ap-
peared, the girls playing "Flower and Wind"
and "Snatch the Moccasin." After this the
boys took part in "Flying Stick" and "Bear in
the Pit." As the bear was being caught all
dropped back for the tournament between a

THE MEMPHIS COTTON CARNIVAL

113

representative from each of thirty playgrounds
who engaged each other in "Indian Strong-
hand," "Indian Wrestle," and "Cock Fighting."
These winners led all of this group to the
bleachers, leaving the field to the women, the
Braves, Ishnela and Whean. The orphaned
children had tried to participate in every sport
but were repulsed. Now the men, with the help
of the women, participated in a peace pipe
ceremony. Then the men went into council.
The remainder of the story has been told
previously.

To give the semblance of Indians, diluted
Bol-Armencian was used on the skins with
the help of some colored grease paint lining
pencils for the braves. To help give the
pageant coherence the leaders used the infor-
mation given by the supervisors of dancing,
games, symbols, and ceremonies.

In Step with the Playground Procession

(Continued from page 90)

ganized athletic teams by providing the entry fees
to municipal leagues. In 1938 there were twenty-
two such clubs, with average membership of 30,
making a total membership of 660.

Good Manners Classes. Classes in good man-
ners and courtesy informally conducted were an
innovation last summer on the playgrounds of
Hamilton, Canada. A growing tendency toward
discourtesy on the part of the children in their re-
lationships with the supervisors led to the sug-
gestion that the plan be tried of giving instruction
in good manners and etiquette.

The main problem in conducting classes was
to maintain the children's interest. In doing this
informal classes were found to be more success-
ful than formal groups. The usual procedure was
:o announce, not a class in courtesy and good man-
ners, but a story hour when stories were told which
would illustrate the importance and desirability of
:ourtesy. Many practical illustrations were intro-
duced based on playground happenings, the super-
visor deviating from the regular story to explain
proper procedures. The subject of courtesy was
unobtrusively introduced very successfully into
landcraft classes. On some grounds a special
Deriod in the afternoon session was set aside for
:he discussion of courtesy and good manners, the
:hildren having previously been told that an inter-
esting talk was to be given.

Discussions of the subject were publicized by
various methods. Tea party groups, however,

The Memphis Cotton Carnival

DOWN IN MEMPHIS plans are being made for
the ninth annual edition of the South's
"Greatest Party." The Memphis Cotton Car-
nival, an annual non-profit civic organization
has scheduled its celebration for May 9th-i4th.
A new entertainment feature of this year's
Carnival is a national air show with stunt
flying and other spectacular exhibitions to be
held on May I4th at the city's new municipal
airport. Among other features of the cotton
fete are daily parades, parties, balls, receptions
and a variety of interesting and educational
activities.

The Children's Activities Division of the
Association has scheduled a parade for several
thousand children of Memphis and its sur-
rounding territory. Registration of participants
in the children's parade is under the super-
vision of Miss Minnie Wagner, Superintendent
of Recreation of the Memphis Park Commis-
sion, and children taking part in the parade
are selected through playground and school
officials. Entertainment for the children cul-
minates in the children's ball to be held at the
Municipal Auditorium.

The usual track meet, which includes par-
ticipation of athletes of national prominence,
will be held on Friday, May I2th. Other sport
activities include a skeet shoot, boxing matches
and playground competitions.

The Cotton Carnival, although primarily an
entertainment enterprise, has its serious side
in the production and exploitation of cotton.
This year Carnival officials have scheduled a
"New Uses for Cotton Exhibit" to be on display
in Memphis during Carnival week through the
cooperation of the Cotton Research Founda-
tion of Mellon Institute of Pittsburgh, Pa.
The complete exhibit showing the numerous
new uses of the South's primary agricultural
product developed recently through cotton re-
search chemistry will be on display in connec-
tion with a Cotton Fashion Show during
which attractive models will display modern
style trends in cotton garments.

The Negro section of the Carnival, "The
Beale Street Cotton Makers Jamboree" has for
its theme this year "King Cotton's Thorofare"
depicting the life and habits of the Negroes in
the deep South.

NOTE : This material has been submitted by Richard
C. Rippin.

114

DRAMATICS FOR THE CAMP COMMUNITY

Untying
Apron Strings

A Guidebook on Better
Personality Development

Recreation leadership and personality guidance are

inseparable. . . . True recreation results in integrated

personality development

UNTYING APRON STRINGS reveals the kinks in
personality growth. It's one of the best inter-
pretations of personality problems yet printed.
Every recreation leader should understand the emo-
tional phases of character development — this book
will help him achieve a 'better understanding of his
work. It's as easy to read as the daily newspaper,
and yet is based on accepted scientific knowledge
as revealed in actual case studies.

The Chapter Headings give you a bird's-eye view
of the book :

PART I— Warped Personality Patterns

Emotions the Motivating
Forces of. Personality

He Goes Back to Mother's
Arms

His Hand Against the
World

He Enjoys Poor Health

PART II— Adjustment

The Attitude of the Adult
Who Would Help

Approach Through Voca-
tional Interest and
Hobbies

Self-Understanding

He Likes to "Show-Off"

He Loves to Punish

He Isn't Happy Unless He

Is Miserable
He Feels Inferior
In Love With Himself
Love That Never Grows Up

Boy and Girl Relationships
A Directing Philosophy
Personality Development in

the School-Community
Religion (With Apologies to

the Church)

UNTYING APRON STRINGS is only $1.00—
cloth-bound in attractive red and black.

The book plus a year's subscription to

CHARACTER and CITIZENSHIP
(regularly $2.00 alone) is $2.50 for both

Send your orders to

National Council on Education for
Character and Citizenship

5732 HARPER AVENUE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

proved most successful. At an imaginary tea
party the girls would be given instruction con-
cerning the proper methods to be used' in meeting
people, in opening doors to visitors, in answering
the telephone, in associating with friends on the
playground, and in showing consideration for
others in all playground activities. Much interest
was aroused in typewritten statements regarding
courtesy and good manners expected on the play-
ground which were posted on the bulletin board.

The 1938 season saw five hundred children en-
thusiastically participating in discussions of good
manners.

Dramatics for the Camp Community

(Continued from page 94)

may have had, and all her fine training in technique
of production are of the utmost value to her. But
she will also have to learn from her own experi-
ence that to these things, something more must
be added in a camp dramatics job — the ability to
"makeshift," and to do it in such a delightful
way that nobody at camp will miss the trappings
and glitter of the more formal kind of production
to which he is accustomed at home. If at the same
time she is able to build up in her young audience
an appreciation of and a delight in new forms
and experiments (either of her own invention or
adapted from the current trends in the best of the
modern work) in production and acting, and in
her players and production staff a real experi-
mental and creative urge toward these things, she
need not be ashamed to think of her job as im-
portant in the scheme of things dramatic and the-
atrical. It is a job which challenges the young
director to use every ounce of mother wit she has,
and a job which can be the best kind of training
ground for later work, either of a more profes-
sional nature in the regular or community thea-
ter, or for leadership in educational-recreational
programs of dramatics. Above all, it is a job
which contains much self-satisfaction within itself
for the director, in the provision of opportunities
for service to individuals, the group, and the big
field of dramatics itself.

With the Day Camps of Pittsburgh

(Continued from page 96)

have quite a repertoire of songs, many of which
have been composed by the counselors during the
past six years.

Our beautiful parks afford an excellent medium
for the children to learn something about nature.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

115

A period is devoted daily to nature hikes and
study. Each camp has its own nature museum.
For children who seldom have the opportunity to
romp on the green, or roam through the woods
and to see bird life, this is a rare opportunity. Out
of such a program should come a greater respect
for tree, shrub, plant, and bird life. Beautiful
things, the children learn, are made to be seen and
admired, and not to be destroyed.

Fiscal. The City Council has annually appro-
priated the sum of $10,000. for the day camp
project. Of this amount, in 1938, $4,960. was
spent for 24,688 lunches at $.20 per lunch;
$2,028.75, for transportation; $62.50, for car
checks for volunteer counselors; $13.38 for the
camp director's car expense for gasoline and oil ;
$2,387.50 for salaries and wages; and $49.30 for
printing of registration cards and similar supplies.

Last year the camps were operated for a period
of six weeks — July i8th to August 26th — and in
former years for seven weeks.

A total number of 4,351 children enjoyed a
week's camp experience. Many of these, if it
were not for the day camp, would never have the
opportunity of visiting the city parks and would
be forced to spend the hot summer vacation
months in their own neighborhoods either on the
streets or around their sub-standard homes. The
close contact with nature cannot fail to affect the
children physically, mentally, socially and spiritu-
ally. It is an investment which gives good returns,
and one which might well be made a permanent
feature of city life.

There should be no hesitancy on the part of our
City Fathers to allocate funds for a project which
brings happiness in the lives of many children,
and which, furthermore, starts many on the road
to good citizenship. A week's camp experience is
certainly beneficial, but not enough. Consideration
should be given to having those who need this
kind of experience spend at least the entire sum-
mer in camps. Some of us are of the opinion that
the day camps might well be operated the year
round.

The What, Why and How of Handcraft
on a Small Budget

(Continued from page 99)

to give the surplus to someone who could
use it.

Of more importance than the sharing- of
materials was the sharing of ideas, directions
for making articles, and addresses of such

Magazines and Pamphlets

\

Recently Received Containing Articles
of Interest to the Recreation Worker

I

MAGAZINES
Parks and Recreation, March 1939

"Shakespeare Open Air Theater Unique in City
Parks" by Arthur H. Alexander, Chief of Division
of Landscape Architecture, Department of Parks
and Public Property, City of Cleveland. Designs
for an outdoor theater.

"University of Washington Arboretum" by Frederick
Leissler, Assistant Director

"A Playground for the Soul," a description of Phila-
delphia's Graphic Sketch Club established by
Samuel S. Fleisher. This probably is unique
among recreation facilities.

The Camping Magazine, March 1939

"Setting the Stage for Camp Safety" by Herbert
J. Stack, Director, Center for Safety Education,
New York University.

The Journal of Health and Physical Education, April

1939

"School Health and Recreation Services" by Heriot
Clifton Hutchins

"Toward a Philosophy of Physical Education," by
R. J. Francis, Department of Physical Education,
The University of Wisconsin

"Archery in the Recreation Program" by William
P. Uhler, Jr., Associate in Health, Safety, and
Physical Education, Department of Public Instruc-
tion, New Jersey

The Regional Review, March 1939

"Leadership in Organized Camps" by Stanley M.
Hawkins, Associate Recreational Specialist, Rich-
mond, Virginia

National Parent-Teacher, April 1939

"Chores, Work, or Fun?" by Bess Naylor Rosa

The Camping Magazine, April 1939

"The Contributions of Camp to Democracy" by Hed-

ley S. Dimock
"Projecting Camp Recreational Skills into Adult

Years" by Fred C. Mills

School and Society, April 8, 1939

"Sound Mental Health and the High-School Student"

by William H. Johnson
"The Controls of Public Education in a Democracy"

by James Marshall
New Jersey Educational Review, April 1939

"The Recreation Teacher Comes of Age" t>y Allan

Krim

PAMPHLETS

Woodland Trail Walks with the H. T. B— Spring-
Summer 1939

Compiled by Ernest A. Dench, Director, Hiking
Trips Bureau, Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey. Price $.10

Bulletin of the Association of American Colleges —

March 1939

March issue contains The Cultural Obligations of the

College Faculty and the Proceedings of the Annual

Meeting of the Association.

The National Urban League in the Year 1938 — Toward
Democracy

Extracts from the Twenty-Eighth Annual Report
of the National Urban League. National Urban
League, Inc., 1133 Broadway, New York City

116

SWIM FOR HEALTH WEEK

Swim for Health Week

THE FOURTH annual national Swim for Health
Week will be celebrated June 26th to July 1st
under the sponsorship of the Swim for Health
Association, 122 East 42nd Street, ,New York
City. This year emphasis will be placed on a
learn-to-swim drive, and it is suggested that
during the week swimming exhibitions and
meets can be staged at municipal and school
pools. It is also hoped that there will be a
publicity campaign designed to focus attention
on the health values of swimming as well as its
recreative features. Newspapers will publish
stories and a series of swimming lessons ; news
releases and radio talks on the value of swim-
ming will add to the effectiveness of the
campaign.

All campaigns will not be the same, but there
are certain attractions which can be featured
to advantage by recreation officials. One such
event is the conducting of special learn-to-
swim classes at swimming pools for boys and
girls from six to fourteen years of age. Classes
for adults may also be conducted at this time,
as may life saving courses for competent swim-
mers who should be trained in rescue technique
in preparation for the summer swimming
season.

Last year, according to Martin Stern, Execu-
tive Secretary of the Swim for Health Associa-
tion, a number of recreation boards participated
in the campaign and planned special activities.
Among these cities were Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
New Orleans, Birmingham, Peoria, Duluth,
Kansas City, Bridgeport, Springfield, and
Tucson. Recreation executives who are in-
terested in having a share in this year's cam-
paign may secure from the Swim for Health
Association stamps and posters and other
promotional devices.

Report of Summer Recreation Activities 1938, Recreation
Commission, Bakersfield, California

Year Book 1938, The Board of Recreation Commissioners,
Livingston, New Jersey

Annual Report 1938, Superintendent of Recreation, Union
County Park Commission, Elizabeth, N. J.

Annual Report of the Park Department, 1938
Salem, Massachusetts

Club Bulletin — Municipal Recreation Department,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Annual Report 1938— Eugene Playgrounds and Com-
munity Service, Eugene, Oregon

places as factories where scrap leather, felt,
hooks, and other material could be found for
for very little expense.

Many games that children could make and
enjoy playing were made and decorated. Paint-
ing the swings, seesaws and toys on the play-
ground; adding birdhouses and feeding sta-
tions ; creating such necessities as coat hangers,
coat racks, door fasteners, and similar articles
from the limbs of trees were among the sub-
jects taken up.

"Why?"

Why we should use such materials is the
question of some who have not had experience
in working with children. We believe that it is
the heritage of every child to have access to
materials with which he may satisfy the crea-
tive urge. It has been proven that the
overprivileged child who has quantities of ex-
pensive toys finds joy in making things out
of materials he finds, with his own hands
designing and building a toy, making a neck-
lace or a picture lantern which really works.

There is a place for art in even the poorest
of homes, and the many children who have
only the necessities of life would never, with-
out the use of inexpensive materials, have the
opportunity which is the birthright of every
child, to know and use the creative urge to
transform ideas into three dimensional experi-
ments rather than into the spoken or written
word alone. These experiments often give the
child self-respect.

"How?"

How we can make mere materials function

A Manual of Settlement Boys' Work

Through a regrettable oversight there was fail-
ure to give credit in the article in the April issue
of RECREATION on "Leadership, Organization and
Program Making in Boys' Club Groups," to A
Manual of Settlement Boys' Work edited by John
M. Kingman of Lincoln House Association and
Edward Sidman of Hecht Neighborhood House,
Boston, and published by the National Federation
of Settlements. The Association is indebted to
this Manual for a number of statements, particu-
larly for the material on "General Principles of
Program Development," for the suggested con-
stitution, for much of the material under "The
Mechanics of Club Organization" and under
"Leadership."

CAMPAIGNING FOR INDUSTRIAL SALVAGE

117

in our recreation program was our last big1
question. We must have leaders who know
and love children. A person must be able to
see beauty in commonplace things. "Things
that function are beautiful."

To free the child and give him materials that
he can use is our first step, and the leader must
know the possibilities and limits of materials.
A studio or an elaborate plant is not necessary
as a place to work, and a fund to buy expensive
art materials and tools is not needed to
carry on a worth-while, constructive, creative
program.

Campaigning for Industrial Salvage

(Continued from page 100)

its leather craft classes. The Mott Foundation,
which sponsors the night school program, relies
almost entirely on the collection of salvage for all
industrial classes, and, in addition, most of their
stage scenery and game room equipment are now
made from salvage.

The industrial arts department now has in its
possession fifteen machines, including five milling
machines, four drill presses, one shaper, two tool
grinders, one electric arch welder, one band saw,
and one surface grinder. These machines are all
in good running condition and are being used full
time in the shops with very little repair expense
necessary. When these machines were given to
the schools some of them needed minor repair, but
others were in excellent mechanical order.

It is estimated that the cost of the supplies,
tools, and machines which are given to the schools
in Flint each year by all industries would amount
to approximately $7,000. This is a real contribu-
tion when one realizes that instead of curtailing
the industrial arts department and laying off
teachers, the department has grown each year all
through the depression. The plan is of benefit to
the students because they are now supplied with
many materials for which they form^ly paid, and
many more students are now taking industrial arts
courses than ever before. Any student who wishes
to use salvage is given this material. Many proj-
ects are made entirely from salvage while others
are constructed from materials purchased by the
Board of Education, with salvage used to supple-
ment the new supplies.

Business Men Cooperate
The program has been sponsored since its be-
ginning as one of the chief activities of the Junior

Chamber of Commerce which is devoting one of
its regular membership meetings each year to
school and industry night. The industries furnish
excellent speakers for the program, and this meet-
ing is proving to be the largest dinner -meeting of
the year. Many business men are interested in the
program, and some of them have invited as many
as fifty of the best boy craftsmen in Flint to at-
tend the dinner as their guests. Industrial leaders
who have cooperated in the program are invited
to attend as guests of the Chamber of Commerce,
and school board members and labor leaders are
also among the guests. Through these contacts
and others a spirit of friendly feeling has been
created toward the schools, and the program has
aided all phases of education because schools,
business, and industry are now working closely
together.

The Chamber of Commerce has made arrange-
ments for the schools to have some central busi-
ness house for an exhibit of all articles made from
the salvaged material. This exhibit, shown a week
prior to the banquet, attracts thousands of people
and creates interest in the affair. All of the out-
standing projects are brought in for display, and
an effort is made to show only the unusual pieces

Story Parade

Invaluable for Story Tellers

Begin now and get the complete story of Geppy,
the horse detective, together with tales of treasure,
blizzards, wrecks and a boy who pinch hit for a
traffic cop. Summer issues will have articles on por-
cupines and owls by Wilfrid Bronson, a cowboy song
and its history, seasonal crafts and hobbies. A trial
subscription for six months — $1.

STORY PARADE 70 Fifth Ave. New York, N. Y.
Enclosed is $1 for a trial subscription to be sent to:

Name

Street

City

118

THIS YEAR ITS BOSTON

Why They Subscribe!

What School Activities brought to its
readers the past year for only $2.00!

school
Activities

School Activities

in their school

means . . .

For the PRINCIPAL

School and community in-
terest— attention that is
always given to things
going on.

School interpretation — dem-
onstration of what the
school is doing, exhibi-
tion and explanation of
the work that justifies the
modern school.

School spirit, harmony with-
in and among school
groups, school loyalty
and goodwill.

For the TEACHER

Material for assembly and
community programs.

Practical ideas and sugges-
tions for clubs and home
rooms.

Plans for parties, banquets,
and socials.

For the STUDENT

Always an educative some-
thing-to-do.

A wholesome good time —
a happy eventful school
life.

A rich experience in genu-
ine democratic living.

47 articles on Ad-
ministration and
Supervision of Ex-
tra-Curricula r Ac-
tivities

2 1 articles on School

Assemblies
14 articles on

Athletics
56 articles on Clubs

1 1 articles on
Commencement

7 articles on Debate
13 articles on
Dramatics
7 articles on Fi-
nancing Activities

6 articles on Home
Rooms

7 articles on Music
20 articles on

Parties

23 articles on Pro-
gram Material

8 articles on School
Publications

3 articles on School
Spirit

12 articles on Stu-
dent Government

10 articles on Mis-
cellaneous Ac-
tivities

Also scores of pithy
Editorials, News
Items, Book Reviews,
etc.

This is more usable
material than sev-
eral books at many
times the cost would
have brought to
them I

(Completely indexed
in Education Index)

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prominent editorial
and advisory board —

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College Hill
Topeka Kansas

"The Magazine with a Big Place in Every School"

of machinery that have been constructed. Students
give demonstrations of welding, electrical work,
and the different uses of the electric eye in
industry.

One of the finest developments resulting from
contacts with industrial and business men through
the salvage program has been the organization of
a school placement department made possible by
the interest of industrial leaders. One of the
plants which has aided the schools has hired over
a thousand school graduates since 1935.

Business and industrial leaders now feel they
have a part in the school program and are glad to
visit classes and make suggestions for the im-
provement of instruction. Many of these men are
experts in their fields, and school men have gained
much help and information through their coopera-
tion. Many of our industrial leaders now request
to be taken through school shops. They ask many
questions about school organization policies and
glean information which is of help to them. One
group of factory superintendents who visited the
classes at their own request was so impressed with
the safety organization plan we were using with
great success that they requested copies of the
safety engineer's check sheet to show to some of
their shop foremen.

This Year It's Boston

(Continued from page 101)

we may judge by the suggestions and comments
coming to the program committee. Recreation
leaders rightly think that the recreation movement
has something uniquely important to say about
that subject. The best speaker available will dis-
cuss recreation from the point of view of de-
mocracy. The discussions will bring out the prac-
tical means by which recreation contributes to
democratic processes and helps build good citizens
for a democracy.

Boston is rich in historical, architectural, art
and music interests.

And then there is the New York World's Fair
to be seen as a secondary attraction. It's only five
hours from Boston and can be seen best before or
after the Twenty-Fourth Recreation Congress is
over. Perhaps you will do that on the way home
— and it is worth doing.

News regarding special railroad rates will be
sent out later. Long range planning is essential to
good recreation. Plan now, decide soon, and do
not fail to come.

Boston— October 9th to 13th, 1939

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

Nature in Recreation

By Marguerite Ickis. Order from author. $1.00.

«THE PURPOSE OF Nature in Recreation is twofold,"
• says Miss Ickis in her introduction, "to inject fun
into a recreation program by introducing nature through
the different activities, and to indicate some workable
approaches and methods which will create an awareness
of living things in the world about us." With these
objectives in mind, she has used her booklet to introduce
nature to children in a friendly, intimate fashion by
suggesting activities under the following headings:
Nature in Camping, in Handcraft, Games, Dramatics,
Music, Dance and Aquatics. The suggestions range from
hiking to the making of a nature museum ; from nature
jackstraws to a nature theater. There is a fund of infor-
mation in this mimeographed booklet of 80 pages which
will be invaluable to the camp counselor, playground
worker, and many organizations providing activities for
children. Delightful illustrations add to the interest of
the book. Copies may be ordered from the author at 70
Morningside Avenue, New York City.

Camps and Camping

A Selected Bibliography. By Mabel A. Badcock. Russell
Sage Foundation Library Bulletin Number 153. Russell
Sage Foundation, 130 East 22nd Street, New York.
$.10.

A BRIEF BIBLIOGRAPHY on camps and camping listing
r* general references, periodical references, and classi-
fied references. A special section is devoted to National
Park Service and State Programs.

The Committee in Action

Edited by Ivah Deering. Obtainable from Mrs. Ivah
Deering, 1118 Cypress Street, W. H., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Single copies $.10; in quantities of 100, $7.00.
THE CONCLUSIONS presented in this pamphlet, which are
intended for the use of individuals engaged in com-
mittee work, are the result of more than sixteen hours
>f group discussion at a Conference on Committee Pro-
redures conducted under the auspices of the Woman's
City Club of Cincinnati. The findings are offered in the
hope that they will help to clarify the thinking of the
lew chairman toward his task and to assist him in
ittaining a point of view as well as a course of action
which will make his work effective in whatever type
af organization he may function. Practices which have
ailed and others which have succeeded have been studied,
md a few practical suggestions and some concrete
:echniques have been worked out as a contribution to the
ifficient working of democracy.

How to Build 20 Boats

Fawcett Publications, Inc., Fawcett Building, Green-
wich, Connecticut. $.50.

r^iREcnoNs FOR MAKING cruisers, sailboats, iceboats,

speedboats, dinghies, and such miscellaneous craft

is a collapsible pneumatic raft, an aquaplane, and a boat

trailer are given in this 'book. There are also a number
of articles with practical suggestions for the care and
repair of boats and equipment. Plans, diagrams, and
pictures are given.

Handbook of Nature-Study

Anna Botsford Comstock, B.S., L.H.D. Comstock Pub-
lishing Company, Inc., Ithaca, New York. $4.00.
-J-HE Handbook of Nature Study has long been a classic
I in literature on nature study, more than 115,000 copies
of twenty-three former editions having been distributed.
The twenty-fourth edition, which has recently appeared,
has been completely revised and contains a considerable
amount of new material and many new illustrations.
Approximately 300 separate subjects in nature are dis-
cussed, including many kinds of birds, fishes, reptiles,
amphibians, mammals, insects, flowers, weeds, flowerless
plants, cultivated crop plants, and trees. The treatment
of inanimate nature covers streams, water and water
formations, the soil and soil conservation, crystals,
minerals, magnetism, the stars, and the weather.

There are almost 950 pages in this encyclopedic work
and hundreds of illustrations.

Let's Play 'The Game"

The Book of Charades. By Clement Wood. Greenberg :
Publisher, New York. $1.35.

*«THE GAME" is the title bestowed on charades because
1 according to its enthusiastic supporters it is the king
of popular games, combining as it does guessing, acting,
speed, hilarity, teamwork, and instruction. The book
meets the wide demand for a simple, clear, and concise
explanation of "the Game," its rules, conventions, and
etiquette and illustrates every point with many examples.
It also gives hundreds of suggested words, phrases,
sentences, and proverbs to serve as the subject of the
charades.

Amusements and Sports in
American Life

By Robert B. Weaver. The University of Chicago Press,

Chicago, Illinois. $1.00.

THIS PUBLICATION has been prepared to furnish side-
* lights on the development of amusements and sports
in American life. It reviews the history of many of our
most common sports and amusements and is illustrated
from old drawings and cuts. For those who are in-
terested in the historical background of many of our
common games, the book will be of considerable interest.

Keep Fit and Like It

By Dudley B. Reed, M.D. Whittlesey House McGraw-
Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. $2.50.

"I IFELONG PARTICIPATION in physical recreations and
*— many years of teaching them," says Dr. Reed "have

convinced me that they may contribute much to the health

and satisfaction of adults. However, exercise is not a

119

120

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

cure-all and may do harm as well as good. It should,
therefore, be undertaken intelligently. Everyone should
attempt to choose the recreations that are likely to be
the most enjoyable and beneficial to him." This note of
enjoyment in activities permeates the book. It is present
in the first chapters devoted to the effects of different
types of exercise and the mechanisms by which each
type is carried on. It is inescapable in the later chapters
dealing with some of the physical recreations. And the
reason for this may be found in Dr. Reed's own words :
"I have indulged, or now indulge, in all the sports con-
sidered except bowling and badminton with a good deal
of zest and approach them as a participant with gaiety
and levity ; I am a firm believer in joy."

Hand Puppets and String Puppets.

By Waldo S. Lanchester. The Manual Arts Press,

Peoria, Illinois. $1.25.

Puppets of gloves and of wood; string puppets and
puppets with wire frame foundation are all described in
this book which contains a number of photographs and
diagrams. There are also suggestions for dressing the
puppets, for controls, and for making a theater and stage.
The book is especially designed for the use of schools
in many of which puppetry now has a permanent place.

The Boy Scouts Book of Indoor Hobby Trails.

Edited by Franklin K. Mathiews. D. Appleton-

Century Company, New York. $2.50.
Here is an attractive book for 'boys with an introduc-
tion by James E. West. There are articles on pets
by Dan .Beard and Lord Robert Baden-Powell, and a
chapter on Charlie McCarthy by Edgar Bergen; Fred
Waring tells how a hobby became a habit, and Orville
Wright discusses the subject always fascinating to boys,
"How I learned to Fly"; J. Edgar Hoover tells of
fingerprints, and a master magician lets the public in on
some secrets of his craft. Other hobbies, games, and
sports are described — hockey, boxing, amateur radio,
reading, and many others. The 'book is profusely illus-
trated and invites not only boys but grown-ups to read
its pages.

The Major Tactics of Checkers.

By Millard F. Hopper. Available from Mr. Hopper
at 422 First Street, Brooklyn, New York. $.50.
This pamphlet presents a complete course in the
strategies and science of checkers as given in a series
of radio lectures over Radio Station WNYC.

How to Make a Community Youth Survey.

By M. M. Chambers and Howard M. Bell, Ameri-
can Youth Commission, Series IV, January 1939.
American Council on Education Studies, 744 Jack-
son Place, Washington, D. C. $ .25.
A very helpful booklet for executives who are con-
templating surveys, particularly of youth problems. The
booklet is based on the methods and materials used by
the American Youth Commission in the Maryland Sur-
vey. It defines clearly preparatory steps, budget,
schedules, staff and actual methods of conducting the
survey itself. The second half of the booklet is given
to descriptions of appraisal methods and copies of the
actual forms used in the Maryland Youth Survey.

How to Organize a Science Club.

American Institute of the City of New York, 60

East 42nd Street, New York.

An interesting document for the organizer of science
clubs, including procedures, types of clubs, equipment,
typical programs for a single meeting, and a sample
program for the year, books for the science library, and
other information.

Group Methods in Vocational Guidance.

By Louis H. Sobel and Joseph Samler. The Furrow
Press, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York. $.75.
The economic adjustment of Jewish youth has pre-
sented various problems to those organizations working
among Jewish young people. This volume, entitled
"Group Methods in Vocational Guidance," has grown out
of such needs. It deals simply and practically with prob-
lems of occupational adj ustment among Jewish young
people, discusses various types of vocational guidance,
the function of club leaders in the guidance program, the
utilization of special interests in group guidance, and
group guidance as it applies to camps and child welfare
institutions. While the problems dealt with concern pri-
marily Jewish youth, as a method of treatment it is ap-
plicable to young people in general.

More Fun for the Family.

Compiled and edited by Jerome S. Meyer. Green-
berg: Publisher, New York. $1.95.
Another book of this series of books on family fun is
now available with hundreds of puzzles, charades, men-
tal antics, mystery picture clues, oral and written games
to test your knowledge on subjects of all kinds and make
you wonder whether you are really as stupid as you
seem! There are 319 pages of material and illustrations
—enough to supply you with party suggestions for years
to come.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WIN ANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBV, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCHER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan Cty, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Recreation and the American Way of Life

AiAIN THE RECREATION LEADERS of America gather. This time
in Boston. It will be the Twenty-Fourth National Recrea-
tion Congress. It will be composed of men and women who
have devoted their lives to building the recreation movement in
America. Pioneers in play. Organizers of recreation. Students of
the larger problem of leisure.

If this movement is new to you do not fail to consider its im-
portance. Recreation as it is here interpreted and understood is in
reality the art of living — life in the American way.

In an unusual sense, and to students of the democratic process a
very heartening experience, the Recreation Congress is the round
table of America across which the ideas, aspirations and practical
experiences of all groups working on this vital human problem are
exchanged. Sitting together, public officials, laymen, educators, in-
dustrial and labor leaders, scientists and religious teachers, profes-
sional recreation workers and program specialists will face again
fundamental questions about the real meaning of life — not theo-
retical questions but those rising up out of the desires of men and
women and the known needs of growing boys and girls.

Here is a movement, unchanneled in its flow — cutting across and
reaching into many aspects of our community and national life. Its
implications must be reckoned with by leaders in the church, home,
school, industry and, above all in America, by municipal govern-
ment— the effective instrument of all who live in local communities.

You do not have to belong to this or that. No label profes-
sional or otherwise is necessary. If you are thinking or working or
are interested in any phase of this broad effort to keep the avenues
of life open to all, come to Boston in October. Come and be a part
of the Recreation Congress.

— Thomas E. Rivers.

UNE 1939

121

une

Photo by H. Lou Gibson, Rochester, N, Y.

"When God created beauty He created eyes,
and did He not thereby lay upon man the
obligation to develop his powers of obser-

vation, and to enjoy that which had been
created for his delight?" — Mary C.
Butler, in "Happy Nature Adventures."

122

The Recreation Year Book

THE RECREATION YEAR BOOK is a report of the public recreation facilities,
leadership, expenditures and programs provided by public and private agencies
in town^ cities, counties, and other local governmental units. In some cases
single reports contain information pertaining to a number of communities for
which a larger local unit provides recreation services and facilities.

The YEAR BOOK is primarily a statement of community recreation activities
conducted under leadership and of facilities operated chiefly for active recreation
use. Agencies are entitled to have their work reported if they conduct play or
recreation programs under leaders paid from local funds, or if they operate such
facilities as golf courses, bathing beaches, or swimming pools which involve
continuous supervision.

The expenditure data reported in this publication should not be confused
with the figures reported under the heading "Recreation" in the "Financial Sta-
tistics of Cities" reports issued by the United States Bureau of Census. The
Census Bureau figures also include expenditures for municipal parks, street trees,
museums, community celebrations, band concerts and other special recreation facili-
ties and services. Because they cover a wider range of recreation services and
facilities, Census Bureau expenditures have amounted to as much as four times
the YEAR BOOK total for the same annual period.

There is always some variation from year to year in the individual com-
munities submitting YEAR BOOK reports. However, since most of this fluctuation
is accounted for by small communities reporting part-time programs and limited
facilities, YEAR BOOK totals for any particular year can reasonably be compared
with similar totals for other years.

The 1933, 1934, and 1935 YEAR BOOKS, in addition to the usual data, in-
cluded a special section containing information concerning recreation services
provided in communities where leadership or operating personnel was financed
entirely through emergency funds. In this YEAR BOOK, references to data for
previous years do not take these emergency sections into account,

123

A Summary of Community Recreation in 1938

Number of cities with play leadership or supervised facilities

Total number of separate play areas reported

New play areas opened in 1938 for the first time

Total number of play areas and special facilities reported :

Outdoor playgrounds 9,712

Recreation buildings 1,553

Indoor recreation centers 4,059

Play streets 297

Archery ranges 380

Athletic fields : 904

Baseball diamonds . 3,902

.,.!'. ' • •»

Bathing beaches 564

Bowling greens 201

Camps — day and other organized 278

Golf courses 354

Handball courts 1,806

Horseshoe courts • • •• '«•••• 9,289

Ice skating areas 2,643

Picnic areas 2,877

Shuffieboard courts 1,881

Ski jumps 114

Softball diamonds 8,833

Stadiums 241

Swimming pools 1,162

Tennis courts 11,310

Toboggan slides 281

Wading pools 1,516

Total number of employed recreation leaders 40,403 :

Total number of leaders employed full time the year round 3,345

Total number of volunteer leaders 9,701

Total expenditures for public recreation $60,629,200 4

(1) This figure includes outdoor playgrounds, recreation buildings, indoor recreation centers,
play streets, athletic fields, bathing beaches, golf courses and camps.

(2) Indoor centers open for the first time are not included.

(3) 16,428 were emergency leaders.

(4) $31,263,728 of this amount was emergency funds.

124

Community Recreation in 1938

THE YEAR BOOK for 1938 records the recrea-
tion service of 1,295 communities in which
some leadership paid from local funds was
provided.* This figure is slightly higher than the
number reported in 1937 and exceeds by 130
the number of such communities reported in any
previous YEAR BOOK.

One of the most significant developments in

1938 was an increase of 26% in the total local

and emergency expenditures for recreation. Total

expenditures from local funds increased approxi-

mately 14% from nearly 26 million to over 29

million dollars. Most of this gain is accounted for

by much larger operation and maintenance figures.

I Emergency funds expended in communities pro-

jviding regular service rose 41% from approxi-

imately 22 million to 31 million dollars. In con-

trast with the gain in local funds, the increase

• emergency expenditures is due largely to the

fact that the amount spent for land, buildings

|and permanent improvements was almost double

jthat reported in 1937.

The number of recreation leaders paid from
regular funds increased from 22,160 in 1937 to
|23>975 in 1938, a gain of 8%. This increase com-
ipares favorably with gains of 11% and &% re-
corded in 1937 and 1936 respectively. The 3,345
[full-time year-round leaders reported for 1938 is
:he largest number in any year book and repre-
sents an increase of 47% over the low figure of
j.he depression reported in 1932. At least fifteen
Hes employed full-time year-round executives
:or the first time in 1938.

•

In contrast to the significant increases in regu-
iar leaders was a drop of 10% in total emergency
jeaders supplementing regular personnel. This
leems to indicate a slowing up of a trend which
jvas more marked in the preceding year when the
lecrease was

Playgrounds, recreation buildings and indoor
enters all increased in number during 1938. In

Reports from the following were received too late to
t>e listed separately in the statistical tables, although

"formation which they contain has been included in
the summary figures : Kalamazoo, Mich. ; Johnson City,

f^'V3? NCW Y°rk> N' Y' (Community Councils

fact the totals for all three are greater than in any
previous YEAR BOOK. Of special interest is the
increase of 13% in the number of recreation
buildings, a large part of which can be attributed
to a number of new buildings for colored persons.
A growing public, appreciation of the programs
offered at playgrounds and indoor centers was evi-
denced by the attendance figures for these facili-
ties which were much greater than in the previous
year.

Progress in the development of areas for varied
recreational use is indicated by the reports of vari-
ous recreational facilities. Especially significant
are large gains in the number of archery ranges,
bowling greens, day camps, handball courts, shuf-
fleboard courts and stadiums. Participation at-
tendance figures, on the whole, were larger than
in 1937 and in most cases were greater than the
exceptionally high figures reported in 1936. Strik-
ing gains are recorded in attendance at bathing
beaches and softball diamonds and to a lesser
degree, at day camps, golf courses and handball
courts.

Thirteen per cent more municipal agencies than
in 1937 employed one or more full-time year-
round leaders. An increase in total municipal
agencies administering recreation during 1938 was
accompanied by a decrease in the total number of
private agencies.

The YEAR BOOK for 1938 records rather sig-
nificant gains in regular service provided from
local funds. Although cities still rely on emer-
gency sources to supplement their regular pro-
grams, local authorities are apparently assuming
a larger share of the costs of operating their rec-
reation programs. It is encouraging to note that
municipal recreation has recouped many of the
losses sustained during the early years of the de-
pression and in a number of respects has reached
new levels of accomplishment.

NOTE : Throughout the summary statements references
will be made to the number of cities reporting various
data. Since it is impossible to tell how many small com-
munities included in a report such as one submitted for a
county should be credited with providing a given service
or facility, these reports are counted as single cities
except in the section on finances.

\25

Paid Leadership

A total of 23,975 recreation leaders paid from
regular funds was employed by 823 cities during
1938. This figure exceeds the 1937 total of 22,160
by 1,815, an appreciable increase inasmuch as only
23 additional cities reported such workers. The
1938 figure is the largest reported since 1931 and
is exceeded only by totals reported in that year
and in 1930. Taking into consideration agencies
covering two or more localities, over 1,200 com-
munities benefited from regular leadership service
in 1938. Of the total regular leaders reported,
approximately 57% were men and 43% women.
This ratio is about the same as for 1936 and 1937.

The number of full-time year-round leaders
increased from 3,067 leaders in 1937 to 3,345 in

Recreation Leaders Paid from Regular Funds :

Total Leaders

Cities reporting 823

Men 13,588

Women 10,387

Total 23,975

1938, an increase of approximately 9%. At the
same time, -the number of cities reporting full-
time year-round leaders rose from 319 to 337.
Over 70% of the additional 278 leaders reported
were men, and of the total full-time year-round
leaders, 62% were men and 38% were women.

A total of 16,428 emergency leaders was made
available to local recreation authorities in 567
cities providing some recreation leadership paid
from regular funds. Despite the fact that 14
more cities reported emergency personnel, 1,825
less workers were reported for 1938 than for
1937. Approximately 63% of the emergency
leaders were men.

Full-Time Y ear-
Round Leaders

337
2,075
1,270
3,345

Supplementary Leaders Paid from Emergency Funds in Cities
Providing Regular Service :

Cities reporting 567

Men 10,301

Women 6,127

Total 16,428

Volunteers

This year for the first time separate figures were
gathered for volunteer leaders of activities and
for persons serving as volunteers in other capaci-

ties. A total of 9,701 volunteer leaders was re-
ported by 310 cities and 15,277 volunteers serving
in other capacities were reported by 301 cities.

Volunteer Leaders

Cities reporting 310

Men 5,480

Women 4,221

Total 9,701

Playgrounds and Indoor Centers

Outdoor Playgrounds

The total number of outdoor playgrounds under
leadership increased from 9,618 in 1937 to 9,712
in 1938, a gain of 94 playgrounds. At the same
time, the number of cities reporting playgrounds
increased by seven. Playgrounds open the year
round and playgrounds open only during the sum-
mer show gains of 3% and 2% respectively. Al-
though the total number of colored playgrounds
was smaller in 1938 than in 1937, a significant

126

increase is noted in the number of grounds open
the year round. This figure increased from 186
to 220, a gain of 18%.

Striking increases over 1937 figures are re-
ported both in total attendance at playgrounds
and in the average daily summer attendance. Both
of these attendance figures are the largest reported
in any Year Book.

Xumber of outdoor playgrounds for white and mixed groups (772 cities) 9,089

Open year round ( 257 cities) 2,261

Open during summer months only (657 cities) 5,i88

Open during the school year only (79 cities) 496

Open during other seasons ( 128 cities) 1,144

Average daily summer attendance of participants (5,880 playgrounds in 555 cities)... 2,296,083

Average daily summer attendance of spectators (3,923 playgrounds in 404 cities) 719,609

Xumber of outdoor playgrounds open in 1938 for the first time (263 cities) 698

In addition to the foregoing, outdoor playgrounds for colored people are reported as follows :

Number of playgrounds for colored people ( 196 cities) 623

Open year round (88 cities) 220

Open during summer months only ( 135 cities) 325

Open during school year only (9 cities) 19

Open during other seasons ( 16 cities) 59

Average daily summer attendance of participants (348 playgrounds in 124 cities) 109.524

Average daily summer attendance of spectators (302 playgrounds in 98 cities) 34.O94

Number of playgrounds for colored people open in 1938 for the first time (50 cities) . . 71

Total number of playgrounds for white and colored people (776 cities) 9,7 1 2

Total average daily summer attendance of participants and spectators, white and colored

(6,228 playgrounds) 3,1 59,3 10

Total attendance of participants and spectators at playgrounds for white and colored

people during periods under leadership (8,537 playgrounds in 638 cities) 325.424,585*

Total number of playgrounds for white and colored people open for the first time 769

* In addition to this figure a total attendance of 26,376,363, including figures for facilities other than playgrounds was
reported for 350 playgrounds in 12 cities.

Recreation Buildings

The 1,553 recreation buildings reported open tion buildings for colored persons show an in-

nnder leadership in 1938 represent an increase of crease of 23% over the 1937 figure as compared

[73 buildings over the number reported in 1937. to an 11% increase in recreation buildings for

This increase is significant in that a smaller num- white and mixed groups,
ber of cities reported buildings in 1938. Recrea-

Number of recreation buildings for white and mixed groups (349) cities 1.397

Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (967 buildings in 262 cities) 52,832,823

Number of recreation buildings for white and mixed groups open in 1938 for the first

time (95 cities) 164

In addition, recreation buildings for colored people are reported as follows :

Number of recreation buildings for colored people (107 cities) 156

Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (117 buildings in 79 cities) 4.095,095

Number of recreation buildings for colored people open in 1938 for the first time (32

cities) 36

Total number of recreation buildings for white and colored people (367 cities) 1,553

Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants at recreation buildings for white and

colored people (1,084 buildings in 272 cities)

Total number of recreation buildings for white and colored people open in 1938 for the

first time 200

* In addition to this figure a total attendance of 3,568,754 containing some attendance figures for facilities other than
buildings and also including some spectators was reported for 30 buildings in six cities.

127

Indoor Recreation Centers

Unlike recreation buildings which are facilities
used primarily or exclusively for recreation ac-
tivities, indoor centers include facilities such as
schools, churches, city halls and other buildings
not used exclusively for recreation but in which
a recreation program is carried on under leader-
ship for community groups. The total number of
indoor centers reported, namely 4,059, is an in-
crease of 205 centers over the 1937 figure and is
the largest number reported in any Year Book.

Practically all of this increase is accounted for by
a gain of 20% in the number of indoor centers
open less than three sessions weekly. Of the
centers for which the number of sessions per
week were designated, 58% were open three or
more sessions weekly. However, these centers ac-
counted for 77% of the total segregated attend-
ance. Accompanying the increased number of
centers was a gain of 16% in the total attendance
of participants over the 1937 figure.

Number of centers open 3 or more sessions weekly (368 cities) 2,320

Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (1687 centers in 270 cities) I8>95O>597

Number of centers open less than 3 sessions weekly (214 cities) 1,682

Total yearly or seasonal attendance of participants (1204 centers in 152 cities) 5,801,661

Total number of indoor recreation centers (428 cities) 4,059*

Total attendance of participants (3197 centers in 318 cities) 26,582,428**

* Includes 57 indoor centers for which the number of sessions per week was not indicated.

** Includes total attendance of participants at 306 indoor centers for which the number of sessions per week was not in-
dicated. In addition to this figure a total attendance of 3,036,948 containing some playground attendance figures and
also including spectators was reported for 145 indoor centers in two cities.

Play Streets

Twenty-three cities report 297 streets closed
for play under leadership. This figure represents
a sharp decrease of 28% from the number re-

ported in 1937. Twelve cities report an average
daily attendance of 10,492 participants at 65
centers.

Recreation Facilities

. The following table indicates the extent to
which several types of recreation facilities were
provided and used during 1938. More than half
of the types represented show increases over 1937
figures both in the number of facilities and in the
number of cities reporting them. The number of
facilities reported for the following types repre-
sent the largest figures appearing in any Year
Book:

Archery ranges
Bowling greens
Day camps
Other camps
Handball courts
Horseshoe courts
Ice skating areas

Picnic areas •
Shuffleboard courts
Softball diamonds
Stadiums
Tennis courts
Toboggan slides
Wading pools

Exceptional increases are noted in the case of
archery ranges, bowling greens, day camps, hand-
ball courts, shufHeboard courts and stadiums.

Accompanying the general gain in facilities was
a substantial rise in total participation attendance
at most facilities. Attendance figures for more

128

than three-fourths of the facilities listed in the
table below were larger in 1938 than in 1937.
This is only partially accounted for by the greater
number of attendance reports received for 1938.
However, a gain of nearly one hundred million in
bathing beach attendance is due largely to the at-
tendance at four New York City beaches not re-
ported in 1937. A surprising gain of 7^/2 million in
participation at softball diamonds is partially ac-
counted for by increases in facilities and attend-
ance in some of the larger cities. Total participa-
tion at softball diamonds continued to surpass
participation at baseball diamonds both in num-
bers and rate of increase. The 1938 figure for
softball exceeded that of baseball by about 8^
million as compared to only 3 million in 1937.

In the table below, the figures in parentheses
indicate the number of cities reporting in each
particular case and the figures in brackets indi-
cate the number of facilities for which informa-
tion relative to participation is given.

Facilities Number

Archery Ranges 380 (221)

Athletic Fields 904 (416)

Baseball Diamonds 3,902 (686)

Bathing Beaches 564 (240)

Bowling Greens 201 (78)

Camps — Day . 173 (86)

Camps — Others 105 (63)

Golf Courses (g-Hole) 136 (112)

Golf Courses (i8-Hole) 218 (139)

Handball Courts 1,806 ( 193)

Horseshoe Courts 9,289 (643)

Ice Skating Areas 2,643 (396)

Picnic Areas 2,877 (45°)

Shuffleboard Courts 1,881 (235)

Ski Jumps 114 (61 )

Softball Diamonds 8,833 (728)

Stadiums 241 ( 170)

Swimming Pools (indoor) 324 (119)

Swimming Pools (outdoor) 838 (372)

Tennis Courts 1 1,310 (700)

Toboggan Slides 281 (98)

Wading Pools 1,516 (429)

Participation
Per Season

193,353 (H7

3,998,728 (177)
[336]

11,539,458 (328)
[1,858]

173,446,706 (127)
[296]

139,652 (38)

198,556 (46)
[82]

260,327 (42)
[70]

2,264,213 (71)
[92]

4,724,572 (92)

[917]
4,558,860 (334)

[4,459]

13,202,313 (205)
[1,436]

12,869,523 (199)

[1,438]

2,219,044 (l2O)
[1,107]
38,244 (27)
[42]

20,208,089 (402)
[4,601]

1,941,920 (54)
[73]

3,57i,33i (80

26,249,891 (240)
[595]

10,798,311 (397)
[6,684]

696,701 (47)
[114]

Number open in
1938 for first time

91 (62)

46 (33)
206 (98)

33 (26)

5 (5)

62 (25)

25 (13)

6 (6)

5 (5)
226 (21)

875 (HO
176 (81)
266 (57)

426 (73)

9 (8)

642 (190)

19 (16)

7 (6)

46 (39)

527 (i39)

44 (21)

103 (5o)

129

Management

The following tables record the number of pub-
lic and private agencies of various types reporting
facilities and programs recorded in this YEAR
BOOK. In studying these tables it should be re-
membered that some agencies serve a number of
communities and that there are several cities with
more than one recreation agency.

Total Agencies

A definite shift is noted in the relative number
of agencies represented in each of the major types
of managing authorities, when compared with
1937 figures. Although the total number of mu-
nicipal agencies was slightly larger in 1938, au-
thorities administering recreation as a single func-
tion are the only major type which increased in
the number of agencies reported. This type shows
an increase of 23% as compared to slight de-
creases for park and school authorities and a sur-
prising decrease of 19% for "other municipal
agencies." This latter figure is almost wholly ac-
counted for by a drop in the number of municipal

legislative bodies directly administering recreation.

Agencies Reporting Full-Time
Year-Round Leaders

The increase in municipal agencies employing
one or more full-time year-round recreation lead-
ers observed in 1937 continued in 1938. The
number of such agencies rose from 289 in 1937
to 326 in 1938, a gain of 13%, which was shared
by all four major types of municipal authorities.
Some of these additional agencies were authori-
ties which failed to report in 1937, but the ma-
jority of them employed full-time year-round per-
sonnel for the first time in 1938. Exactly one-
half of the total agencies employing full-time
year-round leaders were separate recreation
authorities.

Municipal Authorities

The forms of municipal administration in the
cities reporting recreation service in 1938 are
summarized as follows:

Total
Managing Authority Agencies

Authorities Administering Recreation as a Single Function 315

Recreation Commissions, Boards, Departments, Committees, and Councils.. 315

Authorities Administering Recreation in Conjunction with Park Service 278

Park Commissions, Boards, Departments, and Committees 225

Park and Recreation Commissions, Boards, Departments and Committees. . 35

Departments of Parks and Public Property or Buildings 12

Other departments in which park and recreation services are administered

by the same bureau or division 6

Authorities Administering Recreation in Conjunction with School Services. ... 172

School Boards, Departments, and other School Authorities 172

Agencies
zvith Full-
time Year-
Round
Leadership

163

163

95

Other Municipal Authorities Administering Recreation Services ..............

City and Borough Councils, County Boards, and other legislative bodies ..... 82

Departments of Public Works ........................................ 25

Departments of Public Welfare ................ . ...................... 12

Golf Commissions, Boards, and Departments ........................... 8

Swimming Pool, Beach, and Bath Commissions and Departments ........ 6

Departments of Public Service or Public Affairs ...................... 5

Forest Preserve or Forestry Boards ................................... 3

Other municipal commissions, boards, and departments ................. 29

170

29

2

8

10

3

I

4

1 1

29

39

Grand Total

935

326

130

Private Authorities

Private organizations maintaining playgrounds, recreation centers or providing community recrea-
tion activities in 1938 are reported as follows:

Agencies
ivith Full-
time Year-
Total Round
Managing Authority Agencies Leadership

Playground and Recreation Associations, Committees, Councils and Leagues;

Community Service Boards, Committees, and Associations 63 24

Community House Organizations, Community and Social Center Boards, and

Memorial Building Associations 26 17

Kiwanis, Lions, Rotary, and Other Service Clubs 12 I

Y. M. C. A's ii

Welfare Federations and Associations, Social Service Leagues. Settlements, and

Child Welfare Organizations 8 4

Civic, Neighborhood and Community Leagues, Clubs, and Improvement

Associations 8 3

American Legion 7 i

Chambers of Commerce , 6 2

Industrial Plants 5 4

Park and Playground Trustees 5 2

Women's Clubs and other women's organizations 4

Boys' Work Organizations 2 I

American Red Cross 2

Miscellaneous 13 I

Total 1 72 60

Boards, Committees and Councils

This year information was gathered as to the following table, boards and other citizen groups

extent to which boards, committees and councils are classified under three headings: (i) policy-

idminister or share in the responsibility for the making boards, (2) advisory boards, and (3)

recreation programs under "separate recreation" committees and councils. The number of "recre-

md "park" managing authorities. School authori- ation" and "park" agencies operating without such

:ies are not included because they are almost uni- groups but directly under an executive are also

yersally administered by school boards. In the indicated.

Recreation Authorities Park Authorities

Number Percent Number Percent

Policy-making Boards 169 54% 170 61%

Advisory Boards 65 20% 3° ™%

Committees and Councils 43 12% 6 2%

Single Executives 38 14% 72 2&%

Total 315 100% 278 ioo%

131

Finances

Despite the fact that the country was experi-
encing a recession, the total amount expended dur-
ing 1938 from regular sources, public and private,
exceeded the amount expended in 1937 by more
than $3,500,00x3, an increase of 14%. This total,
namely $29,3665,472, was spent for recreation
service in 1,258 communities, and is the largest
figure reported since 1931. The large total for
1938 is especially significant in that it does not
contain expenditures of over one million dollars
which were reported by the Chicago Park District
in 1937 but not in 1938.

A breakdown of the regular expenditures re-
veals that the amounts spent for land, buildings
and permanent improvements; upkeep, supplies
and incidentals; leadership; and services other
than leadership are all larger for 1938 and are in
approximately the same proportions as comparable
figures for 1937.

The following table presents the amounts spent
from regular funds during 1938 classified as to
type of expenditure. The figures in parentheses
indicate the number of communities in which the
funds were expended.

Expenditures (Regular Funds)

Land, Buildings, and Permanent Improvements $ 3,729,632 (426)

Upkeep, Supplies and Incidentals 4,935,819 (924)

Salaries and Wages for Leadership 7,884,882 (963)

For Other Services 6,159,030 (622)

Total Salaries and Wages 14,226,084 (951 )

Total Expenditures for Recreation in 1938 29,365,472 (1258)

Approximately 60% of the communities report-
ing regular expenditures also received supple-
mentary financial aid from emergency funds in
1938. The total emergency expenditures in these
755 cities amounted to $31,263,728, an increase
of more than nine million dollars over 1937 ex-
penditures. Not all of the above expenditures
were classified as to type, but an examination of
the amounts which were classified indicates that
most of the increase resulted from expenditures

Expenditures (Emergency Funds)

for land, buildings and permanent improvements.
The figure reported for leadership salaries and
wages is slightly higher than the 1937 amount.
Unlike 1937, emergency expenditures exceeded
regular expenditures in 1938.

The following emergency expenditures in 1938
were reported in cities carrying on some regular
service. Figures in parentheses indicate the num-
ber of communities.

Land, Buildings, Permanent Improvements $14,830,088 (221)

Salaries and Wages for Leadership 8,987,610 (61 1)

Total Expenditures 31,263,728 (755)

Sources of Support

The sources from which regular funds were secured for financing community recreation programs
and facilities are summarized in the following table. Receipts from fees and charges supplemented the
sources in 516 cities. Some cities with two or more agencies are counted under more than one heading:

Source of Support

Municipal Funds Only

Private Funds Only

County Funds Only

Municipal and Private Funds

Municipal and County Funds

Miscellaneous Public and Private Funds,

Number of Cities
786
130
171
127

43

83

132

The following table indicates three main sources of recreation funds. Money secured from appro-
priations and other public sources, as has been the case for several years, represents more than 80% of
the total. Despite an increase of over 3^ million in the total funds, the amount received from private
sources was somewhat less than in 1937. With the exception of private sources, the number of com-
munities involved was higher for 1938.

Source of Support Amount

Appropriations and Other Public Funds .... $23,897,237

Fees and Charges 4,484,862

Private Funds 927>797

% of Total
82%

3%

No. of Cities
1 120
516
363

The $4,484,862 reported above as funds derived from fees and charges in connection with recrea-
tion facilities and services represents only funds expended directly by the recreation agencies collecting
them. In addition to this amount, 114 agencies collected $2,289,621 in fees and charges which they turned
over to local city and county treasuries. Thus, the total amount of fees and charges collected during
1938 was $6,774,483.

Accounting Records

Out of 773 agencies reporting, 467 or 61% keep all or part of their essential accounting records in
the recreation office. Thirty-one per cent of these 467 agencies are separate recreation authorities, 30%
park, 27% school, and 12% "other municipal authorities." Three hundred and six of the agencies indi-
cated that all recreation accounting records are kept by municipal accounting offices.

Bond Issues

Twenty-eight cities reported bond issues for recreation passed in 1938 totaling $3,155,323. Cities
reporting bond issues in 1938 with the amount passed are listed below.

Amount of Bond
City and State Issues Passed

Prescott, Arizona $ 40,000

Seymour, Connecticut 300

Waukegan, Illinois 125,000

East Chicago, Indiana 108,000

Kansas City, Kansas 20,000

Wichita, Kansas 18,000

Cambridge, Massachusetts 100,000

Lowell, Massachusetts 2,500

New Ulm, Minnesota 35,000

Manchester, New Hampshire 25,000

Linden, New Jersey 3,ooo

Wilmington, North Carolina 12,000

Cincinnati, Ohio 335,000

Martins Ferry, Ohio 7,ooo

Struthers, Ohio 30,000

Amount of Bond

City and State Issues Passed

Mohnton, Pennsylvania ............. $ 3°°

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania ........... 1,847,600

Scranton, Pennsylvania ............. 6,200

Wilkes-Barre and Wyoming

Valley, Pennsylvania ............. 76,231

Newport, Rhode Island .............

Providence, Rhode Island ...........

Dell Rapids, South Dakota ..........

Pierre, South Dakota ...............

Woonsocket, South Dakota ..........

Tyler, Texas ...................... 47 ,°o°

Beloit, Wisconsin .................. 40,000

Racine, Wisconsin ................. 75-000

Honolulu, Hawaii .................. 154,150

7,000

5,542
20,000

5°°

Special Recreation Activities

The figures presented in the following table
show the extent to which various activities are
included in the recreation programs of agencies
reporting in this YEAR BOOK, and the number of
j different individuals participating in each activity.
Because many cities failed to submit participation

figures, these totals are not complete. However,
the number of cities reporting activities may be
considered fairly inclusive.

Three fourths of the activities listed show in-
creases in the number of cities in which they were

133

conducted during 1938 when compared with the
previous year. Activities showing increases of
18% or more in the number of cities reporting
them are : roque, shuffleboard, forums and discus-
sion groups, puppets and marionettes, and bad-
minton. Bicycle clubs, motion pictures and hockey
were reported by 15% more cities during 1938.

It is difficult to compare participation figures in
the following table with similar figures in previous
YEAR BOOKS because of the variation in cities re-
porting and other variables entering in the gath-

Activities
Arts and Crafts

ering of statistics of this sort. However, in the
case of the following activities, the increases over
1937 participation were so pronounced that they
warrant recognition: (i) forums and discussion
groups, (2) roque, (3) drama tournaments, (4)
track and field, (5) boating, and (6) community
singing. According to the figures submitted, swim-
ming, picnicking, softball and skating are the
most popular activities.

Figures in parentheses in the following table
indicate the number of cities reporting.

Cities
Reporting

Art Activities for Children 431

Art Activities for Adults 237

Handcraft for Children 605

Handcraft for Adults 350

Athletic Activities

Archery 249

Badge Tests (NRA) 139

Badminton 370

Baseball 699

Basketball 578

Bowling — indoor 107

Bowling-on-the -green 86

Handball 238

Horseshoes 701

Paddle Tennis 434

Roque 71

Shuffleboard 317

Soccer 300

Softball 770

Tennis 703

Track and Field 485

Volley Ball 628

Dancing

Folk Dancing 396

Social Dancing 342

Tap Dancing 318

Drama

Drama Tournaments no

Festivals 186

Pageants 224

Plays 368

Puppets and Marionettes 274

Storytelling 509

134

Number of Different
Individuals Participating

93,443 (i?8)

22,579 (95)

271,923 (278)

99,856 (146)

19,697

47,393

47,424

277,832

266,512

12,140

12,271

67,43i

233,907

105,129

13,432
62,614

342,903
163,433
169,561

("4)
(66)

(191)

(325)

(305)

(50)

(27)

(90)

(309)

(188)

(24)
(126)

(121)

(360)

(297)
(192)

(289)

26,876 (175)

223,383 (161)
53,893 (142)

i7,84i (56)

83,533 (79)

74,095 (88)

38,020 (169)

22,478 (in)

128,828 (206)

Music

Choral Groups 247

Community Singing 298

Instrumental Groups 292

Outing Activities

Camping 196

Gardening 100

Hiking 451

Nature Activities 306

Picnicking 526

Water Sports

Boating 94

Swimming 646

Swimming Badge Tests (NRA) 169

Winter Sports

Hockey 180

Skating 391

Skiing 1 36

Tobogganing 124

Miscellaneous Activities

Bicycle Clubs 162

Circuses 141

Community- Wide Celebrations 355

Forums, Discussion Groups, etc 164

Hobby Clubs or Groups 309

Motion Pictures 229

Playground Newspaper 1 16

Safety Activities 295

28,354 (131)

385,883 (121)

23,106 (151)

24,671
12,173

(84)
(46)

66,933 (189)

40,722 (no)

619,407 (185)

24,423 (30

982,296 (227)

39,166 (68)

33,931 (67)
457,076 (131)

3-578 (35)
37,536 (29)

7,575
34J73

(69)
(60)

135

Courtesy IVPA, Iowa

The planning of recreation for adults is receiving increasing attention, and
more indoor centers are being opened for their use. Statistics for 1938 show
an increase of 205 indoor centers over 1937, with a total attendance in 318
communities of 26,582,428. There was a marked emphasis in 1938 on the
activities which young men and young women can enjoy together.

Courtesy Department of Recreation, Sioux City, loiua

136

Tables

of

Playground and Community

Recreation Statistics

for

1938

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNIT
Footnotes -folk

Paid

Recreation

Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

-i-
1

Workers)

1

STATE AND

Popula-

Managing

"3

CITY

tion*

Authority

e

Salaries and Wages

'g

a

"2

V

Land,

Upkeep,

•

g

g

>>T3

2

Buildings,

Rent,

£

Jj

0

>-5

Permanent

Supplies

Main-

Total

"8

•s

RX

.£

1

Improve-
ments

and
Incidentals

For
Leadership

tenance
and Other

Total

o
8

6
X

0

X

O V

f

ifl

0

Services

1

1

1

t

(

8

9
10
11

12

13
14

15
16
17

18
19
20
21

22
23
24
25

26
27
28
29
30
31

32

33

34
35
36
37

38

39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53

54

55

56
57
58
59

00
Cl

Alabama

259,678

3,711
48,118

5,517

1,706
32,506

17,816

7,394
31,429
81,679
20,760

35,033

8,569
29,472

10,995
26,015
82,109

17,429
2,435
13,270
7,961

3,118
2,116
12,516
45,000

7,018
4,314
52,513
62,736
5,530
6,788

142,032

1,257,680

2,208,492
13,842
5,498
9,141

284,063

13,583
8,066
5,558
13,652
76,086
9,333
20,804
3,517
20,093
29,696
6,425
93,750
11,603
667
147,995

634,394

13,444

30,322
33,613
65,167
7,057

37,146
47,963

Park and Recreation Board

•

A

1

6
2

a

i

2,000

578
1,110
3,997

42,700

3,685
1,500
4,000

11,515

2,675
11,000
3,600

33,091

1,423
12,948

297

44,606

4,098
23,948
3,897

89,30f

8,361

26,555

'11,894
2.15C

10.50C
1,255

1.37J

2,ose

1,875

12.59C

42.39C
5,83/
8,0(X
18,595
1,200
14,768

85,286
5.00C
835
51C

J23,11C
625
1,408
1,256

6,075
»63C

7

63,335
56,274
12,887
20,073
129,054

51,859

873,246
»152,407
98,978
328,248
18,667
7,808
4,684
300,330
193,500
Jl,500
326
20,127
37,341
28,885
8,055
17,000
3,395
9,309
6,500
1,750
174,831
9,544
8,274
71,889
186,888
676,091
1,185

38,860
644
14,000
»1,976
2,270
9,680
9,323

Arizona
Mesa

Parks and Playgrounds Board

22

5

Phoenix

Parks, Playgrounds and Recreation
Board1

10

4

;

Prescott

Park Board, Kiwanis Club and Chamber
of Commerce

15

i

Safford

American Legion Post No. 32

Tucson

Department of Playgrounds and Recrea-
tion and W. P. A

13

(

- 1

i

i

«i

20
101

46
40

400

3,650
1,251

75

4,050

]

150

2,400

6,450

Yuma County* —

Arkansas
Fayetteville

150

Harmon Playfield Association

1

1,150

Fort Smith .

Park Department

6
60
20

1

3

5

18

Little Rock

Recreation Commission and W. P. A.. .
Park Commission

1
3

1

i

•

....
i

i

8

1

1

1,197
5,990

3,592
2,503

675
4,600

29,229
2,945

Pine Bluff

2,000

9,569
389

3,100

7.869
2,520

1,500

21,360
425

California

Department of Playground and Recrea-
tion

Albany

Park and Recreation Commission
/Playground and Recreation Commission
\Park Department

Anaheim

1

3

3,747

6,082
300

8,763
900

Recreation Commission x.

2

i

900

Bakersfield

Recreation Commission

15

7,545

4,157
3,500

Berkeley

City Recreation Department and Health
Education Department, Board of Ed-

31
1

1

14
1

5
1

27,623

36,317

17,189

53,506

Beverly Hills
Brea

Playground Department

City of Brea

332

500

500

Union High School District

1

Chico

Board of Recreation and Bid well Park
and Playground Commission

3

.

1

1,800
100
200

9,000

2,360
400
248
580

3,839
330

9,950
125
480

12,310
525
728
580

4,089

Chino

Recreation Association

•

1

?

18

35

480
676

1,986

Compton

Playground Department, City Schools . .

t

Compton Union
School District6.

Playground and Recreation Department,
School District

28
1

f

12
If

|
1

1
1

16
5

1

i

A
i

"26
1

1

8

250

City Council '

22

Crockett

Crockett Club

Fresno

Recreation Department

17,885
31,700

10,680
5,805
4,387

20,080
11,824

14,690
6,945

34,770
18,769
8,500

Glendale

Parks and Recreation Commission
Recreation Committee

18
18
8

6
63

9

Lodi

Recreation Department

6
45

1

2
23

3,364

5,100
66,377

Long Beach

17,506

83,883

Golf Committee and Public Service
Department

|

Department of Playground and Recre-
ation

14?

67

93

120,298

210,461
11,000
25,148

259,348
141,407

283,139

542,487
141,407
60,783

Los Angeles Co.' . .
Modesto

] Board of Education

112
1

115

Board of Park Commissioners

»1

13,047

Department of Parks and Recreation. . .

20
1
1

3
3

23
1

4.850

3,825

2,946

7,046

9,992

Monte bello

Natatorium Department

1

6

1047
31
3

1

10
257

'"9

fl

Monterey

Recreation Board

5
114
23
2
1
11
16
23
1
2
3
7
1

104
6
1
1
1
6
39
5
3
1
5
1
1

1
31
29

2,054
93,762

1,430
110,153
43,500
700
258
1,412
20,000
23,777
5,901
2,700
1.178
8,216

1,200
96,415

2,630
206,568
43,500
1,200
258

Oakland

Ontario

\East Bay Regional Park District10
Recreation Board1

150,000

300
68

500

Orange

Pacific Grove
Palo Alto

Recreation Commission
Community Center Commission

2
8
5
4
3

9
25

36
300

1,450
718

12,964
3,048
1,059
900
568
1,093

3,659
2,060
495
1,900
364

23,659
25,837
6,396
4,600
1,542
8,216

Pasadena11

Recreation Board

Piedmont

600
11,500
1,285

Pomona
Red Bluff

Recreation Department
City Council

Richmond

Recreation Department, School Board. .

Riverside

1

1

Rogeville

6

1,666
19,192
766

455
68,561
2,317
2,136
5,425
39,620
138,516
343

295
39,269
1,698

295
87,078
6,461
6,138
62,458
147,268
370,244
842

Sacramento

Recreation Department

29
?

20

20
1

47,809
4,763

Jan Buenaventura.
3an Clemen te
San Diego

Park Department

City of San Clemente

Playground and Recreation Department
/Board of Park Commissioners

28
4

11

14

4

64

159

4,006

37,847
14,100
182,823
530

24,611
133,168
187,421
312

San Francisco
San Mateo

J Recreation Commission

217
?

90

70

4

7

167,331

[Union High School District

I Park Department, Recreation Depart-
ment and W. P. A.

1

Santa Ana

Board of Education1

1
20
T

2
3

35
2.660

540
11,340
1,976
2,120
3,180
8,437

69

609
11,340

Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara Co.1'
Santa Maria

Santa Monica
Stockton

Recreation Commission

3

33

1

6
25

4

1

150
6,500
886

2,120
3,180
8,437

Playground and Recreation Department
School Board . . .

2
22

1

16

1

Public Works Department

14

9

3

11,640

12.565

9,425

13,050

22,475

46,680

138

RECREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

he table.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Baseball Diamonds, Number

1

1
Z

1

1

«

j

I

|
Z

J

S

E

6

1

a

1

"i

1

g

£

6

J

£

Z

1
a

\
o

"c

C

Golf Courses. 18-Hole. Number

1
|

Z

T:

c

1

HI

c

'I
1

02

I
Z

•|

C

X

1

in
c

cc

1
1

J

£

1
§

Z

1
g

I

Emergency Service

No. of City

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

V a. •""'A
Xnr> 10 -OM

1

1

1
£
a

2
, C

i

'|
1

J

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

J
j

Z

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

1
S
a
Z

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Athletic Fields, Numbel

Number of Men

o
(£
"o

I

Z

Land,
Buildings
Permanen
Improve-
ments

; Leader-
ship

Total

Source of
Information

33

6

•2

49

7
3

2

82

14
10
9

924,938

130,061
96,795
40,000

10

•8
8
2

325,851

7,085
14,406
8,000

1

1
1

IS

1
0

4

110
14

19

f

70

20
?8

66

9?

50,000

11,334
3,322

96,000
15,813

146,000

29,25
9,322
16,320

1

2
8

4
5

6
7

8
9
10
11

12
13
14
a
15
16

17

q

2
1
4

1

J

5,972

Alice Spotts

.

n

•

,

II

13

C. A. Firth

5
'2

3
4

1

1
1

£
6

11

13

1

640,000
132,274

2
1

8,840

,8
T

2,000

,

4

14

5

11,160
1,500

11,210
4,945

2,281
4,342
19,915
3 360

Harold A Patten

2,281

Mrs. C. M. Reinoehl...
H. S Peck

4
9

5
8

9

4
10
3

5

8
10

57,000
131,118
28,430

644,291
491,276
1,218,316

3
4
3

ft
3
2

61,990
14,400
44,900

1

j

11

i

|

4,342

1
3

5

1

.:

1

14

9

10

1

1

i

C. C. Beers

4

4

]

6

1

|<

31

1?

37,456
36,792

37,456
39,672
33,000
425
5,000

Otto Rittler

44,830

2
1

6,070

1

1

8

1

24
23
1
16

18
10

T. L. Farnsworth

1

]

15

1

1
1

425

24
"4

5
3

"2

2

1

ft

3

27
2
4

165,000
34,555

1,459,858
52,000
10,866

1

4

3,970

11

6

Richard M. Glover
John L. Compton

2

8

24,865

4

26,218

4

5

J

2

24

17

1
1

33

24

74,404

99,630

Charles W. Davis

1

3. D. McCary

4

2,130

1

3

1
1

f

1

8

3

767

767

S. S. Smith

19
20

21
22
23
24

25
6
27

8
9
0

1

n

3
a
b
4
5
6
7
8
a
9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
>0
1
2
3
4
I
5

t

6
7
8
9
>0
•»
b
1

C. E. Righter

2

'l

10

5

"l
14
4
9

'50

2
2

4

i

8
2
2

10

7

s

425,000
13,200
7,200
5146,836

=278,198

I

22,000

12

210,000

3
1

3
1

1

I

'4

4

1

7
3

4
2
1

23,000

14,000
2,637
1,200
4,479

19,080

237,000
2,637
3,600
4,479

19,080

Ralph E. Hensley

-<evi Dickey

1

10

1

4,200

1

3,350

1

?erdinand Ambrose
K. W. Mason

?

30

35
5

10

15

1

1
1

i

2

30,335

e

167,550

7

1
1

1

1

14

i

i

6

1
1
1

K. W. Mason

1

laymond L. Mahoney. .
Frank H. Young

1

17
0

<)

62,351
997,840
249,861

1
i
4

i

7

1

10

2,000
56,685
• 1,500

1

8

1

10

1
1
1

1

1

2
30

8
8

3

2

22,960
20,000

1

1
1

1

14
17
16

13
8
11

48,530

21,248
17,000
24,300

71,232
17,000
32,066

laymond L. Quigley
William A. Burr

2

3
2

9

'i

14

1

1

1
1

2
7

2

57

54,000
7,131,408

1
10

W. G. Hurrle

651,828

81

767,846

4

34

45

25

Walter L. Scott

1

1

George W. Hjelte. . . .

48
103

'99

48
202

9,727,227
4,995,829

69

1,716,569

1

54

28
33

3

4

1
6

19
1

102

78

17

85
90

55
91

86,968

109,162

250,655

38

109,640

C. L. Glenn

. J. Hassett

156

1

"4

5

161
5

18,889,000
535,000

40

44

10

23
2

11
2

2

'i

1

3

14

4

3
5
1

203

7

98
3

635,745

270,481

906,226
2,078

ames K. Reid

City Engineer

1

'ancil E. Row

4
64

4
73

33,324
2,860,482

1

12
3
2

1
1

2

24
54

"3
5

8
8
51

1
12

14
26

"3
4
4
6

48
1
8

ames N. Parsons

9

10
14
J

311,177
418,000
4,200

11

0

3
1

i?

A

'i

1
1

1
2
1

66

20

8

1

'i

70,510

88,373
1,000,000
4,100

R. W. Robertson

1,000,000

ElbertM.Vail
FredH. Clapp

4

"2
4
12
3

7

6
4
2
2
1

2

12
4
4
C

25
3
7
1

12
10
4

141,180
56,279
75,600
168,000
943,318
77,303
324,000
4,745
320,820
212,208

5

9,800

4. Haven Smith

2

4

9,000
60,000

1
2

4
1

2,000
2.000
24,596
3,000

1
1
10
1

'2
12
2

1

1

1

2
2

5

14
58

7

1

9,060

9,060
15,860
84,434
2,938
25,800

3. W. Easterbrook

Marvin R. Kahn

12

84,434
2,158

3ecil F. Martin

•>

rfrs. Telura Swim

5

40,362

i

1
1

4

1

Earl E. Workman

1

Mrs. Enville Spaulding. .
.W. Hill

12
9
4
14

8

8
2
14

15,525
45,803
1,800

3
1

3

1
•>

9
19

18
15
3
50

2
"4
4
15

18,336

21,156
15,000
3,594
60,360

1

3. E. Wilson

1

4

19

1
5

2,010
54,600

rene E. Meyers

14

610,457

13

. >

2

12

1

"i
1

2

i
1

1

2

. B. Maloney
D. C. McMillan

1

1
1
1
2
2

2
37
71

77

filliam Holmes

33

2

35

1,478,284

8

R

7
19
14

9

2

'i

'3

4

1

54

23

16,240

56,988

73,228

7. A. Kearns

5
2

. P. Lamb

70

37

107

"5,261,089

28

26

123,676

166

72

186,500

211,822

398,322

osephine D. Randall . . .
[omer Martin

21
"5

21

8
16

171,516
26,512
223,703

1

22,460

13

90,958

0

1

4

15

9
1

24,784

26,800
5,270
23,742

Vrthur Ryan

8
3

's

1

i\ A. Henderson

4

120,828

2

5,815

4

2
4

23
1

2

25

f,

7

23,742

1 C. Christiansen
Frank E. Dunne

i

2
9
10

2

4
q

20,421

2

4,550

1

2

1

h
8

ir>

2
56
15

2
31
16

66,587
14,869

66,587
14,869

iYank P. Holborow
ATS. Bess Shirley King. .
3eorge Basil

10

S371,298

1

3

2

5

1

1

6

2

9

631,840

1

51,740

6

1

1

1

1

15

7

20

18

56,900

. E. Swenson

139

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNITY

>,

5
•8

1

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

Source of Financial Support t

a

i

"8

i

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

1

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

1

2

3
4

5
1

7

8

9

10
11

12

13
14
15
16

17
18
19
20
21
22

23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35

36

37
38
39
40
4
4
43

4

4
4

4

4

4

6

5
5

5
5
1

5
5
5
1

W
6

0

Calif.— Cont.
laft

3,442

7,271
14,476
14,822

11,223
5,938
595

33,237

287,861

7,980
11,489

4,423

1,825
10,247
1,226
36,008
6,029
3,566
1,236
50,096
7,195
1,785

146,716
28,451
6,951
17,218
5,783
33,112
19,020
164,072
21,973
24,554
12,660
68,128
2,372

162,655

29,640
36,019
32,438
2,767
6,890
10,113
56,765

19,212

26,040
14,278
99,906

Co-ordinating Council (Union High
School, Junior College and City
Schools)

7
1

5

1
1

38

1,765
1,259
1,000
1,000

315
312

5,644
1,920
6,910
3,500

1,820
180

5,644
2,341
7,500
3,500

2,100
205

7,409
3,600
10,000
4,500

3,665
517
1,125
19,773
3,517
17,218

125,000
900

3,000
2,544
549
400
18,617
1,535
7,500
8,557
325
50
18,825
2,356
500

34,899
1,491
6,000
2,900
5,746
31,237
8,590
74,870
19,905
7,000
3,520
2,925
2,100
38,450
11,671

MAP
M
M
M

M
M
P
M
M
M

M
MAP

M
M
M
M

M
M

C
M
M
M
M
MAP
MAP

M
M
M
M
MAP
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
MAP
M
M
M
M
M
MAP
MAP
M
M
M
P
M
M
M
M
P
MAP

MAP
M
M
M

M

M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
M

M
M

421
590

Recreation Commission

4

2

4

7

1,500

Recreation Commission

12

5
1

5

2

Colorado

46

-3

1,250

280
25

City Council

3heyenne Wells . . .
Colorado Springs. .

City and Private Groups

3
1

2

?,

Patty Stuart Jewett Memorial Field . .

1

480

2,983
711
719

1,620
908
9,393

14,690
1,898

16,310
2,806
9,393

Park Commission

4
23

16

11
22

?

Board of Education

8

7,106

Parks Department and Department of
Public Grounds and Buildings

Recreation Committee

1

53

350

300

250

250

Fort Collins

)epartment of Public Works and Amer-
ican Legion

?,

City of Fort Morgan

3

477
459

Fort Morgan

•Men wood Springs.
Jrand Junction. . .
Holyoke

School District and City . .

1
2

2

1
1
1

90

459

School Board

Recreation Commission

1

10

Municipal Power and Light Department

664
1,000
1,922

871
1,500
4,771

.as Animas County
Longmont

1

?

5,000
1,864

Park Commission

?,

1,980
150

2,791

Montrose

Park Cnmmissmn , .......,,

1

ifount Harris
Pueblo

Public School

4

Rfirreftt.inn Onmmiwiinn

14

3

47
27

9,800
900

5,600
296
200

3,875
449

2,850
1,060
300

30,124
1,042

575
100

3,425
1,160
300

31,024
1,042

Sterling

Recreation Commission

3
1

1

Wray

Board of Education

Connecticut
Bridgeport

Board of Recreation

105
4

29
6

4

900

Bristol

Playground Cnmmisainn

Darien.'.

Park Cnmmispinn ....... , , , ^ .

Fairfield

Joard of Recreation

15
3
78
10
30
8
9
17

8

"i7
9
11
4
6
1

18
5
2

48
19
36

760
1,903
9,104
1,160

2,140
818
15,491
2,090

2,140
2,440
22,133
2,090

School Board, Selectmen and W. P. A.. .
Recreation Board

1,403

1,622
6,642

Greenwich

3

Hamden

Recreation Commission

5,340

Hartford
Manchester

Recreation Division, Park Board

8
2

Recreation Committee

9,758
1,200
340
348

5,486
2,000
2,900
2,477

4,661
1,800
280
100

10,i47
3,800
3,180
2,577

tfiddletown
Milford

3ark Board
Recreation Commission

2,000

New Britain

ftfVTPntinn Cnmmiwiion

11
1

10

6

New Canaan

Park Commission and Lions Club

[Park Commission

70

74

|

1
54

• t

6

8

111

950
276

37,500
11,395

*tew London
Norwalk

\Board of Education

8,640

2,755

Board of Education and City

Recreation Commission

11
10
1

12
14

19

J

'
16

1,414
1,600
167
75
200
3,717
138

3,076
3,300
2,320
430
600
11,612
2,335

3,076
3,800
2,320
455
800
12,536
2,335

4,490
5,500
2,487
680
1,000
16,253
2,473
900
6,260
1,000
40,570
9,832
350
2000

Norwich

Recreation Commission

100

500

Salisbury

Recreation Committee

1

j

Seymour

Playground Association, Inc

1

150

25
200
924

Shelton

Recreation Commission

1
33
13

j

22
13

n

Stamford

Board of Public Recreation ... .

(

0

[Recreation Department

Torrington

\Sterling Park Trustees

5

Q

4

4

189

Recreation Commission .

20

4

30

1,125

2,800

2,335

5,135

Wallingford

Playground Association

|

Water bury

Board of Park Commissioners

29

i;

38
1

jj

12,512
2,709

m

[Board of Education

6,613

510
30

2,709

Westport

6,073
2,01

106,59
486,86

5,26
7,60
16,59
2,63
10,4fi
129,54
110,63
6,49
12,11

40,42

ICivic Union

Park and Athletic Commission

J

1'

4

400
950
9,125
2,500
144,977

Wood bridge

School Board and Amity House Asso-
ciation

.

300

950

1,250
32,211
'2,500
209,580
149,615

'4,853
9,550
51,814
1,265
6,500
111,943
63,537
33,000
6,300

61,693
35,997

Delaware
Wilmington

[Board of Park Commissioners

20
8

12C
103

20
13

151
75

2,998

j Department of Adult Education, Boarc
[ of Education

2,500
186,153
125,296

Dist. of Columbia

Washington

[Department of Playgrounds

66
18

23,427
24,319

41,176

| Community Center Department, Pub-
[ lie Schools

78

118

Florida
Bartow

City Manager

Clearwater

Recreation Board

j

1

3,950

760

2,220
5,200

2,620

4,840

Day tona Beach . .
De Funiak Springs
Gainesville
Jacksonville
Miami

Recreation Department

g

6

2

!

Park Committee, City Council

Department of Public Recreation
Board of Public Recreation
Division of Recreation

11
48

20

I

l

1

27

17

10
61

2'

400
31,080
4,250
5,000

600
13,029
14,610
5,000

5,200
33,457
19,927
12,000
1,580

12,176

300
34,377
24,750
11,000

5,500
67,834
44,677
23,000

Miami Beach
St. Augustine

St. Petersburg....

Recreation Department1

Recreation Department

[Bureau of Recreation, Department o
\ Public Welfare

7,973

33,999

7,545

19,721

(Bureau of Pier and Spa

2

140

I 'CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

f table.

Playgrounds
Under.
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number

Baseball Diamonds, Number

Bathing Beaches, Number

1

I

Camps— Other Organized, Number

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1

j
«
1

.£
1

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

6

"o
6
S5

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

5
2
6

wR

School Year Only

Other Seasons

I

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanen
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

9

393,000

1

1

1

3,204
10,80
7,70

3,95
10,80
25,509

Gordon N.Arlett...,

1

2
3
4

5

6
7
8
a
9

a
10

11
12
a
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
a
7
8
9
0
1
2
3
4
a
5
6
7
8

9
50

1
a

2

8

3
4

5

0

8
q
.0

i

I

1

146,993
111,000

1

1,000

6

8,600
6,000

9,646

2

8

1

1,800

Dale Riley
Arthur J. Kirk pa trick. .

1
1

4

2

1

8

8,755
56,700

2

7,940
2,880

'

7,30
3,95
360

7,34
3,95
360

D W Pinneo

Amos Stamm
A. R. Schwarz

1

; i

2

i i
£ .

; :

6 .
C8

:

5 .
22
i .

7
3 .
5 .

i ;

2
2

i i

:

r .
i

.
?

45

45

540,369

6

4

I

,

*

1
30

6

1

6

3

107,69

107,69

Humphry Saunders. . .
Willard N. Greim

'

6

20,000

1

10,000

2,500

2,500

,

Burgis G. Coy. . . .

i

1,550

•

•

1,97

1,99

Dwight E. Neill

M R Moorhead

1

5

5

1

60,175

<

1

T

t

'

24

1

15,000

15,000

Jack Hunn
G. L. Bereman
William F. Robinson. . .
C A Flanders

1

1

12

I

3,60(

243,825
'16,664

i

240,11;

1

17

1,800
96,000
22,050

i

,

1

2

1.

49,000
900

33,700
3,46
82

90
90,850
4,97
82

Robert A. Finlayson. . .
S. M. Barbiero
Fred W. Huling
Harold R.Whyman....

1

1

'7.000

'143,674
'20,880

9

3,120

1

i

i

1

6,346

6

14

2

21

4

26

Robert A. Leckie

A C Hitchcock

!

Walter A Bates

1
14
9
12
4
9
5
8
1

8
1
14

q

25,812
30,870
335,171
543,711

5

8
17
1

12,667
8,448
53,795

0

i

0

2,07
8,633
2,56

2,91
10,73
11,33

Walter H. Hellmann. . .

\

29,402
27,836

1

,

2

r

2

1

14

1?

Mrs. James Bulger
James H. Dillon

20
4
9

'3,781,147
53,000

235,282
70,123

20

1,577,786

't

32
4

1

2

I5?

M

76

43

106,85

110,85

]

1

8
4

6

Sertrude E. Fenerty. . .

1

]

4

1

5
8
1

'4,050
35,000

2

James J. Naughton, Jr.

1

4

1

22

4

j

5
22
4

17
42
4
14
10
3

1,700,073
"100,179

2

9

1,600
40,542

3

1

1

1

f

29

26
3!

1

11

22,680
47,149

larold V. Doheny
Henry J. Schnelle

20

1

32,841

36,106

1
1

4
1
f

3

10

Robert C Rice

14
10
3
2

ii

6

'42,366
105,000

1

ft

11

8

16,000

oseph F. Andrews
Matthew J. Sheridan

3

1

Wilbert R. Hemmerly . . .
F. B. Towle

2
3

17
6
1
5
1
13

39,000
35,000
206,940
'34,096
3,814
56,000
35,000
154,163

1

12,000

1

1
2

1
1

5
3

1

1

5

2

S

400
2,500

400
2,500

3
4

s

George W. Anger

1

12,552

22

19,700

s

g

Sdward J. Hunt

2

2

1

6

1

William H. Shea

5
1
13

1

50,000
20,000

2

32,500

1

2
3

3
2
5

1

1

1
12

10

15,000

5,000

20,250

lose K. Eagan

1

William B. Hall

4

45,000

1

1

2

18

2

3

11
1

2,500
16,164

William J. Derwin

3

15,444

720

toward C. Harrison
ohn H. Cassidy

1
1

?,

1
1

3

•11,675
12,123

1

1

1

1

(i

.Ian E. Breslin

T

.eorge J. Rapnano
Edward R. Mack

22

22

'374,324

1

38,466

9
10

93,257
38,310

1

14

"'

5

30

0

10

4

18,800

9,982

31,183
1,500
350,237
44,837

Marguerite H. Burnett. .
ibyl Baker

32
20

12

87
20

5,689,034
437,997

2

37,000

7
6

4
5

1

S

35

1

14

65
51

35
53

215,073

21

1,261,855

Mrs. E. K. Peeples
. S. James

n

'2
l

3
8
4
2
3

1

'i

->.

3

5
i
1

i

2
1

6

10

0

1

2

1
2

1

1

3

'1

14

10

12,926
350
1,408

.. B. Van Fleet

4

7

0

350

.O.Eberling

1

2

[. 0. Warren

1

'2
'4
3

23

6
13
10
3
4

28

»230,000
577,410
509,002
273,000
24,056

167,252

1
2

14

6

11

11,000
4,288

1

2

a

2
8
4

1

1

1

7
7
1
3
1

3

4
4

19

568

2,463
5,971

3,031
5,971

,. G. Manchester

30,321
427,293

3

20

oseph E. Byrnes

.E.Seiler

„

1

1

'i

1

'i

13
4

16

i
i

B. Lemon

4
14

43,417
496,521

1
5

3

2

1,883
3,494

1,883
3,974

. Drazba

530,881

2

1

. V. Gahan

1

. L. Roberta

14

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUN]

Footnotes /,

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

1

s
*s

6

55

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

i

%

Tj

•§

1

s

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

Florida— Cont.

10,700
101,161

270,366

Recreation Department

f,

1
10

4
75

3
5

2,494
1,765

54,323

890
10,275

6,057
128

2,535
21,480

756
5,880

3,291
27,360

57,111
1,200

6,675
39,400

117,491
1,328
8,628

1
M

M,
MA
MA
MA
M
M
i

: i

M

M

W
W

•5

MA

!

M4
M

3

1

J
M
M

i

M

MAI
M
MA
M

Board of Public Recreation

12
11

14

Georgia

Atlanta

Park Board

14,022
43,131

6,681
10,321
64,045
8,027
85,024

21,544
3,826
8,297
1,592
9,429
4,476
1,891
16,471
3,048
2,724

30,151
46,589
47,027
30,930
16,534
13,532

12,298
11,718
2,200

12,583
20,348

3,376,438

5,920
3,982,123
36,765
57,510
9,908
4,502
14,055
63,338

14,555
22,045
6,295
25,130
11,625

City, County and W. P. A

1

7

1
3

1,200
3,344

'Park and Recreation Department
\ City and Lions Club

6

17

27

Columbus
Dublin

•'ark Department

1

2
4,900
2,500

216
600
7,700

216
5,700
9,140

218
11,100
11,640

Griffin

3

81

500

5,100
1,440

Recreation Department

1
1

12

12

Moultrie

Y. M. C. A. and City

Recreation Commission

3
1

?:

7
1

2
<2

80

12
4

897

400
150
160
165

5,898

600
530
93
1,530
686
553
172
468
300

780

6,678

600
600
93
1,530

7,575

1,000
893
253
1,980
3,925
6,905
417
760
350
2,857

"19,310
19,977
13,392
5,152
2,517

13,960

Idaho

City and School District No. 1

13

143

70

Doeur d'Alene
jooding
Idaho Falls

Recreation Council

1

?

2

285
1,500
5,357

Youth Welfare Council

4

1
1

2
1

2

12

School Board and W. P. A

248
245
292
50
1,332

9,466
5,715
5,723
4,151

1,758

747

1,300
172
468
300
1,525

9,844
8,200
7,669
90
759

Mullan

Board of Trustees

Pocatello

Recreation Association

1
1

6
4
3
1

1
2

8
12
3

6

2
2
3

2

7
5

Weiser

niinois
Alton

Park Board
Playground and Recreation Commission

1,525

5,302
1,439
3,401

4,542
6,761
4,268
90
600

36

6,062

Playground and Recreation Commission
Recreation Board and W. P. A

7

911

Blue Island . . .

Playground and Recreation Commission
Park Commission, Rotary Club, Goll
Club and W. P. A

1

1
1

159

Cairo

1

4

Calumet City

Memorial Park District Board

1

Park District Board and School Board . .

4
8

1

2

2

938

1,938

2,182

1,097

3,279

6,155

Centralia

/Recreation Commission

8

1

20

21

522

1,751

2,542

2,542

4,815
105,400
2,018

245,350
20,000

756,923

Recreation Commission

1

"4j

5

1,118

24,450
11,312

67,016

Bureau of Parks, Recreation and Avia-
tion . . ...

37

19

56

5,000

142,740

73,160
8,688

179,504

215,900
8,688

495,107

Recreation Commission10

Clinton

Bureau of Recreation, Board of Educa-

63
540

t

62
190

125
350

194,800

315,603

Park District Board

Park Board

142

72

712

926

Cook County". . . .
Danville

Forest Preserve Commission

Recreation Commission

12
16
1
1
1

42
3
1

U
1

25
1

i

24
2

72
128

2,015
5,013
75

5,521

9,448
775

5,521
10,444
775

7,536
41,560
850
600
6,774

40,714
4,250
2,500
16,801
4,500
3,000
19,641
3,506
2,130
740
87,694
390
15,800
141
12,263

Decatur

Playground and Recreation Board
Park Commission ... .

26,103

996

Dixon

East Alton

City Council and W. P. A

]

14

10
1

17

15

160

400

Elmhurst

Park District Board
Bureau of Recreation, Department ol
Public Works

3,774

4,480
1,677

1,800

23,609
1,894
400

1,200

12,625
161

3,000

36,234
2,055

Forest Park

Playground and Recreation Board
Park Board

518

Freeport
Glencoe ...

Municipal Playground Commission

1

8,089
2,000

8,712
2,500
3,000
12,423
2,907
2,130
740

Granite City
Harrisburg

Park District Board

785

1,715

Public 'Schools and Park Board

i

Highland Park....
Hoopeston

("Park Board

6

3

10
19

20
40

7,218
599

5,613
17,747

\Community Service

2,907
750
320

City Council

1

1,380
420

Jacksonville

Y. M. C. A.

10

Joliet

42,993
10,103

School Board and Park Board

1

1

La Grange

Civic Club

I

1

3

65
1,000
21
3,769

325
2,800
120
4,094

325
14,800
120
5,970

Lake Forest

6,554

Park Board

12,000

Lincoln

12,855
25,829
32,236
5,118
8,466
63,982
3,910

Board of Education

1

Maywood

Playground and Recreation Board
Playground Department

j

3
4
1

H
2

1

7

41

2,524

1,876

Moline

Naperville

City Council and Y. M. C. A

6

200
1,500
8,412
500

700
1,150
8,028
1,280

700
3,650
20,420
1,280

900
6,250
28,832
2,489
700

68,000
4,300
7,087
2,095
31,412

3,000
5,595

North Chicago. . . .
Oak Park

FOBS Park District Board

1

1,100

2,500
12,392

Playground Board

7
1

8

8

1

5

Oglesby

Park Board

9

16

700

Pekin

16,129
104,969

9,121
8,829
6,770

85,864

37,953
2,388
5,377

Park District Board

1

Peoria

Pleasure Driveway and Park District
Board

19
5

1

3

10
6

4
5

Recreation Department

2,000

1,200
653
270

600
4,658
1,590
13,176

1,500
3,531

500
1,776
235

1,100
6,434
1,825

River Forest
Riverside

Playground and Recreation Board
Playground and Recreation Board
(Park District Board

2
2
10

2
1

8

1
4
1

4
1

2

5

Rockford . ...

•{Booker Washington Community Cen-
1 ter"

1
1

8

500
1,412

1,000
449

2,500
3,980

Rock Island
Rnshville

Playground and Recreation Commission
Park Board

21

1

203

St. Charles

Baker Memorial Community Center .

4,229

1,500

3,543

5,043

9,272

142

CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

table.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation

Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number |

Baseball Diamonds, Number

M

Q
J

M

'3
n

1
I

E

i

6

Camps — Other Organized, Number

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-HoIe, Number

J
g

•o

c

1

*

CO

1

-o
O
"I

5

CO

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

Paid

Leaders

Expenditures

I ear Kound
Summer Only

School Year Only

i

1
s

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

1

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

I

a
s

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanenl
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

3 3
0 4

7 2
6 ...
9 2

1
5

'i

7

29

29
6
12

63,851
746,232

831,687
84,284
646,900

1
1

11,067

4

21
9

31,761
9,500

24,617

1

4
13

32

2

10
19

36
12

8,341

4,121
8,429

52,826
8,171
12,855

12,462
8,429

55,000
8,483
19,401

Ralph E Carter

4

i?

17
80

1
4

4

12

4

1

6

1

1

23,036
79,850

Dorothy A. Thiot
JEdwina Wood
M.A.Rogers

7

7,641

1

7

i

1

1

9
1

9

15

5,012

1
8...
3

4

5

18

55,800
404,688

5

64,910

I

13,839

7
I

1

1

1

K

7
4

1
h
1

17
8

10
4
10

"20
5

34
5
<

3
3
10
3
10
1

44,640
12,240

47,250
12,240

9,533
1,124
9,300
1,900
4,016
3,780

R. A. Drake
Mrs. WilmaE. Beggs...
J. H. Kenney
H S Bounds

6 2

. 3
. 3
. 3

. 7

. 2

1

'2

18

n

662,830

2

8

10,000

Gwendolen S. Stevens. . .
aeorge E. Denman
Donald J. Boughton
M. W. Tate

'i

3
3
(i
7
2

79,200
84,300

8
2

36,900
12,120

1

1

1

3
S

1

1,124
9,300
540
4,016
3,780

i

1
1

1
1

1

4
8

1
3
1

1,000

89,030
7,300

4
3

13,000
3,200

1

Joe Call

1

Claude Hart

1

J. W. Hutchins

. 4
. 2

4
.2

59,400
16,278

i

2,400

1
1

3,000
1,409

2
1

14
4

14
9

2,964
748

3,422
1,000

Clarice 0. Smith

1

1
1

5
4

6

14
7
7

2

16
4
5
2
6

Vern Waldo . ..

Lyle Wood

i 3

. 11
1 6
. 9
. 8

10

t ...
1
1

: 4

1

12

'e
'2

3

2

1

10
13
7
21
8

10
3

7
1
8

496,933
160,206
180,588
146,487
74,984

22,800
72,500
186,000
15,387
40,110

4
9

I
1

l

15

2

50,950
65,305
85,920
1,980
47,504

15,500
66,250

4
4
1
15
t

10
1

43,200
26,084
1,750
284,127

1

3
4

1

1

1
3
4

1
1

'2
1

1
1

15
23
14
22
12

19
4

10

5
5
17
1

13

10,929
21,300

22,190
34,615

Russell J. Foval . .

i

5

Russell Perry

5

George Sluka

1

940

28,121
13,444

27,200

39,474
14,764

30,560

C. 0. Hamilton

1

6
2

1

5

11
2
3
1

E. Klings

9,000
11,000

1

2
2
1
1

Quentin J. Powell

1

Edward Fedosky

L. H. Gillet

5

7

2
3

rfildred T. Murphy

4

42,972

4

9,879

1

3

1

3,486

4,190

1

Guy F. Ware

3

13
35

451,987
•5,181,546

4

4

107,923

11

135,527

1
11

1

16

7

18
21

16
14

36,002
27,300

36,929
27,300

8

46

9

Theodore A. Gross

Ddward L. B orchard

lerman J. Fischer
V. K. Brown

63
224

"6,717,484
55,561,599

63
88
1

3
31

13
114

0

576

5

78

334

196

224

18,100,965

15

i

4

1

6

40
1

Harry L. Bean

40
.1

2

1

1

4

i

3

3
13

22

1
4
3

ohnB. Morrill

10
19

14

'i

i

10
34
4
1

460,571
619,114
10,000

5

4

208,911
18,374

16
11

9,577
232,958

17
15

10
22
1

32,941
96,695

George A. Fairhead
R. Wayne Gill

8

4,876

30,130

g

"1

lelen M. Hiland

2

3,000

5

2,505

1

1
1

2
7

IS

1
3

3

3

6,240

iaron Brown

1

Oakley V. Morgan

1

11
3
7

424,980
86,311
105,500

5

116,240

22

6

1

243,080
14,231
18,000

1

3

9

18
9
3

25
6
1

28,906
11,416
2,000

39,854
14,056
2,000

Charles T. Byrnes

1

14

1
1

Sara Peyton

2

10,000

g

1

•J.C.Sleezer

1

.A.Williams

7

io

8
10
5

613,181
56,000
43,062

3
9

10,620
13,400

1

6

1,200
21,600

1

1

2

1
1

1

1

1

2
5

5

'i

i

10
16

8
8

11,021

17,693

. W. Senett

"a

2

1

xiuieE. Belli
George Sohcuchenpflug.
ack Goodwine

4

••

1

5

8,400

...

1

5

9

2
1
5
5
4
4

2

11
4
2

1
5

177,176
9,400
30,000
2,580
75,000

2

7

19,838

1
1

8
1
2

i
i

3

1

1

34
4
4

4

27
2

11
2

17,810
360

22,418
360

(artin Jackson
R.O.Sedgwick
R. H. Peters

13

47,000

1

1
1

2
4
1
3

1
1

1

4
12
5

1

1
1

8

7

8,085

ohn S. Ludlam
Altha Robison

4
11
5
3

•5,996
44,832
865,311
"123,474

1

i
i

i

E. Gordon Bowman

6

2
5
1

61,250
379,641

2

1

2,760

"5

5
9

5

11
15
4

5

3
2

9,270
3,700

11,190
4,000

Max Prxyborski 5
osephine Blackstock . . .
Harold Snedden

2

1

2
1
2

1

6
2
4

j

1

3

1

4

1

4

17
3
6

7

1

3

1

i.G. Keller
B. B.Maticka

1

2
1
7

1

8

1

1

3
6

7

1
10
1

45,968
43,166
203,070

3,200
•102,209

1

2,625

1
4

12,000
19,400
10380

i

6
4
IS

1
1
1

1,476

5,388

3,093
6,864

William C. Lad wig
John Walsh

1

1
1

1

16

i

1

2

2

45

11

2

18

6
11

7,200

7,200
21,244

Homer E. Folgate
Lola Robinson

1

i

15

1

a
i

1

1

24
3

1

•;. A. Dyson

1

80,861

143

Paid

Recreation

Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

*-
1
i

Workers)

1
d

STATE AND

Popula-

Managing

|

CITY

tion*

Authority

%

Salaries and Wages

•i

§

~$

I

Land,

Upkeep,

i

d

a

o-l

$

Buildings,

Rent,

£

jiS

|

-2 5
& §

t9

Permanent

Supplies

Main-

Total

^

OH

>*

Improve-

and

For

tenance

1

"o

"o

. -

'>

ments

Incidentals

Leadership

and Other

Total

i

£

d

55

0 -"
55 ><

'•§

<!

1

Services

1

ll

Illinois — Cont.

71,86
10,01

[Playground and Recreation Commis-
< sion

3

4

12,73

21,43

21,43

34,170

Sterling24

[Park District Board

Park Board

1.70C
4.00C
5,76

1,23
1,900
600

1,584
1,000
4,87

2,81
2,90C
5,47

4,514
8,400
13,240
4,606
617
480
16,000
7,420
465
8,236
27,765
23,144
51,177
5,203

56,311

550
800

173,424
9,143
2,782
32,246
38,666
67,597
1,435
14,565
2,100
1,370
8,784
24,600
4,345
17,480
2,378
2,600
1,500
3,878
1,500
32,461

7

25,500
5,031
43,000

Sycamore

4,02

13,06
4,34

/Recreation Commission

26

i

3

1.50C
2,OOC

Urbana

Park District Board

Vandalia

Park Board

Villa Grove

2,00
33,499

3,894
15,233
117,373

12,166
8,136

39,804

8,744

4,046
54,784

68,875
10,685
102,249
64,560
364,161
11,946
32,843

15,755

28,630
46,548
25,819
132,752
1,538
5,290

32,493

104,193
417
62,810

8,840
10,880
4,487

School Board

180

300

30C

(Park District Board

Western Springs. .
Wilmette

IPlayground and Recreation Commission
Park District

1

4,200
16
1,83

1,32
300
6,40

1,900

3,220
300
6,403

Playground and Recreation Board. . . .

Winnebago Co.27 .

Forest Preserve District

fPark District Board

12
13

14

15

16

17
18
19
20
21
22
23

24

25
26
27
28
29
30

31

32
33
34

35
36
37

38
39

40

41

42
43
44
45

46
47

48
49

50
51
52
53
54
55

56
57

58

Wood River

Indiana

Anderson

ICommunity House

8

1

1,40

33,72
2,54

3,932

250
100

11,55

4,49
2,65

12,37

16,04
2,65

14,94

300
550

Recreation Board

Community Recreation Committee
Park Board and Negro Welfare Asso-
ciation

1

|

4

23
3

37,430

2,570

300
300

11,780

Brazil . . .

Recreation Board, Y. M. C. A. an<
W. P. A

Crown Point
Bast Chicago

Elkhart County28.
Elwood

City of Crown Point

j

150

108,000

250

Department of Recreation, Park Com-
mission

21
6

5

6

3

Recreation Committee and Y. M. C. A.
City and W. P. A

1,343
2,118
6,293

7,800
544
21,87

1

65

120
4,08

Evansville

Recreation Department, Park Board . .
Park flnmmissinn

35

2

5

12,767

9,104

Hammond

14

in

Indianapolis
Jeffersonville
Kokomo

Department of Recreation, Park Board
Recreation Board

90

7(

3

4,500
200
2,565

28,900
500
1,000
200

8,204
735

25,993

34,19
735
11,000
1,900

2

8

Howard County Recreation Council. . .
/Board of Education

|

:

it

T T> _A

1,900

Mishawaka

[Civic Auditorium Advisory Board . . .

3oard of Public Works

7

6

1,400
3,800

Muncie

School Board, City and W. P. A
Valley View Golf Club, Inc

8

8

3

800

3,800

New Albany
North Township29.
Pendleton

S'orth Township Trustees

2

Town Board

478
650

1,900
1,700

1,900
1,950

Plymouth

Park Department

i

250

Richmond

(City of Richmond

Townsend Community Center**

5

2

10

14

300

698
225

2,520
1,275

360

2,880
1,275

South Bend

School Board

i

Department of Public Recreation
Louisville Cement Company

35

J

1

1

Speed

2

Terre Haute

Board of Park Commissioners and Rec-
reation Council

30

6

500
3,916
17,840

Wabash

Community Service

1

1,080
7,660

35
17,500

1,115
25,160

Whiting

Community Service

4

1

0

Winchester

Park Board

Iowa

Ames

10,261
56,097

60,751

142,559

41,679
4,949

Recreation Commission

387
2,358

635
3,860
4,992

614

6,549

5,980
7,141

614

7,749

10,730
7,725
9,027
22,000
29,918
8,541

1,001
11,583

14,415
12,842
25,204
22,000
52,261
11,298
200
3,230
3,514

3edar Rapids

Playground Commission

20

4
21

18

1
18

"i

92
"9

1,476

3,050
1,257
11,185

1,200

4,750
584
9,027
2,500
29,918
2,824

Department of Parks and Public Prop-
erty

/Recreation Commission

Board of Park Commissioners

'Playground and Recreation Commission
IPark Board

32

29

4

19,500

Dubuque

6,614

15,729
2,757

^ayground and Recreation Commission
3rinnell College

19
1

17

1

9

5,717

irinncll

.owa City
Marshal Itown

Pocahontas

15,340
17,373

1,308
79,183

2,032
46,191

10,277
5,792
121,857
20,155
64,120
111,110

9,071
10,008
11,668

lecreation Board
'layground Board and City

4
1

3

1

19
41

12
59

1,055

2,175

2,175

City of Pocahontas

5

Sioux City

Department of Public Recreation,
Board of Education

26

55

9

55

35

3,326

13,308

1,738

15,046

18,372

VillLsca

Parks Department

'ark Board

1,512
7,106
»780

3,000
3,356
49,312
16,190
4,408
44,960

4,650
2,410

5,625

Waterloo

Playground Commission

9
1

9

1

1

12

2,473

3,553

1,080

4,633
780

2,000
730
9,240

Kansas

yhanute
Concordia

Park Board

Engineering Department
Park Committee

1,000
1,926
27,113

2,000
730
1,498

700
12,959

fansas City

Salina

lecreation Department and W. P. A. . .
Park Department

10

6

6

14

16

7,742

Wichita

loard of Education
ioard of Park Commissioners

Board of Education

20
26

1
3
I

19
22

1
4

1

10
4

18,000
4,000

233

3,748

427

4,175

Kentucky

Dayton

250
330
1,025

400
1,601
1,800

400
2,080
2,600

fort Thomas
Henderson

'layground Committee

479
800

lecreation Council .

1

8

2,000

144

CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

table.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number

1
£

1

ea
3

1
1

pa

Bathing Beaches, Number

1
|

£

••s

O
E

1

Camps — Other Organized, Number

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

Swimming Pools, Indoor, Number

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

No. of City ||

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Summer Only

School Year Only

Other Seasons

3

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

21

1

8

82

=233,363

j

42,264

15

36,400

4(

,

11

Ijohn E. MaoWherter..
Edward C. Goshert. . . .
}weldon B. Wade
W. C. Noel . . .

1

a
2
3
ft
4
5
6
7
ft
8
•
10

n

»

12

13

14
15

16
17
18
I'J
20
21
22
23
24
:l
25

26

27
28
29
JO
il
\\

b

i2
38

4
B
1

37

s
'.i

ft
10

ft
i
a

2
1

4

r,
M

7
:l

H
(1
ft

0
1
2
3
4
5

B

7
8

j

9

]

'

1

a

i

"i

1

'i

]

i

2,000
55,000

1

1

57,470
3,150

0

3,740

6

1,200
616

1,800
616

1

1

|

2

1

8

-*

i

1

9,600
15,500

>.

!

Mildred T. Murphy . . .
Sherwood E. Wise
Charles L. Whyte

1

1

1

3

1

2

3

2

100

500

800

A

i

3

14

1

252,406

2

39,983

7

78,934

1

1

|

If

2

21

I

15,276
1,742
12,084

18,816
2,024
18,284

J. H. Lokke

4

1

124,979

1

28,768

o

41,465

1

fl

4

;

\

5

Daniel M. Davis

H. 0. Lundgren
George B. Caskey

Mary Williams

0

A

1
1

18,700

1

, j
i

i

i

3

1

7

13

1
12

6

-

Merle W. Manley

Edw. J Ronsheim
E. A. Brunoehler

4

29

]

29
18

1J

14
3(

557,753

303,800
10,000

215,739
130,416
306,832
250,951
200,000
1,028,021
160,000

4

81,227
4,600

11
1

65,533
56,000

1

8

1

r

8

19
'4

1

23,409

16,349
12,000

46,129
12,000

8

1(

4

E. L. Ferris

3

7,419

2(
4
9
25

309,767
92,638
7,714
19,440
4,000

1

i

1

1

23

2

j

26

i:

(

59
30
14

28

76,030

50,337

126,337
50,000
9,466
126,775
550,000

John DeJong

Vic Palmer ... ...

-
I

39,789
415,000
22,000
482,276

• 9,300
26,000

Eric E. Cox

]

i

]

i

4

i

2.r
11

8:

21

18
25

10

James R. Newoom
A. B. Scott

550,000

H. Walden Middlesworth
S. Harlan Vogt

0

1,400
19,200

4,500
21,475

i

3

15,923

2

13,133

.

1

1

8
1?

20

4

454

C. G. Abrams

*

540 861

1

9

Mrs. Mabel F. Lutman.
G.E.Walker

"a

i

4

1
8
93

518,750
68,279
305,546

1

125,000

4

4

6,000
15,843

1

4

i

4

1

9

3

10

4

3,300

3,700

Frank M. Steele

1

'

3

W. J. Winter

n

»

\

4

]
1

Carl J. Etter

1

1

1

J. H. Walker

i

1

15,000

1

2,200

1

2,100

1

1
1

i

o

o

600

1,600

A. F. Becknell

\i\

.,

S. W. Hodgin

1

26,000

Mrs. Julia Wrenn Partner
L. H. Lyboult

8

24

8

24
1

60,497
452,815

1

i

3

32
1

20

n

i
(i

6
21

6
9

1,350

74,053

1,350
83,156

2

1

255,268

18

29,080

S

11

1

2

1
1

1

1

i

2

Floyd V. Merriman
Jesse G. Dorsey

ft

8

912,000

29
3

35,680
7,540

6

6
1

1

1

2

3

39
10
10

19

1
7

1,500

31,200

37,279
6,840

Frank P. Elder...

4

(i

4

a

4,960
75,000

i

W. C. Mills

1

313,859

f

1

10

9,939

10,014

Tohn Sharp

1

1

1
1

5

6
12

Shirley J. Blake

fi
13

e

13

538,800
188,730

2
4

2,800
44,560

1

1
?

I

1
4

2
19

3

7

400
10,757

400
12,656

Ray Donels

"levin Nichols

1

1

Ed. Stefan

S

3

is

165,430

•6

26,600

1

e

9
22

47
11
ft

2
4
14

7

11

12,240

lobert L. Homey

1

•>

3. 0. E. Boehm

27

27

5245,321

i

6,259

8

9,204

1

16

1

"?

3

1
3
1

15

'is

7
"9

23,514
46,268
14,316

Cathryn E. Krieg

46,268

14,3i6

lelen Richter
3arl L. Grabow
bhn C. Truesdale._
kt. Eugene Trowbridge. .
Roy W. Harnack and
C. E. Daubert

13

14

101,280

4

110,958

1

2,460

3

"i

1

2

2

5

i

1

4
•

15,971
54,116

1

19,496

1

1,080

10

8

11

4

3,060
4,200

3,060
4,200

1

1

1

1

A. P. McCarlan

21

12

33

426,357

28

45,453

1

2
1

9

10

1

7,200

7,200

''erdinand A. Bahr
E. 0. Johnson
R. F. Runyan

1

3

3.5

2

9

e

111,884

8

6,260

3

1
1
7
2

1
1

1

1

1

"1
1
6
1

4
5

15

0
3

52
12
41
14

2

2

2
2
3
1
2
3

15

6

7,200

7,200

3. D. Wardell
C. C. Chesterman

1
2
2
1

Ross Cooper

2

10

16

803,388

7

482,760

17

146,335

i

87

30

125,000

170,956

297,728

Frank R. Ventura

rvin R. Ricklefs

II,
11

1

3

8

16
11

2

201,084
447,000

4

68,000

fi
2

21,000

2

10

1

1

M!

1

4

30

3
30

525

775

^an Henderson
W. A. Bass

3
8

27,155
120,000

2

50,050

1

«
3

1

1

3
3

8

8

3

5

. P. Edwards

145

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNI

Footnotes fo

No. of City ||

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

1

*o
6

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

E

£,

!S
<

o

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

1

2

3
4
5
6

7
8

9

10
11

12

13

14
15
16
17

18
19
20
21

22

23
24

25
26

27

28

20
30
31

32

33

34
35
36
37
38
39
II

4

41

4:

44
4.-
4(
4~

4X

Kentucky — Cont.

45,736

307,745

33,541
6,204
4,764
2,084

26,028
458,762

70,810
6,965

/Recreation Department

23
2
5

31

10
9
1

25

1
2
4

30

18

8,992
5,130

27,845
10,091
!I69,281

52,496

M

M
\

M

M
P
M,V

1
1
1

1
1

1

Mi
M\
1

1

\

i
1
1

1

1
P

M
M

.icxington
Louisville

\ Recreation Department2*

3

50

1,261

1,000

2,700

7,830

Board of Park Commissioners
Division of Recreation, Department of
Public Welfare

10,598

35.821

6,077

41,898

Paducah

City of Paducah

Recreation Council

1

16

300
1,500

200

240
225
475

150
100

390
325

890
1,825
792

3,995
3,000
20,475
35,663

26,517

11,978

17,042

7

5,000

154,724
230,763

10,000

31,500
1,015
J6,445
1,800
1,777

6,900
4,217
2,100
27,163

69,830
1,060,691
25,010
"42,274

77,399
20,532
15,000

43,632

1

2

Community Playground Committee . . .
/Department of Streets and Parks. . . .

2

1

Louisiana

Monroe

3

6

1

30

7

732

2,268

2,268

[Audubon Park Commission

City Park Improvement Association . .
Playground Community Service Com-

2
9

5

21

19

2
6

1

2,400
21,459

5,307

Maine

Portland

/Recreation Commission

3,451

3,220

8,527

13,392

804,874

37,747

14,434
3,000
10,997

4

121

9

2
158

2,000
83,994

Maryland

f Playground Athletic League

20

13

42,846

27,884

111,878

Board of Park Commissioners

Division of Recreation for Colored
People" •

1

2
4

1

4

7
8
1

5

17

1,478

6,900

1,622

8,522

Department of Streets and Public Prop-
erty

30,000

Frederick

100

915
945

915
945

Greenbelt88

2

5,500

fakoma Park

Massachusetts
Andover

6,415

9,969
36,094
7,271
21,748

781,188

63,797
47,490

113,643
7,477
4,220

15,136

11,323
10,951
40,692

22,210

19,399

5,934
6,657
56,537
9,467
100,234
102,320
23,170

16,434
112,597

65,276

24,381
15,049
21,345
49,677
71,983

Parks and Playgrounds Department . . .

Recreation Board and Andover Guild. .
School Board

4

8
6

21

69
15

3

9

7

600

77

2,277
758

1,100

4,623
1,442

1,100

4,623
3,459
2,100
13,054

61,700
46,522
16,982

1

9

46

2,6i7

Arlington

Barnstable

Recreation Council

Belmont

Playground and Recreation Commission
Department of Extended Use, School
Committee

19
98

7,150

6,959

8,130
916,969
8,028

8,456

30,639
46,522
11,900

4,598
31,061

Boston

Park Commission

IS

97,200

Community Service, Incorporated ....
Metropolitan District Commission84 . .

2

2

4

1

14

5,082

Department of Physical Education,
School Committee
/Playground Commission

20
11

480
13

8,959
10,927

52,610

15,830

68,440
9,605

Brookline

[Park Commission

Gymnasium and Bath Commission

6

8

4

9,317

16,797

17,518

34,315

[Park Board

Board of Park Commissioners
Playground Committee

31
3
5
3
1
6

*

8
1

23
5
2
4
9
5
3

I

9

9

15,000

5,100
418
7,184
1,940
337
800

31,590
1,310
7,279
2,250
502
650

24,231

55,821
1,310
9,999
3,320
502
1,215

75,921
1,728
17,183
5,635
941
2,015

Concord

Dalton

Community Recreation Association. . . .
/Community Association

3
1

21
12

40
12

2,720
1,070

375
102

Easthampton
Fairhaven

\Playground Council

Recreation Commission

565

Fitchburg

Board of Park Commissioners
/Parlf Commission

1

1

8

701

3,310
1,200
2,050

4,456

7,766

8,467
6,500
10,674
11,000
4,433
367
2,300
21,648
8,135
44,102
32,180
35,186
1,228

Framingham

\ Civic League

1?

6,489
4,750
1,463
34
200
3,581
1,233
493
4,353

2,135

4,185
5,500
2,970
210
1,600
18,067
5,849
9,529
13,704

/Greenwood Memorial Trustees
\Municipal Golf Commission

1

1

2

750

Great Barrington. .
Hingham

2,970
30
1,200
9,024
4,160

Playground Commission

j

1

4

ie

"•

123
500

180
400
9,043
1,689

Playground Commission

Holyoke

Parks and Recreation Commission
Park and Playground Department
Board of Park Commissioners

20
(

37

1

Lexington

1,053
34,080
14,123

Lowell

Lynn

21
j

20

' 4

3,500
3,200
1,030

10,204

Melrose

Park Board

[Park Commission

New Bedford
Newton

Cunningham Foundation

1
1

1

*

't

Park Commission and City Counci
Committee

3,229
100

14,824
847
3,500
2,394
275

1,634
400
37,774

7,884

9,518
400

69,474
2,740
5,300
7,418
500

12,747
500

87,240
3,587
10,300
15,127
775
2,532
23,587

Recreation Committee and Standard-
Times Mercury

1

56
1
8
1J

1

4;

t

fPlayground Commission

J

"23

3f

2,942

31,700

Northampton. . . .
Norwood

Lock Memorial Park Board

1,500
5,315

3,000
2,884

2,300
4,534
500

Board of Selectmen . . .

Peabody

Park Commission

Pittsfield
Quincy

Park Commission and W. P. A.

1

24

3,587

146

:REATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

able.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

| Athletic Fields, Number

| Baseball Diamonds, Number

Bathing Beaches, Number

1

55

5?

\

1

o

Camps — Other Organized, Number |

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

M
a

55

-o
c

M
1

on

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number |

Tennis Courts, Number j

Wading Pools, Number j

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

6

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Summer Only
School Year Only

| Other Seasons

1
f-

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

| Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

6 ...
5 ...

6
C

316,119
375,120

2
2

88,594
40,512

1

4,316

1

9
6

91

1
1
9

5

6
3

800
4,560

l

2

3
4

5
6

7

a

8

B

b

9

a
10
11

12

a
b

13
14
15
lf>
17

18
1!)
20
21

22
a
b

C

d

23
a

24

25
M
27

28
1
29
30
51
32
B
5.3
I
54
55
iti
57
88
10

40
41

B

42

43
B
44
45

47
48

1

4,560

Mrs H H Rowe

27

2

2

2

Smith B. Hanna

Harold L. Brigham . .
L V Bean

17 ...

2

22

8

1,305,560

ft

88,735

16

116,451

17
S

12

15,511

15,511

1

1

8

i

1 ...

1

2
1

8,000
16,000
43,533

1

3,000

1

1

2,035
300

3,035
2,400

'l '.'.'.

2

6

5,000

1
1

2

2

4

]
1

3

2

2,000

1

5 .

A

30,440

1

29,462

' ft

1
1

6
23

J

1

1

1,478

1,478

14

1

6

33

1

8

15

5

13,920

42,191
'13,920

Mrs. L. W. Griffis
L. di Benedetto, Sr

Granville R Lee

21
12

1,225,697
5240,000

1

72,390

12 ..

"t

1

10

1

I
1

1

4

Mark Trafton

2 ..

2

100

25,000
1,631,994

,1

5,000

198,986

Harry Stott

26 ..

45

134

1,040,565

' 8

28

"2

1

•4

"3

1

6
6

2

44

48

53,260

57,956

H. S. Callowhill. . .
J. V. Kelley

17 ...

5 ...

17
ft

142,372

11

156,613

27

34

59,900

60,800

Mrs .Virginia B. Hall. . .
Edgar Reynolds

„

1

4

6 ...

6
8

147,924

i

9

Mrs. Helnia Hann Bowers
Vincent C. Holochwost

1

9,680

1

I

a

16,218

64

16,218
64

Clarke Gardner ........

4 ...

4

3
8

4
10

16,160

27,395
535,944
5 16,059
218,436

i
i

1

1

C. J. Bride

3 .

1

17,253

1

Margaret Davis ....

8 ...

i

1

ft

Joseph S. Keating

4 ...

1

3,978

\

27,643

4

a

5,950

5,950
12,000

John Bradley

10

J

1

19

12,000

Lewis S. Harris

14

460,000

James T. Mulroy

* ...

68

11

4

15'5

10

*

J

r'i

122
126

55
41

3,500,000

431,197
158,374

3,931,197
259,872

A. R. Wellington
W. Duncan Russell
W. E. Whittaker

03

373 476

n

1*1

10

t

A

1

2(

120 ...
11 ...

40

KiO

u

53,280,000
553,951

Nathaniel J. Young
Abbie 0. Delano

4

1

3,344

D. W. Field

12 ...

12

5107,988

1

66,633

1

10

2

Charles P. Cameron ....

1

is

Charles P. Cameron and
Edward P. Sheehan...
Stephen H. Mahoney . . .
Anne Root

0 ...

2 ...
3

i '.'.
5 ...

9

24
2
8
1
ft

510,000
514,400
16,000
9,450

8

C

J

3

i

10
E

(

35

18

65,000

29,185

94,755

]

75,774

i

j

1

6

1

William L. Stearns
David R. Kibby

3 600

•

453

453

Mabel D. Clarke
Howard Stone
Mrs. H. B. Dutton

5 4
4 .

12
4
10

t

13,000
19,125
410,600
17,100

1

2

2

10
3
ft

t

12
1
19
14

1

3
2
6

9 ...

5

1

4

i

32,000
55,915

1

15,200
3,205

a

«

.>

18,691
19,776

20,473
21,676

John C. O'Malley

1

(

L

A

Raymond J. Callahan . . .
F. D. MacCormick
Richard N. Greenwood..
Fred G. Kegler

1

1

i

.j

o

Ruth F. Gorham

0

8

13

7,000
51 17,085
20,000

1
1
1
3
4

1
1

It

18

ft

Karl C. Hough

13 . . .
3 .

1

3
1

7

12
33
1(1
12

2
3

"i
1

944

Mrs. Mina F. Robb
John J. Garrity

"i

6
31

"15

196,556
93,900

196,556
112,529

John W. Kernan

t

15

U

t

. 1

5186,532
550,712
518,000
100,000

i

3688,534

8

1

i

1

7

18,629

John Morrissey

George W. Rogers, Sr.. .

i . .

1

fl

John L.Kelly

6,000

a

1

ft

iV. L. Caldwell

f

William P. Hammersley.
Mia Neves and Walter

11 ..

11
2fi

182,144
1,600,000

i

16
15

20
5

6,153

6,153
26,148

5 ...

12

i

37,000

I

39,000
10 372

2

14

i

"i

43

Ernst Hermann

Helen I. Sandstrom

1 .

9 ..

f
5 ...
19 .

1
9
6

5

19

70,000
56,000

172,oio
203,184

j

1

1
1

6
10
1

i

2
15
8
14
31

2
5

7
6
7

30,000

700
3,636
19,760
15,966
49,494

30,700
3,636
22,260
15,966
"49,494

VI. F. Narum

i

6,000
35,123

'is

12,680
78,000

8

]

j

i

]
8

W. Graf ton Broughton. .
Joseph F. Kelly
William J. Spargo

8

23

-

147

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNI

No. of City ||

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Vo un-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

•(—

3
W

B
<

j

a

3

*o
d
&5

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

1

£

]>

-<

B

ja
O

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For

Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

1
(

8
9

10

11

12
13
14
15
16

17
18
19

20
21
22
23
24

25
26

27
28
29
30
31

32

33
34

35

36

37
38
39
40
41

42

43
44

45
40
47

48
49
50
51

52

53
54
55
56

57
58
59
00

61

02
03
04
05
00
07

Mass. — Cont.
Salem

43,353

Park Board

18

10

12,603
17,02
900
73,17
500
7,06

2409
12,10
5,00
4,63
22
1,73
600
15,54
21 1,394
96

42,830

6,500
1,509

47,626
22,149
5,200
1,750
8,500
600

49,730
542,235
259,105
5,785
1,000
1,005
15,304

N

I

t

M
M

M

SI

M

MA
M

MA
P
M

M
M

"c

MAP
M
M

SI

MAP
P
M
M
M
M

SI

MAP
M
M
M

P
P
M

P

M
M

"

MAP
M
M
M
M
M
M
M
MAP
M
M
C
P
M
M
M
M
M
M
MAP
MAP
M
M

103,908
6,272
149,900
1,762
37,355

7,273
11,439
19,775
10,005

16,684

2,097
6,090
12,719
19,434
195,311

13,064
8,324
26,944

43,573
47,355
9,539
1,888
5,307

50,358
,568,662

29,941
5,550
12,716
14,524
20,855

156,492

8,345
168,592

23,933
56,268

1,892
5,227

Recreation Commission

17

si

i;

3:

i

?

1,822
200

8,59
300
15,768

6,612
400

15,20
700

Park Commissioners and School Board
Recreation Division, Park Department

1

300
2,488

200
4,574

Park Commission and W. P. A.-

8

1

2,68

1,893

Walpole

Wellesley

T>

5

99

7,500

4,000
2,500
3,040

600
1,500
357

4,600
4,000
3,397

Westfield

Playground Commission

1,000
1,237

West Newton
West Springfield...

375

4

1

8

45

30

/Y. M. C. A. :..

!

;

5

140
160

1,547
440
4,000

45

1,592
440

g

Whitinsville

Whitin Community Association

12

'"5

j

50

8

2,000

1,700
45

9,599

500
342

15,706
4,216
1,544
525
3,500
50

12,300
82,951
96,775
150
300
565
3,520
500
28,882

7,824
918
300
19,132
18,641
206

2,100
150
100
4,680
450

7,694
924

33,231

2,000
1,167

31,920
10,944
3,656
1,225
5,000
550

37,430
455,810
162,330
1,345
700
440
10,723
3,220
38,203

34,368
4,475
1,310
20,558
32,110
13,293

17,169
1,200
200
27,620
1,900

Public Works Department

924
28,214

1,200
175

25,677
2,784

Worcester

Parks and Recreation Commission and
W. P. A.

21
5

13

5,017

800
992

6,243
8,160
3,656
825
2,400
450

22,680
239,483
17,230

Michigan
Adrian

4,000

Albion88

Recreation Board

1

43
70
21
3

1

18
3
13
2
2
1

29
130

1

3

Ann Arbor

Board of Education and Park Depart-

Battle Creek. . . .

Civic Recreation Association

2

15

8

6,989

Bay City

Department of Recreation

Birmingham

400
2,600
100

14,750
216,327
145,100
1,345

Caspian

Community Center

2

22

38

Charlotte

Board of Education

1

41
158
8

Dearborn

Recreation Board

3

99

34

131
191

Detroit

/Department of Recreation

3,474

)ickinson Co.40 . . .
Dowagiac

County Park Trustees

4,290

School Board

2
1
1
10
20

164
1
3
23
1

1
1

9

7

145
1
1
10

700
440
2,375
2,720
14,413

27,368

Ecorse . . .

Escanaba

Department of Parks and Recreation . .
Recreation Board

1

"e

5
4

34
1

295

7
66

208
31

1,061

8,348
500
23,790

7,000

Ferndale

3,720
72,085

48,692
5,393
2,510
39,690
50,751
14,927

19,951
1,450
300
32,300
5,850
1,600
22,147
356,000
25,944

5,479

4232,800
1,600
9,275

27,347
500
2,500
2,862
3,740
600
580
1,370
757
1,000
3,500
5,172
200
6,800
955
7,948
9,900
2,100
4,800
19,927
880
6,750
1,700

Flint

(Park and Recreation Board . .

5,000
6,500

Mott Foundation and Board of Educa-

Grand Haven
.irand Rapids

3rosse Pointe
Hamtramck

Board of Education and City Council. .

900

1,135
4,415
1,203
3,078

16,669
1,200
200
14,805
1,800

175
16,143
30,907
10,215

500

Department of Parks

i

Neighborhood Club

2

31
1

2
19

2
3

1,428

682
100

Department of Recreation, Board of
Education

Jarbor Beach
Hastings

Board of Education

a

Youth Council

1

i

5

3
8
6
1?

Highland Park
Holland

52,959
14,346
6,562

55,187

54,786
78,397

8,898
14,789
8,038

1,947
18,110
13,497
5,211

41,390

15,584
1,416
6,552
11,326
211,251
336
14,496
2,279

64,928

31,361
17,314
80,715
4,804
28,368
10,143

Recreation Commission

16
7
?

9
10

4

12,815
100

Recreation Commission

3,500

.onia

Jackson

/Recreation Council

9

7

396

1,751

1,751

Kalamazoo

Recreation Commission

68
2

12
1

34

1
18

3
1

2

7

5,691
2,405

4,020
200

15,953
2,409

10,649
650
1,745

5,884
200
2,000
2,252
500
300
330
1,270

4,300
665

4,731
750
600

10,151

" ' iss

333

20,253
3,074

15,380
1,400
2,345

16,035
200
2,000
2,407
833
300
330
1,270

•, Douglass Community Association,
I Inc.24 .

Lansing

Board of Park Commissioners and Board
of Education

35

25

13,400

Ludington

Board of Education

Marquette48

Recreation Board

3

1
1

2

1
15

1

21

'is

8
8

6,930
3,816

Midland.. ..

Recrea'ion Commission, Board of Edu-
cation, Community Center and Red
Cross

6
1

6

7,496
300
500
455
1,707
300
250
100

Milan

Recreation Council

Monroe

11
14
1

6
8

Mount Clemens. . .
Mount Pleasant. . .

Department of Recreation

Recreation Department

1,200

/City of Muskegon

1

Muskegon Heights.

KwMM

[Board of Education

1

Board of Education

5
1

4

Bay De Noquet Company

1

^egaunee
Niles

Board of Education and City

1
1

2

2

400

200
400

400

600

1

Dak land County. .
Otter Lake

bounty Park Trustees

American Legion

1
1

2

200

200
3,000
565
7,224
7,700
600
1,965
11,364
640
6,000
1,400

)wosso

Board of Education

3,000
200

800
190
724
2,200
1,500
835
8,158
240
750
300

Plainwell

3
21
1

2

7

"2
1

7

460
7,224
1,800
600
1,165
5,650
640
3,000
1,400

105

P *•

/Department of Recreation

Port Huron

Park Department

5,900

"'soo

5,714

Board of Education

1
0

1

liver Rouge
Saginaw

iecreation Board

2,000
405

Department of Public Works

11

5

13

5
1

441

South Haven
Wyandotte

Joard of Education

10

Recreation Commission

1

18

3,000

fpsilanti

lecreation Board .

5

4

148

CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

table.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number |

Baseball Diamonds, Number

Bathing Beaches, Number |

a

i

0

1

6

Camps — Other Organized, Number |

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

M

B

f

1

M
CO

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number | J

Emergency Sjrvice

Source of
Information

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Summer Only

School Year Only

a

JS

O

a
1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

1
§

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

1
fe

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

10
9

2
36

1
9

4

11

14
20
2
46
1

'123,103
350,000
15,000
2,500,000

4

4

125,000
50,000

1

"i
i

14
7
1
11
1
9

2
2
2

8
1
1
2
1

1

3

5

1
4

19
8

9
2

26,602
20,499

Daniel J. Phalen
Francis J. Mahoney
William A. Thibault....
Arthur E. Gardner
Carolyn P. Clark

i

4

7

4

481,721

l

1

•2

55

5

87

44

4

134,448

13

189,000

1

35,000

7

225,846

2

1
4

1

i

1
1

6

1

8

2

29

10

41,874

Pauline M. O'Neil and
Howard Briggs . .

F F Libby

4

1

6

7,500

5

1

2

1

Herbert H. Snow

8

3

3

Edward W. Cerveny
Gertrude MacCallum. . .

1

"14,369

8

1

1

8

9

4
2

4

2

'19,378
'4,140

1

T

1

G. A. Clark

3

1

Edward H. Gillespie

1
1

200,000
23,000

1

2

2

44,000

1

1

14

8
8

20

1
1

2

'1

7

1

24

T. P. McGowan

James H. Kelley

f

1

33

3
5

13
15
12

9

1

1

2

3

9

16
17

7

1
3

7
8
3

55,000
20,000

68,i39

600
2,445

5,681
24,000
2,400

56,300
22,445

64381
92,139
2,400

John J. Nugent

Hervey C. King
Chase H. Hammond

L. H. Hollway

4

1

2
11
IS
4
1
2

15

95

6

1

4

e

8

12
11
IS

55,000
54,000

167,622
582,839
'176,000

1

10
4
2

8,960

14,790
3,487

1

1

1

2
2

2

10

1
1
1

1

1

70,820

3
1

2

A. R. Flannery

Walter A. Olsen

4

'6,495

1

1

4

M. W. Robinson

1
2

Ti

10,603
'4,000

5129,680

1

70,350

Mrs. Frances S. Berry . .
Helen Collins and Mal-
colm Gobel

18

3

2

14
54

1

5

15

195

1
11

9
105

6
69

6.45S
1,411

15,300
159,060

26,758
232,346

Henry D. Schubert
C. E. Brewer . . .

125

7,778,901

7

"1,200,487

144

392,980,894

1

17

l

1

4

1

Henry W. Busch. .

1
1
2
1

1

14

12

8

21,417

21,417

J. A. CIulo

3

2

1
9
10

27

'5

8

7

4
10
16

40

523,700
62,505
102,805
78,958
371,982

858,117

1

30,000

2
1
8
2

11,400
11,000
15,223
8,065

1
1

i

4

4

1

6
6
16

2
1
5

7,240
1,120
12,096

7,240
1,120
12,096

0. C. Morningstar

D. M. Draper

2
2
4

1

71,665
1,905
224,148

13,070

1

1

7

Bevier Butts

It

David C. Brown

1
1

2

2

1
1

3

28
7

1

50
55

45
52

227,481
84,800

Theodore Prichard
Frank J. Manley

20

360,855

2

20,000

64,800

William W. Norton
Ray C. Schaubel

3
10

1

4

23

35,000
1,285,099

2

17

1,200
156,213

1

4

6
92

1

27

3,000

850
80,000

3,850
80,000

2

5

0

8

30

5

John Bos

2

2

U. M. Lowing

1

8

2
4

10
8
6
9

64,948

365,128
6,600
8,100
833,191
30,000
47,379
85,424

1

1

1

179,211

30,167
8,500

7

6

8

ft

1
1

George Elworthy

8

9

130,597

2

*

15
3
7
7
2
9
2

"io

4
25

3
1

8
5

1
3
2

'"3
4
15

15,515
2,600

15,515
2,600
1,400
16,315
2,300
22,713
24,000
200,000

C.J.Reid
R. S. Brotherton

2
4

1
1

6

f

1

1
2

A

Lyle Bennett

8

8

50,000

9
2

218,665
3,680

ft

Hi

3,500
2,000
15,600

12,815
300
4,493

H.G.Myron

5

14

Leon N. Moody

G

t

1

3
1

Fred J. Buck

9

23

320,000

K

G. L. Greenawalt

1

2

1

8
8

1

3

200,000

L. W. Ambs
Lawrence P. Moser

E.N. Powell

12

12

5199,609

12
1

12

35,745
720
28,950

1

1

i

32,000

3,178
9,000

3,178
12,600

20

1
6

4
3
B

6
3

20
1
6

4

8

e
e

4

231,019
25,000
221,121

144,679
59,000
'59,268
57,985
14,838

i

4
1
1

2

1

1

27

2

Mrs. H. R. Harvey
H. H. Hawley

„

2
1

1

4

9

1

20

1

Clarence T. Bullock
Charlotte Conley

1

85,801

3
1
4

1

9,871
6,000
10,000
3,200

1

2
6

a

2
6

"270

1,060
12,000
270

J. S. Detar
B. M. Hellenberg
Bernard Ballantine
L. C. Wendt

1

1

1

1

A

1

4

1

2

8
?,6

2

3

Frank Driscoll

13
6

14

125,000
'37,680

1
2

1
1
1
1
1
1

2
1

1

6

2

1

22

20

5,710

5,710

0. E. Johnson
Charles Good

1
6

'i

1
8

64,000
50,000

2

10,000

1
1

1
"1

4
4

1

1

4

1,050

G. J. Antell
H. C. Bradfield
John A. Bradley
A B Cherpes

4

1
16

1

ft
2

16

201,350
4,400
'293,277

8
1

15

3,330
900

1

1
1

10

2

4

3

4,368

6,368

Helen Kremer
Walter W. Wegerly

1

40,469

2

1

16

2

84

60

33,821

A. E. Center
Lewis M. Wrenn

6
3
19
2
11
5

ft
5

19
2
11
5

130,000
5125,000
12,000
51,615
113,757

1
8

7,000

8
8
28
2

4
3

4,050

21
1

3

1

1
1

8
A

1

24
5
24

24
1
4

10,000
5,740
22,680

10,000
5,740
22,680

C. V. Fowler
Frank Weeber

Y,8oo

6,000
20,000

"i

2

1

6

j

2

1

8
1

1

Russel 0. Koenig
L. C. Mohr

10

i

7
1

1

2

17

9

10
3

7,500
3,780

Benjamin F. Yack
James W. Schaeffer

1

3,780

149

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNH

No. of City ||

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

Source of Financial Support t

•

£

"3
o

£

No. of Women

INo. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

,c
O

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

8
9

10
11

12

13

14
15
1(5
17
18

19

20

21

22

23

24
25

26

27

28

29
30
81

32
89
34
35
36

37
38
89

40

41
42

43
44

45

41

47
48
4!)
50
51
52
M

54
66

56

67

58

Minnesota

12.276
2,590
8,308
6,782
1,243
3,675
101,463

6,156
7,484

15,666
5,036
2,880

464,356

1,349
2,555
7,308
9,629
2,552

20,621

21,000
204,596

271,606

10,009
2,049
11,963

10,043
18,601

48,282

9,613
14,967
399,746

13,772
1,672
80,935

821,960
25,809

6,855
4,629
28,822
5,358

6,669
10,297

2,791
6,192
75,933

18,529

12,377
25,228
13,573
7,073
76,834
31,463
2,018

573
26,974

38,077

3,306
15,699

Committee of Library Boarfl

4

1

2

3

6

150

25

4,200

300

4,500

4,675
600
32,758
10,953
15,850
16,038

103,409
2,824
2,925
16,270
48,479
855
829

310,669
37,827
3,000
800
2,525
4,383
770
2,760
2,340
21,422
800

15,355

97,837
3,500
675
1,240
4,314

600

3,666
3,500

M
M

M
M
M
M

M
M
M
M
M
M
M

M
M
M

M
M
M

M
M
MAI
M
M

C

\
M
M
M
M

M

M
M

M

MA

MAI

MAI
M
MAI

1

M
M
M
M
M
M

«

P
MAP
M
M

MAP

M

M
M
P
M
P

Recreation Department, Library Board

9
2
4
1

1
1
2

1
3

8

1,511

5,258
500

2,918
5,695
200

5

12
14

' 15,000

5,695
350

Independent School District No. 2.

150

Detroit Lakes
Duluth

5

Recreation Department, School Board

43
6
1

1
34
?

21
10
1

2

1

60,390

8,159
200
225
4,954

7,731
2,624
1,620
1,020

27,129

1,080
3,744

34,860
2,624
2,700
4,761

Ely

School District No. 12

f Recreation Department

1
1
4

Hibbing46

6,552

Village and School District No. 27

International Falls.
Litchfield

705
500

51,050
590

i93

169,936
500

School Board and Village Council
' Recreation Department, Board of Park

2

40
1

2
27

19

2

4
247

136

89,683
36,737

693

220,986
1,090

Mountain Iron48.. .

Board of Education, District No. 21 ...

3

3

1

250
225
1,585

450
400

100
400

550
830
2,798

NewUlm
Red Wing
Redwood Falls

6
2
1

3

1

1,500

5

6
1

310
725

2,250
900

200
715

2,450
1,615

| Board of Public Health and Welfare. .

1

13

65

St. Cloud

1

200
2,117
19,680

250
10,373
40,817

350
2,865
22,340

600
13,238
63,157

St. Louis County49.
St. Paul

Leisure Education Department, County

17

21
1

12
8

1

29

in

(Department of Parks, Playgrounds and
\ Public Buildings

47

171

15,000

South St. Paul....
Springfield . . .

1

5

7

13

225

2
s«68

3

1

2

fi

2
a>124

4

7
2

550
205

690
4,109

Virginia

4,109

540

1,400
500

Mississippi

Clarksdale

Parent — Teacher Association
Park Commission and Playground Com-
mission

1,186

1,080
3,000

2,480
3,500

Jackson

Missouri

Clayton

Park Department

/Recreation Commission

13

11

?

5,587
1,748

10,490
2,850
250
28,228
78,913
450,000
32,581

35,437
600
8,478
850

2,608
525
3,000
1,500
2,200
34,622

6,000

5,239
7,290
2,000
6,175
39,255
4,783
1,325

36,736
5,500
21,000
5,035
20,406
516

Kansas City

'0

980
2,000

650
6,830

118
1,660

768

8,490
2,850
200

Recrea'ion Department, Board of Edu-
cation

6

1

2

Moberly
Plattsburg

Park Board . . .

1

1?

50

200

St. Joseph

R

/Board of Education

160
22
14

4

172
26
9

6,500

67,913

4,500

72,413

University City . . .

Montana

Bozeman

\ Department of Public Welfare
Board of Park Directors

48
81

12,189
1,921

6,51b

13,876

20,392
3,454

30,062

Glerdive

1
i

1

1

Great Falls

Recreation Association

I

f

906

3,535

3,487

550

4,037

Lewistown

Nebraska

Alliance

Youth Coordinating Council

City and W P A

1

/Playground Board

(

4

6
I

4

•

380

Blair
Fairburg
Lincoln

\Park Board

22

15

a

1

<

• 1

1,392

808

808

<

6,500

Nevada

Reno

Engineering Department

1

New Hampshire

Claremont

Playground Commission

947

1,165
1,000

240
3,200

2,887

3,127

Concord

11

9
I

1

Dover
Lebanon

I1)

Carter Community Building Association

1

723
32,589

1,382

3,152

918

4,070

Manchester

I

Nashua
Pittsfield

Recreation Commission

10
1

• J

8
1

i

877
600

22,906
1,910
6,732
767

3,708
325

198
400

3,906
725

13,830
2,400
14,268
1,992

School Board

New Jersey
Allenhurst

Beach Department

Belleville

J

1

1,190

2,400
14,268
415

Y.577

fBcard of Recreation Commissioners. . .
\ World War Memorial Association52

25

•

12
I

I

Bradley Beach. . . .
Bridgeton

2,276

Borough of Bradley Beach1

Jol.nson-Reeves Playground Association

1

179

87

250

250

150

3REATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

able.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number |

Baseball Diamonds, Number

Bathing Beaches, Number

1
&

o

1

Camps — Other Organized, Number |

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

Swimming Pools, Indoor, Number

1

o

1
.5

'&
cc

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Summer Only

School Year Only

Other Seasons

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

2

8

29,000

1

22,500

1
1

1
1

5

a

1

3

5,000 H. I.. T inlror

"1

F. B. Slaughter

6
2
! 2
3

18
7
5

5
ft

22
7
5

65,114
18,000
10,000
26,950

256,061
=18,000
75,540

1
1

13,174
31,300

8

4,517

1

7

10

7,620

8,290

2

3

F. L. Redfield Jr.

1

4

1

1
1

1

4
1

18
1
6

8

1

2

4

2
5

1

25,000
2,875

27,488

H W D utter

1

4

1
1

8,000
135,245

1

34
1
1

530

190,316
3,000
4,848

1

5

1

A

2,000

800
21,653

''4

26
3

5

1

Edw. Buckley

6,805

1

4

5

4,898

1

5

Everett Forsman

8

1
1

25
20

i

3

1

8
1

43,039

1

195,425

9
1

25,267

2

2
1

1

30

1
1
1

18

1

R

36
1

12

13,420
243

102,821
39,011

13,420
243
1,419

103,367
39,511

Jess T. Porteous

1

1

i

4

83

20
3

<78,206

=2,298,904
5234,922

4

1

2

50
24
1

1

25
21

Clarence A. Nelson
K. B. Raymond

26

22
80
1

14,000
208,346

5

1

199

16

R. C. Tapp

1
1
1

8
1

1

George A. Kakela

fl

Judd F. Gregor

ft

5
A

8

1

Carl W. Frank

1

4,800

- 1

1
1

1

James F. Enz

1

F. B. Forbes

7

41,300

7

Paul F. Schmidt

1

3

7

5,265

5,265

Louise Wood ... .

'

1

1
2

32
83

1

1

8
2

R

8

1

i 5
28

5

47,760

2

1

18
5

35
10
2

8
5

21

6
1

8,158

V. L. Morrison

8

12,542

71,544

15,132

499,370
14,542

B. G. Leighton

10

8

28
8
6

1,743,130
5100,000
44,400

19

335,800

4

1

8

1

117

426,689

Ernest W. Johnson
W. W. Kilbourne

5

1
1

8
1
1

1

7
2

1

1,500

1,500

Robert G. Wentworth...
R. J. Mueller

1

,32
i

10

4

8
12

1

=31,248

12,000

28,000
57,960

1

L. G. Hurst . ...

2

1

1
1

5

5

R

2
2

3

Evelyn Baird

3

15,000

1

1

i

E. M. Albritton

"1

7

H. M. Carmichael

1

6,000

1
1

11

1

1

1

540

45,000
1,052
1,800

5,067

Earle B. Greene
Kenneth Osman

4

i

2

27,656

1

7

9
40

7
15

1,800
5,067

Lucile Olney

,5

41

M

268,102

R

Les L. Warren

i

3

John Groeber

1

5600

1

1
1

10

1
1

7

ft

Elmer C. Black

1

2

11

16
116
16

7
2
4

2
40
27
5

10,502

10,502
18,915

Viola Thorp

55

«

-'

3

77

1,810,300

"B

22

20

18,915

Alfred 0. Anderson
Robert D.Turner

1
1

1

A

2
1

1
1

8
2

=29,232

3

James K. Monteith
M. E. Henderson

7

1

1

1

1

Tom Henderson

•'!

:i

13

1

28
7

1

4

239,666
23,583

35,472
16,916

i
i

17,i66
55,245

12
2

3

38,287
500

2,970

22
11

5

11
10

5

3,010

32

26,504
7,375

32,234
8,797

7,717

Frank C. Kammerlohr . .
Richard Nelson

Mrs. Alice Yon

1

1
1

3
2

1

1

Charles E. Plath

1

g

1
1

7

1

Dr. W. A. Rush

I

1,700

Reed O'Hanlon
G. E. Bell

1
1

1

1
1

2
32

12

i)
8

~

22

254,106

4

47,000

8

115,640

7

1

8

5

50

10

40,000

40,000

lames C. Lewis

Charles L. Hill
A. B. Kellogg '...

i?

f

7

8

='92,032

1

6 950

1

B

1

1

110

110

Paul Crowell
^.dith G. Brewster

;

9

1

10
4
1

2
1

2

18

1

1

W. E. D. Ward
Thonns F. Sweeney

8

l

=38,476
=6,794

1

8

Lester B. Badger

1

1

"

Margaret P. Ekstromer..

2
14

53,402
54 16,975

1

10,525

1

8,960

A

1

1

2
4

3
3

1
2

3,300

3,300
5.100

Edward J. Lister
\C. A. Emmons

1

88,000

A

1

A

1

Frederick P. Reichey —
Mrs. Estella T. French..

1

16,830

3

3

151

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUN1

1

•8
d

Z

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

|

03
1

a

'&

c

a
1
"o
6
iz;

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

.3
5

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

1

2

3
4
5
6

7
8

9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

19

20
21
22
23
24

25

26
27

28
29
30

31

32
33
34
35
36

37
38
39
40
41
42
43

44
45

40

47
48
49
50

51

52
53

54
55
56
57

58
59

1,0
SI

Ii2

n

fi4
65

N. J.— Cont.
Burlington

10,844

118,700
12,723
68,020
3,478
114,589
17,805
833,513
5,990
6,894
7,365
24,568

Board of Education and Recreation

1

50
426

250
4,398

250
4,398

30C

4,824
1,000
42.33C
2212
64,764
1,000
128,616
3,015
250
9,797
3,900
500
423
7,845
325
24,442
10,579

291,000
37,877
11,000
2,043
15,000
1,480
3,360
2,000
3,687
14,552
3,282
4,480
M.800

237,352
1,000
226,000
10,084
31,789
19,456

15,750

27,692
7,430
980
2,613
295
10,000

2,240
19,103
600

21,326

M
MA
M
C
M
P
M
M
M

£

i.

M
M

\

1

1
M
M
M

C
M

M&P
M
M

M

MIP

Mil

M
M
M

I

M
M

M
M

MAP
Ml'
M

Recreation Commission

?4

1?

Collingswood
East Orange ....

RnarH of nntnmissinners

Board of Recreation Commissioners —
Department of Public Property

6

*

i

10

285

3,143

7,200

13,068

18,919
212
8,128

31,987
212
34,937
725
111,133
1,980
220
3,170
3,400

Egg Harbor City. .
Elizabeth

Board of Recreation Commissioners —
Board of Education

58
4

32

^

20

100

29,827
275
17,483
410
30
2,000
500

26,809
725
12,424
1,320
220
320
2,900

Essex County55

99

99

1

98,709
660

5

625

Freehold

Recreation Association

]

3

Glen Ridge

Playground Committee

4,627

2,850
500

9
1

\

P

Hackettstown
Haddonfield

3,038
8,857
15,601
5,658
59,261
56,733

316,715

40,716
5,350
21,206
3,476
7,481

21,321

8,602
42,017
7,247
15,197
442,337

9,760
5,525
62,959
302,129
138,513
43,516

34,422
1,600
11,622
12,188
3,879
34,951

35,000
14,556
5,669

123,356

305,209
1,728
15,801
37,107

24,327

26,570
4,143

127,412
34,817
36,652
11,933

76,662
1,794

573,076

1,788
23,226
2,909

Board of Education

1

Camden County Y. M. C. A

9

40

155
1,300
75
2,442
1,869

268
4,465
250
22,000
7,400

268
6,545
250
22,000
8,710

Board of Recreation Commissioners

3

3

2,080

Hasbrouck Heights

Board of Education

]

1

i

22
36
1

1

8

j

9
1

Department of Parks and Public Propertj
Department of Public Recreation . .

15

4

24
5<30
T

20

124
28

1,310

Jersey City
Kearny

( Department of Parks and Public Prop-
\ erty

(Board of Education

1,500

27,149
2,000
422
5,783
50

9,228

36,377

Recreation Commission

1?

Leonia

1

24
1
1

566

12
7

•i

1
7
1
1

6
2
2

....

2
1

1

11

'"7

1,500
3,000

121

2,845

543

8,628
50

Linden . ...

Board of Recreation Commissioners
Board of Recreation Commissioners
Board of Recreation Commissioners
/Township Park Committee

3,372
1,430

Livingston

Maple wood55

Millburn .

200

827
4,968
142
640

1,800
2,460
5,396
3,140
3,185
1,800

171,517
850

1,800
2,860
9,361
3,140
3,425

\Community Service

1
1

1

400
3,965

Recreation Commission . . .

2

3

223

Montclair

Board of Education

Moorestown
Morristown

Recreation Commission
Park Department

1

6

1

2

36

8

250

415

240

Newark

Recreation Department, Board of Edu-
cation

132
3
1

108
1

73

200

46,328
150

19,507

191,024
850

North Plainfield...
Ocean City

Recreation Commission

City of Ocean City

Passaic

Recreation Bureau, Park Department. .
County Park Commission

30
4

22

4
»1

800

9,057

227

9,284

Passaic County57 . .
Paterson
Perth Amboy

Plainfield

Board of Recreation

20

39
10

6
3
?

20

39

6
2
1

1

2
4
2

2

5

6,283

2,000
7,973

1,713
2,200

8,160

9,000
9,478
3,660
780
325
270

3,300
2,550

11,460
11,550

Department of Parks and Public Prop-
erty ... . .

Recreation Commission

"io

2

5

Radburn

Radburn Association

2,970
150
1,690
25

800
50
598

4,460
830
923
270
10,000

1,640
13,287
300

15,327

Red Bank
Ridgewood
Roxbury Twsp.58. .
South Orange
School District of
So. Orange and
Maplewood
Summit

Recreation Cominittpp

3

Shade Tree Commission

Board of Education

1

1

11
9
1

1

1

3
5

Recreation Commission

1

5

Board of Education

600
4,914
300

5,999

1,640
7,115
300

4,758

6,i72

Recreation Commission

2

1

5

902

Tenafly

Board of Education and W. P. A.. . .

Trenton

(Playground Division, Department of
| Public Buildings and Grounds

14

10

1

10,569

Union County59 . . .
Waldwick...

[Board of Education

County Park Commission

52

25

7

740

33,009

85,535
700

174,512
860
573

5,500

Borough of Waldwick

160

700

Westfield

Community Center Association24

1

4
21

4

19

West New York...
West Orange

Recreation Division, Department of
Parks

?

3

1

3,900

Department of Parks and Public Prop-
erty1

10
1

15

New Mexico
Albuquerque

Board of Education

151
100

2,200
3,772

250
300

19,376
6,054
4,800

1,620

250
300

19,376
9,779

401
400

21,576
15,159
9,142

2,350

600
3,973
3,126

324,237
55,208
215
5,000
690
3,055
1,200

Tucumcari

School Board and Kiwanis Club

1

New York
Albany . .

Department of Recreation, Board of
Education

42
26
11

39
8

9

1

1

1
1

1

Amsterdam

Recreation Commission ...

27
<>4

1,608

3,725

Auburn

f Recreation Commission

^Booker T. Washington Community
( Center"

3

430

300

1,920

Beacon

Recreation Commission and Board of
Education

1

Jinghamton
Briarcliff Manor60..

Buffalo

Board of Education

13
4

16

113
1,401

35,465
2,700
15
600
300
945
300

3,860
325

104,638
36,278
200
4,000
390
1,279
900

3,860
1,725

288,772
52,508
200
4,400
390
1,307
900

Park Department

1,400

184,134
16,230

'"400
'"28

[Division of Recreation, Department of
| Parks

28
114
1

26
83

51

Cazenovia

Board of Education

Central School Board

1

Dohoes
Cooperstown

Department of Public Works
Village Board

12
2
2
5

31
1
2
1

Croton-on-Hudson.
Delmar"

2,4471
3,000

Recreation Commission

1

23

61

803

Board of Education

152

:REATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number

1

5

1
1

Bathing Beaches, Number

1
B

'•s

Q

a

0

1

.H
c

_C

5

1

5

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1

i

-o
c

1

3

'£
£
"5

03

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

6

2

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Summer Only

School Year Only

Other Seasons

a

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

|

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

|

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

6
29

t
'.'9

t

1,159

7,200

1

1

11

4

V. H. Smith...
Samuel E. Fulton .

1
2
8
4
ft
0
7
8
9
10

11

12
18

14
15
18

17
18

19

20
21
22
23
24

a

H

27
28
29

0
1
12
1

4

5

7

8

it
1
12

1

4
5

ti

7
8
9

JO

1

2
1

4
1
1

a

7
18

9

18

i

,2

a

64
65

1

1

<

4

43,500

9

11,000

4

1

l

1

25

4

18

8

6,700

8,700

15,400

R. S. Wigfield
John M. Rowley
John Schuster, Jr
Arthur T. Noren
Winton J. White

17

4
30
t

4
4
1
1
4

8

25
4

'435,568
34,000

ft

218,762

9

32,460

1

1

6
6

3

12

1

12,74

12,74

1

4

1

64,008

•

1

1

148

!

4

2

30,000

300

31,800

Kenneth V.C.Wallace.

4
4

1

S9,101
514,527
55,714
19,125

1
1
1
1

1

1
3
1

1

4

6

12,478

1,547

14,025

A. F. Eschenfelder
Frank DeMartine

j

^

a

1

o

4
3
1
I

8,320
15,000
*8,624

1

Edmund S. Johnson . . .

8

1
1

2
2

1

1

1
1
ft

3,725
32,400
7,347

C.C.Hitchcock

6

11
3
4

1
9
4

1

'is

ft

16

21
ft
1
9

4
1

103,483

725,000
613,200
152,600
10,779
"60,010
18,574

1

14,110

2

1
12

13
oq

,'

8

20
24

1

(

18
35
4
1
S
7

9,200

5,454

10,000
36,666

14,654

25,000
36,666

Philip LeBoutillier

Frank A. Deisler
Arthur G. Humphrey . . .
James P. Crai?

11

352,000

1

10

2

2

5

8

2

7
7

22,876
8,009

s

11,000

2,256
5,210

13,816
5,210

1

1

2
A

I

6

0

25,000

6

H. W. Heilmann

2
7
2

.5

10
3

1

7
12
ft

43
3

55,740
38,945
'13,102
144,231

362,849,371
34,000

1

4,363

ft

19

4
7

12,224
26,852
3,050

1

1

4
4

1
8
4
5

15
2

2
4
2
2

25

2,898
6,173

2,898
6,173

Dyer T. Jones

1

4
1

2

2

4
2

2

Arthur J. Garthwaite . . .
Charles L. Juliana
Gerald R Griffin

9

8

71,265

1

1

4
7

2

33

200,000

40,322

240,322

Ernest H Seibert

1

2,000

5

1

1

2
ft

18
1
1

20
15
4

1
2
1
1

1

1

9
3

20

9

3
20

13
12
4
2

751,237
128,319
900,000

153,200
'194,053
'40,000
'4,800

8

75,000

1

5
4
50

13
3

2

'23

2
1

4,739
17,369

2,666

4,739
58,234

32,368

leeve B. Harris
Charles A. Winans

U1

35,815
""29,708

1
2

47,227
27,000

g

13
6

10
9

1

69,300
67,265
45,000

1

2

4

2

21
13
4
4

Charles T. Kochek

6

2
2

1

2

2

55,000

2

1

1
1

2

lobert J. Tierney
W. A. Robbins

j

1

1
1

9
5
1

10

5 11, 480
95,000

1
1

1
4

1

^

1

10
g

1

1

852

9
3

1

I. Marjorie Wilson
H. S. Kennedy

1

1

5

77,927
M.OOO

204,000

2

24,819

5

8,014

1
1

2

1
1

7

8

1

1

1

9

2,040

2,040

1

3,000

1

3

47

1

7

5,000

Fred Cooper

^

W. E Short

15

15

496,623

3

17
1

11

2

i=l

2
1

20
2

2

"i

12

2

i

4

498,490

498,490

i". S. Mathewson
Hharles A. Beaue
Herbert R. Welch

1

2
1

e

i

20

1

1

500

0

e
0

2

28
4
8

20,000

4

1
8

1

8
1

6
1

10

2

1

William E. Boland

34,888
12,039

360,000
85,024
553,803

3

a

1

6
4

ohn Milne

4

1
"4

1

6

1,280

1,280

Ray A. Paulson

10
4

28,445
23806

2

0

10

1

6

1

1

70
1
15

1
2

6

1
4

1

Frederick F. Futterer . . .
ackson J. Perry

44
4

2
1

8,675
2.100

1,910

8,675
4.500

2,326
1,200

8

1

1,350

ft

1

1

1
4

2

2,400

deorge Syme, Jr

Mrs. Elaine T. Pollard. .

Bernard MacDonald
Willard Hamlin

2

7

1

25
45
1
8
1
1
1

2
7
1

28
45
2
8
1
1
1

30,000
'44,484
5,745

4,872,655
'560,209
5,400
95,000
20,000
2,630
35,000

1

3,072

1

2

1

1
7

3

70

1
11

Alfred H. Pearson

'oseph F. Suttner
Carl H. Burkhardt
Maxwell H. Buckley. . . .

9

372,505

73
19
j

514,290
14,644

3

20

2

2

2

io

19

1

19,200

19,200

"i

2
2

1

1
1

i

1

l

8

10

500

500

oseph S. Wright
L.G. Bursey

I

8,024

2

2,620

1

1

1

5

fl

838

838

Ldrian L. Hull
Solon L. Butterfield

153

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNIT

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

Source of Financial Support t

a

i

"o
d
K

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

E

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For

Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

N. Y— Cent.

5,741
17,802
4,815
20,340

47,397
10,016
12,462
11,430
18,531
23,099
740
7,097

10,446
6,449
25,582

1
4

1
4

1

5

12

1,370
250
80

4,250

1,950
1,296
320

8,643

1,100
720

3,050
2,016
320

11,711

4,420
2,266
400

15,961
4,000
5,570

M
M
M

M
M '
M
M
M
M4P
M
M

M
M
M

P •
M

P

M4P
P
M

M

M

M
M
M
M

MAP
M
C
M
M
M
M
M

M
M
M

M
P
M

M

P
M
M
M
M
M
M
M '

M :'
M ;«

p '
p '

M '
M if
M If
M '
M -
M -
M *
M i
P
M ^
M c
M £
M
M f
C i
C
M <
M '

M

M i

P (
M <
P f

Board of Education

1

18
1

1
11

Division of Recreation, Department of
Public Welfare

2

25

45

3,068

Elmira .....

Recreation Department

Floral Park

1

1

2,870

650

2,050

2,700

Fulton

Recreation and Park Commission

Department of Public Works

5,422
14,049
12,441
382

6,700
4,461
500
300
9,748
5,800

4,024
2,997
2,524
498
4,869

24,170
5,000
6,000
2,549
659
9,447
2 11, 508
4,800
35,378
165
240
J3 1,484

39,628
'1,631,733
"498,159

50,765
3,900
5,000
2,420

710
2,188
3,000
13,951
2,000
3,024
1,650
1,275
7,232
8,064
9,000
2,460

145,754
9,745
5,500
656
36,051
1,505
1,917
459,765
6,400
4,360
37,277
26,269
11,949
15,000
"735,037
135,921

Recreation Commission and Outing Club

2

2
1

5
6
1

2

1
1

2
3
1
?

M!

5,814

813
57

640
1,108
230
100
584
1,000

963
1,725
157
10
242

493
325

5,310
1,399
270
200
5,190
4,200

1,410
1,260
1,105
488

5,321

5,814
325

6,060
2,168
270
200
6,140
4,500

3,061
1,272
2,158
488
4,277

Board of Education

Hastings-on-Hudson

Recreation Division, Community Service

3

15

25

750
769

Recreation Commission

i.iss

Hudson Falls

Playground Board

20,708

45,155
13,567
16,482
28,088

2,930
5,282
23,160
407
11,766
423,881
5,127
61,499
1,070
7,649
31,275
54,000

6,930,446

75,460

19,019
8,378
5,392

21,790
10,558
15,241
22,652

Board of Education

11

3

|

4
4

3,024
300

950
300

1,651
12
1,053

100

24

Park Department, Board of Public
Works

Jamestown
Johnson City

]

1

24

11

Board of Education
Board of Education

8
3
15

12

....

4

8

209

350

Kingston
Lake Placid . .

Department of Recreation, Board of
Public Works

1

12

57

Village Board

Larchmont

Park and Recreation Committee

2

7
1
1

4
11

1
2

20

3,000

500
196
23

1,500
2,353
350
1,620

1,000

2,500
2,353
362

Lockport

Board of Education

274

12

Mamaroncck
Monroe County65. .

Park Commission

Department of Public Welfare

?

1

450

22,698
150
200
8,700

33,992
740,560
422,746

6,260
2,700
3,600
1,078

479

Mount Vernon. . . .
Naples

Recreation Commission

31

1

23

6

22

22

240

7,856
15
40
6,284

4,040
48,800
51,179

9,798

4,584

27,282
150
200
18,700

35,588
1,582,933
446,980

40,967

Board of Education

Newark

Board of Education

1

Newburgh

Recreation Commission

6

44

377
931

8
1
3
5

2

11

21

457
1128

8
1

2
1

3

2

17
496
4

1

2

20

50

38

6,500

10,000

1,596
842,373
24,234

34,707

New Rochelle
New York City. . . .

Niagara Falls

North Tonawanda.
Norwich

Bureau of Recreation, Department of
Public Welfare

/Department of Parks

Board of Education

Recreation Commission, Bureau of
Parks

Community Center Association14
Department of Parks and Recreation. . .
Park Commission

1

4

5

109

450

783

1,861

Nyack

Women's Civic League Recreation Com-
mittee

Clean

Board of Education

505
150
4,415
500
314
100
462
1,855
450

1,683
1,950
250
300

1,683
2,850
7,556
1,500
2,710
1,550
813
5,377
7,312

Oneida

Park and Playground Commission
Recreation Commission

1

34
10

10
9

900
7,306
1,200
2,710
1,550
813
4,697
5,230

Ossining

3

10

1,980

Oswego

Department of Works

Peekskill

17,125
11,851
4,540
22,662
40,288
500
1,569
328,132

32,338
13,169
4,060
95,692
7,986
3,737

209,326

6,841
72,763

101,740
32,205
520,947
5,500

35,830
134,646

50,193
9,737
5,117

Board of Education

8
2
2
15
21
1
1

6
1
1
11
53
1

Pelham

School Board

Pleasantville
Port Chester

Board of Trustees

Recreation Commission

1

35

5

680
2,082

Poughkeepsie
Purchase

Board of Education

302

Community House, Inc

1

68J

28

1

Rhinebeck

Recreation Association

11

485

24,535
2,245
2,400
120

1,900

36,860
5,000
3,100
296
8,650
390

75

84,359
2,500

1,975

121,219
7,500
3,100
296

Rochester

Division of Playgrounds and Recreation,
Park Bureau

24
15
2
1
12
1

27
15
2
1
12

Rome

Public Works Department

60

35

Saratoga Springs . .
Saugerties

Board of Education

Playground Board

....

5

5

240

Schenectady

Department of Parks and Recreation. . .
Board of Education

Solvay

600

320

195

585

Southampton

Highway Department

Enicipal Recreation Commission. . . .
nbar Association, Inc.24

40
4
2
18
34

34
5
1

21

41

12
2
1
2

2

126,075

71,900

22,910
4,200
2,656
9,756
16,902

238,880

261,790

Tarrytown

19

efttion Cnmmissinn

9

35

1,585
6,893
6,779

119

20,628
2,588

2,775
30,384
19,490

Troy

Recreation Board

/Board of Recreation

Watertown

IPark Board

Recreation Department .

15

6

2

5

5,880

9,120

9,120

Westchester Co."9..
West Harrison ....

White Plains
Yonkers

(County Park Commission

\Recreation Commission . . .

74
1

35

5
1

34

20

8,268

42,939

51,560

33,154

84,714

Recreation Commission

Board of Education

5

10

106

1
I
I

8

6
107

' 1

3

150

2,637
1,300

650

9,981
12,455

100
235
230

3,350

26,092
28,190

1,800
1,389
2,082

3,350

56,004
67,093

2,300
1,389
2,082

4,150

68,622
80,848

22,400
1,624
2,312

Bureau of Playgrounds and Recreation
Centers. .

14

17

2
1

9

18
3
4

"*7

10

29,912
38,903

500

North Carolina

Asheville

Negro Welfare Council24

Burlington

Recreation Commission

Canton

Y.M.C.A

154

.ECREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number |

Baseball Diamonds, Number

I
a

£

s

_c
bo

B
2
"rt

O

i
a

z

$

o

!

6

Camps— Other Organized, Number |

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1
§

X

~a
e

1

.a
1

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number |

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number 1 1

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

. •§

1

1

i
i

i

i

i

6

1

5
08

Summer Only

School Year Only

Other Seasons

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

M
1

K

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

'5
1

5
14
2
1

2
4

2
6
1

10
14
2
1

35,703
86,700
56,240

5128,295
41,600
57,400
8,763

2

<K2,760

4

28,156

1
1

1

i

2
7

1

4
3

6

6,320
2,436

7,480
2,436

Vincent Cherico

Russell L. Augram
Mrs. A. E. Nield

1

33,081

9
2

31,715

9,922

1
'2

1

1

14
2

4

1

2
10

4
8

3,572
3,650

3,572
3,650

Vivian 0 Wills

1

6

8

Louis P. Weber
Willard Anderson
Joseph A. Stance
Burt M Keene

1

9,615

'i

2
1

4

i

2
1

ft

9

9

"s

2

3,183

3,i53

5
2
1

'2
1
2
9

3
3

6
2
1

3
3
1
2
12

127,392
520,000
54,321

33,280
"80,000
57,455
58,000
35,992

1

16,971

2
1

2

1

11
1

Marvin C. Williams

Robert W. Crawford. . . .
Mrs. John Campbell. . . .
David S Fisk

1

8,000

3

1
2

1
2

1

1

3

3
3

1
1

2,340

2,340

?

1
1

2

2

2

T. Elizabsth Hackstaff . .
E. E. Bredbenner

4

13,914

1

2

1

2

40,000

1

1

1

•4

1

Richard S. Baker

1
4

1
1

9

'i

2
4

1
8

3,000
524,796
52,730

1

5,428

1

5,428

2

2

900

James L. Gibbs

1
1
I

7
1

9

Harry T. Watson . .

1

H. B. Eccleston

i
4

6,568

i

A

Earl H. Ruckman . .

4

13

1

'i

8

fl

4

7

4

Sidney G. Lutzin . .

Edward Herb

1

12
1
2

1

12
1
f

30,000
60,956
6,345

1

5,000

g

30,000

8

8,945

1

4

1

3

2

3,913

6,172

A. E. Gay
Paul H. Rhode

i

1
1

1
2
1

i

2

()

R. J. Whitney

4

1

1

8
1

Robert W. Cochrane. . . .
F. Fulton Carpenter ....
R. W. Cammack

1
3
1
1
3

7
27

86

6

5

i4
'2

54

1

17
1
1
6

17

89
86

6

29,700
320,561
M.080
517,500
379,950

339,548
73,793,748
7,678,679

530,702

2
2

1

7

7,200
19,910
480

8,800
23,809
480

40,721

14

47,376

1

8

1

Iff

54
1

15

2,415

1

1

2
2
8

8

Roger Killian
H. W. Hatsell

1

1

1

14
1

49

3,024

103,598
120,000
2,397,969

1

l
14
11

2

3

8

158
27

2

5

3,000
6,200

3,000

6,200
23,000,000
1,960,234

13,284

Douglas G. Miller

11

5,191,717

2
6

9

Peter J. Mayers
James V. Mulholland . . .
Francis J. Brennan

Victor de Wysocki
J. M. Pollard, Sr

4

10

39

12

381
59

136

065

395

1,900,000

1

' 1

1

14

2

1

5
1

17

17

2

1

299,100
«720,725

7,248

6

124,615

1
1

1

8

l

1

i

12

9

1

9,720

9,720

W. L. Ramsay

1

0
1

Kurt Beyer

Edna B. Hopkins

I

H. W. Stone

8

1
5

8
5
|

534,487
28,645
45,000
70000

2

5

2,00)

Francis M. Donahue

1

82,078

1

1,800

1

1

7
A

9

4,750

Frederic T. Feeney
J. Francis Gill

1
1

1

3
1
2
3

i

3

1

1

1

John Devins

4

1

1

4

El. Isabel Mead

23,252

1

William T. Guion

0

25

1

f

II
8

5154,991
98,829

(

1

3

8
I

13
1

i

11

1

8,364

8,354

1,986

Sam J. Kalloch

j

1

1

Marion D. Coday

U
!

11

1

35

11

'2,500

3,950,517
162,000
59,000
5,000
200,270

1

29

t

]

1,250

3,372,191
8,000

I

18
«

i

1

A

1

Harold C. Davis

Gertrude M. Hartnett.. .
William L. Koch
Patrick B. Kearney
W. F. Keenan
F. H. Marvin
H. E. Hadlev

1
6

1

s

1

1

2
1

2

46
18

12

*!!

8

2
1
1
1

40
16

17
5

22
4

4
1

56,185
14,000

17,900
1,250

"i

37,332

5,000

5,666

17,000
1,250

2;

li
1(

8

30

10

18

1,056,932
8,734
43,002
5159,238
478,447

11

27,030
8,393
50,000

22

153,654
3,876

]

2j

1

1

1

\
\

10
1

78

5

23

30
1
9

25
4

504,300

54,524

558,824
4,433

William P. Nugent
Smith T. Fowler
Theodore E. Brown
Pauline T. Foley
Edtrard A. Wachter

JM. Esthyr Fitigerald..

10

55,095

1

9

1

24

9

20

7

250,000

15,000

265,000

1

12

903,23

3

185,000

' 2

7,000

2

11

"ft

4

i

12

8

1

11

3

14,000

14,000
13,503

Robert L. Banford
George S. Haight
E. Dana Caulkins

'i

'i

1
S

24,479
547,27

83,310
596,56

123,43
"71,86
81,000

2

4

i

Thomas E. Pietrani
Frank B. MeGovern

Frank T. Hanlon
James F. McCrudden . . .

Julius C. Highe
Ollie Stadler

3

18,500
242,450

i

(

17

•

82

L

23
i

27
<

21,300

21,300
'6,422

1

4,680

G. C. Suttles...'.

155

PLAYGROUND AND GOM'MUNn

Footnotes foil

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid

Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergenc>
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

Source of Financial Support f

1

*S
1

No. of Women

INo. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

8

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For

Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

N. C.-Cont.
Charlotte

82,675
52,037
17,093
53,569
36,745
1,500

11,362
9,652
100
37,379
53.013
32,270

75,274

11,090

5,451
28,619
17,112
1,650
500
5,268

255,040

23,934
2,035
6,688
104,906
451,160

900,429

1,250,000
50,945

290,564

1,201,455
200,982

8,818
8,675
39,667
12,751
12,790

3,791
9,859
589,356

16,621
7,069
70,509

18,716
42,287
44,512
33,525
1,800
14,524
5,518
30,596

16,314

4,427
10,944
16,009
10,622
24,622
17,783
6,198
4,399
68,743
35,422
11,249

290,718

Park and Recreation Commission

1

36
11
94
9

9

1

16
10
34

9

]
]
1
I

M
M
M
M
M

M
M
M
P
M
C&P

M

M&P

M

M
M
M
M
M
M&P

M

M
M
M

M
M
M

M

M
M&P

M

M

M
C

M
P
P
M
M
M
M
P
M

M
M
M&P

M

M&P
M
M
M
P
M&P
M
M
M
M
M
M&P
M&P
P
M
M
M
M
M&P
M
M

M
M

P

Recreation Commission

42
"66

3f

15,750
10,300
1,336
8,125

6,543
411
15,508
9,275

14,460
2,934
19,697
4,523

3,000

8,477
1,480
8,272
16,300

22,937
4,414
27,969
20,823

45,230
15,125
44,813
38,223

!5,500

Gastonia

Recreation Department

Recreation Commission

High Point

Park and Juvenile Commission

Hiwassee Dam. . . .

Kinst.nn

Training Division, Tennessee Valley
Authority

60

14

q

City, Recreation Council and W. P. A.. .

•j

o

Lexington

Board of Commissioners and Mayor. . .

1

1,000
1,600
2,900
2,820

1,170

8,838

586

12,000
2,600
3,600
8,340

5,371
17,526

20,649
1,300
17,500
11,707
1,250
450
1,500

49 240

Montreat

Mountain Retreat Association

i

1,000
700
2,384

1,498
5,720

4,742

1,600
2,900
4,556

3,873
11,806

8,898

Raleigh

Recreation Commission

1

4

3

I

17

|

. I
I

j
't

5

50
42

54

Wayne County72. . .
Wilmington73

Winston-Salem. . . .

North Dakota
Bismarck

Devils Lake

Memorial Community Building
Recreation Division, Public Works De-
partment

1,400

1,736

2,703
2,968

8,312

Public Recreation Commission

19

5

3

Board of Park Commissioners and World
War Memorial .

H

7,009

Board of Park Commissioners

Fargo

Park Board

3

*1

9

Grand Forks .

Board of Park Commissioners . .

3

1

6

2,214
200
150
500

3,490
200
150
500

16,240

1,612
450
50

4,391
400
100
500

22,541

6,003
850
150
500

33,000

Lisbon

Park District Board

1

Portland...

City of Portland

1

5
5

5
13

Valley City

City and W. P. A

Ohio

/Recreation Commission

50
T

15

I
1

10,459

Barberton

U. Edw. Good Golf Commission

13,861
1,610
213

Board of Education

1

982

628
120

628

Bluffton
Bowling Green
Canton

Board of Education

1

Park Board and W. P. A

?

1

Recreation Board . . .

31
239

80

137
5

6

10
133

77
126

j
U

20

I

2

3

11
274,201

14,570
83,460

10,652
82,793

8,352
53,223

19,004
136,016

33,585
493,677

327,144

86,587
23,424

28,418
15,695

49,086
6,260

200,225
500
3,500

7

3,766
610
36,072
600

Cincinnati

Public Recreation Commission ....

119

1725

Cleveland

Department of Parks and Public Prop-
erty

Department of Playgrounds, Board ol
of Education

14,147
1,271

1,865

2,674

9,975
2,975

. 50,320
50
1,000

57,502
2,052

6,000
11,058

25,666
3,285

30,015
300
2,000

14,938
101

20,553
1,963
6,803

72,440
2,153

26,553
13,021

32,469
3,285

119,905
450
2,000

Cleveland Metro-
politan Pk. Dist.75
Cleveland Heights.

Columbus

Cuyahoga County76
Dayton

Hiram House Settlement

28

Metropolitan Park Board

Division of Public Recreation, Board oi
Education

30
102

21
37

1

9
?

4
3

38

Division of Public Recreation, Depart-
ment of Public Service

6,642

Recreation Commission

Bureau of Recreation, Department ol
Public Welfare

86
]

2
5

15

58

<i

333

30,000

89,890
150

Defiance

Men's East Defiance Booster Club
Cooperative Recreation Service

Delaware

1?

500

East Cleveland
Euclid

Service Department

12
4

1
1

6
6
1

Board of Education

Fostoria

/Board of Education

150
285
150

460
465
450

460
2,037
450

Geneva

\Park Commission

33,750

1,572

Young Men's Club

1
1

1

Girard

Liberty Memorial Park Board

Hamilton County77
Ironton

Recreation Commission of Cincinnati
and W. P. A

5
8
g

1

2

11,000

2,900
1,407
200

3,000
1,753
300

11,000
1,100
3,940

2,200

5,200
1,753
450

19,100
3,160
650

26,300
1,200
8,203
5,575
3,655
4,000
26,181
21,400
4,692
5,592
4,400
4,500
3,440
1,130
7,000
1,045
6,273
1,000
421
2,946
32,462
1,750

109,594
HOO

6.967

Recreation Board

Kenton

Department of Education .

150

Lakewood

Recreation Department, Board of Edu-
cation

71
1

76

1

5

Lancaster

Recreation Board and Y. M. C. A.

100
3,463
575
1,109
1,000
6,004

1,100
3,940
3.800
2,546
3,000
8,976
400
4,492
3,693

Lima

Recreation Board

8
6

9

800
1,200

Lorain

Park Commission

Mansfield

Recreation Board

8

10

13
6
3

5
12
10

2,300

246
3,000

Mariemont

Thomas J. Emery Memorial Board

Martins Ferry
Miamisburg

Recreation Commission

8
2

1

<1

11,201
1,000

Recreation Board

400
1,042
2,609
2,312

Newark

Board of Education

3
3

1

200
1,899

3,450
1,084

Niles

(Recreation Commission

1

44

74

Orrville

\Pftrk Commission

4
1

1

Board of Park f!ommissioni>rs

Painesnlle

Recreation Board

3

6

1

5

1

10

75
25

1,440
1,000
3,000
585
5,573

Piqua. . .

School Board

130
2,000
235

1,000
4,000
585
6,273
800

Sandusky

Memorial Building Association . . .
Recreation Commission

1
4

1

1,000
225

1,000

Shaker Heights
Shelby

Board of Education

13
?

8

700

Seltzer Memorial Park Board

200

South Euclid
Springfield

Department of Recreation

1

Recreation Board

12

1
1

3
3

26
201

1,586
6,243

1,281
8,829
1,050

24,265

79
6,970

1,360
15,800

Steubenville
Struthere

Department of Parks and Recreation.. .
Park Board and Recreation Board

9
3

7

10,418
500

50,630

Toledo

[Division of Parks and Recreation, De-
partment of Public Welfare

32
?

6

7

12

14,271

20,428

44,693

Metropolitan Park Board

Frederick Douglass Community Asso-
ciation*4

1

1

2

10

18

175

2,740

3,450

602

4.052

156

£CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

table.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

J

a

55

4
-3

K

3
33

1
55

•a

c

I
.S
Q

1

1
55

S

ja

M

a
13
"S
«

1

55

S

o

[

1

J

a

55

1

1

S

b

ja

1

55

1

S
S2

1
S

1

55
*o
S

^H

O

O

"o

O

1
|

£

1
c

1

M

.a

CQ

1
55

8

T

C

1

S
I

w

M

&

4

1

.3

a

i

Emergency Service

>,
3

•3

1

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Year Kound
Summer Only

>

8
>

8

.c

I

1

J3

0

1

|

IP

1^1 B

•sill

"3 S-s "S

sill

E-iOaPnCQ

£

B

55

S°

•fel-a

s °

£li

3 §'•£

O S C5

HwPW

1

a
£

8
§ >>

4||

Jx'g.S1

1
55 a

1 ^
PL< "8

bo t

•s -1

"2 S

.« 3

£ 55

a

£
"o

1
55

Land,
Buildings,
Permanen
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

Source of
Information

. 11

3 :

.. E
3 t
c

1 ..

2 . .

. .

'i

1

1

379.00C
218,16
110,68
108,01
527,OOC

1

r

2<

1 1

i;

i

Walter J. Cartier. . .
C. R. Wood

1

2
3
4
5

6
7
8
9
10
11

12
13

14
15
16
17
18
19
20

21
a
22
23
24
25
26

37

•
b

28
39

0

1

2
3
4
5
6
7
•
S
1

0

1

2

3
4
5

M

f

8
1
0

)

4
a

)

126,88

44,30

42.00C

19,18
3,69(
8,6(X
8.50C

61,18
4,48
18.60C
63.50C

71,93

00,00

100,000

66,66
19.00C

10.00C
50.00C

H. Rutter
Daniel R Neal

W. F. Bailey

0. D. Johnson. . . .
Charlotte M. Hill

6 :
l ..

*18,000
146,31
169,000

30.00C

30.00C

John B. Craven
Albert R. Bauman
G. M. Matlaek

6,84

.. i

1
1

2!

10,14
94

7,54
20,34

10,14

48.68

23,11
17,40

8,87

i

17 .

72

'i i
is

94

7,54
23,460

Charles Stapleton
Flora Miller

". 1:
.'
..

.. ..

! . 13
i . . .

1
1

717,404

11,97
10,000
«73,70
«14,28
16,000

5,82

Loyd B. Hathaway
Myron H. Atkinson. . . .

2,89
17,79
19,25
3<X
7!
7,42

424,52

F G Storrs

3,12

3,83

Mrs. M. B. Kannowski
C.G.Mead

17

36

48

12,000
390,400

\

10,000
59,110

3,360
233,80

i

49

3 17

3

7
7,42

149,52

E. R. Foss
Donald R. Henderson. .

Willis H. Edmund. . .

34

275,000

I . 8

38

8

6
14

304,000
. 6,500

*

KS.OOO

!

18,000
18,300

'2

5
40

55

10
9
19

4 3<

1
164

70

14

40

14,44
2,020

14,44
2,02

. 1
1 3 2
i . 14
J9 44

r:3 29

i . 59
> 1 ...

A. J. B. Longsdorf

1

2

12
22
158 .

72

498,743
1,471,480

2,000,000

1,721,499
148,000

13
11

25
197

25,141
751,081

3 1
. 145

7 240

1 24
1 30

3 8

23,55
855,07

983,91

50,765
4,364

C W Schnake

53

70

59
]

504,744
2,973,588

5

•;

2

5

<4

456,74

290,49

Tarn Deering

Margaret E. Mulao
G. I. Kern

30
6

353,733
350,000

4,364

tlary E Gilbert

1

1

V. A. Stinchcomb
Earle D. Campbell

4 24
:. 101

5 27
. 1

11
18

11

28
19

32

1

«24,676

530,577
5,038,428

5960,841
15,000

10

1

14

13

9,000

9,000

15,722
161,939

46,720

10
15

162,862

6

M

29,831

1

1

9

45 1

4 35

?0

(

158

39

46

161,689
46,720

Charles L. Ho wells

506,763

12

4

10

1

i

1

3

3

i

1

56 1
4

0 69
1

1

. 7
. 5

. 5

7
5
5

167,610
86,439
75,000

1

1

12
1?!

1 14
5

6
4
6

»

5

2

1

5
4

1

t

5
1
2 .

1 6
1

1,440

). W. Trubey

1

1

R L Collins

L 1

i' J
) 6

! "2

I 9
, 4

9
1 6

16

1

1

1

7

13
2
3

6
5
5
12

360

360

1

1

1

1
1

4
19

2 1

5 16
8

.. L. Willi^m^

'5
4

25
5
2

14

4

1,891,000
108,057
1,050

815,705

'a

2,740

51
1

"12,666

0

19

69.000

32,400
2,966
990

101,400
3,563
990

30,000

j^m Dpftring , L

velyn Edelson

1

2

2

6
1

2

21
8
9
16
7

1 3

3 27
1 7
3 20
3 22

j. E. MnKinlpy

17

375,421

i
i

1

'i

harles A. Foster

9

10
16

297,376
192,194
244,894

2

4

1

3
7

?

12,462
31,480

12,462
31,480

larold C. Dillon

7

113,179

2

j«orge J. Crehore ....

i

loyd Dent

1
1

30,000
25,847

1

'l
2

1
2
1
2
3

6

iVarren W. Parks

. 7
2
15

i 2

2

'i

9
2
15
8

176,935
20,000
H91.856
231,325

5

107,591

i

i

i

7
5
14
8

1 11
1

2

13,000

7,836

20,836

arold K. Williams
ussell Becker

1

1 16
2 16

10
13

4,771
18,096

4,771
18,096

joyd G. Millisor

2

8,500

9

79,630

W. G. Llewellyn

7
6
2
4
6

7
6
2
4
6

18,000
40,000
48,000
34,191
59,864

3

4

1
1

1

1

2
3

1
5
2

1

i

4 ..
8
?

7
1 ....

1

3,000

3,000

tanley Prague
aymond S. Mote
M. Kelley

1

2

12,600
29,856

1

4

s

23,826

2

1
1

1 ..

?6

. 10

8

13,591

13,591

liiabeth Niles

liar lea A. Thornton
ert Fix

1

2
10
10
3

i 35
2

2
10
10
3

45
3

"23,762
'254,000
*170,129
•70,750

•1,054,513

1
2

1

1

3

6 ..
3 ..
8 ..
3

55
6

10
. 21
. 15
1 12

1 75
4

1

5
5
3

61

''rank G. Curtiss. .. ..

17,000
78,180

6
4

2

22

S

11,250
13,500

11,250
78,906

Yilliam F. Keller

61,198
20,000

3

1
3

21
6

2

1

I. B. McClintock

ndrew M. Lindsay ....
rnest Curley, Jr

13

648,463

1
2

1

«2

8

1,577,598

121,968

1,699,566

Sed Bridenbaugh

1

56,252

?,

3

2

tarenoe L. Thomas

157

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUNIT

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Eme'gency
Workers)

Vo un-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

•si

a
S
o
o
55

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

§
^

;f
-§

2

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other

Services

Total

Ohio — Cont.

7,044
8,675

41,062

170,002
36,440

11,261

Recreation Board

2
5

6
81

2
4
4

1

3

5
30

250

500
1,587

500

750
11,808

11,153
9,200
5,400
99,754

50,015
1,300

910

4,033
1,100
5,600

900

1,800
M9.160
34,500
50,000

140

2,875
435
318

101,847
7,343

143,170

35,699
2,500
4,958
175
925
25,631
8,678
524

860
1,875
3,473
1,354
5,700

2,373

M
MAP

MAP
M
P
M

M
M

M
M
M
MAP

MAP
M
M
M

M

M
M
M
M
M

M
M

C

MAP
M
M
M
M
MAC
M
M

M
M
MAP
M
M

M
M
M

M

MAP

C

M |
M |

M
M

MAP
MAP
M
P
M
P

M

MAP

M .
MAP

P I

MAP L
M ..
M

M i

P c

MAP -
M i

Troy

{ outh Recreation Commission and Park

462

Warren

Park Department and Recreation Corn-

200

4,700

2,300

2,000

4,300

2
33

7
3

4

2
23

1

6

3

1

4

9

Park and Recreation Commission
Board of Park Commissioners, Town-
ship Park District

13,000

12,406
300

17,794

6,250
1,000

68,960
28,243

86,754

34,493
1,000

3

2

3,116

Playground Board

Oklahoma
Ada

Park Commission

2,236
9,301
8,363
4,806

8,064

185,389
141,258

5,325
4,544

3
3
3

. 1

2
1
1

2,177

206
50

140
1,050
2,100

300

500
11,565
18,500

1,510

1,650
1,050
2,100

700
1,300

' 27,000

Recreation Board

3,500

Mangum

Park Department and Parent-Teacher
Association

4

200
500

400
800

8,500

4

Oklahoma City....
Tulsa

/Recreation Division, Park Department
\Board of Education

27
69

38
109

6

552

651

7,500

Park Board

2

10,000

Oregon

Albany

Board of Education

1

Park Board

1

4

Eugene ....

18,901
8,050
6,621

Playground Commission

7
I

4
]

I

512

25

2,363
410
318

73,955
3,232

La Grande

Recreation and Playground Committee .
Park Commission

13

3

410
182

28,436
3,232

' 136
45,519

Portland

301,815
26,266

1,374,410
92,563

82,054
5,940
3,506
17,147
120,546
57,892
5,296
19,306

23,568
12,558
12,596
4,851
15,731

59,164
15,201
14,582

7,004
280,264
4,548

115,967

14,359
16,508
6,156

Bureau of Parks, Department of Public
Affairs

•27
10

100
68

29
8

21

25
14

9

680
1,760

27,212
2,351

Salem . .

School Board and Park Board

10

Pennsylvania

Allegheny County80
Allentown

Department of Parks

Recreation Commission and School
Board

1

14

107

18,000
400

4,679
1,100
1,964

20C
15,000
1,675

13,020
1,000
2,994
173
325
10,631
7,003

Altoona

Park and Recreation Commission

1,000

" 173
225
10,118
5,720
315

180
1,263
2,820
1,042
700

Avalon

Borough Council

1

2,994

Borough Council

1

Beaver Falls

Recreation Board

1

s
1

39

8

25
57

400

100
513
1,283

Berks County81....

Recreation Board

51

2S

35
17

....

Recreation Board

Blairs ville

Borough Manager

Bradford

Parks Department and Playground
Commission

Butler

Women's Club, School Board and City.
Borough Council

4
I

1

3

4

4
3
6
2

300

312

398
89
1,000

1,263
3,075
1,265
3,200

Canonsburg

4

255

223
2,500

Carlisle .

School Board and Borough Council ....
Board of Education

Catasauqua

1,500

Cheltenham
Chester

Township Parks and Playgrounds Com-
mittee

Recreation Board and Department of
Parks

Clairton ....

Bureau of Recreation, Department of
Public Affairs . . .

1

1
1

2

98

2,600

2,575

2,400

2,850
1,155

2,400
5,050

5,000

7,625
1,517
7,615

2,191
4,094
21,261

62,798
4,348
1,863

Coatesville

Department of Parks and Public Prop-
erty . . .

5
4

4
4

2,200

Crafton81

Recreation Committee

2

Delaware County. .
Downingtown

Park and Recreation Board88

9

Kerr Memorial Park and Board of Edu-
cation

1

6

1

8

729

477
2,364

275
2,316
3,959

1,187
1,301
14,938

1,462
3,617
18,897

[School Board

1 Bureau of Water

Farrell

1 Department of Parks and Public Prop-
[ erty

?

City Council

1

2,457
117

543
351

433
1,079

915
316

1,348
1,395

Greensburg

Playground Association

4

5

Grove City

Borough Government

Harrisburg

80,339

Department of Parks

32

1
13

18

1
18

1

8,000
400
16,733

Kennett Square . . .

6,825
59,949

10,644
25,561

13,357
9,668
5,647
1,824
8,675
2,716
3,017
12,995

Park and Recreation Board .

'Recreation and Playground Association
Buchmiller Park Trustees

2

35

18

6,500

2,577

7,478

178

7,656

Latrobe

Department of Parks and Public Prop-
erty

8,813
141
136
270

593
256
167
311

16,764
228

16,764
1,068
487
339

26,170
1,465
790
920
52
1,004
2,300
600
2,019
290
992

4,692

Playground Association

3
1

1
1

5

1
1

840
487
339

'Progressive Playground Association. . .
Southeastern Playground Association. .
Fifth Ward Playground Association

Lewistown

Lock Haven
Mechanicsburg. . . .
Mohnton

'layground Association

1
2
2
1
1
2

10

5
1
1
2

1
1

8

504

500

500

-"ark Commission

Recreation Board .

5

200

300

100

400

Monongahela
Mount Joy

Recreation Commission

Rotary Club. . .

258
378

3,261

Mount Penn. . .
Munhall*

Recreation Association

6

14

520
1,431

94

472
3,261

Homestead District Recreation Com-
mittee. . . .

158

.CREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

table.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number |

1

-a
a

a

3

I

Bathing Beaches, Number

1

a

I
|

a
6

Camps — Other Organized, Number |

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

Swimming Pools, Indoor, Number j

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

icar ivouiiu
Summer Only

School Year Only

Other Seasons

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
"Participants Only

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve*
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

3

8

4
f

50,000
513,113
450,000

1

4

1

684

684

1
ft

1

1

1

4

9

1

1

3

1

10

4

23

8

22,000

22,000
400
11,000

1

400

6
22

"G

7

3

1

2
38

12

1

7

8

John H. Chase

22
1

5371,700

212,026
532,776

9

1

3

1

2

1

1
1

2

4

8

1

8

3,000

Kenneth C Wible

5

M. M. Shamp
Wayne Wheelock

1

1
4

1

3

1

l

4

27,500
9,000

1

1

2
4

1

Ira A Hill

2

1

1

1
2

W. B French

9

1

1

1
1
9

2

2
4

26
19

3

1

12

12
4

2,600

2,600
200

1

3
23
47
A

11,400
10,000
3,560,434
840,532

1

200

C B Lewis

ii

1
1
3

1

10
6

i

H. G Freehauf

5

336,670

i

1

2

fl

8
4

40

56

65,559

265,559

47
6

3

1
7
4

2

21
5

47

357,677

Herschell Emery

r

2

42

1

17

1
1

10

2

12

7

3,500
1,483

0. A Zeigler

8

l
7

4

512,870
5,069
64,079

1

2

1,351

Frank B. Bennett

Dorothy Ann Knox
Gilbert A. Sprague

1

1

1

3

1

6
4

1

6
3

12

1,755

l

3

1

90
136

90
136

102,000

2

21
5

57,500

1,063,240
286,761

2

3

3
2
1

1

89

10

35

14
8

1

20
1

6

1

j

Mrs. A. C. Mclntyre....
Katharine E. Funk

8
1

185,104
23,000

7

1

77,789
1,800

8

l

1
1

13

1

10

9
5

2

1

2

1

20
13

' i

39
16

'40

5,537

5,537

200,000
2,000

2

10

2

1

200,000

Ben H. Giffen

Irene D. Welty....
R.H.Wolfe
Joseph N. Arthur .

20
15

20
18

741,497
521,901

1

43,200

1
3
37
16

1

3

37
l(i

55,625
34,625
532,079
599,397

1

1

1

200
2,009
4,185
6,000

H. E. Drew

2
26

6

7,500
12,362
32,316

1

5

17
2

2

1
2

1,909
4,185

99

5

1

8

4

Lloyd H. Miller

1

4

1

Robert M. Shultz

1

H. C. McCrea

1
4

1

2

1

1
1

•}

j

J. L. McCutcheon. . .

4

50,000
80,400
23,660

' 7

Ellis W. Love

6

8

1

l
5

18

1

8,160

8,160

Cecil F. Barnes

6

1

3

11
6

4
1

1

1
10

1

1

1

George P. Searight

1

1
1
2

8

B

3

1

1

10,000

240

13,540

J. Russell Moat

1

4

Harold C. Pike

11

g

1

11
15
4

11
35
1

William P. Lear
Michael E. Wargo

(i
ft

199,129

4

1

61,608

8

1

4,926

1

10,340

1

4

q

1

1

12
6

I

Chester Ash

1

3

10,427

1

1

Dr. D. M. Albright

1

1

7

765

Carl H. Schmitt

I

10

12,500
588,116

1

4

John P. Noll

8

3
1

A

ft

17

1

D. G. Evans

1
1

1

1. S. Dunwoody

6

1

1

9

Gale H. Ross

3

7

1
17
1
16

8
7
1

67,080
33,261

12

12

1,659

John Hetra

A. W. Leeking

1

8
26

I

3

3. F. Smith

17

367,300

1

1

1

William C. Pelton

Mrs. George Ladley
VGrant D. Brandon

3. Warren Seldomridge. .
H. I. Snyder

16

396,061

1

15,000

7

40,831

1

2

9

6

14,000

1

17

8

2
1

1

1

Ml

29

5
1
1
1
4
1
1

(

1
1

12

5
1
1
1
4
1

561,750
30,500
23,625
7,750
526,869

1

1

1

2,000

1

E.F.Frank

PaulE. Kuhlman

1

1

2

1

300
192

Mrs. S. L. Allison
Mrs. W. T. Betts
W. W. Strong

4
Ii

1
1

4

1
1

1

1
2

1

2

7518

f

Albert A. Werner

9
1

54,920

<
4

1

1

1,086

Mrs. Carl E. Gibson. . . .
Joseph D. Moore

1

12

31,764
5174.122

1

1

17

13

450

450

T. A. Hasley
T. M. Rutter

159

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUN

Footnotes j

a

"8

A

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

+-
1

•o

B

a

"o

1

No. of Women

f.

H

l«

dS

Zi*

Activity Leaders

£

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

\

I

10
11

12
13

14

la

It
1
18

19

20
2

sa

23
24
2o
26

27

28
29

30
31

ta

83
34
M

M

37

38
39
40
41

42
43
44

45
46
47
48
49
50

51

52
53

54
55

Penn. — Cont.
Myerstown

2,59
23,00
35,85
7,67

1,950,96

12,02

669,81

9,266
111,17

6,313

1,468
7,433
143,433

2,797

25,908

4,395
3,85
1,236

15,626

8,055
14,863
24,545
12,325
464
4,908
250,000

45,729

1,484
3,111

55,254

10,304
27,612

252,981

4,460
10,997

62,265
14,774
29,154
2,419
8,776
11,780

16,465
1,009
1,290
1,657
10,946
663
3,659
10,404
2,664

33,362

881
2,850

10,214
1,108

Uhrich Playground Association, Inc. . .

3
70(
8(X

10(
74

W

P
M

Mi

P

M

P
P

P
M
M

M

M

MA
M
M

M

MA

MA
P

M

M

MAP

MA

P
MA
M
M

P

£

M
M
P
M
M

MAP

M

MAP
M
M

P

M
M
M

M

MAP
M

M

MAP

M*P

New Kensington.

School Board

22
1

14
1

4

19

70(
8<X

School Board

Palmert.nn , ,

Neighborhood House, New Jersey Zin
Company

7!
1

5

Philadelphia

Phoenix ville
Pittsburgh

Bureau of Recreation, Department o
Public Welfare

53,43

2,98
6,08

7,764

146,75
4,35
12,31

32,83

148,63
5,12
3.50C

6,74

295,38
9,48
15,81

39,57

348,82
12,47
"21.90C

47,34
281,01
3,58

445,46

60,000
2,090
=28,69
1,01

107,28
1,83
500
1,27

35,023
700
1,130

1,038
3,558
1,530
1,800
70
315

7

480
1,630
3,680
2,576
5,750
5,883

60,994

21,620
630
4,192
7,958
4,448

316
15,086
37,352
54,263
6,200
322

38,874
7,729
4,740
2,300
2,729
13,618

1,399
349
2,000
7,659
8,055
200
13,552
6,970
248

Children's Playhouse Trustees

Playground and Recreation Associatio
j Smith Memorial Playgrounds and Mar
tin School Recreation Center

1

1

50

[Fairmount Park Commission1

Rewpat.inn CVimtnissinn

15

11

75C

50,65

10,000
4
1,000
52

10,69
14
50
4

8,71
100
1,13

33
1,32
35
200

2,68

164,47

15
69,19

2,83
233,67

50,000
2,04
27,69
49

35,48
29

Bureau of Recreation, Department o
Public Works

4

161,14

Bureau of Parks, Department of Publi
Works

Punxsutawney . . .
Reading

1 Soho Public Baths

B

4:

2,04
25,07
49

25,52
28
360
1,23

15,11
500

[Board of Education

2,620

Y. M. C. A. and Board of Education

Board of Public Playgrounds and Recre-
ation

8

6!

81

61,10
1,400

9,96
1

Ridgway

Recreation Commission .

Robesonia

Recreation Board

St. Marys

Boys' Club of St. Marys

1,23

24,86
600

Scranton

Bureau of Recreation, Department o
Public Works

4

2

1

1,45

9,74
100

/Public Schools

Sharon ,

1 Community Council

1

3

[Youth Welfare Committee, Chambe

45

250
2,23
48

250
2,23
68
1,600
7
24

Somerset
Souderton

[F. H. Buhl Farm Playground

Lions Club
Playground Association

10

20

500

200

Spring Grove
Sunbury
Titusville

School Board

4

225

25
15

(Kiwanis Club

50

2

I Oppenheimer-Weinrich Trust Fund anc
{ Parent-Teacher Association

Recreation Board

25

80

350
88
3,280
86
250
1,85

13,12

25

37

Warren

3

Washington

Recreation Board

200
1.14
3,500
2,364

5,91

600
155
2,539
1,06
1,797

100
4,553
7,998
8,677

200
563
500
1,338

300

3,480
1,43
750
3,190

13,42

West Chester
West Leesport . . .
West Reading. . . .
Wilkes-Barre and
Wyoming Valley9
Williamsport

Womelsdorf

Civic Association Recreation Council

40

Recreation Board

10

20

1,500
329

41,650
50

Board of Recreation

Playground and Recreation Association
of Wyoming Valley

30
1(

28

50

Department of Parks and Public Prop
erty1 . . .

Playground Committee

•j

336
799
5,687
2,390

160

5,564
22,354
8,574

139
853
810

475
1,653
6,49
2,65

176
10,025
22,354
45,586

Wyomissing

Playground Association ...

York

/Recreation Commission

2

13

'"5

100

400

Rhode Island

DumberlandM
Newport

Post 14, American Legion

40
508
7,000

26

16
4,461

Board of Recreation Commissioners. . .
/Board of Recreation

i
48

7:

11

9

South Kingstown94
Westerly

[Park Department

37,012

Neighborhood Guild and Town Council
School Board .

5

',

2

13

11
6,000

308

12,874

311
12.874

South Carolina
Charleston

ioard of Parks and Playgrounds'
City and W. P. A. .

30

ll

15

14

20,000
5,469
100

Florence

jrreenville

Chillis Wheatley Association24.

1

1

i

4

4

15

330
300
874
450

3,710
2,000
1,855

600

4,310
2,000
1,855
600

5reer

School Board

M
M
M '

M -
M •
M <
M 4

M <
M <

M <

M 1
P 5
M 5
M
M 5
M 5
MAP 5

i>

)rangeburg

' ayground Commission

3umter

Trees and Parks Department

1

10
9

14

12,568

South Dakota
Aberdeen

Park Board

1

Armour

City Council

1

31ark

Joard of Education

3

i

2

500

1,500

1,500

)ell Rapids
Huron

'ark Board

f!ity Commission

5

6
2

6,157
4,600

428

375
200
360

2,652

3,027
200
2,160
1,000
226

rtclntosh

3ity Council . . .

i

•ierre
Rapid City
Redfield

'ark Department and W. P. A
City of Rapid City

2

1

3

10,542
5,670

850
300
22

1,800
1,000

Recreation Committee

1

4]

1

1

5

226

Recreation Department and W. P. A.

1

pringfield

[Park Board

Recreation Board

1

3
1

1

1

528

175

703

703
3.500
1,035
2,471
820

fermillion

'ark Department

3

Youth Council

(Veonsocket

Park Board

1,541
175

930

930

./ity and Commercial Club . . .

1

1

S

120

160

IREATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number

Baseball Diamonds, Number

Bathing Beaches, Number

J
E

Z

£

P

!

Camps — Other Organized, Number

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1
6

55

0

o
-o

1

1

!

1

j

cc

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

1
E

55
i

1
.1

1

Emergency Service

£
Q

•a

6

S5

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

>

C

•j.

School Year Only

Other Seasons

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

1
§

%

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings
Permanen
Improve-
ments

; Leader-
ship

Total

Source of
Information

Mrs. Haze .C. Farquhar
Elizabeth Morgan

1

2

3

4

5

a
b

c

d

a

7

a
b
c

8

9
10
11
12

13
14
a

15
a

16
17
18
19

a

20
21
22
23
24
25

26

27

28
29
30

a

31
32
33
a
4

H

6
7
8
9
0
1

2
3
4
5
B
7
8
9
0
1
a
2
3
4
a
5

4

1!

85,000
6:!4 1,980

3

21,895

43

I

-

38

40

Leroy Lewis. . .
B. Margaret Tennant. .

Gertrude MacDougall
H. M.Shipe...

40

»«7,577,484
2'74,129

1

129

44

169,179

169,179

K

3

583,798
H

=359,628

2

91,000
296,847

56,054

12

10

C.H.English

Mrs. P. H.Valentine...
0. B. G. Fullaway

4,

j

si)

n

104

26,76
'796,687

546

1

15

9»1,852,405

T

20

w

2

25

10

209,000

26,566

235,566

Louis C. Schroeder

Ralph E. Griswold
Mrs. Chas. W. Houston
Harry B. Burns, M.D..

•

58,205

3l
30

:
12

32

442,361
32,000

J

159,246

i:

10

20

12

" 142

368,628
380

30
1
. 1
1

14

5579, 146
15,331
21,000
22,745

129,927

t

154,518

11

57,200

l

4

18

3

45

4

341,350

23,354
380

Thomas W. Lantz .
William G. Blowers. . .
Richard M. Moll

j

3

224,646

1

14

i

3

8

3

'4

i

2,655

7,543

27,920

1,000

4

1
1
1
1
1

2
3
5
9

4

1
1
1
1
1

?

4,583

517,192
524,000
52,000
30,000
3,311
22,825

I

13,879

1

o

2

3,444
1,600

4,308
2,125

Luther D. Grossman. . .
Earl D Bacon

14

1

7,000

1

1

(

•

670

670

A. J Kerin

j

Floyd G.Frederick...
J Milton Swartz

5

1

1

1

285

581

Paul F Keefer

Mary E. Holsapple...
Henry Ott Jr

3
5
9

18,000
31,504
42,000

1

0

0

450

470

1

1

1

Ellen Jane Smith

1

1

1

91!

"i
i

\'i

1
1

i

95,666

D inton E. Moffett
[Joyd L. Clemens

1
2

38

12
2
1
10

'l

1
2

38

12
2
2
10

50,000
572,282

1,150,000

146,670
3,250
538,000
5185,933

1

i

1
•^

i

4,000

80

l

2

26

2
\

4

1

10

5

1,795

Juth E. Swezey

H. E. Kempf
Annie L. Eberly

l
1

K

6

1

]

1

1

i
i
i

2,500
2,500
31,500

1

Allen W. Rank

6

8,550

1

1

16

2

15

1
"3

22

7

1

i

1,500
2,016

14,891

1,500
2,016

14,891

Frances J. White

Chester N. Hayes

2
3

17

'5

2
8

34

7,050
52,465
{1,500,000

?

1

1

11

1

)aniel J. Gorton
Lrthur Leland
Henry J. Bishop

2

20

25,124

1
19

812

1
1

5
19

1

11

1

SS

5
2

7

a

18,600

1

1
?

3

B

3

i

1,100

1,100

Emma H. Howe

2

10

56,510
1,290,829

4

W. H. Bacon

i
i
i

8,880
12,480
20,568

1

0
?

10

9

3
2
?

Corrinne Jones .

2

5,300

1
1

3
4

1

5,000

2,000
1,440

7,000
1,440

David G. Adams

7

5

16
5
8
4

71,949
40,000
5142,778
3,500

2
1

6

1

2
3

0

7

1
1

tfrs. Hattie Duckett
Villiam M. Albergotti...
A rs. Martha H. Zeigler. .
drs. Julia L. Dillon ....

ilrs. Alice Gambrel
Phil Felton . . .

3
2

43,000
9,250

7

110,780

5

3
16

4
10

3,744
15,600

3

8

1

1
2

5
1
1
1
5
2
2

5
1

83,300

2

18,000

3

2

I

4

1

1

1

1

1
I

3
1

1
1
1

i

1
1
9
1
5

1

'ie

i

2

300
600
6,687
440
2,450

500
5,600
7,137
440
5,472
10,000
1,232
11,220

3. F. Voss

1

3

9

1

5,000

E. P. VanBuren

5
o

516,195

1
1

26,000

1

Loftus H. Ward

i

i

3,000
3,669

1
1

2

j. B. Pitts

2

4

23,321

1

Fhilmer Benson

1

4

10,000

xslie H. Kiel

2
6

• •

2
6

26,000
10,000

1

3,000

1

2

1

4

8
9

"3

4

8

"i

560
11,220

3. A. Haddorff

Jarney A. Boos

1

3

1

'i

e

2

Viargit Arno
SlizabethFitzGerald....
E. A. Lcnhart

2
3
5

i

i

835

?

9

1

1

1

5

23,833

i

54,028

1

1

•>,

7

23

6,076

Irs. I. G. Bergh

1

i

Mary Andrew

1

2

31 2,200

1

900

1

1

i

330

330

f. D. Richards

161

PLAYGROUND AND GOMMUNH

Footnotes foil

to

8

"B
&

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

"8

g
3
•3
6
S5

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

E

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

1

s
s

4

1
•

7

8

V
10

11

12
IS
14
15

16

17
18
19
20
21
22

as

24
25

26
27
28

29

30

31
32
33
34
35

M

37

38
39

40
41

42
43
44
45
M

47
48
4!)

50
51

52
53

M

55

M

Tennessee

119,798

11,914
105,802

153,866

43,132
53,120

57,732

9557,500
260,475
9,587

102,421
163,447
52,938

12,622
292,352

5,036
7,311
16,203
7,913
10,470
15,649
50,902

231,542

5,225
10,848

17,113
52,848
43,690

3,047
3,248

5,093
2,826
9,979
5,172
40,272

3,045
14,766

140,267
3,727

11,307
9,816

24,789
1,822
835
17,315
6,955

24,149
15,245
22,247

40,661
34,417
129,710
28,564

182,929

4,833
10,271

Department of Public Utilities, Grounds

3
5

32
3

1

46

M
M

M
M

M
M

M

MAP
P
M
M

M
P
M
M

M
M
M
M
M
M
M
MAP
M
M
M
M
M
MAP

M
M

MAP

MAP

P
M
MAP
M
M

M
M
M
M

S

M

P
M
M
P
M

MAP

M

MAP

M
M
M
M
M
CAP

M

p

M
M

Kingsport
Knoxville

216

1,554

1,554

1,770

11,400
103,393

10,870
75,784

'29,000
1,134
3,054
98,276
1,046

33,152
12,000
82,509
8,000

12,364
3,872
216,982
42,468
8,500
1,350

Recreation Advisory Council and Wei-

508
25

63
36

34
1

42

15

31,771

21,247

16,409

33,966

50,375

Texas

Department of Recreation

57

13
1
1

22

5
1

12

70

6

9,559
22,000

16,684

35,771

13,770

49,541

[Department of Parks, Recreation and

Corpus Christ! ....
Dallas . . .

( Barnwell Community Center24

2
1
23

7
4
110

234
929

900
1,800

900
2,125

44
50
15

200

325

Park Board . .

19
4

37
3

Park Board

96
1,469

375
14,422

575

575
17,261

El Paso

(Recreation Department and Park De-

in

2
4
15
1

20
110
225
38

Fort Worth . .

2
32

1

2
23

60

6,159
1,000

35,506
700

24,321
1,200

16,523
5,100

40,844
6,300

Galveston

| Department of Streets and Public Prop-

Highland Park....
Houston

Town Council . ...

4

2,576
18,061

1,069
41,140

227
4,010

1,296
45,150

/Recreation Commission
jPark Department

35

1,

34

17

?.

15

260

153,771

Longview
Luf kin

Park Department

2
1

2

3

3

1,800
450

2,600

900

4,100
900

Marshall

Orange

City of Orange and W P A

1

7
8

60

240
177

720

794

1,020
971
2,400
9,352
26,573
26,966
57,000

6,175
8,679
16,345
4,229

2,095

875
9,410
1,725
2,845
2,600

34,000
2,583
10,557
29,240

J74,380
1,450

2,300

920
29,964
M.200
1,622
1,781

5,206

3,300
3,533

6,000
17,360
4,863
18,792
4,500
16,264

78,400
8,308
1,055
7,016

Pampa

3

1

794

Paris

Port Arthur

Park Board

1

1

7

4,952
1,056

313
2,072

300
13.845

3,797
9,600

4,087
23,445

/Recreation Department

4

7

11

Sequin

9

3
3
24
1

3

2
3

7

1

16

22

50,000

5,000

Sweetwater .

City Council, Board of Education and
W. P. A.

Tyler. . . .

i

5
6

14

8
6

4,545

600

7,161
787

95

400
1,391
837
444
600

2,600
6,313

934
2,871

3,534
9,184
3,442

1,000

475

3,204
188
997
1,400

Waco

Wichita Falls

Utah

American Fork. . . .
3ingham Canyon. .

Brigham City
Lehi

Recreation Board

1
1

1

8

1,000

1,000

375
1,485
188
510
100

2,500
726

American Legion and Board of Educa-
tion

100
1,719

Recreation Department

3
1

3

15
6
23

4,815
700
1,404
600

20,000

47
12

jogan

City School Board and W P A

5

3

5

487
1,300

Murray

Park Department

3gden

Department of Parks and Public Prop-

6

1
7
1

7
3
16

<i

10
6
15

26
12
55

Payson

Recreation Department

1,857

726

Provo

Recreation Committee .

Salt Lake City. . . .
Spanish Fork

Vermont

Jarre

[Finance Department

\ Department of Parks and Public Prop-
( erty

28
1

2
3

27
1

2
1

3

i

16
35

Recreation Council

35

200

350
150

750

1,200
600

500

150
170

1,250

1,350

770
2,964

600

irattleboro

Bathing Beach, Inc. and Leisure Time
Committee

Burlington

7,000

Morrisville

Copley Golf Club

?0

Putney

1

25

120

454

960

1,019

1,300
1,410

861

600
821

448

1,048
821

4,187

2,000
2.123

4,189

Jutland

Park Board, School Board and W. P. A.
Recreation Commission, Community
House and Town

2

1

9

Springfield

Virginia

Alexandria
vharlpttesville
Danville .

Playground Department

2

10

2

6
11
7
5
2
18

45

2

2,000
2,123

3,525
7,699
3,744

Recreation Department

2

1
9

1

'"s

2
25

Recreation Division, Department of
Public Welfare

7
5
9
4
12
10

20
1
?

950

664

Lynchburg

Playground and Recreation Department
School Board

Newport News. . .
Norfolk

1,119

3,744

Department of Public Welfare

3

5

Petersburg

Recreation Department

Richmond

[Community Recreation Association98. .
1 Bureau of Parks and Recreation, De-
] partment of Public Works

2

4

2

3

5,025

10,000
3,286
630
822

11,239

24,000
3,300
425
150

11,239

30,000
5,022
425
194

38,400

6,000
1,722

Salem. . .

(Colored Recreation Association
Town Council

12

4

Suffolk

Recreation Council

1

«i

4

6,000

44

162

REATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number |

Baseball Diamonds, Number

1
S

S5

f

j=

M
C

JS
K

J

§

%
&

Q
£.

1

Camps — Other Organized, Number

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1
6

Z

8

•73
=

1
M

C

'e

s

i

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennis Courts, Number

M
s

£
1

M
B

1

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

No. of City ||

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

Summer Only
School Year Only

I

1

0

rt
1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

1
%

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

34 ..

38

H85.000
104,902

15

976,000

4

350,000

3

12

38

fl

J. Edward Hargraves . .
Paul R. Elliott

Monte Fariss
J. G4enn Skinner

J. M. Barker.
James A. Garrison

Frank L. Bertschler. . . .
Rev. Chas. F. L. Graham
Hugh T. Henry
W F Jacoby

1
2

3
4

ft

fi

7

a
8
9
10

U

•
12
18

•
14
15
:i

u

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
ft
24

28

26
27
28

29

30
31
32
18
84

i5
M
H

i8

ft
M

40

41
42
43
44
45

4li

7
8

1

.0

1
2
3

4

ft

b
I

fi

11 .

15

230,292

40

65,650

U

20

IS

12

16,758

17,835

6 ...

Ib
20

"1,860,958

11

1ft

fl

14

3'

1
16

2(

21

12,000
43,32

65,746

5...

\

a

1*1

949,379
544,943

8

89,168

ft

14,920

~

7

3

10
23

29,770
49,000

10,579
16,746

i

10
39
0

17

85,392
920,000
1,626,274
220,942

1

1,831

i ..!

V , . .

1 ..

"9

<

21,000

Q

'IS

?fl

14

65

5,200

3,692
48,648
6,237

40,000

8,892
48,648
6,237

46,000

8
1

1

I

553,559
5,475

21,380
120,000
411,860
26,757

I

3(

o

J

16

18,650
39,170

1

1

10

Frances Hardisty
E. R Bowman

is

4

(

2

38

22

6,000

J. R Taylor

7 ...

34

•

1,523,391
442,123

1

5,725

1
I

24

4

1

i

5

38
K

4

20

32

71,747

7,500

198,401
7,500

R. D. Evans

1

Ifoe R. Greenan . .

1

oderic B. Thomas

1

(
45

:

61

i . . .

4

ft

•*m,5u

8

«264,052

9

17,228

11

4

59

118,229

61,200

179,429

Clarence Brock. . .
B. N Taylor

2

2
1

M.OOO

1

1

1

n

1

1

4

C. S. Stine

1

H. J. Graeser

4

3 ...

1

6
S

113,400
9,419

6

105,312

<

1'

7,200

7,200

Orell G. Thomen

Rosemary Roach

1

4

W. F. Hicks

7

22

209,602
699,298

l(

28,618
258,303

1

J

1

17

17
29

5,802

9,585
27,700

15,387
27,700

M. C. Creswell
JMary Wilson Young. . .
W. P. Witt

1 '.'.'.

7

4,250

13

8

4(

1

I

1

1

1

7

14
12
0

5

32,038

5126,065
833,684
171,677
158,706

A

34,000

3

3,240

1
1

(

1

1
1

6

9
15

4

18

75,000

270

9,772
17,486

75,270

9,772

17,486

1

1

James F. Houlihan, Jr. . .
R. Foster Blaisdell

3 2

8

2,352

1

1
1

60,718

4

1

1

14
17

A

R. H. Schulze

1

21

14

20,353
3,000

20,353
3,000

Frank Collier

T

5,000

?

6

Leo B. Nelson

1

1
i
3
8
1

17,076
56,000
28,000
142,413

ft

8. J. Stantistevan
Vernal J. Harris

1

1

1

1

4

1

8

555

4,596
10,792
2,100

15,000
2,139

555

4,596
10,792
25,000

15,000
2,139
18,142

1

1,500

1

Dean Prior

4 .

S

3,400

1

3
1

i

i

(

1

1

1

4
3

31en Worthington
R.. R. Rasmussen

Aaron Home

1

1...

4
3 3

4

14
8

10

137,400
213,008

S
8

22,500
16,448

5

30,000

1
1

4
1
1

"i

1
2

2
1

1

i

11
3

2

1
8
8

32
16
30

Stanley Wilson. . .

4

244,405

1

"i

i
i

7
1

12

I

Fena V. Holland

Jessie Schofield
Urs. Blanche Jensen. . . .

Harry C. Fisher

6

16
ft

97552,837

2

f

6
5

7,200

ft

g

4!)
ft

2

1
10

2

48
3

55
10

4

1

2

i

i
i

2

3,600

3,600

2

2

f

60,000

1

4
25

1
10

750

840
57,000

Theresa S. Brungardt. . .
Thomas F. ('onion

4

4

6

i

HI

7,000

I

'. M. Kelley

1
1

1

4,000
20,400

1

1
9

1
5

1

840
5,302

840
5,302

Mrs. Esther J. Pratt. . . .
Richard F. Hayden

Mrs. lone E. Locke

5

8

65,000

1

1

1

1

r...

1

7
4

6
13
9
f

47,500
48,353

153,858
669,317
103,453

1

6

1

1

9
18

fl

1
1

Lucy Houston

2

2

3

48,684

14,330
102,902

1

1
1

3,092

2

5
2

5

4

4

3,000
2,808

3,160

3,528
45,800

*Ian Crow

1

31,000

Alan L. Heil

21,869

4

4

18

6

1

Aoyd L. Howard

i ...

1

I
1

3

2
3

Charles E. Hosier

1

2

28,284

'i

1

1

1

11

2,592

3,552

I.G.Parker

g

0

3
2

10
19

7
17
3
3

8
20

20
31
6
6

l.C. Day

34

0

M

2
3
3

36,800

944,000
62,081
41,500
74,500

11

8
3
1
2

54,750

106,102
8,104
3,600
24,243

32,940
21,000

32,940
52,086

] aire McCarthy

]

98 112

7

10

1

68
1

24,786

P. N. Binford
A ice H. Harris

2
1

2
3

16,000

5,336

860
21,336

D. E. Denton
Grace W. Williams

163

PLAYGROUND AND COMMU:

j

•a
<

I

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

c

s

"o
1

No. of Women

No. Employed
Year Round

Activity Leaders

1

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Salaries and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

i

i
i

11

i
i
i

i

18

1
2

2
22
23
24

25

26

27
28

29

30
31
32

33
34
35
36

87

38

39
40
41

42

43

44
45

46
47

48
49
60
51
52
53
54
55

56

a

58
59

CO

Washington

30,82
4,62

Park Board

2.50C

25

1.20C

n

2<K
25(

1.20C

3,950
1,000
2,303 i
12,550
620
27,000
282,781
76,583

26930

Ellensburg . . .

Park Board

Everett

30,56
12,76

Chamber of Commerce and Park Boarc
Park Board

12,000

300

25

Olympia

11,73

Y. M. C. A

3,32
365,58
115,51

Kiwanis Club

2
4

2(
1

25,000
35,54
10

3,62

400

l.OOC

60C

1,600

Seattle

Playground Division, Park Board
Park Board

2

1

Spokane

40,23
6,32

23,88
3,554

12,36
13,42

36,24
16,98

Tacoma

106,81

11,62
79
22,10

23,15

4,84
75,57

Recreation Department, Metropolita
Park District

Wenatchee

City Engineer

24,000

,11?

5,663
1,971
2,731 It
2,500
1,688
2,077
5,167
5,050
17,164
33,500 }
500

65,504 1
1,400 1
2,702 1
391 M

8,433 I
7,500 I
12,348 }
6,640
5,855 J

17,108 J
45,077 Ii
400 J
6,600 li

28,320 *
6,744 N
487 (
9,415 N
3,500 k

635,600 &

52,465 V

392,364 C
11,505 MJ
1,550 Mi!
1,360 W
1,540 MJ

16,198 M
35,800 M
93,652 M
2,700 M

10,835 M
13,850 M

21,781 M
1,974 M
»269 M
23,853 M
839 M
24,491 M
6,468 M
10,500 M

»8,106 M
11,691 M

24,000 M
55,200 M

1,940 M
1,900 M
1,200 M

White Salmon....
Yakima

Columbia Union High School

1

12

120

Department of Public Works

West Virginia

/Water Department

Follansbee

jPlayground Association

1

1

37
1,07
600
28

1,59

1,59
1,65
400
1,400

Park Commission ...

1,653
100

Huntington

Lions Club

1,500

300
1,400
39
2,58

Monongalia Co.".
Moundsville

Parkersburg
Wheeling

50,08
14,41

29,62

61,65
9,410

23,61
4,114

26,287
2,340

26,449

37,415
2,279
21,628

50,262

1,748
39,614

Recreation Council

4

4

Playground Association

150

/Board of Recreation

2,23

33

2,92

\ Department of Streets and Parks

/Recreation Department

2

2

1,000
10,000

3,39
1,500

11,65
10,000
450

9982

1,11
12,000

12,77
22,000

Williamson

Kiwanis Club

1

10

Wisconsin

Beloit . . .

Recreation Department

42,000

8,722

4,800

14 782

Burlington

Park Commission

Eau Claire

Dity Council and Board of Education.
Park Committee

662

1,740
300
3,021

300
9
3,005

2,040
39
6,026

Elkhorn

2

Fond du Lac
Green Bay

/Board of Education

1?

13

2

2,407

IPark Board

Department of Recreation, Park Boarc
Recreation Department

11

i

9

66

7,051

808
1,900

2,572
640
3,058

11,548
3,908
300

1,917
800

4,489
1,440

Greendale

16
18

3,300

Jamesville

Department of Public Works

T4

1?

Kenosha

Department of Public Recreation,
Board of Education

Of

40

1

45

30

3,376
7,602
100

2,184
12,708

13,732
16,616
300

Kohler

Department of Parks and City Planning
ioard of Education

20,859

t

La Crosse

Joard of Education and Park Board. . .
Department of Recreation, Board ol
Education

10

18
1

1

16
6

Vladison

57,899

22,963
70,629
9,062
5,595

1
1

Manitowoc

lecreation Board

1

14

2,481

3,082

1,181
487

4,263
487
400

Marathon County .
Menasha

County Park Commission

'ark and Recreation Board . . .

7

8,880

135

tfenomonie

'ark Board

578,249

725,263
1,819

Department of Recreation and Adult
Education, School Board

580

333

54

111,032

298,827

125,741

424,568

Milwaukee Co.'00. .
Montreal

Playground Division, Department ol
Public Works

52,465

79.298
4,700

Recreation Department, County Park
Commission

W

<TC

82,986
3,400
200
500

73,795
1,655
1,350
300
240

10,998

156,285
1,750

230,080
3,405
1.350
860

ithletic Board

3
5
1
?

1
3
1

5

^eenah

9,151
4,661
2,033

40,108

67,542
8,019

39,251
13,479

10,706
4,949
36,113
2,919

jity Council and Red Cross

tfew London

'ark and Recreation Board . . .

560

Niagara

School Board and City

Oshkosh

Department of Recreation, Board of
Education

108

13

1

500

3,500

1,200

12,198

Racine

Park Board

'ark Board

24
2

29

18
1

11

2
1

1

47,500
200

12,000
450

3.770
1,972

9,323

16,152
1,250

5,167

18,000
800

1,898
9,101

2,058

34,152
2,050

7,065
9,101

12,458

Ihinelander

lecreation Department

Sheboygan

Department of Public Recreation,
Board of Education

95

263

Shorewood

Park Division, Board of Public Works.
Joard of Vocational and Adult Educa-
tion

2,777

49
2

38
2

10,400

•outh Milwaukee. .
Sparta

Recreation Department, School Board. .
Council Committee

uperior

ioard of Education and Park Board. . .
Park Board

2

1

3

6

7,500

5,149

2,044

9,160
839
10,865
6

11,204
839
16,838
1,839
300

5,374
9,294

18,000
200

1,300
1,200
1,100

Fomahawk

'wo Rivers

10,083
17,176
5,768
23,758

21,194
34,671

4,760
5,362

8,726

Recreation Commission

14
17
1

^

5

1

3

328
2,000
10,000

919

7,325
2,629
200

1,813
2,397

6,000
5,000

640
200
100

5,973
1,833
300

425
4,280

12,000
200

800

Vaukesha

lecreation Board

14

12

Vaupun
Vausau

ioard of Education1
lecreation Committee, Y. M. C. A. and
W. P. A

4,949
5,014

6,000

SVawatosa

Extension Division, Board of Education
Department of Recreation, Board of
Education

44
55

9

21
22

Vest Allis

2

(Vest Bend...

.thletic Commission

14

50,000

SVhitefish Bay
VLsconsin Rapids.

^creation Department, Board of Edu-
cation

4

1

500
1,200

Park Board

500

Board of Education

5

1

1,100

164

LEATION STATISTICS FOR 1938
It.

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number

Baseball Diamonds, Number

1

S5

£

-C

1

«

6C

.5
°J3

1

|
£
&

0

a
i

0

Camps — Other Organized, Number

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1
1

z

"2

1
&c
_c

cc

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number

Tennb Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

bummer Unly
School Year Only

Other Seasons

-S

0

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

c

S

"o

1

S5

Number of Women

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

g

s

I

'69,235

8

4

1

22

2

2750

Herbert J. Olson

•>

1

1 ...
I

...

11

2
4

39,600
9,000

6

1,680

1
1

1

2

10
2

1
1

26
6
6

7
3
4

3,960

3,960

Mrs. F. X. Pelegren
Chester M Reese

1

8
1

1

E. H. Burwell
J Fred Bohler

1

1

27
13

IS
1

11,000
1,292,948
1,473,590

518,810

1

T

5 .

9
2

1

453,619
18,560

19,192

15

295,580

21
12

10

1

1

1

2

fl

90
52

17
4
2
9

9

12

10
4

60
20

65

31

9

60

3

5

20,000

25,000

S.G. Witter
Alfred R Hodges

3 ..
. 2

18

67,619

i

2
4

5

47,000

1
1
2

1

1

150

150

0

10

85,000

i

1

6

11

George W Clark

W. G. Robinson

4

14

134,244

4

2

20

900

Patrick A Tork

1

1

1

1

W. B. Trosper

24
1

'71,287

2

1?

fl

4
3
i

1
1

14

6

12,163

12,663

i

1

3

1

3

L. D. Wiant

...

4

6

66,453

£

22,538

10

6

10,978

10,978

1

1

1

...

12

25

612,394

15

23,159

8

10
2
3

15
2

13

6

14,700

14.700
125,000

fl

?

2

125,000

1

8
2

8,298
97,852

1

...

1

33,832

3

5,376

i
i

2
2

10
1

1

1

13
2
0

"i

6

1

363,334

5,870

385,870

Lawrence A. Krueger . . .
Louis Rein

1
2

1

7

7
1

20

75,904
5,400
5158,796

12

3

17,000

Adolph M. Olson

1 ...

ft

E. E. Lawrence .

5 15

4

10,639

i

3
1
6

8
4
6
3
12

2
4
1
3

11

6

9,264

F. G. Kiesler

1
1

1,500
4,000
5,548
3,310

26,190
245,936

Fred Fraiier. . . .

9

0
6
9

15

148,983
20,760
149,066

447,406

'i

10
15
5

37

2
9
3

15

4,000
5,548

E. H. Wilson

1
2

9

43,443
2,800

212,358

Charles A. Murdaugh. . .
Pat Dawson

i

2

1

1

1 (i

i

23,400

1

26,190

G. M. Phelan ..

i

4
fl

8

1

18

9

1

245,936

Floyd A. Carlson

i

5

14
8

25,000
'56,696

265,024
92,924

Roy A. Ebben

fl

1

8
34

1

G. M. Wiley

7

8

3

1

6

Harry C. Thompson
L. J. Petrosky

i

4

10,980

6

235,964

99

17

2

8,400

8,400

2
1
1

14

2
2
3

I. S. Horgen

5

1

27,000

1

6

3

2

1

840

840

Kenneth Carrick

J. C. Wilcoz

;...

87

54,667,807

5

1,213,333

27

1,279,330

1

1

53

8

36

14

51,828

201,016
540,935

'24,900
2,500
150
600

DorothyJEnderis

7

540,935

Gilbert Clegg

25

4
4
S
1

805,752
18,879
16,600
8,012

17
1

11

1
1
1

21
1
2
1

8

1

5

4

122
3

5

32
2
1
2

5
3

24,900
1,500
150
600

Donald Griffin

; ...

1

30,362

1,000

Glenn H. Stevens

1

13

8

1
1

Armin H. Gerhardt
R. M. Shortell

1

1,430

1

2

1

1

2

F. A. Mates

33

88

141,900

1

31,225

5

120,310

1

1113

R. C. Miller ..

ft

1

7
17
4

1
2

A. L. Cone

13
|

173,107

3

66,125

6
1

27,500

2

5

2
1

2

1

9

4

100,000

14,040

114,040

B. A. Solbraa

T. M. Ward well

7

117,333

7

24,269

3

1

18

17

2

4,410

8,826

Harry J. Emigh

•4

8

Gordon Z. Rayner

4

7

4

88,769
30,000

6

ii

63,964

1

fl

H. M. Genskow

2

1

4

1
5
1

1
2

A

in

10,000

10,000

Pernon F. Peak

1

1
8
1
1

1

1

tlarry L. Berkman

14

120,475

18

162,222

1

13

2

16

8

9,000

20,886

44,886

Joe T. Leszcynski

Lillian Zeitelhack

s
1

70,281
90,282

1

114,224

3
5

11,302
3,945

j

11
12
4

3
2

8
14

Arthur Eckley

'71

3,000

6,720

10,220

Earl A. Lockman
F. H. Bates

2

"2

9

S

•

2

4

58,000
69,004

350,000

9
6

5

12,880
39,203

154,900

1
1

1
1

1

8

1

3

2

1

l

1

15
8

2

16
9

52
4

5

13,300

13,300

I. S. Horgen

1

6

15
1

2

Thos. B. Greenwill
Fred W. Zirkel

i

6
9

1?

2
1

46,925

9

2
2

1

50,000

50,000
7,900

loy T. Grignon

C. A. Wangerin
H. C. Denuts

"52,000

4

1

.!...

2

15,000

1

1

6

8

f. A. Torresam

165

PLAYGROUND AND COMMUN

STATE AND
CITY

Popula-
tion*

Managing
Authority

Paid
Recreation
Leadership
(Not Including
Emergency
Workers)

Volun-
teer
Workers

Expenditures Last Fiscal Year
(Not Including Emergency Funds)

1

%
"8

&

No. of Women

INo. Employed
Year Round

B

^

•&

•<

J3
O

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Upkeep,
Rent,
Supplies
and
Incidentals

Sa

ariss and Wages

Total

For
Leadership

Main-
tenance
and Other
Services

Total

Wyoming

16,619
17,361
8,609
1,800
8,536

19,468
137,000

4,500
3,300
50,000

84,000

18,000

694,263
39,000

City of Casper

1

2,950
1,200
4,500
3,100

5,200

3,666
32,715
109,368

16,723 W
9,500|

85,270

5,795

61,527
11,800

101,165

10,000

12,565
25,000
3,000
6,435

32,706
57,694
2251,497
6,519

310,300
24,678
2,111
17,596
73,017

3,235

27,541
9,698

nds; C—

Board of Education and City . .

1

200

500

500

1,000

City Engineer

2

2

1

3
17

1
1

1

4
21

School District

2

1
5

2
36

90
550

66

30
9

2,000

500
1,200

1,178
6,096

600
3,400

2,488
26,619

600

600
4,000

2,488
26,619

Community Boys Work and Community
Girls Work

Hawaii
Hilo

Recreation Committee, Chamber of

[Recreation Commission

Kaunakakai, Molo-
kai
lanai City — ... .
bounty of Maui102.

CANADA

Alberta

Calgary

British Columbia

'Jew Westminster,
•"rovince of British
Columbia105

\ParkBoard

Community Center, Inc

5
6

4

3
3

12

25
21

190

100

2,071

6,235
500

5,000

5,367
5,000

16,770
1,500

3,050
4,000

4,500

8,417
9,000

21,270

Hawaiian Pineapple Co., Ltd

Alexander House Community Associa-
tion

13

2
3

6
8

233

59,000

Parks and Recreation Department
Board of Park Commissioners

Department of Education

68
1

49

16

30

150

26,575
2,000

50,021

1,000

3,000
5,000
700
1,000

34,952
400

15,479

4,000

8,408
2,820
2,200
1,625

5,300
17,176

6,000
35,665

34,952
6,400

51,144

4,000

8,733
20,000
2,300
3,435

Park Department

3,400

Manitoba

218,000

12,000
155,547

32,000
71,000

127,000
631,000

Public Parks Board

27
4

4

Ontario

Athletic Commission

4

9
9

5,000
832

[Playground and Recreation Commis-
J sion

20
?

17

1
?

325
17,180
100
1,810

( Board of Park Management

fPublic School Board

14
4

14

London

\Board of Park Management

2,000

12,545
582

Playground Department, Public Utili-
ties Commission

15
29
126
22

121
11
2
34
3

1

13
7

„ M

nH

10
17
112
21

24
10
3
22
3

11

14
7

[— !
PI-

"'a

14

121
3

42

87

Ottawa

Playgrounds Committee

19,340

20,596

37,772

Toronto

Parks Department

974

Windsor

63,000

819,000

131,000
26,000

21,000
53,209

43,000

er Soi

ntv Fi

Playground Association

362

43

1,647

50,020
9,150
181
7,423

4,872

146,880
9,732
387
3,763
3,693

1,390

4,392
3,000

»te Fun

4,872

260,280
15,528
1,430
10,173
3,693

1,690

5,196
4,384

Jtate Fu

Quebec

Recreation Department1

113,400
5,796
1,043
6,410

Parks and Playground Association, Inc.
Playgrounds Association, Inc

29

20

500

Westmount

L'Oeuvre des Terrains de Jeux, Inc. . .
Parks Department

5
1

1

t

1

FO

hm
p

42

6

65
21

34,024
600

Saskatchewan

Moose Jaw

Recreation Committee

945

2,345
5,314

P — Privi

300

804
1,384

is; S— S

Regina

Playgrounds and Recreation Division,
Parks Board

98

90

Saskatoon

Playgrounds Association •

t Und

P"mi

irces of Financial Support

inHe- F" PVHoral T^nn/lc a

OTNOTES
icipal Funds ;

* Population figures taken from the 1930 Federal Census.

1. Attempts to verify certain information in this report were unsuccessful.

2. Expenditure data incomplete.

3. This report covers recreation service in Bouse Dome, Gadsden, Prison Hill, Quartsite, Roll, Salom
Somerton, Wellton and Yuma.

4. Paid by both W.P.A. and reporting agency.

5. Participants only.

6. This report covers recreation service in Compton, Clearwater, Enterprise, Lynwood and Willowbrook.

7. Data not available.

8. Golf course manager.

9. The Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation maintains recreation facilities in Arcadia,
Artesia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bellflower, Bell Gardens, Belvedere, 1 51 on m field, Castaic, Centinella, Clare-
mont, Clearwater, Covina, Culver City, Downey, Duarte, El Monte, El Nido, Gardenia, Garvey, Glendale,
Glendora, Gloria Gardens, Graham, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Park, Inglewood, Lancaster,

166

EATION STATISTICS FOR 1938

Playgrounds
Under
Leadership

Recreation
Buildings

Indoor
Recreation
Centers

Athletic Fields, Number

£

\

3

I

Bathing Beaches, Number

Camps — Day, Number

1

a

6

0

Golf Courses, 9-Hole, Number

Golf Courses, 18-Hole, Number

1

a
8

-a
c

1
a
1

1

02

Swimming Pools, Outdoor, Number 1 1

Tennis Courts, Number

Wading Pools, Number 1 1

Emergency Service

Source of
Information

Paid
Leaders

Expenditures

School Year Only

Other Seasons

1

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants and
Spectators

j

3

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number

Total Yearly or
Seasonal Attendance,
Participants Only

Number of Men

a

"o

1
55

Land,
Buildings,
Permanent
Improve-
ments

Leader-
ship

Total

7
5
4

18,200
520,000

1
1

6
2

1

1

6

e

6
2

8

4

1

1

1
1

7
10

'"3
8

4
17

23
15

9

3

9

'266
666

4,500
1,000

'840

4,500
1,500

1,440
9,011

3,763
22,075

3

2,000

1

1
1

2

1
1

Elmer K. Nelson

2
6

9
38

1

It

1
1

1

1
2

4

11

516,400

530,398
1,583,745

8

9
1

6,000

1,680
4,480

6

H L Rowe

1
8

6,698
72,417

1

3,763
22,075

2

1

Arthur K. Powlison

1

1
1

21

19
3

16

2
2

1

12
3

1

4

1
8

47,954
19,500

55,000

f
6

4,680
3,000

1
1

8

1
1

4

1
1

James M Hill

1

1
3

8
27

Frank Katterman
E. L. Damkroger

William R. Reader
A G Brine

ft

•1

4

3

1,200

1,200
6,268

10

s

581,491

"1

3

2
2

8

8
12

66

2
2
10

92

173,067

8

1

1

2
1
1

2
8
4

1
2

1

7,000

W H Warren

29

2
16

282,000

555,000
328,316

2

2

1
1

S. Walker

3
I

10,000
2,500

1(1

f.

50

193

360

1
1
1

8
1

9
1
1

9

1

1

''3

F Marshall

6

e

7

4

H. Ballantyne

1

9

'57

9

16
63
25

104
7
2
9
7

7

18

4

5325,000
5572,263
1,888,828
5460,865

8,522,465
331,818
36,000
14,907

2
4

1

1

2

7

3

William Farquharson . . .
E. F. Morgan

0

700,673

67

512,907

3
3

8

21
12

14

6

321
10

60
2

14
14

C. E. Chambers . . .

5

61

33

1,225,837

1

1

18

15

Lucien Asselin

1

29,912

2
1

William Bowie

1
3

1

J. B. O'Regan

6

6
33

Elzear Poitras

7

1

i"116,112

1

1
1

P. E. Jarman

46,500

172,366
521,878

1

B. C. Crichton
J. W. Gray.

4

71,239

1

8

1

1

'}

1

3

L. A. Kreutzwieser

La Verne, Lawndale, Lennox, Los Nietos, Lynwood, Manhattan Beach, Monrovia, Monterey Park, New-
hall, North Ranchito, Norwalk, Palmdale, Palos Verdes, Pomona, Puente, Redondo Beach, Rosemead, San
Dimas, San Fernando, San Gabriel, Saugus, Sierra Madre, South Gate, South Pasadena, Temple City,
Torrance, Whittier, Willowbrook and Wilmar.
10. This report covers recreation service in Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Piedmont
and San Leandro.
This report also covers recreation service in Altadena.

12. This figure includes attendance at the recreation buildings, athletic fields, tennis courts and softball
diamonds.

13. The Santa Barbara County Board of Forestry operated bathing beaches at Carpinteria, Gaviota, Goleta
and Surf.

14. 1397 registered participants were reported for these indoor centers.

15. Includes one 27-hole golf course.

16. Represents summer participation only.

17. Leased to private operator.

18. Operated by non-profit corporation.

19. In addition to this amount $9,304 were spent for land, buildings and permanent improvements by Dads'
and Mothers' Clubs.

167

20. The Chicago Recreation Commission acts in an advisory capacity and serves as a liaison group between
the public and private recreation agencies.

21. Includes participants at the recreation buildings.

22. The Cook County Forest Preserve Commission maintains major recreation facilities in Chicago City,
Leyden, Lyons, Niles, Palatine, Palos and Thornton Townships.

23. Represents total attendance at all facilities.

24. Maintained a program of community recreation for colored citizens.

25. This report also covers recreation service in Coloma.

26. Employed four months by the Park Board and eight months by the Recreation Commission.

27. The Winnebago County Forest Preserve District maintains recreation facilities in Durand, Harlem
Pecatonica, Rockton, Roscoe, Shirland and Winnebago Townships.

28. This report covers recreation service in the communities of Elkhart, Goshen and Wakarusa.

29. This report covers recreation service in East Chicago, Hammond, Highland, Munster and Whiting.

30. Three-hole golf course.

31. Represents only expenditures for golf and swimming.

32. Includes one 5 -hole golf course.

33. This report covers the last 3!/2 months of 1938.

34. The Metropolitan District Commission maintains major recreation facilities in Arlington, Belmont,
Boston, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Chelsea, Cohasset, Dedham, Dover, Everett, Hingham,
Hull, Lynn, Maiden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Nahant, Needham, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Saugus,
Somerville, Stoneham, Swampscott, Wakefield, Waltham, Waterbury, Wellesley, Weston, Westwood, Win-
chester, Winthrop and Woburn.

35. Represents only expenditures for golf.

36. Includes participation attendance at the indoor centers.

37. Four additional leaders representing both men and women gave part-time recreation service but have
been included in the Newton Playground Commission report.

38. Program started June 15.

39. This figure represents attendance of both participants and spectators.

40. This report covers recreation service in Channing, Iron Mountain, Norway, Quinnesec and Ralph.

41. The Flint Community Music Association promotes and operates a community-wide music program in
cooperation with public schools, churches, industries and homes.

42. This amount does not include expenditures for golf.

43. This report covers the period, June 1, 1938 to December 31, 1938.

44. Director of municipal band and orchestra.

45. This report covers recreation service in Bovey, Calumet, Cloverdale, Marble, Pengilly and Taconite.

46. This report covers recreation service in Carson Lake, Kelly Lake, Kerr, Morton and Mahoning.

47. Represents summer attendance.

48. This report covers recreation service in the villages of Leonidas, Mountain Iron, Parkville and West
Virginia.

49. This report covers recreation service in Alborn, Bear River, Brimson, Cherry Grove, Cook, Cotton, Em
barass Valley, Floodwood, Jackson, Munger, Palo and Toivola.

50. These workers were employed for short periods and personnel was changed frequently during the summer.

51. Includes participants at the bathing beach.

52. Supervision provided by the Recreation Commission.

53. This report covers recreation service in Belleville, Bloomfield, Caldwell, East Orange, Essex Fells, Irving
ton, Millburn, Montclair, Newark, Nutley, Orange, South Orange, Verona and West Orange.

54. Employed only in the evenings during winter.

55. Also see report listed as School District of South Orange and Maplewood.

56. Supervisory personnel provided by the Community Service and included in that report.

57. This report covers recreation service in Paterson, Totowa, Wayne Township and West Paterson.

58. This report covers recreation service in Kenvil, Ledgewood and Succasunna.

59. The Union County Park Commission maintains major recreation facilities in Cranford, Elizabeth, Gar-
wood, Hillside, Kenilworth, Linden, Mountainside, New Providence, Plainfield, Rahway, Roselle, Roselle
Park, Scotch Plains, Summit, Union and Westfield.

60. This report covers the annual period ending February 28, 1939.

61. This report covers recreation service in Bethlehem Center, Elsmere, Normansville, Slingerlands am
Van Wies.

62. This figure represents attendance at only one recreation building.

63. Appointed in October, 1938.

64. Includes participants at the skating rink.

65. This report covers recreation service in Churchville, Mendon, Perinton, Pittsford and Webster.

66. Does not include expenditures for custodial services.

67. This figure includes participants at the swimming pool and other facilities run in connection with one
of the playgrounds.

68. Appointed June 15, 1938.

69. The Westchester County Park Commission maintains major recreation facilities in Ardsley, Cortlandt,
Harmon, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, Rye, Scarsdale, Tarrytown, White Plains, Yonkers and Yorktown.

168

••

70. This amount includes a small portion of park maintenance expenses.

71. Represents participants at playgrounds and recreation buildings.

72. This report covers recreation service in Brogden, Eureka, Fremont, Goldsboro, Grantham, Nahunta, New
Hope, Pikeville, Rosewood and Seven Springs.

73. This report also covers some recreation service in New Hanover County.

74. Children's pools.

75. The Cleveland Metropolitan Park District maintains recreation facilities in Bedford, Berea, Bentley-
ville, Brecksville, Euclid, Fairyiew, Hinckley Township, Lakewood, Olmsted, Parma, Parma Heights, Rocky
River, Royalton and Strongsville.

76. This report covers recreation service in Bay Village, Bedford, Berea, Brecksville, Brook Park, Cleveland,
Cleveland Heights, Cuyahoga Heights, Dover, East Cleveland, Euclid, Fairview, Garfield Heights, Lake-
wood, Lyndhurst, Maple Heights, Mayfield Heights, Olmsted, Parma, Parma Heights, Rocky River, South
Euclid and Strongsville.

77. This report covers recreation service in Addyston, Arlington Heights, Blue Ash, Cleves, Deer Park,
Elmwood Place, Fairfax, Finneytown, Glendale, Green Hills, Hazelwood, Lockland, Loveland, Madeira,
Mariemont, Milford, Montfort Heights, Montgomery, Mount Healthy, New Burlington, Newtown, North
Bend, North College Hill, Plainville, Reading, Remington, St. Bernard, Sharonville, Silverton, Spring-
dale, Sycamore Township, Terrace Park, Woodlawn and Wyoming.

78. This figure includes participants at seven additional playgrounds operated by other agencies but
furnished WPA leaders by the Division of Recreation.

79. Includes one 15-hole golf course. .

80. The Allegheny County Department of Parks maintains major recreation facilities in Broughton, Mc-
Cardles and Snowden.

81. This report covers recreation service in Alsace, Amity, Baumstown, Berkshire Heights, Bernville, Blan-
don, Boyertown, Centerport, Fleetwood, Fritztown, Gibraltar, Green Valley, Hamburg, Hampden, Hyde
Park, Kenhorst, Kutztown, Laureldale, Leesport, Lenhartsville, Lyons, Mohnton, Mohrsville, Mount Penn,
Oley, Pennside, Pennwyn, Port Clinton, Reiffton, Robesonia, St. Lawrence, Shillington, Shoemakersville,
Sinking Spring, Stony Creek, Temple, Topton, Walnuttown, Wernersville, West Hamburg, West Lawn,
West Leesport, West Monacacy, West Reading, West Wyomissing, Womelsdorf, Woodvale, Wyomissing
and Wyomissing Hills. It includes some figures reported separately in this table by seven of the above
communities.

82. This report covers recreation service in Crafton and Ingram.

83. In addition to operating and maintaining its own facilities, this board also serves local park and recrea-
tion authorities in Delaware County.

84. Twelve-hole golf course.

85. This report covers recreation service in Homestead and West Homestead.

86. Includes participants at the playgrounds and 18 recreation buildings.

87. This figure represents expenditures for the period, March 1 to December 31, 1938.

88. Playground attendance included in attendance figures for recreation buildings and indoor centers.

89. Eleven-hole golf course.

90. This figure includes attendance at the 15 year-round playgrounds.

91. Privately owned but supervised and financed by the Civic Association Recreation Council.

92. This report covers recreation service in Georgetown, Larksville, Lee Park, Midvale, Plains, Plymouth,
Sugar Notch, Warrior Run and Wilkes-Barre.

93. This report covers recreation service in the villages of Berkeley and Lansdale.

94. This report covers recreation service in Kingston, Mantanuck, Peace Dale, Wakefield and West
Kingston.

95. Population as listed in City Directory.

96. Includes attendance at seven of the recreation buildings.

97. Includes attendance at the outdoor swimming pools.

98. This report covers recreation service in Brook Hill, Dumbarton, Fair Oaks, Highland Springs, Lakeside,
Laurel, Richmond, Sandston, Varina and Woodville.

99. This report covers recreation service in Barbe, Bertha Hill, Canyon, Cassville, Greer, Hildebrand, Laurel
Point, National, Niles Hill, Osage, Pursglove, Riverside, Sabraton, Star City, Waitman, Wana and
Westover.

100. The Milwaukee County Park Commission acts as co-sponsor of recreation programs in Cudahy, Mil-
waukee City, South Milwaukee, Wauwatosa and Whitefish Bay.

101. These beaches were operated jointly by the Park Board and Board of Education.

102. This report covers recreation service in Crater, Haiku, Haliimaile, Hamakuapoko, Hana, Honokohua,
Honowokai, Huelo, Kaanapali, Kaeluku, Kahana, Kahului, Kailua, Kapunakea, Kaupakalua, Keahua,
Keanae, Kelawea, Kihei, Kuhua, Kula, Lahaina, Launuipoko, Makawao, Olowalu, Orpheum, Paia, Lower
Paia, Paunau, Pauwela, Pehai, Pulehu, Pump Camp, Puukolii, Puunene, Spreckelsville, Camp Ukume-
hame, Wahikuli Pump, Waiehu, Waihee, Waikapu and Wailuku.

103. This report covers recreation service in Abbotsford, Agassiz, Armstrong, Atchelitz, Bradner, Burnaby,
Camp River, Capilano, Chemainus, Chilliwack, County Line, Duncan, East Chilliwack, East Kelowna,
Esquimalt, Essondale, Fairfield Island, Fernie, Grouse Mountain, Haney, Harrison, Harrison Mills, Holly-
burn Ridge, Hope, Jubilee, Kamloops, Kelowna, Ladner, Ladysmith, Laidlaw, Lake Hill, Lynn Valley,
Malahat, Marigold, Matsqui, Mount Lahman, Nanaimo, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Okanagan
Mission, Peachland, Peardonville, Penticton, Port Alberni, Prince George, Prince Rupert, Princeton,
Rosedale, Rossland, Saanich, Sooke, South Fort George, Sumas, Vancouver, Vernon, Victoria, Webster s
Corner, Westbank, West Summerland, West Vancouver, Whonnock and Yale.

104. Includes attendance at the athletic field.

Emergency Recreation Service in 1938

DURING 1938, the Works Progress Adminis-
tration and the National Youth Administra-
tion made possible recreation service in a
large number of communities throughout the
country. No attempt has been made to secure re-
ports of this service for the RECREATION YEAR
BOOK. Fifty-three cities, however, did submit re-
ports indicating that the recreation work which
they carried on in 1938 was made possible through
emergency funds. Because of their cooperation
in submitting reports, the service is briefly re-
corded here.

A total of 663 persons — 418 men and 245
women — paid from emergency funds, was re-
ported as having served as recreation leaders in
these localities. A total of 68 volunteer leaders

was also reported. The total amount spent for
leadership from emergency funds in 34 of these
localities was $375,687.

Among the facilities provided in these 53 cities
were: 205 outdoor playgrounds, 61 recreation
buildings and 98 indoor recreation centers con-
ducted under leadership, 26 athletic fields, 81
baseball diamonds, 1 1 bathing beaches, one 9-hole
golf course, I indoor and 7 outdoor swimming
pools, 139 tennis courts and 22 wading pools.

Forty localities reported expenditures from
emergency funds totaling $535,170. Local funds
totaling $130,980 were raised to supplement the
funds made available from emergency sources.

The following is a list of the localities from
which these emergency reports were received.

Arkansas

Eureka Springs

California
South Gate

Colorado
Brighton
Pritchet

Connecticut
New Britain*
West Hartford

Idaho

Twin Falls

Illinois

Chicago Heights

Indiana

New Harmony

lozva
Fairfield

Kentucky
Ashland
Hopkinsville

Louisiana
Lafayette

Massachusetts
Athol
Attleboro
Cambridge*
Danvers
Holliston
Leominster
Marblehead
Palmer
Provincetown
Watertown
West Springfield*
Worcester*

Michigan
Coldwater
Wakefield

Minnesota
Faribault
Moorhead
Mt. Iron*
Robbinsdale

Mississippi
Biloxi
Jackson

Montana
Butte
Miles City

Nebraska
Fremont

New Jersey
Garfield
Ridgefield Park

New York
New Castle

North Dakota
Des Lacs

Ohio

Bridgeport
Coshocton
Gallipolis
Garfield Heights
Wadsworth

Pennsylvania
Connellsville
Conshohocken
Northumberland County

Rhode Island
Warwick

Texas

San Angelo

Washington
Walla Wall

Wyoming

Lander

* In these cities, agencies providing recreation service financed from local funds were also reported.

170

The Service of the
National Recreation Movement in 1938

732 cities in 47 states were given personal service through the visits of field workers.

1,867 local leaders were given special training in recreation skills, methods, program,
and philosophy of the recreation movement at one six-week institute and 9 four-
week institutes in 10 cities. Nature recreation, arts and crafts, music, drama,
social recreation and games, organization and administration, and recreation
for girls and women were stressed.

45 cities were given personal field service by the Bureau of Colored Work. Some
time was given to training, and a conference of colored workers was held in
Columbus, Ohio.

69 cities were visited by the Katherine F. Barker Memorial Secretary on Recreation
for Girls and Women in a study of girls' clubs. In addition, the secretary gave
courses at two major institutes, conducted a two-week institute and a one-week
institute, and took part in a program of training for rural workers involving 8
county institutions. 3,567 individuals attended the training courses.

44 institutions for children and the aged in 5 states were visited by the Field Secre-
tary on Play in Institutions.

16,554 boys and girls in 467 cities received badges, emblems, or certificates for passing
the Association's athletic and swimming badge tests.

4,813 individuals attended the 93 institutes conducted by the Rural Recreation Service
in cooperation with the Extension Service of the United States Department of
Agriculture.

33 states received personal service from the representative of the National Physi-
cal Education Service, 80 cities being visited. Through correspondence, consul-
tation, and monthly News Letters 45 states were served.

6,000 and more different communities in the United States and in 38 foreign countries
received help and advice on recreation problems through the Correspondence and
Consultation Bureau. Approximately 21,000 letters were answered by the Bureau,
5,256 individuals called at the office for personal consultation.

1,317 delegates from 335 cities in 38 states and 14 representatives of foreign countries
attended the Twenty-Third National Recreation Congress held at Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, October 3-7.

1,552 cities and towns, 46 of them in foreign countries, received RECREATION, the
monthly magazine of the movement — an increase of 128 over 1937.

2,331 individuals in 926 communities received the bulletins issued by the Association.
Booklets, pamphlets, and leaflets were published on various subjects in the recre-
ation field.

171

197-545-35
$255,297-29

National Recreation Association

Incorporated

FINANCIAL STATEMENT
January I, 1938 thru December 31, 1938

General Fund Balance December 31, 1937 $ 42,751.94

Borrowed from Emergency Reserve Fund 15,000.00 $ 57,75 1.(

INCOME

Contributions $143,414.43

Contributions for Specific Work 6,202.73

Interest, Dividends, Loss and Gain on Sale of Securities 14,195.02

Recreation Sales, Subscription and Advertising 8,957.54

Badge Sales 1,314.96

Special Publication Sales 16,021.81

Interest and Dividends — Frances Ross Poley Memorial Fund. . 225.00

Interest and Dividends — Henry Strong Denison Fund 1,679.51

National Recreation Congress Exhibits 1,821.00

National Recreation Congress 2,500.00

National Recreation Congress Registration 1,188.35

National Recreation Congress 1939 25.00

EXPENDITURES

Community Recreation Field Service $150,934.41

Field Service to Colored Communities 7,977.41

National Physical Education Service 10,673.49

Correspondence and Consultation Bureau 25,658.10

Publications and Bulletin Service 17,129.10

Recreation I5>257-79

Recreation Congress 8,543.77

Apprenticeship Fellowship 2,440.61 *

General Fund Balance December 31, 1938

* Of this amount $1,679.51 from the Henry Strong Denison Fund

KATHERINE F. BARKER MEMORIAL

Balance December 31, 1937 v $ 5,481.04

Receipts to December 31, 1938

Contributions $8,000.00

Book Sales 295.00

National Physical Achievement Standards for

Girls 1 10.54

Contributions for Specific Work 255-87

8,661.41

$ 14,142.45
Expenditures to December 31, 1938

Katherine F. Barker Memorial Field Secretary
on Athletics and Recreation for Girls and

Women 5,463.96

District Field Work 3,197.45

— 8,661.41 $ 5,481.04

172

238,614.68
$ 16,682.61

PLAY IN INSTITUTIONS

Balance December 31, 1937 . .

Receipts to December 31, 1938

Bulletins .

300.46
113-95

Expenditures to December 31, 1938

414.41
414.41

MASSACHUSETTS PROJECT FOR CONSERVING
STANDARDS OF CITIZENSHIP

Balance December 31, 1937 $ 450.00

Receipts to December 31, 1938

Contributions 1,050.00

$ 1,500.00
Expenditures to December 31, 1938 1,500.00

RECAPITULATION

BALANCES December 31, 1937

General Fund $ 42»75 1 -94

Katherine F. Barker Memorial 5,481.04

Play in Institutions 300.46

Massachusetts Project for Conserving Standards of

Citizenship 450.00

$ 48,983-44
Borrowed from Emergency Reserve Fund 15,000.00

INCOME to December 31, 1938

General Fund $197,545-35

Katherine F. Barker Memorial 8,661.41

Play in Institutions 1 13-95

Massachusetts Project for Conserving Standards of

Citizenship 1,050.00

EXPENDITURES to December 31, 1938

General Fund $238,614.68

Katherine F. Barker Memorial 8,661.41

Play in Institutions 41441

Massachusetts Project for Conserving Standards of

Citizenship 1,500.00

BALANCES December 31, 1938

General Fund $ 16,682.61

Katherine F. Barker Memorial 5*4**I<O4

Play in Institutions

Massachusetts Project for Conserving Standards of

Citizenship

ENDOWMENT AND RESERVE FUNDS

Special Fund (Action of 1910) $ 25,000.00

Lucy Tudor Hillyer Fund 5,000.00

$ 63,983.44

207,370.71
$271,354.15

249,190.50
$ 22,163.65

$ 22,163.65

173

Emil C. Bondy Fund 1,000.00

George L. Sands Fund 12,742.72

"In Memory of J. I. Lamprecht" 3,000.00

"In Memory of Barney May" 2,500.00

"In Memory of Waldo E. Forbes" 1,403.02

Frances Ross Poley Memorial Fund (Restricted) 6,167.72

Ellen Mills Borne Fund 3,000.00

Other Gifts i?5-OO

C. H. T. Endowment Fund 500.00

Frances Mooney Fund 1,000.00

Sarah Newlin Fund 500.00

"In Memory of William Simes" 2,000.00

"In Memory of J. R., Jr." 250.00

Frances R. Morse Fund 2,000.00

Emergency Reserve Fund $155,000.00

Loaned to General Fund . 15,000.00

- 140,000.00

Loss and Gain on Sale of Securities 10,299.64

Ella Van Peyma Fund 500.00

Nettie G. Naumburg Fund 2,000.00

"In Memory of William J. Matheson" 5,000.00

Alice B. P. Hannahs Fund 1,400.00

"In Memory of Daniel Guggenheim" 1,000.00

"In Memory of Alfred W. Heinsheimer" 5,000.00

Nellie L. Coleman Fund 100.00

Elizabeth B. Kelsey Fund 500.00

Sarah Fuller Smith Fund 3,000.00

Annie L. Sears Fund 2,000.00

John Markle Fund 50,000.00

Katherine C. Husband Fund 884.55

Leilla K. Kilbourne Fund 3,750.00

Ella Strong Denison Fund 200.00

Annie M. Lawrence Fund 93°-73

Frederick Mc'Owen Fund 1,000.00

Clarence M. Clark Fund 50,662.20

John G. Wartmann Fund 500.00

"In Memory of Joseph Lee" . . 1,025.00

"In Memory of Seaman F. Northrup" 500.00

Henry Strong Denison Fund 50,000.00

$396,490.58

I have audited the accounts of the National Recreation Association for the fiscal year ending December 31, 1938
and certify that in my opinion the above statement is a true and correct statement of the financial transactions of the
General, Special Study, and Endowment Funds for the period.

(Signed) J. F. CALVERT,

Certified Public Accountant.

Form of Bequest

1 hereby give and bequeath to the National Recreation Association Incor-
porated, New York, N. Y., the sum of dollars to be

applied to the uses and work of said Association.

Signed :

Date

Gifts and bequests deductible in accordance with Federal tax laws.

174

National Recreation Association

Incorporated
315 Fourth Avenue, New York City

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FIN LEY, President

JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President

ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCHER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS

New York, New York

F. GREGG BEMIS

Boston, Massachusetts

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE
Carlisle, Pennsylvania

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS
Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH
Moline, Illinois

HENRY L. CORBETT
Portland, Oregon

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER
Jacksonville, Florida

F. TRUBEE DAVISON

Locust Valley, Long Island, N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON
New York, New York

JOHN H. FINLEY

New York, New York

ROBERT GARRETT
Baltimore, Maryland

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS
Seattle, Washington

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER
Fitchburg, Massachusetts

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL
Tucson, Arizona

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX
Michigan City, Indiana

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES
West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON
Sugar Hill, New Hampshire

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY
New York, New York

H. McK. LANDON
Indianapolis, Indiana

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER
Greenwich, Connecticut

ROBERT LASSITER

Charlotte, North Carolina

SUSAN M. LEE

Boston, Massachusetts

J. H. McCURDY

Springfield, Massachusetts

OTTO T. MALLERY

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

WALTER A. MAY

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

CARL E. MILLIKEN
Augusta, Maine

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS
Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER

Locust Valley, Long Island, N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH
Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH

New York, New York

FREDERICK M. WARBURG
New York, New York

JOHN G. WIN ANT

Concord, New Hampshire

STANLEY WOODWARD
Washington, D. C.

175

DAVID ALEXANDER

Akron, Ohio
RAY STANNARD BAKER

Amherst, Massachusetts
MRS. GEORGE D. BARRON

Rye, New York
A. T. BELL

Atlantic City, New Jersey
MRS. EDWARD C. BENCH

Englewood, New Jersey
NATHAN D. BILL

Springfield, Massachusetts
GEORGE F. BOOTH

Worcester. Massachusetts
ANNA H. BORDEN

Fall River, Massachusetts
THOMAS E. BRANIFF

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
JOHN R. BRINLEY

Morristown, New Jersey
MRS. C. DOUGLASS BUCK
Wilmington, Delaware
RICHARD E. BYRD

Winchester, Virginia
MRS. HENRY B. CABOT

Brookline, Massachusetts
WARD M. CANADAY

Toledo, Ohio
G. HERBERT CARTER

Huntington, New York
MRS. GEORGE EDWARDS CLEMENT

Peterboro, New Hampshire
MRS. WALTER S. COMLY

Port Chester, New York
CHARLES M. Cox

Melrose, Massachusetts
WINTHROP M. CRANE, JR.

Dalton, Massachusetts
MRS. HARRY PARSONS CROSS
Providence, Rhode Island
JULIAN W. CURTISS

Greenwich, Connecticut
HENRY L. DEFOREST

Plainfield, New Jersey
MRS. JOHN W. DONALDSON

Millbrook, New York
CLYDE DOYLE

Long Beach, California
MRS. S. S. DRURY

Milton, Massachusetts
MRS. CHICHESTER DU PONT

Wilmington, Delaware
MRS. D. E. F. EASTON

San Francisco, California
JOHN ERSKINE

New York, New York
MRS. IRVING FISHER

New Haven, Connecticut
MRS. PAUL FITZSIMONS

Newport, Rhode Island
MRS. RALPH E. FORBES
Milton, Massachusetts
ROBERT A. GARDNER

Chicago, Illinois
HARRY G. GAULT
Flint, Michigan
CHARLES C. GEORGE
Omaha, Nebraska
CHARLES W. GILKEY

Chicago, Illinois
THOMAS K. GLENN
Atlanta, Georgia

176

HONORARY MEMBERS

MRS. CHARLES C. GLOVER, JR.
Washington, D. C.

C. M. GOETHE

Sacramento, California
REX B. GOODCELL

Los Angeles, California
MRS. CHARLES A. GOODWIN

Hartford, Connecticut
CHARLES W. GORDON
St. Paul, Minnesota
WILLIAM GREEN

Washington, D. C.
FRANKLIN T. GRIFFITH

Portland, Oregon
MRS. S. H. HARTSHORN

Short Hills, New Jersey
DOROTHY HEROY

Stamford, Connecticut
MRS. WILLIAM G. HIBBARD

Winnetka, Illinois
JOHN W. HIGGINS

Worcester, Massachusetts
MRS. FRANCIS L. HIGGINSON

Boston, Massachusetts
MRS. ALBERT W. HOLMES

New Bedford, Massachusetts
MRS. HOWARD R. IVES

Portland, Maine
H. H. JACOBS

Madison, Wisconsin
MRS. ERNEST KANZLER

Detroit, Michigan
HELEN KELLER

Forest Hills, New York
JOHN HARVEY KELLOGG

Battle Creek, Michigan
MRS. WILLIAM KENT

Kentfield, California
WILLARD V. KING

New York, N. Y.
TULLY C. KNOLES

Stockton, California
A. H. LANCE

Kenosha, Wisconsin
WILLIAM LAWRENCE

Boston, Massachusetts
PHILIP LEBOUTILLIER

New York, New York
ALICE LEE

San Diego, California

LUCIUS N. LlTTAUER

New York, New York
SETH Low

New York, New York
MRS. WILLIAM G. MATHER

Cleveland, Ohio
JOHN W. MCCLURE

Chicago, 111.
GEORGE A. McKiNNEY

Alton, Illinois
SUMNER T. MCKNIGHT

Minneapolis, Minnesota
MRS. P. L. McMAHON

Charlotte, North Carolina
MRS. WM. G. MATHER

Cleveland, Ohio
CHARLES G. MIDDLE-TON

Louisville, Kentucky
JOHN F. MOORS

Boston, Massachusetts

MRS. ADELBERT MOOT

Buffalo, New York
CHARLES NAGEL

St. Louis, Missouri
ROY B. NAYLOR

Wheeling, West Virginia
CHARLES PEEBLES

Hamilton, Canada
DANIEL A. POLING

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ARTHUR POUND

New Scotland, New York
HERBERT L. PRATT

Glen Cove, New York
MRS. ROBERT RANLET

Rochester, New York
MRS. SIDNEY H. RHODES

Deal, New Jersey
FREDERICK H. RIKE

Dayton, Ohio
MRS. R. SANFORD RILEY

Worcester, Massachusetts
MRS. THEODORE D. ROBINSON

Mohawk, New York

MRS. WlLLOUGHBY RODMAN

Los Angeles, California
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

Washington, D. C.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Oyster Bay, New York
MRS. HENRY H. SANGER

Grosse Pointe, Michigan
MRS. ALGER SHELDEN

Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan
MRS. ALBERT G. SIMMS

Albuquerque, New Mexico
MRS. JAMES R. SMART

Evanston, Illinois
JOHN D. SPENCER

Salt Lake City, Utah
M. LYLE SPENCER

Syracuse, New York
A. A. SPRAGUE

Chicago, Illinois
ROBERT GORDON SPROUL

Berkeley, California
MRS. O. A. STALLINGS

New Orleans, Louisiana
FLORENCE M. STERLING

Houston, Texas
MRS. SIGMUND STERN

San Francisco, California
MRS. S. EMLEN STOKES

Moorestown, New Jersey
HAROLD H. SWIFT
Chicago, Illinois
GRANT TITSWORTH

New York, New York
MRS. FRANCIS J. TORRANCE

Sewickley, Pennsylvania
WILLIAM G. WATSON

Toronto, Canada
C. S. WESTON

Scranton, Pennsylvania
D WIGHT C. WHEELER

Bridgeport, Connecticut
HAROLD P. WINCHESTER

Albany, New York
STEPHEN S. WISE

New York, New York
HENRY YOUNG
Newark, New Jersey

Courtesy Life Camps, Inc.

— L I F E
Community Living „

r-r/X 3 C a m p s,

at Life Camps T ...

Inc., with

headquar-
ters in New York City, are de-
veloping a training center for
men and women counselors in
connection with the acquisition of
a 1,000 acre tract of lake and for-
est land in northern New Jersey.
The camp on the new tract will
comprise a small country village
including a blacksmith's shop,
village general store, town hall,
bank, post office, barber shop, hardware store, and
lumber yard. The village will serve as a com-
munity center and commissary for the living needs
and amusements of the campers who will live out
on the trails emanating in various directions from
the village. Campers will solve their own prob-
lems of community life, relying on their own re-
sources in living and government, finding their
own place in life, exploring, adventuring, discov-
ering, learning the essentials of citizenship. The
entire program is designed to embrace year-round
activity. The summer camp season will include
the counselor training camp as well as a camp for
girls, while winter will be devoted to week-end
and holiday camping and individual follow-up and
guidance, winter counselor training groups, and
conferences of leaders in the field of camping and
education. Dr. L. B. Sharp is executive of Life
Camps, Inc.

Church Centers for
Children

Weekly Art
Programs

A NEW venture in
the 1938 recreation
program of Salt Lake
City, Utah, was the in-
auguration of weekly art concerts at the Greek
Theater at Fairmont Park. Each Friday evening
during the summer from 8:00 to 9:30 p. M., from
600 to 4,500 people gathered to listen to the pro-
grams that were presented. The beauty, art, mu-
sic, drama and dancing of the immigrant nation-
alities residing in the community was presented
on these evenings. Ten varied programs were
given.

Photo b}> L. B. Sharp

FOR the convenience
of parents attending

the New York World's

Fair this summer an

interchurch sponsoring committee, of which Rev-
erend Frederick Underwood of St. Bartholomew's
Parish, New York City, is chairman, will spon-
sor several centers near parks where children will
be cared for during the day in the educational and
parish buildings of the churches. This is being
done as an expression of the church's hospitality
to summer guests. Young children will be cared
for and fed in small groups for a nominal, non-
profit daily fee.. In addition to this service, there
will be offered individual child care by the hour
with trips included where desired and advisory
service for parents. The staff is being selected
from trained nursery school teachers, recreation
leaders and registered nurses. Children's center^
will be open from 9 :oo to 5 :oo o'clock daily ex-
cept Sunday from June I5th until September i5th.
Anyone wishing additional information may
secure it from Children's Centers, care of Feder-
ation of Churches, 71 West 23rd Street, New
York City.

New Playground on
Historical Site

THE Newark, N. J.,
birthplace of Stephen
Crane, the city's great-
est literary genius, is

about to be demolished to make way for a play-
ground to accommodate a skating ground. The
project calls for a 1 2-inch concrete wall eight feet

177

178

WORLD AT PLAY

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Horseshoe Equipment

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• Stake Holders • Carrying Cases

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DULUTH. MINN.

high surrounding the plot with twenty-four
shower sprays built into the wall for summer use.
The rear wall will be ornamental in design with a
limestone carved panel and a fountain incorporat-
ed. At the center of its base a bronze plaque will
be inserted and dedicated by the Stephen Crane
Association. The cost of the project is approxi-
mately $7,370 of which the city's share would be
$2,081.

From Incinerator to Playhouse — Soon after
the development of a new clubhouse in Houston,
Texas, the Recreation Department acquired the
abandoned incinerator adjoining it which the
Square Dance Association fitted up as a perma-
nent home for themselves and other department
activities in 1931. Through various gifts from
local organizations and with labor from Federal
emergency projects, the building was permanently
improved in 1934 and became the Playhouse of
today.

Ranger Naturalist Service — The National
Park Service of the United States Department of
the Interior employs ranger naturalists who ac-

company groups on hikes and trips through the
parks of Washington, D. C, and on trips to points
of historical interest and of natural beauty. At the
amphitheater in Fort Bunker Hill Park moving
pictures have been shown of geological subjects.
Similar programs have been given at other parks.

A Bond Issue in Centralia — On March 28th
citizens of Centralia, Illinois, voted by a two to
one majority to provide a $40,000 bond issue for
funds for the construction and equipment of a
community building for use as a recreation center.
The total cost of the building will be $108^000,
the Federal government's share being $68,000.
The building is to be constructed by WPA labor.

A Friends of Youth Tribute Dinner — On

April 20th in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an inter-
esting and unusual banquet was held which was
called the "Friends of Youth Tribute Dinner." It
was sponsored by the "Exceptionally Able Youth
Committee" of the Civic Club of Allegheny
County as a tribute "to those individuals and or-
ganizations of Allegheny County who are extend-
ing constructive efforts to prepare our youth for
lives of maximum happiness and community use-
fulness." Approximately two hundred leaders
from many organizations, all of whom were listed
on the program, attended the banquet. Practically
the entire discussion centered about the subject,
"The Utilization of Leisure Time for Youth."
The Bureau of Recreation of Pittsburgh pre-
sented in dramatized form "Youth's Response."

New York's Swimming Pools — The swim-
ming pools maintained by the Department of
Parks of New York City were opened to the pub-
lic on May 27th. During the swimming season
children under fourteen years of age will be ad-
mitted free from 10 :oo A. M. to 12 130 p. M. every
day except Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
After i too P. M. on weekdays and all day on Sat-
urday, Sundays, and holidays there will be a
charge for children of 10 cents ; for all others the
fee will be 20 cents.

Play Day in Akron, Ohio — City-wide cham-
pions in ping-pong, foul shooting, volley ball, and
checkers for boys and girls in A and B classes
were chosen by elimination at the first annual in-
door play day of the Akron, Ohio, Recreation De-
partment. Features of the program on play day
were exhibits of handcraft from the winter pro-

WORLD AT PLAY

179

gram and a short music program by five boys and
girls from the department of the physically handi-
capped.

Charges and Fees — In order to help finance
the cost of maintaining the bathing beaches, an an-
nual family fee of $2.00 is charged by the Park
Board of Winnetka, Illinois. This serves to re-
duce the tax burden and also to place a portion of
the maintenance cost upon those who make direct
use of these recreational facilities. During the
season 1,416 family tickets were issued and the
revenue from this source and from daily fees col-
lected from persons not holding resident family
tickets amounted to $2,942. In comparison, the
cost of operating the beaches for the season of
1937 was $3,405.51.

Municipal Bands in Austin, Texas — Five
municipal bands functioned throughout last sum-
mer in Austin, Texas. The Junior Municipal
Bands were divided into two groups with the
older boys appearing in one band and the younger
in another. The Men's Municipal Band was a
separate unit. The boys groups were presented in
a full program on the various playgrounds. A
Colored Band of men gave weekly concerts at one
of the community centers. A Boys' Band which
served as a junior organization to the colored
groups was also presented at various times during
the summer.

A New Recreation Center — Hoquiam, Wash-
ington, is to have a new $225,000 civic recreation
center which will cover approximately fourteen
acres. It will contain an enclosed stadium seating
9,000 people with a turfed field containing a foot-
ball field, a hard ball diamond, and two softball
diamonds. The area will also include two con-
crete tennis courts and a children's play area, pic-
nic area and game courts. The playfield will be
lighted for night use.

A Playing Fields Association for South
Africa — During his recent visit to South Africa
as Manager of the English Rugby Team, Major
Hartley, with his wonted enthusiasm for the
Playing Fields Movement, addressed many meet-
ings at which he referred to the work of the Na-
tional Playing Fields Association of Great Bri-
tain. At an influential meeting held at Cape Town
those present, after hearing from Major Hartley,
an account of the work and methods of the As-
sociation, unanimously resolved to take steps to

_ « T TCP ot tn@ CcitivpSi

B\eatbercraitjn Summer tc..

Playgrounds a^zed as pl^s

SWP"

LEATHER-WO^Vs, 'knives, »

tags, key ES;1__( Special bei^ sseinbiy
PROlECtS & «^1ets ready io^^uons)

form a similar organization for the Cape Penin-
sula. The Association is proud of its colonial off-
spring which it hopes may prosper and prove a
powerful factor in securing for the towns and
villages of South Africa adequate facilities for
open air recreation.

Table Tennis Tables — Recreation workers
will be interested in knowing that plans for mak-
ing tables for table tennis are available. The Na-
tional Recreation Association has prepared a bul-
letin presenting a plan with directions for making
a portable table which may be secured for 10
cents. Word has been received from Henry D.
Schubert, Superintendent of the Department of
Recreation, Dearborn, Michigan, that blue prints
are now available showing a plan for constructing
the portable table which is in use in Dearborn.
Copies may be secured from Mr. Schubert at 15
cents each.

Shut-In Program in Dayton — The Bureau of
Recreation of Dayton, Ohio, in reporting on the
second year of its program for shut-ins, states
that the children on the playgrounds made quiet
games and puzzles, took them to the shut-ins in
their community, and taught them how to play

180

Shuffleboard Game Equipment

Complete Sets — $5.00, $10.00, $15.00 and $25.00
METAL FOOTED CUES — $1.50, $3.00 and $4.00

Composition and Noiseless Rubber-Tired Discs, $6.00 per set.

Guentheur Easy Glide Discs, $7.00 Set; with Carrier, $7.75

1 0 Cents Brings Plan Standard Court and Catalogue

DAYTONA BEACH SHUFFLEBOARD CO.

PHILMONT, N. Y.

the games. Contacts were made with 178 differ-
ent individuals.

Chicago Reports — In analyzing its total at-
tendance at the play centers, the Playground Di-
vision of the Bureau of Park, Recreation and
Aviation in Chicago, Illinois, reports that of the
total attendance of 5,181,546, 56 per cent were
boys ; 34 per cent, girls ; and 10 per cent, men and
women over eighteen years of age.

Recreation in Detroit — "The Detroit recrea-
tion program needs places for small children 'to
let off steam and for old men to play pinochle.' "
There is a terrific need for letting children get
away from their mothers between the hours of
four and six in the afternoon and older men need
places to spend their leisure too. In the old days
the back room of the corner grocery was good
enough for a pinochle game. The A. & P. and
Kroger do not lend themselves to that kind of
thing nowadays.

"We haven't begun yet to use church facilities
and school buildings for recreation as we should.
It has been suggested that an enormous amount
of volunteer help could be organized if we would
but use it." — From Fred M. Butzel, Pioneer
Worker in Recreation in Detroit.

Paying for the Baseball Program — One of

the difficult problems faced by the Public Recrea-
tion Commission of Cincinnati, Ohio, has been
that of maintaining the greatly increased facilities
for baseball and softball according to the stand-
ards demanded by the players without an increase
in tax funds allocated to the Commission. The
Commission took a step toward solving the prob-
lem by increasing the receipts from spectators.
When this proved insufficient, a plan was worked
out whereby teams pay a nominal sum for the
reservation of diamonds and an entrance fee
graded according to the classification of teams.
By these measures the Commission has succeeded
in doubling the receipts from baseball and soft-
ball, though such proceeds represent only twenty-
five per cent of the cost of maintaining ball dia-
monds and operating the athletic program.

Hobbies

IN THE Purdue Memorial Union Building a
Purdue University one room has been set asid<
as a "puttering" shop where anyone with a "yen'
to do something may work away to his heart's
content during his leisure. One of the enthusiastic
sponsors of the hobby idea at Purdue is J. E
Walters, Director of Personnel, an exhibit o:
whose pictures was recently held in the Memoria
Union Building. Mr. Walters had never done an)
painting until four years ago. At that time, ir
order to discover which of three hobbies — golf
fishing, and painting — was the one he wantec
most to pursue, he wrote to a number of art in-
stitutes for the best references on landscape paint-
ing. These books he read and studied. A fewj
lessons from friendly amateurs and professional
artists followed, and then he began painting.

Mr. Walters points out that in order to have
an exhibit it was necessary to have frames for the
pictures, so with Mrs. Walters' help he made his
own. Molding was purchased, and Mr. Walters
did the manual work of putting the frames to-
gether, while Mrs. Walters gilded and finishe
them.

In an article entitled "Learning to Ride th
Right Hobby Horse," which appeared in the
September, 1938 issue of RECREATION, Mr. Wal-
ters presented the procedure which he believes
should be followed by an individual in determin-
ing what hobbies he wants to pursue. Readers of
RECREATION will be interested in referring to this
article.

An innovation known as a "Hobby-O- Meter'
has been placed in the Chicago Public Library
for the use of hobbyists. Designed by Miss
Matilda Kelly of the Hild Branch of the library,
it consists of a large panel divided into sections of
blue window panes underneath which a keyboard
is labeled with various hobbies. A push of the
button on a given hobby reveals the names of the
books on the subject available in the library. Tin
can craft, marionettes, sketching, and model build-
ing are only a few of the hobbies listed in this
guide to recreational and educational leisure-time
pursuits.

1,700 Acres Acquired — Elbert M. Vail, Dis-
trict Manager of the East Bay Regional Park
District, California, announces the recent acqui-
sition of 1,700 acres of hill land densely covered
with redwoods.

WORLD AT PLAY

181

PLAY SAFE!

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A Build-a-Bank Contest — In connection with
National Thrift Week, the Recreation Division of
ihe Department of Public Welfare of Danville,
/irginia, cooperated with two local banks in a
!>uild-a-bank contest open to children under six-
een years of age. In planning and making the
anks the children showed surprising ingenuity
.nd imagination. The banks submitted were not
nly sturdy but showed good taste in color and
esign. Newspaper notices emphasized the use of
taxes, jars, cans and other containers, and their
Adaptation to whatever form or design the chil-
fren desire to make. Among the forms which the
!*anks took were the following: church, clock,
;>iano, house, duck, pig, cabin, elephant, book,
'hip, radio, airplane, igloo, a snuffbox with draw-
tigs on the side of Snow White and the Seven
pwarfs and many others. Neatness, originality,
nd durability counted most in the judging. The
.wards offered to the makers of the seven most
•utstanding banks took the form of savings
iccounts.

Sioux City, Not East Orange!

On page 85 of the May issue of RECREATION
there appeared a photograph for which credit was
incorrectly given to the East Orange, New Jersey,
Board of Recreation Commissioners. The photo-
graph came from Sioux City, Iowa, and was sent
through the courtesy of the Department of
Recreation.

The ideal book for
your group

GAMES, DANCES
AND ACTIVITIES

(Junior Athletics)
FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION

By FRED L. BARTLETT.B. A., Director of Physical Education, Toronto
Price $2.00

In this book you will find a wide selection of games,
dances and activities in which the members of your
group can experience success in school, at camp or on
the playground. Following general suggestions for group
instruction, the book contains numerous individual exer-
cises, games, dances and activities, both corrective and
playful, adapted to the growth level, interests and
capacities of growing boys and girls. Other devices are
suggested for relaxation and pleasure.

Write for your copy of our new free booklet No. 23 R
NOBLE & NOBLE, PUBLISHERS, INC., 100 FIFTH AVENUE, N.Y.

182

WORLD AT PLAY

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A Nature Publication — The Junior Naturalist,
published in San Francisco by the Junior Recrea-
tion Museum of the San Francisco Recreation De-
partment, is a very interesting little booklet for
guiding children in the study of nature. The
editors represent the Junior Naturalist Club, the
Golden Eagle Club, Junior Birdmen, Earth Study,
and Stamp Chatter. Very attractive to children
and suggestive to nature workers.

Industrial Recreation in Oakland — Indus-
trial recreation in Oakland, California, offers lei-
sure-time activities to 30,000 employees of eighty
business firms. The annual report for 1938 re-
cently published states that 5,512 participated in
the various activities of the program, while the
spectator attendance record reached a new peak of
134,790 persons. Ice hockey, softball, basketball,
and the sports carnival led the activities in at-
tendance as well as in number of participants.

Developments in Aurora, Illinois — The Au-
rora Playground Commission is promoting an un-
usual project in the establishment of an aero-
nautic school in which 256 individuals are reg-
istered. The upper floor of a factory building has

been secured at a rental of $20.00 a month, at
very attractive quarters have been arranged wi
a classroom and shop. All kinds of equipment ha:
been installed, including three large motors, car-
buretors, and electric equipment. For their flying
hours the students go to the flying field in clu
organized outside the school to relieve respons
bility for flying accidents. Students pay $1.00 fo
half an hour for instruction. Classes are held eac
day from I p. M. to 10:00 P. M.

Ann Arbor's Doll Show — The doll show hel
last December in Aurora, Illinois, under
auspices of the Playground Commission was ja
great success. Various organizations in the city
took responsibility for sending projects whicli
were used as a background with the dolls as the
figures. A ten cent admission charge was madfc
and almost $300 was taken in which was dis-
tributed among the exhibitors. Among the groups
exhibiting were garden clubs, high schools, Scouts,
Y.W.C.A., and similar organizations. After the
exhibit the dolls were given to needy children.

Hymn Singing in Grand Rapids — Grand
Rapids has had an exceedingly popular season of
hymn singing, the last event having drawn more
than 6,000 persons. The local Christian Endeavor
Union has sponsored the series and because of the
success so far arranged for a giant sing in the
Civic Auditorium on Christmas night. Carols as
well as hymns were sung. This splendid program
began with a sing in a church after regular eve-
ning service. The church was filled and many-
were turned away. A larger church was selected
for the second sing and again there was an over-
flow crowd. Then the Endeavor officers engaged
the Civic Auditorium and it was filled to capacity
with approximately 6,000 seated and nearly i,ooc
standing.

They Started on Playgrounds — Vario
cities are listing the names of famous players i
many fields of sports who have developed thei
original talent on city playgrounds. Clevelan
claims to be the residence of over sixty form
major leaguers, including Bill Wamby, Manag<
of the Fisher Foods, who was the only player
ever to complete a triple play unassisted in a
World's Series.

The National Cooperative Recreation School

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WORLD AT PLAY

183

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INDIANA

be held in Milltown, Wisconsin, June 26 to July
5, under the auspices of the Cooperative League
)f the U. S. A. Among the staff members will be
tfiss Neva L. Boyd of the Department of Soci-
plogy and Division of Social Work, Northwestern
•Jniversity, and Miss Ruth Chorpenning of the
professional theater in New York City. The pro-
gram, which is designed to meet the needs of
eaders and organizers in recreation, includes
ourses in folk dancing, drama, theory of recrea-
ion, instrumental music, group singing, puppetry,
landicraft, and games. Inquiries regarding the
ichool should be addressed to Frank Shilston, 739
|ohnson Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

National Chickamauga Celebration — Chatta-
stooga, Tennessee, celebrated its one-hundredth
birthday" in September with an elaborate ten-day
:>rogram named officially the "National Chicka-
nauga Celebration," attended by President Roose-
'lelt on "President's Day," (September 20), and
•pened by a Cotton Ball, gayest of southern social
!vents. In addition to the city's own centennial,
he affair was staged in commemoration of the
leventy-fifth anniversary of three famous Civil

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War battles and the one hundredth anniversary of
the tragic exodus of the Indians. Other features
of the program included a banquet for visiting

• New and modern Bakelite Shuffle Disks and
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able. Now lower in price. Afford recreation for
young and old oi both sexes. Write for catalog.

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184

WORLD AT PLAY

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governors, a military re-enactment of the Battle
of Chickamauga, a pageant by descendants of the
Cherokee Indians, horse shows, polo matches, a
water carnival and speed-boat regatta on the
Tennessee River, and a historical spectacle,
"Drums of Dixie." The historical entertainment
and recreational diversions afforded by the cele-
bration were sufficient to attract an average of
fifty thousand tourists a day.

In Honor of Theodore Wirth — Glenwood
Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been re-
named "Theodore Wirth Park" in honor of
Mr. Wirth, for many years Superintendent of
Parks in that city.

With the Boys' Clubs— The Boys' Clubs of
America, according to the "Boys' Club Quar-
terly," received forty-eight specific requests
from forty-two different cities in twenty-two
states to assist local organizations in the
planning and promotion of building projects.
Total expenditures in the erection of twenty-
four new buildings and additions to twenty-
four others will amount to $3,151,000 when
completed.

Kent County, Michigan, Acquires Area for
Park — Kent County, Michigan, has recently
acquired approximately one hundred acres o
land near Long Lake in Solon Township, to be
used for a public park. The acquisition was
authorized by the Kent County Board o
Supervisors. The park will be equipped with a
bathhouse and bathing facilities. The ful
amount of $10,000, which the county previously
had set aside for its share of a WPA project
for the park, probably will not be spent. The
initial expense to the county will be $1,350, am
cost of maintenance is estimated to be about
$2,000 a year.

Camping Helps — The January, 1939, issue of
The Camping Magazine contains a number of in-;
teresting articles for the camp director and coun-
selor. Among them are "Winter Camping," by
C. S. Chase; "Adventures in Music at Camp," by
Edwin M. Hoffman; "Nature Study," by Mil-
dred Jensen : "The Reconstructed Work Shop,"
by Dorothy B. Martner ; and "Woodcraft, Plus,"
by Scott Dearolf . Individual copies of this issue
may be secured at 25 cents each from the Ameri-
can Camping Association, 330 South State Street,
Ann Arbor, Michigan.
.

Courses in Community Recreation — James
E. Rogers, Director of the National Physical Ed-
ucation Service of the National Recreation Asso-
ciation, in cooperation with Elmer Mitchell, will
teach two courses this summer at the University
of Michigan — one in community recreation, the
other in curriculum problems in physical educa-
tion. The courses will be given from June 26th
to August 4th.

Dorothy C. Enderis, Assistant to Superintend-
ent, in charge of the Department of Municipal
Recreation and Adult Education, Milwaukee Pub-
lic Schools, will conduct a course in this year's
summer session at the University of Wisconsin
under the title "Organization and Administration
of a City Recreation Program."

New Pools for Buffalo — The Department of
Parks of Buffalo, New York, last summer dedi-
cated three new pools, each a combination of
three pools — a wading, a swimming, and a diving
pool — designed to accommodate small children
and adults. It is estimated that 15,000 people at-
tended the dedication ceremonies at the Schiller
Park pools with almost as many people attending

WORLD AT PLAY

185

the ceremonies at the Centennial Park pool. At
the close of the dedicatory addresses competitive
swimming races were held.

Recreation in Long Beach — The annual re-
port of the Recreation Commission of Long
Beach, California, for the year 1937-1938 has
been published under the title "Long Beach Rec-
jeation" in the form of a tabloid newspaper. The
•twelve pages which the report contains tell of the
activities along various lines. There is a letter of
transmittal to the City Manager and the City
Council from Clyde Doyle, President of the Rec-
reation Commission, and also a letter from Wal-
ter L. Scott, Executive Secretary of the Com-
•mission.

Salt Water Swimming Pools — Recreation
leaders who have access to sea water will find in
; he December issue of Beach and Pool a helpful
article on the construction, sanitation and opera-
tion of salt water swimming pools by Louis J.
lay New York City and C. W. Stedman, Cleve-
and, Ohio, with the cooperation of the Engineer-
ng and Research Departments of the Josam
Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio. From
Beach and Pool, December 1938.

Pamphlets Available— Through the National
Commission on the Enrichment of Adult Life in
Washington, there are available two mono-
graphs which recreation workers may wissh to
Know about. One of them is "Techniques in
Adult Education," the other "Basic English."
jFhe cost of each is 75 cents. Copies are avail-
able from the National Commission at 1201
Sixteenth Street, Washington, D. C.

; A Birdhouse Contest in Detroit — Nearly 125
toys from five to sixteen years of age working
t the Elm wood Recreation Center in Detroit,
Kchigan, made birdhouses and feeding shelters .
or the sixth annual birdhouse contest which
losed in March. Last year the boys entered 611
jxhibits. Entries were judged on the basis of the
jegree to which the completed birdhouses, nesting
nd feeding shelves conformed to the specifica-
•ions, their suitability for the purpose intended,
nd their durability, skill, and originality.

; Delaware County Parks — The Delaware
County Park and Recreation Board in its News
Bulletin dated February ist reports that work is

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There is also described an excellent assortment
of skits, stunts, mock trials minstrel material and
other entertainments for recreational groups,
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SAMUEL FRENCH

25 West 45th Street New York, N. Y.

811 West 7th Street Los Angeles, Calif.

progressing on the development of a new park
known as Kent Park designed to be an active rec-
reation area. An administration building, wading
pool, small children's playground, and a sports
area are being constructed with WPA labor. Lo-
cated in one of the most populous sections of the
county, a wide use of the park during the coming
summer is anticipated. Approximately thirty-six
acres have been added to the original Hemlocks
Park opened last year which became very popular

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SOUDERTON, PA.

Manufacturer of

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186

HISTORIC CANAL TURNED INTO RECREATION AREA

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Teachers, Recreation and Playground Instrnctors, Occupa-
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as a picnic area. Development plans at this new
area call for a bridle path through the park, pic-
nic areas to accommodate hundreds of picnickers
in groups of various sizes, boating on Crum
Creek, facilities for both summer and winter
sports, and for swimming. This area is being de-
veloped through NYA labor.

Sacramento Camp — Last summer Sacra-
mento, California, maintained a camp for 500
underprivileged children, 250 boys and 250
girls. The city supplied the use of Camp
Sacramento, while the National Guard fur-
nished transportation. Most of the $2,500
needed for food was raised by the Junior
Chamber of Commerce. The Recreation De-
partment was responsible for the management
of the camp through an interesting system of
follow-up. Most of the campers, after the sum-
mer season is over, are enrolled in playground
clubs.

A New Community House — Through the in-
terest and wholehearted support of its residents,
the Pine Grove Community Club of Sparkman,
Arkansas, is soon to have a new, modern com-
munity house. According to Mrs. Harvey Taylor,
organization president, interest in the project
started three years ago at a meeting of a home
demonstration club. The women in the group felt
that cooperation and a real community spirit, so
essential to community life, was losing foothold
in Pine Grove and something had to be done about
it. An acre of land in the center of the community
was soon deeded the club by Mr. and Mrs. C. C.
Jackson. Money for the club house project has
been raised through the presentation of home

Historic Canal Turned into
Recreation Area

FOR MORE THAN a hundred years the early build
ers of our nation dreamed of a barge cana
connecting the upper waters of the Potomac witf
the waters of the Ohio. Thus, they said, the vasl
resources of the whole mid-continent could tx
brought to the eastern seaboard at a minimum ex
pense. From his early youth George Washingtor
had faith in the future of a channel of watei
transportation into the heart of the Alleghenies
In 1748 the Ohio Company was organized, and it
1754 Washington made the survey of the pro
posed area. Later as promoter, stockholder anc
director, and eventually as its first president
George Washington initiated the "Potowmack
Canal Company."

Twenty years later this company went out o
existence, but Washington's dream lived on. !
1828, the first spadeful of sod turned. In t
meantime the invention of the steam engine ren-
dered the canal obsolete and work ceased alto-
gether in 1850. The project had been completed
to Cumberland, Maryland, however — a distance of
1 86 miles — and navigation for that distance was
possible.

The canal was never a financial success but has
been maintained in part for all these years. Now
the United States Government is acquiring pos-
session of the canal and the National Park Ser-
vice will develop twenty-two miles of its course
for recreational and historical purposes. The ol
canal is rich in beauty and charm. The can
itself is to be used for canoeing, boating and fis'
ing, while its right of way will be ideal for hiking.
The historic development will consist of rebuild-
ing certain of the century-old lock houses, the
famous Great Falls Tavern and the reconditioning
of certain sections of the towpath.

Thus a century-old project will be transformed
from a useless financial burden into an attractive
park area, unique in its character and with the
possibility of providing recreation to thousands of
eager citizens.

From releases of the United States Department of the
Interior "Old Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Rich in His-
toric Associations."

talent plays, an amateur hour, musical program,
Hallowe'en carnival, bazaar, sale of a quilt, and
an egg shower. The NYA is assisting in the con-
struction of the building.

se

11

h-

EDUCATION FOR WHAT?

187

Education for What?

EDUCATION should not only be training to gain
a livelihood, but it should be a rich experience
in the art of living. True education should be
concerned with life itself ; it should be joyous,
vibrant and realistic. In these thrilling times of
fundamental changes in our national institutions,
certainly the school must be prepared to train
youth to live realistically in a real world. Un-
fortunately, however, in spite of the many pro-
gressive school systems throughout the country
most of our schools are still in the lock step of
tradition. The curriculum is still in the strait-
jacket. Many still worship the little red school-
house and the sacred 3 R's. We threw out the so-
called fads and frills when we needed them most
during the trying years of this depression. We
must change our points of view. The social
studies, music, avocational education, recreation,
become the essentials in this New America and
this New Day. They are the necessities if we wish
to train youth for living.

American life today needs integration most of
all. We have no focal points ; we are drifting.
We have become opportunists. Education must
immediately help to focus and give unity to our
national life. We must stop wishful dreaming
and do some realistic thinking. The child must
deal with the real issues. Even in arithmetic they
must meet everyday problems that give meaning
and satisfaction. Wallpapering a room without
doors and windows is idiotic. Cube root has no
meaning today. So many of our school problems
are so artificial and without significance to the
student. The great need is to develop integrated
personalities, but there is so much in school life
that works against this. The administration of
grades is split up into segments; subjects are put
into departments; teachers have become special-
ists; subjects have been split into pieces; students
are cut into slices. In one situation many teachers
operate on one pupil, while in others each pupil
works under many teachers. Work and play are
separated. Theory and practice are divided. In
brief, one of the great needs is for education to be
integrated itself. However, there are many ef-
forts in the country working for the integrated
personality through the integrated school curricu-
lum which should be praised and multiplied.

Education is functional. It is a process of learn-
ing through doing, achieving and living. Our at-
( Continued on page 188) ••

TENNIS NETS

— also —

Backstop Nets

Soccer Nets

Golf Practice Nets

in fact

ALL SPORT NETS

This house has long been
headquarters for all the above

W. A. AUGUR, Inc.

35 FULTON STREET NEW YORK

Preventive Police Work — Frank J. O'Malley,
Superintendent of Police of Grand Rapids, Michi-
gan, announces an undertaking which will be
watched by advocates of preventive work. A "city
of youth" is being founded in a congested district
of meager social advantages in which the majority
of the inhabitants are Negroes. Officers corre-
sponding to those in municipalities are to be
elected by the youthful population under the di-
rection of mature leaders. When several such
centers have been organized, representatives and
senators will be chosen to legislate for a ''com-
monwealth of youth" with a government pattern-
ed after that of the state. Leading citizens in
business concerns are helping to make the man-
agement possible. Young men of the neighbor-
hood are doing the work of remodeling a recrea-
tion room, and money and gifts of furniture and
equipment are being donated. Teachers of manual
training and domestic arts will be supplied, and
instruction given in boxing and other athletic
activities.

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LITCHFIELD ILLINOIS

188

AFTER THE FAIR

THE (DEAL CHARCOAL GRILL

WRITE NQW TO ARCH B. HORNE
PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT CO.
82 DUANE STREET NEW YORK

34 Years in Playground Equipment

MIDWAY OF
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Charcoal
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and on the
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•
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After the Fair

tention should not be devoted solely to the develop-
ment of skills and techniques, but should be given
to the handling of life situations as a whole. We
still separate the school from the community, and
this distinction is a pernicious one. We still have
the cloistered attitude of the monastic, who lives
apart from the community. School and com-
munity are something separate and different. This
should not be because they are one and the same.
Society has given a mandate to both school and
community to foster a richer and finer living in
America. — James Edward Rogers in School and
Society.

Nature Lore — By adding to its staff an ex-
perienced nature study director, the Bureau of
Recreation of Dayton, Ohio, has made it possible
to conduct a nature study program which is at-
tracting much favorable notice. Nature clubs
have been developed in all of the community cen-
ters as well as on the playgrounds. School classes
have been assisted in their nature study, and talks
have been given before a number of local
organizations.

Patriots' Day — On the 19th of April, eight
cities and towns of Massachusetts joined in ob-
serving the anniversary of Paul Revere's ride
under the auspices of the Citizens' Public Cele-
brations Association. The first re-enactment of
Revere's Ride under the present form of observ-
ance was in 1916. The first similar re-enactment
of the ride of William Dawes from Boston to
Lexington was in 1920. Since 1930 a "Prescott"
has ridden from Lexington Green to Concord
Battle Ground. Each of the cities and towns has
its own local committee designated by the Mayor
or selectmen, which arranges and conducts the
local exercises and historic ceremonies.

UNDER THE; TITLE, "The Flushing Meado\\
Improvement," the Coordinating and Prog-
ress Committee of which Allyn R. Jennings, Gen-
eral Superintendent of the New York Part
Department, is Chairman, has issued a booklei
containing a complete resume of all improvement;
to date of the World's Fair area, together witl
plans for the construction of Flushing Meadov
Park after the Fair. Within a short time aftei
the last Fair rocket has flared in the sky a splen
did 1 200 acre public park will have emerged. Ir
this area there will be provision for both activi
and passive recreation — pleasant gardens am
promenades, and formal development for rest am
scenic beauty. There will be woodland areas o:
less formal development and bird sanctuaries. Ii
addition, tree-bordered open meadows for pag
eants and festivals will be provided, and children'
gardens where children may plant, cultivate, am
harvest flowers and garden produce under tb
leadership of competent instructors. Playground
will be located at points convenient to residentia
areas for children of all age groups, and there wil
be ample facilities for all active sports includinj
tennis, baseball, football, golf, archery, lacrosse
hockey, roller-skating, and ice-skating. Six mile
of bicycle paths, five of bridle paths, and picni
grounds will be laid out and facilities will be pro
vided for model yacht racing.

In addition to the wide variety and number o
play facilities throughout the extensive park areas
it will be possible to present pageants, wate
operas, musical shows, band concerts, and spec
tacles of all kinds in the 12,000 seat amphitheate
on Meadow Lake, erected by the State for th
Fair but constructed as a permanent improvemen
for the Park.

The New York City Building which houses th
city's own exhibits at the Fair will be an out
standing feature of the park. This fireproof, ail
conditioned structure covering two and one-hal
acres will be converted into a great indoor recrea
tion center. Half of the main floor space, 180 b
1 1 6 feet, has been constructed to provide for ice
skating or ice-hockey with provision for indoo
baseball, gymnasium exhibitions, dramatic preset!
tations, basketball, regulation tennis, badmintor
and shuffleboard.

• (Continued on page 190)

THE SIXTH ANNUAL NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL

189

The Sixth Annual National
Folk Festival

M

ORE THAN six hundred "homespun" Ameri-
cans from farms, villages, Indian reserva-
: tions, and cities in twenty-six states came to Wash-
ington in April to take part in the sixth National
Folk Festival and to present the American scene
in song, dance, and story. For three days, at after-
noon and evening performances, varied folk
; groups presented informally and spontaneously
the vivid and colorful traditions which make up
American folk lore. Each of the six programs was
complete in itself, presenting a cross section of the
nation's folk culture, but each was different. Oys-
ter shuckers, crab pickers, sailors, miners, lum-
berjacks, canal boatmen, and Indians were there,
as well as folk dance groups — Lithuanians from
\ Chicago and groups from West Virginia, Dela-
; ware, and Massachusetts. There were Negro
i spirituals, ballads with dulcimer accompaniment,
; tunes on homemade shepherd pipes, and Bach chor-
r ales sung by the Girls' Council Chorus of Bethle-
; hem, Pennsylvania. All parts of the country —
East, West, North, and South — contributed to
this festival of music, song, and dance appropri-
ately opened by the town crier from Province-
1 town, Massachusetts, and brought to impressive
close by a presentation of a typical Mormon camp
meeting on the Trek.

More than 16,000 people — at one session there
j were 3,000 children, given leave of absence from
•school for the afternoon — attended the perform-
ances of the festival which was held under the
(auspices of the Washington Post and the leader-
!ship of Miss Sarah Gertrude Knott, founder and
director of the festival.

It will be of interest to recreation workers and
! teachers to know that this year the entire festival
was recorded and that records are available for
: phonograph or transcription through the Na-
tional Folk Festival at 1337-43 E Street, N. W.,
Washington, D. C, or through Radioscriptions,
Inc., 726 Eleventh Street, N. W., Washington.
iThe transcriptions are 16" double face ; the phono-
graph records, 12" double face. Through the re-
jcording a number of fiddle tunes have been made
(available which may be used in square dances or
singing games. The discussions and demonstra-
jtions at morning meetings were also recorded.
These include animal tales from the South, the
playing of bamboo pipes, ballads, nursery rhymes,
and choral speaking.

An Indispensable Handbook
for All Who Direct the Play
Activities of Children

I'll i III ITU'S II iiy

Indoors and Out

By ELIZABETH F. BOETTIGER

"Ten years of practical experience as well as special
study have given the author exceptional familiarity
with why and how children like to play, how play
can be made most helpful in their mental and physi-
cal development, and how to select play materials and
activities. Well organized and simply and pleasantly
written." — Journal of Home Economics.

"A book which teachers may recommend unhesi-
tatingly to parents of children two to seven. . . .
Space and equipment for out-of-door play are fully
treated, together with suggestions concerning valuable
play possibilities offered by the outdoors itself. . . .
Excellent suggestions concerning gardening and pets."
— Childhood Education.

fust

DOROTHY GORDON'S

Treasure Bag of Game Songs

A delightful collection of game songs gathered
from all parts of America as well as England,
Denmark, France, Germany, Scotland, Belgium
and Ireland. Charmingly illustrated, and com-
plete with words, piano accompaniments, and
simply written instructions for playing each
game. Send for illustrated folder.

E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY. INC..

Educational Dept.

300 Fourth Avenue, New York, N. Y.

Please send:

copies of Children's Play: Indoors and Out at $2.00

copies of Treasure Bag of Game Songs at $1.50

$ enclosed D C. O. D. fj Charge fj Qn approval

(To have books charged or sent on approval, state
official connection. Postage extra)

D Send illustrated circular Valuable Books for Music and
Activity Directors Working with Children

Name

Address

Prof. Affiliation

190

LEISURE

Newly Revised

ILLUSTRATED SWIM CHART

Shows and Explains to your Pupils at a Glance the Latest
Technique of AH the Standard and Basic Swim Strokes in

Minute Detail

Profusely Illustrated — Easily Read

Highly Endorsed by Leading College Coaches, Playground
Directors, Varsity Champions. School P. E. Teachers, and
Y.M.C.A's. on Heavy Paper, 22 x 32 inches

Price: $1.00 post paid, $1.75 ior two

R. R. BOARDMAN

2380 East Nob Hill

Salem, Oregon

After the Fair

(Continued from page 188)

The bill for the permanent city and state im-
provement program serving not only the Fair but
the future park and including the closely related
improvements affecting the entire area surround-
ing the Fair, will amount to $59,000,000. It is
estimated that the cost of converting the grounds
into a park will be approximately five and one-
half million dollars.

Westchester County Holds a Barn Dance —

A novel affair at the Westchester County Center
at White Plains, New York, was a barn dance
sponsored by the County Recreation Commission
on May I3th. One of the features of the dance
was an auction of "knick-knacks" unearthed from
attics. The proceeds of the sale went into the
treasury of the Westchester Arts and Crafts Guild
to finance a scholarship for an ambitious student
at the Westchester Workshop. The carnival spirit
of a country fair prevailed throughout the eve-
ning. The little theater became a glorified barn
for the occasion, providing an excellent dance
floor for square and rustic dances and a colorful
background for the picnic supper at which each
woman guest produced a basket supper which she
shared with an unknown partner, the identifica-
tion of her companion not being revealed until
the "auctioneer" made the decision.

An Annual Civic Music Night — More than
150 members of a dozen musical groups in Ann
Arbor joined to present the third annual Ann
Arbor Civic Music Night program. No admis-
sion was charged. A large group of persons in-
terested in music underwrote the necessary ex-

Leisure

THE FIRST CONCERTED action of the I.L.O. in
relation to this subject was the adoption in
1924 of a "Recommendation concerning the de-
velopment of facilities for the utilization of work-
ers' spare time." This Recommendation does not
have reference specifically to young people but its
attack upon its subject is so broad as to deserve
reference here to show the approach of the Or-
ganization to the whole subject of provision and
use of leisure. It begins by pointing out that
wages for employment should be such that people
need not spend what ought to be their free time
in earning money by supplementary work. It then
urges that the working hours of the day be so
arranged as to make periods of free time as con-
tinuous as possible and that, the transport system
be so organized as to reduce to a minimum the
time spent between homes and workplaces. After
urging these measures for assuring freely disposa-
ble time in the hours not given to regular work, it
goes on to recommend that housing policies should
make possible the enjoyment of a proper home
and that there be public provision of facilities for
physical exercise and recreation, such as swim-
ming pools and facilities for games and sports, that
measures be adopted to suppress unhygienic con-
ditions and debilitating and demoralizing forms of
recreation, and that cultural facilities be provided
such as libraries and technical and general educa-
tional courses. Finally it calls attention to the
"necessity of safeguarding the individual freedom
of workers against any system or scheme which
has a tendency towards compelling the workers
directly or indirectly'' to use any particular
facilities.

More recently a special committee has been set
up to devise and promote measures enabling
young persons in employment to get the most both
from their spare time and from their holidays and
vacations. Representatives of youth organizations
have been invited to accept membership and the
first meeting of the committee is scheduled to take
place in October 1938 in London. From "Youth
and the International Labour Organization," In-
ternational Labour Office, 1938.

penses in order to make the program free to the
public. Included in the program were represen-
tatives of the various musical organizations in
the city, including the Ann Arbor Civic Orchestra.

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

191

NEW PUBLICATIONS
IN THE

LEISURE TIME FIELD

You Can Design

By Winold Reiss and Albert Charles Schweizer. Whit-
tlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New
York. $3.75.

V/YOU CAN DESIGN/' say the authors in their foreword.
' "Whether you realize it or not, the power of creating
forms and patterns lies within you, and you should give
yourself the pleasure that comes from this kind of self-
expression." This volume outlines the method by which
creative design may become a part of the experience of
everyone. Starting with random scrawls, the reader is
introduced to simple abstract designs and then to flower,
bird and animal patterns. From black and white he pro-
ceeds to the use of various grays and, finally, color.
There are ninety illustrations, including sixty-seven full-
page plates, twelve of them in full color.

Handicrafts as a Hobby

By Robert E. Dodds. Harper and Brothers, New York.

$1.75.

I FATHER WORK, strip confetti, painting on glass, metal
L flowers, and book making are a few of the fascinating
handicrafts included in this volume. All of the projects
described have been worked out in the classroom, and
the articles selected require a minimum of expense and
equipment. Children can follow the simple instructions
with little supervision and adults can carry them out
readily.

Games, Dances and Activities for
Physical Education

By Fred L. Bartlett. Noble and Noble, Publishers, Inc.,
New York. $2.00.

THE AUTHOR, in compiling this book on junior athletics,
1 has had as his purpose the provision of a manual of
physical education activities for teachers in the elemen-
tary schools of Canada, and he has sought to develop a
program which would be educationally sound, practical,
and graded. In addition to a discussion of the program,
its objectives and content, there are general suggestions
to teachers, a chapter on Organization and Method, and
a section on Physical Education Activities in the Class-
room, with teaching material from grades one through
eight.

1939 Swimming Pool Data and
Reference Annual

Volume Seven. Hoffman, Harris, Inc., 425 Fourth Ave-
nue, New York. $3.00.

THIS YEAR'S ISSUE of 1939 Sunmming Pool Data and
Reference Annual is a particularly attractive and val-
iuable one. It contains a number of articles which will be
>f interest to recreation officials, among them a summary
>f state health department regulations regarding the san-
itation of swimming pools, how to arrange for official

BEN PEARSON

Used by leading universities and tournament
winners throughout America, Ben Pearson
Bows and Arrows are made by master crafts-
men, archers themselves, in America's largest
plant devoted exclusively to fine quality
archery equipment manufacture.

Get New Low Price Catalogue
Send for complete free interesting catalogue
and Manual of Archery on care of equip-
ment, correct shooting form, building targets,
tournament rules, etc.

BEN PEARSON. INC. Dept. R9 Pine Bluff. Ark.

swimming and diving programs, building a well balanced
aquatic program, and arranging community swimming
programs. There is also an interesting article entitled
"Principles and Design of the Water Level Deck Pool,"
a subject which has never before been presented in any
publication, according to Earl K. Collins, editor. Still
another article entitled "Sanitation and Conservation of
Water" tells of a pool the water for which is brought
through three hundred miles of pipe line, with seven
pumping stations along the way.

Shadow Plays and How to
Produce Them

By Winifred H. Mills and Louise M. Dunn. Double-
day, Doran and Co., New York City. $2.00.

A BOOK THAT should be in the library of anyone in need
of a practical guide on shadow play production. There
are three fascinating parts to this publication : PART I —
Cut-Out Shadow Plays ; PART II — Shadow Plays with
Music ; PART III — Human Shadow Plays. Included are
twelve plays ranging in scope from simple fairy tales to
more elaborate entertainments with detailed notes on pro-
duction. All of them have been produced by boys and
girls in the Cleveland schools and the Cleveland Museum
of Art. Numerous photographs and diagrams add to the
value of this interesting and intriguing volume. In in-
troductory and closing chapters the authors briefly dis-
cuss the history and scope of shadow plays and list
numerous references containing stories suitable for adap-
tation to shadow use.

Golden Gate Song and Chorus Book—
For Home and Community

C. C. Birchard and Co., 221 Columbus Ave., Boston,
Mass. Price, 25^.

A COLLECTION of 114 songs and choruses which includes
some of the world's best loved melodies. Many of the
songs in this book may be found with piano accompani-
ment in the piano accompaniment edition of the Brown
Book and the Green Book, published by the same
company.

•H< ic mi •

Toolinq Calf 45c, 50c, and 55c per ft. Craft Lace I1 '40 per yd.
Goat Lace 4 Vic per yd. Western Belts $3.50 per doz. Link
Be't- $2.75 doz. Dugan Moccasins $1.35 pr. Beach Sandals
$3.50 dz. New Wooden Soled Shoes $1.00 and $1.35 per pr.
Semi-finished Bow and 4 Arrows $1.05 per set.

The above are quantity prices. Send for Catalog

WESTERN CRAFTS & HOBBY SUPPLIES
532 W. 2nd St. (Dept. R) Davenport, Iowa

192

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

Write /or Free Information

PLAYGROUND APPARATUS

SWIMMING POOL EQUIPMENT

*•••€••••• *••«-. CO.

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN

DEPT. RM-7

100,000 Days.

By Dorothy Ketcham. Edwards Brothers, Inc., Ann
Arbor, Michigan. $2.00.

This book analyzes the hospital as an essentially social
instrument, showing how the experience of illness can by
careful planning be made to yield dividends to the patient
and to the community through education of patients, se-
lection of occupational projects, and study of patients
and their relationship to the hospital and to the com-
munity. Based on experiences of the University Hospital,
Ann Arbor, Michigan, in which the author is director of
the social service department, the book treats of the
medical background with which the social service work
for Children is correlated. On this framework is de-
veloped a full, new and valuable account of handcrafts,
amusements and education of child patients which will
interest all persons who are concerned 'with the rehabili-
tation of the ill and the handicapped. 100,000 Days is
illustrated with photographs of patients in activities. The
finger-painted book jackets are hand-made by patients.

Some Notes on Amateur Dramatics.

By Elisabeth Moss Palmer. The Womans Press, 600

Lexington Avenue, New York. $.20.
Eleven pages of interesting notes are offered which will
be of particular interest to the amateur dramatics leader
who is working with adolescent boys and girls. These
are based on a two-year experiment made in a consoli-
dated school by a teacher, w'ho, in addition to carrying a
full-time teaching load, worked with a school drama club.
In the sections "Why a Dramatics Group Is Valuable,"
"What To Give," and "Some Hints About the How,"
the author relates impressions and experiences that have
resulted from the project experiment.

Here's Your Ideal Activity

The New ARCHERY

HOBBY • SPORT • CRAFT
By Paul H. Gordon

Field fun for fair days. Shop
work for wet days. This book
covers all phases for Director
and Counselor. $3.5O

D.APPLETON- CENTURY COMPANY, 35 West 32nd New York

What to Do with Herbs.

By Mary Cable Dennis. E. P. Dutton and Company

Inc., New York. $1.50.
This delightfully written book will receive a heart;
welcome from those garden hobbyists who specialize ii
growing herbs. Mrs. Dennis takes us through her gardei
at Rien du tout in Normandy, points out the variou
herbs, tells of their uses and of the fascinating tradition
connected with some of them. There are too recipe
telling how the herbs may be used in salads and cooking

The Administration of High School Athletics.

By Charles E. Forsythe, A.M. Prentice-Hall, Inc

New York. $2.00.

In compiling this book the author has had in mind tw<
groups — first, individuals who expect to become teachers
supervisors, or directors of physical education an<
athletics and second, those already administering hig
school athletic programs. The purpose has been to offe
practical suggestions and guides for managing the busi
ness affairs of an athletic program. The discussions ac
cordingly have to do with policies concerning athleti
eligibility, contest management, equipment, the awards
finances and budgets, safety, layout and maintenance o
facilities, intramural athletics, girls' athletics, junior hig
school athletics, and current athletic trends.

By Way of Introduction.

Jean Carolyn Roos, Editor. American Library As

sociation, Chicago, Illinois. $.65.
This book list for young people, compiled by a join
committee of the American Library Association and th
National Education Association, replaces "Recreationa
Reading for Young People" issued in 1931 by the Ameri
can Library Association. Since it is intended to be in
troductory. it is not inclusive. The list of 1,200 book
chosen is based on reading interests of youth and in
eludes both fiction and readable nonfiction. Books hav
been arranged under broad reading interests in an attemp
to catch various moods of the reader and thus stimulat
further reading.

One Reel Scenarios for Amateur Movie- Makers.

Edited by Margaret Mavorga. Samuel French, New

York City. $2.50.

A handbook for those who wish to make their owi
film. Part I, which discusses family and local news reel
includes nine miniature scenarios which are available foi
amateurs to ""break down" into detailed shooting-script
for filming. In Part II, on photo plays, seven origina
shooting-scripts are given for amateurs to film. Part II
has to do with documentary films and is a study ir
methods. A bibliography on reference readings in ama-
teur cinematography is included and catalogues listing
available non-theatrical films are offered. An appendix
presents a bibliography of reference readings in motion
picture arts and a study outline in motion picture art.

The Power of Dance — The Dance and
Related Arts for Children.

By C. Madeline Dixon. The John Day Compan

New York. $3.50.
The modern dance in children's groups includes nearl;
every other art and demands the use of the whole chil
physical, emotional, and intellectual. This book, with i
many interesting and unusual illustrations, presents da
on the transition of play to art expression during th;
period between the ages of eight and fifteen when chil-
dren become critics of what they are creating and must
have accompanying skills and techniques if their art
experiences are to endure.

The Offender in the Community — Year Book,
National Probation Association, 1938.

Edited by Marjorie Bell, National Probation Asso-
ciation, 50 West 50th Street, New York City.
"The Offender in the Community," which presents the

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

193

papers given at the annual conference of the National
Probation Association held in Seattle in June, 1938, con-
tains several articles of interest to all recreation workers.
The initial article entitled "Next Steps in Crime Con-
trol" by Sanford Bates, Executive Director of the Boys'
Clubs of America, Inc., is an excellent statement of
i present problems of crime treatment and a look into the
; future. In the chapter on Recreation as Crime Preven-
- tion, Glen O. Grant states the delinquency problem that
confronts our country today and praises the recreational
approach that is being made to it in many parts of the
country. Two chapters on Community Coordination by
Harry A. Wann, Supervising Principal of Public Schools,
Madison, New Jersey, and by Kenneth S. Beam, Executive
Secretary, Coordinating Councils, Incorporated, give a
: combined statement of the purpose and progress of the
Coordination council movement which well deserves at-
tention.

Fun's Fun.

By Jeanne Abbott. The Reilly & Lee Company,
Chicago. $1.50.

In this book Miss Abbott gives us some completely
^planned parties, offering a nurriber of games which have
i proved successful and, in addition, new and unusual sug-
gestions for invitations, decorations, and refreshments.
Twenty special parties are described together with a
lumber of pencil games, active games, and quiet games.

Social Work Year Book 1939.

Edited by Russell H. Kurtz. Russell Sage Founda-
tion, New York. $3.50.

i For five years the Social Work Year Book has under-
aken to report the current status of organized activities
n social work and related fields. In the 1939 Year Book
here are three major sections : Part I consists of a group
>f eighty-two signed articles on various phases of social

;vork. Part II introduces a state-by-state description of
he public assistance programs in effect in the forty-eight
tates. Part III is a directory of national and state
geneies, both public and voluntary, whose programs are
elated to the subject matter in Parts I and II. Among

;he eighty-two signed articles is one giving a bird's-eye
iew of the recreation movement as it operates through-
ut the country in unban and rural areas. Recreational

'evelopments in state and municipal parks are noted, and

.amping too is considered, as well as athletics, music,
rama, and other recreational activities.

lasic Principles of Healthful Housing.

American Public Health Association, 50 West 50th
Street, New York. $.25.

i This, the preliminary report of the Committee on the
lygiene of Housing of the American Public Health As-
)ciation, was reprinted from the American Journal of
ublic Health for March, 1938. It suggests the funda-
mental physiological and psychological needs to be met in
jiy consideration of housing and also discusses neces-
;iry provisions for protection against contagion and ac-
\ dents. Of special interest to recreation workers is the
•ction on "Fundamental Psychological Needs" in which
| .e Committee discusses the provision of opportunities
T normal family life and normal community life.

J You're Going to Do Publicityl

By Dorothy S. Cronan and Clara W. Alcroft. The

Womans Press, New York. $1.00.
The authors have given us a rather unusual booklet
>ne in loose-leaf form dealing with the essentials of
jtblicity for the social agency. Such questions are dis-
>ssed as Who Does It; what is good salesmanship; the
|.rt of the volunteer ; the issuing of good folders ; the
je of the newspaper, posters, and talks. The publica-
;>n will have special value to workers having responsi-
' ity for publicity.

Recreation Directors' Most Popular Line of

MEDALS, BALL CHARMS and TROPHIES

Medals— 25c each— For Every Sport and Competition

America's Biggest Award Values . . . Silver Loving Cups

Send for FREE medal indicating sport for which wanted

Write for Medal, Cup and Trophy Bulletin R

AMERICAN MEDAL & TROPHY CO.

Mfg. Jeweleri — School, Club and Frat Pint and Ktyt
79 FIFTH AVENUE at 16th Street NEW YORK CITY

Happy Birthday to You!

By Horace J. Gardner. J. B. Lippincott Company.
Philadelphia. $1.00.

Someone is always having a birthday — it's an inescap-
able anniversary! So it is well to be armed with this
book which has been planned to add to the pleasure of
everyone's birthday from the tiniest tot to grandmother.
Refreshments, as well as activities, are suggested.

"Supervision in Social Group Work."

By Sidney J. Lindenberg, Association Press, 347
Madison Avenue, New York City. $1.50.
When a social agency carries on its program in part or
wholly through groups of its members or participants,
it must call upon the best available resources of leader-
ship in the country. Some such leaders have a knowl-
edge of the agency and its program, while others do not.
All need to be fully familiar with the nature and purpose
of the agency and the methods of dealing with people in
groups. This book might almost be called .Selection and
Training of Volunteers. It describes the theory and il-
lustrates with carefully chosen selection of experiences
the operation of the group under trained and capable
leadership.

Special Offer to Camps

$1 for 7 Issues of

STORY PARADE

TOUGH PAPER COVERS

HANDY SIZE

We will send four issues to start and three as
published, June 25, July 25 and August 25.
You will find stories to read and tell, songs to
sing, verses, puzzles, articles on the owl and
porcupine by Wilfrid Bronson, a puppet play
by Remo Bufano with instructions for produc-
ing, crafts and hobbies for outdoors and for
rainy days.

Order now and give date you wish ship-
ment made. State whether express or parcel
post is preferred.

STORY PARADE INC.
70 FIFTH AVENUE NEW YORK, N. Y.

194

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

"Pastimes Here, and Pleasant Games"
TWICE 55 GAMES WITH MUSIC

childhood to old age, the normal person likes
to play — an activity that means spontaneous rec-
•eation, with study as a negligible factor. Singing
games offer a simple and practical means of genuine
recreation amusement. Send 25c. in coin for The Red
Book, the nationally accepted source-book containing
I 10 games with music and directions. Separate book
cf accompaniments, 75c.

C. C. BIRCHARD & CO.

221 Columbus Ave., BOSTON, MASS.

Publishers of "Community Music" handbook for

supervisors, the "Twice 55" Series of Community

Song Books, Operettas and Musical Plays.

Physical Education in the Elementary Grades.

By Strong Hinman. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York.
$2.00.

The purpose of this book is to provide an abundance
of practical materials for use 'by elementary classroom
teachers in rural and city schools, and the object has
been to offer in one book sufficient subject matter for a
year's well-rounded program for each grade. Many
games, relays, story plays, and rhythmical activities are
described, and there are suggestions for conditioning
exercises, and for stunts and self-testing activities.

Marriages Are Not Made in Heaven.

By Janet Fowler Nelson, Ph.D., in collaboration
with Margaret Hiller. The Womans Press, New
York. $1.25.

This book, one of "Education for Marriage Series,"
was prepared at the request of young business women.
It has been arranged as discussion material for use in
a series of weekly meetings. Problems of man-woman
relationships are frankly and sympathetically discussed,
and consideration is given to the importance of leisure-
time interests in their relation to happiness and satis-
faction in such relationships. "Just as no two individuals
are ever identical in their interests or activities, so leisure
hours vary in form and content and meaning from one
person to another, and in their contribution to one mar-
riage or another. Yet without any set formula we can
apply to ourselves the fact that a distinct contribution
may be made to marriage by satisfying leisure-time
activity: satisfaction in the activity itself, satisfaction in
sharing the interest with another, satisfaction in the in-
creased understanding of that other glimpsed in leisure
time spent together."

How to Build It.

Edited by Clifford Peters. Modern Mechanix Pub-
lishing Company, Greenwich, Connecticut. $.50.
Here are plans for making trailers and equipment for
home accessories and improvements, miniature trains,
models, and radio and photography equipment. The
directions for making a number of miscellaneous
articles are given, and there are suggestions for a
workshop.

New York Advancing — World's Fair Edition.

Municipal Reference Library, 2230 Municipal Build-
ing, New York City. $.50.

In this book of facts about New York City there is a
chapter on the New York World's Fair which visitors
will find most interesting. The booklet describes New
York of 1939 and 1940 and has 130 photographs. It also
contains a guide to the City Exhibit Building at the
World's Fair.

Housing for the Machine Age.

By Clarence Arthur Perry. Russell Sage Founda-
tion, New York. $2.50.

Mr. Perry has climaxed his long years of service with
the Department of Recreation of the Russell Sage Foun-
dation with this book which rounds out his earlier pre-
sentation of the neighborhood unit idea with a method foi
making its actual application more generally practicable
The procedures suggested for this purpose, however
when fully worked out showed an additional usefulness
in offering important aids toward a solution of the prob-
lem involved in the application of modern industria
technology to the production of buildings. Mr. Perry's
contributions to the wider use of school plants and th(
neighborhood unit plan are well known to recreatior
workers who will find much of interest in this illustrated
volume.

Scenes for Student Actors, Volume IV.

Edited with notes by Frances Cosgrove. Samuel

French, New York City. $1.50.

The fourth of a series of compilations of dramatic
scenes from carefully selected and well-known Broadway
plays, including scenes from Stage Door, On Borrower
Time, Father Malachy's Miracle, Page Miss Glory
Shadow and Substance, Squaring the Circle, and a num-
ber of others.

The volume offers excellent study and teaching material
for drama club groups, which is suitable for use witr
high school students as well as older groups of players
There are scenes for : one man, one woman, two m
two women, one man and one woman, and groups.

A Child's Book of Famous Composers.

By Gladys Burch and John Wolcott. A. S. Barnes

and Company, New York. $1.50.

This interesting book, designed for children from eighl
to twelve years of age, is a collection of short biogra-
phies covering the lives of twenty of the world's greal
composers. Each biography places the composer both ir
time and kind of music from the child's point of view
Accompanying each is a full page reproduction of ai:
authentic contemporary picture of the composer.

Public Problems in Landscape Design.

Prepared by Paula Birner under the joint direction
of Franz A. Aust, Professor of Horticulture (Land-
scape Design), College of Agriculture, University of
Wisconsin, and Aimer e L. Scott, Director, Depart-
ment of Debating and Public Discussion.
Part I of this series of study aids deals with roads,
highways, and roadside development. An introductory
chapter is followed by eight sections quoting references
to books and magazines under the subject headings oi
Roads ; Highway System of the United States ; Roadside
Development; Roadside Plants and Planting; Mainte-
nance of Roadsides ; and Roadside Development Work in
Wisconsin. Part II is devoted to parks, play areas, and
parkways. The same general plan is followed out as in
Part I. References are given under the following sub-
jects: The Park Movement; Municipal Parks; County
Parks ; State Parks ; National Parks and Monuments ;
Play Areas ; and Parkways. Each pamphlet is available
to residents of the state for 25 cents ; for individuals and
groups outside, at 35 cents. Requests should be sent to
the Department of Debating and Public Recreation, Uni-
versity Extension Division, Madison, Wisconsin.

Activity Book for School Libraries.

By Lucile F. Fargo. American Library Association,

Chicago, Illinois. $2.50.

In the foreword of this book it is described as a book
of undertakings, "not the undertakings of teachers or of
librarians, but of such purposeful undertakings of boys
and girls as center in the school library." Accordingly the
aim of the book is to contribute ideas of practical value
in carrying out those phases of the school activity pro-
gram in which the library plays a part. The result is
an exceedingly practical volume containing hundreds of
suggestions for activities, many of them recreational.

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

195

A Girl Grows Up.

By Ruth Fedder. Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, Inc., New York. $1.75.
Written for and addressed to the teen-age girl, A Girl
Groivs Up interprets some of the commonest difficulties
adolescents have to face and describes in an interesting
style the adjustments 'which must be made in the process
of growing up. There are chapters on Gaining Self-con-
fidence, Growing Up Emotionally, Getting on with Peo-
ple, Living Happily with Your Family, and Associating
Happily with Boys. There is also a chapter on Deciding
about a Job which is full of practical suggestions. A
bibliography of books for the adolescent concludes the
volume.

Musical Programs.

Edited by Florence Hale. Educational Publishing
Corp., Darien, Conn. 25tf single copy ; when thirty or
more are ordered, 15^ each.

A collection of nine plays for the primary and inter-
mediate grades, accompanied 'by songs. Included is a
health sketch, a Japanese play, a safety novelty number,
and several programs especially suitable for presentation
during the spring and Christmas holiday seasons. The
editor has included production notes.

Forum Planning Handbook.

By John W. Studebaker and Chester S. Williams.
Published by the American Association for Adult
Education in cooperation with the United States De-
partment of the Interior, Office of Education, Wash-
ington, D. C. Copies may be obtained through the
Federal Forum Demonstrations, Washington, D. C.
This hand book is a guide to the organization of school
administered forums and has been prepared for study and
discussion for planning groups of educators and civic
leaders. It is based on the authors' experience in de-
veloping demonstrations centers for the past six years in
Des Moines, Iowa, through a grant from the Carnegie
Corporation of New York through the American Asso-
ciation for Adult Education, and similar projects in school
managed forum programs in thirty-eight states during the
past three years, with financial assistance from the Fed-
eral government through the Office of Education. These
experiments have formed the basis for a general study of
specific plans for developing adult civic education under
public school administration.

The Correct Toy.

Edited by the Child Study Group of the Raleigh
Branch of the American Association of University
Women, Raleigh, North Carolina. $.25.
The compilers of this mimeographed bulletin have
given given us a list of toys classified according to
chronological age levels and based upon the observation
and study of children's play interests consistent with the
underlying principles of mental and physical development.
As a guide it is by no means exhaustive 'but merely sug-
gestive of representative types. Recreation workers will
find this bulletin helpful.

The Y.M.C.A. and Social Need—

A Study of Institutional Adaptation.

By Owen E. Pence. Association Press, 347 Madison

Avenue, New York. $2.75.

Neither a comprehensive history nor an attempt to in-
clude all of the continuous accounts of the history and
activity of the American Young Men's Christian Asso-
ciations, this volume has as its objective the examination
of certain internal and external factors that have made
for continuity and for change in the organization. It
seeks to contribute to better understanding of the essen-
tial elements making for continuity and change, and to
suggest ways by which it may be possible for the present-
day Y.M.C.A. to make such additional timely changes as
may be needed in keeping with its historic character and
its opportunities.

w* ** UL

on HOW TO
FLOODLIGHT

FOOTBALL FIELDS

In this complete 48-page manual you'll
find the answer to practically every ques-
tion on floodlighting football fields. Shows
how to light football fields to attract more
spectators and provide better playing con-
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floodlighting, shows why Benjamin flood-
lights cost less in long run. Contains light-
ing layouts developed by Benjamin en-
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your own lighting layout; principles of
illumination design; and all necessary in-
formation on the various types of Benja-
min Floodlighting Equipment.

SOFTBALL FIELDS

This manual clearly shows why Benjamin
Floodlighting Equipment leads all in soft-
ball installations. Explains the four funda-
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lighting. Shows how to obtain the correct
type of light distribution; how to protect
the players and spectators from glare; etc.
Contains complete lighting layouts with
specifications for nearly every type of
baseball or Softball lighting installation.

TENNIS COURTS

Special Data sheets prepared by the Benja-
min Engineering Department show you
how to secure good and excellent tennis
court lighting through one of the several
methods available. Gives you complete
information on overhead and side lighting
of tennis courts and complete information
on the special Benjamin reflector units
available for this purpose.

OTHER PLAY AREAS

Playgrounds, swimming pools, trap and
skeet shooting, and other play areas to be
lighted for night use are treated in a spe-
cial MANUAL OF LIGHTING LAY-
OUTS FOR NIGHT SPORTS and by
special reports prepared by the Benjamin
Engineering Department.

*8t ft!

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FREE ENGINEERING SERVICE

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All of the above publications are made
available to those interested in floodlight-
ing by the Benjamin Electric Mfg. Co.,
Des Plaines, 111., makers of the most com-
plete line of engineered sports area flood-
. lighting equipment. In addition to these
publications which may be secured without

« • ^

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1

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Pioneer and World Leader in

FLOODLIGHTING EQUIPMENT

Diitributed Exclusively Through Electrical Wholesalers

196

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

TEACHERS

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Safety Every Day.

By Herbert J. Stack, Ph.D. and Esther Z. Schwartz
Noble and Noble, Publishers, Inc., New York. $.80.
It is generally conceded that in the elementary schools
one of the best ways to teach safety is to present life
situations through worth-while activities. In this .book
the authors have endeavored to include the essential ele-
ments of safety in the everyday life of a child. The
stories are child centered ; the approach is simple, and
the chapters cover activities appropriate to each month
of the year. A number of games are offered, and safety
on the playground is discussed.

Talks to Counselors.

By Hedley S. Dimock and Taylor Statten. Associa-
tion Press, New York. $.50.
Growing out of an informal set of talks to counselors
at the Statten Camps for boys and girls, and published in
enlarged form as the result of many requests from camp
directors and counselors, this book presents fifteen talks
in which the authors, pioneer leaders in camping, present
valuable suggestions drawn from many fields. The book
is designed to serve in a counselor training course pro-
gram. The value of the talks lies largely in the fact that
they represent a selection, simplification, and concrete
application of materials from the standpoint of the task
of the counselor.

Modern Trends in Physical Education
Facilities for College Women.

By Ruth Elliott Houston, M.A. A. S. Barnes and

Company, New York. $5.00.
It is not surprising that this book in manuscript form
should have received the honor award for creative work
made in 1937 by the American Academy of Physical Edu-
cation. The way in which the material has been presented
and the artistic quality of the many photographs com-
bine to make it an unusual volume. The book portrays
adequate and proper indoor and outdoor facilities for the
physical education of college women. A detailed analysis
of the progress and the facilities in use in seven colleges
and universities is described. The book is particularly
addressed to administrators who can use it in aiding the
architect in interpreting the modern program of physical
education in terms of proper areas and equipment, and in
convincing trustees of the need for modern physical edu-
cation facilities. The volume has been published in a
limited edition of a thousand copies and the type has
been distributed.

The Municipal Year Book — 1939.

Edited by Clarence E. Ridley and Orin F. Nolting.
The International City Managers' Association, Chi-
cago, Illinois. $5.00.

The purpose of The Municipal Year Book, now in its
sixth edition, is to record current municipal events and
developments and to present an analysis of trends and
statistics in the many activities of local governments. As
in the case of its predecessors, this Year Book places
primary emphasis upon trends and upon the problems
of municipalities as a whole. As an added feature this
year, in order to give a more adequate picture, more
space has been given to individual statistics of cities. To
avoid possible misuse of statistics, an interpretative arti-
cle on the proper use of Year Book statistics is presented.
An entirely new section has been added, "Part Five,
Alunicipal Activities," which contains statistics on the
"line" or service functions of police, fire, utility, wel-
fare, health, library, and recreation administration. Ma-
terial in sections which have been repeated has been
brought up to date.

Textbook of Healthful Living.

By Harold S. Diehl. McGraw-Hill Book Company,
New York City. $2.50.

Included in this encyclopedia, designed to make indi-
viduals intelligent concerning health, is a rational exer-
cise program emphasizing the contribution of a sane pro-
gram of play and recreation to the feeling of well-being.

YOU ASKED FOR IT!

197

You Asked for It!

Question : We are anxious to secure informa-
tion regarding certain procedures in boys' clubs
such as practices in regard to membership dues,
the opening of the boys' club building for girls'
programs, and the use of women's auxiliaries.

Answer: In regard to membership dues — the
amount and method of assessment — there is no
general standard set for charges in boys' clubs.
Each local club handles the problem in the light of
local conditions, but in general it is the practice at
the present time to charge 25 cents for juniors,
50 cents for intermediates, and $1.00 for senior
members. The amount received from dues sel-
dom, if ever, makes up for any considerable pro-
portion of a club's budget.

Since a boys' club is a thoroughly democratic
institution, it is general practice for all boys to
pay alike in their age group. The principle is to
make the dues so low as not to be prohibitive to
any members. However, if a boy cannot pay any-
thing at all, there is provision made in most clubs
for him to work out the amount of his dues
around the club.

As to girls' programs in a boys' club, there are
several clubs which permit the use of the building
at certain periods for girls' activities, such as the
use of the swimming pool, social dances, etc. It
is not the general practice, however, for boys'
clubs to carry on regular girls' programs within
the building. The national office is of the opinion
that boys' clubs should be operated for boys.
Many communities no doubt should have girls'
clubs, but we think it is not good judgment or
good economy to combine the two activities.

Regarding women's auxiliaries, we have some
fifty-three reported through our annual report
forms, with a total membership of 4,042. Little
Rock has one of the largest auxiliaries and a most
active one. Of course, these women's auxiliaries
in the clubs throughout the country are not gen-
erally responsible for any girls' programs. —
Sanford Bates, Executive Director, Boys' Clubs
of America.

A Picture Dictionary for Children.

By Garnette Watters and S. A. Courtis. Grosset and
Dunlap, New York. $1.00.

Recreation workers may wish to know of this com-
prehensive book for young children containing 480 pages
of simple words with pictures. There are 4,832 words
jand their variants, and 1,200 illustrations. The book rep-
j resents a real adventure in words and in reading for the
.you no; child. Perhaps contrary to the old belief, dic-
tionaries can be fun !

Keep in touch with trends
in Character and Citizen-
ship education through
the magazine

CHARACTER
and CITIZENSHIP

Its stimulating articles on character develop-
ment and citizenship training through work
and play in the home, school, church, and
community give you a well-rounded picture
of all character and citizenship building
agencies.

Learn to Understand the
Children, and Adults Too, with
Whom You Have Contact

Read the fascinating story of personality
development,

UNTYING APRON STRINGS

by Helen Gibson Hogue

A book scientifically accurate yet easy to
read as your daily newspaper.

Send your orders to:

CHARACTER and CITIZENSHIP
5732 Harper Ave., Chicago, HI.

I enclose $ for

D One-year subscription to CHARACTER
and CITIZENSHIP $2.00

D One-year subscription to CHARACTER
and CITIZENSHIP plus a copy of the
book, UNTYING APRON STRINGS $2.50

Name . . .
Address
City

State

THE BUYERS' GUIDE

Check list of advertisers using RECREATION from June 1938 through June 1939

(A) indicates Advertiser;

(E) Exhibitor at Twenty-third National Recreation Congress in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 3-7, 1938

Publishers

A E The Abingdon Press, 150 Fifth Avenue,

New York

A number of publications on parties

and games.

A D. Appleton-Century Company, 35 West
32nd Street, New York
A number of books on hobbies and
recreation.

A E A. S. Barnes & Company, 67 West 44th
Street, New York

Publications on health, physical edu-
cation, recreation, sports, dancing and
pageantry.

A C. C. Birchard & Company, 221 Colum-
bus Avenue, Boston, Mass.
Music, including singing games and
recreational music.

A E E. P. Dutton & Company, 300 Fourth
Avenue, New York. General List.

A Samuel French, 25 West 45th Street,
New York. Plays for all ages.

E Greenberg Publisher, Inc., 67 West 44th
Street, New York. General List.

A Harper Brothers, 49 East 33rd Street,
New York. General list.

A Henry Holt and Company, Dept. R, 25
Fourth Avenue, New York.
General list.

E Lea & Febiger, 600 South Washington
Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Medical and recreation books.

E J. P. Lippincott, 250 Park Avenue, Ne
York. General recreation titles.

A Noble & Noble, 100 Fifth Ave., New Yor
"Beginners Puppet Book" and "Art
Adventures with Discarded Materials."

E Oxford University Press, 114 Fifth
Avenue, New York. General list.

E W. B. Saunders Company, West Wash-
ington Square, Philadelphia, Pa.
Physical education, medical and health
publications.

A Womans Press, 600 Lexington Avenue,
New York. General list.

Handicrafts

A American Handicrafts Company,
193 William Street, New York
Leather for handicraft work — a specialty.

A American Reedcraft Corporation,
130 Beekman Street, New York
Handcraft material.

To Readers of RECREATION :

We are bringing to the attention of our read-
ers the names of the advertisers who since the
publication of the last Year Book have taken
space in the pages of the magazine, thus help-
ing to provide the financial support which has
made it possible to make RECREATION more ef-
fective. We believe our readers will wish to

show their appreciation of this service by turn-
ing to these advertisers as need arises for the
products they have to offer.

Do not neglect to read the advertisements
appearing in RECREATION. They can be of
practical help to you.

198

E Burgess Handicraft & Hobby Service,
117 North Wabash Ave., Chicago, 111.
Handicraft material.

Craft Service, 350 University Avenue,
Rochester, N. Y.

Craft materials of all kinds, featuring
Craftene Rings.

Dennison Mfg. Company,
Framingham, Mass.
Crepe for handicraft.

J. L. Hammett Company, Kendall Square,
Cambridge, Mass.

Manufactures looms, weaving materi-
als and other craft goods.

E The Handcrafters, Waupun, Wisconsin
Handicraft materials.

P. C. Herwig, 121 Sands Street,
Brooklyn, N. Y. Cord handicrafts.

Osborn Brothers, 223 Jackson Boulevard,
Chicago, 111. Leather for handicraft work.

H. S. Souder, Souderton, Pa.
All styles of wooden articles for chip
carving, painting and wood burning.

L Walco Bead Company, 37 West 37th
Street, New York
Complete line of beads for craft work.

L Webster Textile Handicrafts

7317 Wise Avenue, St. Louis, Mo.
Handicraft material.

A Western Crafts & Hobby Supplies

532 West 22nd Street, Davenport, Iowa
Handicraft material.

Playground Equipment and Supplies
E Ackley, Bradley & Day

Starr Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Architects of swimming pools.

A The "K" Shop, P. O. Box 702
Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Baseball game for playgrounds.

THE BUYERS' GUIDE
A

199

W. A. Augur, Inc., 35 Fulton Street,
New York
Nets for tennis and other games.

Benjamin Electric Mfg. Company
Des Plaines, Illinois
Floodlighting equipment.

E The J. E. Burke Company
Fond du Lac Wisconsin
Playground equipment.

A E Everwear Manufacturing Company
P. O. Box 958, Springfield, Ohio
Playground and water apparatus.

E Golf Promotion Bureau

14 East Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Illinois.

A E Hoop-X-Company

Muskegon Heights, Michigan
Games for playgrounds.

E Law Pipe Railing Corporation

43-15— llth St., Long Island City, N. Y.
Copperweld fence.

A Leicester Contracting Company

Wayne, Pa. Green or red tennis courts.

A Mitchell Manufacturing Company,
1540 Forest Home Avenue,
Milwaukee, Wis.

Playground apparatus for schools, homes
and parks.

E National Billiard Association

629 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, 111.

E Playground Equipment Company
82 Duane Street, New York
Manufacturers of Jungle-Gym, climbing
structure for playgrounds.

E J. E. Porter Corporation

120 Broadway, Ottawa, 111.
Jungle-Gym, climbing structure for
playgrounds.

200

THE BUYERS' GUIDE

Recreation Equipment Company, 724-726
West Eighth Street, Anderson, Ind.
Complete line of park, playground and
swimming pool equipment.

A Schutt Manufacturing Company

Litchfield, 111. Playground equipment.

Surfacing

A E Gulf Oil Corporation, Gulf Building,
Pittsburgh, Pa.

Gulf Sani-Soil Set for treating play-
grounds, tennis courts and other areas
for dust control.

Sporting Goods and Games

A Daytona Shuffleboard Company

Philmont, N. Y.

Complete shuffleboard equipment.

A Diamond Calk Horseshoe Company,
4610 Grand Avenue, Duluth, Minn.
Complete equipment for official horse-
shoe games, including rules, instruc-
tions, horseshoes.

A E P. Goldsmith and Sons, John and Findlay
Streets, Cincinnati, Ohio
Equipment for all sports.

E A. G. Spalding and Brothers
105 Nassau Street, New York
Complete line of sporting goods.

E W. J. Voit Rubber Corp., Box 250
Arcade Station, Los Angeles, Calif.
Rubber balls for all types of games.

E C. B. Webb Company, 732 Walnut Street,
Lebanon, Penna.

Manufacturers of rubber balls for many
types of games.

E Wilson Sporting Goods Company
2037 Powell Avenue, Chicago, 111.
Sporting goods.

A H. T. Cress, Troy, Ohio
Shuffleboard equipment.

Archery

A Ben Pearson, Inc., Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Archery equipment.

Films
A

Y.M.C.A. Motion Picture Bureau
347 Madison Avenue, New York
Distributors of films for recreation
meetings.

Medals and Trophies

A American Medal & Trophy Company
79 Fifth Avenue, New York
Trophies for every sport and competition.

Schools

E Chalif School of Dance

Rockefeller Center, New York

A Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Courses in group work.

Miscellaneous

E Association of American Playing Car
Manufacturers, 420 Lexington Avenue,
New York

Arrco Playing Card Company, Brown
and Bigelow, E. E. Fairchild Corpora-
tion, United States Playing Card Com-
pany, Western Playing Card Company.
Makers of playing cards.

E Coco Cola Company
Atlanta, Georgia

R. R. Boardman
2380 E. Nob Hill, Salem, Oregon
Illustrated Swim Chart.

E J. V. Patten

Sycamore, Illinois

Royal Typewriter Company
2 Park Avenue, New York
Portable typewriters.

The Recreation Leader

WHAT THE recreation leader is, the qualities a recreation leader
possesses have great influence over a long period of time on
the people who come to the recreation center. It is important that
the recreation leader have as wide as possible an experience of
living, a capacity to enjoy beauty and to recognize truth. No one
can give the kind of recreation leadership which modern life requires
who has not attained a very considerable measure of self-control, of
self-discipline. It goes without saying that the position of recreation
leader is not one for a man who is thought of as "too academic."

It is hard for a community recreation -leader to do what he ought
for his neighborhood except as he at least understands what is taking
place in the civic and political life. With the rapid increase in leisure,
with the likelihood that men will be retiring at an earlier age, it is
of the greatest importance that recreation leaders understand the
opportunities for civic and political life in their neighborhoods, that
they are able to think in terms of the problems of home life, that
they are able to foresee much of the planning that needs to be done
in the various neighborhoods of our cities.

It is hard to conceive of a recreation leader, successful and happy
in his work, who does not have a philosophy of life, who has not
himself studied the needs and wants of men and gained a vision as
to the possibilities of life for various kinds of men, who has not
also thought in terms of the needs of contemporary society.

Men and women are happy only as they continue to grow. The
recreation leader must be conscious of ways in which men and women
may for themselves find growth in home, neighborhood and com-
munity activities. Recreation leaders need to become masters of the
art of living.

LESTER K. ADE

Superintendent, Department of Public Instruction
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

201

July

Courtesy Montctair, N. ] ., Model Yacht CM

"The origin of model yachting is shrouded
in mystery, but it is as old as sailboats
of large size. In England and Scotland

the sport is a very old one, and here we
find its greatest following and highest
development." (See article on page 203.)

202

Model
Yachting

THE ORIGIN of model
yachting is shrouded
in mystery, but it is
as old as sailboats of large
size. The museums in all
countries show historical
evidences of model
yachts. In England and

Scotland the sport is a very old one and here we
find its greatest following and highest development.
In America, New York and San Francisco com-
pete for the honor of having organized the first
model yacht club in the early seventies. One local
historian reports that the first model yacht club
was on Long Island and the members sailed on
(iowanus Bay in 1872. Another says the first
model yacht club sailed on a lake in Prospect
Park, Brooklyn about 1880. Central Park Lake
and the lakes on Staten Island lay claim to model
sailors about the same time.

It is easy to understand that wherever there are
sailors and water there have always been model
sailing yachts.

England can show records of model yachting
that antedate America. The sport in England is
not only older but much more extensive and bet-
ter organized than in this country. England is a
nation of sailors, and when sailors retire from the
sea they naturally become model yachtsmen. This
is true even of British
Admirals, several of whom
are today members of
British model yacht clubs.
There are now over three
hundred model yacht clubs
in England and Scotland.
There is an active club in
Calcutta and one in Cape
Town, Africa.

In 1932 there were only
three ponds in the United
States that could compare
with those abroad. In 1938,
New York, Chicago,

"Model yachting is my hobby," writes the au-
thor. "And it would be the hobby of thousands
of other business and professional men if they
knew about it. In the very few places where
such sailing is being done the model yachts
act as magnets. Business men, old and young,
surround the yachts not only to satisfy their
curiosity regarding construction and rigging,
but to ask questions as to how they can get
yachts and how they can enter the sport.
At every regatta there is plain evidence of
great latent interest in the sport which needs
only to be awakened to cause a develop-
ment in this country which would give us
more than the three or four hundred clubs
which now exist in England and Scotland."

By CHARLES E. NORTH, M.D.

New York City

Philadelphia, Detroit, St. Louis, Boston, Wash-
ington, Grand Rapids, Port Washington, Long
Island, Berkeley, California, Worcester, Massa-
chusetts, and Charleston, South Carolina, had
built good yacht ponds.

Model Yacht Ponds

The basis of this whole sport is ponds and
winds. Development is hopeless without good
water and good wind. Both are necessary. In
many localities there is good water, but if this is
located in a place so sheltered by hills or banks or
trees and shrubs or houses that wind cannot get
at it, such water is not suitable for model yacht-
ing. Many clubs have struggled in vain to develop
interest on ponds with no
wind.

The dimension of a
model yacht pond as ap-
proved by most authori-
ties are from eight hun-
dred to one thousand feet
in length, two hundred to
three hundred feet in
width, and from three to
six feet in depth. Wooden
starting platforms or floats
from thirty to fifty feet in
width are desirable at each
end. The shore line of the

203

204

MODEL YACHTING

pond should be of sand gently sloping from the
water edge both ways at an angle that will make
the depth of water eighteen inches within six feet
of the edge. A pathway at least six feet wide
around the entire pond is desirable to accommo-
date yachtsmen following and launching yachts.
A shore line of stone or cement or wood is ob-
jectionable because of the damage caused to yachts
striking the shore. A sloping sandy beach fur-
nishes the best of conditions for both yachts and
yachtsmen. Yachts go aground in the soft sand
without damage. They can be handled by yachts-
men in rubber boots without bending too low or
getting down on knees as has to be done with
ponds surrounded by cement and stone and wood.

Need for Properly Constructed Ponds. The only
obstacle to a large development of this sport is the
lack of proper sailing ponds. The maps of the
city parks all over the United States show a sur-
plus of ponds. There are ponds enough so far as
numbers go. Practically all plans for parks new
and old include ponds either for decorative fea-
tures, for boating, for skating, and in a few cases
for swimming. Many of them are for the accom-
modation of ducks. There are several thousand
ponds in city parks, but out of all these at the
present time there are scarcely one dozen really
fit for a model yacht regatta. The defects are in
their dimensions, or their shape, or their shore
line, or in trees, shrubbery, hills, or houses which
shut off the wind.

It is urgently hoped that park commissions, in
making plans for new developments, will include
facilities for model yachting. Model yacht ponds
cost no more than other ponds. In some cases
they cost less because of their simplicity of con-
struction. In landscaping, in place of a fringe of
trees or shrubs which block off the wind, the pond
can have low sloping banks suitable for rock gar-
dens or flower beds. There is no decorative fea-
ture to a park equal to a fleet of model yachts with
their sails of white and of many bright colors.

It is no argument to point out the comparative
spaces required for other recreations such as base-
ball, football, and tennis. All model yachtsmen
ask is the opportunity to make use of the water.
They do not offer model yachting as a substitute
for other sports. The space required is the space
now occupied or to be occupied by the ponds
which park commissions maintain.

In the case of plans for new parks ponds can
be planned so that they will be correctly designed

at the outset. In the case of old parks there are
many ponds which at comparatively small expense
can be remodelled. Shore lines can be made
straight, sand beaches can be filled in, nearby trees
and shrubs can be removed. If all of these things
cannot be done at once enough can be done to
furnish fairly good facilities for each city.

Boston has the most expensive and in some re-
spects the best yacht pond in the United States.
Its pool is a part of the costly development of the
esplanade on the bank of the Charles River. The
city is now building a first class club house where
the yachts of the Boston Model Yacht Club can
be kept and the yachtsmen can have club house
facilities.

Port Washington, Long Island, has an ideal
pond built several years ago. Because of this i
has one of the strongest clubs of Class A boat;
and stages many important regattas. A beautifu
pond has been built by the Park Commission a
Hempstead, Long Island, where one of the larges
clubs of M Class boats has been developed. The
Lincoln Pool at Washington is the home of
model yacht club, but while the pond and su
rounding park are beautiful, the club finds sailing
conditions often unfavorable because trees and
shrubs shut off the wind. Detroit, Chicago, St.
Louis, and San Francisco have been supplied wi
first class ponds by their Park Commissions an
have thriving clubs. Detroit has a very fine po
and both men's and women's clubs.

One of the most thickly populated areas in t
United States is the North Eastern part of Ne
Jersey, which is part of the metropolitan distri
near New York. Paterson, Newark, Elizabet
Jersey City, and a score of suburbs in Union
County, Hudson County, Essex County, and Pas-
saic County have a population of over 2,000,000.
Here are scores of lakes and ponds, many of them
built by park commissions. Yet there is not a
single one of these which furnishes proper con-
ditions for model yachting. The large resources
of these park commissions and the numerous fine
parks show that the cost of ponds is not an
obstacle.

The demand for model yachting is latent,
cannot show itself before the pond is built. The
pond must come first. The response is immediate
wherever good ponds have been built. A model
yacht pond always creates a model yacht club. The
future of this sport depends entirely on the action
of park commissions. It can become as important

MODEL YACHTING

205

a sport in America as it is in England and Scot-
land. If the park commissions will furnish the
ponds the model yacht clubs will be immediately
created. Cooperation between organized recrea-
tion and park commissions can easily make a
major sport of model yachting.

The Boats

Class A Boats. The A Class are the largest size
boats used by model yachtsmen. They weigh
from forty to sixty-five pounds and are from six
to seven feet in length overall. The masts are

: seven feet in height and the lead fin keels have a

I depth of from eleven to twelve and a half inches
below the water line. These are heavy and pow-
erful boats for models. They have all the features
of the largest racing yachts. For designers and
builders this class of boats is of the most interest
because they must come within the limits of rules

;very similar to rules required for the large racing
yachts. These limits are indicated by mathema-

jtical formula too complex for popular under-
standing, but the limits restrict the length of wa-

•terlines, weights, sail areas, and other features.

jThese limits do not prevent wide variations in

jsize and in design, but prevent any excesses by
imposing penalties.

To the keenest students of yacht design and of
sailing the A class is the most interesting class.
The most modern theories of naval architecture
:an be successfully tested more quickly and more
Dften in these models than in the larger boats.
The newest theory of design which makes a boat
self-sailing has been applied to many of the newer
/achts. Because of their size and the serious study
-equired for their design,

his class appeals only to
i small number of model
yachtsmen. The cost of
he materials and labor
•equired in building a
nodel of the A Class is
•estimated to be at least
jive hundred dollars. But
vhile the yachtsmen in
his A Class are small in
lumbers, they have for
rears been the leaders in
he organization and de-
'elopment of the sport,
t is their work that has
levated the game above
jhe level of child's play

"For whom has model yachting a special appeal?
First — for that man who, loving the sea and
ships, yachts and yacht racing, cannot afford a
full-sized yacht of his own. Second — for the
yachtsman who is also artist or engineer, to try
out his ideas of form at minimum expense, or,
who, loving to fashion beautiful things with
tools, seeks to satisfy this craving through his
favorite sport. Third — for the very young sailor,
or very old, unfit to go to sea. And fourth —
for those students or instructors at manual train-
ing and engineering schools whose desires to
give practical expression to their acquired knowl-
edge holds this special form. Last — but by no
means least — for the many proficient model
yachtsmen from among the interested bystand-
ers who have fallen victims to this fascinating
game." — E. L. Cheney in the 1938 Year Book of
the Model Yacht Racing Association of America.

and made designing and building matters of scien-
tific interest.

Class M Boats. The M Class is comparatively
new. It was originated by Mr. Roy Clough of
Marblehead, Massachusetts, and the M stands for
Marblehead. It is also called "the 50 - 800 class."
This is because of the simple rule that all yachts
must be fifty inches in length overall and cannot
carry more than eight hundred square inches of
sail. There is no mathematical formula setting
limits to any other features of these yachts.

The M Class boats can be of any depth and any
shape. Their weight is not limited but the average
is from twelve to twenty pounds. There are some
outstanding advantages offered to the public by
this class of model yacht. They present no serious
difficulties in design. Anyone with shop facilities
can build a boat of this length after any design
that suits his fancy. The size and weight of such
a boat makes it easy to carry in an automobile.
The time required to build a boat of this class is
much less than the time necessary for building a
boat of the A Class. The cost of M boats in ma-
terials and labor is about $50. For all these rea-
sons the M Class, model yacht makes its appeal to
a much larger number of persons than the A
Class. Since the introduction of the M Class at
Marblehead the growth of this class has been re-
markable. In eight years nearly one thousand
boats have been built.

The simplicity and comparatively low cost and
the convenient size of class M yachts makes them
attractive to a much larger number of yachtsmen
than the class A boats. Full credit must be given
to the originator of the M Class for the great
increase which has taken
place in the number of
clubs and the number of
yachtsmen in recent
years. The influence of
the M Class on this in-
creasing interest still con-
tinues as is shown by the
growth in numbers from
year to year.

Refinements. Building
has progressed to a point
where there is much re-
finement. White cotton
sails have now given
place to sails of oiled silk
in many bright colors.
Wooden masts and spars

206

MODEL YACHTING

have been succeeded by brightly polished stainless
steel. Clumsy brass fittings have been succeeded
by chromium plated fittings of beautiful design
made by specialists as skillful as jewelers. In
woodwork, metal work, and sails there is no finer
workmanship on display than many of the model
yachts of today. They represent arts and crafts
at their best.

Sailing

Each yacht requires two sailors. One is the
skipper or captain and the other the crew or mate.
Each of the two sailors handles the boat, one on
one side of the pond, the other presiding over
the opposite side of the pond. If there are ten
boats in a regatta there are twenty sailors.

There is something "uncanny" about the be-
havior of a model sailing yacht. The rigging is
designed to make the wind move the sails and the
sails move the rudder. By the use of springs or
elastics the rudder is kept from moving out of a
straight position until it is pulled to the right or
left by the string (sheet) which attaches it to the
booms of the mast and jib. When the wind blows
the sails hard enough to turn the boat off its
course, the sails turn the rudder and the rudder
steers the boat to keep it on its course. An ad-
justment can be made by the skipper who knows
his boat so that the turning movement (moment)
created by the sails is exactly counter-balanced by
the turning movement (moment) created by the
rudder. To see a well designed boat struggle in a
strong wind to keep on a straight course is a great
thrill to a model yachtsman. To him the yacht is
a living creature. If it has been designed and built
by the skipper it is his own child.

Self-Sailing. Self -sailing to the majority of
model yachtsmen means the control of the direc-
tion of the yacht by adjustments of the steering
gear and the sails. Both of them can be made to
change the direction of the course. On the other
hand, to the serious students of designing self-
sailing means much more than this. Good design-
ers know that the shape of the hull itself has a
big influence on the direction a yacht will take
when it heels over. Since much sailing is done
with yachts in a partly heeled position, it is obvi-
ously of great advantage to have a hull designed so
that the boat will run in a straight line at any
angle of heel. Admiral Turner of the British
Navy who is the most successful of all model
yacht designers has added greatly to the interest
of the sport by introducing principles of design

which, if followed, guarantee that a yacht will be
self-sailing. This means that she will hold a
straight course at any angle of heel when sails and
rudder are properly set. In this feature model
yachtsmen are a step in advance of the designers
of big boats. If this same principle were used on
big boats they would also be "self-sailors" and the
rudder would not be fighting against the sails an
the hull. The boat could be steered with the lit
tie finger.

Model Yachting an Ideal Hobby for
Business Men

In cold or rainy weather there is endless work
to be done on the drawing board with new de-
signs, or in the shop with repairs to fittings, rig
ging, sails, or the building of new boats requiring
metal work and woodwork. The majority of
model yachtsmen are equipped with shops in their
homes where they spend leisure hours in occupa
tion which is a complete diversion from all other
business. On racing days the sport is out of doors.
The exertion required is much less violent than that
of golf or tennis and yet calls for considerable
walking, running, and bending. In a racing day
on a pond one thousand feet long each heat to
leeward and windward the skipper travels two
thousand feet. If he races six other boats in a
regatta he has walked twelve thousand feet and
since there are many irregular steps he has travel-
ed two miles and a half and been outdoors from
four to six hours. Such an amount of exercise is
well suited to the condition of the average busi-
ness man.

Other Candidates for the Sport

High school boys who work in high school
shops are all embryo model yachtsmen. The draw-
ing boards are just the place for drawing yacht
designs. The metal shops have all the equipment
for making all the metal and casting the lead keels.
The woodworking shops are the right place for
making the wooden keels, the ribs, the planking,
and the masts and spars. The paint shops furnish
all the supplies for finishing the yacht with coats
of varnish or paint. All boys and girls and men
and women who like to work with their hands on
drawing boards and in metal shops, and in wood
shops, would find the building of model yachts of
great interest. The existence of suitable sailing
water in their neighborhood is a sure method of
arousing their interest.

MODEL YACHTING

207

Public Interest

The fact that most automobile driving on holi-
days is aimless is shown by the speed with which
a large gallery of motorists collects when model
yachtsmen are sailing. The sport is attractive
to all classes of spectators not only because
sailing yachts are good to look at but because
people like to watch racing. With a good wind
competition is keen and exciting enough for any
sportsman. It is common for spectators to leave
their cars and crowd the shore line of ponds to
see the finishes of close contests.

Women, as well as men, are interested in the
sport. There is a thriving women's model yacht
club in Detroit. In the eastern states girls are
acting as very efficient crews for the skippers of
several clubs. Women make most of the sails for
model yachts. They preside at the lunch parties,
always a feature of regatta days. They help keep
the score books of the races and furnish much
expert advice to the skipper.

Organizations

The Model Yacht Racing Association of

America was organized in New York City, July
1 9th, 1921. Total membership of club sixty-eight,
(other clubs — twenty). Model yacht clubs having
a roster or not less than ten members are eligible
for membership. Annual dues of clubs $10.
Eugene L. Cheney, President, Box 582, Winter
Park, Florida; Charles H. P"arley, Secretary, 87
Ouincy Street, Medford, Massachusetts.

There are four divisions, Eastern, Mid-west-
ern, Pacific and Canadian. The number of clubs
in each division are : twenty-seven, Eastern Di-
vision; fourteen, Mid-western Division; seven,
Pacific Division ; and nine, Canadian Division.
Each division has its own officers and its own
regattas. There are national championship races
by winners from each division.

In regattas all yachts start from scratch. They
sail in pairs — once to windward and once to lee-
ward. Each yacht meets each other yacht in turn.
The points for the winner are — a windward leg
three points and a leeward leg two points.

In the membership clubs there are 739 Marble-
( Continued on page 246)

Photo bv Les'ie C. Lore

Model Boat Sailing in New York City's Parks

THE SAILING of model and
miniature boats still capti-
vates the interest of many
children and adults. Not only
do recreation executives make
provision for this activity in their recreation pro-
gram, but commercial organizations, department
stores and sporting goods companies, keenly alive
to business opportunities, have manufactured com-
ponent parts of models of large ocean liners and
famous yachts for assembly by both enthusiasts.
In New York City there are located 200 models
ranging from twelve to fifty inches at the Model
Boat House located at the peninsula of the large
lake, Prospect Park, Brooklyn. The opportunity
to engage in this type of leisure-time activity de-

By JAMES V. MULHOLLAND

Director of Recreation

Department of Parks

New York City

pends to a large extent upon
the facilities available for the
models constructed.

The sailing of model boats
is an activity in which the child
of parents who can afford to purchase boats rubs
shoulders with the child who makes his or her
own boat. We have found in New York City
that girls are also interested in this form of rec-
reational activity. Quite often, the homemade
boat has been victorious over the entries of the
children possessing more expensive and elaborate
craft. A special division for homemade boats is
included in the program of events to encourage
this particular hobby. The owner of a homemade
(Continued on page 247)

Wide World Photo

208

The Recreational Values of Water

THE NATION'S water re-
sources constitute a her-
itage of every Ameri-
can citizen, and part of that
heritage is the recreational
value of water along our
seashores, rivers, and lakes.
We in the recreation field
feel that the recreational
value of water has been
largely ignored in the past
and that because it is so
vital and so essential it
should not be neglected in
the future.

Provision for recreational
use in the planning of water
developments produces
slight, if any, interference

with transportation, industry, or other such
projects. It is not necessary to give over our
rivers, harbors, streams, canals, lake shores,
and seashores solely to commercial enterprise.
There are miles and miles of shore line that
can be made attractive and very useful for rec-
reation, and I feel that those handling the plan-
ning of seashore, river, and harbor develop-
ments should consult with those trained in rec-
reational planning and make provision for
swimming, for boating (all the way from canoe-
I ing to yachting), and for fishing for pleasure as
well as for commercial purposes. I can assure
' you that it pays also not to overlook the scenic
I aspect of water development projects. Often it
] is less costly, and very seldom any more ex-
i pensive, to develop our shore lines with an eye
| to beauty and recreational use than to develop
them without regard to those particular phases
of planning. 4

There are, in fact, times when recreational
use is such an important aspect of water de-
velopment projects that it becomes a serious
factor in the economic justification of the un-
dertaking. So important was the recreational
aspect of the Boulder Dam project that man-
agement of the whole vast Lake Mead area for
recreational purposes was assigned to the Na-
tional Park Service. In the case of the pro-
; posed Ohio Valley flood control project, in-

By CONRAD L. WIRTH

Supervisor of Recreation and Land Planning
National Park Service

We are presenting a few extracts from an
address given by Mr. Wirth at the meeting
of the American Shore and Beach Preserva-
tion Association held in Washington, D. C.,
January 1 1, 1939. Mr. Wirth is a director
of the Association, representing the Dis-
trict of Columbia. Much of the discussion
at the meeting was concerned with the en-
gineering and legislative problems of beach
authorities, though most of the speakers
frequently mentioned the recreational value
of beaches as the dominant factor which
makes them so valuable, and the prime
reason why they must be protected from
erosion and made available for public use.

volving the construction
of some eighty-nine dams,
multiple use for recreation
offers much greater justi-
fication of the cost than
the flood control factor
alone. Floods of disas-
trous proportions in the
Ohio Valley are relatively
infrequent. At present only
fourteen of the proposed
eighty-nine dams are con-
sidered economically jus-
tified for flood control
purposes. Although the
National Park Service has
made no specific recom-
mendations concerning
this proposed project, we

do point to the additional economic justifica-
tion which provision for recreational use in the
planning would offer. The Service is at present
concentrating with the Army on problems of
recreational development in this area, and it is
expected that definite conclusions will soon be
reached.

Our studies of the recreational use of parks
show that water is a leading attraction where
it exists, and that where it does not exist it
nevertheless stands well up on the list of pref-
erences of park users. A park use study was
undertaken last summer of 292 state and local
park and recreation areas throughout the
United States by National Park Service, Civil-
ian Conservation Corps, Works Progress Ad-
ministration, state and local personnel, in con-
nection with the Park, Parkway and Recrea-
tional-Area Study. The results of this study,
which will be valuable in determining the ade-
quacy of present facilities and the need for ad-
ditional provisions, are now being tabulated
and analyzed, and it is expected the informa-
tion will be published at a later date.

A similar study was made in the summer of
1937 on eighty-six selected areas in the eastern
and southeastern states, which revealed that
scenic resources or exceptional opportunity for
swimming appear to be necessary to draw any
appreciable patronage from beyond a fifty

209

210

THE RECREATIONAL VALUES OF WATER

mile radius of a park. Another item revealed in
this survey which may interest you was that
less than fifty per cent of bathers at park
beaches use bathhouse dressing facilities. It
was shown that in general the activities of
visitors to state park areas rank in the follow-
ing order : scenic use, picnicking, swimming,
hiking, boating, sports, camping, horseback
riding, fishing, and nature study. These state-
ments, while illuminating, cannot be consid-
ered conclusive since they are based upon in-
complete data taken over a relatively short
period of time.

I am happy to be able to report that from
our observations there appears to be a quick-
ening of interest of late in the recreational
value of water, and that several new projects
are under way both by the Federal government
and the state governments for the preservation
and development for recreation of several
valuable coast and inland water beach and
shore areas.

Millions of dollars are now being spent by
the Federal government in
cooperation with state and
local authorities on flood
control, water conservation,
and power projects. In con-

nection with the development of these areas
the planning for recreational use is receiving
increasing recognition, especially in the more
arid sections of the country where water is al
a premium. The National Park Service has
been requested to advise on the recreationa
planning and development for a number o:
these projects and in every case has endeavorec
to correlate proposed developments with the state
plan which is being developed under the Park
Parkway and Recreational-Area Study.

With those responsible for planning park anc
recreational facilities and programs, water
must be kept in mind always as of paramount
importance. With those responsible for water-
way developments of any nature, the recrea-
tional value of water should be kept in mind
for the producing of plans which will provide
for the fullest use of this invaluable resource.

More and more communities are mak-
ing provision for swimming. Caze-
novia Pool in Buffalo, New York, is one
of a number provided by that city.

"Half the lure of sailing is adventure. Divide
the rest between the two other universal human
qualities — the desire for freedom and the urge t
create — and you have that un
shakable architecture that i
often puzzling to laymen :
sailor's love of sailing."

— Samuel Carter.

A Swimming Pool as a Recreation Center

THE GRANT Union High School
Swimming Pool in North Sacra-
mento, California, was opened in the early
summer of 1934. Designed under official A.A.U.
regulations, the pool is 120' by 50' with a depth
running from 3/^ to 9 feet. The pool contains
about 300,000 gallons of water sterilized by the
chlorine ammonia process.

The pool was completely paid for at the com-
pletion of the 1936 season. The proceeds prior to
1937 were used for maintaining the pool as well
as paying off the indebtedness on it. The pool was
constructed with the cooperation of the County
I Road Construction Fund, the Civil Works Ad-
ministration, the State Emergency Relief Fund,
and the National Youth Administration. Thus the
cost to the student body and the district was very
slight, consisting chiefly of the cost of filtering
and locker room housing equipment.

An interesting feature of the administration of
the pool is that at the completion of the second
! semester of the school year in June it is turned
over to the Student Body
Association which manages
the pool for the benefit of
the student body during the
summer months. The Grant
Union High School, with
Ian enrollment of about 1,600
pupils, is one of the few

By J. R. HORAK , , , , .u

high schools is the country which does
not charge dues such as student body
fees. Consequently the only means of revenue for
the student body are the proceeds from charges at
football games, basketball games, and other sports,
and student card parties and dances. One of the
chief sources of revenue for the student body is
the money received from swimming pool charges.
Adults pay a fee of twenty-five cents which in-
cludes the suit and towel and also a large bath
towel used for sun baths. Children pay fifteen
cents for suit and towel. The pool is open from
10:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. throughout the sum-
mer. Free lessons are given in the mornings to
all patrons desiring them.

The North Sacramento High School is the
proud possessor of a swimming pool which
combines with aquatic sports many other
recreational features, including organ con-
certs. It is also unique in the fact that
during the summer months it is man-
aged by the Student Body Association.

Swimming Plus!

For those who enjoy other forms of recrea-
tion with their swimming there are facilities
around the pool for table tennis, horseshoe courts,
tennis, badminton, and softball games. These
games are available to the public without charge
from the time the pool is
opened in the morning until
it is closed at night, and the
various game courts are
lighted in the evening. There
is no charge for spectators
who may come in at any
time to enjoy the cool re-

211

A SWIMMING POOL AS A RECREATION CENTER

freshing atmosphere surrounding the pool. These
spectators are permitted to use the picnic tables
and chairs at no charge whatever.

Other recreational facilities include an annual
water carnival with clowns, water stunts, water
wrestling on a floating ring in the middle of the
pool, diving and swimming exhibitions, swimming
meets, and many other features.

Each day during the summer there are concerts
on our outdoor electric Hammond organ. At the
present time we are installing in our new cafeteria
which will open onto the pool a beautiful pipe
organ which will be played throughout the sum-
mer during the day and evening.

Another unique feature scheduled in the rec-
reation program at the pool are the radio
broadcasts given direct from the pool in many
different forms. One outstanding broadcast of
last season was an under-water broadcast ac-
complished through the means of a diving
helmet and numerous microphones which the
announcer took down to
the bottom of the pool.

Regulations

In our locker rooms we use a hanger baske
system which is manufactured by the Ameri-
can Wire and Form Company. This system
has been very satisfactory, and it affords a very
clean and neat locker room set-up. We have
from twenty to thirty employees on duty on a
busy day, many of them students who have
attended or are attending the high school and
are working their way through high school 01
college. We have on busy days from three t
four certified Red Cross life guards.

We maintain very strict regulations in re
gard to the use of the pool by bathers with am
type of disease or skin irritation, and we art
careful to suppress any rowdyism and unneces-
sary roughness. We have made very stricl
rules regarding the" use of soap and warn
water in the nude in shower rooms. Footbaths
are provided which the patrons using the poo!
must go through before entering the water 01
returning to the lockei

The public, without charge, may use the game
facilities, and the picnic tables and chairs

Calling All Landlubb

ers

Even though your craft may
be just a simple model sail-
boat you'll want to know the
language of the sea and to
understand its etiquette

By

OLIVE McCoRMicK

Mariner Adviser
Girl Scouts, Inc.

Paul Parker Photo''

FROM TIIH GLKKFrL boy who sails a chip boat
down the gutter after a heavy rain to the world
traveler who thrills to see his ship plow from
the sullen green of the North Atlantic into the
Gulf Stream's blue, the moving waters of the
arth lure us all.

The operations of a clipper ship are romantic
Hysterics to a landlubber. Even the passenger on

ferryboat, bewildered by bells and whistles and
men busy at coils of rope, dimly understands that
ie is at the threshold of a strange, exciting new
world.

It's easy to step across that threshold. For any
one who learns the language of the sea and under-
stands its etiquette, a ferry ride becomes a fas-
cinating expedition and a vacation cruise can never
)e dull no matter how unpretentious the ship.

What is the language of the sea — of "ships that
)ass in the night and speak to each other in pass-
ng" ? In darkness they may speak silently. Every
seagoing vessel carries a red light on its left or
3ort side and a green light on its right or star-
Joard side. The arrangement of white lights can
tell you the kind and size of boat, the direction in
which it is going and whether or not it is carrying

tow. The long strings of barges that plod up
and clown our rivers in the wake of bustling tugs

are clearly marked in the dark for the water-wise
observer. Each barge carries red and green run-
ning lights and a white light on the stern (with
the exception of the last barge which carries two
white lights on her stern arranged horizontally
five feet apart, four feet above her deck house,
and showing all around the horizon).

Signals and Their Meaning
The "rules of the road" will guide the vessels
in passing without the need of giving signals. A
boat (not a sailboat) approaching from the right,
unless she is more than two points abaft the beam
(which means well behind the middle of your
boat) has the right of way. Watch, next time you
are aboard a boat, and see how this works out.

Whistle signals at sea are much more accurate
than the honk of an automobile horn on land.
Listen to what the navigator says : One blast
means, "I am going to starboard." Two blasts
mean, "I am going to port." Three mean, "I am
backing," and four mean "Danger."

Bell signals from the bridge direct the engine
room. When the engine is stopped, one bell means
"Ahead slow." When running ahead slow, a jin-
gle means "Full speed ahead." If you are running
full speed ahead, one bell means, "Slow down,"

213

214

CALLING ALL LANDLUBBERS!

and once you are running slowly, another bell
means, "Stop." There is a beautiful economy
about the signals of the sea !

The road signs and silent policemen of the sea
are the buoys that mark the channel. The law of
the sea is courtesy and no seaman disregards the
warning of the markers. A nun buoy (red, with
an even number painted in black) says: "Leave
me to port when you are going out of the harbor."
A can buoy (black with odd numbers) says:
"Leave me to starboard going out." Buoys with
vertical stripes say: "Come close; we mark the
center of the channel." White horizontal stripes
say, "Stay away; we are covering a wreck." Bell
or whistling buoys may mark the entrance to the
harbor or other important locations. They are
often lighted.

"Storm warnings are flying from Boston to
Hatteras." Would you recognize one if you saw
it? The cautious owner of a small sailboat will
probably take you back to shore if he sees a red
pennant flying from the mast at the yacht club or
the Coast Guard station. The pennant is the small
craft warning and it has told him that a fairly
strong wind is expected.

The storm signal is a square red flag with a
square back center. Flown in combination with
the red pennant or a white one, it tells the sea-
farer not only that a wind is coming, but from
what direction. At night storm signals are given
by red and white lanterns.

And the dread hurricane warnings? Two storm
flags, one above the other, or three lanterns, red,
white, red. Hurricane, or whole gale warnings tell
of a wind traveling a mile a minute or better.

There are other flags that supply nautical con-
versation— flags for every letter of the alphabet
of the General Service Code (International
Morse), pennants for numerals, and those fas-
cinating yachtsman's flags that say "Owner on
board," "Crew at meals" and other interesting
gossip about the private lives of the vessel's
inhabitants.

About the Weather

If you are water-wise you must be weather-
wise. Do you know where weather comes from?
That question is not as silly as it sounds. Weather
comes from the west, as a rule, in the United
States. Look at a map of the United States
W'eather Bureau and see how the high and low
pressure areas travel across the country from the
Pacific coast to the Atlantic. (For twenty cents a

month the Weather Bureau in the nearest city wil
send you a daily map; or look for it in you:
newspaper.) How fast does weather travel
That's not a silly question either. It averages abou
400 miles a day. Today's weather in the countn
400 miles west of you is likely to be your weathei
tomorrow, subject, as the train schedules say, t<
change without notice. To seamen, however, th<
weather does give notice and some of the sea
man's wisdom may be yours. Notice the wind an
watch the western clouds !

Fair weather clouds are the cream-puff, o
cumulus clouds. You can see them on bright sunn
days, arranged in rows parallel to the westerr
horizon. They are thick, flattish on the bottom
and dome-shaped on top. On very hot, mugg)
clays they may bring showers in the afternoon
but nothing to alarm a sailor. The mackerel sky
with its tiny cloud flakes lined up like the ribbing
of sea sand or the scales of a fish, foretells winds
or warmer weather.

Seamen watch for the high-riding feather)
clouds called mares-tails. They are the cirrus
clouds that some people call weather breeders —
their appearance usually means that the end of
fair weather is in sight ; rain will fall within a
day or so.

The mares-tails are light and so they travel fast,
ahead of the storm. Close on their heels, some-
times overtaking them, are the puffy, often gray-
ish strato-cumulus clouds. They confirm the mes-
sage of the first couriers.

The thin milky sheet of clouds that sometimes
covers the sky in the morning means nothing, as a
rule, for the sun may burn through by noon. If
the clouds arrive in the afternoon or persist until
then, they mean rain within twenty- four hours.
Storm coming closer!

The low-lying cloud sheet whose rolling sur-
face covers the whole sky is made up of stratus
clouds. When they appear, get ready for rain in
seven hours or less.

Everyone quotes proverbs about the weather but
how many of the proverbs are true ? Here are a
few that the Girl Scout Mariners quote because
they are borne out by fact :

Mackerel skies and mares-tails

Make lofty ships carry low sails

Red sky at night, sailors' delight

Red sky at morning, sailors' warning.

When the sea gulls fly inward uttering sharp, shrill

screams, a storm may be expected.
A ring around the moon is a sign of rain.
What weather do you predict for tomorrow?

CALLING ALL LANDLUBBERS!

215

Identifying Boats

But there's more than weather to interest you
in the never ending pageant of the sea and sky.
When the moon rises over the water and a tall-
masted ship sails silhouetted into the circle of
light, do you say, "Oh, look at the boat"? Or do
you know (by her size and her three headsails)
that this lofty beauty is a cutter, one of the fastest
modern sailing vessels? Can you tell a gaff-rigged
, sloop from a jib-headed sloop, and would you
mistake a ketch for a yawl in broad daylight? In
:he words of a recent advertising campaign, "It's
;fun to be fooled but it's more fun to know !" The
(rigging of a ship can tell you a great deal about
the work she does, how far and how fast she
rravels. Her canvas spread in a high wind will
:ell you something about the wisdom or the fool-
lardiness of her owner, too.

The fascinating terminology of boats is too long
:o go into here. But you might like to remember
:hat both yawls and ketchs are two-masters, hav-
ng one large mast forward and one small mast
ift. The small or mizzen mast of the yawl is
farther back than that of the ketch — almost at the
:nd of the boat (aft of helm is the technical way
)f saying it ) .

The little one-mast, one-sail boats that dot the
larbors of our seacoast and our inland waters are
'atboats. Their masts are stepped well forward
nd they may be gaff-rigged, jib-headed, or some-
imes, even smaller, with a lug sail or sliding gun-
er. Look at the pictures in a dic-
ionary or nautical reference work
f you want to see what these are.

Being able to recognize the type
f boat your friend possesses is
ne of the finest courtesies a

landlubber can pay an owner,
aid it doesn't do you any harm
'ith other landlubbers' either !

Marvels of Marine Life

Mermaids, dolphins, Mother
'arey's chickens, and Davev
sties' Locker have passed from
'a lore to every day conversa-
on. Some of them are real and
>me are not, and the amazing
uing about marine life is that
];ality is likely to be as unbeliev-
,)le as legend.

! What is the mysterious force
iat makes clouds of gorgeous

Monarch butterflies gather at the shore and fly
resolutely out to sea until they are destroyed by
wind and wave? Who could trust his own eyes
when he sees an animal that does not bother to
swallow his food, merely throws out his stomach
and surrounds it! (That's the starfish.) Why
does the wood duck, which nests in a hollow tree,
always carry its young, one by one, to the nearest
lake or river? Once you have made friends with
the sea you can never escape it. The skeletal re-
mains of prehistoric fish have been found in the
mountains of Bavaria and in our own deserts.
Perhaps that is why sea lore is so fascinating. It
reaches back into the very beginnings of all life
and is touched with the glamour of a day when
all the world was new and infinitely mysterious.

New Interest Guaranteed !

There is no end to the new interests that will
come into your life if you take watermanship as
your hobby. It makes no difference what your age
or sex may be. Women and children first — and
not to the lifeboats either. They're more likely to
man the halyards or holystone the deck. More
than 2,603 girls, for example, in the Girl Scout
Mariners are learning how to go down to the sea
in ships (including ihe items mentioned in this
article and many more). They are enjoying shan-
ties and stirring tales of yachtman's exploits, the
world's navies and merchant marines.
(Continued on page 247)

"Paul Parker Photo"

What They Say About Recreation

it i KNOW of no better way of expanding one's op-
portunity for real pleasure than in the culti-
* vation of one's tastes for beauty and art. As
a matter of fact, no life seems quite complete, be
it ever so useful or successful, that has not felt
the thrill that comes with such appreciation or cre-
ation. Thousands of young people toil during the
day whose lives are unavoidably cast upon a back-
ground of routine and sameness — the world's
work must be done — to them should be offered
pastures where beauty and inspiration may be
gathered, places where rich and poor alike may
give expression to their finer emotions — play-
grounds for the soul."— Samuel Fleishcr, Founder,
Philadelphia's Graphic Sketch Club.

"The rootage of much that man has done and
thought is found in the field of the arts. Com-
merce itself and trade, whether national or inter-
national, depends on developments in these fields.
In a casual survey of the history of man there
seems to be ample evidence that developments in
these fields have gone hand in hand with the rise
of civilization ; where creative genius in the arts
and crafts has been stagnant, civilization seems to
have made little progress.'' - — Dr. George M.
Wiley in School and Society.

"The best teachers, in my observation, are those
who contribute by a subtle process of contagion a
joyous attitude toward life." — Henry A. Wallace,
Secretary of Agriculture.

"We are no longer so sure of stocks and bonds,
but we are more sure than ever of the carry-
over values of reading, nature, hobbies, music,
art, drama, crafts, camping, and activities in the
fields of social recreation and sports. All of these,
with proper guidance, will aid greatly in round-
ing out the education of youth and in bringing
about a better interplay of leadership, facilities
and services, not only among individuals but also
among schools and municipal governments serv-
ing the people recreationally." — G. W . Danielson,
Director of Recreation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

216

"A full arsenal of recreational resources should
contain more than one type and should furnish
activities for different seasons. They might well
come in pairs like animals into the ark, one for
summer and one for winter. Thus golf and bowl-
ing may lie down together, or tennis and skating
or swimming and volleyball." — Dudley R. Reed,
M.D., in Keep Fit and Like It.

"Recreation is not merely amusement. It is ex-
pressing, creating, daring, adventuring. It is put-
ting life together in trial patterns and new de-
signs. It is subjecting imagination, courage, reso-
lution, and our whole range of skills and creative
capacities to the test. We don't really live in the
things we must do. We live when released to fol-
low the beckonings, the lures and enticements of
freedom. That's when life mounts to high tide
That's the stuff we are dealing with in rec
reation." — V . K. Brozvn, Chicago.

"It is the community's job to re-create the
spirit of the neighborhood, to see to it that
individuals do not remain 'lost souls' in the city.
Unless we are prepared to accept as desirable the
corporative State, which I trust we never shall,
where each individual is assigned a particular
function and station in life, we must restore tc
society opportunities for voluntary association
where the instinct to want to be a neighbor anc
to have neighbors will be gratified." — Dr. Harol
W. Dodds, President of Princeton University.

"Those who are interested in directing the use
of leisure time into desirable channels are in-
creasingly interpreting the social objectives of
leisure in terms of enriched personalities anc
abundant living. Personality enrichment includes
the development of the body, the equipment of
the mind, the control of the emotions, the growth
of character, the acquisition of skills and efficient
social expression, and the art of living together.
— Martin H. Ncnmcver.

Swimming Pool Construction and Operation

An informal chat on aquatic rec-
reation and a few suggestions for
the construction and efficient
administration of swimming pools

By DAVID McCARY

Superintendent of Recreation
Beverley Hills, California

THERE is NO physical activity, sport or
recreation that can be compared with
swimming, nor one from which the
'participant derives such benefit; and for
those who have enjoyed this sport, noth-
ing revives more pleasant memories.

The history of aquatic recreation goes
back beyond the time of the Roman Em-
pire, with some interesting relics such as
(Assyrian carved stone tablets dated 800 B.C. show-
ling a soldier swimmnig toward a fort, and, sur-
prisingly, with a well denned "crawl" stroke.

The all-time aquatic record probably goes to
':he Roman Emperor Caracalla. This man has lit-
:le claim to fame except that he built a public
path which covered four hundred thousand square
/ards, required forty thousand workers in its con-
jitruction, and accommodated three thousand bath-
ers. Of these baths an encyclopedia says, "We
niave only to gaze upon the ruins of Caracalla at
:Rome to see how utterly -words fail to describe
!he vastness of this glorious and luxuriously
lidorned edifice."

Be that as it may, it has been left to America
•Jo reach the greatest development of aquatic rec-
reation. Today we construct an elaborate swim-
;ning pool, press an electric button, set in motion
. score of devices, filtration and sterilization
;quipment, produce thousands of gallons of pure
parkling water, and accommodate thousands of
Uvimmers.

Having brought the construction and operation

If pools to a point of technical perfection, the

problem now is : What shall we do to promote this

ascinating sport r.nd make it a national recrea-

tion for the greatest number — a recreation that
will develop healthy bodies, clean minds, and save
lives?

Among the most important things to be con-
sidered in the interest of patrons of swimming
are the following: the enforcement of regulations
dealing with public health and the particular needs
of the individual at both private and public pools,
and the development of a standard of aquatic eti-
quette to protect the swimmer from his own vio-
lation of personal cleanliness and give decent
preparation to the swimmer about to enter the
water of a public pool.

Compulsory shower lanes and antiseptic foot
baths are not the solution. While construction of
proper showers and other necessary sanitary con-
veniences are a beginning, other necessities in-
clude privacy combined with fairly luxurious con-
struction, proper heating, good ventilation and
supervision of the shower rooms.

The construction of a modern swimming pool
cannot be appraised in dollars and cents; it is a
matter of service. Today such an institution
should include refinements and color schemes that
approach the inspirational.

217

218

SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION

The Beverley Hills Pool

In planning and construction, the city of Bever-
ley Hills set a high standard in community effort
when it built its municipal pool at La Cienega
Park, cost of which was defrayed by an appro-
priation of $85,000 from the city's general fund.
The pool, opened to the public in 1929, has been
improved from time to time, one interesting ad-
dition being a steel sash and glass surrounding
wall. Another improvement has been the creation
of a one hundred per cent slip-proof concrete
deck surrounding the pool.

Two pools are provided — a shallow pool for
small children, and the main pool, 150' x 45', con-
taining 280,000 gallons of water, with a filtration
turn-over of 900 gallons per minute.

The pool is located at the entrance to a nine
acre recreation center developed by the city. This
playground is beautifully landscaped and pro-
vided with improvements such as thirteen stand-
ard championship concrete tennis courts, a lighted
softball field, putting greens, volley ball and cro-
quet courts and other recreational facilities as
well as beautiful picnic grounds.

Construction Features. The entire pool is en-
closed with a solid glass wall windbreak twelve
feet high connecting with the men and women's
locker rooms, which are constructed parallel and
on opposite sides of the pool. This attractive
glass enclosure prevents prevailing cool winds
from the ocean from chilling the bathers, and
debris from blowing into

the pool from the surround-

ing park. It is a great factor in maintaining a
clean pool in such an open location.

In designing the main building and locker
rooms, a combination of Moorish and Spanish
architecture was followed, giving the pool the at-
mosphere of an estate or country club. It has
often been used by motion picture studios in the
production of pictures.

The second floor is designed as an apartment
for the superintendent of recreation, who is re-
sponsible to the City Council for maintenance and
successful operation of the pool as well as other
recreational activities.

The doors and windows of the first floor are
bordered with green, blue and gold glazed tile.
This color scheme and material is effectively con-
tinued in the lobby and along the locker room
walls and around the deck of the pool, and per-
mits a wainscot color scheme of sea green with
sky blue on the walls surrounding the entire pool.
Flooring in the main lobby is of twelve inch
square dark brown Spanish tile, with walls and
ceiling finished in a two-toned brown, and counter
of mahogany.

The bottom of the pool is of smooth white
medusa cement, with drains provided under ex-
pansion joints converging into an inspection pit
in the filtration room. The sides are part tile and
part a special smooth white plastic.

The deck of the pool has been made exception-
ally slip-proof. This feature has attracted much
attention and has been used in the construction of
other pools. This slip-proof

Arrangement of lobby, office and other
service rooms greatly facilitates supervision

deck has been produced by

TO POOL. AND ME.N5

DRESSING ROOMS

ro POOL AND WOMEN s

DRESSING ROOMS

SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION

219

In this picture will
be seen a section of
the solid glass wall
windshield which pro-
tects swimmers from
the prevailing winds

the use of a grinding
machine with a car-
borundum wheel.
Cutting into the ce-
ment surface one-
sixteenth of an inch,
grooves three-six-
teenths of an inch
wide are produced
two and one-half in-
ches apart, parallel to
each other and at an
angle of forty-five
degrees to the edge

of the pool. In addition to its safety features it
iis attractive in appearance, and accelerates drain-
!age of the pool deck.

The edges of the pool are bordered with one
inch square blue and white tile construction which
(also forms the gutter and continues two feet down
the side below the surface of the water. The bot-
'tom of the pool slopes very gradually from a
depth of three to nine feet. This construction has
proven satisfactory. It gives both the non-swim-
ner and the beginner a large play area without
j:he danger of suddenly stepping off into deep
j.vater. It is also good for the purpose of instruc-
tion in swimming.

Locker and Shower Rooms. Locker rooms are
Hat roofed with massive beams and equipped with
j>oo individual steel lockers 36" x 18" x 10". The
lockers are located in the center of the room with
private dressing rooms along the walls. Rest
rooms and showers are located at the exit from
:|he locker rooms to the pool, and are finished in
Ivhite and black tile with partitions of marble.
I he showers are thermostatically controlled by
Dressing the foot on a chromium button, and there
.re individual liquid soap dispensers directly
'under each shower.

j In the construction of modern pools, greater
•onsideration should be given to accommodations
n the locker rooms and shower rooms. If proper

facilities are provided the requirements for a high
degree of personal cleanliness will be met by most
persons using a swimming pool. There should be
full-length lockers, with separately divided ac-
commodations for adults and children. Clean, dry,
sanitary floors, and air conditioning to the right
temperature are among the requirements of the
locker and shower rooms.

The Water Supply. The water used in the pool
is secured from the city's water treatment plant
located 500 yards from the pool. This arrange-
ment is an ideal one, for in addition to furnishing
the pool with filtered water of high quality it
permits frequent bacteriological tests of the pool
water to be made in the laboratory of the plant.
At no time is green water added to the pool, all
water added to the pool being first filtered. The
importance of this cannot be overemphasized.

The circulation of the water in the modern pool
should be so arranged that the water will flow into
the pool from the bottom upward, and out over
beautifully constructed gutters covered with ap-
propriate decorative grating, and back to the puri-
fication plant. Such a system of circulating the
water would revolutionize conditions in the swim-
ming pool, because all debris and other matter that
contaminates a swimming pool floats on top of
the water until it becomes water-logged, when it
seeks a lower level, mixing with the water until

220

SWIMMING POOL CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION

all bathers are out, then settles to the bottom
where it remains until vacuumed out.

Filters are the horizontal pressure type and are
backwashed by taking the water from the pool,
and in addition means are provided to add to the
backwash pressure of the domestic water supply,
if desired. This is arrived at safely, and in com-
pliance with the law, through the installation of
check valves and a vacuum breaker attached to
the water main before it connects with the filters.
It permits the operator to add make-up water,
fill the pool and frequently overflow the pool
through the filters.

The temperature of the pool water is thermo-
statically controlled. All other equipment, such as
heating units, pumps, chlorinators, alum and soda-
ash feeders, is automatic, or manually controlled.
The pool is vacuumed and brushed daily, thereby
eliminating the algae problem.

Notes on Facilities. Facilities provided should
include a laundry room, first aid room, and a
modern hair drying room equipped with six hair
dryers of original construction. The air is con-
trolled through flexible rubber tubing; all elec-
trical apparatus is placed out of the reach of wet
hands and hair. Make-up tables and mirrors sur-
round the room.

Life guard chairs in the modern pool should be
at least nine feet high, in order that the guards
not only be separated from the patrons, but to
facilitate observation of submerged persons and
more efficiently carry out necessary safety meas-
ures and supervision.

Some Hints in Administration
Sixteen employees are required for the opera-
tion of the pool : six life guards, four locker at-
tendants, two- .cashiers, one operator, one laundry-
man, a bicycle checker and supervisor. Four or
five guards are on duty during busy hours, they
change their stations every fifteen minutes, ro-
tating clockwise around the pool deck. Discipline
is maintained through dignified, courteous service,
with familiarity between employee and patron
prohibited. Locker attendants lock and unlock
lockers for patrons and enforce necessary pre-
cautionary measures to insure compliance in con-
nection with all rules of health and conduct in the
locker rooms. These employees are selected upon
evidence that they have good judgment and
ability to handle a difficult situation.

Persons coming to the pool on bicycles are re-
quired to park them under the supervision of an

employee who devotes his time to caring for thes
prized steeds while their youthful owners are tx
coming Helene Madisons or Johnny Weismuller

Eating and smoking on the premises are not a
lowed, and foodstuff cannot be sold, either c
rectly, or by slot machine on or near the premise
Carefully selected bathing caps are sold to p
trons, and all women and girls are required
wear caps while swimming. Boys and men a
permitted to wear trunks only.

The price of admission is fifteen cents for a
persons under sixteen years of age, and twent
five cents for all persons over that age. A priva
dressing room costs ten cents additional, an
rental of a suit is ten cents. Reduced rates of ad
mission are allowed Boy Scout troops and othe
organizations attending the pool in groups.

Swimming hours are from 9:30 A. M. to 5:,
P. M. with a half -hour period of free instructio
in swimming to boys and girls from eight
twelve years of age at 9:00 A. M. The first st
in this instruction is a lecture, then a demonstra
tion which shows the meaning of all the term
used in swimming. The American Crawl is "take
apart" for the beginners bit by bit, then recor
structed by the demonstrator, first showing th
float, next the flutter kick, then the arm strok
and breathing. The group is cautioned concern
ing the disadvantages and possible hazards o
some activities which are really acrobatics, sucl
as walking on the hands in shallow water, jump
ing into water feet first, swimming under wate
and any unusual activities which might caus<
water to be forced through the nose and into th
inner ear.

It is surprising how quickly children from eigh
to twelve years of age will learn to swim througl
the method described, especially when the in
structor goes into the water and gives each chile
individual attention during the first lesson. Th<
classes are limited to twenty pupils.

Swimming and playing in water are refreshing
and vitalizing for a certain length of time, varying
with the individual, but it is doubtful whether an]
child should be permitted to remain at a swim
ming pool more than two hours under the usua
conditions, where rest periods in a wet suit an
followed by violent exercise with little supervision

Looking Ahead

The 1939 aquatic recreation center should b<
built to fulfill a useful community purpose. In i
(Continued on page 248)

Courtesy Public Recreation Commission, Cincinnati, Ohio

A Regatta of Their Own!

BLUE SKY, with gulls fly-
ing overhead ; a white,
sandy beach ; rippling
; a breeze which filled the sails of countless
allant yachts, and a horde of youngsters, clad for
ne most part in bathing trunks, with the light of
.onquest in their eyes !

This was the picture presented at Mission
,ieach, several miles from San Diego, California,
tie morning last June, when 750 boys ranging in
from twelve to fifteen years, gathered to com-
2te for a series of silver trophies and certificates
merit. The occasion was the fourteenth an-
.ial model yacht regatta sponsored by the Manual
raining Department of the San Diego Junior
igh Schools. Boys from ten schools met for the
ent.

Every boat was designed and built by the boy
10 sailed it. The teachers gave instruction, su-
rvised and made suggestions, but all of the
:tual work was done by the boys themselves,
oreover, if a boy had any original ideas regard -
the construction of keel or sail which he
aught would make for greater speed or
.unchness, he was permitted to try them out.
r weeks the boys had spent all their spare
mients working on their yachts, adding little
iches here and there to increase the efficiency of
tj:ir boats, and today, before a throng of several
' nisand admiring friends and relatives, came the
S'at test.

I here were two general classes of boats, wooden

aji metal, with a great preponderance of the

fjmer type. The wooden boats were of two dif-

nit kinds: the hollowed out (cut from a single

'ck of wood), and the built-up (after the fash-

1(1 of the modern yacht). Each general class was

By WILLIAM BLISS STODDARD

Redondo, California

divided into four sub-classes
— the one, two, three and
four footers. Competition in
the one foot yachts — and there were more of
these than in all the other classes together — was
limited to boys of the seventh grade. The course
was shorter fifty yards, while for the larger boats
it was seventy-five yards. The wooden and metal
boats did not compete against each other but ran
in separate classes.

The entire morning was taken up with the one-
foot class, as it was necessary to run sixteen heats
and four semi-finals before eliminations permitted
the sailing of the final race. And when the last
little fleet had sailed across the water, watched by
thousands of eager spectators including school-
mates of the entrants who formed enthusiastic
rooting bands, and the winners had been picked
up by the motor boats stationed just behind the
fifty yard line, it was found that a little Japanese
lad had outsailed all of his schoolmates and had
won the coveted prize. The young commodores
all along the shore cheered the winner and almost
overwhelmed him with congratulations.

Although fewer in number, the two, three and
four foot entries commanded the keenest interest
of the spectators because of the impressive picture
they made, as with sails set to catch the rather
stiff breeze the)'' glided majestically across the
water.

An innovation this year was the introduction of
power boats — a symbol of modernism to which
the manual training directors gave heed. These
boats were of two classes — the simpler boats
worked by rubber bands or clock springs, and
those with tiny electric motors. Interest ran high
(Continued on page 249)

221

Recreational Aspects of Stream Pollution

THE RECENT report of the
Water Resources Com-
mittee to the President
states that while public health
will always be the basic con-
sideration in pollution abate-
ment, nevertheless the rela-
tive importance of wild life,
recreational and aesthetic con-
siderations seems likely to
increase. Following a discus-
sion of the difficulty in evalu-
ating wild life losses on a regional or national
scale Mr. Abel Wolman, Chairman of the Com-
mittee, makes the following significant statement :

''Recreational values which have depreciated or
failed to materialize as a result of water pollution
are even more elusive to measurement. They are
affected by bacterial pollution which renders
water unfit for bathing, and by solid or dissolved
substances which cause obnoxious odors, taste,
and color and produce unsightly conditions that
make the water unattractive to the angler, swim-
mer, or summer cottager. Pollution has caused
the decline in recreational use of some water and
land areas, particularly in metropolitan districts.
It has been more influential in limiting new recre-
ational development in such districts and in forc-
ing public and private agencies to seek more dis-
tant locations for park and resort facilities. A
clear stream has aesthetic value which is real but
intangible, and its restoration or preservation may
yield large community benefits.

"The Committee wishes to emphasize the im-
portance and the intangible character of the wild
life and recreational effects of water pollution in
comparison with its other effects. As the public
health hazards are eliminated or minimized, and
as that abatement which patently is feasible from
the standpoint of reducing water treatment and
corrosion costs is accomplished, the justification
for a greater degree of abatement will rest in con-
siderable measure upon the values assigned to
wild life, recreation, and the aesthetics of clean
streams."

In discussing the effect of pollution on recrea-
tion before the Rivers and Harbors Committee,
Mr. Bleecker Marquette, Executive Secretary of
the Public Health Federation of Cincinnati, filed

222

In connection with the bill now before
the Congress for the control of water
pollution through the creation of a Di-
vision of Water Pollution Control in the
United States Public Health Service,
Hudson Biery, Chairman of the Commit-
tee of the Chamber of Commerce of
Cincinnati having the subject under con-
sideration, calls attention to some of the
implications for recreation which are in-
volved. We quote a number of extracts
from Mr. Biery's statement on the subject.

an

a series of photographic ex
hibits relating to the problen
and made the following
statement :

"The condition of oui
streams is a serious detri-
ment to recreation possibili-
ties in this area. In a climafc
such as ours, with high h
midity and intense heat du
ing the summer months, wa
ter sports, including swim-
especially desirable form of

tiling, form
recreation.

"Unfortunately there are no natural lakes in the
Cincinnati area, the only bodies of water being
rivers. The excessive pollution of the Ohio River
makes it so dangerous for swimming that the
Board of Health has for several years had to
notify the inhabitants of this area of this danger
and warn them against swimming in the rivers
The minor streams, now contaminated to a lesser
degree, are year by year becoming more danger-
ous for swimming. It is fully established by
medical science that there is great danger in swim-
ming in a polluted stream. Any of the raw water
may contain the bacilli of typhoid fever, dysen-
tery, or other diseases.

"Organizations conducting health camps in this
area have found it necessary at great expense to
construct pools, largely because of the fact that
the adjoining streams are unfit for swimming
purposes.

"The pollution of the Ohio and its tributaries
to a larger degree restricts water sports. Even the
use of boats is rendered undesirable by the odors
arising from filth constantly dumped into the
river. There is no fishing in the Ohio and little
in the smaller streams because fish cannot live in
highly polluted water.

"In communities adjoining rivers elsewhere in
the country the banks are developed for parks
and recreation purposes to the great advantage of
the health, comfort, and pleasure of the people of
the community. Such a program is envisioned
for Cincinnati by the Cincinnati Planning Com-
mission and the Recreation Commission, but the
fulfillment of their hopes in this direction is
(Continued on page 250)

Courtesy Hirs-Graf Studios

wames and Stunts for Water Play

MANY PEOPLE prefer to take their swimming
"straight" ; others like to introduce a little
sauce in the form of games and stunts. So
here are a few fun provoking activities to give
your program added zest.

Games Adapted to Water Play

There are many games played on land which
| may be readily adapted as water sports. A few
of them follow :

Cat and Rat. Cat and Rat is an activity for the
'smaller children. Half of the group grasp hands
jand form a circle in water from waist deep to
shoulder deep. One individual is selected to be
"it," or in this case, the cat. A second individual,
I who is to be chased, is designated as the rat. The
jgroup holding hands will allow the rat to pass in
jand out of the circle at will, but will impede the
i progress of the cat at all times. When the rat is
; caught by the cat, both may select other indi-
jviduals from the group to take their places and
(the game continues as before. A game of this
type is excellent in helping smaller children over-
come fear of the water.

Bull in the Ring. Children
hold hands, forming a circle
in water about waist deep.
jOne individual, known as the

;bull, is chosen to stand in the

These water games and stunts have been
assembled from a number of sources. A
bulletin on the subject issued by the
Chicago Park District has been particu-
larly helpful in preparing the material.

center of the circle. He will charge the circle,
trying to break through or swim under or over
the hands of the players in the circle. If he suc-
ceeds in getting out of the enclosure, the entire
group will drop hands and swim after the bull.
The first one to tag him becomes the new bull in
the ring and the game proceeds as before.

Crows and Cranes. Choose two teams, one to be
known as Crows and the other as Cranes. Each
will have a safety zone in which they cannot be
tagged. The leader lines up the teams which face
each other at a distance of about six feet and
calls either "Crows" or "Cranes." If the Crows
are called, the Cranes try to get to their safety
zone without being touched by the Crows, who
tag as many Cranes as possible. All of the Cranes
who are caught automatically become Crows and
must go to the opposite side. After playing the
game in this way two or three times have the
players, when they line up, turn their backs on
their opponents and then call either "Crows" or
"Cranes."

Select two teams of equal
number. Designate an area in
the center of the pool as a
neutral zone. This corre-
sponds to the net in volley-
ball. Play starts with one
team tossing the water ball to

223

Water Volleybal

224

GAMES AND STUNTS FOR WATER PLAY

its opponents. If opponents catch the ball, they
receive one point for their team. The person
catching the ball then throws it back into the
opponents' territory. He may pass it to another
member of his team who is closer to the neutral
zone than he is at the time. If the ball is dropped
by a member of his own team during the play,
the opponents receive one point. If the player in
trying to throw the ball into the opponents' ter-
ritory fails to get it past the neutral zone and
into the opponents' area, his opponents receive
one point. Twenty-one points usually constitute
a game.

Pom Pom Pullaway. This is one of several games
of the same type that can be used. The doggerel
for the game, Pom Pom Pullaway, is : "Pom Pom
Pullaway, come away, come away." Other games
of practically the same order are Hill Dill and
Red Rover. In playing the game one player en-
ters the water while the others line up along the
bank. The player in the water shouts the dog-
gerel and all the players on the bank must dive in
and swim to the other side. If the player in the
water can tag any of the other players, those who
are tagged stay in the center and help catch the
rest of the players as the game continues.

Tag Games

There are many forms of tag games which may
be played in the water.

Under Water Tag. One player who is "it"
chases the other. A player must be under water
when he is tagged. "It" must also be under water
before the man he tags can be made "it."

Cross Tag. The player who is "it" designates
one of the boys in the group and starts chasing
him. The player chased must keep out of his way,
for if he is tagged he becomes "it." Should a
player dive between the boy being chased and the
one who is "it" he becomes the one to be chased.

Ostrich Tag. The players are bunched together
in one end of the pool, preferably the shallow end.
One player is designated to be "it." He starts
chasing the others until someone is caught. To
keep from being caught a player must have one
of his arms under one of his legs and must be
holding his nose between his thumb and finger.
The player tagged becomes "it" and the game
progresses.

Ball Tag. This game is played in a limited area
in water waist deep for non-swimmers or in deep
water for swimmers. A player who is "it" tries

to tag someone by hitting him with the ball. The
player tagged becomes "it."

Japanese Tag. The leader announces a certain
part of the body which must be tagged by "it."
Those who are tagged must join "it," and try to
tag the remaining players.

Third Frog in the Puddle. Players form in a
double circle with couples facing each other in
the shallow end of the pool. They choose one o
the players to be "it" and one to be chased. Th
player who is to be chased may walk or swim
around or between the two players of any group
"It" must try to tag the player toward whom th
chased player turns his back. The player taggec
becames "it" and should if possible tag the on
who caught him. Short and quick changes ar
necessary to make the game exciting.

Tread Tag. One player is selected to be th
tagger ; the others swim around the pool. To
escape being tagged a player must tread water
The tagger tries to touch a player before he can
stop swimming and begin to tread. A player who
is tagged changes places with the tagger.

Handicap Tag. From five to fifteen players may
take part in this game. The player who is
tries to tag the other players as they swim arounc
the .pool. He must, however, tag them about tl
arms, or legs. When a player is tagged he cor
tinues to swim but cannot use the arm or If
which was tagged. When he has been tagged sev-
eral times and can no longer swim at all he is out
of the game. The player keeping in motion long-
est wins.

Hair Tag. The player who is "it" must touch
another on the head who in turn becomes "it."
Any number may play. Swimmers dive or jump
from sides and climb out on opposite side usually.
"It" chases the players until he can touch anothei
on the hair. No one may run around the corners
of the pool but must jump or dive in the water
at every corner of the pool. After "it" has taggec
a player he cannot be tagged again until another
player has been made "it."

Flashlight Tag. The pool is darkened and all the
players chase "it" who has a flashlight.

Games Which Introduce Floating
Log. From five to twenty players may take part
in this game. A space is marked off at the op-
posite end of the pool for the two goals. One
player becomes the log and floats on his back in
the center of the pool midway between the twoi

GAMES AND STUNTS FOR WATER PLAY

225

goals. The other players swim in a circle around
the log. Without warning the log suddenly rolls
over and gives chase. The players try to reach
one of the goals without being tagged. Any player
caught becomes a log and floats in the center with
the first log. The last one to be caught is the log
for the next game.

Still Pond. There may be from twenty to fifty
playing this game. One player who is "it" stands
at one side of the pool and covers his eyes with
his hands. As soon as he is blindfolded, all the
other swimmers start to swim the length of the
pool. "It" counts from one to ten, then says
"Still Pond — no more moving," and opens his
eyes. When he does this everyone must be floating
motionless. Anyone seen moving is sent back to
the starting point. The game is continued until
all have swum the length of the pool. The last
| one who arrives becomes "it" for the next game.

Games Which Introduce Treading Water
Count Ten and Stop. Five to twenty players.
One player who is leader stands with his back
-against the wall at one side of the pool, all other
players being lined up in the water at the op-
posite side. The leader covers his eyes and counts
< aloud slowly from one to ten. He then says "Stop"
I and looks up quickly. When he begins to count,
'all the players start to swim toward him. When
she says "Stop" they stand up if in shallow water;
,if in deep water they tread. Any who are still
swimming when the leader looks up are sent back
to the starting place. The game proceeds until all
(have reached the side on which the leader stands.
Broncho. Any number of players must take
:part. Players stand in couples with the one repre-
senting the broncho
directly behind the
player who is to be
he rider. The rider
stands with his feet
wide apart. The
Droncho bends his

2anoe tilting has
ong been a popu-
ar stunt. But be
iure you're a good
wimmer before you
attempt this stunt!

knees and places his head between the legs of the
rider. The broncho then straightens his body and
carries the rider up on his shoulders. With a
toss, the broncho flings the rider backward into
the water. Broncho and rider then change places.
Acrobatic Swim. Any number of players may
take part in this game. They start from the deep
end of the pool and finish in the shallow end. The
object of the game is to see how many stunts can
be executed while swimming the length of the
pool. The players begin with a fancy dive. For
example, a player begins with a jackknife dive,
swims a few strokes under water, executes a por-
poise, then the rolling log sculls, and finishes by
standing on his hands in shallow water. The
player who presents the greatest variety of stunts
is the winner.

Swimmers' Games

Follow the Leader. One player acts as leader and
the rest follow. The leader demonstrates all kinds
of strokes and does all kinds of stunts. The boys
following must do everything the leader sets for
them to do. When the majority of the crowd can
stay to the finish in a match of this sort they can
be rated in the human fish class!

Swimming the Duck. The teams are divided and
lined up on both ends of the tank. A wooden de-
coy duck is placed in the center of the tank. The
side designated starts for it on the signal to go.
The first who reaches it swims in toward the op-
ponents' goal, and, if blocked, can pass it by hand-
ing it to a member of his team. The other team
is on defense and it counts a block when a mem-
ber of its team secures the duck. The first team
has three trials to swim the duck through the

226

GAMES AND STUNTS FOR WATER PLAY

enemy lines to safety and the other team takes the
duck. Should the duck be thrown into the air it
is called a "fly" and the opposing side wins a
point. It is a strenuous game and is good practice
for water polo.

Stunts, Races, and Relays
Crocodile Race. Two teams of even numbers
line up behind their captains, each keeping his
hands on the hips of the man in front, and, with
the exception of the first man, all swim with the
power of the leg kick. The person with the
strongest kick should be at the end so as to keep
the line unbroken, or each man can lock his legs
around the middle of the man behind him, and
then each can use the arms, either crawl or breast,
the last man using only the kick.

Scramble Ball. Twelve floating corks or balls are
required. Players are divided into two teams, with
team "A" on one side of pool, team "B" on other.
(It is advisable for players to be in water and
hang to side of pool.) The director stands on
spring board, tosses balls into water, and at com-
mand "Go" players try to get as many balls for
their team as possible. Balls are then collected and
teams are credited with number of balls obtained.
Games continue as above until one of the teams
has secured fifty balls or any other number
decided upon.

Potato Relay Race. Twelve floating corks or
balls are required. Equal teams lined up at end of
pool (as for shuttle relay). Floating corks thrown
in water to represent potatoes. At "Go" one
player from each team dives in, secures a potato,
returns and deposits same in gutter or box. then
next man goes, etc. Team through first wins.

Animal Race. Animal heads are cut out of wood
or cardboard and attached to sticks carried by
swimmer swimming under water.

Obstacle Swimming

Swimming in the Rain. Each player swims car-
rying an umbrella and using a side stroke with
one arm.

Prisoner. Each swimmer has his hands behind
his back or swims with both hands and feet tied
— either hands in front or in back.

Towel Race. Players swim, crawl, or backstroke,
a large towel held in each hand by one corner.

Plate Swimming. Players swim with large plat<
or shell in each hand. As a variation a paddle ma}
be strapped to forearms and hands.

Paddle Race. Swimmers paddle through wat
with regular size canoe paddle.

Obstacle Race. Various obstacles are arrange
in the path of the swimmers and special difficu
ties are prescribed. Canoes, boats, or logs hinge
together are used. The swimmers go over
under as instructed.

Stunt and Comic Diving
Torpedo. With a running start, the swimmei
springs from dock or end of pool and plunger
feet first into the water with arms extended ovei
head. He sculls with hands pushing body, feel
foremost under water, and then comes up feet
first together with toes pointed.

Diving for Accuracy. Player dives through in-
flated inner tube with body in different positions
such as plain dives, feet foremost dive, sailor dive
and jackknife. The valve stems should be taped tc
avoid injury.

Chinese Dive. The swimmer places his hands
together and moves them up and down as though
praying. He squats and rises, springs high into
the air with legs drawn up as in the frog kick
recovery, then plunges straight down. He comes
up holding pigtail in self-rescue attempt.

A Simple Carnival Program
The following program is suggested for a win-
ter carnival :

1. Burlesque style parade — Craziest swimming suit wins.

2. Twenty yard free style — Boys 12 years and under.

3. Twenty yard free style — Girls 12 years and under.

4. Getting watermelon from greased pole — Boys must
stand on feet 6 minutes.

5. Girls obstacle race. Changing clothes (2 teams, 4 on
each shuttle).

6. Forty yard free style — Boys 14 and under.

7. Forty yard free style — Girls 14 and under.

8. Pie Eating — Eating while swimming — Girls (8 small
pies).

9. Pillow fight on greased pole. Boys (4 minutes).

10. Forty yard back stroke. Boys open division.

11. Forty yard breast stroke — Girls open division.

12. Chinese Life Saving.

13. Fancy Diving. Open division.

14. Obstacle race. Boys.

15. Tug of War. Boys.

16. Lighted Candle Relay. Girls.

17. Water Basketball Game. Boys.

18. Greased Watermelon Fight- Boys — 15.

19. Sixty yard free style — Girls open division.

A City- Wide Swimming Program

By MAX FARRINGTON

THE MOST extensive public swimming program
ever staged in Washington, D.C., was conducted
during the summer of 1938 when, for the first
time, the facilities of all organizations operating
pools in the District of Columbia were combined
under a single authority. This program included
a large and very successful swimming instruction
and free-swim campaign; a series of city-wide
competitive meets for both boys and girls in which
particular attention was paid to beginners; su-
pervised activity for younger children in wading
pools and street showers ; a schedule of advanced
life saving classes conducted by Red Cross ex-
perts, and, finally, as an appropriate close to the
entire program, a colorful water pageant which
featured the special work accomplished under each
of these details during the summer.

It is estimated that an aggregate of more than
600,000 persons were in attendance as participants
in this varied and extremely interesting program.
The oft-told story of Washington's sweltering
summer heat is no fable, and last summer was
certainly no exception. During July and August,
those who are not able to escape the heat by leav-
ing the city, "dunk" themselves almost to a man
in one of the public pools ! For this reason, the
coordinated swimming program put on by the
Public Recreation Committee struck a most re-
sponsive chord. The newspapers and radio sta-
tions cooperated most generously, and news of the
program was kept before the public throughout
the summer. It was no

effort to sell this pro-
gram ; it sold itself. Once
under way, the swim-
ming instruction and
free-swim campaign,
which of course had the
greatest popular appeal,
attracted more persons
each week until late in
August the classes fairly
bulged with those anxious
to learn to swim or to
take advantage of the
one and a half hours
when the pools were open
without charge.

In 1938, for the first time, all water sports facili-
ties in Washington, D. C., were unified under a
single head. For the first time all organizations
in the National Capital worked as a unit to pre-
sent an extensive program of swimming and water
sports. The Municipal Department of Playgrounds,
the National Capital Parks, the Welfare and Rec-
reation Association, the Community Center De-
partment of the Public Schools, the American Red
Cross and S. G. Loeffler Company pooled their
resources under the Public Recreation Committee
to make the program an outstanding success. Each
agency was represented on a central committee.
Max Farrington, Executive Officer of the Men's
Physical Education Department of the George
Washington University, served as pool and swim-
ming supervisor for the Department of Playgrounds
and was in charge of the city-wide program.

Facilities Available

Eight public pools, six for white persons and
two for colored, were used during the campaign.
Five of the eight, Anacostia, McKinley, Takoma,
Banneker and Francis, were operated by the Wel-
fare and Recreation Association for the National
Capital Parks Office. Two, Georgetown and Rose-
dale, were in charge of the Department of Play-
grounds. The eighth was the East Potomac Park
Pool, operated by the S. G. Loeffler Company. All
of these pools, except those at Rosedale and
Georgetown operated by the Department of Play-
grounds, charge an admission fee during their
regular hours from i to 10 P. M. Georgetown and
Rosedale, the municipal pools, operate without
charge from 6 A. M. to 6 p. M. It was, therefore,
something of a concession for the other six pools
to be used from 9 A .M. until noon each day for
the swimming instruction and free-swim campaign.

A Learn-to-Swim Campaign

The "learn-to-swim" drive was opened on June
23rd and conducted for a period of ten weeks until
September 3rd. Instruction, supervised by the
Red Cross staff, was given without charge for
i ,600 persons per week throughout this period.
New classes opened every Monday morning at
each pool. They were limited to 200 in each of
the eight classes and were open to boys and girls
and men and women of all ages. Official Red
Cross cards were provided at each of the eight
pools, and enrollees were required to register on
these cards the week
prior to the start of in-
struction. No additions
or changes were made in
the classes for the week
after they were started
on Monday morning.

The classes were con-
ducted from 9 to 10:30
A. MV Monday through
Friday. Boys and girls
were instructed separate-
ly in three groups — be-
ginning, intermediate and
life saving — particular
attention being paid to
the first two groups. Fol-

227

228

A CITY -WIDE SWIMMING PROGRAM

lowing the instruction period
from 9 to 10:30, the period
from 10:30 until noon was
devoted to free swimming at
each pool. At this time the
pools were open to the pub-
lic as well as to the class
members. The latter were
given individual instruction and informal tests by
the instructors, who remained on duty until the
free swimming period closed at noon. In this way
considerable application of the lessons learned in
the early instruction period was at once available,
it was an ideal set-up. Public Recreation Com-
mittee officials estimated a total of over 400,000
visits to these pools during the free-swim period.

Meets for Boys and Girls

The program of meets was unusually success-
ful for both boys and girls, and 7,500 took part
in the individual pool, sectional and city-wide
meets. In the boys' class, city champions were
selected in each of six weight divisions, starting
with the 7o-pound class and extending through the
unlimited divisions. The boys engaged in varied
and spirited competition. Teams from each play-
ground battled eagerly for pool honors. In the
girls' class, however, competition was restricted
to individual pool and section meets. The girls
had colorful and interesting programs. They are
more restricted in their choice of events, but their
novelty races, such as the fan race, the balloon
race, the life preserver relay, as well as the night
shirt races, more than make up for these re-
strictions !

Approximately 3,800 boys turned out for the
sectional qualifying meets which were held at
seven pools throughout the city. First, second,
and third-place winners in these meets advanced
to the city finals which were held August 5th in
the McKinley Pool. Each contestant was limited
to participation in one event and a relay, and each
playground to three entries in each event. About
375 survived the qualifying competition and be-
came eligible for the city championships.

A large, lively crowd was on hand for these
finals. The McKinley Pool was beautifully dec-
orated with American flags and with the pennants
and banners of the various playgrounds through-
out the city. It was a colorful occasion, and
there was great enthusiasm as the youngsters
splashed their way to various titles. Presentation
of awards was made at the conclusion of the meet,

Washington's experience last year con-
clusively demonstrated that by coordi-
nating their efforts the various agencies
concerned with the operation of public
swimming pools can vastly improve their
services. Our National Capital, deter-
mined to raise up a generation of swim-
mers, believes it has found the way.

with the winners receiving
"gold" medals for first place,
silver for second, bronze for
third.

The classes and events fel-
low : 7o-pound class ; 25-
yard free style, 25 -yard side
stroke and loo-yard relay;
85-pound class: 25-yard free style, 25-yard side
stroke and loo-yard relay; loo-pound class: 25-
yard free style, 25-yard breast stroke and 100-
yard relay; 135-pound class: 5o-yard free style,
5O-yard breast stroke, 25-yard back stroke and
loo-yard relay; unlimited class: 5O-yard free
style, 5O-yard breast stroke, 5o-yard back stroke
and loo-yard relay.

Sectional Meets for Girls

The girls had no city-wide meet, but confinec
their competition to individual pool sectional
meets. These were held at all eight pools, and
each was a decorative and competitive success.
The girls naturally go in for pageantry, and the
colorful decorations that surrounded each pool on
the day of the meet made each program a gay,
attractive affair. The list of events and exhibi-
tions was specially made up to demonstrate the
program of instruction carried on throughout the
summer, as well as to determine the oustanding
competitors in the orthodox swimming events.

As has been suggested, the novelty races drew
great applause and proved most popular with the
contestants. The night shirt race, for example,
held for the first time in Washington, proved a
quite popular innovation. In this unusual contest,
the swimmers donned large, white shirts, swam
the length of the pool, jumped out at the end and
exchanged shirts, then swam back, amid the
laughter of the spectators. The feet-tied race in
which the girls swim with both ankles securely
bound was also an interesting novelty.

The girls were limited to two events in the fol-'
lowing classes and events: 10 to 12 year class:
25-yard free style, floating demonstrations, fan
race; 13 and 14 year class: 25-yard side stroke,
feet-tied race, balloon race; 15 to 16 year class:
25-yard free style, life preserver relay, back stroke
swim; 17 year and over class: 25-yard free style,
feet-tied race, butterfly breast stroke demonstra-
tion, night shirt relay.

The girls' swimming program was supervised
by Miss Maude Nelson Parker, director of girls'
and women's activities in the Department of Play-

A CITY-WIDE SWIMMING PROGRAM

229

grounds, assisted by a capable corps of instructors
and playground officials.

Showers for the Tiny Tots
The facilities for keeping the younger children
cool and giving them an opportunity to swim were
provided in the large wading pool and street
shower program. Fourteen playground wading
pools were maintained under trained supervisors.
This gave the small children two hours of wel-
come play each morning and afternoon. In addi-
tion to combating the heat, the program eliminated
fear of the water, thus making it easier for the
children to learn to swim.

The Department of Playgrounds, in coopera-
tion with other recreation agencies, maintained
twelve street shower routes numbering about eighty
showers in all. With the cooperation of the Metro-
politan Police Depart-

hour. Attendants turned on hydrants and the chil-
dren were allowed a half hour's play at each
shower stop. This schedule, maintained during
July and August, and did much to provide recre-
ation and a cooling dip for those unable or too
small to attend pools. Playground officials re-
ported that an aggregate of over 150,000 children
visited the wading pools during the 1938 season,
and more than 200,000 visited the street showers.

And at the End, a Pageant
The summer swimming program was climaxed
in two beautifully staged, colorful water pageants
at the East Potomac and Banneker pools. Both
were open to the public and attracted capacity
crowds of more than 3,500 each. The East Po-
tomac pageant was titled "Navy Day." It featured
formation swimming of more than a hundred chil-
dren from playgrounds

jment streets were
[blocked off from traffic
each day at the same

This picture shows a section of the audience which
witnessed the pageant "Navy Day," presented at
East Potomac Pool, Washington, last August. A
team of expert swimmers maneuvered the giant star.

and pools throughout
Washington. There

(Continued on page 250)

Romper Day's Silver Anniversary

IT WAS THE second season of
Allentown's playgrounds, and
the interest of Allentown's
leading citizen, General Harry C.
Trexler, had been attracted to the program being
conducted for the little people and youth of his
city. When an outing at the close of the play sea-
son was proposed to him, he agreed at once to
sponsor it and to assume the expenses connected
with it. The General himself set to work to
organize a staff of his friends and business asso-
ciates to carry out the idea and to take charge of
the many necessary details involved in providing
refreshments and in transporting and caring for
the children during the day.

That was twenty-five years ago. Our play-
grounds have grown from nine to twenty-one;
the number of children attending from 4,000 to
10,000. General Trexler was with us for twenty
of the twenty-five Romper Days, and Mrs. Trex-
ler for twenty-one of them. Throughout their
lifetime there was never any question about its
perpetuation. Years before they passed away, in
the preparation of their wills Romper Day seemed
to have been first in their thoughts in their long
list of charities. In fact, the General had ar-
ranged that should it happen that the earnings
were insufficient from the money set aside for
Romper Day, it can and must be replaced from
any other funds. Thus Romper Day will be the
last of his many bequests to disappear, because as
long as there is any money in the estate it must be
used for this purpose.

"Romper Day" got its name from the fact that
twenty-five years ago the children wore rompers
or bloomers in participating in the program. Each
playground had its own color, and the rompers
and caps were of the color of the playground.
Today the colors still remain, but shorts have
taken their place.

The affair immediately became a local city holi-
day. It was held at the Fair Grounds, with the
program conducted around the track. The grand-
stand seating 12,000 people, and
the paddock providing stand-
ing room for another 5,000,
were always filled to capacity.
It was reminiscent of Harvest
Days in Slovakia when the

By IRENE WELTY

Superintendent of Recreation
Allentown, Pennsylvania

In August, Allentown, Pennsylvania,
will celebrate the twenty-fifth anni-
versary of Romper Day — a day which
is marked in red on the calendars of
the playground children of that city!

230

land owner has a feast and

for the entire population of his

city.

The children, with their play-
ground leaders, are transported in trolley cars tc
the Fair Grounds. They assemble in the grove
and march to band music to their places on the
track. After all are assembled, the program be-
comes a mass exhibition of games, dances and
skills which had been learned during the summer
months. The program has always ended with the
May Pole dance by each playground, and the
spectacle is a colorful and beautiful one.

The first year that General Trexler was not
with us a memorial song was written, which is
sung by the entire assemblage of children and
spectators. The children face the west and sing:

Our Romper Day

1. Lehigh County, we salute thee
Land of hearts e'er brave and true
May thy hills and vales with beauty
Lead us on with hopes anew !

Chorus:

So we'll sing a song of good old Romper Day

Allentown we'll love and praise
And we'll ne'er forget our dear old school and hoi

No matter where we roam
And General Trexler's memory

To us shall ever sacred be
Sing all ! Sing all ! Proclaim our festal day

And cheer our Romper Day.

2. Ever forward ! ever learning !
Let there be no word as "Fail"
Ever onward ! ever yearning
God and country may prevail !

The singing is concluded with taps.
Usually about eighty children are selected from
each playground to participate in the program, but
every one enrolled on playgrounds receives free
transportation and tickets for refreshments.

After the program the eating begins ! Food sta-
tions are set up at six different houses on the Fair
Grounds, and two hundred school teachers volun-
teer their services to help
serve the food. The children
report to their places on the
ground and then proceed in
single file to their stations.
(Continued on page 250)

fffer

IN RESPONSE to many requests
received from community
residents and organizations

for suggestions and help in planning and handling
picnics, a number of recreation departments, park
departments, and other agencies have made pro-
vision for special picnic services which in most
cases may be had for the mere asking. Religious,
fraternal, social, employee and other community
organizations, are being helped through these ser-
vices. The addition of such services provides the
possibility of drawing in many people who may
not be fully acquainted with the recreation pro-
gram and strengthens ties already established.

Bulletins issued some years ago by the Cleve-
land Recreation Council contain interesting infor-
mation about their picnic services and plans for
handling picnic kits and programs for activities
which are appropriate for these special occasions.
We include a few of the suggestions as outlined
in material received from the Council.

Objectives

To take the "nick" out of picnic. Many picnics
are a failure because of the lack of an interesting
program and proper leadership.

To demonstrate the values of directed play.
There are still many people who do not believe
that leadership is essential. A
good time at a directed picnic
under qualified leadership and
a planned program is con-
1 vincing.

To effect a personal contact
* between various groups of

By CLARK L. FREDRIKSON

National Recreation Association

Picnics do not run themselves! On
the other hand, careful planning is
necessary. So here are a few hints
on handling some of the preliminary
details which help make picnics so
much fun for everyone who attends.

adults and the recreation de-
partment. The interviews nec-
essary for the planning of the
picnic afford an excellent opportunity for the rep-
resentative of the recreation department to sell
his department to the group and to give to. its
members the objectives of the recreation move-
ment and problems, judiciously soliciting their
cooperation.

Publicity

Letters to churches, industrial concerns, lodges,
clubs and other community organizations. Lists of
many of the organizations can be obtained from
the city directory and the local Chamber of Com-
merce. A short, snappy letter explaining the offer
of assistance in planning and conducting picnics
is all that is necessary.

Newspaper articles.

Addresses. When making addresses, such as all
recreation leaders are called upon to make, do not
fail to mention the picnic service.

Picnic leader identification. Have the picnic
leader wear some insignia of the department, such
as an armband. It will attract attention, curiosity,
with resultant questions.

Council Assistance

Selecting a place for the picnic. Many organi-
zations have gone to the same
place for years, and wish ad-
vice on other possible places.
Arranging a program.
Providing data on prizes.
Loaning play material and
furnishing a list of play

231

232

PICNIC SERVICES

material to be bought by tbe picnic group.
Supplying play leader, if desired. If no play
leader is wanted, assistance is given the picnic
committee on how to plan and successfully con-
duct a picnic.

The Picnic Kit

Usually one of the more common services is
the picnic kit. It is one of the first necessities of a
picnic and is essential to a successful program.
It usually includes baseballs and bats, volley balls
and nets, horseshoes and stakes, tug-of-war rope,
and other equipment needed for picnic races and
novelty events of all kinds. Additional equipment
which might be included is listed in a request form
which follows. Application
forms for the use of kits
should include information as
to the individual and group
presenting the request, equip-
ment wanted, when received
and returned, and other rules
and special regulations relating
to the conditions of the loan.
Such an application might be
similar to the one outlined on
this prge. The articles listed
are some of the more common
equipment included in picnic
kits.

In order that there shall be
a minimum loss and expense
in connection with the loan of
these kits, some person repre-
senting the organization, in
making the request, must sign
for the articles borrowed. This person should be
authorized to assume every responsibility for the
replacement of equipment which is lost or un-
necessarily damaged.

In order that their limited amount of picnic
equipment is properly taken care of, the Depart-
ment of Recreation at Reading, Pennsylvania, re-
quires a deposit of $5.00 on the loaning of a kit,
one dollar of which is kept by the Department
for maintenance of the kit and its equipment, the
remainder being refunded when the kit is re-
turned. A fine of $1.00 is charged if it is not
returned at a designated time.

A satisfactory bag for carrying the equipment
and supplies can be made of heavy brown canvas,
about 3^ feet high and 18 inches or more in
diameter, with a draw string at the top. Boxes

representing treasure chests also make excellent
containers and are often more durable than can-
vas bags. Hinged tops, locks, reinforced corners,
and leather handles for carrying, add to their at
tractiveness and serviceability. Sides and tops car
be constructed from three-ply wood ; the botton
of one-inch material. The size of the kit will, o
course, depend upon the equipment one intends t(
put in it. However, bear in mind that it shoulc
be of a size that can be conveniently carried in ar
automobile and is not too clumsy to handle. Th<
name of the department supplying the kit could b<
either stencilled or painted on the outside of thi
canvas bag or wooden box.

Picnic Equipment Kit

To: (Stock Clerk, Caretaker, etc.

Address

For transporting your picnic game
supplies you will find it helpful
to have a heavy canvas bag or a
wooden "treasure" chest, which is
even more durable than the bag.

Please check out to M

whose address is

O/TPARTrtEflT

and who represen

(organization)

Picnic Kit No.
containing the
ment :

Number
Value (Checked Out)

Activity Article

Baseball (regular)

Balls $ ( )

Bases ( )

Bats ( )

Catchers' Chest

Protectors ( )

Catchers' Masks ( )

Catchers' Mits ( )

Softball

Balls ( )

Bases ( )

Bats ( )

Horseshoes

Shoes (large) ( )

Shoes (small) ( )

Small sledge ( )

Stakes ( )

Track and Field

Batons (relays) ( )

Start and Finish Tapes ( )

Stop Watches ( )

Tape Measures ( )

following equip

Number
(Checked In

PICNIC SERVICES

233

Activity Article

Number
Value (Checked Out)

Number
(Checked In)

Volley Ball

Balls ( )

Nets ( )

Standards ( )

Equipment for Other Picnic Games

Basketballs ( )

Bean Bags ( )

Bean Boards ( )

Burlap Sacks .' ( )

Cageballs ( )

Paddle Tennis Kits ... ( )
(4 paddles, 3 balls and net)
Quoits

Rope Quoits ( )

Rubber Quoits ( )

Standards ( )

Ropes for Tug-of-War ( )

Soccer Balls ( )

Miscellaneous

Alphabet Cards (2 sets) ( ) ( )

Balls (Rubber) ( ) ( )

Blocks ( ) ( )

Clotheslines ( ) ( )

Clothespins ( ) ( )

Hammers ( ) ( )

Jump Ropes () ()

Lacing Needles ( ) ( )

Megaphones () ()

Pumps (Inflation) ( ) ( )

Song Sheets () ()

Straps, Leather ( ) ( )

Swatters ( ) ( )

The Stock Clerk will check the articles when the kit
is returned and list any missing articles. The depositor
will be charged with their value. Minimum deposit of
$ is required.

By !

Picnic Bureau

MEMORANDUM

Equipment Received Equipment Returned

Date Date

(Signed) (Signed)

(Checker)

Deposit fee of $ received Deposit fee of $ returned

by by

(Checker)
Date Date

NOTE : The kit may be picked up any week day be-
tween A. M. and P. M. It should be returned

on the day after use if borrowed during the week. If
borrowed on Saturday, return on Monday morning.

Responsibility for the pick-up and safe return of equip-
ment rests with the organization holding the picnic.

Picnic Leader

In some instances recreation departments have
provisions whereby experienced directors are
available for large community picnic gatherings.
Sometimes these services are free but more often
it is imperative that a charge be made. The De-
partment of Playgrounds and Recreation, Los
Angeles, handles picnic programs at a nominal
'(cost of $2.00 for the first two hours, and $1.00
for each hour thereafter.

A suggested request card for picnic leadership
follows.

Request for Picnic Leader

Organization

(Name)
Address Telephone

Time Hours

Place

Type of Picnic

Estimated Attendance

Ages and Sex of Participants

Requested by

Address Telephone

Picnic Leader Sent

Estimated Attendance

Remarks ...

Where a specialist has been detailed to meet by
appointment with picnic chairmen or committees
a charge is generally not made, providing the
meeting is held at the leader's office or some place
convenient for him.

In every case where help is given to individuals
and organizations, it is advisable that some record
should be made of any important conferences, and
if at all possible, copies of the final picnic pro-
gram should be secured. Such material will
always help in meeting similar requests. It may
also be studied to avoid certain duplications in ar-
ranging programs in future years for the same
organization.

If a picnic leader is assigned to an outing it is
highly important that he has an opportunity to see
the information on the leader request card. No
doubt he will want to call the picnic chairman for
further instructions and to check on certain de-
tails. When he has the needed information he can
then proceed in outlining the actual picnic pro-
gram, arranging for needed supplies and equip-
ment, including material that is to be bought by
the organization sponsoring the outing. A few
such supplies which are more widely used in pic-
nic programs are listed in the chart suggested
here.

(Continued on page 251)

"Old River"

THE NATIONAL Cash Reg-
ister Company at Day-
ton, Ohio, has under way
a comprehensive recreational
project which will eventually provide facilities for
outdoor sports and recreation in an ideal setting
for thousands of the company's employees and
their families. Situated immediately adjoining
the factory buildings, the development is taking
form on 205 acres of company-owned ground
called "Old River."

The ultimate program calls for a gun club, for
trap and skeet, a rifle range, picnic groves, la-
goons for boating and canoeing, athletic fields for
baseball, recreation ball and tennis, a wading pool,
several playgrounds for children, a swimming
pool and a recreation building for winter activi-
ties. Ground work for most of these activities is
well under way, with the gun club already in use.

The company's purpose in clearing this land
is two-fold : to provide recreation for the thou-
sands of workers, and to beautify this unused
property which lies at the southern gateway to
the city of Dayton.

Although the company had been planning for
some years to make practical use of this extra
acreage, about a year ago conditions arose that
made it advisable to begin development of the
tract. Patterson Boule-

By ANDY WEAVER

Recreation Director
The National Cash Register Company

erty, was to be widened,
parked, and corrected as to
curvature, thus beautifying
the entrance into Dayton
from the south. The company felt that this would
be a highly economical time to clean up and beau-
tify their own "front yard" and at the same time
inaugurate their long planned recreational de-
velopment.

Preliminary surveys supported the belief of t
officials that this area of ground formed a natural
setup for a recreation center or park. A prom
nent landscape architect was called in and, folio
ing numerous conferences and surveys of t
"Old River" area, the company decided to begi
work.

Initial activity involved clearing out the wee
and underbrush in the area of the old channel
the Great Miami River. The State and Feder
Highway Departments needed approximatel
153,500 cubic yards of fill for the new Patterso
Boulevard construction, and the National Cas
Register Company consented to give them thi
provided it was scooped out of the old river cha
nel. As a result, the company's plan for a bea
tiful lagoon entirely surrounding the "Old River
park area, took form at little cost to the compan
through this method of clearing out the channe

The wooded area

vard (otherwise known
as U. S. Highway 25)
adjacent to this prop-

In the center background a swimming pool is under
construction. The woodlands beyond will contain
the picnic groves. The small building in the ex-
treme background is the NCR Gun Club building.

have been cleaned o
undergrowth and roa

(Continued on page 252)

234

The Playground Newspaper

THE PLAYGROUND nCWS-
paper kills a number of
fine birds with one stone.
Not only does it stimulate
interest in playground ac-
tivities among playground
children and their families
and friends but — if the

paper is gotten out by the children themselves in
so far as possible — it gives them a variety of
highly valuable and enjoyable experiences.

The worst kind of a playground paper — the
kind prepared wholly by the directors — may be
the handsomest to look at. The best kind of a
playground paper may evidence occasional de-
partures from adult
standards, but if the true
playground spirit is
there, if the editorials
show that the children
are learning sportsman-
ship and cooperation ; if
the news stories reveal
happiness and growth

A playground paper stimulates
interest in the activities of
the playground, gives child-
ren a variety of enjoyable ex-
periences, and is great fun!

Editorial OebarUtirt gus'livets

ovt

Ourieri

in skills and sports — the
paper is a success.

One method which is sometimes followed in
organizing the staff of a playground paper

elects, every two weeks, its
editor-in-chief and assistant
editor. (In order to start
the season, the first play-
ground editors may be ap-
pointed by the directors.)
For this type of paper, il-
lustrating by half-tones is

often possible. All playground children are in-
vited to contribute articles which go to the cur-
rent playground editors of the respective play-
grounds.

Paper Centrally Printed. By the second method
of publication, each playground may have its own
paper, on which mimeographing or other typo-
graphic work is done at
a central office. The edi-
torial board or the pro-
duction department
from each playground
paper goes to the cen-
tral office, taking along
the stencils, and runs
off the copy on the ma-

ypii

Three Methods Possible

The playground paper may be handled in three
ways : ( I ) it may be one general paper to which
the various playgrounds contribute their news;
(2) each playground may have its own paper on
which mimeographing or other typographic work
is done at a central office; (3) the entire produc-
tion of the paper may ta'ke place at the play-
ground itself.

One General Paper. By the first method, the
paper is usually issued weekly or bi-weekly. Some-
times it is a special sheet in one issue of a city
newspaper. This method requires a joint staff of
representatives from the different playgrounds.
There are various ways of appointing this staff.
One way is to have each playground represented
by a playground editor, with the office filled anew
every two weeks on the basis of highest amount
of accepted material. These playground editors
constitute the staff of the paper and are responsi-
ble for preparing copy and- editing it. They meet
regularly in a central place. The general staff

chines there. This method
effects economies, in many
cases, which make it advis-
able to use it.

Each Paper Produced on Its Own Playground.
By the third method, the entire production of
the playground paper takes place at the play-
ground itself. This method — from both the edu-
cative and interest angles — is usually the most
worth while if it is at all practicable. It heightens
the children's interest and understanding by en-
abling them to see each step of the entire project
and to participate in larger measure in the actual
work. There is time enough later on in life for
the efficiency that results from industrial mass
production. Creative experience through acquired
skills is what the children need now. Let them
have the fun of experimentation even if results
are not perfect. The home-grown paper may be
handwritten and posted on the bulletin board, or
it may be typewritten ; or a secondhand, hand-
power mimeograph or a hectograph may be secured
inexpensively. Type printing will be, in most cases,
out of the question. But in playgrounds where
typesetting is a year-round activity, this method

235

236

THE PLAYGROUND NEWSPAPER

may be employed. This rather informal play-
ground paper will probably not come out very
often — twice a season is a good objective. Try to
have it come out on the occasion of some festival
or gala event at which parents and friends are
present. It can be passed around them.

Organization Hints

In organizing the board of editors it is a good
plan to designate a member of the playground
staff as consulting editor. He exercises the direc-
tional function and final authority. This indi-
vidual should use his power lightly and should not
quench the literary spark too readily even if it
seems to burn, at times, with a peculiar gleam. A
good consulting editor will try to preserve intact
the always precious spirit of a contribution. Don't
blue-pencil too quickly such pleasant vagaries as
the following superscription to a poem by a Rome,
New York, child :

written by Dominic Rossini
for the first time in his life

The consulting editor himself may prepare oc-
casional announcements, editorials and news
material.

Under the consulting editor comes the editor-
in-chief (elected by the playground members for
each issue of the paper), who presides over three
departments : editorial, business and production.
The names of the entire staff should be printed in
the paper if space permits.

In the editorial department are the reporters
and the art director, who may be appointed by a
committee consisting of the consulting editor, the
editor-in-chief and the assistant editor. General
contributors, too, are encouraged to write for the
paper. Their names are signed to contributions
and those who do outstanding work may become,
in the course of events, reporters. There should
be a special sports reporter; the rest of the re-
porters— and their number is determined by the
size of the playground — cover news, social events,
and sometimes editorials. If desired, special re-
porters may be assigned to certain groups like the
' boys' harmonica band, nature club, and girls' dra-
matic club. Reporters may enjoy having press
badges. The art work, if any, of the home-grown
playground paper, will be confined to line draw-
ings which can be reproduced on the hectograph
or on the mimeograph. Children will enjoy mak-
ing amusing sketches of Bill Jones knocking a
homer or of Jim Bonczak in the pie-eating con-

test. They can also draw the ornamental headings

for columns such as Sports.

• .

The function of the business department of a
playground paper is perhaps not so large as that
of the other departments. It is not advisable to
try to make a playground paper self-supporting
by sending out children to solicit advertisements.
Nor is there a circulation to be built up, since the
paper should be distributed free. The expense of
the playground paper should be taken care of
along with other operational expenses. The busi-
ness department is really no more, then, than a
distribution department, but it can do its work
efficiently. The business manager heads a corps
of carriers who distribute the papers at the en-
tertainment or festival, or stand at the playground
gates handing out the papers to children as they
leave the playground. Younger children may
serve in this department.

The production department sets the paper up in
type, if printing presses are used. Cutting a
mimeograph stencil, which is difficult work, is
probably beyond the ability of the average play-
ground child. The work will usually have to be
done by a staff member. The children may run
the copy off on the mimeographing machine. If a
hectograph is used, the entire production may be
done by the children, under supervision.

Helps for Editorial Staff

To help the editorial staff along its way to
glory we are adding a few suggestions adapted
from records of various playgrounds. The gen-
eral duties of the staff are as follows : Each edi-
tor-in-chief makes assignments of stories to re-
porters: he keeps a record of all stories handed
in, with name of writer and title. The editor-in-
chief posts notices on bulletin boards inviting all
children to contribute material, telling where to
turn copy in, stating the dead line. He also has
charge of making up the paper. The assistant
editor aids in the above work and may take one
or more of the jobs under his charge. The editor-
in-chief and the assistant editor confer with the
consulting editor before copy goes to press. Re-
porters gather news items, write them plainly and
correctly, putting a title or "head" of not more
than five words on each story and turning in copy
before the designated dead line. Have a dictionary
on hand, if possible. There's nothing like edi-
torial responsibility to drive even a child to the
dictionary !

THE PLAYGROUND NEWSPAPER

237

Meetings are held of entire editorial staff once
when plans are talked over; once when the copy
is in and paper is being made up; oftener, if
desired.

The consulting editor at each meeting when a
new staff comes in may discuss the following
points :

1. What is news? Any unusual thing that hap-
pens that is of special interest to a large group.
In the case of a playground paper, news is con-
fined to subjects concerning the playground and
those who attend it.

2. Contents of paper: A playground paper will
have some or all of the following parts : calendar
of events ; editorials ; special news stories of com-
ing events, past events and other timely material ;
sports; letters to editor; personal column (one-
sentence news items about members of the play-
ground. One playground paper titles this depart-
ment "The Snooper") cartoons; humor and
riddles.

3. Headlines : They tell specifically one story. Use
the active voice, with strong verbs. Example
follows :

(weak) Szotak is First in Contest
(strong) Szotak Wins Short Story Contest
The articles (a, an, the), the verb (be) and con-
junction (and) are omitted sometimes. Do not end
a line with a preposition or break a word at the
: end of a line. Avoid negatives and repetition.

4. Reporting : The A B C's of good reporting are
accuracy, brevity and clearness. Get all possible
information about your subject, then get it into
your story. Put the esssentials (who, when,
where and what) in first paragraph. In giving
names of children, use both first and second
names. Give two initials or first names of adults.
Write on one side of the paper only.

5. Editorials : Editorials can do four important
things : teach, attack, defend, and praise. Have
one at least in each issue and make it a good one.

6. Definitions of common reportorial terms : Story
— any news item. Lead — first paragraph in a
story. Head — the title of a story as it appears in
print. Copy — the written story as it comes from
the reporter. Deadline — the final time up to which
copy can be put in the paper. Dummy — a set of
pasted-up sheets showing final arrangement for
printing.

7. Format : While a playground paper may be
produced in various styles, the most practicable is
usually the typewriter-size page with two columns

separated by a ruled line. Covers or entire paper
may be of tinted stock. Heavy enough stock is
selected that both sides of the paper may be utiliz-
ed. At the top of the front page is a decorative
heading with the title of the paper. At the bot-
tom of the heading is the volume number, date
and number. The copy is typed in the proper
width, then a dummy is made, pasting the typed
copy where it will look well (do not begin an
article too near the bottom of page) and allowing
spaces for drawings. The stencil is then cut by
the typist following the dummy. Sheets are
stapled together.

Visits to City Newspapers
A trip to one of the local newspapers will be
a treat in which the entire staff of the playground
paper should participate. Most city papers are pre-
pared for visits of this sort and make them very
enjoyable. Where a joint paper is published by all
playgrounds, or the paper is published as a part of
a city paper, a member of the newspaper staff will
sometimes meet with the children's staff to assist
and instruct.

Getting Out a Paper Is Fun
The playground paper should be fun. It should
provide a major thrill to many a youngster in
whose veins the printers' ink will begin to rise as
soon as he feels in his hand a stubby pencil and a
grimy sheet of ruled paper. Don't mar this joy by
being too serious about things. There should be
no regrets over errors after everyone has done his
best.

The following poem by Anna Radliniski of Cran-
ford, New Jersey, shows perhaps certain lacks.
But do not famous poets lapse occasionally, too?
It's the spirit that counts and we would say that
Anna has it. What do you think ?

THE LINCOLN SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

School is ended, happy are we

Now for Lincoln Playground we go free.

Now we are happy once more

For know of the fun we have in store.

Big John is ready for a game of tether ball.

Little Jane is thinking of building a sand wall.

Many are ready for the fun of flower making.

Everyone for a swing is waiting.

Why is that boy looking so happy.

Oh Boy ! isn't that home run snappy

The girls are making pocketbooks

Many there are that are snapped with hooks

Now for the tournaments, 1-2-3.

There are jack stones, horseshoes, hop scotch, see.

Miss Wheeler is our leader, the best yet.

She is always happy and for everything is set.

-arks in -atimer Street

A SUCCESSFUL bazaar is
not news. But a suc-
cessful bazaar that
has definite beauty and style is
news. And an open-air bazaar
held in the heart of a large city
is, at least, uncommon. So we consider the Larks in
Latimer Street, Philadelphia, worthy of mention.
Too, too often a bazaar or fair presents a me-
lange of palms, bunting and the inevitable crepe
paper — thrown together according to the fancies
of the chairmen of the various booths. This
hodge-podge is obviated, in the case of the Larks,
by the domination of one organization — the Cos-
mopolitan Club, whose membership bulks large in
artists, writers and such creative folk. It is a
committee of this club which dictates one general,
original scheme of decoration. Lest this be inter-
preted as usurpation of power (in view of there
being other cooperating groups) it should be
mentioned that this club assumes most of the
risks, does most of the work and in return takes
the gate receipts. The other organizations in-
volved furnish
booths or spe-
cial features.

The set-up of
the Larks is
rather unique,
both as to back-
ground and par-
ticipants. First
you have Lati-
mer Street, a
charming nar-
row brick-pav-
ed street, lit at
night by the gas
lamps of old
Philadelphia.
On one side are
quaint old-fash-
ioned entrances,
high arched
doorways,
paned glass
windows ; on
the other side,

Experiments in sharing aesthetics
and in discovering neighborliness

By JULIA ANNE ROGERS

picturesque gateways an
brick- walled backyard
These facades and back-
yards appertain to select clubs;
and to shops, studios and or-
ganizations of uniformly high
standard.

The idea of the Cosmopolitan Club to unite all
of these groups in a street fair was a rather brave
one. The majority of bazaars of any importance
are held indoors or on the lawns of suburban
estates or public buildings. The club took a
chance on the weather, and a further chance in
plumping the fair right down in the center of
Philadelphia — among the apartment houses and
rows of brick dwellings, a stone's throw from the
commercial arteries.

Tickets for the Larks were made available to
the public and charges were made for each special
attraction.

Success of the Larks may be attributed, con-
cretely, to the decorations and to the entertain-
ment. In 1935, tne colors chosen were red and

white. Aides
were dressed as
Pierrots and
Columbines.
Barkers were
in pink hunting
coats. In 1936,
the Lark too
the form of
Mexican fiesta
The high, arch-
ed doorways
were wreathe
in foliage and
flowers, in imi
tation of the
decorations o i
Mexican
churches. The
old iron bal-
conies were
hung with
vines. One of

(Continued on
page 252)

238

Playground Beautification

GONE ARE THE DAYS in Long Beach when
children's playgrounds were only
shadeless expanses of dusty ground
and the only grassy plots bore the sign
"Keep Off." Playgrounds have come to
mean far more than ball diamonds and athletic
fields, although these indispensable facilities for
modern youth have not been omitted. A four-
year planting campaign is already showing notice-
able results, and hundreds of trees and shrubs are
growing luxuriantly in the typical California
manner.

Sheltered spots for table games and study,
shaded lawns where outdoor pageants and dra-
matic festivals may be held, arbors where lunches
may be eaten under pleasant and restful condi-
tions are provided. The lines of the beloved Long-
fellow come to mind with a slightly new twist :
"Beneath the spreading
chestnut tree the village •
children play," although
the tree is apt to be a
California pepper, syca-
more, or eucalyptus, and
perhaps the word village
should be changed to
avoid offending the dig-
nity of this community
of about 180,000!

The Long Beach Coun-
cil of Parents and Teach-
ers, which had previously
sponsored several me-
morial tree-planting ex-
ercises on school prop-
erty, decided that school
playgrounds offered a
fine field for a general
beautification program.

This picture, presenting
a view of a Long Beach
playground, shows a
number of newly plant-
ed trees and the way in
which they are protected

Long Beach is enthusiastic over the results
of its four-year planting campaign, a suc-
cessful adventure in community cooperation

By LLOYD A. ROCHFORD

so this organization, in the spring of 1936, pur-
chased, planted and dedicated eighty-six trees.
The following year, encouraged by the success of
the first campaign, the P.T.A.'s enlarged their
program and planted almost two hundred trees
and many shrubs.

In 1938 interest in playground tree planting

reached a high point when trees planted on every

school ground in the system totaled 320 — more

than the combined total of the two previous years.

(Continued on page 253)

239

The Man Back of the Park Executives

WILL O. DOOLITTLE
is the Executive
Secretary of the
American Institute of
Park Executives and
the American Park So-
ciety, which will hold
its fortieth annual convention
September 18-21, in Philadelphia.
He is also the Managing Editor of that organiza-
tion's monthly publication, Parks & Recreation.
This magazine has at all times conducted an ag-
gressive policy of constructive park
and outdoor recreation expansion
and conservation of nature and
wild life. It has as its liter-
ary contributors many
of the leading profes-
sional men actively en-
gaged in park build-
ing and manage-
ment in all parts
of the country, em-
bracing all classi-
fications and
branches of park
administration.
During the twenty-
two years of its ex-
istence, Parks & Rec-
reation has been an in-
structive medium for the
exchange of ideas and ex-
periences among park men in
all phases of that large field of
public service, and its informative, in-
spiring, and beneficial influence may well be
credited in conjunction with other similar publi-
cations as being at least in good part responsible
for the progress accomplished in the park and
recreation movement which has made such tre-
mendous advances during the past decade or two.
Mr. Doolittle was born in Painesville, Ohio,
and while absorbing the teachings of the local
public schools and special studies in forestry and
ornithology, his natural literary facility and in-
clinations found exercise and experience as the
young editor of a local daily newspaper. After
four years of service to his native community as

240

He serves park executives through their
professional organizations, edits their
magazine, and helps them in innumerable
ways. We introduce Will O. Doolittle!

By THEODORE WIRTH

City Forester and S
perintendent of Park
he went to Northe
Michigan to purs
further studies in fo
estry and landsca
work. In 1913-14
taught silviculture, dendrology
and economic ornithology in t
Forestry School — then located at Munising, Micl
gan. We next find him in Minot, North Dako
where he established and administered that nort
ern city's well-conceived park syste
from 1915 to 1925.

It was at the Louisville co
vention in 1920 that IV
Doolittle became iden
fied with what was
that time the Ame
can Association
Park Superinten
ents, and assum
the duties of t
management
the Association
quarterly publica-
tion. In 1921, at
the Detroit conven-
tion, a reorganiza-
tion was effect e<
changing the name to
the American Institute o
Park Executives and cre-
ating the American Park So
ciety. Under his ambitious, effici-
ent, and untiring leadership and perse-
verance, Parks & Recreation has weathered many
storms and financial embarrassments -- which
would have brought about a foundering under a
less experienced and optimistic helmsman.

After resigning the Superintendency at Minot
Mr. Doolittle was in Rockford, Illinois, where
Parks &" Recreation has since been published.
From 1926 to 1937, he held the office of Super-
intendent of the Tulsa, Oklahoma, park system
from which he resigned to give full time to the
office of Executive Secretary of the Institute and
his editorial work. He has therefore been an
(Continued on page 254)

Nation-wide Interest

in the
National Recreation Congress

NATION-WIDE INTEREST is now being centered
on the coming National Recreation Congress
in Boston October 9-13. Seldom, if ever,
has there been such a deep sense of the import-
ance of dealing with the leisure of the American
people on an adequate local, state and national
basis.

The cooperative nature of the Congress is
i clearly indicated by the individuals and organized
groups that are participating. A number of col-
lege presidents have agreed to share, in panel dis-
cussion, their concern and best thought on the
;larger problems of a growing leisure. Recreation
.'executives from all parts of the country have sent
i questions for discussion and suggestions for
I Congress procedure.

Industrial leaders, management and labor, are
(cooperating in enlarging this phase of the pro-
jgram. Three full periods will be devoted to in-
jdustrial recreation. Publicists, government offi-
cials and educators have sent helpful suggestions.
;A Youth Section will emphasize the needs of
youth and methods which they and others are
using to meet those needs. A Model Yacht Re-
gatta in the Charles River Basin, put on by Con-
'^ress enthusiasts, will be a novel event.

It is significant that such organizations as the
National Industrial Conference Board, the re-
j search body for American industry, and the Office
>f the Kiwanis International will have special
•epresentatives in the Congress to study the whole
ield of recreation in relation to special new de-
relopments within their own organizations.

Those expecting to attend the Congress should
five notice at the earliest possible date. Hotel ar-
angements should be made
lirect with hotel authorities and
s soon as possible.

From the point of view of subjects or problems

What are the foundations for belief in rec-
reation ?

What is the relation of recreation to democracy?

Training recreation workers.

Use of Federal and state facilities and leader-
ship by local communities.

Agency relationships in serving community
recreation needs.

Clubs and their problems in the recreation
program.

Planning and designing recreation areas and
facilities.

Progress in the wider use of schools for
recreation.

Seminar on administrative problems in recrea-
tion.

Public relations in recreation.

Pet Ideas of 1939.

Recreation problems of smaller cities — 5,000 to
30,000 population.

From the point of view of special groups

Recreation boards members look at their job.
Wrhat youth wants and how they can help to

get it.

Providing recreation for rural America.
How can we better meet the recreation needs

of girls and women.

Industry faces the recreation needs of workers.
Recreation and the churches.
Recreation planning and housing developments.

From the point of view of the recreation program

A series of meetings to discuss progress,
method, and plans for further enrichment of the
recreation program through :

Topics for Group Discussion

The major subjects for dis-
•ussion in the Congress are in-
dicated in the following outline :

Topics and speakers for the gen-
eral sessions of the Congress will
be announced in a later issue of
Recreation. The August number of
the magazine will tell of some of
the many places of historic inter-
est which those attending may
visit In Boston and its environs.

Arts and Crafts
Winter Sports
Co-Recreation
Day Camps

Music
Drama
Nature
Gardening

Boating

Over forty different meetings
(Continued on page 254)

241

You Asked for It!

Question : Will you give us suggestions for
events for special days on the playground, includ-
ing some novelty events which will attract outsid-
ers who may be reluctant to enter into the regular
playground program ? What preparation is neces-
sary for these events ?

Answer: On some playgrounds an entire day
is set aside for a major project. Often several
days or weeks are necessary for the preparatory
work; on the other hand, for some of the events
little or no preparation is needed. As far as pos-
sible the children on the playground should have
a share in the planning.

Pirate Day

Costume effects : eye patch, bandana for head,

belt sash, wooden sword.

Pictures of pirates and ships to cut out and

color.

Games and athletic contests between rival pirate

bands.

"Capture the Flag" may be played.

Treasure hunt.

Song such as those in Gilbert and Sullivan's

"Pirates of Penzance" and sea chanteys.

Indian Day

Costume effects : feathered head-dress, bow and

arrows, inner tube moccasins, burlap outfit,

tomahawk, wigwams.

Parade with tom-toms beating (use gasoline

cans).

Selection of chief by skill contests.

Inter-tribal races, games.

Indian dances and songs.

Bow and arrow shoot at enlarged picture of

bear pinned to baseball backstop.

Bead making, basketry and pottery making by

handcraft classes in costume.

Tell Indian legends and dramatize them.

Wild West Show — Cowboy Day — Rodeo

Costume effects: chaps, spurs, hats, bandanas,
wooden guns, rubber holsters, covered wagons.
Parade with covered wagons.
Hobby horse races, roping, lassoing.
Cowboy songs. Each team or group of children
should have its own ranch name, brand and
song.

Activities to represent bulldogging, bronco bust-
ing, racing.

Target Day

All sorts of targets — things to aim at, areas to
bat to, circles to throw at, and holes to roll balls
into — may be used in a Target Day. Each

242

child's score should be recorded for each event
and the scores be totaled to determine the high-
point winner of the day. A good target event
is a small alley where balls may be rolled to
knock down blocks of wood (as nine-pins) that
are dressed up like dolls.

Special Events (requiring little preparation)
Treasure Hunt

(a) Scatter papers of several colors, each color
with a different score value. The person
getting the highest score from the papers
which he finds, wins. Also scatter five to
ten special shapes of paper (as stars) to be
exchanged for treasure.

(&) Clues are posted at various locations, one
clue leading to another and finally to the
treasure. Have two teams, each following
a different line of clues if the group is
very large.

Peanut Hunt

While children are assembled in a room, pea-
nuts or colored papers are hidden about the
grounds. Children are divided into teams each
haying an animal name, as cow, dog, etc. The
captain of each team is the only one who may
pick up the papers or peanuts but the team
members can find them and call the captain's
attention to them by making the sound of their
animal. This creates much noise and keen ex
citement.

>
Girls' Newspaper Party

Provide plenty of pins and newspapers. Girls
work in pairs, one acting as model while the
other fashions a paper dress on her. Choose a
best costume.

Millinery fashion show:n : each girl makes a hat
out of newspaper and pins. Paper plumes,
flowers, ribbons may be made.
Games with newspaper :

(a) Each child with a sheet of newspaper and
a pencil tries to find all letters of the alpha-
bet, circling them as she finds them.

(b) Blindfolded, two girls sit on floor grasping
right hands. Each has a roll of newspaper
with which she tries to swat the other girl.

Paper Turtle Race

Cardboard turtle figures, 12 x 8 inches, are
strung on separate pieces of string, 10 feet
long and attached at one end to the lowest rung
of a chair. The player tugs at the end of the
string which movement causes the turtle to ad-
vance along the string. The turtles are raced to
(Continued on page 254)

Picture by Evelyn Young in "Chinese Babies," Tientsin Press

WORLD AT PLAY

_ . , THE Playground Lib-
A Library Service for , 0 . r TT

_., brary Service of Har-

Playgrounds . ,

nsburg, Pa., is co-
operating with the De-
partment of Parks and Public Property in offer-
ing to the children of the city as part of the sum-
mer playground program a book-loaning service.
Three visits weekly are made by a librarian with
a truck. Books may be borrowed by any child who
is a member of the library. Those who have not
joined before are able to do so at the playgrounds.
Notices telling when the library truck will visit
the playgrounds are posted on the bulletin board.

For the Hikers of
Great Britain

WORD has been re-
ceived from William

ArthurWardof

Liverpool that if "the

Access to Mountains Bill" becomes a law it will
bring to an end a half century of agitation and
struggle on the part of ramblers and other out-
door folk of Great Britain for the right to walk
on the uncultivated mountains and moorlands of
their native land. Many of the ramblers' clubs
are greatly opposed to a clause in the bill which
makes it a criminal offense for people to be found
walking intentionally on land to which access has
not been granted, whether they commit any
damage or not. As the law now stands, a person

cannot be prosecuted for the mere act of trespass,
i. e., walking on someone else's land "for air or
exercise" unless in the course of such trespass he
wittingly or unwittingly damages property such as
game preserves, crops, and hedges. In spite of
the new penal clause, which ramblers claim will
create a new criminal offense where none existed
before, the general feeling is that the bill repre-
sents the best possible compromise at present
available between the interests of the landed pro-
prietors and the general public.

j. rir, dads and moth-
Dads and Mothers , , , . , ,
__ ers clubs, it was stated
Clubs Are Helpful . . 0

r in the 1938 annual re-

port of the Recreation

Commission of Alton, Illinois, did excellent work
last summer in making many improvements on the
playgrounds. Retaining walls, bleachers, flood-
lights, score boards, shelters, and other facilities
were erected and special equipment was purchased
such as chairs, fans, and tables.

Harmonicas Popular
in Dayton, Ohio

ABOUT 250 bovs and
girls are receiving in-
struction in harmonica
playing through the

program of the Bureau of Recreation of Dayton,
Ohio. In addition to regular class instruction, the

243

244

WORLD AT PLAY

Civic Harmonica Band has been enlarged to sev-
enty members. During the year this group gave
fifty-one concerts before local groups. Instru-
mental instruction has been broadened to include
ocarinas and celestephones. Students have been
taught to make these instruments. It has been
found that in casting ocarinas it is possible to
secure a very true tone. The celestephone, which
is a glass xylophone, is an experiment in which
the children have been greatly interested.

A Toy Loan Library at Wichita Falls — The

large second floor of a downtown building in
Wichita Falls, Texas, has been turned over to
WPA, which is opening some of the rooms for
recreational activities and others as offices. The
space is also taking care of a new toy loan library
in operation for a number of months which has
the support of the various women's clubs which
with the Boy Scouts helped to bring in about
i, 800 toys. On April ist 745 children had regis-
tered as borrowers.

British Youth Hostels — In the nine years of
its existence the Youth Hostel movement in Great
Britain has made remarkable progress, according
to Mr. William Arthur Ward of Liverpool. There
are now approximately three hundred hostels in
England and Wales and about sixty in Scotland,
with a smaller number in Ireland. The member-
ship has reached the 100,000 mark and is grow-
ing daily. The movement has its national head-
quarters, but the management is in the hands of
regional organizations with well defined areas
which cover the entire country. To meet the needs
of the constantly expanding membership, new
hostels are being opened in localities not already
provided with them whenever suitable sites can
be secured. The hostels are usually located in the
most picturesque parts of the country where walk-
ing can be freely indulged in, as well as at the
seaside and in cities with special historic associa-
tions such as Chester, Strat ford-on- Avon, and
Winchester. Those in Scotland are located amid
the finest scenery of the Highlands, and in North
Wales there is a notable group of seven hostels
forming "the great mountain circle" round the
Snowdon massif.

In August an international conference and
youth rally will be held in Britain's first national
forest park at the head of Loch Long on the Firth
of Clyde.

Career Museums — John W. Higgins of Wor
cester, Massachusetts, an honorary member of the
National Recreation Association, has suggestec
that industries might well institute trade museums
in their plants which young people may visit who
are choosing their life careers as well as em
ployees with their families. First-hand informa
tion regarding trades and working conditions in
factories, he points out, will raise the standard o
workmanship and pride on the part of both the
visitors and the factories of any community. Such
an industrial museum at the plant of the Wor
cester Pressed Steel Company has attractec
10,000 visitors a year for the past decade.

Chicago's Spring Festival of Music — On May
7th, six hundred children took part in the annu
spring festival of the Civic Music Association o
Chicago. All winter these children had bee
studying folk songs and a festival cantata b
Mozart, and with but one joint rehearsal, ac
companied by the Civic Orchestra, they sang th
entire program from memory. The festival pro
gram is a concrete demonstration of what is be
ing accomplished in the children's singing classe
maintained by the association.

Suggestions for Playground Scrap Books —

Friendship, memory or autograph book, picture
books.

A collection of drawings, paintings and mounted
cut-out pictures, jokes and funny stories.

The imaginary history of a friend told by the ar-
rangement of magazine pictures.

A model home made from magazine furniture
pictures.

Game books, cook book, animal book.

Nature book with mounted flowers and leaves,
bird feathers, pictures.

The days we celebrate ; sport clippings ; interest-
ing costumes.

From "Our 1939 Children"; Department of Parks

and Public Property, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

A Recreation Center for Wichita Falls —

Plans have been made for the construction of a
community center in Wichita Falls, Texas, to
cost $60,000. Of this amount $15,000 was raised
by public subscription to serve as the city's tribute
to a WPA project. Most of this money was
given by one public-spirited citizen.

WORLD AT PLAY

245

Some of America's New Recreation Facili-
ties— From July, 1935 through June 30, 1938,
according to a report issued by WPA workers
enrolled in this department of the Federal gov-
ernment have through their labor made important
additions to many fields of recreation. They have
constructed 5,486 recreation buildings, built ad-
ditions to 296 more, and improved 3,546 existing
buildings. Of these new structures, 215 were
auditoriums, 974 stadiums and grandstands, 497
gymnasiums, and 3,800 miscellaneous in type such
as pavilions and bathhouses. A total of 1,787 new
athletic fields were built and 1,504 were improved.
No fewer than 1,067 new parks with a total
acreage of 32,559 were constructed ; 4,232 exist-
ing parks were improved, and no were enlarged.
Playgrounds to the number of 1,594 were con-
structed, while 5,010 were improved.

Another important phase of the program was
the provision of safe and sanitary bathing facili-
ties. During this period WPA workers construct-
ed 471 new swimming pools and improved 225,
while for small children 440 wading pools were
built, and 60 more improved. For the golf en-
thusiasts WPA crews built 143 new courses and
improved 214 existing courses. Other additions
to the nation's recreation facilities included 4,582
tennis courts, 728 handball courts, 1,142 horse-
shoe courts, 1,037 ice skating rinks, 41 ski jumps,
62 ski trails. 73 outdoor theaters, and 116 band
shells.

Junior Olympics at Norwalk, Connecticut —

Seven hundred boys and girls from the city play-
grounds took part in the Junior Olympics pro-
gram held last summer in Norwalk, Connecticut.
The program consisted of chinning the bar, slow
jump, potato races, dashes, target throwing, and
similar events.

Community Theaters in Austin, Texas —
The plan evolved for the Community Theaters
embodied setting up organizations in each com-
munity of Austin where a sufficient interest was
displayed to give persons in the community an
opportunity to work in the field of drama. Each
Community Theater had a workshop division for
those interested in the technical angle of set build-
ing and design, lighting, make-up, properties and
costumes ; an experimental division for those per-
sons who wanted to perform for their personal
j enjoyment rather than for an audience, and a
radio division for those who were interested in

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the field of radio drama. Each Community
Theater elected the Board of Directors and select-
ed its own director from persons who were in-
terested in directing without salary. All of the
theaters sent three delegates to the Central Com-
munity Theaters Council which met once every
three months to give aid in solving problems
which arose and to schedule those activities of
the separate theaters so as to prevent conflict of
dates.

Church Recreation Institute — Over 500 Dal-
las County Baptists were enrolled for a Church
Recreation Leadership School held in Dallas,
Texas; January 30 — February 3, 1939, under the
sponsorship of the Dallas Baptist Association, ac-
cording to Miss Uleta Ray Williams, a recreation
leader in that city. Ten courses covering a wide
range of recreational activities were offered at
each evening's session, including such topics as
the planning, financing and promotion of church
recreation programs.

Camp Fe-ne-ho — Underprivileged children
of Toledo were given a chance to enjoy a real
camping experience last summer by the coopera-

246

A NEW ARBORETUM

tion of the Federation of Neighborhood Houses,
the Rotary Club, and the Works Progress Ad-
ministration recreation workers. The initiative
was taken by the WPA leaders. The Rotary Club
contributed $400 to make the camp possible. Each
of four participating neighborhood houses con-
tributed $20 toward the salary of the resident
WPA worker who was also a trained nurse. Each
neighborhood house also agreed to pay 50^ per
day for each camper and leader present in the
camp. Children who were able to do so paid $4.00
per week. Each participating organization pro-
vided its own transportation and leadership for
the groups if sponsored. Liability insurance for
campers and workers was shared by the various
organizations. The WPA provided two senior
recreation instructors and two recreation attend-
ants. Very attractive camp awards were made by
camp instructors and campers from scraps of felt
fabric.

This was a unique form of cooperation made
possible by the fine camping experience for a con-
siderable group of children who would otherwise
have been deprived of such experience.

A Strange Hobby ! — One of the strangest
hobbies in the land is that of Paul Domke of
Ossineke, Michigan who, in his spare time, is
building a life-size menagerie of the monsters
that roamed this continent before the dawn of his-
tory. His "prehistoric garden" is located on U.S.
23, ten miles south of Alpena, on the shores of
Lake Huron. One of his "pets" on which he is
now working is the Tyrranosaurus, a kind of
lizard, which lived 50,000,000 years ago and
measured fifty-three feet from his snout to his
tail. These creatures are being built in the midst
of a grove of hardwood trees and occupy only the
spare time of the creator. From I.M.A. News,
Flint, Michigan.

Students' Hobbies Win School Credit — The
Superintendent of Schools in Dundee, Michigan,
states that with increasing leisure time for men
and women of the coming generation, instruction
in how to use this leisure becomes a function of
the school. "Accordingly," says the Superintend-
ent, "we require that each student join some
school club — travel, camera, home economics,
handicraft, outdoor study, radio, dramatics, or
music study. Then each student is allowed about
a school hour a day to read about or practice his
hobby. The students are developing some worth-
while interests which reflect in some cases in-

A New Arboretum

THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON is to have an
arboretum of 260 acres made possible by the
leasing of Washington Park to the University in
perpetuity by the city of Seattle. The city reserves
the right to the arboretum as a park and agrees as
funds are available to furnish water and lighting,
to police the area, and maintain the roadways.
The University has accepted administrative con-
trol and will have complete supervision of the
area, furnishing the technical staff for carrying
on scientific study and experiments. The Works
Progress Administration will furnish labor, a
Federal grant of approximately $800,000 having
been allotted as a relief measure. Fifteen per cent
of this sum will be used for necessary materials.
The Arboretum Foundation has been organized by
an advisory board appointed by the Governor, the
University of Washington, and the Mayor of
Seattle to promote the arboretum and to raise an
endowment, as well as funds for immediate use.
This is a nonprofit organization, state-wide in
scope, and open to all interested in the project.
Thus far over $11,000 has been furnished by the
Foundation to date.

Some of the outstanding features planned for
the arboretum include an Azalea Way, a sixteen
foot wide turf trail three-quarters of a mile long,
to be massed on either side with rhododendrons
and azaleas ; alpine gardens consisting of ten acres
of ledges and alpine meadows ; a two acre shady
dell comprising woodland gardens with a series of
small pools and cascades ; a lilac collection and a
system of four lagoons which will afford an ex-
cellent opportunity for the development of water
gardens with an extensive collection of aquatic
plants. There will also be extensive collections of
magnolias, camellias, flowering cherries, and tree
peonies and exotics collected from other lands.

creased interest in other school studies, such a
the study of chemistry with photography. Par
ents are particularly interested in the fact tha
students amuse themselves at home with hobbie
instead of going out at night." From Detroi
Free Press.

Model Yachting

(Continued from page 207)

head boats and two hundred A Class boats.
the boats in the twenty independent clubs an
added, there are considerably over one thousanc

MODEL BOAT SAILING IN NEW YORK CITY'S PARKS

247

models. Over one hundred new boats are being
built this year.

There is also an International Association of
Model Yachtsmen called the "International Model
; Yacht Racing Union." It includes : Great Britain,
1 France, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, and
the United States. The officers are : President,
John Black, 65 Pine Ridge Road, West Medford,
Massachusetts ; Secretary-Treasurer, William M.
Carpenter, 65 Forest Road, Birkenhead, England.
In New York City there is a Metropolitan As-
sociation of nine clubs. The regattas are of sev-
eral kinds :

1. Home club races between members of home
clubs for club championships; weekly, Sat-
urdays, and Sundays, and holidays. The
average is ten races in spring and ten in the
fall.

2. Interclub races between nearby clubs — a
limited and equal number of boats from each
club. Special races.

3. Official regattas for championship of each
division at dates fixed by officials of division.

4. Invitation races — for special cups.

5. National championship regatta — yearly.

6. International championship regatta yearly.

Bibliography

"Year Book" of the Model Yacht Racing As-
sociation of America, Charles H. Farley, 87
Ouincy Street, Medford, Massachusetts.

"Sailing Rules," John Black, 65 Pine Ridge
Road, West Medford, Massachusetts.

"Marblehead" — 50-800 class Rating Rules —
'John Black, 65 Pine Ridge Road, West Medford,
', Massachusetts.

"Marine Models," 59 Fetter Leave, London,
E. C, England.

"Model Sailing Craft," W. J. Daniels and H.
jB. Tucker, Marine Models, 52 Fetter Leave,
London, E. C., England.

NOTE: Model yachting is to have an important place
iat the Boston Recreation Congress. The Montclair Model
'Yacht Club in cooperation with the Boston Model Yacht
Club will stage an invitation regatta on the Charles River
: Basin, Thursday afternoon, October 12.

Hundreds of yachtsmen will sail their personally built
models in a special demonstration for Recreation Con-
gress delegates. This is an unusual opportunity for model
j yacht enthusiasts to demonstrate for recreation officials a
fascinating leisure time activity that is rapidly developing
;in America.

A consultation service on model yachting will be avail-
able at the Congress.

BEN PEARSON

Used by leading universities and tournament
winners throughout America, Ben Pearson
Bows and Arrows are made by master crafts-
men, archers themselves, in America's largest
plant devoted exclusively to fine quality
archery equipment manufacture.

Get New Low Price Catalogue
Send for complete free interesting catalogue
and Manual of Archery on care of equip-
ment, correct shooting form, building targets,
tournament rules, etc.

BEN PEARSON, INC. Dept. R9 Pine Bluff. Ark.

Model Boat Sailing in New York
City's Parks

(Continued from page 208)

boat, however, is permitted to compete in any one
of the other subdivisions of the contest, and often
triumphs over the more elaborate craft.

Another indication of the interest in model
boat sailing contests is the formation of children's
clubs. In addition to these clubs there is an or-
ganization in Brooklyn for men from twenty-one
to seventy years of age whose chief hobby is the
sailing of model boats. Each day members of
this club can be found at the Prospect Park Lake
sailing their models. For these men a special con-
test is held annually at which prizes are awarded
to all winners. For successful model boat sailing,
the boy, girl or adult must consider wind condi-
tions and be able to properly adjust the helm and
set the sails to obtain the full value of the wind.
The events in the sail boat contests, which are
conducted in twenty designated locations in New
York City, include the following:

SAIL BOATS
Classes Classes

A— From 12" - 18" D— From 32" - 40"
B— " 18" -25" E— " 40" -50"
C— " 25" -32" F— Constructed models to 30"

MOTOR BOATS
Clouts

G — Electric and spring powered
H — Steam and gasoline driven

Calling All Landlubbers!

(Continued from page 215)

On their summer cruising the Mariners are fre-
quently offered the hospitality of friendly yacht
clubs or have the opportunity to visit on board
other boats. One of the first things they learn is

248

UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

University Athletics

PRESIDENT DODDS of Princeton, in speaking at
the annual football banquet at the close of
this year's season, made some pointed comments
on the place of athletics in the intercollegiate
world. As quoted in the New York Times,
he said :

"Athletics have a place in a university only
under two conditions. The first is that the oppor-
tunity to participate be extended on equal terms
to all undergraduates under scholarship require-
ments applying uniformly to all. This implies a
broad program of both intercollegiate and intra-
mural athletics. Every university which supports
an intercollegiate program is dealing unfairly with
the less gifted athletically unless it provides a
comprehensive intramural program as well.

"The second requisite which must be fulfilled
to justify intercollegiate athletics and football in
particular is complete absence of commercialism.
This condition is violated when athletes are sub-
sidized either by the university or by the mis-
guided supporters of the university. When subsi-
dies are paid the attempt is always made to keep
them secret. This fact alone is a confession that
something dishonorable has taken place. When
one is proud of such acts he does not go to such
pains to cover them up.

"It is not necessary that our teams win all their
games. The Princeton family does not demand
undefeated seasons. Fundamentally they demand
that you play your games as intelligent sportsmen
and that places on the team shall always be won
in fair competition among amateurs playing not
for money but for sport." - — From New York
Times, December u, 1938.

the etiquette of such visits. Since even a casual
ferryboat rider may some day find himself a
visitor on a launch or yacht, it's well to learn the
vocabulary and behavior of the perfect nautical
guest.

Suppose the hearty host exclaims, "Let's go be-
low ; stow your things in the starboard bunk. The
head doesn't work very well. Then come topsides
and we'll splice the main brace."

A well-informed guest would go downstairs (a
phrase you'll never use on shipboard), put his
things on the built-in bed at the right side of his
stateroom, and note that the door leading into
the bathroom (head) was closed. Then he'd go
into the main cabin and join his host in a drink
(splice the main brace).

If the party goes ashore in the dinghy, the
owner will direct the seating of his guests and
then get aboard himself. Landing, the guests
leave the boat first. And on your return, remem-
ber that owner and guests board the yacht from
the starboard side, crew use the port side.

If you can't go a-sailing, you may take land
cruises in your imagination as the Girl Scout
Mariners do, planning your visits to strange ports,
deciding what you'll see and buy, and scudding
homeward at last in a spanking salty breeze of
your own conjuring. But you won't stay. You'll
be off again on another jaunt, real or fancied. The
spell of the moving waters will be upon you and
you'll go !

Are you water-wise? Try your knowledge on
these true and false statements.

1. Dog Watch — the period in which the watch dog

is the only member of the crew on deck.

2. Pipe down — keep quiet.

3. Dinghy — Ship's mascot.

4. Charley Noble — Stove pipe.

5. Captain's gig — is a dance aboard ship.

6. Painter — is a marine artist.

7. Brig — is the ship's prison.

8. Galley — is the ship's kitchen.

9. Foc's'l — is the captain's quarters.
10. Yawl — sailor's southern accent.

A n&wers

1. False. A dog watch is one of two watches ex-

tending from 4 to 6 P. M. and from 6 to 8 P. M.

2. True.

3. False. A dinghy is a small rowboat.

4. True.

5. False. A captain's gig is the captain's own boat.

6. False. The painter is the rope in the bow of a

boat for towing or making fast.

7. True.

8. True.

9. False. The foc's'l is the raised deck of most

merchant steamers in the forward part of the
vessel.
10. False. A yawl is a kind of sailboat.

Swimming Pool Construction and
Operation

(Continued from page 220)

intelligently planned and conducted instructor
play, and healthful exercise and recreation shoul
replace horseplay and rowdyism. With Americ
now leading the world in the number of pools i
use, with federal funds making it possible foil
many municipalities to own and operate their ow .i
pools, it would seem an opportune time for cei
tain educational institutions to add courses i
modern swimming pool operation and sanitatio
to their curricula, thereby helping to ensure prc

A REGATTA OF THEIR OWN !

249

//' You Remember

the story Grandma used to tell about Uncle Silas, who was
such a character, if you remember that story and love it ...

Then You Should Read

the magazine for Yankees everywhere. We've heard it said
that New England is the only part of America where such
characters as Uncle Silas are left. If Uncle Silas and all like
him are dear to you — or if you are an Uncle Silas, you will
enjoy YANKEE, the magazine with the flavor of New England
sea captains, and Saturday afternoon in the general store.
Subscription price is three dollars a year.

Almanac . . . Swops . . . Fiction
Pictures . . . Garden Talk . . . Leisure

Published by YANKEE, INCORPORATED, Dublin, N. H.

Advertising Offices
321 Park Square Building, Boston, Mass.

per administration of pools, and maximum oppor-
tunity for the many thousands who find in aquatic
recreation great enjoyment and benefit.

While the baths of Caracalla did not save Rome,
the modern pool undoubtedly will go a long way
toward disproving the ancient adage that history
i repeats itself, and will aid materially in building
up rather than destroying this most enjoyable and
beneficial recreation.

A Regatta of Their Own!

(Continued from page 221)

in this latter class, especially. Among the crowd
massed in one spot on the shore was a family
group, eagerly watching the entry of their son
[and brother. "Bobby has been working on his
motor boat for four months," said his sister. "He
can't think of anything else. And last night he
actually said his prayers — a thing he hasn't done
for months." It is good to record that faith and
works were rewarded, for Bobby's trim little
motor boat darted out from the fleet that made
the start and shot through the waters, almost run-
ning down a competitor, to cross the line to win
second prize.

The making and sailing of boats gets into the
blood, and many who for several years have com-
peted in this big model yacht regatta were loath
to give up the sport. So a special open class was
held for boats built in previous years, and thus
high school boys were permitted to compete with
their old rivals. Only boats that won prizes in the
past were eligible to sail in this class, probably the
most keenly contested of any. These yachts,
mostly of the larger size, have had the benefit of
thorough seasoning. Schooled by their perform-
ance in previous races, correction of any minor
defects have been made, and it was a truly im-
pressive sight when the big, white sailed boats,
as though guided by the hand of the builder,
floated across the sunlit waters.

Doing their part to make it a perfect day, the
owners of the big bathhouse on the beach dis-
tributed to all of the 750 boys who had entered
boats tickets entitling them to ice cream cones.

Late in the afternoon, when all the heats had
been run, the crowd adjourned to the beach pa-
villion where the awards — sixty silver loving cups
—were given in the various classes.

After this came the inspection of all the prize
winners and runners-up to determine the best

250

RECREATIONAL ASPECTS OF STREAM POLLUTION

constructed boat in each class. For these addi-
tional trophies were awarded — a difficult task in-
deed, as all the shop instructors agreed. Last of
all, a group picture was taken, and as the sun sank
into the waters of the Pacific, carloads of tired,
happy and excited youngsters, most of them car-
rying their own yachts, boarded the electrics, or
were picked up by the family car, eagerly talking
of the events of the day and planning improve-
ments that would make their boat a winner in
next year's regatta.

Recreational Aspects of Stream
Pollution

(Continued from page 222)
greatly retarded by the condition of the water."

Another significant statement has been placed
in the public record by Representative A. Willis
Robertson of Virginia, Chairman of the Select
Committee on Conservation of Wild Life Re-
sources, in the report of his committee to the
Seventy-sixth Congress :

"Much is being said today of the strain under
which we are living in this age of high speed, and
the fact that people do not take necessary time to
rest and relax taut nerves ; that our pleasures and
pastimes are too artificial and we are too depend-
ent upon mechanical devices for happiness. Much
unrest and unhappiness could be alleviated and
quiet, wholesome minds developed for more ef-
ficient discharge of daily duties by a fuller knowl-
edge of and closer contact with the great outdoors
and nature's children."

Recreational benefits of a broad national pro-
gram of stream pollution abatement are so vast
and so far-reaching that they challenge imagina-
tion to the limit. When we think of the countless
thousands of miles of native streams into which
cities and industries dump their filth and wastes
and what it would mean to the people of America
to restore these streams to some semblance of
their natural beauty and usefulness, we begin to
visualize what pure streams would mean to this
country.

There is much misunderstanding about the
stream pollution problem. Many people think that
it is necessary to reroute a river through some
mysterious process and purify its waters. Of
course, this is all wrong. The way to purify a
stream is to stop putting filth into it, and the
stream quickly clears. .The problem is largely one
of finance and education. Further scientific re-
search is necessary to enable certain industries to
deal with their wastes. Both cities and industries

need money to finance disposal works. And th
country needs education on the barbaric practic
of dumping our filth into the water we use am
drink. Friends of pure streams who want action a
the present session might well communicate thei
views to members of the Congress.

NOTE : A compact commission has been formed of re
resentatives of the states of New York, Pennsylvam
West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana providin
for cooperative action on the part of these states
cleaning up the Ohio and its tributaries. The West Vi
ginia and Indiana legislatures have already enacted t'
necessary legislation to put the compact into effect. Ohi
according to a statement recently received, will soon pa
the necessary legislation.

A City-Wide Swimming Program

(Continued from page 229)

were twelve acts depicting a day on board shi;
Each group was colorfully attired in dress an(
uniforms that took full advantage of the great op
portunity to use color. The Banneker pagean
was a water circus featuring formation swimmim
of boys and girls costumed as seals, beavers, am
sea horses, in many interesting and difficult fig
ures. Featured also were the colored A. A. U
fancy diving champions of the United States
Each act was presented by a different playgrounc
or pool under the direction of Mrs. Katherim
Ladd of the Department of Playgrounds, in co
operation with the Welfare and Recreation As
sociation and the Red Cross.

The experience of last year demonstrated thai
by coordinating their efforts the various agencie.'
concerned with operation of public swimming
pools can vastly improve their services. In Wash-
ington we are determined to raise up a generation
of swimmers, and we think we have found the
way.

Romper Day's Silver Anniversary

(Continued from page 230)
This has been so thoroughly systematized and can
now be executed with such precision that the ten
thousand children and the adults present receive
in one hour's time paper bag containers with 2
delicious Trexler orchard apple, a hot dog, lolly-
pop and ice cream popsicle.

Many enterprising boys would scheme, as boys
always do, for extra refreshment tickets and the
General's eyes would twinkle and he woulc
chuckle in amusement when he found a boy ir
line the second time. His usual comment was
"No one will have to take care of that fellow
He'll take care of himself."

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

251

As long as there are youths to play, so long will

the children of our city have one day of the sum-

I mer set aside when they gather together to pay

tribute to the joy of living and to the memory of

the man who cared about their happiness.

Magazines and Pamphlets

(Recently Received Containing Articles i
of Interest to the Recreation Worker

Picnic Services

(Continued from page 233)
Supplies Needed

Articles Description Number

Balloons

Barrels

Blindfolds

Brooms

Candles

Candy kisses

Clothesline

Clothespins

Eggs

Fans

Hammers

Hoops

Kiddie Cars

Lemons

Lollypops

Marbles

Matches

Marshmallows

Match Boxes

Nails

Needles

Nipples .. .

Old Clothes :.

Pans

Paper Bags

Paper Cups :

Paper Plates

Peanuts

Pennies

Pins

Planks

Potatoes

Rolling Pins

Scissors

Skipping Ropes

String

Tubs

Umbrellas

Wooden Blocks

List prizes needed: 1. t

2.

3.

etc.

Equipment needed for guessing contests: 1.

2.
3.
etc.

Treasures needed for hunts: 1.

2.
3.
etc.

Information Files

Printed material, including books and bulletins
on games, stunts, other outdoor entertainments,

and sample picnic programs, are on file in many

recreation department and other agency libraries.

These references are available to those planning
' outing programs.

MAGAZINES

Public Management, April 1939

"Taking City Government Back to the People" by
Clarence .E. Ridley and Orin F. Nolting

Camping World, April 1939

"Democracy in Camping" by Dr. Ira S. Wile

The Journal of Educational Sociology, April 1939

"Minorities, A Challenge to American Democracy"
by Maurice R. Davie

"Culture Conflicts and the Welfare of Youth" by
M. M. Chambers

"Culture Conflicts and Recent Intellectual Immi-
grants" by Clara W. Mayer

"Snaring Culture Values" by Rachel Davis-DuBois

School and Society, April 15, 1939

"Science Instruction in a Democracy" by Ordway
Tead

Playing Fields — The Quarterly Journal of the National
Playing Fields Association in London. Bound volume
has just been received covering issues from October
1936 to July 1938

School and Society, April 22, 1939

"Objectives of a Program of Extra-Curricular
Activities in High School"

Shore and Beach, April 1939

"Shores and Beaches in the National Scheme of

p«rrP3tion" by Conrad L. Wirth
"Model Forms of Bylaws as to Seashore"

Child Study, April 1939

"When the Family Vacations Together" by James
Lee EHenwood

Safety Education, May 1939

"How Safe is Swimming?" by F. C. Mills
"The Bicycle and the Law"

The Womans Press, May 1939

"Adolescence Sans Religion ?" by Hedley S. Dimock
"Modern Trends in Camping" by Mary L. Northway

National Parent-Teacher, May 1939

"The President's Message," Frances S. Pettengill,

President, National Congress of Parents and

Teachers
"Straight Thinking versus Crooked" by Holland D.

Roberts
"Fducation for Civic Responsibility" by Clarence A.

Dykstra

Journal of Physical Education, May-June 1939

"Suggested Minimum Desirable Practices in the
Operation and Maintenance of Swimming Pools"

Youth Leaders Digest, May 1939

"If I Had a Magic Wand" by Robert Moses

Parks and Recreation, May 1939

"Schools Aid in Combatting Park Vandalism"

National Municipal Review, May 1939

"Planning for Seven Million : Year One" by Phillip
B. Thurston

252

"OLD RIVER"

Beach and Pool, May 1939

"Modern Swimming Pools" by Walter J. Cartier
"Water Pageants and Stunts"

The American Observer, May 8, 1939

"Facts About Magazines — RECREATION"

School and Society, May 6, 1939

"Federal Aid to Education" by Charles H. Judd
"Democracy at Work in the Community" by W.
Carson Ryan

The Journal of Health and Physical Education, May 1939

"Health Factors in Attractiveness" by Anne Schley

Duggan
"How Is Your Professional Conduct?" by Harry A.

Scott .
"Planning an Elementary School Playday" by

Florence Owens

The Camping Magazine, May 1939

"Miscellaneous Campcraft Hints" 'by Barbara Ellen

Joy
"Fun in the Craft Shop" by Lester C. Smith

Scholastic Coach, May 1939

"The Country's Schools are Lighting Up" (Play-
grounds) by Ralph A. Piper

PAMPHLETS

Community Recreation Program — Summary of 1938 Re-
port Recreation Committee, Anderson, Indiana

Spring-Summer Program and Guide — St. Paul Play-
grounds 1939 St. Paul, Minnesota

Report of Executive Secretary for the Year 1938, Annual
Report of the Rosemount Community Center, Seventh
Annual Report of the Community Garden League of
Greater Montreal, Annual Report of the Parks Com-
mittee to the Montreal Parks and Playgrounds As-
sociation Incorporated

Montreal Parks and Playgrounds Association, Mon-
treal, Quebec, Canada

Annual Report of Recreation Commission 1938

Norwalk, Connecticut

Annual Report of Recreation Commission 1938
City and County of Honolulu

Urban Government — Volume I of the Supplementary Re-
port of the Urbanism Committee to the National
Resources Committee, Superintendent of Docu-
ments, Washington, D. C. Price $.50

"Old River"

(Continued from page 234)

ways and footpaths have been completed. The
picnic groves are already invitingly beautiful.
Shelter houses and outdoor cooking facilities are
being completed.

The Lagoon will consist of approximately two
miles of waterways for boating and canoeing. It
will be from fifty to seventy-five feet wide and
will wind its way around the entire "Old River"
groves. The water will attain a depth of nine
feet, from a gradual slope on each side.

The dredging out of the old channel formed an
island consisting of about forty acres of ground.
Most of this island is wooded with sycamores,
willow, poplar and other trees. It is here that the

shelter houses, fireplaces and barbecue are 'being
provided, while benches, chairs and tables will be
scattered throughout the grounds. Practically all
the wooded section faces the lagoon.

Along with these projects the athletic fields are
being transformed. The plot of forty-five acres
of land now needs little more than the charting of
of the baseball and recreation ball diamonds.

One of the most popular spots for employees
and their families in years to come will be the
swimming pool, which consists of two units. One
unit consists of an elliptical pool 80' x 120' which
will provide enjoyment for smaller children. The
maximum depth of the water in this pool will be
eighteen inches. There will be a miniature play
ground connected to this area which will be f encec
off so as to keep the little ones away from any
possible danger while their parents are enjoying
other parts of "Old River."

The second unit will be a large elliptical poo
measuring 220' x 280' which will provide f o
adult bathing, swimming and diving. This pool wi
be divided into two section. One section, from
four to ten feet deep, will be used for swimming
and diving. This section will also contain a 220
racing course. The second section, with depti
ranging from two to four feet, will be for the us
of those who do not swim or who do not care to
enter the deeper water. Equipment of the most
modern design will be used in and around th
pool, and every precaution will be taken for the
safety of the users. Six diving boards will be
provided for those interested in this phase of
water sports. The dressing and locker room fa-
cilities will be large enough to permit of 5,000
persons being in the big pool at one time.

Colonel Deeds, President and Chairman of the
Board of the National Cash Register Company,
much of whose personal time has been spent in
the planning of this great unit, has this to say
about the development : "By making intelligent
use of everything nature and circumstances have
given us, a good beginning is being made toward
the creation of a beautiful and practical park at
minimum cost. We will begin to use it in the
rough. By adding improvements from time to
time as we can afford them, we shall see our pro-
gram gradually become a beautiful reality."

Larks in Latimer Street

(Continued from page 238)
these balconies formed a romantic setting for a
singer in Spanish costume. And everywhere were

LARKS IN LATIMER STREET

253

Spanish ladies, dons, and Mexican peons. The
1937 Lark was an Autumn festival, done in blue
and yellow. Screens with bold designs of sun-
flowers on a dark blue background made an un-
interrupted dado along the walls. Aides were in
yellow cellophane dresses and blue ruffs, with yel-
low crescent moons on their heads. Yellow and
blue lights and paper pumpkins dangled from the
trees, braided corn stalks framed the doorways,
and a great yellow cellophane moon shone
beneficently.

Entertainment at the Larks has always been
plentiful and in unexceptionable taste. Guests
have been quickly initiated into the spirit of
revelry by street singers and dancers. These have
included costumed Irish singers with shillalaghs,
Hungarian dancers in colorful native dress, a
Spanish singer drawn in a donkey cart, and an
accordion player. In 1937 an organ grinder with
a talented monkey delighted the adults as well as
the children. In 1936 there was a small horse-
drawn merry-go-round for children. At the next
Lark it is planned to have a good orchestra for
street dancing.

Side shows offered by the various organizations
have been of a highly amusing nature : a marion-
ette show put on each year in Mr. Yarnall
Abbott's studio ; a variety show given by college
students in 1936, by entertainers with special acts
in 1937. At the Mexican fiesta, hot tamales were
warmly welcomed, while the Autumn Lark saw
brisk traffic in coffee, doughnuts and chestnuts.
There were, naturally, the ever-beloved fortune-
tellers' booths, and tea booths. Walled gardens
were opened for tea or outdoor suppers. Some
organization always provides games — shuffle-
board, darts and the like. Many of the groups
have booths with fascinating things to sell —
among these, the flower booth and the Russian
booth were especially colorful — and the social
service organizations present very fine handcraft
exhibitions.

Difficulties of putting on a street fair in the
heart of a large city are not so numerous, we are
told, as might be supposed. There's a certain
amount of red tape to be gone through with with
city officials. And of course the handling of ad-
missions is important; gates must be efficiently
manned and should admit one person at a time.
But on the whole, Latimer Street people have
found complications surprisingly few. The
"bouncer" in his high hat is seldom, if ever, called
into action. The worst obstacle is the chance of

bad weather ; it is possible to meet this — at least,
to some extent — by the purchase of rain insurance.
Creators of the Larks in Latimer Street men-
tion as one of the benefits of the affairs, the spirit
of neighborliness engendered between organiza-
tions. The Garden Club, for example, gets to
know the Print Club. The Women's City Club,
Red Cross, Grenfell Association, the dentists'
group and the Colonial Dames join hands co-
operatively. All of which, Latimer Streeters agree,
is a marvellous thing.

Playground Beautification

(Continued from page 239)

This year the work was continued, and for the
first time the Board of Education purchased 218
trees, leaving to the P.T.A. only the work of
planting and dedication. The result was to bring
the grand total of planting for the four years to
814 trees and several hundred lineal feet of
shrubs.

The planting has been carried on in a systema-
tic manner. A technical committee on which the
school landscape architect, the Department of
Physical Education of the schools, the Recreation
Commission, and the Council of Parents and
Teachers were represented, provided tentative
planting charts for each school ground, which
were checked by the business office of the school
district from the standpoint of future building
construction plans.

The children of the several schools had an
active and important part in the dedication pro-
grams which were arranged in each instance by
the principal of the school, cooperating with the
Parent-Teacher Association and the central physi-
cal education office.

In addition to the natural pride and pleasure
which this beautification program brings to the
schools and the city as a whole, keen interest and
satisfaction is also felt by the Recreation Com-
mission, for in this city a coordinated plan is ef-
fective, with the supervisor of health and physical
education of the schools serving as director of
school and municipal recreation under charter
provision.

The planting project, which has added so much
of beauty, safety, and comfort to the schools, has
also enlarged and improved areas on which many
of the activities of the Recreation Commission's
broad program will be conducted. As would be
expected, the entire achievement has had the
active support and inspiration of the city's rec-

254

YOU ASKED FOR IT!

reation director who could foresee the great im-
portance of the project from the community rec-
reational standpoint quite apart from the element
of simple beauty.

Another project which has just been started on
the Long Beach elementary school playgrounds is
the surfacing of the large open areas with bitu-
muls, an emulsified asphalt paving recently de-
veloped for playground surfacing. Special activity
areas will also be treated with bitumuls in the
secondary schools. With this, in addition to the
trees and lawns, it will be "goodbye, dust and
grime" from now on — an improved condition
which will be a source of satisfaction not only to
the children using the grounds but to adjacent
residential areas as well.

The Man Back of the Park Executives

(Continued jrom page 240)

active guiding head and spirit of the Institute
practically since he joined the organization. Mr.
Doolittle's interest in the American Institute of
Park Executives and the American Park Society
is at par with his intense enthusiasm, constant
teaching, and advocacy for the conservation of
wild life. He is a most worthy, forceful disciple
of the late Dr. W. T. Hornaday, that noble, cou-
rageous fighter for the conservation of wild life,
whose intimate friendship he enjoyed for many
years and whose teachings he successfully
carries on.

Nation-Wide Interest in the National
Recreation Congress

(Continued from page 241)

for discussion of these and related subjects will
be held. Each person planning to come will re-
ceive in advance the Question Pamphlet contain-
ing detailed questions listed under each topic. The
final programs giving time, place and personnel
for all meetings and arrangements will be avail-
able at registration desk.

You Asked for It!

(Continued jrom page 242)

the chair. A mat or rough floor prevents slip-
ping and makes a better race track. The back
heels of the turtle must remain in contact with
the floor throughout .the race, and the player
must stay in his starting position.

Special Contests
The challenge of competition creates much o
the excitement and interest in many special ac-
tivities. Although these events are being listed
under contests, many of them are fine, informal
activities that children enjoy playing again an
again with no thought of formal contests c
competition.

Jacks tournament

Top spinning contest

O'Leary tournament

Yo Yo contest

Marble tournament

Hopscotch tournament

Rope jumping contest

Pie eating contest

Seed planting or plant growing contest

Give each contestant a certain number oi
seeds, or a slip to plant and tend. Judge re-
sults after a period of time. (Beans gro\v
rapidly.)

Fishing contest

Contest in sailing model boats

Ping pong tournament

Carrom tournament

Checkers and chess tournaments

Tetherball tournament

Whistling contest

Each contestant is required to whistle a cer-
tain piece of music which all must do, as well
as one which he selects for himself.

Soap bubble contest

Judge the largest bubble, prettiest bubble
double or triple bubbles, longest floating bub-
ble. Add glycerine to soap suds to mata
stronger bubbles. Besides the regular pipes
soda straws or empty thread spools may be
used.

Model airplane and glider contests

Toy parachute contests

Tin can golf (9 holes)

Sink 9 one-pound coffee cans into the ground
various distances apart. Game is played am
scored like golf, using a flat board or bat a.'
club, and a large soft indoor baseball for the
ball.

Other Special Activities

Signalling with flags by codes.

Rhythm band

Any number of things may be used to marl'
a rhythm along with a melody instrumen
such as a harmonica, piano, accordion, etc
Wood blocks, railroad spikes, pot lids, tii
cans, and bottles partly hl-led with water ma}
add to the sound of a rhythm band.

A sandy city. Build a miniature city in the sane
box. Make cardboard or wooden houses, stores
city hall, street signs, trees, etc.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

Swimming Pool Standards

| By Frederick W. Luehring, Ph.D. A. S. Barnes and
Company, New York. $5.00.

THIS BOOK has been written to provide guiding stand-
ards which will be helpful to those charged with the
responsibility for the planning, construction, and ad-
ministration of swimming pools in educational institu-

, tions. In addition to the laws, rules and regulations
for swimming pools, criteria for judging standards are
offered as well as for the standards themselves as they
relate to site, location and environment and to construc-

' tion, equipment, and administration. There is an
interesting chapter reporting an historical survey of the
swimming pool made by Dr. Luehring, which in his
judgment is the first time such an historical account has

i ever been published. The edition of this volume has been

: limited to a thousand copies.

A Marblehead Model Sailing Yacht

By Claude W. Horst. The Bruce Publishing Company,

Milwaukee, Wisconsin. $.50.

^"*OMPLETE DIRECTIONS and full-size station templates are
^* given for building a 50-inch sailing yacht with a sail
, area of 800 square inches. Mr. Horst is known as the
author of "Model Sail and Power Boats," and "Model
Boats for Juniors," and he is an authority on boat
building.

Puppets— A Handbook of Marionettes

By the Hamburg (N. Y.) Puppet Guild. Bacon and

Vincent Co., Inc., Buffalo, New York. $.50.
A MANUAL OF PRACTICAL directions for the making of
stringed marionettes with suggestions for their cos-
tuming, stringing and operation. A short chapter on the
' building of a stage, its lighting equipment, scenery and
: properties is included. To assist the beginner there is
i given a "chopping list" of all the materials needed in the
! construction of a single marionette- The authors describe
I in some detail directions for the making of a puppet
I head from craytonite, a new plastic modeling material de-
I veloped by the Guild. They suggest, however, that heads
I can also be made in other ways — from wood, papier-
: mache, molded of clay, and cast in plaster of paris. The
; book is illustrated.

Sports for the Handicapped

; By George T. Stafford, Ed.D. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New

York. $2.50.

««TiiE NEWER TREND in many schools is away from the
correction of the physical defect by formal exercises

, and toward the provision of the advantages and oppor-
tunities available through games and sport activities

j properly supervised and adapted to the needs of the

| atypical student." With this principle in mind, Dr.

; Stafford has presented to the physical educator, the
school nurse, the physician, the handicapped, the parent,

and all who are concerned with the education of the
handicapped, a method of teaching that will motivate the
atypical student to improve not only his physical condi-
tion, but also his outlook on life. The book is exceedingly
practical and makes definite suggestions for the activities
suitable for handicapped individuals with different types
of physical disabilities.

Photography as a Hobby

By Fred B. Barton. Harper and Brothers, New York

City. $2.00.
I N AN INFORMAL, non-technical way the author discusses

composition, printing, developing, enlarging equip-
ment and methods, and many other subjects which will
satisfy the veteran's quest for new ideas and at the same
time help the beginner become a proficient and enthusiastic
camera fan.

Dances of the Hungarians

By Elizabeth C. Rearick. Bureau of Publications,
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York
City. $2.10.

I N PRESENTING the results of her careful research, the
author has given us not only authentic dances with
illustrated descriptions and music, but she has emphasized
the social significance of folk dancing in the life of
nations. Unusually attractive illustrations accompany the
text.

Group Instruction in Tennis
and Badminton

By Harry D. Edgren and Gilmer G. Robinson. A. S.

Barnes and Company, New York. $1.00.
VWiTH THE INCREASING popularity of tennis and bad-
minton has come the demand that these games be
taught to young people of school age. Limited equipment,
playing facilities, and the. numbers involved make teach-
ing individual activities a difficult task. Accordingly the
attempt is made in this book to aid teachers of physical
education and others in giving group instruction. Funda-
mentals of play in each sport are briefly described, and
the playing strategy and other aids to play are given.

Promenade

By Lloyd Shaw, Superintendent of Cheyenne Mountain
Schools. Entertainment Department. Woman's Home
Companion, New York. $.10.

A COLLECTION OF SEVEN western cowboy square dances
^^ and variations with complete calls and full dance
directions. Included are "Form a Star," "Ladies to the
Center," "Lady Round the Lady," "Two Gents Swing
With the Elbow Swing," "I'll Swing Your Girl, You
Swing Mine," "Forward Six and Fall Back Six," and
"Forward Six and Fall Back Eight." All of the dances
start in square formation, and their success, according to
Mr. Shaw, depends largely upon the caller, who must
be enthusiastic enough to memorize the calls and to study

255

256

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

out the directions so that he can time them to the dance
steps. The pianist who plays a good persuasive marching
rhythm to such familiar tunes as "Turkey in the Straw,"
or "The Arkansas Traveler," is needed to accompany the
dances. Music is not included in the pamphlet. Everyone
will want to "dosey-doe," "allemande left" and "swing
their opposites" to Mr. Shaw's interesting calls. This is
a publication many will want to add to their recreation
libraries. It will help one in planning evenings of fun and
entertainment.

Know Your Community — Its Provision for
Health, Education, Safety, Welfare.

By Joanna C. Colcord. Russell Sage Foundation,
New York. $.85.

The expert "surveyor" of community life is warned by
the author that this book is not meant for him. Rather
it is designed to help local persons and organizations to
become familiar with the health, safety, education and
welfare of their communities. How and where to find the
information desired, how to record it for most effective
use, how to interpret the facts, and how 'best to prepare
the material for public consumption are major phases of
treatment.

Chapter XII deals with recreation — unorganized, pub-
lic and private, commercial, and the planning of the com-
munity program. Other chapters of interest to recreation
workers will guide the student to information regarding
Foreign Born and Racial Groups, Clubs and Associations,
Agencies for Community Planning, etc. The book, a sub-
stantial volume of 250 pages, will be an excellent guide
to persons in the general social work field.

Silk Screen Stencil Craft as a Hobby.

By J. I. Biegeleisen. Harper and Bros., New York.

$2.00.

A book that introduces one to a fascinating hobby
through which a variety of colorful designs can be trans-
ferred in an interesting way onto paper, wood, textile,
glass, etc. In the process, a stencil of a decorative or
pictorial design is put on a silk or organdy "screen" that
is stretched over a wooden frame. Colors are forced
through the stencil onto the printing surface, thus giving
a facsimile of the original design. Suggestions have
been included for decorating such articles as lamp shades,
posters, greeting cards, handkerchiefs, scrap books, favors.
It is a practical handbook written in simple, non-technical
terms for the beginner. Instructions are specific and
illustrated with numerous diagrams and photographs. A
printing unit consists of the screen, a flat printing base,
and a squeege, which is a long narrow strip of sub-
stantial rubber belting sandwiched between two pieces of
wood. The investment in permanent equipment amounts
to less than five dollars.

Dances of Our Pioneers.

Collected by Grace L. Ryan. A. S. Barnes and Com-
pany, New York. $2.00.

With the return of the country dance have come a
number of practical books to aid the social recreation
leader in developing the art of old-time dancing. Miss
Ryan, in her version, has traced many of the pioneer
dances which are still found in the rural sections of our
country and has recorded them so that many people can
enjoy them. Directions are given with illustrations for
a number of quadrilles or square dances, for contra
dances, circle and couple dances. Music for the various
dances is reproduced.

Fundamentals of Leathercraft.

By Ross C. Cramlet- Bruce Publishing Co., Mil-
waukee, Wisconsin. $1.00.

The main purpose of the book as outlined in the
preface is "to give fundamental information and instruc-
tion to the beginner in leatherwork, placing emphasis

upon the types of materials to be selected for different
articles and the simple tool processes necessary to make
things desired." This purpose has been fulfilled. Mr,
Cramlet tells very simply exactly what to do and how
to do it. Every step in the leatherworking process is sc
clearly described and illustrated with clear-cut diagrams
and pictures that the beginner would have little, if any,
difficulty in following them. There are complete instruc-
tions for the making of eleven useful leather articles
including book marks, key cases, coin purses, comb case,
belts, book cover, and others. This is a publication thai
should be helpful to both the beginner and the ex-
perienced craftsman.

Schools in Small Communities.

Seventeenth Yearbooks American Association of
School Administrators, 1201 Sixteenth Street, North-
west, Washington, D. C. $2.00.

The Seventeenth Yearbook of the American Associa-
tion of School Administrators of the National Education
Association is devoted to the problems of schools in
small communities. The book is the work of a special
committee of which Hobart M. Corning, Superintendent
of Schools, Colorado Springs, Colorado, was chairman
Practical treatment is given such problems as guidance,
curriculum, public relations, schoolhouse planning,
budgeting, finance, and leadership.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCIIER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT. Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CI'MMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE IT. HASKELI.. Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michiga.n City, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. TT. McCuRDY, Springfie'd, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

.1. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Where Shall the Administration of a
Recreation System Be Placed?

A REGENT report of the Educational Policies Commission of the National Education As-
sociation proposes : "That communities supporting several unrelated recreation agencies
establish a recreation commission in order to promote coordination of programs and use of
facilities."

The Educational Policies Commission "foresees the ultimate unification of all school, li-
brary and recreation systems in communities or areas of appropriate size under the leadership
of a public education authority."

The leaders in the National Recreation Association very much appreciate the fine spirit
in which the whole problem of recreation administration is faced in the National Education As-
sociation report. There has been increasing evidence of more satisfactory progress in recrea-
tion development under the recreation commission. The Association has not itself discovered
evidence which would point to an ultimate consolidation of school, library and recreation sys-
tems. Always the Association has urged the widest possible use of school grounds and school
buildings for community recreation purposes, but it has also urged the widest possible use of
park and other city property. It is essential to think in terms of the needs of the men, women
and children of our communities and of what will in the long run, under the human limitations
which prevail in our thinking, mean most for our communities.

Already our school systems have attained such tremendous size that a very considerable
proportion of the money raised in the local community through taxation is turned over to the
public school system. There is serious question whether the additional funds necessary to meet
recreation needs would ever be made available adequately and continuously under the school
board or under an educational authority. There can be no satisfactory unification of recreation
administration in a locality except as thought is given to the park system as well as to the school
system. Many park leaders are talking about consolidation of recreation interests and are urg-
ing that what is now being done in recreation under school systems and recreation commissions
and park boards be consolidated under the park board. For many years park boards have, in a
number of cities, been administering public recreation, even caring for recreation activities on
school property.

The present financial value of the properties given over to public recreation uses, aside
from the school systems, in the cities, counties, state, and nation is very great. The management
of the recreation properties and the recreation systems is in itself a very big task and one that is
rapidly growing. To give recreation properties as well as school properties, let alone library
properties, to an educational authority would mean soon — if not now — practically doubling the
property to be administered by educational authorities, would mean that a very high per cent
if the tax rate was being turned over to a single administrative unit, that a considerable part of
.he city administration was being turned over to one authority.

Advocacy of a public recreation commission is, an increasing number of recreation leaders
igree, a step in the right direction, though the National Recreation Association itself is waiting
intil certain studies have been completed before making a final declaration. But the leaders in
he Association do not at present have evidence which would point the country over to the ulti-
nate unification of the recreation system with the public school system.

Recreation is a part of religion, of education, of health, of industry and business, of
vork. There is evidence, however, that recreation, abundant living in the larger sense, has be-
:ome and ought to be a great, outstanding, major interest, side by side with religion, education,
msiness, and labor. Religion, like recreation, should permeate all of life. Recreation cannot
>ermanently be made a subdivision of any one part of life.

HOWARD BRAUCHER

i

MJGUST, 1 939

257

August

Photo furnished by M. Bonlonnois, Sitrcsnes, France. Used by courtesy of Health
Section Secretariat, World Federation of Education Associations

258

The Trek Back to Che-Pe-Ko-Ke

THE SESQUICENTENNIAL cre-
ated by Congress to com-
memorate the passing of the
Ordinance of 1787 and the es-
tablishment of the Northwest
Territory afforded the Public
Library of Vincennes, Indiana,
the opportunity to combine edu-
cation, inspiration and enter-
tainment in its vacation reading
project; to turn the pages and
Trek Back to Che-Pe-Ko-Ke (meaning brush-
wood), the old Piankeshaw village which pre-
dated George Rogers Clark's capture of Fort
Sackville (Vincennes) in 1779.

Once again CHE-PE-KO-KE had its portal open
to representatives of various Indian tribes, and
above the door of the council house (Public Li-
brary) was found the tribal totem of the turtle.
Within its walls many confer-
ences were held between the red
and white men, as well as nu-
merous secret meetings to which
only Indians were admitted.
Warriors were divided
nto four tribes, Kickapoos,

iankeshaws, Shawnees

nd Miamis, tribes which

ad inhabited Indiana at

ome time.
At the time of registra-

on each child was pre-

ented with a headband

nade to his individual meas-

irements. For each book

eport he received a bright

olored feather to attach to

lis head dress, a book scalp

o dispel the spirit of ignor-

.nce, the scalp ceremonial

'eing sacred with the In-

ian for it gave him control

ver the spirit life of his

nemies.
When the project had

•een in operation for about

wo weeks the Indians

Carted on the war path with
scalp raid, moving over

Another episode in the series
of fascinating events through
which one public library each
summer makes books come
alive for children on vacation

By JANE KITCHELL

Vincennes Public Library

Governor William Henry Harrison
and Tecumseh, famous Shawnee
Indian Chief, meet in Council

the downtown streets just at
twilight to inform the com-
munity that their intentions
would be peaceable if they re-
ceived no interference from the
public, but that they intended to
scalp books with a vengeance !
Braves, squaws, papooses, chiefs,
medicine men, ponies, bareback
riders, war paint and feathers
were much in evidence, all car-
rying prayer sticks.

A Pow Wow was held each Saturday, presided
over by chiefs and medicine men of the various
tribes. Long before the hour, the beat of the tom-
toms could be heard outside the library calling
braves to matters of importance. A study was
made of customs, tribal fidelity, games, music,
ceremonies and festivals of these primitive peo-
ple. From the Lamp of Forti-
tude they learned an Indian
must "Be Brave, Play Fair,
Obey, Be Reverent, Worship
the Great Spirit, Be Kind
and Joyful." This they re-
cited with arms folded.
Trips were made to historic
places, Indian mounds, and
council places going over
the trail of old Che-Pe-Ko-
Ke. The Public Library was
removed one block, but two
schools were within its
boundaries.

On one occasion old
Sugar Loaf Hill was again
alive to the war whoop and
the clang of the tomahawk,
when some 300 braves as-
sembled for their weekly
Pow Wow, fathers and
mothers doing their bit in
transporting the children
some few miles from the
city. Each warrior brought
his own lunch and the li-
brary contributed chocolate
milk and graham crackers.
After their hunger had been

259

260

THE TREK BACK TO CHE-PE-KO-KE

satisfied the braves mounted the hill for a cere-
monial, initiating a chief of the Kickapoos. They
were told the history of the mound, which had
no doubt been a temple three stories high, the
vicinity being the center of a royal priesthood.

Chiefs and medicine men were elected each week
on the basis of the most books read and the best
reports. The medicine man was the most im-
portant man of the tribe. He was different, he
carried a wand, a medicine bag presented by the
library, and a tambourine, and sometimes he wore
a mask. No one ever knew what was in the
medicine bag. It was his most prized possession.
Usually it contained dried grass and a charm
which might be anything from a dried bee to a
feather.

Attention was directed to the caravan of forty-
eight men and an ox team which set out from
Ipswich, Massachusetts, as a part of the North-
west Territory celebration, presenting "Freedom
on the March," the second episode of which was
the "Surrender of Fort Sackville." Its itinerary
was to include Vincennes on September 12. Mayor
Kimmell requested the float and children used in
the parade staged at the beginning of the project
to appear in parade of some sixty units.

The project culminated in the re-enacting of the
famous Harrison-Tecumseh council of 1810.

History repeats itself. It is again August loth,
one hundred and twenty-six years later. The
place, historic William Henry Harrison mansion ;
the setting, the banks of the Wabash. William
Henry Harrison, impersonated by David Living-
stone, aged e.'ght years, and Tecumseh, famous
Indian chief, played by Billy Eskew, seven years
old, both sharing the honors for the number of
books read, live again. Governor Harrison, judges
of the Territory and a guard of twelve men from
Fort Knox await Tecumseh, who has been sum-
moned for a conference upon the veranda of the
old mansion. Tecumseh approaches from the
river, accompanied by about seventy-five warriors
all in costume ; he halts when within a short dis-
tance of the Governor. An interpreter is sent out
inviting him to have a place upon the porch, say-
ing it is a wish of the father. Striking a tragic
pose, Tecumseh exclaims "My father, the sun is
my father, the earth is my mother, upon her
bosom I will repose."

The young Tecumseh gave a dramatic recital of
the famous Chief's speech assailing the white men
and Governor Harrison for their treatment of the
Red Man. The council was held under the trees,

the Indians sitting upon the ground. The grea
Harrison arose with much dignity and pois(
using verbatim the famous speech defending th
white man and rebuking Tecumseh. During Hat
rison's speech the Indians picked up their club;
with their eyes upon the Governor. General Gib
son, fearing trouble ordered the guard to b
brought up. Governor Harrison extinguished th
council fire, telling Tecumseh that he had behave^
so badly that he would not sit with him again.

After a lapse of twenty-four hours Tecumsel
regrets his conduct, seeks another interview wit!
Harrison, which is granted, and apologizes for hi
bad conduct, saying that he wished everything t
be peaceable. The Indians then trail off, wrappei
in their blankets, to the trees behind the mansioi
where an Indian ceremonial is conducted and th
Peace Pipe is smoked. The ceremonial was con
ducted by the Sun Woman (Ruth Hartzburg)
who had scored the highest honors of any India)
but unfortunately could not portray Harrison o
Tecumseh. The Sun Woman was always note<
for her wisdom, and many young squaws brough
their papooses for her blessing. Ruth was cer
tainly the wisest of all for she had read the mos
books !

When all are assembled the Chiefs of eacl
tribe present their wands as a token of loyalty
The Sun Woman accepts them, commending eacl
tribe, and adds her own staff to theirs as a symbo
of her faithfulness to them, ever looking to theii
best interests. She invokes the Great Spirit t(
make them true and noble warriors. The peac<
pipe ceremony by Seton is then used. The coun
cil fire is lighted by rubbing two sticks togethe
saying "This is a Council of Peace so we light thi
pipe of peace." Lifting the pipe toward the sk;
the Sun Woman invokes the wisdom of Wa
konda, "Great Spirit," Mother Earth, Sunse
Wind, Winter Wind, Sunrise Wind, Hot Wind-
to which all the Indians reply "Noon- way
("Amen, or this is our prayer"). In closing sh
tells the Chiefs to so lead their warriors tha
loyalty will shine in the wigwams of every trib
for "in union there is strength, in the bond o
brotherhood there is peace. Go and the blessing
of the Great Spirit go with you." The ceremoni;
was closed with the chanting of the Omaha trib;
prayer and singing of "From the Land of th !
Sky Blue Water."

As a Book Week feature diplomas were pr<
sented to 325 Indians at a joint assembly of a
(Continued on page 302)

Lantern Pageants in the Making

IN TRACING the growth and develop-
ment of lanterns on the Racine
playgrounds, one must go back
many years to the time when the
playground leaders taught chil-
dren how to make candle-
lighted lanterns out of old shoe
boxes. These shoe boxes, with
designs cut into them, and
backed up with colored crepe
paper, were illuminated by
small Christmas tree candles.
Then came larger lanterns
made out of carton boxes.
Following the era of carton boxes, larger lanterns,
constructed by piecing together sticks covered
with cardboard, came into vogue. The picture
cut-outs on this particular type of lantern were
placed on both sides of the box frame, brightened
up by candles within.

In the Early Days

The city's first lantern parades were held on the
individual playgrounds. Then, as the children's
interests in lanterns grew, the making of extra
lanterns for their younger brothers, sisters and
for other youngsters soon became quite popular.
The enthusiasm for lantern making and parading
also captured the makers of larger lanterns. The
workmanship of their original creations became so
outstanding that an all-city playground parade
was inevitable.

The delightful setting selected for the large
gathering of lantern bearers was in one of the
city's largest parks. The bowl-shaped park proved
to be an ideal place, for it solved the seating prob-
lem. The time- of the staging was shortly after
twilight. The children, at a given signal from a
gun, began marching around the grounds in single
file. At another signal, each playground broke up
into its own small circle. The final signal gave
notice to fall in again for a grand march around
the park. This march gave the judges and spec-
tators a final chance to view the originality and
workmanship of the pictured designs.

From a distance the scene resembled an inva-
sion of glowing fireflies, but as one came closer
the characters of comics appeared vividly in the
glow of the burning candles. The pictures were

By JAMES MASIK

Boys' Supervisor

Park Board
Racine, Wisconsin

Lantern making and lantern parades
are an old tradition on the play-
grounds of Racine, Wisconsin. Each
year for the past ten years candle-
lighted lanterns have marked the
climax of the summer season. The
story of the development of the lan-
tern tradition is an interesting one.

colorful, accurate, and recognizable.
Futuristic, modernistic, colonial,
Spanish, Indian, and historical de-
signs, as well as recent personalities
and other picture cut-outs were
used.

Year in. and year out for the
past eight years the annual
parades have been held, until
within the past three years the
all-city parades were discon-
tinued, primarily because of
inclement weather. At present,
playground parades are held,
with neighboring playgrounds marching to a half-
way mark and returning, or congregating at the
most ideal playground for such an activity.

The newest lantern creation, which came into
being last summer, is an indirect lighted lantern;
it adds a thousand fold to color and beauty, reality
and fantasy. The new lantern is just what the
name implies — indirect lighting of the picture cut-
outs by an arrangement of candle light on a blank
piece of cardboard to reflect and illuminate the
picture cut-outs. This modern lighting innovation
made its first appearance in a Four- Part Lantern
Pageant given by the children of two neighboring
playgrounds. The lighted pictures were uniformly
brilliant ; the colors had greater richness, tone and
quality; the designs were more exact and vivid.

A Four Part Lantern Pageant
The Four Part Lantern Pageant conducted by
the two playgrounds was held in the open of a
large wooded section of a park, and was conducted
both on an elevated platform and on the ground.
The pageant was divided into four parts : drama-
tization of Walt Disney's "Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs"; "Circus on Parade"; "Lantern
Varieties on Review"; and "The Parade of the
Fireflies."

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Synopsis. Snow White and Prince Charming
meet in the garden. She flies from the wicked
queen and is found in the Dwarf's cozy house by
the little men coming home from work. The
Witch pays Snow White a visit. Snow White
takes a bite of the apple as the dwarfs come rush-

261

262

LANTERN PAGEANTS IN THE MAKING

ing home to chase the witch. The dwarfs in their
sorrow walk the floor to be confronted by a new-
comer, Prince Charming. He revives Snow White
by kissing her. Rejoicing follows.

Program.

Scene

Scene
Scene

Scene

Scene

i — Appearance of Snow White in the
garden singing "Wishing Well."
(Orthophonic recording.)

2 — Appearance of Prince Charming sing-
ing to her.

3 — Snow White is found in the dwarfs'
cottage by the Seven Dwarfs. (Ap-
propriate music to the arriving of
dwarfs.)

4 — Dwarfs going to their work next
morning leaving Snow White alone.
(Music "Off to Work We Go.")
The Witch enters.

Dwarfs return to chase the Weird
Witch.

5 — The Seven Dwarfs are prancing the
floor.

The Prince appears.
Rejoicing on the arrival of Snow
White.

Circus on Parade

The second part of the pageant was announced
by a cut-out inscription, "Circus on Parade." The
procession consisted of many animals and circus
performers — monkeys, elephants, tigers, lions,
clowns, and animal performers on blocks and
balls. The parade was very picturesque, consist-
ing of at least twenty lanterns or more.

Lantern Varieties on Review

The third part was announced as "Lantern
Varieties on Review." This part of the pageant
was devoted to all lanterns without a particular
motif — those showing originality or intricate con-
struction, or which were good in design. The
most beautiful lanterns were found in this part
of the program. The total number reviewed was
thirty-five.

The Parade of the Fireflies

The climax of the pageant was the procession
of small lanterns carried by the youngest children
on the playground. The route of march of the
children of both playgrounds took them through-
out the woods that lined the edge of the park.
The two groups, located across from each other,
marched until they met, then separated and joined

the crowd. The intermingling of the lanterns
among the people in the crowd proved very ef-
fective, giving the impression of one mass pag-
eant in which every one played his part.

Some Hints on Construction

The frame or the box skeleton used in the con-
struction of a direct or indirect lighted lantern is
made from plaster lathes, a standard lathe measur-
ing one and a half inches wide, about three-
eighths inches thick and 48 inches long. In the
frame of both direct and indirect lighted lanterns
the plan of construction is identically the same
except that in the old or the direct lighted lan-
tern there were two candle shelfs supported by
strips which are nailed on the sides of the lantern
frame as seen in the diagram.

To construct one lantern frame, approximately
328 inches of lathing material and about three tc
four dozen lathing nails are needed. In the cot
struction the skeleton is formed by taking foi
standard lathes for uprights, four twenty-foi
inch strips for vertical widths, four ten-inc
strips for the vertical depth. The horizontal and
vertical width pieces are nailed together to form
two frames. The depth strips are then nailed to
hold the frames together. This completes the box
frame. Because the Manilla cardboard measures
only 36" x 24", the frame openings, or the dis-
tance between the vertical width strips, are made
35 inches long, an allowance of half an inch on
the top and bottom of the sheet for corner eyelets.

The skeleton must next be enclosed in such a
manner as to keep the light from escaping through
the frame. The texture of the material used for
enclosing must be of a high reflecting quality
so as to bring about a most desirable design
illumination.

To cover the form or frame, it is estimated
that about 1900 inches of cardboard are needed.
The material used for covering the box is Manilla
cardboard, which is yellow in color, making the
cardboard fairly desirable. A cardboard that
would be ideal is one of glossy finish with its bril-
liant reflection adding to the rich color of the
designs.

In covering the lantern box, two pieces of
10" x 36" cardboard are needed for the sides,
one standard size sheet 24" x 36" for the back
side, while a small 10" x 24" piece is needed to
keep the light from escaping to the ground. Tack
all cardboard on the inside of the box, using small
carpet tacks to fasten the Manilla cardboard. It

LANTERN PAGEANTS IN THE MAKING

263

is very important to have
cardboard taut in the proc-
ess of tacking.

Lighting the Lantern

The source of the light
which irradiates the lantern
design is burning candles.
The primary difference be-
tween the old and new type
of lantern is the number of
candles and their location
in the box frame, as shown
in the illustrations. The
new type employs six can-
dles, one candle in each re-
flector can, while the old
type burns ten or more can-
dles located on shelves with-
in the box. The new method
of placing candles in cans
protects the flame from be-
ing blown out by winds and
also tends to stop flickering
of the candle light.

The size of the candles
for the lanterns is deter-
mined by the type of pro-
gram to be conducted. If a
.parade program is to be
held, larger candles are
needed. On the other hand,
!in case of a pageant pro-
gram of shorter duration, a
smaller candle is sufficient.
tt is estimated that candles
one inch in height, one and
me-eighth inches in diame-
er will burn from thirty-
live to forty-five minutes.

The cylindrical-bodied tal-
ow candles used in the cans
.re plumper candles that
j .re purchased in three-inch
!engths with a diameter of
j'ne and one-eighth inches.
?wo of three plumper wax
ticks are sufficient for a
'3ng lantern program.

In the cutting of the can-
le care must be taken to
ee that the wax does not
hip. A thorough heating

' /

— \

r— ' \

/

DIRECT

\

LIGHTING

LANTERN

The diagram above shows the old type
of lighting in which ten or more can-
dles are used. The new type, which
is shown below, employs six candles
and provides for indirect lighting.

D INDIRECT
LIGHTING LANTERN

will help to avoid waste.
Better still, a jig-saw will
cut the candle without chip-
ping. After the cutting has
been completed and the
wicks are deeply gouged
out, the candle is ready for
lighting.

The six reflectors aid
most in bringing about a
strong, steady, and uni-
form illumination. These re-
flectors are nailed onto the
back horizontal strips in
such a way as to reflect all
the candle-manufactured
light onto the back sheet
where the reflection agencies
brighten up the design. The
reflectors are made of ma-
terials that will bend easily
and will not ignite. Tin is
found to be a very desir-
able material because it is
flexible, resistant to heat,
and can be penetrated by
nails and cut easily with tin
snips. Coffee cans are found
most suitable for the pur-
pose because the cans have
a highly polished inner sur-
face which gives off the
maximum reflection.

For the lantern, six cans,
five inches in diameter and
three and a half inches high,
are sufficient, three cans be-
ing nailed on each side of
the back frame.

There are four opera-
tions the can must go
through to become a re-
flector. First of all, a slot
one by two inches long must
be cut on the top side of
the can for ventilation, and
the lip may be turned up;
secondly, the can must be
sheared on the side that is
to be nailed onto the back
frame (this shearing elimi-
nates the direct reflection
of light from reflectors to

264

LANTERN PAGEANTS IN THE MAKING

design) ; thirdly, the nail holes must be made be-
forehand; and last of all the can must be bent,
making it oval-shaped to give off a wider ray.

The Problem of Decoration

The lantern pictures usually follow a motif as
has been suggested, such as a pageant with separ-
ate parts, as in "Snow White and the Seven
Dwarfs" or "Circus and Variety Lanterns." In
making these larger lanterns the designing, cut-
ting, and pasting are done by older children, four-
teen years of age and up. Many lantern pictures
are made at the children's homes with the aid of
their fathers and mothers. A stronger bond is
thus formed between the home and the play-
ground.

A few tools and materials are
needed before the construction
of a lantern is begun. These in-
clude a standard size sheet of
Manilla cardboard, a yard stick,
assorted colored crepe paper,
paste, a pencil, razor blades,
juvenile picture books, scissors,
and a large piece of corrugated
cardboard.

In selecting the pictures for
the designs, the child must bear
in mind whether he wants a
silhouette or a picture with all
its characteristics defined. Sil-
houetted work takes only a
short time compared to a pict-
ured characterization. The lat-
ter consists of as many as five
different colors of crepe paper while the silhouette
needs no more than two.

When the design or picture has been chosen,
the drawing is sketched within a two-inch border
of the entire sheet. After the designs have been
sketched and the proportions checked, the cutting
of the characteristics is next in order. Let us take
for granted that a characterization picture of
George Washington is ready for cutting. The
borders of the hair, face, neck piece, coat collar
and lapel, coat, and shoulder ornament are all cut
out. But remember to keep intact a strip wide
enough for crepe paper to be pasted on.

On the back side of the cardboard the crepe
paper is attached. The first step in papering is to
line the border of the characteristics to be covered
with paste. Then the desired color of crepe paper
is laid over that portion of the picture. A razor

\>.

:

\

cur Tin \
l
I
l
i

DEFLECTOR CAflS

Very important In the lighting
of the lantern is the reflector

blade is used to trim off the superfluous crepi
paper. This method is used for all papering. Th<
contours, wrinkles, buttonholes, and the eye am
eyelids are pasted on the crepe paper in their re
spective positions on the face of George Washing
ton. With the cutting, papering, replacement o:
wrinkles, and other details completed, the pictur<
should be examined before a light for any over
lapping of crepe paper, and for color harmonie:
and escaping light.

There are two methods of hanging the lanten
picture cut-outs — either tacking the cut-out to th<
frame, as in the method used in the old type o;
lantern, or hanging them, as in the new lanterns
on hooks which are located at the corners.

On the four corners of t
picture cut-out sheets, small on
eighth inch holes, about one
half inch from the outside edges
are perforated. These holes fi
over right-angle hooks that ar<
screwed into the corners. It pay:
to be very accurate in bavins
the holes and hooks match, a:
this helps in eliminating th<
escape of light. The advantagf
of this system of hanging lie
in the rapidity with which Ian
tern pictures may be changed
The reserve pictures that are t<
be shown next are hanging or
hooks on the back of the bo>
frame. Two sets of hooks ma)
also be used to great advantagf
in the back of the lantern, on<
set being used to hold the new pictures, whil<
shorter hooks are placed ten inches lower to re
ceive the picture cut-outs that have already beei
shown. In staging a pageant, leaving the old pic
ture cut-outs on the ground in a pile works ou
satisfactorily.

Pointers to Keep in Mind

In making an indirect lighted lantern there ar
many important pointers which should be con
sidered. The main ones follow :

Nail the cans (reflectors) onto the frame befor
the box skeletons are enclosed with cardboard.

Sandpaper the candle spots to aid the candl
wax in obtaining a firmer hold onto the metal.

Make all nail holes before nailing the can t
the frame.

LANTERN PAGEANTS IN THE MAKING

265

Have the center of the flame directly above the
narrow slot in the can, otherwise the top of the
can will become carbonized. This blackening is
against all principles of good light reflection.

In case blotches of light are noticeable in the

i picture cut-out while in the frame, trace the

source and bend the can accordingly so that the

candle light in reflection does not show on the

i picture cut-out.

If the bending of the can, as in the above
i pointer, does not correct the flame glow, shear off
more of the tin on the can causing the trouble.

Before placing the candles in the can, burn
i them first for thirty seconds.

One of the requirements of fine workmanship

in a lantern is the ability to keep light from

escaping through the corners of the lantern. This

I is accomplished by tacking long two-inch creased

strips to each corner.

A long creased two-inch strip of this kind is
j advisable on the front frame of the lantern.

Running a knife lightly down the center of the
strip will make for a good crease.

To add to the improvement of indirect lighting
in the lantern, old sheets of photographs or tin
\ foil stapled on the cardboard may be used to
create a richness of crepe paper colors.

The lanterns can be carried very conveniently
older boys by grasping the lanterns on the sides
from the rear of the lantern. Long handles are
i very easily put on the lantern in case smaller
children are to carry the lantern.
Make sure that the front
frames are according to specifi-
' cations, rather smaller in dimen-
sion than larger; otherwise light
will escape.

For cutting cardboard, the

use of single edge safety

razor blades is not injurious

to the hands. When the

corners of the blades are

dulled, they can be saved

I by sinking the corners into

; wood and breaking them off

to get a new corner edge.

Picture cut-outs of intri-
cate designs are usually a
i waste of time because of
jthe inability of the distant
-spectators to perceive fine
(work.

A color wheel offers an

by

effective way of choosing crepe paper for the
color combinations desired.

The larger the audience the larger the lanterns
must be constructed.

The indirect lighted lanterns are very easily
transported.

For dramatization of plays with lanterns a plat-
form should be used.

From year to year, Mr. B. A. Solbraa, Di-
rector of Recreation in Racine, has suggested a
collection of these lantern picture cut-outs would
constitute a good library to be used yearly.

Small Lanterns

Little has been said thus far about small lan-
terns which are made and carried by the youngest
children of the playground. A few ideas for
making small lanterns economically, conveniently
and successfully follow :

The small lantern may be round, square, spheri-
cal, or triangular in shape. The easiest kind for
the children to make is either a round or trian-
gular one.

The materials necessary to construct a simple
triangular lantern consist of a piece of 9" x 24"
Manilla cardboard; 36 inches of thin wire; small
thin carrying sticks 18 inches long; two or three
brad paper fasteners; one short candle of not
more than one-half inch; razor blades; a yard
stick; assorted crepe paper; and a piece of cor-
rugated cardboard to cut upon.

A triangular lantern, as shown
in the illustration, requires one-
fourth of the 36" x 24" Manilla
cardboard sheet — the sides of the
lantern triangle being a scant
eight inches with a one-inch flap
piece, and the height of the side
measuring nine inches. The length
of the 9" x 24" is first marked
off in scant eight-inch segments,
leaving a flap wide enough
for paper fasteners. Across
the pencil-marked segments
run a razor blade very
lightly. This serves as a cut
score, or good fold. The
base of the lantern, which
acts as the candle support,
is a piece of cardboard cut
in the shape of a "Y," the
arms extending through
(Continued on page 303)

What They Say About Recreation

"^FO POPULARIZE the fine arts, to raise the every-
day standard of appreciation of beauty, har-
mony, and emotion, in all expressions of the
various arts and crafts, should be the first mis-
sion of artists who have benefited by study and
contact with the world's fine things. The fine arts
fulfill and justify their elevation by their universal
appeal and character, even though expressed in a
language that may not at first be understood by
all people." - — From Art in Industry, by John
Woodman Higgins.

"The art of successful living is to transfer more
and more of our profit taking to the realm of the
non-competitive. There is no competition in the
creation of beauty or the interpretation of truth.
Instead of counting so much on diplomacy, eco-
nomics and governments to make peace, we should
turn to the potential contributions of art, litera-
ture, science and religion." — Dr. Ralph W .
Sockman.

"The need for participation with ensuing self-
expression is universal to all mankind. It is the
modern explanation of why we play and it ac-
counts for the great popularity of play today
when a large share of work is so mechanized that
the spirit has all been squeezed out of it. This
newer understanding has been instrumental in
greatly widening the scope of the play curricu-
lum, because the individual thereby has added
chance to find some outlet for his talents and to
achieve prestige in the eyes of his fellows." —
Elmer D. Mitchell in The Phi Delta Kappan.

"Bring to your life the best which the world
has to offer in appreciation of literature, music,
dramatics, art. Be sensitive to the lovely things of
life. Discover your abilities. Develop your assets.
Practice your new habits until you achieve suc-
cess. Acquire skills, interests and appreciations
which will make you an interesting person. As
you thus make life richer for yourself, as you also
share with others the best which you have to
give, you will gain self-confidence and know the
full meaning of happiness."— Ruth Fedder in A
Girl Grows Up.

266

"I may safely predict that the education of the
future will be inventive-minded. It will believe
so profoundly in the high value of the inventive
or creative spirit that it will set to itself to develop
that spirit by all means within its power." — Harry
Overstreet in American Childhood.

"We don't have to sell recreation in terms of
some extrinsic goal. We can interpret it as it is.
What it is is something that meets the basic needs
of human beings. And we are striving to see
whether it can also meet the needs of a democratic
society. That is all. The needs are psychological,
the needs are social, and the needs are egointegra-
tive, having to do with the integration of the per-
sonality itself." — Eduard C. Lindeman.

"Can we content ourselves with a superfici
skimming over the surface in mere smatterings o
group dabbling in art, or drama, or music? W
think not. Just as our physical program has grown
until it challenges to the development of the high
est skills of which we are capable, so every fielc
of effort, every art or hobby is entitled to special-
ized technical mastery in its leadership."

— V. K. Brown.

"If through recreation you can help to build up
the morale and health and soundness of the. social
order in your community, you are doing your part
toward the preservation and protection of the
United States as truly as if you were a dough-
boy in the army, and more so because it is con-
structive and not destructive, and because it lasts
not merely during the war but forever. . . . Peo-
ple are thinking, wondering, how they can serve
America. This is one of the ways. It is an im-
portant one. It is worth doing. If you do it suc-
cessfully within your area and within the sphere
of your personal activities and responsibilities,
you will have done your part to make this nation
standing as a citadel of freedom in a world where
freedom has come too much to be despised."
— David Cushman Coyle.

"The justification for park expenditures must
be found in the conditions of modern city life,
(Continued on page 303)

Photo by Edward B. Lang

OUTDOOR NATURE STUDY is the interest of the
members of the Newark, New Jersey,
Museum Nature Club and the object of
thirty or more outings that they take each year
throughout New Jersey. With most of the outdoor
areas of the state serving as their laboratory
and classroom, they find that the first-hand
study of natural history is a satisfying spare-
:time activity.

Representing many professions and eco-
^nomic levels, these residents of Newark and its
suburbs have a common enthusiasm for putting
bn old clothes, packing lunches in knapsacks,
lind spending their leisure hours in tramping
•ihrough the woods and fields with other people
pf kindred interests. All enjoy the exercise and
Companionship, but their greatest satisfaction
j:omes with learning the names of the plants,
j:he birds, or the rocks ; with gathering speci-
mens for their private collections, and taking
jiature photographs; with viewing the work-
ing of the laws of nature — the changes of the
j.easons, the migrations of the birds, and the
lnetamorphoses of the insects.

The Newark Museum Nature Club is the
mtcome of an experiment by the Newark
Museum, begun in 1933, as one phase of a
pare-time activity program for adults that in-
iluded painting, sketching, modeling, and
• tamp collecting as well as nature study. In
organizing its nature group the Museum
vorked upon the premise that many people are

By EDWARD B. LANG

Science Department
Newark Museum

strongly interested in natural history but need
some help to follow out that interest. The ac-
curacy of this theory was proved by the re-
sponse of nearly a hundred people to the
initial series of lectures and field trips that
surveyed the popular nature hobbies. An in-
formal group known as the Adult Nature
Hobby Group resulted.

Many of the enrollees dropped out as their
initial enthusiasm wore off, but enough re-
turned week after week to encourage a pro-
gram the following year. To satisfy the
overwhelming preference of the members for
outdoor study, as well as their many diverse
interests, more than twenty trips were ar-
ranged by the Museum in 1934. By the end
of that year the group was well enough
established to adopt a formal organization and
take over the planning of its program.

While essentially a field organization, the
Newark Museum Nature Club meets fre-
quently at the Museum and in other ways
keeps a close affiliation with the parent insti-
tution. As well as incorporating the name of
the latter into its own, the club has written
into its constitution the Museum's original
policy of helping the layman.

Any person over eighteen years of age may
attend as many trips or meetings as he likes

267

268

THE NEWARK MUSEUM NATURE CLUB

without obligation. As a result of this policy
most of the activities are attended by several
visitors, some interested and some merely
curious, but many of whom return and
eventually become members.

The trips are held on Saturday afternoons or
Sundays on most of the week-ends of the
spring and fall, a few times in the summer,
and once or twice a month in winter. Fre-
quent trips have proved necessary to include
the many interests of the members in every
year's program and to keep attendance within
reasonable bounds. Last year's average at-
tendance was thirteen — about the maximum
number of people that most leaders can take
care of with ease. Groups larger than this are
unwieldy, the members tending to wander off
in small groups and miss the information that
the leader has to give.

The leaders are men and women who are
well qualified in one or more branches of
natural history, and who take pleasure in
sharing their knowledge with others. Many
are members of the club, but the majority are
not affiliated — college professors, museum
curators, members of scientific and nature
study organizations, and business men and
women with nature hobbies. These profes-
sional and amateur naturalists of Newark and
its environs have cooperated wholeheartedly
with the club and given to its members an
education in natural history that could not
be obtained by formal study.

The trips are more or less specialized in
character, the subjects as well as the leaders
being chosen according to the season and the
members' preferences. Birds and flowers are
easily the most popular subjects, and each is
the feature of several trips
a year. A fresh water
swamp that lies a few miles
beyond the city limits is
visited every spring when
it contains a considerable
variety of ducks. The up-
land birds are studied on a
"big day" trip taken at the
peak of the May land bird
migrations. A trip may be
taken to the shore in the
late summer, coinciding
with the southward migra-
tions of the sandpipers and

"There are soul-stirring sounds in the
spring. No mistaking them. The rustle
of tiny animals building new nests or
scampering out for a bit of food; the
fluting of birds returned from their vaca-
tions, singing love songs, gossiping a
bit, and house hunting. The waters, re-
leased from their frozen silence, now rush
over stones and embankments, under
bridges, over falls, telling a joyous story
of freedom as they rush to the sea. The
woods have a way of amplifying sound.
There is, too, a deep, healing fragrance
of the earth. Millions of buds are burst-
ing to tell their story." — Lillian Cox
Athey in National Nature News.

plovers, or in November when the waterfowl
are moving again. The seasonal succession of
the ferns and flowering plants are followed in
a similar manner with trips in spring, summer,
and fall.

Minerals follow closely in popularity, being
collected once or twice a year at one of several
quarries and mines that are near enough for
one-day trips. Pond and stream life, including
aquatic insects and plants, amphibians, turtles,
and fish, is collected and studied at least once
a year, while an insect collecting trip is an
annual June event. Fungi, seeds, and fruits
are popular as objects of research in the fall,
and the identification of trees by bark and twig
characteristics in the winter.

The unique attractions of winter make il
possible to continue the field trip program
throughout the year. Plaster casts of the tracks
of raccoons, squirrels, and mice were made one
snowy December afternoon along a frozer
stream bank. Mosses, frozen solid by near
zero temperature, were collected on anothei
occasion — with a geologist's pick ! One of tlu
most successful of the 1938 trips was a Jan
uary outing for nature photographers. Twenty-
eight people, carrying equipment ranging froir
box cameras to expensive miniatures, spenl
the day in Essex County's South Mountair
Reservation photographing such diverse sub-
jects as ice formations and insect galls.

Most of the club's trips are taken within a
twenty-five mile radius of Newark. While thu
is a relatively small area populated by severa
million people, there is within its limits a wid<
variety of places of interest to the. naturalist
There are two large parks within the city; ;
few miles outside are a state and a nationa
park, several county reser
vations, extensive tracts -o
farm land, a drained sal
marsh, and hundreds o
acres of fresh water mars!
around the head waters o
the Passaic River. Tr.
gether these areas contai
far more plant and animr.
life than the members r
one nature club could lear
in many years.

Several favorite localitie
within a few miles of th
(Continued on page 303)

Music Forums

A LONG WITH other progres-
f\ sive, urban centers of
the nation's family, Lit-
le Rock, Arkansas, has of late
>een examining its "community consciousness" in
everal fields of activity — among them the de-
•elopment of a liking for worth-while and satis-
ying musical experiences.

! Last spring, as a point of departure in the
!;rowth of its community music program, this
;outhern city took an inventory of existing musi-
al programs and opportunities for participants
;.nd on so doing, developed a highly acceptable
,nd permanent contribution to the recreation field
n the establishment of the quarterly music
|orums. So responsive has been the general pub-
ic, as well as music lovers, to this new oppor-
unity for self-expression and cooperative plan-
ing, that music forums are rapidly becoming a
•art of the community activity programs not only
f the Capitol City of Arkansas but of communi-
ies in widely separated points throughout the
tate.

The Greater Little Rock Music Forum came
ito being in May 1938 through the efforts of the
National Music Week Committee headed by Mrs.
'V. D. Jackson, Civic Music Chairman of the Ar-
kansas Federation of Music Clubs and Chairman
jf the Steering Committee for the Little Rock
jfusical Coterie's National Music Week Celebra-
'on, whose endeavor it was not only to provide
;just a week of music" but, to quote the very able
iiairman who is also a member of the State and
ifational Music Consulting Staffs of the Recrea-
ion Division, Works Progress Administration,
ito make a concerted attempt to integrate in the
j/ent, definite civic and philanthropic contribu-
jons to the musical life of
he community."

As a preliminary to
Bunding the forum, the
'lational Music Week chair-
lan listed all musical, civic,
hilanthropic, patriotic, edu-
Btional, fraternal, religious
!nd social agencies making
se of music at any time. A
brvey, by questionnaire
icthod, was conducted

By MARGARET H. LETZIG

Secretary
Greater Little Rock Music Forum

OBJECTIVES OF THE FORUMS

To discover, foster, and give direction to
local talent in the field of music;
To correlate musical activities of existing
organizations and agencies;
To extend musical opportunities to talent in
the community — through festivals, concerts,
radio programs and auditions;
To take music "around the year" in the cal-
endar of community recreation — through
increased community participation.

through key persons in each
grouping. The information
obtained from this survey was
used as a basis for organizing
the first music forum.

The organization of the Greater Little Rock
Music Forum has provided along informal lines
for the selection of a chairman to serve currently
at each quarterly meeting. The only permanent
officer of the forum is a secretary, a volunteer,
who serves with the approval of the forum plan-
ning committee with sponsorship by the Civic Re-
lations Committee of the Little Rock Musical
Coterie, the oldest local musical organization and
federated music club.

The governing or planning committee for the
music forums includes members of the sponsoring
Civic Relations Committee together with the presi-
dents, chairmen or directors of all music clubs,
departments or musical performing groups in the
locality.

From many sections of the state came groups
of music lovers to that first music forum, to band
together for study of the community progress in
music making, for mutual pleasure and advance-
ment. "How to provide for musically and hu-
manly more and more substantial and vital ex-
periences by people" is the fine challenge to the
music forum group, according to a recent analysis
of the growth of the Little Rock Music Forum by
Augustus D. Zanzig, Director of the Music Ser-
vice of the National Recreation Association.
Accepting as its special charge the guidance of
similar group participation throughout the state,
the Greater Little Rock Music Forum endeavored
to start program planning and directing local
talent from a point where the capacities and
tastes of the community
"already are."

Originating from the de-
sire to foster a wider par-
ticipation in community
music as a fruitful form of
group activity, and to in-
crease that "liking" under
the nurturing of fine, though
however simple music, to
the end that even with an
inevitable and keen realiza-

269

270

tion of the shortcom-
ings of the existing
community programs
they might endure, these
music forums have re-
sulted in the correla-
tion of activities of the
established programs
and in the initiation of
new and enlarged pro-
grams of musical ac-
tivities, not only with-
in the confine of Great-
er Little Rock but also
within the areas of near-
by State Parks and
several surrounding
counties of Arkansas,

The recreational mu-
sic program in Arkan-
sas as early as 1936 had
the consulting services
of Mrs. Florence H.
Botsford, international-
ly known for fine folk
song collections of all
nations, who reminded
the southern group that
"the promotion of rec-
reational music is a task
requiring a knowledge
of music science, and
ability to stimulate in
laymen a desire for
good music. Since music
ranks high as an indus-
try in the United
States, it is very important
to cultivate this market
through an intelligent pro-
gram rather than through the desultory methods
usually followed. We have watched the results of
the program as carried out in the eastern states
and have been gratified by the general cultural up-
lift, among thousands of people."

Profiting by this and similar advice, the com-
munity music leaders of Arkansas have endeav-
ored to keep their standard high, not sacrificing
ideals for the easier but more superficial work in
program planning or talent selection.

National Music Week in May 1939 will witness
the organization of numerous music forum groups
fostered by the Civic Relations Committee of

The dancing of the Swiss Weggis was
one of the numbers on a local program

local clubs affiliate
with the Arkansas Stai
Federation of Mus
Clubs. Out of the;
music forums, held fir
as discussion, and the
as planning groups,
is expected that thei
will grow the Summ<
Music Activities Con
mittees, just as thei
grew that voluntee
civic committee in tl
Capitol City of Arkai
sas, which, during tl
summer of 1938, und<
the auspices of the Li
tie Rock Recreatio
Commission, sponsors
four major sumrm
music festivals and
closing summer pla;
ground festival brin;
ing together volunte<
professional and am;
teur talent in the fielc
of music and dancin
enhanced by bits of on
door pageantry, to ei
tertain large and ei
thusiastic outdoor aud
ences at the City Pat
Band Shell and the Li
tie Rock High Scho
Stadium.

For years there h;
been a series of bar
concerts each summer at tl
City Park, but the Mus
Activities Committees e

larged the additional five programs to outstandii
proportions. Orchestra and band music, fo
dancing, community sings, specialties, novel
acts, solos and stunts, together with especia
organized choruses from industrial, choir aj
spirituals singer groups, crowded the programs.
Agencies which became enthusiastic over t
summer music festivals through participation
the Greater Little Rock Music Forums include
Civic Music Association; Civic Relations Co)
mittee, Little Rock Musical Coterie; Civic Coi
mittee, State Federation of Music Clubs (al
Radio, Philanthropic and Music in Industry Co:-

Coitrtesv Little Rod; Recreation Commission

MUSIC FORUMS

271

mittees) ; Division of Recreation, Works Prog-
ress Administration; Federal Music Project,
Works Progress Administration ; Little Rock Rec-
reation ; Directors of High School Bands ; Teach-
;rs of Public School Music ; Private Music Teach-
ers ; Choirs and Choral Groups ; Arkansas Na-
:ional Guard Military Band; Musicians Union;
Woman's Chorus, Rural Home Demonstration
Clubs; Music Committee, Little Rock Council
Parent-Teacher Associations ; Community Center
groups; Music Committee, Young Women's
Christian Association; Leaders Association, Little
Rock Council of Girl Scouts ; Ouapaw Area Boy
Scouts; Boys Glee Club, Young Men's Christian
Association; Music Departments, Little Rock and
\Torth Little Rock Boys Clubs ; Orchestra groups ;
\rkansas Amusement Corporation (commercial
iiiotion pictures); Artists Series Concerts; Fed-
eral Forum Project ; press and local Radio
Stations.

Local business firms and merchants generously
Contributed decorations for each entertainment
icld during the summer. The musical instruments,
treet car advertising, printed programs, screens
aid projectors for community sings, special light-
ng effects and public address systems, transporta-
ion and refreshments for performers and other
.ids were contributed by dealers.

Supervision of the facilities were provided by
ihe WPA recreation leaders, assistants to the Lit-
le Rock Recreation Commission.
The City Police and Fire Depart-
nent and the Parks Committee

f the City Council gave valuable

ssistance.

I During the extremely hot sum-
icr months, four of these eve-
dng music festivals in the cool
utdoor setting of the City Park
">and Shell, invited the attention
f thousands of Little Rock's
itizens who came afoot and by
tiotor to applaud the efforts of
iiat small group of enthusiastic
ommittee members who were
Driving to develop a community
jiste in music which will demand
lat the technical quality of its
|rograms be constantly improved
p order that they may not be-
|3me too feeble or mediocre to
'Urvive the competition with in-

numerable other pastimes that attract the public
notice.

The summer music festivals, each with a special
chairman, gave opportunities for a wide variety
of local talent under the able chairmanship of
Mrs. Dot Kennan, Director of Service and Pro-
fessional Projects, Works Progress Administra-
tion of Arkansas, with supervision of the Fed-
eral Music Project; Mrs. R. E. Overman, wife
of the city's mayor, 1939 State Civic Music chair-
man of the A. F. M.C. and long a director of the
Little Rock Civic Music Association, and Mrs.
Bertha Kirby Nelson, president of the Little
Rock Musical Coterie, who is herself an accom-
plished pianist and assistant to Mrs. Frank
Vaughan in her local booking agency for Artist
Concert Series and other current musical attrac-
tions. These capable community leaders gave tire-
less efforts to putting across the summer music
program, and literally "rolled up their sleeves"
and went to work not only to secure professionally
recognized artist numbers, but community choruses
and folk dance groups as well.

Proof of the local interest in the summer music
festival was attested by the capacity audience
which crowded the July program at the Little

Some of the recreation leaders at the music
institute held at Onachita National Forest

272

MUSIC FORUMS

Rock High School Auditorium. This presenta-
tion, scheduled for the plaza of the Arkansas State
Capitol building, was, due to inclement weather,
removed indoors, where despite the mid-summer
heat the seating capacity was exhausted and more
than 2,000 persons from all walks of society were
turned away.

Increased attendance was recorded also at the
already established series of eight summer band
concerts, arranged by the Little Rock Civic Music
Association to employ local musicians from funds
contributed annually by local business firms.

Since Arkansas embraces a large part of that
national playground, the beautiful, scenic Ozark
Hills and mountains, no more picturesque spot
could have been selected for sunset concerts and
sings and Indian summer music festivals than the
majestic, boulder-strewn plaza of The Lodge at
Petit Jean State Park, Morrilton, Arkansas, and
the pine-encompassed waterfront of the man-
made Lake Bailey reposing atop this same moun-
tainous elevation in the heart of Arkansas' foot-
hills. Musical talent from seven surrounding
counties and from Fort Smith and Little Rock
voluntarily came varying distances from over one
hundred miles to a few miles away to participate
in the sunset programs. Over two thousand visit-
ors were enumerated by the State Parks Service
on those occasions. Quoting from the remarks
of the chairman of the State Parks Commission
these musical programs were considered : "the
very best type of entertainment that we have been
able to offer in any State Park in Arkansas."
Music and pageantry were also presented by com-
munity effort in cooperation with the State Parks
Service and the Division of Recreation, Works
Progress Administration, in other sites of State
Park System. The musical offering of "El Ban-
dino" at Crowley's Ridge State Park at Walcott,
was so enthusiastically received as to lead to plans
for additional presentations during the coming
season.

The October Music Forum of Greater Little
Rock chose for its ensuing occupation "the cor-
relation of all fall and winter music activities" in
the civic life of this area. The Monthly Music
Calendar, calling attention to all major musical
events, to dramatizations using musical accom-
paniment, to radio programs employing musical
background as well as the weekly and monthly
programs and practice hours of musical organi-
zations and units and hours of appreciation
courses, made its appearance following the fall

meeting of the Greater Little Rock Music Forum.
With welcome regularity the calendar, compiled
by the Forum Committee, is issued and distributee
through the music committees of the Little Rode
Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, loca
civic clubs and through the Little Rock public
schools.

Early in the autumn season all the local dance
orchestras presented a large combined dance pro-
gram at the Rainbow Gardens under sponsorship
of the local Federation of Musicians — the pro-
fessional union group. The beneficiaries of the
dance were Little Rock Symphony Orchestra and
the Little Rock Civic Music Association, whose
eighth annual presentation of its Christmas pro-
gram, "The Messiah," followed shortly after. Ii
this were combined for the first time choral
groups from several central Arkansas cities.

November, December and subsequent months
witnessed the inclusion of more music in the
monthly programs of civic, social and patriotic
organizations, giving increased opportunities foi
the discovery and presentation of local talent
Musical revues and tableaux sponsored by loca
civic clubs have attracted capacity crowds, anc
at the Christmas season there was a renewed in
terest in the significant religious note in season
able music programs.

The living municipal Christmas Tree wa:
planted and dedicated to the strains of Christma:
carols in special arrangement by the Brass Choi
of the Little Rock High School Band. During
Christmas week over 1,000 children's voices fron
the Public School Music Departments for the firs
time re-echoed in massed singing on the portio
of Little Rock's expansive and imposing Senio
High School building.

Sunday afternoon audiences at concerts by th
varsity orchestras and bands and choral group
have been increased when a note of variety ha
been added to the programs following open dis
cussions at the Music Forums. The Arkansa
State Legislature at its 1939 closing session sa
attentive and appreciative to the sustained note
of the A Capella Choir of the Little Rock Hig
School. Good music is indeed becoming a vitc
part and parcel of the experience of the gener;
populace of Arkansas.

Revival of American folk lore and the teachin

of European folk songs and dances through leac

ership training groups under the supervision c I

the Little Rock Recreation Commission, the Littl

(Continued on page 304)

Safety on the Playground

IN PLANNING the safety features of the summer
playground program, the emphasis is constantly
laid by the leader on devising methods of pre-
senting the subject in a way which will make it
nteresting and vital to the children through their
participation in the program in constructive ways.
In many cities activities of various kinds are
jeing included in the program. Some of these are
'i part of the daily routine ; others are introduced
periodically as special features.

The program which has been used on the play-
grounds of Reading, Pennsylvania, is typical of
nany of the methods employed.

Specific Activities

Daily inspection of playground equipment by
j:he leaders, assisted by a committee of children.
•Rules should be posted for the safe use of each
)iece of apparatus.

Appropriate safety posters placed on bulletin
poards and changed at regular intervals. Pictures
:or the posters may be cut from old magazines.

The election of a safety committee of children
,o serve for a definite period of time. Their duties
should be :

To assist leaders in inspection of equipment

To assist in the collection of safety posters or
other appropriate material for the bulletin
board

Preparation of safety plays and pageants to be
)resented on the playground.

Use of publicity which will inform the com-
nunity of the part played by playgrounds in the
)revention of traffic accidents to children.

Duties of Children's Safety Committee

To inspect daily grounds and apparatus for
>ossible accident hazards such as :
Projecting nails, splinters or other sharp or

rough places on any of the apparatus
Loose bolts or nails in the apparatus
Apparatus — broken, cracked, or worn so as to

be unsafe
Bracing of swings
Broken glass, bottles, boards, etc., on grounds

and in sand boxes.

To assist the director in enforcing safety rules
To help in the regulation of general playground

activities and games so as to avoid accidents. The
following precautions are suggested :

Keeping small children from apparatus other

than pieces intended for their use.
Keeping older children away from apparatus

reserved for younger children
Keeping children from running into the street

after balls
Seeing that spectators are kept well back from

such games as baseball and volley ball.

The Program

Safety songs, plays, games, talks, and a poster
making contest may be used in developing the pro-
gram. Parents of the children should be -asked to
attend the meetings and the special safety events.

Safety Clubs

How to Organize Clubs. Call a meeting during
the first week of the playground season. Previous
to this meeting post a notice of the meeting on the
bulletin board and have posters calling attention
to the purpose of the meeting.

At the first meeting the objectives of the club
should be clearly explained to the children and
their interest and cooperation secured, if the pro-
gram is to be a success. After the objectives have
been clearly outlined, the eligibility and club re-
quirements and pledges to be taken should be
carefully explained. The children are then asked
how many wish to join.

Eligibility. Any boy or girl between the ages of
eight and sixteen years may become a member of
the club by repeating the pledge at a regular club
meeting.

Requirements. Regular meetings should be held
once a week during the summer playground sea-
son, the time to be decided upon by the leader and
the major in charge of the clubs. Each play-
ground may have as many clubs as the leader and
the major can organize, but club membership
should be limited to ten members including the
major, captain, lieutenant, and sergeant. No dues
are to be collected.

The major, who must be at least fourteen years
of age but not more than sixteen years old, should
be appointed by members of the club. The major
(Continued on page 305)

273

Have you ever set forth on a
voyage of discovery to find
the resources of your commun-
ity and the country surround-
ing it? You will be amazed
and delighted at the trea-
sures you will come upon. So
don't fail to plan summer day
trips for playground children
and for the adults as well.

By JULIA ANNE ROGERS

National Recreation Association

Courtesy Cleveland, Ohio, Metropolitan Parks

• IKE THE BEAR who went over the mountain,
mm playground children enjoy short trips and
hikes "to see what they can see." Scenes that
are commonplace to adult eyes are interesting and
sometimes amazing to little people looking on
them for the first time. Short hikes may be
planned which their elders, too, will find fascinat-
ing. The resources of almost any locality are well-
nigh inexhaustible ; adults are constantly surprised
to discover such treasures as picturesque covered
bridges, historic houses, secluded waterfalls, rare
trees and unique crafts colonies in territory com-
paratively near their own homes.

By all means schedule a few trips in the sum-
mer playground program, keeping in mind that
each hike or trip should have an objective, good
leadership, and adequate preparation. The ob-
jectives should never be pursued doggedly to the
exclusion of enjoyment of the hikes. The list of
possible objectives which follows was taken in
part from the projected playground hike program
of St. Paul, Minnesota, for the spring and sum-
mer of this year.

Objectives

Trip to study plant life. To stimulate interest in
plants, flowers, shrubs, trees and grasses — their
forms, habitats, and methods of growth.

274

Trip to study wild life. To encourage interest in
the appearance, habits and natural haunts of ani-
mals, birds, reptiles and insects — and the interde-
pendence of these creatures and human beings.
One form of wild life may be taken as an objec-
tive on a single trip, if desired; for example, bird
walks, or butterfly walks.

Trip to study a stream or brook. To demonstrate
how streams act upon their surroundings, what
animals and plant life they support and to show
their place in our great natural drainage system
Such a trip often follows the bed of the stream.

Trip to study rock formations and fossils. To in-
terest hikers in how rocks are formed and type;
of animal and plant life recorded in sedimentan
rocks.

Trip to a farm or ranch. To acquaint city chil
dren with some of the common domestic animals
and to show how foodstuffs are grown.

Visit to zoo, state fishery or natural histor
museum. To interest hikers in various types o,;
animals, fish and birds, and to emphasize preser
vation of wild life.

Trip to see a ball game or other sport. The grouj
is taken to a neighboring playground to witnes
an inter-playground game. Or it is taken to

TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN SEE

275

— — -- "imt^nm tiiifrrEmir .. -

Courtesy Essex County, N. J., Park Commission

As your playground groups go hik-
ing through nearby parks they will
discover such beauty spots as this

Visit to airport, seaport, railroad terminus
or canal locks. To familiarize hikers with
methods of shipment and transportation
and with construction of airplanes, en-
gines, ships and locks.

Trip to national, state or municipal park.

To demonstrate how to prepare an out-
door meal with or without utensils — how
to build a fire for cooking — what safety
rules must be observed in regard to per-
sons, property and nature.

professional baseball game or other sports event.
Objective, greater knowledge of the game.

Visits to historic spots and birthplaces of notable

persons. To encourage interest in history, bio-
graphy and old customs; to demonstrate archi-
jtecture and costumes of earlier periods and to
show the advance in our standard of living. Visits
to Indian mounds or Indian relic museums are
favorite trips of this kind.

Visit to a fort. To demonstrate the purpose of
i forts and the development of our national
defense.

Visit to a fire station. To demonstrate how com-
munities are protected against fires by scientific
fire extinguishing apparatus and by fire preven-
tion, codes.

Visit to a radio station. To show how stations
jplan and send out their commercial, educational,
isntertainment and news programs.

Visit to a city or town council meeting. To en-

jable groups to observe town or city governing
[bodies in session, and to follow parliamentary
procedure.

Visit to crafts shop, Indian reservation, industrial
exhibit or factory. To demonstrate parts played
;3y art and science in turning raw materials into
usable articles.

Visit to a post office. To show how United
States mail is collected, classified, sorted and
distributed.

Organization and Leadership Suggestions

Hiking may be promoted as a club activity, or it
may be enjoyed by unorganized groups assembled
for the purpose. It is recommended that separate
hiking groups for boys and girls under fifteen
years of age should be maintained. The boys'
groups will be led by men, the girls' groups by
women. The boys and girls of sixteen years and
over may have combined hikes if there is a quali-
fied leader available — one who is the comrade
type, able to guide the group tactfully into desir-
able types of activities. Such a leader must be
fully aware of his responsibility and the import-
ance of such matters as strict observation of hours
of return.

There is much to be said in favor of two-
leader hikes. On a two-leader hike, one leader
may act as guide and pace-maker ; the other is free
to watch details and to handle such minor emer-
gencies as splinters in fingers so that the hike as a
whole may go on undisturbed. Where the hike's
objective is a specialized one such as geology or
entomology, it is sometimes possible to secure an
expert outside volunteer leader. (The playground
leader, of course, always goes along as official
shepherd of the flock.) The expert guest leader
adds definitely to the prestige and interest of a
hike. Hikers will never be tempted to regard a
nature trip as unimportant after they have ac-
companied, for example, an enthusiastic bona fide
botanist with his cherished specimen box. Don't
hesitate to invite really distinguished persons to
lead hikes. They can always refuse, but often

276

TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN SEE

they are pleased to comply. Another type of guest
leader that may be an asset to a hike is the dyed-
in-the-wool hiker, the woods lover who would
rather hike than eat and knows every trail by
heart.

Preparation for the Hike

Preparation for a hike includes a reconnaissance
of the ground in advance by the leader to estimate
time and to note all the points of interest. The
director of a recreation center must approve all
details of a hike before it is undertaken. The hike
should be advertised well in advance, on posters
on the bulletin boards, in the playground newspa-
per— and in the local newspaper, if you like. An-
nouncements should state the objectives of the
hike, the time of meeting, the length of the hike
in hours and mileage, age groups involved, and
expense, if any.

Estimate the ability of your walkers and plan a
trip easily within their powers. Every effort
should be made to confine the trip to the age
group intended. By sending notes to parents men-
tioning details of the hike and emphasizing the
age group invited, a leader may avoid most of the
"Here's my little sister. Can she go too?" diffi-
culty. Parents appreciate these notes ; with them
should be enclosed junior hikers' permission-
slips for parents to sign.

The matter of carfare should be thought of. If
a local transportation company or a local civic or-
ganization has been persuaded to arrange for free
transportation of hikers to the point of departure,
state in all announcements, "Free transportation
through courtesy of the Blankville Rapid Transit
Company, (or the Blankville Civic
Club) " ; but if hikers are expected
to provide their own carfares, state
the amount in the announcement.

Every leader knows what suit-
able clothing for country hiking
is ; but many underprivileged peo-
ple do not possess proper shoes
and sports clothes. Such hikers
have to do the best they can,
after receiving tactful guidance
beforehand in the matter of at-
tire. Armbands or playground
caps, made by the children in
handcraft classes, are a help to a
leader in keeping track of juve-
nile ramblers and the children
love to wear them.

For short hikes, the question of special equip-
ment is not so important as on long excursions
Even for short hikes, though, a leader may wiseh
take along a first-aid kit containing bicarbonate 01
soda, tincture of iodine, gauze bandage and safet}
pins, and blunt scissors. Added to this may be j
supply of paper towels, paper cups, a compass ant
a jackknife, and, of course, the indispensable
whistle.

Food is a good picker-upper on a hike ; driec
fruit, nuts or chocolate bars are easiest to carry
But if the trip is to involve cooking out, have
food ready to transport in knapsacks. If the
goal is a farm, or a park with cooking facilities, il
may be possible to have the food sent ahead tc
this point, thus eliminating the necessity of carry-
ing bulky parcels. The subject of food is amph
dealt with in "Day Hikes" listed at the end oi
this article.

Preparing the hikers for the hike is a part oi
the program to which it is worthwhile to devote
one or more periods on days preceding the hike
The objectives of the hike should be discussed ir
group meeting. With the aid of pictures, books
maps and specimens, pre-view the terrain to be
explored if it is to be a country trip, discuss the
wild life, talk about the historical periods repre
sented by old landmarks. (For example, yoi
might prepare for a pilgrimage to an ancient mil
by studying its history, its architecture — nativi
stone, hand-hewed beams — and suggest that hik
ers invite a certain old inhabitant of the regioi
whom somebody in the group knows to meet then
at the mill, explain its workings, and tell storie
of the old days.) Get ready to acquire specimen

Courtesy Essex County, N. /., Park Commissio

TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN SEE

277

3y having the hikers prepare in crafts class col-
ecting-apparatus — nets for catching insects, shoe-
ooxes with holes punched in them for transport-
ng said insects. Poison ivy deserves mention in
:iny preview of a country ramble. Show pictures
)f it and call attention to it when on the hike.

In preparing for a hike, pass around a compass
n the group and explain it. One veteran hike
eader always displays his pedometer, a gadget
vorn on the ankle to measure mileage, which
Inkers invariably find amusing. For a country
:ramp buy a Geodetic Survey map of the locality
'ou intend to visit. (These maps are obtainable
I'rom book stores or from the U. S. Coast and
Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C. Price twenty
;ents). One of the hikers will carry the map and
nark the route as you go. While the map-minded
;olk of the hiking group are discussing routes,
ihe musical and poetic contingent may go into a
jiuddle and compose a special hiking song. Tunes
uch as "Over Hill, Over Dale" (Caisson Song),
Funiculi, Funicula," or "The Foot Traveler"
?nd themselves to the walking rhythm.

On the day of the hike, just before you set out,
ssemble the crowd, count noses, and issue brief
istructions. These instructions, where children
re involved, should concern obedience to the
lowing of the whistle, behavior suitable to the
lace visited, and — for a country hike — the rules
f the open road.

On the Hike

On a country walk, young h'.kers will skip like
|;inbs ; they will sniff the air, and prance, and roll
i the grass. Much of their play is the aimless en-
>yment of their quickened senses. A wise leader,
?alizing that this exuberance is the choicest gift
lat the day will offer them, will not try to pin
>vvn the frolickers to activities until they are
:ady for them. But when the first excitement has
)orn off, and before boredom sets in, then the
jader may direct attention to the birds, the trees,
ie flowers and the animals. Make the most of
jhatever the vicinity has to offer. One group of
ochester, New York, children, climbing the face

a cliff, discovered a stratum of natural clay.
iiey stopped then and there to fashion objects of
e clay, delighted to find out how clay is obtained.
nother group of children found a hollow tree,
id the procession could not move on until every
st child had climbed in and out. Palo Alto chil-
'en on a hike explored a small cave, with the aid

candles.

There are so many country pleasures — such as
skipping stones in a pond, and learning how to
produce an unearthly screech by holding a blade
of grass between one's fingers and blowing on it —
and there is often small time for games. Active
games played on a hike may be of the very sim-
plest order, such as choosing a tree and letting
each player, in turn, throw a pebble at it, scoring
points for hitting it. Such games as Duck on a
Rock, Bull in the Ring, Cat and Rat, and Three
Deep, are often enjoyed in the interludes of hikes.
If you are sending food ahead of the hikers by
automobile, you might also put into the car some
game equipment. For example, a dart game, made
by the children as a handcraft project, may be
included. Archery is a traditional woodland sport
which is always popular; some fortunate groups
will have sets, made in woodworking class, which
they can take along. No leader will need to be
reminded that a softball, a bat, and a few bean-
bags will earn their space in the carryall car.

When the wanderers settle down for a rest, the
making of willow whistles and the constructing of
dolls out of pine cones, acorns, twigs or other
available materials will keep adults as well as chil-
dren absorbed. (There is a bulletin, issued by the
National Recreation Association, price ten cents,
that suggests ways of making dolls of natural
materials. )

Another happy occupation for the rest period
is storytelling. Nature fables (particularly the
Greek fables) go well on such occasions. Fairy
tales, Indian legends, pioneer stories — all these
seem to fit into the outdoor background. Good
poetry is sometimes well received by children in
surroundings of natural beauty when it would
otherwise be meaningless. Outdoor dramatics of
the impromptu sort may often be successfully in-
dulged in. Possibly the children will feel moved
to pantomime the fables of Icarus, Atalanta or
Theseus and the Minotaur, or some local legend
that captures their fancy. If the children have
been initiated into the fun of choral speaking at
the playground, they may want to "do" a poem
against a background of echoing hillside. Group
singing need hardly be mentioned, it is so natural
and inevitable an expression of outdoor freedom
and happiness.

Indirect Results of the Hike
A good hike furnishes material for many a
playground and home project and hobby. Shells,
(Continued on page 306)

Salem Builds Swimming Pools

WOE TO THE mother hen whose
brood of ducklings chances
to find a pond of water!
And sad, too, the plight of the
worried parent whose child starts out on a hot
summer day to look for a cooling splash in pond
or stream ! No matter whether the stream be pol-
luted or the river fililed with "holes" and eddies,
anticipation of a plunge in the refreshing waters
dispels all fear and caution. What community near
such unguarded danger spots does not have writ-
ten in its pages of recreation history heartbreak-
ing tragedy and regret ?

Five years ago Salem saw its golden oppor-
tunity to provide a safe swimming program to re-
place the mill stream and river of the past. It
came about in this way :

Federal agencies (S.E.R.A. and C.W.A.) of-
fered to supply the assistance in
labor necessary to build two

By SILAS GAISER

Superintendent of Schools
Salem, Oregon

A free swimming period at one ot
Salem's municipal swimming pools

splendid pools, strategically located
in two parts of this city of 30,000
people. A school board, civic-
minded and recreation-conscious,
assumed the obligation for the capital outlay to
make these projects possible. On the grounds of
a junior high school and the senior high school
there was ample space for pools, and here the
projects took form. Pools and bathhouses wen
completed on both sites, amid ideal surroundings,
not only for swimming, but for a complete recre-
ation program. Picnic grounds, playgrounds, base
ball field, school buildings for indoor activities-
all these help make the setting complete.

The dimensions of the pools are 100 x 45 and
no x 55. Each is located in a heavy center of
school population ; in fact, the two pools are on
the sites of two general recreation and school
areas of the city. The pools are
(Continued on page 306)

278

Wanted— a Public Relations Counsel

IF A ROCKEFELLER, a Walter
Murphy, Santa Claus, or a
New Dealer were to ask
Jme what gift I would like best
• for the Oak Park Playgrounds, I would say "a
public relations counsel." I would say this be-
Jcause one of the most important elements lacking
both in our recreational philosophy and program
jis an intelligent understanding of the attitude of
the public towards us. As recreation executives
'we don't know enough about what is the mine-
irun of the public's thinking. We have not recon-
ciled recreational knowledge with public opinion.
:0r, in other words, our program and objectives
jneed interpreting to the public in social and eco-
nomic terms and the public's wishes need inter-
preting to us. .

For this we need a public relations counsel.
What is this hypothetical counsel and what is its
job? Briefly, he is a morale builder, a middle man,
an interpreter. His job is to bring our policies
into line with public opinion. His first step is to
analyze the recreation department's program and
objectives on the basis of the knowledge he has
secured from the study of the relationship of the
recreation program to the community. He must
know the function of the department and draw
up, with the cooperation of the chief executive,
jthe policies of that department. It is important to
know that this morale building begins at home.
The counsel "devises and modifies circumstances,"
las someone has put it, "before they become word
and deed." He is responsible for the attitude of
the workers toward their executive ; of the execu-
tive to the workers ; of the workers to the public.

We have not had a clear policy of our own;
jhere is where, in my opinion, we have most failed.
We are "fuzzy-minded" about the matter. So
well have some of the great business firms of the
country built up this morale, this "enlightened
self-interest," that the compan-
ies have received tremendous
dividends in loyalty and effici-
ency, and the workers as im-
portant ones in well-being and
happiness. I see no reason why
recreation systems cannot pay
similar dividends. They are ow-
ing our Boards, owing our-

By JOSEPHINE BLACKSTOCK

Superintendent of Playgrounds
Oak Park, Illinois

Perhaps we can't all have a public
relations counsel on our recreation
staff, but there's nothing to pre-
vent our dreaming about it, and we
might even be counsels ourselves in
a small way! This article suggests
some of the things which might be
done and the values to be hoped for.

selves as executives, owing our
staff.

A major job of this counsel
is to acquaint himself with
every form of contact with the public, with all
avenues of approach, whether they be booklets,
posters, newspapers, magazines, letters, motion
pictures, radio, lectures, photographs, drama, or
personal contacts. This means knowing his sub-
ject. It means applied psychology. It means un-
derstanding attitudes of mind. It means retaining
a clear picture of the nature and range of apti-
tudes. Here again we might well borrow from the
experiences of great business firms. General
Electric invented the House of Magic — we saw
it at a Century of Progress. Today there are
thousands of people pouring in every week to
Schenectady to see these dramatized products.
The same company is always feeding the news-
papers with technological news stories about such
discoveries from their laboratories as plastic heels
for women's shoes or a microscopic film to make
glass invisible. The papers can't get enough of
these. Couldn't our recreation counsel do a lot
along a similar line ? What human interest stories
we have if we were only alive to them! Know-
ing his psychology, he would aim at the emotions
with trained accuracy, knowing that in children
and their concerns he has "the great tribal ap-
peal to the protective emotions."

Rockefeller Center knew its psychology when it
built a sidewalk superintendents' club, a covered
place for people to watch a large excavation proj-
ect. Oak Park did the same thing last week, build-
ing a bench with an awning cover, where people
could sit and watch the demolition of the old
postoffice and the erection of a new building.

A meat packing concern persuaded a group of
doctors to announce that people should eat
heavier breakfasts. The consequences were that
many more pounds of bacon
were bought. What about a
similar statement that grown
people need more active play?
To borrow a business term, we
are dealing with a buying pub-
lic— a public buying ideas from
us instead of bacon or electric
light. These people think dif-

279

280

WANTED— A PUBLIC RELATIONS COUNSEL

ferently as citizens and as parents, as someone has
pointed out. The counsel must reach both sides
for this thinking of theirs results much more from
their everyday experiences than from what they
are told in print. The counsel must know the un-
derlying motives that impel people to thought and
action. He must know what people wish to know
and have, both in a recreation program and in the
manner of dispensing it, and then get it to them
with the special stamp, the viewpoint, the policy
of the recreation department he represents. He
is out to capture public opinion and that is a tre-
mendous job, for people today are doubtless tak-

Courtesy New York City

There is need for the community to know more
about the ways in which its recreation pro-
gram is providing satisfactions for children.
A public relations counsel could help here.

ing a more intelligent interest in their government
service than they have ever before, but they are
taking a more critical one at the same time. As
recreation executives we need to know more about
what the community as a whole is thinking of our
project; we must worry about our standing with
the public.

What sort of person must this counsel of pub-
lic relations be? Bernay, the foremost public re-

lations expert of this country, is of the opinion
that he must have a broad education, strength of
character, an objective mind, the ability to con-
vince, and a knowledge of psychology. He must
be wide awake to new trends and ideas. American
Cities magazine thinks that "most community pro-
grams fail because public opinion is shaped froiri
the outward (publicity) rather than the inward
(public relations) starting point." It is rare if the
entire program is coordinated and balanced so
that a complete picture of the service in relation
to its cause is continually before the public. No
matter how competent the service may be and how
complete, the job will remain un-
finished until the extent of the
service is made known to the pub-
lic. It works both ways. If an
individual citizen is proud of his
city government the municipal
employee can take pride in it, and
if the latter has pride in his work
he will have the right attitude in
his contacts.

We are learning more and more
the fact that the impetus for rec-
reation comes directly from the
people rather than from the rec-
reation department. In other
words, the important thing about
recreation is what it does to the
player, not what we do to him so
that unless we have the good-will
and understanding of the com-
munity, unless we have made
clear to them in plain terms just
what are our policies, practices,
and purposes, we have failed in
our job. This hypothetical pub-
lic relations counsel must be alert to indications
of public opinion; at the same time he must real-
ize that we must create public opinion ourselves.
Here is where the hardest part of his job comes
in. How is he to dramatize the department he
works for?

In Oak Park we have worked out one method
to give a complete picture of all the Village ser-
vices to our community. We are writing a sketch
showing the various departments — water, fire,
health, playground and others — in action, show-
ing the day's routine. Social as well as dollar-
and-cent facts will be shown in the answers. We:
will use the Chinese property man to make our
(Continued on page 308)

Our National Parks

OUR NATIONAL PARKS are areas
of superlative scenery, which
are set apart and maintained
by the Federal Government for the
use and the enjoyment of the peo-
ple. They are the people's property, the Govern-
ment acting as the people's agent and trustee.

These parks are distinctly an American institu-
tion. The national park idea had its inception in
the United States, the first of such parks having
been established here in 1872 by Act of Congress.
Today the United States has twenty-five national
parks. The best of our natural scenery and our
most interesting scientific and historic places are
retained in public ownership for the benefit and
use of all of the people.

The history of the social use of lands is inter-
esting. Always in the early days, as one traces
the rise and fall of nations, organized government
meant organization for the ruling few. The
choicest lands were reserved in princely gardens
and forests for the mighty of the world. Heavy,
almost inhuman punishments were meted out to
persons of humble station who shot a bird or four
legged animal in a well-stocked preserve main-
tained for the shooting parties of the lords of the
manor.

Cornelius Hedges, a lawyer of Montana, ad-
vanced the thought that the individuals forego
personal gain in order that the region, so unlike
anything else in the country, be reserved as a
national park for the benefit of the people for all
time. As a result, Yellowstone National Park was
established in 1872 as a pleasuring ground.

No consideration of commercialism enters into
park creation. The major function is the promo-
tion of the well-being of Americans through the
health-giving qualities of inspiration, relaxation,
and recreation in pure, un-
polluted air, in natural sur-
roundings of inspiring
grandeur.

Most of the national parks
have public camp grounds
for motorists bringing their
own camp outfits. The
grounds are equipped with
running water, modern sci-
entific conveniences, outdoor

By PHILIP L. SEMAN

General Director

Jewish People's Institute

Chicago, Illinois

In April, 1937, Dr. Seman gave an address
at a National Youth Administration insti-
tute on "What the Government Can Do
and Should Do for Communities in the Field
of Recreation." A number of develop-
ments have marked the progress of the
service of the National Parks since that
date, but because of the background which
Dr. Seman gives of the history and pro-
gram of the National Parks, we are pre-
senting a number of extracts from his talk.

fireplaces, electric lights, and places
to wash clothes. These are under
the close supervision of park au-
thorities. Safety and freedom from
annoyance are assured. No charge
is made for camping privileges.

Connected with the town road system and lead-
ing into and through the parks, excellent systems
of roads have been established. These parks have
many trails, and contain within their boundaries
thousands of miles of trails and footpaths, reach-
ing the surrounding mountain summits and tra-
versing every valley. The systems are so designed
that the inclination of every type of walker is met.
Broad lowland paths offer delightfully easy walks.
Winding trails of easy grade to the mountain
summits are provided for those who like a mod-
erately strenuous climb, and rough, mountainside
trails give opportunity for hardy exercise to those
who enjoy real hiking. It is only by means of
these trails and paths that the parks can be
thoroughly seen and appreciated, and the system
is so laid out that there is no danger of becoming
lost. While no guides are necessary on most of
the park trips, free guides may be obtained at the
information office in many of them, adjoining the
park office, to accompany parties either riding or
hiking.

In many of the parks there are motor and boat
trips provided by the park system for which a
moderate charge is made. Many of the parks have
opportunities for excellent fishing in fresh waters
of lake and stream. Even deep-sea and coastal
fishing identical in life and character with those
of the famous banks which lie off shore, adjoining
a number of these parks. The parks provide
power boats, sail boats, canoes, and camp outfits,
with competent guides, at very little cost.

Pre-eminence of the na-
tional park service as the
leader in the recreational
field reached new heights
during the last year with
the establishment of new
parks, the continuation of
emergency programs, and
the enactment of legislation
providing for nation-wide
surveys of areas of interest

281

282

OUR NATIONAL PARKS

from the recreational and educational stand-
point.

Public use of national parks have pointed to
the need of an expanded system. Visitors for the
past travel year number over ten million. All pos-
sible encouragement is given to the development
of snow and ice sports in areas suitable for such
use, in accordance with the popular demand.

Foremost among congressional legislation af-
fecting national parks was the act providing for
the preservation of historic American sites, build-
ings, objects and antiquities of national signifi-
cance, which empowers the Secretary of the In-
terior to conduct a nation-wide survey of historic-
buildings and sites and makes it possible for the
Federal Government to acquire those determined
to be of sufficient importance to warrant such
action.

A study has been made to determine the recre-
ational possibilities of Boulder Dam, under which
the National Park System would cooperate with
the Bureau of Reclamation in planning the rec-
reational development along Lake Mead, the larg-
est artificial lake ever created, extending as it does
115 miles beyond Boulder Dam. In the meantime,
the National Park Service has supervised recrea-
tional development on the lake with the aid of the
Civilian Conservation Corps.

One of the interesting phases of the expanded
program of recreational development undertaken
by the National Park System in cooperation with
the State Park Authorities and State Planning
Boards, has been the development of forty-six
land-use projects designated as recreational dem-
onstration projects. With Re-Settlement Admin-
istration funds, nearly one-half million acres of
land were in process of being acquired at a
cost of approximately five million dollars. The
areas are being developed as federal projects
through the cooperation of the Re-Settlement
Administration, the Emergency Conservation
Work, and the Works Progress Administration,
either for additions to state systems of parks and
recreational areas as concrete demonstrations in
the better use of certain rural lands or for federal
administration in connection with some existing
unit of the national park system. The forty-six
projects located in twenty-four states are readily
accessible to thirty millions of people. The ma-
jority of the projects are planned for the or-
ganized camp needs of major metropolitan areas.
It is expected that at least ten organized camps,

each with a capacity of from 100 to 125 campe
will soon be in operation.

For the purpose of determining the progress o
the local park movements during the five yea
period ending in 1935, the National Park Service
in cooperation with the National Recreation As
sociation, inaugurated a nation-wide study o
municipal, county and metropolitan parks. Th
result of this study is proving of great value t
park and recreation movements, and meets a rea
demand on the part of state and local park official
for such up-to-date information.

The Federal Government, through special grants
provides for the publication of posters calling atten
tion to the availability of parks as vacation areas.

The broadcasting program of the Service,
through the courtesy of the National Broadcast-
ing Company, presented a series of thirteen pro-
grams, covering the major Western parks, over a
national hook-up during the spring months. A
marked increase in the demand for park publica-
tions followed this program.

During the past year, approximately 270 state-
ments on national park activities were prepared
in the Washington office for release to the press.
These covered broad phases of national park
work. Appropriations for the national park sys-
tems during the past year amounted to eighteen
million dollars. Of this amount, the sum of six-
teen million dollars was authorized in the Interior
Department Act of 1936.

Thus, literally hundreds of millions of acres
are set aside for this purpose — supervised,
financed, and directed through government sources.
This reveals that the Federal Government has for
over one hundred years looked upon opportunities
for play of every type, largely of an outdoor
nature, as an essential part of its public social
service.

"To measure the national park movement in
terms of progress per annum can at best be a
matter of accounting only in fractions, since the
movement goes steadily on year after year, eter-
nally producing combinations of results. . . . After
all else has been said, there will still remain the
fact that the year's work is simply to keep the
park movement in adjustment with the one funda-
mental which makes it so indispensable — that rec-
reation in the full sense of its meaning is indis-
pensable to life."— George L. Collins and B. H.
Thompson.

Centers for wirls

THE LEISURE time ac-
tivities of girls from
inadequate homes,
especially little girls six

to ten years of age, are being neglected by all
agencies during the school year in most cities.
Homes may be inadequate, not only because of
poverty but also as a result of overcrowding;
ugliness ; lack of comfort, warmth or homelike
atmosphere; and because of social inadequacy,
emotional and economic insecurity. Thus even
girls from wealthy or comfortable middle-class
homes may wish to spend the greater portion of
their leisure time away from the family or may be
unable to play or entertain even their girl chums
at home.

Especially girls from the crowded older sec-
tions of cities, commonly called "The Flats,"
"Across the Tracks," "Down by the River," "The
Gas House District," often feel socially inferior
because of the section in which they live, their
clothes or general appearance, their way of living,
the occupation of their parents, or their relief
status — and they do not take advantage of oppor-
tunities offered them outside of their neighbor-
hood. Usually we find very few Girl Scout troops
or Camp Fire groups in these crowded neighbor-
hoods. Often these girls cannot stay after school
to participate in Girl Reserves or other high school
extracurricular activities because they must return
home to help mother, care for younger brothers
and sisters, or work in some other family caring
for young children. In two instances girls of
twelve years ran away from home just because
they were overworked by dictatorial parents while
other girls had time to play. When a girls' center
was established in the neighborhood, these girls
went there in the evenings
after their work was done
and found the fun and
companionship they craved .
If there is no settlement
or similar agency serving
such a district then the
recreation department
should work toward estab-
lishing centers which are
attractive to girls in the
middle of each natural

By ETHEL BOWERS

Field Secretary in Recreation for Women and Girls
National Recreation Association

The author, in describing girls' centers as they
are established in some recreation systems, de-
fines them as "any homelike places where girls,
especially those from inadequate homes, may
drop in at any time and find activities to en-
joy alone or in groups, frequently on a co-
recreational basis; and where they may receive
training for homemaking and life situations
under the leadership of charming hostesses
and part-time workers — all of this made pos-
sible through the cooperation of lay women's
groups and municipal recreation departments."

neighborhood. Boys will
go further for their
recreation and demand
more spacious facilities,

and parents will let boys cross railroads, bridges
and traffic arteries when they will not permit their
girls to go more than a few blocks from home,
and then only to such places and leaders as are
known and approved. Therefore, several small,
well-placed centers for girls are more effective
than one huge community center.

Please do not misunderstand. We are not pro-
posing segregated centers for girls, but rather
small centers or parts of centers planned mostly
for girls and for controlled co-recreation activi-
ties, with the boys going to the nearest athletic
centers for their most vigorous games. We be-
lieve thoroughly in cooperation from the earliest
years, feeling that the only natural normal way is
for boys and girls to play together constantly so
there will be no emotional upset at the mid 'teens.
However, co-recreation in certain sections pre-
sents difficulties such as limited facilities, difficulty
of supervision, problems of discipline and inade-
quate leadership, and lack of training for boy-girl
relationships.

For convenience we will call this recreation
project a girls' center though in fact it is more
of a spirit, an ideal, a philosophy, than it is a
building or a program. A girls' center may be
conducted in one room or several rooms of a
larger community center, the rest of which is
given over to general community recreation pro-
grams, or it may be in a building of its own.
Four factors must be provided for a successful
girls' center; leadership, facilities, program and
cooperation. With all of these provided on a per-
manent continuous basis, a
girls' center gives girls
who are living an unstable
existence one thing at
least to cling to, and helps
to give them a slight sense
of security. Of the four,
the most important is
leadership.

Leadership

The recreation director
first must have the vision

283

284

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

of what a real girls' center can do, then find a
mature yet youthful woman who can catch the
vision, to be the permanent director of the center.
A real woman leader can create a girls' center
spirit anywhere if she is given a free hand, some
cooperation and a place to call her own. She may
be the only full time worker paid with municipal
funds, all others may be volunteers, part time
leaders or specialists or leaders loaned by other
agencies. The others may come and go, but she
should be a permanent worker, year round, every
day, if she is to be a real stabilizing force in the
uncertain lives of these girls. Girls need a sense
of belonging, the guidance of a charming cul-
tured woman, the inspiration of a real leader,
during formative years. The director must be
all this.

The girls' center director must first of all be a
hostess. It will be her personality, her tact, her way
of meeting and greeting the girls, her joy, the
friendly atmosphere which she creates,
which will turn the "drifter" girl into
a "joiner," and change the loud, poorly-
trained girl into a charming young
woman, the self-conscious girl into one
of poise ; which will help the handi-
capped girl get the thrill of success,
and guide the growth and development
of all the girls so that they feel confi-
dent in taking their rightful place in
Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Girl Re-
serves, high school extracurricular ac-
tivities and the business world, fortified
with a sense of values that will pro-
tect them from errors of character or
judgment so often resulting in ill-
chosen associates, hasty early marriages
and low homemaking ideals.

It scarcely matters whether the girls'
center director is an activities leader or
not, though a knowledge of music, dra-
matics, handcrafts, homecrafts and
social recreation are assets, especially
when volunteers fail to arrive. She
should be a leader in the finest sense
of the word, a creative inspirational
leader, with some knowledge of club
activities and ability to work through
others, "leading from behind" prefer-
ably. Some of the best girls' center
directors are women who have been
married, who have gained tolerance,
poise, sympathy and understanding

which young unmarried women often lack. Most
important of all, she must have vision, abiljfy to
inspire the other workers and the girls themselves
with some of her own enthusiasm, ideals and
objectives.

The other workers, paid or volunteer, should
have as many of these same hostess-leader's quali-
ties as possible. In any event, they should he
leaders of girls first and technicians second, for
the music, dramatics or dancing skills which the
girls learn are not nearly as important as the im-
provement in the girl herself, her dress and ap-
pearance, her behavior, voice, character, objectives,
standards, vision and outlook on life.

Part time leaders are usually paid by the hour.
They may be young married women, older women
formerly teachers or other lead-
ers whose children are now
grown, college girls working for
experience and credit in soci-

The girls of America
wherever it is to be
for beauty; eager fo
is your city doing t<

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

285

ology courses, young college graduates on the
substitute list of the superintendent of schools,
other young women irregularly or partially em-
ployed or temporarily unemployed, or workers
loaned by other agencies. In some cases regular
school teachers are used, but not more than two
sessions a week and only if they are real leaders
with a recreational attitude, and only if they can
come to the girls with real enthusiasm. Older
girls of the neighborhood or a member of the Big
Sisters, an organization of outstanding high school
juniors and seniors, may be used in a volunteer
capacity. Adult women with leisure and a desire
to serve are also used as volunteers in many girls'
centers. Some are as dependable and enthusiastic
as paid workers ; others serve best on special proj-
ects, helping with parties, leading
Charm School or Hostess Club
discussions, cooperating in out-
ings or trips, or serving on the

—seeking happiness
:hing for adventure,
hip with boys. What
eeds of these girls?

Courtesy Sioux City, Iowa, Department of Recreation

Council, (to be described later), in securing co-
operation and supplies. The success of the volun-
teer workers depends almost entirely on the ability
of the director of the girls' center.

Facilities

A superior woman leader can create a girls'
center almost anywhere and under great difficul-
ties, but if some suitable facilities are provided
her work is easier and her energies are freed for
other problems.

Facilities for a girls' center should be homelike,
a little better than those found in the homes of
the girls of the neighborhood. Atmosphere can
be created at little expense by the girls themselves
and the Council, or a mothers' club, all working
together. This has been done in Milwaukee in
school basement rooms some of which were
originally coal bins. First of all the room was
made attractive by scrubbing and plenty of paint.
Then came bright-colored curtains, in-
teresting cretonne wall hangings, sec-
ond-hand furniture, redecorated and
reupholstered by the girls themselves,
cupboards, shelves and boxes, brightly
decorated by an art class in the Rus-
sian peasant designs, and electrical wir-
ing and Tamps, done by the boys or
dads' club, with shades made by the
girls. Books, magazines, phonograph
and records, radio, piano, rugs and
bric-a-brac, all were contributed by
girls or adults, while games and vases
and paper flowers were made in hand-
craft classes. Money was raised to buy
pots and pans, dishes and silver. Soon
the girls' center was homelike, softly
lighted, comfortable, efficient, a cheer-
ful place for every beauty-loving girl
from any inadequate home.

A girls' center can be made any-
where by energetic leaders and coun-
cil members. The poorest one the
writer visited was a girls' basement
toilet room in an abandoned four-room
school building. The plumbing as old
as the building, was still functioning,
but it had been partitioned off by wall-
board. The rest of the room, about
20x15 feet, was cheerful and practical,
with its bright paint and curtains, table
tennis and other games tables and

286

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

benches, piano and at-
tractive 6'x6' stage in an
alcove. For parties, shows
and tap dancing classes
the tables were moved
out into the hall. Vigor-
ous games were played
outdoors on suitable days
and a co-recreational
dancing class was taught
in an upstairs office after
office hours. The rest of
the well-balanced girls'
center program and game
room was conducted in

the bedlam of this one crowded room. Using what
very inadequate facilities they had, these women
leaders had created a small but really alive girls'
center.

School rooms can be used as girls' centers,
especially if they are turned over exclusively to
the recreation department, but their use often pre-
sents problems. School basement rooms usually
have unsightly pipes and meter boxes and are
either too cold or difficult to ventilate, and with
cement floors are often dusty. Upstairs school
rooms are better from the health standpoint, but
with their high ceilings and big windows and
usually the inevitable blackboards, they, are diffi-
cult to decorate. Moreover, schools are closed on
holidays, usually no heat is provided over week-
ends, and there are other factors which militate
against the use of these buildings.

In instances where difficulties prove insur-
mountable, the problem may be met by turning an
abandoned school building, apartment or old resi-
dence into a homelike girls' center as has been
done in Columbus, Indiana, and Mount Vernon,
New York, and by securing the cooperation of the
superintendent of schools in obtaining the use of
near-by school gymnasium, auditorium, and swim-
ming pool for special events or scheduled weekly
activities. In this way the girls have a sense of
belonging to their center, the women members of
the Council have a personal interest in the center
and its furnishings, yet the girls have the use of
school facilities when they need them for active
games and large gatherings.

In selecting facilities for a girls' center, it is
wise to remember that the little girls will be leav-
ing it late winter afternoons after dark and older
girls will attend evening activities. Therefore it
should be located on a well-lighted street but not

Look at your program for girls from September
until June. Does it satisfy you fully? Are you
reaching girls intensively or just giving them
"busy work"? Are you serving the little girls
from inadequate homes both extensively and
intensively, every day of the entire year?
Have you trained women workers who work in one
section of town day after day, year after year?
Or do you shift your workers to different play-
grounds in the spring, summer and fall, and to
winter community centers? If you do, that is one
way to ruin any organized girls' program.
Look at your indoor facilities. Are they home-
like, attractive to beauty-starved girls and
women? Or do they repel sensitive people!

on a traffic artery, in a
residential neighborhood
in the heart of the area
of crowded, inadequate
homes, which we wish to
serve or equidistant from
two such neighborhoods
if one center must draw
from both. It should not
have adjacent to it ga-
rages, parking lots, lum-
ber yards, factories, rail-
road yards, cemeteries,
unlighted parks, cheap
hotels or boarding houses,
for these may create problems.

Many very successful girls' centers are in
adapted facilities, especially rented apartments or
in halls or old mansions. The latter are the best
because old woodwork, fireplaces, beautiful stair-
ways, kitchens and other facilities help create just
the atmosphere we want. If such a mansion, well
located, cannot be secured, a first floor apartment
which is typical of those in which the girls live is
an excellent substitute, preferred by some leaders
because in it we can show the girls how to make
the most of their own facilities at little expense.

Some centers have a complete model apartment
— at least living room, dining room, kitchen, for
all cooking and homemaking classes, Hostess
Clubs, small club parties, etiquette classes, knit-
ting classes and other group activities concerned
with homemaking. This apartment should be in-
expensively yet tastefully furnished to serve as a
good example to girls who are contemplating mar-
riage and homes of their own on small budgets.
The facilities must suit the program and in a
girls' center the main emphasis is on girls' inter-
ests and their preparation for womanhood and
homemaking.

Such a center was developed in Mount Vernon,
New York. This girls' center is a rented five-
room and bath flat, the counterpart of hundreds of
flats in the neighborhood. The front room is a
lounge-library, furnished as is any comfortable
living room, with piano, radio, phonograph, easy
chairs, soft lights, bookcase, davenport, rugs and
curtains. All club meetings, special lectures, dis-
cussions, knitting classes, small tap dancing
classes, music groups, in fact any activity which
would not harm the furnishings, are held here.
Between times girls are encouraged to use it for

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

287

lounging, reading, listening to phonograph or
radio, or informal piano playing.

The original dining room is now a table game
room with tables and benches of various sizes for
all ages of girls. The kitchen is freshly painted
and bright with red and white checked gingham
curtains and red pots, pans and other kitchen ware.
What was the bedroom is now the handcraft
room with rough tables and benches. Under win-
dows on one side are built-in storage benches in
which are the dolls and doll furniture for the tiny
tots' play. Along interior walls are simple built-in
cabinets for handcraft supplies. Sewing machines
and an ironing board in a closet complete this
utilitarian room which also is cheerful with paint
and inexpensive curtains.

The final room is a ten by ten foot glass-en-
closed back porch or sun room which has a round
central dining room table and chairs. This room
is used for everything and anything, dining by the
cooking class, table setting by the Hostess Club,
dramatic play by the tiny tots, rehearsals, com-
mittee meetings, overflow quiet games or hand-
craft groups, parties and so on. Although the
whole flat probably does not exceed twenty-five
by forty feet, as many as eighty girls sometimes
attend for general activities in a single afternoon,
or for an entertainment program. For athletics,
swimming, large dancing classes and dances, the
public school facilities are used by special arrange-
ment. Thus for about $25.00 a month rent a small
girls' center has unlimited use of homelike facili-
ties, equipped by an active lay women's sponsor-
ing board.

Another club, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, is
making excellent use of two long narrow rooms
about twenty by seventy feet. Such facilities can
never be as homelike as a house or an apartment

but offer more floor

space, and each room can

be supervised by one

worker. At the front of

the first floor is the

lounge, and table games

section ; in the middle are

the table tennis and noisy

games; and in the rear

the cement floor is cleared

for active games, races

and dancing classes. Up-
stairs, in the front, is the

library, storage room and

lavatory. In the middle

Look at your community centers. Are they ath-
letic centers only? Do the boys drive out the
girls? Do the girls have a place they can call their
own? Do they have a sense of "belonging"?
Look at the lay women of your city. Are they
actively interested in girls' work, especially in the
work of the recreation department? Are you
harnessing the tremendous forces of women's or-
ganizations to improve your program for girls?
If you feel that your program for girls and women
needs strengthening, read this article carefully,
and give copies to women members of your rec-
reation commission, to officers of women's clubs,
parent-teacher associations, and other women's
groups who should be helping.

is the handcraft section and the rear has a small
stage for dramatics and programs. In the cellar a
small kitchen has been made by using plywood
partitions. Hundreds of girls can be accommo-
dated in these spacious, though noisy, two rooms
and kitchen. Schools are used for basketball,
large gym and dance classes.

The Program

In many respects the girls' center program does
not differ from the usual public recreation pro-
gram, including such things as children's rhythms,
folk and (if necessary) tap dancing, singing and
rhythm band, storytelling, simple dramatics and
puppets, the usual handcraft and art classes and,
if possible, outdoor or indoor playground games,
gym classes and tumbling. These classes are un-
usually well conducted in most girls' centers with
creative leaders and high standards rather than in
the usual "time-filling" way.

The two main features of a girls' center which
are not usually found in community centers are
"drop in" activities and the homecraft classes and
clubs.

It is important for girls from inadequate homes
to have a place in the neighborhood where they
can drop in any time on Saturday and any time
week days from 3:30 until 8:00 p. M. (for those
under 12) and until 10:00 P.M. for older girls.
Girls have more home duties than boys so that
often the only time they have to play is from after
supper until bedtime. Many girls from inadequate
homes do not have even a bureau drawer to call
their own, to say nothing of a room or bed of
their own. They have no playthings, only hand-
me-down clothes, no place to play in an over-
crowded, noisy flat, no place to study lessons, noth-
ing to do and no place to go, too thinly clad to
stand on the streets the
way boys do and not
vigorous enough usually
to be as continuously act-
ive on cold winter even-
ings as the boys in their
street, alley and vacant
lot play. So they need
some place to drop in,
when they want to. Thus
every girls' center should
have at least two rooms
—possibly three — avail-
able at any time the cen-
ter is open. These in-

288

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

elude the lounge-library for reading, studying les-
sons, just resting, knitting and very quiet games ;
and the noisy game room for table tennis, jacks
and other seasonal games, table, floor and wall
toss games, radio listening, phonograph playing,
piano playing, and if space permits, for general
free play, racing, chasing and noise-making. Girls
too must blow off steam and this is the place to
do it. If possible there should be a third room
with an abundance of cupboards and storage
benches in which are kept dolls and doll furniture,
playing house equipment, costumes and dress-up
clothes. In this room the little girls may select
what they wish to play with and play together
quietly in make-believe play so dear to the hearts
of little girls. Some centers use this room for
serious classes and open it only on certain after-
noons for little girls playing house. In other cen-
ters this equipment is kept in the noisy game room
where the girls may play. It is so much better
when a separate quiet room is available for this
dramatic play.

Homecraft is a very important part of the girl's
center program which should be started early,
preferably at six years of age when girls are so
enthusiastic about imitating mother and doing
things about the home. One of our most thought-
ful girls' leaders says "We start too late, when a
girl has put on her war paint and gone on the
man hunt, to teach her serious homemaking skills.
She has too many counter attractions ; she is in-
terested in things outside the home, not in sewing,
cooking, cleaning, child care. We waste a golden
opportunity when we give the little girl 'busy
work' instead of using that white-hot flame of
eagerness to learn homecrafts between six and
twelve years of age."

Therefore, a graduated creative homecrafts
program is conducted in some girls' centers start-
ing at six years of age in many of the groups,
using dramatic play and "playing house" as a
means of teaching scientific homemaking methods.
Some of the courses and clubs are :

Homemaking, with doll furniture at first

Interior decorating, with dollhouse at first

Child care, with large doll and doll furniture
at first, and later with little sisters and real
furniture

Home care of sick, with little sisters and real
furniture

Citizenship, Children's Village with doll
furniture

Sewing, making own clothes, starting at six
years, and machine sewing at nine years

Cooking, starting at nine years
Hostess Club at about twelve years
Emily Post Club at about fourteen years
Charm School at about fifteen years

From these courses it is a natural step, as the
girls' interests unfold, to clubs and to co-recrea-
tion activities. Begin with activity parties with
boys, such as roller skating or hiking, then lead
into open house game nights, social dancing in-
struction and Saturday evening dances, dramatics,
and music. In fact, there is no reason why the
girls' center should not be co-recreational every
evening after 8 :oo o'clock, and the lounge-library
and game room could be open to boys and girls at
all times if space permits and if the boys do not
drive out the girls.

In addition, the girls' facilities are frequently
used up to 3 130 P. M. by many women's groups
for all kinds of meetings and parties. Handcraft
classes, quilting clubs, mothers' clubs, child health
lectures, baby clinics (twice weekly in some
places), and even daily play school are common.
If such extensive use is made of the facilities, ad-
ditional storage space for equipment and janitor
service is necessary. Needless to say, the activities
in the evenings after 8 :oo P. M. are for senior high
school girls and those out of school and unem-
ployed, or irregularly employed. Girls' centers
usually do not try to reach the girls who normally
go to the Y.W.C.A. but continue to serve the
neighborhood girls who grew up in the center and
their boy-friends.

Cooperation

If the recreation director and his commission
are thoroughly in favor of the neighborhood girls'
center idea, and the recreation budget is large
enough and flexible, then there is no reason why
one or more girls' centers should not be started in
existing facilities without further delay. Yet even
with such ideal conditions, which are seldom
found, the cooperation of an interested and in-
fluential group of lay women on a girls' center
council will do much to improve the facilities and
deepen program and make the way easier for the
director of the center.

No recreation director need wait for a complete
budget to start a girls' center if he is as ingenious
as several such directors who have already started
without any money. Here are some of the steps
to be taken in establishing a demonstration center.

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

289

How to Go at It

Study the crowded neighborhoods.

Determine in which the needs of girls are
greatest.

Check with other agencies and workers to see
that no other agency is serving these particular
girls before starting a new center.

Improve present programs and facilities to cre-
ate a girls' center spirit, if at all possible.

If nothing is being done and much needs to be
provided, then call together a group of influential
and intelligent lay women. Present the problem to
them. Take them for a ride through the needy
area. Have case workers and policewomen talk
to them.

Let the idea of serving this neighborhood grow
in their minds. Ask for their suggestions. Present
your own ideas modestly. Don't force an elaborate
plan on cold or disinterested group.

Get the most enthusiastic women to do some-
thing at once, such as looking at what facilities
you have to offer, searching for better space
which may be rented, visiting real estate depart-
ments of banks to see what mortgages they have
taken over, talking to wealthy old residents who
may own property in the neighborhood or know of
estates holding property. In the meantime see if
the city owns any buildings in the district or has
taken any over for non-payment of taxes.

Before taking further steps, get
the full cooperation of the recre-
ation commission and organize a
girls' center council of those
women showing the greatest per-
sonal interest. Have this small
council prepare a plan and pre-
sent it to representatives of all
women's organizations in the city.
One group of women xlid this at
a tea and a month later at a sec-
ond tea organized a coordinating
council of representatives of
thirty-three women's organiza-
tions to "promote and protect the
interests of girls and women." In
another council, similarly formed,
each member organization pays
annual dues according to the size
of its membership, which gives it
the privilege of having meetings
and parties in the girls' center,
making it practically a women's

club up to 3:30 P.M. as well as a girls' center
afterward.

After rinding the facilities for the first girls'
center, if the rent must be paid the council mem-
bers should find twelve individuals or organiza-
tions, each to give one month's rent, some agency
to pay for the coal, another the light bill, another
to provide for janitor service and cleaning women.
Frequently the city through one of its depart-
ments can provide light and heat as a part of its
regular service to its buildings and janitor service
through Home Relief or other welfare divisions.

Having found and secured the facilities, the
next step is to put them in order. In this the
recreation director usually takes the initiative, as
was done in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where the
city electrician attended to all the wiring, the city
plumbers, painters and carpenters, even the street
departments and parks, were persuaded to co-
operate in lending men and equipment, while the
women's council raised money to buy the new
materials needed by the workmen.

In the meantime, every woman and interested
organization is on the lookout for furnishings and
supplies of all kinds. Women with husbands who-
are leading merchants are especially valuable in
securing cooperation stores, getting salvage and
decorating materials and lowest prices on really
fine furniture which has been damaged or ex-
(Continned on page 308)

Courtesy East Orange, N. /., Board of Recreation Commissioner.*

CONSCIOUS of the
growing realization
of the importance
of an "early start," the
public Recreation Com-
mission of Davenport is
inaugurating a new series
of programs designed especially
for the elementary school child.
This series beginning on March
nth and continuing for four
consecutive Saturdays through
April ist, will bring to the youngsters of the com-
munity thrilling drama, dancing, a sprightly oper-
etta, and beautiful symphonic music.

Unfortunately, a love of music, drama, and
dancing is not always accompanied by correspond-
ing talent, but all children may derive pleasure
from "exposure" to these arts, and this pleasure
may be enhanced by a study of their appreciation.
The vital fact to remember is that youth is the
time for study and exposure. Curiosity and talent,
when nurtured from an early age, may have a
chance to flower.

Curiosity and imagination are prominent traits
in children. When wisely guided they may be
turned toward the development of a happy child-
hood, and ultimately toward

A municipal recreation department
believes that children should have
on early start in making contacts
with good music, drama and dancing

By ROBERT L. HORNEY

Superintendent of Recreation
Davenport, Iowa

of adult life. Why not
give these future Mr. and
and Mrs. America's a
real chance to come in
contact with good music,
drama, and dancing?
Isn't it true that a good
taste, cultivated in a child's early
years, creates a steady appetite
later ?

The Recreation Commission
of Davenport believes it will,
and so it is offering a free series of entertainment
by local talent, held at the public high school audi-
torium where pupils from the nineteen elementary
schools, ten parochial schools, and the Iowa
Soldiers' Orphans' Home, will be guests of the
Commission. Since the seating capacity of the
auditorium is limited to 1,200 persons, passes will
be distributed to the various schools according to
their enrollments. The administration of each in-
dividual school then may determine their distri-
bution. Local Boy Scout troops will serve as
ushers. The curtain will rise at 10:00 A.M. on
Saturday, March nth, when the Davenport High
School orchestra, a group of fifty-three young
musicians who have already won state-wide ac-
claim, will present the initial

a more complete enjoyment

The advanced children's group practic-
ing for the last program of the series

(Continued on page 309)

290

There are very many
points of interest in his-
toric Boston and its en-
virons which delegates
to the Twenty- Fourth
Recreation Congress
will wish to visit. A
number of them are
enumerated in this
article and tentative
plans are outlined for
some of the tours which
are being planned.

Boston Awaits Y

ou

YES ! THIS YEAR IT'S BOSTON.
The Twenty-Fourth National Recreation
Congress will meet in Boston from October
9th to the 1 3th. Again the recreation leaders of
America, men and women who have devoted their
lives to providing better play facilities for the na-
tion, will gather to discuss the great movement in
which they have pioneered.

Recreation planners from all parts of this coun-
try and from abroad will meet in historic Boston,
where they will review past progress, discuss pres-
ent problems, and build for the recreation world
of tomorrow. Yes, it is Boston, the Boston of
many memories, and the Boston of the thousand
present-day interests which will welcome the 1,500
delegates to this important nation-wide Congress.

The city that is dominated by Bunker Hill
Monument, that abounds in tablets commemorat-
ing historic events, the City of the Boston Tea
Party and of Paul Revere 's Ride, of the Old
North Church and of Faneuil Hall, will be the
host of the 1939 gathering.

Boston is a city of many
surprises, as well as many
memories. The forefathers
sleep in graveyards such as
Old Granary and Kings
Chapel, which are snuggled
at the feet of high office
buildings. Everywhere in

It has not been possible in this article to
describe all the things to see, the places
to visit, and the unique features of Bos-
ton. Mr. Douglas Payne of the Chamber
of Commerce, 50 Federal Street, Boston,
who is chairman of the sub-committees
on publicity for the Congress, will
gladly provide leaflets and literature of
interest to those planning to attend.

Boston the city of today is linked with the city of
yesterday. Its memories are as old as the cow
paths that still can be traced wandering through
the down-town section and that form the pattern
for its narrow streets ; and they are as varied as
the lives of the early settlers. They form a com-
posite picture of Pilgrims and Puritans, British
Red Coats and Tories, fishermen, sail-makers,
farmers, soldiers of fortune, religious leaders, and
great financiers.

We all know of modern Boston as a manu-
facturing city, but we do not realize that it has
more than 5,200 industrial plants, and over 25,000
well-established mercantile business concerns. It
is the shoe and leather center of the world and
the headquarters of cotton manufacturing, and it
is the greatest wool market in the United States.
It is the most up-to-date fish port in the world, its
production exceeded only by Grimsby, England.
Boston is one of the three great rubber manufac-
turing centers of America, and about 22% of all the
rubber products manufactured in the United States
come from here. It is surprising how many of the
standard label goods bear the Boston imprint, and
when we think of certain brands of razors, cof-
fee, teas, woolen garments, candy, not to mention
baked beans and the inevit-
able cod fish, we think of
Boston.

In the field of recreation,
Boston is eminent. It is the
home of the founder of the
playground movement in
America, Joseph Lee, who
will be honored by the Rec-

291

292

BOSTON AWAITS YOU

reation Congress. It is a pioneer in outdoor recrea-
tion, in children's playgrounds, and model play
yards which have been examples for the entire
country since the beginning of the national recre-
ation movement. Its settlements and community
centers are well known.

The play movement in Boston grew, as it did in
most cities from the early stages of private philan-
thropic enterprise to public supervised recreation
programs conducted by the city.

Tours of Historic Interest

But it is historic Boston which intrigues the
visitor upon first sight. Delegates to the Congress
in October will find that a comprehensive series
of tours has been arranged to places of great in-
terest, including park areas, health units, munici-
pal buildings, historic
spots, and privately spon-
sored recreation facilities.

Tentative plans for
these tours include a trip
to the historic shrines of
Boston and vicinity, to
Concord, with its famous
"rude bridge that arched
the flood" and to Lex-
ington, where the "em-
battled farmers" first
stood. Here the historic
Buckman Tavern, where
the Minute Men waited
in the tap room for the
British, still stands. Here

are such mementos of the Revolution as old bul-
let moulds, powder horns, and bullet holes left in
the doorway from stray shots from the British.
Across the Lexington Green is the statue erected
in honor of the Minute Men, and beyond is the
house where the first soldier fell. At Concord the
graves of "unknown British soldiers" who died in
the early struggle between crown and colony
bring a pang for those who fell so long ago, far
away from home.

On the way to and from Concord and Lexing-
ton the tourist passes innumerable places of liter-
ary and historic interest. Cambridge, the home of
Harvard University, brings many reminders of
the early history of education, for only recently
this college celebrated its 3OOth anniversary as the
seat of higher learning in America. The Long-
fellow House, overlooking the Charles River, is
a literary shrine, and the Wayside Inn at Sudbury,

The Tours Committee, one of the sub-committees
in charge of local arrangements for the Recrea-
tion Congress at Boston, announces the follow-
ing tentative program of sight-seeing trips for
delegates: Tuesday, October I Oth — tour of the
Boston Park Area, including health units, munici-
pal buildings, beaches, Boston Housing projects,
Castle Garden, and the Arnold Arboretum. On
Friday, October 13th — tour of historical Boston
and vicinity, including Concord and Lexington,
the Wayside Inn, and the Newton playgrounds;
or an alternative tour of the Metropolitan Park
District. Spot tours will be arranged on request
to places of special interest to any group, such
as settlement houses, boys clubs, the Y.M.C.A.,
the Y.W.C.A., and the Children's Museum.

where the poet wrote his "Tales of the Wayside
Inn," has been restored by Henry Ford to its
original appealing simplicity.

Boston, Cambridge, Concord, and Lexington all
abound in memories of the great literary age
which has been so ably described recently by Van
Wyck Brooks in his book "The Flowering of
New England." The visitor bent on a literary
pilgrimage will have time to see many of these
places, and to revel in memories of Emerson,
Hawthorne, the Alcotts, James Russell Lowell,
Oliver Wendell Holmes, and a host of others.

In Boston

It is not necessary to go beyond the City of
Boston itself to find places of historic interest; in
fact, it is impossible to be in Boston for any
length of time without
coming into intimate con-
tact with such places.
The Bunker Hill Monu-
ment, a granite obelisk
221 feet high, stands on
what was once Breeds
Hill, within the lines of
the American redoubt
which was the center of
the battle of Bunker Hill
on June 17, 1776. It is
open to the public daily,
and the energetic visitor
may climb to the top
Beneath the monument
lie the quiet streets of

Charlestown, with old houses which have not
changed for generations.

The tower of the Old North Church, in which
the lanterns were hung as .signals for Paul Revere,
is not as conspicuous as it once was when it
dominated the landscape, but it stands today in its
solid beauty, just as it did on that memorable
night when the lanterns flashed — "one if by land,
two if by sea." Not far away is Copps Hill Bury-
ing Ground, where Cotton Mather and many
other early dignitaries are buried. Near by, in the
North End, is the Paul Revere House, built in
1660, and purchased in 1770 by Paul Revere, who,
besides being a great citizen, was a great artisan
designer and silversmith. Samples of his work
may be seen in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Faneuil Hall, which often disputes with Phila-
delphia's Independence Hall the title of "The
Cradle of Liberty," rears its classic facade in the

BOSTON AWAITS YOU

293

heart of the market district, and it surprises visit-
ors to find the bustling life of trade still going on
in the stalls and over the counters of this historic
building. Above the market, the assembly hall,
which was the center of Revolutionary movements
in Boston and was used by the British officers as
a play house during the seige of Boston, remains
intact.

Boston is one city in America which retains the
insignia of British rule. Over the Old State
House the lion and the unicorn still hold sway,
and within this classic building there is gathered
a collection of relics and antiques which the dele-
i gates to the Congress should not fail to see.
When you read in your guide book that "near by
stood the Royal Exchange Tavern, from which
the first stage coach started to New York in Sep-
! tember, 1/72," it is not difficult to imagine the
| scene of its departure. Even today there are many
I reminders of those old days, and the atmosphere
of the past still clings so hauntingly to this part
of Boston that when one passes out of the Old
State House, where memories of the stirring days
of history are treasured, it requires an effort, and
some rubbing of the eyes to realize that the traf-
fic on State Street and the bustle of Washington
Street belong to the year 1939.

Not far away are the old wharves along At-
lantic Avenue, still picturesque, with their ancient
: warehouses and with the

fishing craft anchored be-

side them. On the way to Long Wharf we find a
tablet which reads, "Here formerly stood Griffin's
Wharf at which lay moored December 16, 1773,
three British ships with cargoes of tea. To de-
feat King George's trivial but tyrannical tax of
three pence per pound, about ninety citizens of
Boston, partly disguised as Indians, boarded the
ships, threw the cargoes, three hundred and forty-
two chests in all, into the sea and made the world
ring with the patriotic exploit of the Boston Tea
Party."

Across the harbor in East Boston the visitor
sees the great ocean-going steamers of the present
day, with airplanes taking off and landing in the
East Boston Airport. Only by dint of imagina-
tion can he bring back to these blue waters the
sailing craft of the days of New England's great
navigation history, when clipper ships sailed from
Boston for China and the Orient, as well as for
the ports of Liverpool and London. Reminders
of the days of the clipper ships are found in
museums and historic houses throughout New
England. But the present day preeminence of the
Port of Boston in the fishing industry is easily
discerned in the great modern fleets of refriger-
ated vessels which dock at the fish pier at the foot
of Northern Avenue, beyond Commonwealth pier.

Going back to the business section of the city,

one walks along Washington Street, the busy

shopping district, with its

Boston's museums and parks are recognized as
outstanding in any listing of municipal assets

department stores famed

294

throughout the
country for their
modern manage-
ment system and
their great bar-
gain basements
which make the
highest type of
me rchand i se
available to those
of limited in-
come.

The City's Park
System

Boston's park-
system is one of
the finest in the
world, and this is said without
boasting because it is the re-
peated opinion of visitors from
all parts of the world who
view with delight its Public
Garden and Boston Common,
and the oasis of green throughout the city, and
who visit the vast Metropolitan Park area which
includes a series of reservations stretching over
forty-three separate municipalities so closely knit
together by drives and parkways that they form
virtually one extensive outdoor recreation area.

What is known as the Boston Metropolitan Dis-
trict is theoretically that area which lies within a
radius of ten miles from the center of the famous
gold dome of the Boston State House. This sys-
tem of area reservations will be of immense in-
terest to delegates to the Twenty-Fourth National
Recreation Congress.

The district area, which is under the super-
vision of the Metropolitan District Commission,
operates the water and sewage disposal systems
of the forty-three cities and towns which com-
prise it, which have a total population of more
than 2,000,000 people. It has developed a re-
markable park system, and its plans for the fu-
ture, as indicated on its most recent map, show
that all these cities will eventually be linked by an
ideal system of parkways utilizing modern engi-
neering methods which respect and retain the nat-
ural beauties of the landscape. Scattered about
this area are playgrounds, bathing beaches, facili-
ties for winter sports, picnic grounds, and tennis
courts, and many other facilities for enjoying the
out of doors.

BOSTON AWAITS YOU

The Hotel Statler, headquarters for
the Congress, is within a block of the
Public Garden and Boston Common.
Located near all the city's historic
shrines, it is within easy distance of
railroad stations and bus terminals.

It might be in-
teresting just to
glimpse a few of
the outstanding
figures given in
the 1938 report
of the Commis-
s i o n, which
shows that dur-
ing the year,
193,000 persons
used the bath
houses, more
than 29,400,000
enjoyed the
beaches of the
area, the chil-
dren's play-
provided recreation

-

to

grounds

for 262,500 youngsters, golf
courses gave opportunity for
recreation to 52,000 adults,
nature trails were patronized
by more than 20,000 persons,
the tennis courts were used by 133,000 persons,
and the baseball diamonds gave play opportunity
to 60,500.

Among the beauty spots dedicated to the public
is the Charles River Reservation, with its lovely
Esplanade, the gift of Mrs. James J. Storrow as
a memorial to her husband. It is modeled after
the Alsher Basin in Hamburg. Here, in summer
and fall, the river is dotted with pleasure boats
and craft of all sorts, beaches are devoted to
swimming and sports, and vistas of landscaped
parkway stretch out for miles, giving the hiker an
opportunity for long walks without hindrance or
harm from automobile traffic.

The Middlesex Fells Parkway is another nat-
ural reservation, with its system of woodlands and
lakes which have been compared with those of
Killarney, and its miles of driveway along the
Mystic Valley Park of Medford. The Metropoli-
tan area also includes the new Old Colony Drive-
way with Malibu Beach, which has recently linked
the shore beaches in Dorchester for the pleasure
of residents. The reservations authority extends
to the Lynn Shore Driveway, one of the most
beautiful ocean front drives on the Atlantic coast,
and takes in the Nahant Beach Parkway, which
is also along the Atlantic coast.

The Boston Park Department, of which Com-
(Continucd on page 309)

A Fourteenth Century (3ame Comes to Life

"M

ORRA/' DERIVED from the
Latin word meaning
hesitation, is a game of
Italian origin calling for quick
wits and nimble fingers.

Back in the fourteenth cen-
tury, when Genoa was at war
with Pisa, Morra had its begin-
ning. When the Genoans finally
won the war and carried away
all the Pisan galleons, they
pressed the Pisans into service as the motive power.
With nothing to do but row a boat, mental de-
terioration threatened, so in the rest periods some-
one invented the business of flinging out a fistful
of fingers and inviting the other fellow to match
the play. The game spread like wildfire among
friend and foe alike until today it is a popular
pastime among many.

There is plenty of excitement attached to the
game, for when a team of Morra players are
really in action fingers are flung about with
abandon accompanied by a rising crescendo of
shouts as the players call the number.

The game consists of twenty-one points, and
the successful Morra player can keep score with
one hand while playing the game with the other.
There is one great advantage : it is not necessary
to search about for equipment, for when the
urge to play is felt all a competitor needs is one
good handful of fingers and a lusty voice!

Attilio Mazzolla, local champion and ardent
follower of the game, states: "The very name
itself means delay in Italian, and it is that delay
between throwing the fingers and the hesitation
of the opponent in tossing out his digits that
makes the game."

There is a definite rhythm
to the play, and the pace
grows hotter as the players
warm to the spirit of compe-
tition. The throwing of the
forearm is quick, and fingers
should be firmly outstretched
jto match the number called,
lit is distinctly not "cricket"
to sneak a thumb out from
under the palm to match the
play of the opponent !

By EDWARD M. RYAN

Director of Recreation
Framingham, Massachusetts

It is the belief of Mr. Ryan that
his community was the first in the
country to organize this ancient Ital-
ian game for league play. Is there
anyone among our readers pre-
pared to challenge this statement?

rules

The Rules

Here are the simple
which govern this game:

The game may be played
with two or more players. When
playing a team match, four men
constitute a team.

Twenty-one points constitute
a game.

To play the game the players
face each other, and when the
referee says "go" they simultaneously throw the
right hand forward with the fingers extended.
With the throw the players call a number. The
player calling the total fingers extended is given
one point. If neither player scores or both call
the same number, there is no score and the action
continues.

Each time a player wins a point the scorer gives
him a card. The individual, or in team play the
team, winning twenty-one cards wins the match.
In team matches, play alternates between op-
posing players.

In Framingham the Park Department spon-
sored a twelve team league through the winter
months. All games were played at the Foresters'
Club House, and fifty-six individuals flung fingers
in league competition. The game proved a success
from the start. A small trophy was awarded to
the league champions who are looking forward to
an even more interesting season next year.

"A good game is one that can be played
almost anywhere, that is within the finan-
cial and mental grasp of the masses, that
fires the imagination, that challenges the
skill or intelligence of the player, that
gives him a sense of accomplishment
without ever quite letting him attain
perfection, that embodies the element
of surprise, that gives the player
something to talk about and discuss
with his friends, and that looks so ab-
sorbing when being played that onlook-
ers want to get into it themselves."

Speaking of ancient games, do you know that
the Dutch brought bowling to America in the
eighteenth century ? That the first report of a prize
fight — 1184 B.C. — was written by Homer? That
the Romans are said to have
brought football to England
during the conquest of Cae-
sar? That the first covered
bowling alleys were built in
the twelfth century ? That the
old-time punishment for a
player of cricket who turned
professional was a boycott
from all employment? That
the first golf balls ever to be
used were made of leather
which was stuffed with
feathers ?

295

BEHIND the playground re-
ports we study, behind the
newspaper accounts we read
of splendid recreational activi-
ties conducted in all parts of the
country, lie the usually unwrit-
ten stories of the personal as-
pects of these achievements —
the stories of recreation workers' own private
problems, battles and successes that are inter-
woven with the excellent programs they evolve.
Believing as I do that these personal histories of
recreation workers have possible value for others,
I'd like to rise up in meeting if I may and mention
three fine individuals — and speak of them from
the "success story" angle.

From Caretaker to Playground Director

Yesterday, I met on the street, seventy-year-old
Mr. Davidson, stepping briskly to his work as
director of a large playground. His bare, muscu-
lar arms were sun-tanned and even brown, and
his swarthy face made striking contrast to his
snowy hair.

"Good morning, Mr. Davidson," said I, "You
grow younger every time I see you."

"Yes," he replied, "I believe I do. It's my as-
sociation with the kids !"

Was this picturesque man always a playground
director? Not he! Hit by that word beginning
with "De — " (Ever hear of it?) he heard of a
vacancy as caretaker in one of our county parks.
Now, mowing grass and taking care of forty
acres of land was not exactly in his line — he'd
been a salesman. But what of that? He needed
a job and that was that.

During the performance of his normal duties —
menial tasks they were too, by the way — he began
to take an interest in the boys who came to the
park to play. He helped them to organize their
sports, re f creed games and won himself a place in
their friendship and esteem.

Was Mr. Davidson's able volunteer work im-
mediately recognized in the form of a promotion
to the playground directorship? No, it wasn't.
But as his interest was genuine and intense, he
continued to do a fine piece of work in helping the
boys. After several seasons I am happy to say
that he was advanced to the directorship. Today

296

By EDITH CRASTO

For every successful playground
and every worth-while community
enterprise, someone in the back-
ground is putting in hours of
planning and work. We present
to you three such personalities.

in spite of his late start and
roundabout approach to his
present profession, he is director
of one of the largest county
playgrounds in our system. Mr.
Davidson's is a real story of
personal achievement for he has
familiarized himself with the
latest practices in all branches of his work. For
example, although he was not a trained carpenter
or artist he has studied the subject of handcrafts
intensively with the result that he recently put on
one of the most successful boys' handcraft ex-
hibits ever held in the park.

Builder of Bands and Boys

Mr. Johnson was formerly a member of a large
theatrical orchestra. Like Mr. Davidson, he
found himself jobless one day.

With time on his hands, he looked around him
and began to be interested in the boys of the
neighborhood. To see them hanging around the
drug stores and the gas stations aimlessly was a
depressing, unnecessary sight to Mr. Johnson —
when he could offer them something to enliven
their days. So he invited some boys in to his own
small, humble home with music-making as an ob-
jective. He found out quickly how boys will
work when a worth-while purpose is presented.
Mrs. Johnson found out, too ! For her ears were
filled with the squeaking of violins, the shrill
screaming of flutes and the tooting of the saxs.
Certainly, long suffering but loyal Mrs. Johnson
had more than one reason to be glad when the
addition of bass viols to the ensemble made it
necessary for the group to seek larger quarters!
Mr. Johnson, looking around for a meeting place,
bethought himself of an old unfinished parish
house. Thither he took his boys and their instru-
ments. They found an old wood stove, and tak-
ing turn about the boys brought in the wood to
keep themselves warm.

The attendance and the work have grown until
now Mr. Johnson has several units which play
well enough to be in demand for dances all round
the countryside. Since there is no money to buy
music Mr. Johnson spends his days writing his
own orchestrations. But in the evenings he may
(Continued on page 310)

WORLD

; AT

PLAY

Photo by Joseph C. Matthews

Beginning in May
One of Fitchburg's f.

_ _ andcontinuing

Beauty Spots , „ ,

through September,

band concerts are

given regularly at the Mirror Lake bandstand
in Coggshall Park, Fitchburg, Massachusetts.
These concerts are broadcast over a public
address system. The Memorial Building, which
is shown in the picture, is equipped to accom-
modate picnic parties at all seasons of the year
and serves as a dressing room for skaters dur-
ing the winter months. The lake has a
widespread reputation as a goldfish center, and
little children with bags of bread crusts under
their arms are a familiar sight in the park as
they trudge toward the lake to feed the fish.
In some instances the fish are given to resi-
dents who have out-of-door pools in their
gardens.

couraged to enter the contest and to submit
their suggestions for safer roller skating.

A Campaign for Safe
Roller Skating

In the last few weeks
before dismissal for

summer vacations,

boys and girls in the

New York City public schools were warned
jof the hazards of play and taught to watch for
(elements of safety in all recreational activities.
i As part of the program, the Safety Education
| Project conducted a city-wide contest for the

best ten roller skating safety rules, and during

the week of May 29th eighty safety teachers
jassociated with the project gave talks to school

children throughout the city on the dangers

of roller skating in the streets or roadways.
iChildren in all the elementary and junior high

schools and in parochial schools were en-

Baltimore's Traveling
Play Leader

The Playground
Athletic League of
Baltimore is helping
to reduce child fatali-
ties through automobile accidents by assigning
a traveling play leader to visit street blocks
and teach safe sidewalk games. Each leader
carries a kit of play games, and with the simple
instructions given the children are able to
continue the games under their own leader-
ship when the play leader has gone to another
block.

Cleveland Holds All
Nations Festival

Nationality groups
joined young song-
sters from all parts
of Cleveland, Ohio,

in an all-nations festival which opened the
summer music season at the lake front on June
20th. The city's Recreation Division sponsored
the event, rehearsals for which had been under
way since last winter. The festival was divided
into three episodes. The first depicted African
migration to America and gave opportunity for
the singing of Negro spirituals, work songs,
and dances. The second episode, presented by
selected nationality groups, portrayed the com-
ing to America of the many people who
brought their culture to our shores. Groups
from various countries marched down "the
path of freedom" in the costumes of their
homeland and presented folk songs and dances.
The third episode pictured the American way

297

298

WORLD- AT PLAY

of life which has resulted from the blending of
the contributions of other lands.

A Recreation Map for Dayton — Compiled by
the Group Work Division of the Dayton, Ohio,
Council of Social Agencies, an exceedingly
attractive illustrated map of Dayton's recrea-
tion facilities has been issued under the cap-
tion, "Enjoy Health and Happiness at Dayton's
Recreational Centers This Summer." In a
column at the left of the map under the title,
"Here's Your Hobby," is a classified list of
major sports and park and playground activi-
ties for the summer schedule. Numbers refer
the reader to the parks and play centers listed
in another column. Here are given the actual
name of the park or play center, the street
address, and telephone number. The same
numbers serve as a guide in finding the loca-
tion on the map. The entire circular has been
worked out in an ingenious and resourceful
way that cannot fail to attract attendance.

Detroit's Pageant of Seasons — "Pageant of
Seasons" was the theme of the demonstration
given by 1,600 Detroit, Michigan, housewives
and businessmen on May llth. For seventeen
years these remarkable demonstrations have
been held under the auspices of the Detroit
Recreation Department. Some members of this
year's huge cast were among the 200 who took
part in the original demonstration at Barbour
School seventeen years ago, and many more
have taken part in other demonstrations since
then. The women were all members of the
various gymnasium and dancing classes at the
city's sixty recreation centers. Mrs. Lottie
McDermott Colligan, in charge of the event,
in describing the pageant emphasized the
sociability which characterized the demonstra-
tion. "At the all-day rehearsal at Olympia,"
she said, "many women bring their lunches
and gather in groups in the boxes or balconies
for a social visit. Together they have estab-
lished a tradition that has much in common
with Ober-Ammergau."

After a demonstration of gymnastics in
massed formation came the pageant in four
scenes, each typifying a season. Fourteen
thousand people witnessed the event.

A Contest in Play Writing — The Dramatic
Committee of the Jewish People's Institute of
Chicago, through the cooperation of Alfred M.
Stein, a member of the Committee, is offering
an award of $100 for the best original one-act
play submitted on or before December 15,
1939. Only those who are residents of Chicago
or who live within a radius of 50 miles from it
are eligible to enter the contest which is de-
signed to encourage the writing and production
of new plays and the creation of local drama
of merit. Further information may be secured
from the Secretary of the Dramatic Com-
mittee, Jewish People's Institute, 3500 Douglas
Boulevard, Chicago.

The Huron-Clinton Parkway — A bill to pro-
vide for the incorporation of the Huron-Clinton
Metropolitan Authority, which will permit the
Michigan counties of Wayne, Washtenaw,
Livingston, Oakland, and Macomb, or certain
of such counties, to join in a metropolitan dis-
trict for developing parks and parkways and
recreation facilities, has been signed by the
Governor. The basic plan of the committee,
of which Dr. Henry S. Curtis is executive
secretary, is the creation of a 175-mile parkway
along the Huron and Clinton river valleys with
a number of branch parkways, making the park
area easily accessible to residents of the dis-
tricts. The plan provides for the eventual
creation of a mile long public bathing beach
which later may be lengthened. It is believed
that this beach can be made self-supporting.
The commissioners in charge of the project
may levy for the purposes of the Authority a
tax of not more than a quarter mill upon each
dollar of the assessed value of the property of
the district.

Outdoor Dancing — The Department of Parks
of New York City is conducting a series of free
public dances throughout the summer at
various parks and playgrounds. Music is pro-
vided by the WPA Federal Music Project.
All dances begin at 8:00 P.M. and end at
10:30 P.M. Among the rules governing the
conduct of the dancers are the following':
Gentlemen are requested to wear jackets and
remove hats while on the dance floor. Girls are
not permitted to dance together, and cutting

WORLD AT PLAY

299

in is not allowed. No smoking is permitted on
the dance area.

National Music Week in Reading — There
were thirteen volunteer committees function-
ing in the National Music Week celebration
held in Reading, Pennsylvania. Music teachers
and school children took an enthusiastic part
in the celebration, and neighborhood recitals
for which parents and pupils planned all the
details were particularly popular. In some
instances there were family celebrations in
which only the children of one family partici-
pated, calling upon their mothers and fathers
for a biographical sketch of American com-
posers or to join them in singing folk songs.
Other children gathered with music students
in the neighborhood and arranged evening or
afternoon programs. Social features were
added in the form of serving refreshments. In
one rural home, where the performers and the
audience had come from surrounding farms,
games followed a lengthy program of en-
sembles of all descriptions. The material was
drawn from the district junior and senior high
schools and consisted of a chorus, glee club,
orchestra, band, string trios, quartets, and
solos. The children took great pride in making
the programs by hand.

New York's Learn-to-Swim Campaign —
I From June 5th to 24th the Department of
Parks of New York City conducted a learn-to-
s\vim campaign during which free instruction
was given at the various outdoor pools. Ad-
mission to the city's indoor pools is free at all
times. Children under fourteen years of age
are admitted free to the outdoor pools every
week day, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays
excepted, between the hours of 10:00 A.M. and
12 :30 P. M. Adults are not permitted in the
pools during the children's free morning
periods. An admission fee of 20 cents is
charged for adults in the outdoor pools. There
is no extra charge for instruction.

Paterson's Community Orchestra — "If the

Board of Recreation does nothing else this

year, last night's event would have stood out

' as a civic achievement," was the comment of

! a local paper in Paterson, New Jersey, in

writing of the first annual concert of the

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Paterson community symphony orchestra
which the Board is sponsoring. "The com-
munity owes a vote of thanks not only for an
evening of rare good music but also for the
demonstration of Paterson's capabilities in the
field of art." The orchestra, made up of forty-
four musicians in Paterson and its vicinity,
made its bow on April 26th before an audience
of almost 1,000 people who paid an admission
fee, the proceeds being given to the city's three
general hospitals. The selections were played
from Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and
Strauss. Only a small percentage of the mem-
bers of the orchestra fare professional
musicians, and included in the roster are
physicians, lawyers, accountants, students, mer-
chants, a postal clerk, and a barber. Plans for
next year involve a series of three concerts,
rehearsals for which will be held during the
summer, climaxed by a repetition of this year's
concert. A choral group will be created as a
companion organization.

Music Week in St. Paul — Bands, choral
groups, quartets, trios, and soloists combined

300

WORLD AT PLAY

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in the observation of Music Week in May,
during which five major programs were pre-
sented, one in each section of the city. Among
the groups participating were the thirty-two
piece WPA band and the WPA orchestra, the
police band, the St. Paul ladies' band, the
Schubert Club ensemble, the Swedish male
chorus, the Jubilee Singers, and others. The
presentation of three Italian folk dance groups
added color. Mrs. Lorayne Palarine, Director
of Social Recreation of the Playground Depart-
ment, was chairman of the committee in
charge.

A New Street Sign Appears in Pittsburgh —
"Anna B. Heldman has served the neighbor-
hood for the past thirty-seven years, giving
generously, faithfully, lovingly, and tirelessly
of her time, energy, and service for the benefit
of others. Not only has her personality been
reflected in the Hill district, but her influence
has been city-wide."

So read in part the petition of Pittsburgh's
City Council and Mayor Scully, which recently
resulted by a unanimous vote of the Council

in changing the name of Overhill Street on the
"Hill" to Heldman Street.

Miss Heldman, a nurse by profession, has
for many years been on the staff of the Irene
Kaufmann Settlement, of which Overhill Street
forms one of the boundaries. The honor paid
Miss Heldman in recognition of her many
years of service to the neighborhood and the
city at large is an honor in which all settlement
and neighborhood workers may take pride.

A Chinese Checker Tournament — Word
comes from Cincinnati, Ohio, that at the pres-
ent time Chinese checkers is probably the most
popular game for children and adults being
offered by the Public Recreation Commission.
Recently a tournament was conducted for
adults, with a ribbon for the champion and the
winner of the consolation tournament. The
participants had a most enjoyable time playing
with men and women from various districts
of the city.

Women's Clubs in the Recreation Program —
One of the most interesting phases of the rec-
reation service of the Playground Athletic
League is the club program for women whose
ages range from 20 to 80 years. Nineteen differ-
ent clubs, with a total membership of 516, meet
once each week in school buildings or com-
munity centers for recreational and social pur-
poses, as well as for club business. Each club
elects its own officers and operates under the
guidance of a trained leader. Some of the an-
nual events which comprise their program are
a Costume Dance, Harvest Music Festival, an
educational tour a,nd participation in the Girls'
Winter Carnival. They celebrate the Christmas
Season with candlelight services at their
separate club meetings, and in the summer all
of the clubs join together for their annual trip
down the bay.

Money earned by the clubs from activities
such as card parties, oyster suppers, minstrel
shows, carnivals and club dues is used to
finance an out of town trip each year to such
places as Atlantic City, New York, Niagara
Falls or Canada or a one-day trip to the Sky-
line Drive or Dupont Gardens. The club sea-
son closes with a merry banquet at one of the
large hotels.

City Forests as Investments- — There are in

WORLD AT PLAY

301

the United States more than 1,500 community
; forests which contain about three million acres,
; according to the Forest Service of the United

• States Department of Agriculture. More than
143,000,000 trees have been planted in these
forests. It is estimated that the eventual net

'return from properly managed forests will
: range from three dollars to five dollars an acre
annually. These forest areas are owned by
'i cities, counties, school districts, and other local
; units for the production of timber crops, rec-
reation, watershed protection and various other
; purposes.

Some of New York City's Summer Events —

The New York City Department of Parks an-
jnounces a number of events for the summer
< playground season.

One contest of special' interest, known as

"Youth Versus Age in Chess and Checkers,"
fis being conducted between the winners of the

group under sixteen years and the fifty-year
|group in chess and checker tournaments.

Other events include contests in all types of
imusical instruments; amateur singing for boys

and girls from eight to twelve years and from

thirteen to sixteen years; whistling — solo,
inovelty, and bird call imitations; magic; and

hillbilly songs, dances and music.' A contest of
^one-act plays for boys and girls from ten to

sixteen years has been scheduled, and there
•will be tournaments in jacks for girls under

• sixteen years and in shuffleboard for men and
women over eighteen years of age.

Additional city-wide tournaments will in-
jclude baseball, Softball, punch ball, twilight
baseball, horseshoe pitching, and paddle tennis.

At the Lamp Club Girls' Camp— The Los
Angeles, California, Department of Play-
jground and Recreation is conducting a summer
jcamp for girls nine to sixteen years of age,
Under the name, "The Lamp Club Girls'
(Camp." The camp, a wilderness retreat in
| Griffith Park only half an hour from home,
provides swimming and swimming instruc-
tions, hiking, sports, camp games, nature lore,
•woodcraft, dramatics, music, handcraft, and
hobbies. The cost for Lamp Club members is
only $4.00 a week ; for all other girls, $5.00.

Gardening and Nature Activities in Balti-
more—About 475 Baltimore, Maryland, child-

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ren are enrolled in the home garden project,
through which eight gardens of flowers and
vegetables have sprung up on plots set aside
in parks throughout the city and on school and
library grounds. Many of the children have
made scrapbooks of cut-out pictures, clippings,
plants, and flowers and have learned how to
plant and care for glass gardens, dish gardens,-
and window boxes in their own homes, as well
as how to arrange flowers artistically. Adults
are coming in for their share of nature lore
since opportunity is offered them to take part
in field trips through Gwynns Falls and Wy-
man Parks and the campus of Johns Hopkins
University where the wonders of trees, shrubs,
lichens, mosses, and ferns are carefully studied
under the leadership of an experienced
botanist.

Where They Learn to Play Tennis— By a
cooperative arrangement with the Public Rec-
reation Commission, the Cincinnati, Ohio,
Times-Star is offering for the sixth consecu-
tive year weekly instruction periods in tennis
for readers sending to the Commission a cou-
pon appearing in the June 6th issue of the
Times-Star. Instructors from the staff of the
Public Recreation Commission are teaching the
groups in five weekly instruction periods at
thirty locations in all parts of the city. Boys
and girls under seventeen years of age are
asked to register for day classes. A few eve-
ning classes are conducted for adults.

Recreation for Children in Toledo's Hous-
ing Projects — Realizing the need for recrea-
tional opportunities in Toledo's Federal Hous-
ing Project, the Division of Recreation under-
took the planning and arranging of a full-time

302

WORLD AT PLAY

recreation program. The Whitlock Homes
project covers fifteen acres and serves 264
families. The two acre playground, fully
equipped with apparatus and with an athletic
field, is adding greatly to the program arranged
by the recreation staff. Indoor recreation is
provided in a building which has two large
rooms for the purpose. The housing project
now under construction in East Toledo will
also be provided with recreational facilities
through the efforts of the Division of Recrea-
tion.

A Loyalty Contest — Last summer the St.
Paul, Minnesota, Recreation Department con-
ducted a loyalty contest to arouse enthusiasm
for the local playgrounds and stimulate musical
activities. Loyalty songs with words com-
posed by the children, display of colors, and
selections by orchestras and choruses were in-
cluded in the programs. Twelve playgrounds
participated with 962 participants.

Linden's Second Annual Hobby Show —

Large numbers of people attended the second
annual hobbies and crafts exhibit held for three
days under the auspices of the Linden, New
Jersey, Recreation Commission. Approximately
three hundred exhibits were on display repre-
senting the hobbies pursued in the city.
Special programs were held each evening with
the show. On Monday night a sports night pro-
gram was presented which included demonstra-
tions in archery, table tennis, and tumbling. A
colored choral group sang Negro spirituals and
Russian folk songs. Scout night was observed
Tuesday evening, and on the third night one of
the schools presented a spring frolic.

The exhibits included the work of Italian,
Slavic, and Scotch nationality groups which
were exceptionally colorful. P.T.A., Boy
Scouts, Girl Scouts, school recreation clubs,
and a number of civic organizations cooperated
with the Commission in the exhibit.

International Congress for Workers' Leisure
-The International Congress for Workers'
Leisure will be held in Liege, Belgium, from
September 23 to 26, 1939. The program, ar-
ranged under the sponsorship of the Interna-
tional Workers' Bureau, will include a dis-

cussion of workers' holidays and their cultural
aspects of art, sports, and activities for women.
A number of sightseeing trips have been ar-
ranged, and there will be musical and dramatic
events. Further information may be secured
from the General Secretary, Fernand Charlier,
rue Darchis, 33, Liege.

Recreational Developments in San Fran-
cisco— The San Francisco, California, Recrea-
tion Commission reported in December, 1938,
forty-three playground centers, twenty-seven
school playgrounds, and eight evening gymnasi-
ums. Ninety-two different activities were being
conducted, five new sites were under construction
and land for future playgrounds was being pur-
chased at five locations.

Toy Lending Centers in Chicago — Ten toj
lending centers are now in operation with four ir
the making. Two thousand two hundred eighty-
two (2,282) new toys were completed during the
month, with 1,000 in process of construction. Not
only has this activity developed tremendous in-
terest in the communities but the fact that there
were 3,350 visitors to the toy lending shop during
the month is a key to the interest of people all
over the city as well as outside of the city in fol-
lowing the pattern set by this activity.

Clubs in Lancaster — The club program for
boys and girls is the outstanding feature of the fall
and winter program conducted by the Recreation
and Playground Association of Lancaster, Pa., ac-
cording to the 1938 report. From one club in 1932
the number has grown to eight, and 1045 boys and
girls were registered in the clubs last season. The
School Board has been very generous in granting
permission for the use of the three school build-
ings in which the clubs were operated. Through
the courtesy of the Welfare Board a room in the
basement of the new community building was
used two afternoons a week for a boys' club in-
terested in radio and electric construction work.

The Trek Back to Che-Pe-Ko-Ke

(Continued from page 260)

the parent-teacher associations of the city, who
dispensed with their November programs to join
the library. The pageant was re-enacted. Talks

THE NEWARK MUSEUM NATURE CLUB

303

I were made. Mr. Eikenberry, Superintendent of
;: Schools, presided before turning the program over
•to the library. Lists were distributed on Parent
. Education.

More than 8,000 feathers were painted by a
^WPA project being sponsored by the library, and
»more than 500 folders outlining the project and
; 5,000 book scalps were made. The feathers were
i donated by the Knox Poultry Company, and even
the manager paid the library a visit, being con-
isumed with curiosity to know what was being
iidone with so many feathers. Five hundred
.children enrolled for the project and more than
J8,ooo books were read. "Recreational Programs
•for Summer Camps," by H. W. Gibson, was
•used to good advantage, together with '-How the
; Indians Lived" by Dearborn, as well as publica-
tions by other well-known writers of Indian lore.

Lantern Pageants in the Making

(Continued from page 265)

its in the cardboard. These arms also aid in
seeping the shape of the lantern. The cut-out de-
sign occurs within an inch margin from the top
md sides, and a two-inch margin at the bottom of
Jin 8" x 9" lantern side. After the designing, the
cutting and the papering is next accomplished.
Wiring for the carrying is a matter of taking
j:hree ten-inch pieces of fine wire and fastening
;:hem to the lantern. Next, the apex is wound
ground the eighteen-inch stick. The lantern is
j:hen ready to be carried by the child.

What They Say About Recreation

(Continued from page 266)

md in the necessity, in the interest of public
icalth, morality and happiness, of providing
;neans by which the depressing influence of these
honditions may be minimized."

— Nathan Matthews, Jr.

The Newark Museum Nature Club

(Continued from page 268)

jity are visited repeatedly, yet remain popular
Because of the varied character of each trip.
')ne of the club's standbys is a section of the
-vooded Watchung Mountains that is reached
by bus at a cost of twenty cents. Rock forma-
jions, birds, trees, flowers, shrubs, fruits, in-
jects, and amphibians have been studied in this
pot in the course of ten trips, and are likely

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to provide incentives for many trips in the
future.

Longer trips are taken several times each
year to places of outstanding interest. Among
the objectives of recent trips have been the
pine barrens of southern New Jersey to study
the region's unusual plant life, the seashore
for its marine life and birds, the mountainous
northern counties for their rare orchids and
ferns, and the Franklin Furnace zinc mines for
their many minerals. Trips to these places
have not only given the members the pleasure
of exploring new localities, but have broad-
ened their knowledge of the state's natural
history as well.

Each person attending the trips provides his
own transportation and meets the groups at
prearranged spots close to the scene of each
day's activities. This practice naturally pre-
vents many people from attending the longer
trips, the locales of which can usually be
reached only by automobile, and requires that
the majority of the outings be accessible by
bus or train from the city. Some prominent
landmark, usually a railroad station, is desig-
nated for meeting, at a time coinciding with
the arrival of a train or bus, the schedule of
which is given in the announcement of the
trip. At this point the leader takes charge,
and the group sets out over the route that he
has chosen.

The many details that often harass the
leader of a group of from ten to twenty people,
especially when he is a stranger, have been
solved to a large extent by appointing an as-
sisting host or hostess from the club's mem-
bership. While many leaders dominate their
groups from the beginning of the day to the

304

DUBUQUE'S BOYS' STATE ELECTION

Dubuque's Boys1 State Election

THROUGH THE COOPERATION of the Department
of Recreation and the American Legion of
Dubuque, Iowa, twelve Dubuque boys are being
sent for a week's stay at Camp Dodge, just out-
side Des Moines. Some time ago the American
Legion Post called upon Karl Grabow, a member
of the Post and director of recreation for the city,
to help in planning for a boys' state election which
would result in sending a number of the boys of
Dubuque to camp. An election committee was
organized consisting of the principals of the pub-
lic and parochial schools, and Mr. Grabow. It
was decided to hold an election as a method of
selecting the boys to go to camp. The election was
arranged to comply with Iowa state laws, and
regulation voting machines were used in the fif-
teen voting precincts. The night before the elec-
tion a large parade was held under the supervision
of the Department of Recreation in which girls
and boys of all the schools, the Police Depart-
ment, the City Council, and members of the super-
vising organizations took part. Nearly three
thousand boys and girls of the high schools voted
on the following day for twelve boys out of fifty-
two candidates.

When the boys sent by the American Legion
Posts from the various towns assembled at Camp
Dodge they were divided into two parties, and a
second election was held at which a governor and
city officials were elected. During the mornings
the boys were taught the fundamentals of operat-
ing government; the afternoon sessions were de-
voted to recreation activities.

end and need little help, others appreciate the
assistance of a member in making people ac-
quainted, keeping the group together during
the day, seeing that the luncheon site is not
littered with paper bags, and generally keep-
ing things running smoothly.

While the methods of the different leaders
vary greatly, most of the trips follow a similar
pattern. The atmosphere is informal yet not
that of social outings because of the common
interest in nature study. The trips are specific
in so far as intensive study is made of related
plants and animals, but broad enough to in-
clude a wide range of apparently unrelated
activities. The collecting of frogs' eggs or the
photographing of bursting tree buds during a
spring bird walk add variety and help to make

the outing interesting to those members who
are not particularly interested in birds.

Of the people attending the trips, some are
laymen having their first experience in field
nature study, some science teachers and stu-
dents supplementing their classroom and
laboratory educations, and some amateur
naturalists of more or less advanced interests
in search of specimens for their collections as
well as information. By bringing together
people of many nature interests in one field
trip program to share their knowledge and
ideas, the Newark Museum Nature Club has
filled a gap in the educational and recrea-
tional life of its community, and has helped to
make nature study a popular spare-time
activity.

Music Forums

(Continued from page 272)
Rock Council of Girl Scouts and the Division of
Recreation, Works Progress Administration, has
awakened a keen interest in these fields of com-
munity expression on the part of adults and chil-
dren. The International Festival of Folk Songs
and Dancing, on the Thanksgiving Music Calen-
dar, demonstrated to the Little Rock audiences the
colorful beauty of authentic, native costumes for
dances gracefully and rhythmically presented by
community center and playground groups. A large
number of sponsoring agencies contributed to the
success of this folk festival.

Community concerts and sings in numerous
centers of Arkansas have, through the recrea-
tion leadership training programs, been initiated
and assisted in program planning to the end that
they have included much that is significant and
artistic in their musical offerings. Community
Recreation Councils in several hundred cities,
towns and villages of Arkansas have received
consulting service from the music phase of the
Division of Recreation, Works Progress Admin-
istration in Arkansas; and, by including in their
local lay advisory committees persons of recog-
nized musical ability and training and of profes-
sional standing, these same recreation councils
are now experiencing that sense of satisfaction
which comes with seeing community music reach-
ing solid foundations through integration into the
life of their communities as evolving, living, ever-
changing music programs.

Also, in cooperation with the Arkansas State
Federation of Music Clubs, the Arkansas Federa-

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

305

tion of Women's Clubs, Parent-Teacher Councils
and similar organizations, the Community Recre-

;ation Councils are now reaching a point where

ithey are producing their own music leaders. It is
hoped that through folk festivals and the dis-

jcovery, direction and presentation of amateur
talent, these same communities will before long
make more music of their own in expressing their

:own life and community aspirations. Annotations

|. of Arkansas folk lore will be used for coming folk
festivals in several urban sections of Arkansas,

•and interest is mounting in festival units follow-
ing the Music Forums' discussions of that means
of reviving interest in the presentation and pre-
servation of our national and international musi-
cal heritages.

With current surveys being made by the Rec-
reation Committee of the Little Rock Council of
Parent-Teacher Associations and the Little Rock
Council of Social Agencies, there comes to light
the apparent need of municipal financing and su-
pervision of the -civic recreation program in Ar-
kansas, capitol city. Developments toward a cen-

jtral park authority are under advisement by the
City Council; meanwhile the contribution of vol-
unteer groups and federal agencies in coordinat-
ing programs of activities and improvements and
in planning are significant.

Community organization for recreation in Lit-
tle Rock and Arkansas has received new impetus
through the inclusion of music in the scope of its
program of activities. Of no small moment in the
history of this movement are the local music
forum groups.

Magazines and Pamphlets

Recently Received Containing Articles \

of Interest to the Recreation Worker

Safety on the Playground

(Continued from page 273)

is in charge of all the captains and is responsible
to the play leader for the success of the clubs on
:he playground.

The duties of the sergeant include keeping a
| -oil book with the names and addresses of mem-
3ers of the club. He is responsible for checking
'Attendance at the regular weekly meeting, for the
"esults of the weekly discussion lesson, and the
projects made.

At each meeting the safety lesson is discussed
md every member of the club is urged to take
Dart in the discussion. Every member of the club
jvvho disobeys the rules is dropped after two
..varnings.

At the regular weekly meeting each member
kill be asked to report to his captain how he has

MAGAZINES

Child Study, May 1939

"The Home as a Democracy" by Raymond Gram
Swing

Camping World, May 1939

"I Want Democracy in My Camp" by Robert C.

Marshall

"What Shall I Pay My Counsellor Staff and What
For?"

Training Viewpoint — Ida May Born
Institutional Camp Viewpoint — A. C. Nichols, Jr.
"Summer Camp Insurance" by Norman M. Godnick

The Guardian, June 1939

"The Boy and Girl Age" by Theodore Acland
Harper

The National Elementary Principal, June 1939

"Meeting the New in Education" by Guy L. Quinn,
Principal, Whitesville School, Neptune, N. J.

Youth Leaders Digest, June 1939

"Shall We Play to Win?— Or Just for Fun?"

The Romans Press, June 1939

"They Call Us a Group Work Agency" by Margaret

Williamson
"Co-Ed Recreation" by Margaret C. Harrison

Junior League, June 1939

"Democracy and Leisure" by Eduard C. Lindeman
"New Leisure-Time Problems" by Mark A. Mc-
Closkey

The Foil, May 1939

"Behind the Scenes" (Makeup) by Helen Bork
"Knowledge and Achievement Tests in Girls Basket-
ball on the Senior High School Level" by Helen
Schwartz

"What Is the Folk Festival Council?"
"Does Physical Education Develop Personality?" by
Hilda Guenther

The Journal of Health and Physical Education,

June 1939

"Dance — and the Child" by Beatrice E. Richardson
"Corecreational Campus Activities" by Virginia W.
Ames

Parents' Magazine, June 1939

"Community Plans for Summer" — A series of inter-
esting paragraph statements about the plans various
cities have made for summer.

PAMPHLETS

A Practical Bibliography of Recreational Activities

Compiled by C. O. Jackson, Assistant Professor of
Physical Education, University of Illinois.

Wisconsin State Planning Board and Conservation Com.'
mission, Bulletin No. 8, January 1939, being a Park,
Parkway and Recreational Area Plan and The Minne-
sota State Park and Recreational Area Plan 1939

These two reports have recently been completed and
constitute two more units in the nation-wide study
which is being made of recreation facilities

306

TO SEE WHAT THEY CAN SEE

The Hobbyist, March 1939

Playground and Recreation Association of Phila-
delphia, Inc., 1427 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
Price 5tf
Report of the Perth Amboy Recreation Department, 1938

Perth Amboy, New Jersey

Resources in a Democracy for Enriching Personality 1938
San Francisco Jewish Community Center, San Fran-
cisco, California.

Know Your School — Know Your Superintendent

Leaflet No. 48, United States Department of the
Interior, Office of Education, Washington, D. C.
Price 5^
Index of Research Projects, Volume II

Works Progress Administration in collaboration with
the National Resources Committee and State
Planning Agencies, Government Printing Office,
Washington, D. C. Section on Recreation, pages
49-59

Camping Policies by Dr. James E. West

Boy Scouts of America, 2 Park Avenue, New York
City

Annual Report 1938

Bureau of Recreation, Dept. of Public Works,
Scranton, Pa.

Annual Report 1938

Playground Board, Oak Park, Illinois

Annual Report 1938

Board of Park Commissioners, Minneapolis,
Minnesota

Annual Report 1938

Recreation and Playground Association, Lancaster,
Pa.

Recreation Review 1938

Albany Recreation Department, Albany, California

Annual Report of the Superintendent of Recreation
1938-1939

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Where Shall We Play?— A Report on the Outdoor Rec-
reational Needs of New Jersey

New Jersey State Planning Board, May 1938

helped in reducing accidents either on his way to
the playground or after his arrival there. All vio-
lations of the pledge and the safety rules com-
mitted either on his way to the playground or
after arrival must be reported to the captain, who
passes the report on to the major. The major
takes the matter up with the leader, whose de-
cision is final.

Leaders should plan to have safety talks at
least once during the season. Mothers and fathers
should be invited to be present at a program
meeting.

To See What They Can See

(Continued from page 277)

leaves, mosses and butterflies may be classified
and assembled in playground museums or, when
specimens are living creatures, in homemade cages
and receptacles where their habits may be observed.

The making of large maps is a fine post-hike proj
ect. These maps may be embellished with amusing
drawings and comments such as "Here Marie fell
into the creek," "Here Sonia thought she heard
a bear" and "Here John picked up a grasshopper.
Surprise!" Such a map to which a large group
contributes may be quite a work of art. It may
be drawn with crayon on sturdy wrapping paper,
mounted on wallboard, shellacked, and hung on
the wall as a record of one of the high spots of
the summer. Some individual will, of course,
write up the hike for the playground paper.
Camera devotees will develop pictures taken on
the hike and post them on the bulletin board. A
few of the older, responsible boys or girls who
know the points of interest well will perhaps be-
come qualified hike guides (not to supplant adult
leaders, but to act as aides on subsequent hikes).
Encourage these young experts by lending them —
with proper recommendations — to other play-
grounds. You, in turn, may borrow from another
playground hike guides to help you on some trips
with which you are less familiar.

Where to Find Additional Material on
Day Hikes

Adventuring in Nature, Betty Price. National Recreation

Association. $.60
Day Camping, by Maude Dryden. National Recreation

Association. $.25
The Outdoor Book, Gladys Snyder and C. Frances

Loomis. Camp Fire Girls, 88 Lexington Avenue,

New York City. $.50
Day Hikes, Girl Scouts, Inc., 19 West 49th Street, New

York City. $.20
Partners in Play, Mary J. Breen. National Recreation

Association. $1.00
Hikers' Guide, Ben Solomon. Leisure League of

America, New York City. $.25

Salem Builds Swimming Pools

(Continued from page 278)

equipped with horizontal filters, bathhouses with
basket checking systems, gas chlorinators, and
heated shower water. The water supply comes
from the city reservoir, thus insuring purity from
the beginning.

•

The entire recreation program in Salem is
under the direction of a superintendent of recre-
ation, who, during the regular school year, also
serves as head of physical education for boys. He
is responsible for the organization of all recrea-
tion activities, including swimming. The pools are
free to the public and are open for general use

A SCHOOL OF RECREATION AT CAMP

307

from 12 o'clock noon to 9 P.M. The evenings,
from 6 to 9 P. M., have been set aside especially
( for adults but children may also come if accom-
panied by their parents. By special arrangement
after-hours parties can be held without cost, in-
cluding life guard service. Special swimming in-
struction is offered free each morning.

The personnel in charge of the activities of the
ipools includes the general director of each recrea-
tion area under whom a staff of life guards works.
There are two life guards on duty at each pool
during the heaviest part of the day. Other assist-
ants in swimming instruction, life saving, and
bathhouse attendants have thus far been available
'under the W.P.A. and N.Y.A. recreation program.
'Since all of the property belongs to the school
district it has been found advisable to employ one
pf the engineers from one of the school buildings
j3n each of the pools to take care of the boilers,
niters, and other mechanical equipment. In this
pvay there is a permanent employee who is in-
terested in the equipment and also one who carries
he same responsibility summer after summer.
) Although the school district has been respon-
sible for the capital outlay in constructing these
bools, it is no longer a project of the school board
Itself. An excellent spirit of cooperation exists
between the city and the school district. The city,
In its annual budget, includes an appropriation to
help carry on the swimming activities. It is vir-
jually a joint project between these two political
iub-divisions. The cost of operation is divided on
ie basis of approximately 40% by the city and
by the school district. Because of legal bar-
iers, it is not possible for the city to contribute
Dward capital outlays and ownership. Hence, the
ppropriation from the city budget goes to pro-
ide life guards, chemicals, and other supplies in
onnection with swimming pool operation.
Although the city does not have a tax levy
pecifically set aside for recreation purposes, there
; a special recreation committee on the city coun-
il which has each year included in the city budget
n amount as indicated. Should other school dis-
•icts and cities copy such a plan as the one used
i Salem, it would add to the stability of the pro-
ram if there were included in the charter a levy
3r recreation purposes. It is also desirable that
jie costs should be more equitably distributed be-
veen city and school district than has been the
ise in Salem thus far. Although these funds
j-'entually come from the same taxpayers, an equal
;stribution of the costs gives both political divi-

A School of Recreation at Camp

RESPONDING TO THE NEED for teacher prepara-
tion in the field of recreation, Illinois State
Normal University has completed arrangements
with the East Bay Associates of Bloomington,
Illinois, for the establishment of a summer school
for recreational leaders at East Bay Camp.

Located fourteen miles north of the campus at
Normal, on the wooded slopes of Lake Bloom-
ington, East Bay provides unlimited opportuni-
ties for study and practical experiences in a wide
variety of recreational activities.

The camp is organized to comply with uni-
versity regulations governing off-campus courses.
Nine semester hours of work are offered and
credits earned are accepted by the university ex-
actly as those completed on the campus. Classes
meet for one hour a day five days a week for the
eight weeks of the summer session. Each class is
taught by regular members of the university
faculty. The head of the department of physical
education of the university staff is the camp ad-
visor and director of the summer school.

The members of the waterfront staff are all
registered Red Cross life guards under the direc-
tion of a resident Red Cross examiner.

The camp contains approximately forty build-
ings, including a modern dining hall with a seat-
ing capacity of nearly four hundred persons; a
branch of the Withers Library of Bloomington,
Illinois; an outdoor theater; craft shops; a trad-
ing post ; and class rooms. Students will be housed
in newly built cabins which have been erected as
a unit apart from the regular camp for use by the
summer school.

Originally designed to meet the needs of re-

sions credit for the work without undue emphasis
in either budget on this phase of government.

The swimming pools have been an overwhelm-
ing success from the very beginning. Each of the
four years the pools have been in operation there
was an increase in the participation. Last year a
total of 145,000 individuals used the pools in a
period of 88 days, from June 7 to September 4.
The highest attendance in any single day in the .
two pools was 5,353. This community feels that
its cash expenditure of approximately $30,000 in
capital outlay, exclusive of federal aid, and an
annual disbursement of about $8,000 in this type
of recreation is one of its best investments in be-
half of the youth and adults of the city.

308

CENTERS FOR GIRLS

ligious groups for short-term conferences, East
Bay Camp has developed into one of the leading
camping centers of Illinois. In nineteen hundred
thirty-eight, 3,676 campers from four hundred
forty-nine towns in Illinois and forty-seven towns
in other states attended conferences at the camp
for periods of from three to seven days. The re-
sponsibility for the recreational program for these
campers becomes the practical problem of students
and faculty of the summer school.

Qualified students will direct the activities for
campers in hiking, nature study, art, swimming,
handicrafts, music and the like for the various
conferences throughout the summer, as a part of
their regular training.

Wanted — a Public Relations Counsel

(Continued from page 280)

stage actions simple. The audience will be the
combined service clubs of Oak Park.

Perhaps this is all a "pipe dream." Yet some
wise man once said that our beginning is a dream
and our end is a dream, and when we ourselves
stop dreaming we die. Well, even if we can't
secure a public relations counsel for our staff,
can't we all, as executives and staff, aim at being
public relations counsels ourselves in a small way?
Can't we strive for a viewpoint and policies of our
own? An organization so wisely and humanely
built that the workers will give the executive the
dividends of loyalty and they in turn will receive
them in terms of satisfaction in a job not only
done well but received well. Couldn't we try for
a closer, more alert, more understanding relation-
ship with our community; attend more public
meetings, more recreation conferences such as the
National Recreation Association sponsors; keep
our eye on the changing world with its new play
idioms ; have more open-house days on the play-
grounds when the parents may see a composite
picture of our activities? Couldn't we set up a
policy of having someone attend every Parent-
Teacher meeting and give a brief announcement
of the playground program and activities? I have
seen this idea work out efficiently in the case of a
library program. In short, can't we sell our play-
grounds on the three- fold basis of personal rela-
tions, public relations, and press relations ? I hope
so. I think so.

Centers for Girls

(Continued from page 289)

changed, or has been insured, damaged, and is
now being sold by the insurance company. One

woman with a flair for interior decorating should
be in charge of this phase of the work, for much
can be done with little expense by one who knows
how and enters into the spirit of the thing, and
tactfully guides the others.

More About Leadership

The- greatest task facing the recreation director
is to secure just the right woman as director of
the center and squeeze her salary out of his bud-
get or secure it from a special grant, a gift or
some other source. Later the Community Chest
or recreation commission may take care of this
item officially but at first a demonstration must be
made. The girls' center director should be an
employee of the recreation department, to co-
ordinate her efforts with the rest of the program,
and to be a playground director in the same neigh-
borhood in the summer if at all possible. In one
city the director of the center is a kindergarten
teacher in the morning and directs the center five
evenings a week.

Part time leaders may come from many sources
as mentioned under leadership and are paid in
many ways. In one city, different civic organiza-
tions "adopt" a club leader for a special activity
— cooking, sewing, music, dramatics — giving the
recreation department her salary for one or more
sessions a week for a club year — October ist to
May ist. In another city a wealthy woman was
persuaded to "endow" a certain service in which
she was vitally interested. With a live women's
council and an energetic recreation director and a
creative inspirational woman leader to direct the
center, part time leadership should not be a great
problem, for those in charge very wisely will only
permit the center to grow as they find the right
part time leaders and can build up a morale.

Encourage the girls' center director to devote
some time daily to visiting the district, getting to
know the girls and their problems, cooperating
with case workers and other agencies, so that in
time she becomes an authority on the girl life of
the neighborhood.

Urge the director and leading board members
10 attend conferences and visit other girls' center.-
for inspiration and help.

As soon as a girls' center is established, the
director should watch for potential junior leader;
and train them to help with younger girls.

Toward the end of the first year, all those in-
terested in the center should analyze the problems
programs, and needs, and take steps to improve

"ACCENT ON YOUTH"

309

:he facilities, leadership and program another year.

With one center established as a demonstration,
irrange for women's groups to visit it. Soon
Dther sections will be demanding the same. Bring
:ity council members and civic club leaders to see
:he center and try to get the expense of the girls'
renter projects included in the regular recreation
lepartment budget in the future.

When one center is well established and another
leighborhood needs one, get the recreation com-
nission and the same women's council interested.
[f they are not interested, organize a new one.
Find the woman to be the next director and let
!ier work under the present one as an apprentice
'or awhile. Don't shift directors. Girls' centers
iced the continuous leadership of capable women.

"Accent on Youth"

(Continued from page 290)

lumber in the series. The program will be con-
lucted in two parts : Part I will be patterned after
:he Walter Damrosch famed radio programs,
A^hen children will be introduced and taught to
•ecognize individual instruments in the orchestra.
Part II will present selections of special appeal to
Children including "Aubade," from "Le Cid" by
Vlassenet; "In a Chinese Temple Garden," by
•Cetelby; "Funeral March of a Marionette," by
Gounod; "Triumphal March of the Boyards," by
:ialvorsen; "The Swan," by Saint Saens; and
/Minuet," by Mozart.

Interesting stories and facts about each pro-
gram are being prepared so that one week in
advance of the performance every elementary
chool tacher will receive a copy of the story to
jielp her in acquainting her pupils with the
program.

| First among stories to tell children are fairy
jales. The beginning, "once upon a time," kindles
immediate response in a child from the earliest
(•ears through the grades. No other class of stories
pves such stimulus to active imagination or pre-
!ents so vividly a new world with all sorts of
trange things and interesting people. What could
>e more exciting then than the second of the
series, which will be a fairy tale story presented
n dance pantomime by the Rae Studio of the
)ance ?

Emerson it was who said, "The eye is the best
>f the artists." The pleasure arising from color,
mtline, motion, and grouping stimulates the senses
o new beauties, creating a love of beauty which

is essentially taste. The development of good
taste in any child cannot be started too soon.

The third program in the junior series will
bring drama to the stage. On March 25th the
Cameo Players of the Immaculate Conception
Academy for girls will present "Princess Moss-
Rose," written by Marguerite Merington. These
girls have been receiving excellent dramatic train-
ing since their entrance into the Academy and are
no novices before the footlights. The charm and
sincerity of their past performances have been as
appealing to parents as to young audiences.

The final program will be presented by the Rec-
reation Commission's own Children's Little Thea-
ter. The Little Theater, which meets every Sat-
urday morning, offers instruction in drama,
rhythm, melody band, folk dancing, and choral
work. Over a hundred boys and girls are enrolled
in the theater and the approaching operetta will
bo given by forty of the advanced members. The
Children's Theater is fortunate in being under the
direction of a woman of superior theatrical ability
and experience. The coming performance, "The
Fairy of the Witch's Dell," is by no means the
initial public debut of the children.

The Junior Leisure-Time Series has already
been endorsed by the superintendent of public
schools, the superintendent of parochial schools,
and the executive council of the Parent-Teacher
Association. Through teachers, principals, and
parent-teacher groups, in cooperation with local
press and radio stations, the programs are being
brought before the children.

We believe that the Junior Leisure-Time Series
will prove a step forward in the development of
Davenport's recreation program.

Boston Awaits You

(Continued from page 294)

missioner William P. Long is chairman, (and he
is also chairman of the Boston Committee on ar-
rangements for the Twenty-Fourth National Rec-
reation Congress), will provide the visitor with
delightful scenes and recreation facilities right in
the heart of Boston.

Across Tremont Street, one of the most dis-
tinguished shopping streets of the city, one walks
into the Boston Common, with its great elm trees,
its famous Frog Pond, which dates back to the
time when Yankee lads protested to General
Howe of the British Army that his soldiers were
spoiling their skating. Across this thoroughfare
one may also step into the shaded paths of the

310

THREE PLAYGROUND PERSONALITY STORIES

Public Garden, one of the most noted horticul-
tural parks of the country. The Public Garden
has all the atmosphere of an old English park,
with its old shade trees, its beds of brilliant flow-
ers, its pleasure lake with swan boats plying back
and forth across it, and with swans and ducks
feeding from the hands of children. In winter it
is gay with skaters, and in summer the people
gather about its banks for rest and coolness.

Included in the Boston Park Department is a
playground system which last year had an attend-
ance of 8,564,566 children. It has eleven gym-
nasia, a system of baths and beaches located in
many parts of the city. It is in charge of Franklin
Park, with its Zoological garden. It maintains two
city golf courses and a system of ball parks where
Boston's Twilight League baseball games are
played throughout the summer. Franklin Field,
with its tennis courts, is one of the outdoor at-
tractions for the young.

One of the beauty spots of Boston is the Fen-
way, which is under the maintenance of the City
Park Department. It comprises 1 16 acres of land
bordering on Muddy River, a historic stream
whose banks provided farm land for the early
settlers. This river is now beautifully landscaped.
It is bordered with flowering shrubs, Japanese
bamboo, rushes, marshmallow, and a wide variety
of trees which have been brought from all parts
of the world. A good hiker can walk for seven
miles along the Fenway. Its driveways cover
more than four miles. In addition to this, the
Park Department maintains Marine Park, with
its aquarium, and supervises the Arnold Arb-
retum, one of the most famous horticultural cen-
ters in the country, which is maintained by Har-
vard University for purposes of scientific research
in arbori-culture, and as a garden for trees and
shrubs suited to the climate of Massachusetts.

Three Playground Personality Stories

(Continued from page 296)

be found with different groups of boys, working
with untiring zeal. In summer his band draws
large crowds from miles around to the open-air
concerts. His boys went with him into the woods
and cut cedar posts to make a rustic band stand.
Securing electricity from the nearby school, they
have good lighting and what with an improvised
"mike" they certainly give concerts well worth
hearing.

To the orchestra boys, Mr. Johnson is univer-
sally known as "Pop." If you know anything
about boys and girls of today you are aware that
a nickname is often a term of endearment. So it
is with "Pop Johnson." And so I say three cheers
for "Pop" and his boy orchestras! Three cheers
for a man who has led the way to better living
for part of our American youth ! And I would be
overlooking the point of my tale if I didn't add :
three cheers for a man who has salvaged himself
thereby !

The Woman Who Knew How to Take a Joke

My third story — this one is only an anecdote —
concerns one Mrs. Pitcher, a recreation super-
visor. Every recreation worker will recognize
something familiar in the incident. It typifies
those numerous occasions when playground
youngsters try out a director by some trick or bit
of juvenile impudence to see what stuff the di-
rector is made of. It's a wise director who comes
through such a testing without losing face !

Mrs. Pitcher, of middle age, with snow white
hair, approaching the recreation center one morn-
ing was astonished to see what appeared to be a
large painting on the front of the building. To
one of the playground boys who was walking
along beside her she cried, "My goodness ! What
have those boys been up to now ?" The boy twisted
and turned in great embarrassment and finally
said defiantly, "Well, you'll find out about it any
way so I might as well tell first as last. I helped
to do it. Now have me arrested if you want to !"

"Oh, Ned !" urged Mrs. Pitcher, "what is it and
what does it say?"

"Well, it's the picture of a woman, and it says
'Molly Pitcher's Hotel.' So there !"

Mrs. Pitcher surprised Ned and relieved his
anxiety by bursting out laughing. Later, she quite
took the wind out of the gang's sails by saying,
"Boys, that was a bad thing to do as far as in-
juring property was concerned, but as far as I am
concerned you might have called me many worse
names than that. Molly Pitcher was a brave his-
toric character and I consider it a compliment to
be called after her. From now on, I'm 'Molly'
and 'Molly Pitcher' to you."

It was the best thing that could have happened.
The boys have no less respect for 'Molly' and they
have a stronger regard for her as a pal. After an
evening of games you may hear the boys shout,
"So long, Molly! Good night! See yer to-
morrow !"

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

Budge on Tennis

By J Donald Budge. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New York.
$2.00.

THIS BOOK presents the techniques in tennis playing
which help make champions. It tells some of the
secrets behind the powerful drives, deadly smashes,
accurate strokes, and court strategy which have made
Donald Budge the great tennis player he is. Every stroke
is illustrated. An interesting section of the book is
devoted to a biographical sketch of Donald Budge which
will take the reader behind the scenes.

Pottery Made Easy

,By John Wolfe Dougherty. The Bruce Publishing Com-
pany, New York. $2.25.
! Al R. DOUGHERTY'S BOOK is a challenge to the widespread

* * idea that pottery is too difficult and expensive a
(hobby for the amateur craftsman. It shows how artistic

pieces can be turned out in the home shop with a mini-
imum of difficulty and with homemade equipment. In

addition to the instructions for making a number of
(articles, a handy chart is included which will help the

beginner choose from a wide variety of interesting pro-
jjects. The author also gives a brief history of the potter's

craft, a glossary of terms, and a list of necessary supplies,
jtools, and equipment. There are many illustrations.

Better Badminton

By Carl H. Jackson and Lester A. Swan. A. S. Barnes

and Company, New York. $1.00. •

THIS is THE latest addition to the Barnes Dollar Sports
Library. It is organized in progressive teaching or
learning steps, which should be very helpful to the coach
and instructor in organizing his teaching procedure.
Instructions are given in the various strokes and strate-
gies, and rules and scoring methods are offered. There
ire also suggestions for organizing tournaments, and a
Dibliography and glossary terms are included.

Persons Participating in Leisure-Time
Activities by Economic Status

reater Cleveland. Prepared with the assistance of WPA
Project by Howard W. Green. Cleveland Health
Council, 1001 Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio.
.THIS STUDY is AN attempt to suggest improvement in
the method of record keeping by leisure-time agencies,
.n securing the material, nineteen private service organi-
sations were analyzed to determine certain factors
regarding the number of persons participating in the
Carious programs, the economic levels from which they
:ame, and the relation of constituencies to the various
Hgencies. A study of economic levels reflects the fact
jhat the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Camp Fire Girls
ater to the highest economic groups, the Y.M.C.A. and

Y.W.C-A. to the second highest, and the various settle-
ment houses to a considerably lower economic grouping.
The major portion of the book is given over to a series
of spot maps indicating the location of the constituency
of each of the nineteen participating organizations. As a
method of study and as a basis for careful record keep-
ing, this volume should be of value to all concerned with
the administration of recreation.

The Psychology of Making Life
Interesting

By Wendell White, Ph.D. The Macmillan Company,

New York. $2.50.

DUILT AROUND the want for variety in life, this book
*^ deals with people in life situations in general, the
prevention of unwholesome behavior, and the furthering
of mental health. In Part Three the author discusses
methods of securing the variety which makes life more
interesting, and here the importance of recreation is
stressed in a number of chapters. Of special interest is
the discussion on active and passive recreation, the
pursuit of hobbies, of freedom in leisure hours, and of
enlarging experience through companionship, poetry,
visual art, and music.

Curtains Going Up

By Albert McCleery and Carl Glick. Pitman Publishing

Corporation, New York. $4.00.
THE AMERICAN THEATER beyond Broadway — the theater

of the community groups created by the people them-
selves in hundreds of cities and towns the country over —
this is the theater presented in a volume by two men
who have had an important part in developing these
amateur groups of players who are establishing a true
American popular drama. The book covers nearly two
hundred representative groups. It outlines their develop-
ment, explains how they have created their facilities and
staged their productions, and tells just what they have
done and are doing. There are 150 illustrations, many of
them showing community theater structures as well as
stage sets and scenes from plays.

Motion Pictures and Radio

Report of the Regents' Inquiry. By Elizabeth Laine.

McGraw Hill Book Co., Inc. $1.75.

/"NNE OF THE values of the Inquiry into the Characters
^•^ and Cost of Public Education in the State of New
York study lies in the isolation of certain phases of the
study for release to the public. Such is this volume on
Motion Pictures and Radio. It is designed primarily
for school authorities and deals with the educational
values of these means of learning, and the technical
problems of adapting them to school use. Experiments
indicate that learning with the aid of motion pictures is
increased from 20% to 27%. The estimated power of
retention is increased by 38% and the pupil's interest is

311

312

greatly stimulated. The most important contribution
of the radio, says the author, is "that of introducing
history in the making." The book's chief value is for
teachers and school administrators.

Spring Plays and Programs; Autumn Plays
and Programs; Winter Plays and Programs.

Edited by Florence Hale. Educational Publishing
Corporation, Darien, Conn. 75 tf each ; for set 3,
$2.00.

These volumes represent collections of entertainment
material for classroom and auditorium use, including
short plays, simple pageants, recitations, poems, songs.
They will be of particular help to the teacher or leader
responsible for holiday and special day programs.
Suggested stage settings and costumes are simple ; direc-
tions are clear and easy to follow.

Quartz Family Minerals.

By H. C. Dake, Frank L. Fleener and Ben Hur
Wilson. Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book Com-
pany, Inc., New York. $2.50.

Here is a handbook for the collector of minerals who
will find all the information he needs for the pursuit of
a fascinating hobby. Much of the material is not avail-
able elsewhere.

The Boys' Club.

By R. K. Atkinson. Association Press, 347 Madison
Avenue, New York. $1.75.

The author, who has had long experience in the recrea-
tion movement and in boys' club work, brings prac-
tical knowledge and experience to this presentation of
the history, objectives, activities, and practices of the
boys' club movement. The book is a story of the
development of the specialized techniques for helping
boys caught in bad social and economic environments.
It traces the task of forming clubs from gangs in order
to prevent delinquency and then opening the way for
more constructive work through the discovery of the
interests and aptitudes of these boys.

How to Make Music on the Harmonica.

By P. V. Planta. Leisure League of America, New
York. $.35.

A complete manual on harmonica playing is this book-
let which gives information on the subject ranging from
a brief history of the mouth organ to methods of secur-
ing special effects and the arrangement of a number of
selections for the harmonica. It is an exceedingly
practical booklet for the would-be harmonica player.

Manual for Christian Leaders.

Young Men's Christian Association, Dayton, Ohio.

$1.00.

This book is the report of the 1938 Christian Leaders'
Institute held last Decem'ber at the Y.M.C.A. in Dayton,
Ohio, under the sponsorship of the Youth Program
Council of the Y.M.C.A., in cooperation with a number
of local agencies interested in youth. Among the sub-
jects discussed and demonstrations given were Banquet
and Supper Programs, Directing Amateur Dramatics,
Discussion Groups, Program Planning, Recreation Lead-
ing, and Song Leading. The manual records the pro-
ceedings of the meetings in a volume of 120 pages.

The Museum and Popular Culture.

By T. R. Adam. American Association for Adult

Education, New York. $1.00.

Museums have long played a part in providing their
communities with facilities for adult education in the arts
and sciences. It is therefore appropriate that a booklet
summarizing the contribution of museums should be
included in the series of studies in the social significance
of adult education in the United States. The book is not
an appraisal of the museum movement in all its phases,
but is designed only to be an evaluation of the specific
types of museum activities which touch on the diffusion
of learning among the adult population.

"Understanding Youth — His Search
for a Way of Life."

By Dr. Roy A. Burkhart. The Abingdon Press, New
York. $1.50.

A most practical and helpful book for workers in
church recreation. Dr. Burkhart has had wide experience
in work with young people and his own church is a
laboratory in which much of his program has been
developed. The final chapter entitled "A Program to
Meet the Needs of Youth" brings together something of
Dr. Burkhart's philosophy and much of his program for
his own church young people.

"Which Way America? Communism,
Fascism, Democracy."

By Lyman Bryson. The Macmillan Company, 60

Fifth Avenue, New York City. $.60.
There are many unAmerican interests now using high
powered propaganda to gain the support of various
sections of the American people. Lyman Bryson in a
very interesting and effective way has written this little
volume describing in clear terms Communism, Fascism
and Democracy in order that people may have the facts
wherewith to understand and meet the forces of partisan
propaganda. It is written in conversation style such as
Professor Bryson uses in his radio programs.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCHER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIEH, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Co -Recreation

DID you ever hear people ask questions like these: What kind of activities can a public
recreation center or a community organization conduct for young men and young women
together (or boys and girls, or adult men and women) ? Are there any kinds of activities
that ought to be conducted with mixed groups if it is possible to do so? How does mixing the
sexes affect the leadership problem? The problem of equipment? What limitations need to be
observed? What happens to the membership and control policies of one-sex organizations?
What differences are there in the educative, recreative, and broadly social effects of activities
carried on for members of one sex and those arranged for both sexes together?

Questions like these in the minds of local workers led to the publication of the admir-
ible handbook, Partners in Play by Mary J. Breen, issued by the National Recreation Asso-
:iation. They led to an exploratory session last spring in the National Education-Recreation
douncil, a consultative body representative of national organizations, public and private, in-
terested in various forms of education, guidance, and recreation. They are partly responsible
ilso for this issue of Recreation, devoted as it is to reports of recent experiences in co-recrea-
ional activities.

A great many people have contributed these reports. They have been frank in referring
o successes and failures and in suggesting values as they see them. There is need for more and
>etter reporting of practice and reflection upon it. It is hoped that the statements here assem-
>led will help many by showing what can be done, how it can be done and what is worth work-
ng for, but that in addition they will stimulate some to further reflection upon the basic
[uestions involved.

I should like to see young people today living far richer and more satisfying lives ten or
wenty years from now than do many people now in middle life — and that, whether they are
icher or poorer in goods and money than the generation they succeed. I should like men and
vomen to have more interests, which they enjoy and have learned to pursue together — some of
hese interests accompanied by well developed skills. I should like them to have had such an
experience in playing and working together as younger people that some of them at least will
lave learned how, by the overtones of their daily relationships with each other, to make play
ut of work. I don't see any reason for having Republican Clubs and then Women's Republi-
an Clubs, Missionary Societies and then Women's Missionary Societies, except for the fact
bat up to now men and women have not learned to be equally responsible partners in enter-
rise that concerns all of us.

The first thing I should want mixed activities to do for younger boys and girls and for
oung adults is to add the zest and the variety of approaches which the presence of the other
ex ought to supply. Of course, the range of interest should go considerably beyond dancing
nd sports, for example. Is it possible that this good, self-forgetful play might also provide a
round of experience in cooperation, in mutual adjustment to differences, and in respect for
ach other's contributions that will be significant for the future in these other and perhaps larger
•'ays? These hopes furnish part of the reason for seeing what can be done and how to do it.

J. EDWARD SPROUL

Program Executive, National Board,
Young Men's Christian Associations
of the United States

iEPTEMBER, 1939

313

September

Photo from Laurence V. Lay, Amherst, M

"Without any set formula, we may apply to
ourselves the fact that a distinct contri-
bution can be made to marriage by satisfy-
ing leisure-time activity; satisfaction in the

activity itself, satisfaction in sharing the in-
terest with another, satisfaction in the in-
creased understanding of that other glimpsed
in leisure time spent together."

Janet Fowler Nelson

National Board, Y.W.C.A.

314

Every community center
should have, if possible, a
"drop-in" room for young
people, with attractive
furnishings and bright
curtains, interesting pic-
tures, books and maga-
zines, a radio, piano, and
growing plants. And,
above all, a fireplace!

Photo from Laurence Long, Amherst, Mass.

Let's Serve Youth!

By ETHEL BOWERS

National Recreation Association

TODAY too many agencies are driving young peo-
ple away from their doors instead of attract-
ing them in increasing numbers. Too many of
)ur youth leaders are failing to recognize certain
j/ital forces that work in our young people be-
;ween the ages of fifteen and twenty-five years.
jiVe can shut our eyes to these forces ; we can say
hey are not there; we can ignore them in our
program planning, but we can do nothing to stop
!hem. We can, however, help young people to
mderstand these forces, to control them and to
'lirect them into wholesome, useful channels.

Needs of Youth

We need to understand human nature. We
:annot change it. Young people are in the mating
.ge. They are growing and developing, and we
;nust recognize the fact that they are growing
/ery rapidly; that they have very little reserve
•nergy, and that most of this is used up in the
laily routine of personal care, home duties, school

and extracurricular activities, church and club
affiliations. Many of them have joined every or-
ganization they possibly can; many of them are
greatly overworked. These are the "joiners." In
addition to these, we have the great army of
"drifters" — those whose background is not ade-
quate, who are self-conscious regarding their
clothes, who lack the restless energy and ambition
of some of our youth, who are undernourished,
handicapped, sometimes from birth, mentally or
physically. Members of this group are the ones
who need our co-recreational activities most and
who, lacking the proper outlets, will be most at-
tracted to the cheaper forms of commercial rec-
reation and the most undesirable forms of loafing.
Both groups have long hours when they want
sociability and companionship of their own age,
usually outside the home.

We must not make romance unpopular. It has
been driven out of many of our churches, our
neighborhood houses and community centers, and
even from many of our homes, yet it thrives.
Romance should be brought back to these desir-
able places, and a normal, happy way to do this
is by providing co-recreation.

Today we stress programs for girls, but too
often the girls who should be there are not pres-
ent but are hanging around nearby soda counters

315

316

LETS SERm YOUTH !

or taverns. We provide baseball for the boys, but
not every boy wants to play baseball, and the most
ardent players do not want to play all the time.
We need to provide activities which will meet the
needs of the boys and girls of this age for meet-
ing, for dropping in at odd times for quiet or less
strenuous activities, as well as for the organized
co -recreational programs of music, dramatics,
dancing, crafts, which we usually find in our cen-
ters. We must give romance a chance — not drive
it out.

Youth Demands Progress
We must also recognize youth's demand for
progress. Youth is often critical of its environ-
ment. Boys and girls want to rise above the con-
ditions into which they have been born, to make
more of a success of life than their elders have.
They demand outside con-
tacts at this mating age, and
scarcely any home can meet
all of their leisure-time
needs because of their de-
sire to "go places and do
things."

At this age young people
have ideals, but if they are
continually thwarted by
home and environmental
conditions these ideals may
be lowered with resulting
hasty marriages or moral
lapses. It is our responsi-
bility to assist them in their struggle to improve
themselves. We can, through co-recreation, help
them to know the young people of their neighbor-
hoods better, to meet new companions, to work
and play together under wholesome circumstances.
Some of our leaders have done excellent work
in this field by organizing junior councils conduct-
ing weekly open house parties for informal social-
ized sports such as badminton, and even by co-
recreation camping and outings. How much bet-
ter for young people really to get to know each
other on a rainy day at camp or under the strain
of a hard winter sports outing trip than in our
much frequented commercial recreation places !

The Right to Choose

Another factor to be considered is youth's right
to choose. Young people today are independent.
They will not stand dictation. They demand the
right to go their own way. Too often, however,

In this article Miss Bowers has mentioned
a number of activities which are described
in various articles following this introduc-
tion to the subject of co-recreation. More
information about Evansville's roller skat-
ing program, for example, will be found in
Mr. Newcom's account of "Co-Recreation
in Indiana's Largest Play Plant." "Recrea-
tion at the University of Iowa" tells of a
dry club night as it is being conducted at
the University of Iowa. Similarly, other in-
teresting activities recommended as enjoy-
able and desirable in a co-recreational pro-
gram are described in many of the articles.

direction is given this path by opportunities which
are only those of commercial recreation. One of
our recreation leaders has said, "Seven o'clock in
the evening is the dangerous hour," for it is the
first time in the entire day when a young man or
woman is really free to choose how he or she wil
spend the evening. The burden of the choice as
to whether or not the path will lead upwarc
toward the wise use of leisure time rests squarely
on the shoulders of the adults of the community
We must help these young people gain skills in
those activities which are best suited for co-rec-
reation and establish good taste in cultura
activities.

We must learn from commercial recreation
ways of attracting youth to our activities in giving
them what they want. Use color, movement, such
as shifting lights ; furnish as much luxury as pos-
sible and all other elements
which contribute to a ro-
mantic atmosphere. The
awkward, gawky boy or
girl does not want to dance
on the floor of a brilliantly
lighted gymnasium where
the spectators, composed of
not too sympathetic class-
mates, may laugh at the
novice's attempts.

Finally, youth leaders
must recognize the impor-
tance of having young peo-
ple grow up in normal home

relationships. They do not grow up in a vacuum.
From earliest years they will be in constant asso-
ciation with other people in family groups and
with the opposite sex. We must teach our boys
and girls to work and play together from early
childhood. We cannot wait until they are in col-
lege for many will not go to college. We must
not segregate boys and girls during early adoles-
cence and then subject them to the emotional
strain which comes with their first co-recreational
activity.

Some Successful Methods
Some of the most successful methods used in

attracting youth to recreational activities include

the following:

Roller Skating. There is nothing finer than out

door roller skating on a smooth street, preferabl)

not bounded by residences, or, better still, or.

lighted cement tennis courts. Some cities conduc

LE TS SE R I 'E VO UTH !

317

skating nights twice a week for eight weeks in
the fall and spring, with music supplied by a pub-
lic address system, by a radio or phonograph
plugged into some street light or cooperative
neighbor's front porch light, by a WPA orchestra ;
or, as one ingenious leader did, by the radio music
from his own car picked up by a public address
system placed on the seat of the car. In mild or
uncertain climates these roller skating nights could
be conducted throughout the winter. The young
people provide their own skates and the park de-
partment should provide an abundance of benches.

Many agencies are having regular roller skating
'nights in basement game rooms or in a gym-
nasium. Skates with fiber wheels are bought on
:redit and paid for from a rental of 5^ an hour,
jln Evansville, Indiana, the Recreation Department
and the WPA have cooperated in opening a whole
3oor of an old factory building for co-recreation
with roller skating to music delivered by a public
address system four nights a week in one-hour
jeriods from six until ten o'clock.

The Lounge Library. Every community center
should have a room, preferably just inside the
entrance, as a lounge library or a glorified "hang-
)Ut" room. This room should be completely en-
closed, with just one entrance, not a passageway
)r open lobby. It should have comfortable, sturdy
furniture, slightly better than that found in the
iiomes of the neighborhood, bright curtains, wall
hangings, interesting pictures/
oooks, magazines, radio, a phono-
graph, an old piano, and, if pos-
sible, growing plants or artificial
lowers. Ideally this room should
lave a fireplace, and in one
igency this fireplace has been
'endowed" by an interested pa-
ron so that there may be a fire
mrning every evening. Most im-
>ortant of all, this room should
lave, not overhead lights, but the
loor and table lamps, to be found

Music was the prevailing in-
terest at the institute held
in Onachita National Forest,
Louisiana, but social recre-
ation had an important
place. And doesn't it always?

in any living room. A mature woman who is a
hostess-leader should serve this room in that
capacity. Young people should be encouraged to
drop in at any time to lounge, chat, read, wait for
their friends, study their homework, write letters,
listen to their favorite radio programs, play their
favorite records or pound out "chop sticks" on
the piano. This room should never be closed for
meetings, but should always be available for the
use of the youth of the neighborhood whenever
the community center is open.

The Game Room. Many leisure-time agencies
have no "drop-in" activities at all ; others have
game rooms for boys only. We need in every
center a cc-recreation game room where boys and
girls and young men and young women can play
normally and naturally the many table games, toss
games, and floor games which are popular, and of
course, table tennis. There should be, if possible,
a number of table tennis tables so that no one will
have to wait long for a chance to play, and adja-
cent to these should be an abundance of benches
or seats for those waiting their turn, resting be-
tween games, or just enjoying the companionship
of others while watching the play. One school
center has one long, narrow room with ten table
tennis tables available every week day afternoon
and evening the year round.

(Continued on page 359)

Co-Recreation in Indiana's Largest Play Plant

SUPPLYING RECREATION to fourteen hundred
people six evenings a week is a large order
any way you look at it! This is the average
record of Evans ville's new mammoth community
play plant which serves both our city and its sur-
rounding territory. Located in what was formerly
a large furniture factory, the play center was
opened in 1936 ; on the opening day it was visited
by approximately 18,500 persons, all interested to
see what was going on.

Since the opening day community enthusiasm
has been unflagging. The center, which is under
WPA auspices with the cooperation of the Town-
ship trustees and the County and City adminis-
trations, is open from 5:00 to 10:30 P.M. each
week day. Co-recreational activities are empha-
sized. Boys and girls, men and women alike, may
participate at the same time. We have worked
out the project on the theory that if boys and
girls are thrown together naturally where their
fun is supervised, they won't be out in parked
autos, in questionable dance places and in resorts
that do not hesitate to provide youngsters with
intoxicants.

By JAMES R. NEWCOM

Director of Recreation

Evansville, Indiana

Dancing Attracts Thousands
The stellar attractions of the center are rolle
skating four nights a week and social dancing tw<
nights a week. The dance floor — the larges
dance-floor-and-skating-rink in southern Indian;
— is devoted to social dancing every Thursday
evening, when it attracts some 1,800 to 2,800 peo
pie. With the average age of the attendants be
tween eighteen and twenty years, it is apparen
that we are getting the young men and women o
the community. The dancers come early and stay
late, and they sit out very few dances. We re-
quire the orchestra to play almost constantly while
it is on duty, not allowing more than one minute
delay between numbers, with the result that the
dancers are ready to go home and to bed when the
dance is over. There is no pall of smoke hanging
in the air — for smoking is not allowed in any of

the recreation rooms,
except in a smoking
lounge in the base-
ment of the building.
Intoxicants, of course,
are not allowed in the
building. Any person
found with liquor or
under the influence of •
liquor is denied ad-
mittance and is asked
to leave. This rule is
strictly enforced.

Whether in Evansville's
huge play plant or at
Philadelphia's Funfleld
Recreation Center, so-
cial dancing occupies a
place of importance in
any list of co-recrea-
tional activities! The
subject will be discuss-
ed in the next issue of
the magazine.

Courtesy Bureau of Recreation, Philadelphia

318

CO-RECREATION IN INDIANA'S LARGEST PLAY PLANT

319

Many an individual, refused admission because he
has had a bottle of beer or so, though he is in no
sense of the word intoxicated, comes back the
next night in acceptable condition with a smile
and an apology. Petting is not permitted at all ; a
man may even be asked not to put his arms
around his own wife! All rules are thoroughly
explained to the group and this close supervision
is not resented.

The dance music is furnished by two WPA
twelve-piece orchestras, carrying out the night
club atmosphere. The orchestra, in uniform, is
seated in a regular shell, and the musicians play
from decorative, commercial dance-band music
racks made in the same building.

When the project was first opened, only modern
dances were contemplated. Apparently they failed
to meet all the needs of the community. There
was a demand for old-time square dances, and
since the activities of the center are based on pub-
lic demand, Wednesday nights were set aside for
old-fashioned dances. These are the most hilari-
ous nights of all ; from Evansville and surround-
ing counties come the lovers of old dances to dis-
port themselves. Sometimes as many as twenty
sets (circles) are on the dance floor, which, on
j this evening, is reserved for adults only. In the
gallery an audience as large, if not larger, than
the number of people on the floor watches the
fun. Travelers passing through {he city who have
heard the broadcast of the dance on the radio
often drop in.

The Dance Hall Becomes a Skating Rink

On Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday
nights this big dance floor is turned into a roller
skating rink, and the rumble of skate wheels
nearly drowns out the music amplified by a pub-
lic address system. The skaters are controlled by
a leader out on the floor who sees that they do
not skate too fast and that there is no unneces-
sary roughness. The leader also conducts social
mixers such as couples only, bell skating, Ken-
tucky Steal, bag-tag and Grand March. Many
skaters have purchased their own shoes and
skates and frequent the place every night that the
nnk is open. Other persons who do not own
their own skates are charged a small fee of five
jcents per session of one and one half hours. This
takes care of the wear and tear on the skates as
well as the other miscellaneous expenses inci-
dental to this activity.

Games Always Popular

Besides dancing and skating other diversions
are offered at the community center. The game
room attracts many people each evening, both
young and old. The game room equipment in-
cludes two box hockey games, two skee ball
games, two table hockey games, one swing ball
game, checkers, chess, carroms, go-mo-ku, cards,
parchesi, one dozen skill game machines and many
others. In one end a reading nook with tables
containing a variety of magazines, current and
back numbers, is very popular. There is also a
newspaper rack, with local daily papers, comics
and magazine sections and book shelves contain-
ing the classics, poems, religious texts, histories
and fiction. The reading room is attractively fur-
nished with a leather-covered divan, over-stuffed
chairs, floor lamps, table lamps, a radio and an
electric victrola. The game room is as free from
restrictions and regulation as possible, and the
atmosphere is one of freedom and choice. Prac-
tically all of the games were made in the work-
shop at the center.

Next to the game room there is a large room
where ten regulation ping-pong tables are con-
stantly in use. Very little cost is involved as the
paddles are made in the workshop, and approxi-
mately less than one dozen balls are used each
week. Industrial, church, boys', men's and other
ping-pong leagues meet in this room, which has a
ping-pong supervisor. Time limits are set so as
to allow more people to play on the tables.

Drama a Part of the Program
During the winter months a dramatic program
is sponsored at the center. ' Several marionette
classes for young and old are held each week and
much interest is being manifested along these
lines. Many marionette and puppet classes give
plays, using the puppets they have made under
direction of the WPA drama supervisor.

Other Activities

Indoor horseshoes, archery and rifle practice
were three popular pastimes of previous years.
The space occupied by these activities has been
turned over to new activities which are on the
whole less dangerous and accommodate more
people — a children's puppet theater and children's
nursery, shuffleboard courts, washer courts and a
marble golf course. In the nursery, which was
put in to accommodate the large number of young
children who came with their parents to the social

320

CO-RECREATION IN INDIANA'S LARGEST PLAY PLANT

and old-time dances, a varied supervised play
program is carried on. Almost all conceivable
nursery play apparatus is there, including sand-
boxes, tables, chairs, blocks, and seesaws. There
are twelve small beds where children may rest
or sleep.

An extensive handcraft program is carried on
at the community center. Free instruction is
given in weaving, knitting, crocheting, and sew-
ing. The WPA carpenters have made many kinds
of looms and frames which are loaned to the
handcraft class members. Classes are provided for
women's and children's handcraft groups and
there is a mixed class for adults.

The Workshop

The workshop, which is located on the top floor
of the building, is a busy place at all times. In
this up-to-date, well-equipped shop, is created
most of the equipment used in the building and
on the public playgrounds. It was there that the
ping-pong and game tables were made and even
the paddles used in ping-pong. The workmen
always are inventing something, and from their
ingenuity come many of the devices used in the
building and in the recreation activities elsewhere.
All of the grotesque figures and floats used in the
playground circus and Christmas parade were
made by the creation staff of the WPA ; modelers,
plasterers, painters, carpenters and seamstresses,
all played an active part in this work.

A Club Program

Recently a club work program has been in-
augurated. Some of the clubs that have been or-
ganized are : Clabber, Shuffleboard, Indian, Bi-
cycle, Washer, Art, Harmonica, Tumbling, Gui-
tar, Skating, Boys' and Girls.' These clubs meet
at the community center one evening each week
under capable leadership. Through club work we
hope to create, by providing good leaders, intel-
ligent organization, and a stimulating and chal-
lenging program, that kind of environment which
contributes to personality development and social
mindedness. The club work program is proving
one of the best mediums for making our work
educationally and socially valuable.

Values Recognized

In order to get a cross section of public opin-
ion as to the value of the program at the center,
the presidents of the P.T.A.'s, the City Park

Board, the Superintendent of Schools, supervis-
ors, ministers and others who might constructively
criticize the work, were invited to come in at any
time and see the various activities as they were
being carried on. The unanimous comment of all
the visitors was that it was amazing that such a
large number of people were being taken care of
so successfully ; it was difficult for them to visual-
ize 2,800 people between the ages of sixteen and
forty all dancing and playing together without
trouble. We have never had any serious trouble
since the opening of the center — not even a fight.
While watching a dance one night, the judge of
our Probate Court commented that our dancers
do not mind bumping into each other — they just
"grin and bear it" — while if the same couples
were bumped into on the floor of one of our
community dance taverns there would be a fight
immediately !

About a year ago a three months' survey was
made at the center to find out from what part of
the city most of the patrons were coming, their
age, sex, and whether or not the program met
their requirements. After this survey a spot map
was made which showed heavy representation
from the low wage industrial areas and residen-
tial districts. This was exactly the group in which
we were most interested.

The tremendous success of the community cen-
ter and its unblemished record are a source of
great pride to our Department. It has served
more persons during 1938 than the entire city
recreation program of ten years ago. The center
has done an excellent job in supplying to many
thousands of Evansville and Tri-State citizens
such a program with little or no cost to them.
The workers and leaders themselves on this rec-
reation project have benefited very much in that
they have been trained as leaders and have a
higher standing in their community; they have
demonstrated by their leadership and workman-
ship just what can be accomplished on such proj-
ects with proper guidance.

"Leaders, as they work together on everyday
problems of living, are raising questions about the
opportunities for enriching life from beginning
to end by guiding young people into and through
high moments of vivid experiences. . . . And they
are learning through creative activities to give ex-
pression to beauty and nobility in human life. All
around us are truths of human relationships and
principles of great living to be discovered."

— Pauline B. Williamson.

The Municipalities Look at Co-Recreation

Of all recreation leaders, municipal directors might justifiably approach
co-recreation with some reluctance. They handle the largest and most un-
selected groups; they live in glass houses at which any voter who chooses
may throw stones. Yet in the stories which follow we see them courageously
tackling the job of making possible for hundreds and thousands of citizens
a normal, wholesome association of both sexes. Reading between the lines,
you'll see the vast enthusiasm of these directors; you'll see how schools
are recognizing their usefulness and parents are appreciating their work.

DOOR Bells Ring for Hikers. Persons who have
signified interest in hikes in Austin, Texas,
but just haven't done anything about it, are
due to have their door bells rung by enthusiastic
members of the calling committee of the Munici-
pal Hiking Club. Succumbing to such contagious
salesmanship, new members are easily recruited
for the club's outings, which are capably organized
by an advisory board appointed by the city's Rec-
reation Department.

Neighborhood Old Time Dance Club. Repeated
requests come to the average municipal recreation
department for some suitable recreation for the
"forty and over" groups of both sexes. In High-
land Park, Michigan, the answer was found in an
old-time dance club. With little money available
for the enterprise, the superintendent of recrea-
tion enlisted the volunteer help of a neighborhood
enthusiast who rounded up other enthusiasts.
Soon a thriving self-supporting club was enjoying,
in the field house, bi-monthly dancing to the
strains of schottische, gavotte and waltz.

A committee within the club passes upon all
music details and hires the four-piece orchestra.
Every member is charged twenty-five cents for
each evening's attendance. This charge covers
music, caller's fee, light, heat and janitor's ser-
vices. Under this plan it is necessary for the Rec-
reation Department to furnish only the building
and an occasional word of advice or praise. From
H. G. Myron, Superintendent of Recreation.

"Glorified Hangouts" in Sioux City. An up-to-
date version of the delightful old-fashioned parlor
where young people met informally to talk, sing
and enjoy one another's society, is to be pro-
vided in each recreation center in Sioux City,
Iowa, operated by the Department of Public Rec-
reation. These rooms— for which the local P.T.A.

will furnish hosts and hostesses — will be attract-
ively furnished with radios, pianos and table game
equipment.

The "glorified hangout" is but one of the splen-
did co-recreational projects with which this city
is enriching the lives of its younger folk. Drama
clubs, art and craft classes, dart baseball, chess
instruction, card games and social recreation
parties — such activities have transformed the rec-
reation center from a place where young people
used to meet to go somewhere else, to a spot
where they spend entire happy evenings together.
And in addition, folk dancing, square dancing and
other old-fashioned dancing are conducted at each
of the city's recreation centers one evening each
week. Hundreds of young men and women, to-
gether with their mothers and fathers enjoy to-
gether the quadrilles, reels, schottisches, two
steps and waltzes.

Husband -and -Wife Volleyball. Husband-and-
wife volleyball leagues are beginning to spring up
at many of the Los Angeles, California, municipal
recreation centers. Volleyball is becoming an out-
standing attraction for many groups of young
people.

Parents Behind Manitowoc's Program. "Parents
of children who attend our dances are grateful
that the department has provided this activity and
cooperate splendidly whenever called upon to
assist in any manner," says L. W. Robertson, Di-
rector of Recreation, Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
Social dancing is but one of the co-activities car-
ried on successfully in Manitowoc, others being
badminton, volleyball, paddle tennis, some low-
organized playground games, and Friday evening
social recreation hours for junior high school and
senior high school clubs. There seems to be a
variation of practice among recreation directors

321

322

THE MUNICIPALITIES LOOK AT CO-RECREATION

as to whether high school
age clubs should be
"closed" or "open"
that is, restricted or not
restricted to students of
certain high schools. In
Manitowoc the clubs are
open to any young peo-
ple of the right age who
care to join.

Badminton Nights for
High School Students. As
often as possible during
.the week, a badminton
night is held for high
school students in Al-
bion, Michigan. The
schools' recreation de-
partment owns twenty
badminton racquets
which are used for this
purpose. Each player pays

Courtesy Los Angles Playground and Recreation Department

five cents to cover the

cost of shuttlecocks, but no other charge is made.
Usually a boy brings a girl, but a great deal of
changing partners goes on during the evening.
Ping-pong tables are in use most of the evening
so that everyone has something to do. The group
plays from seven to nine-thirty. It is a very suc-
cessful project, and will receive more emphasis in
next winter's program.

Roller skating is another activity frequently
held for high school boys and girls. Skates are
furnished and no charge is made. At least once
a month a community sing is scheduled in con-
junction with the recreation dance which is held
regularly. These sings have proved popular, and
will soon be held more frequently.

Playwriting Class in Drama Program. Through
playwriting classes, dra-
matics classes and dancing
classes, Oklahoma City's large
co-recreational Drama Asso-
ciation makes the work of its
Children's, Youth's, and
Adults' divisions not only
highly entertaining but cul-
turally worthwhile. Okla-
homa City also has a Munici-
pal Music Association in
which men and women re-
hearse, broadcast and put on

So great has been the response to our
request for information on co-recrea-
tional activities that we have been
forced to issue some of the material
in what might be called "symposium"
form. You will find here many novel
ideas from all over the country which
may help you in your program. Lack
of space has also made it necessary
for us to postpone until later issues
of the magazine a number of the in-
teresting articles received. They will
be published as soon as possible.

performances together.
From G. W, Danielson,
Director of Recreation.

Art Not Forgotten in
Millburn, New Jersey. In

Millburn's well-balanced
recreation program the
following co-recreational
activities have been con-
ducted with a good deal
of success : social clubs
(dancing and other types
for the high school age
group and an adult
group) ; badminton (for
husbands and wives -
others may also play) ;
art class (adults) ; mixed
bowling tournaments
(adults) ; adult educa-
tion program (wood-
work, metal work, bridge,
painting, photography,

art craft, special discussion groups on interna-
tional affairs). Worthy of note is the emphasis
on art — usually a favorite adult activity under
able leadership. From Harry A. Wuelser, Super-
intendent of Recreation.

They Like Gay Seasonal Parties. In Kingston,
Massachusetts, the National Youth Administra-
tion, with the cooperation of the local Playground
Department and of a live recreation committee
representing fifteen civic organizations, conducts
a year-round recreation program of which an out-
standing feature is a social recreation program
for young people. Among the events enjoyed by
the young people are an evening of dancing in-
struction followed by social dancing and such
special parties as : Hallowe'en Costume Party in
October, Hunter's Moon
Dance in November, Winter
Carnival Dance, Colonial
Dance in February, St. Pat-
rick's Day Party, style show,
musicale and moving picture
cabaret dance. From Arthur
C. King, Jr., District Super-
visor of N.Y.A., Fall River,
Massachusetts.

"Bike-Hikes" and Other
"Co -Activities" in Decatur.
Weekly hikes and bicycle

THE MUNICIPALITIES LOOK AT CO-RECREATION

323

trips to places of special interest are scheduled in
four sections of Decatur, Illinois, for boys and
girls of junior high school age and under, by the
city recreation department. Many of the hikes
are led by a nature guide.

Hiking is but one of Decatur's many delightful
' activities for mixed groups. There are seven
parks in the city in which social dances are held
every Friday night during the summer, under the
supervision of the playground director and a com-
mittee of six or eight young men and women from
; the neighborhood. The Junior Dramatic Club in-
cludes boys and girls from fifteen to eighteen
years of age and serves as a feeder for the older
'group, the Municipal Players. The junior group
studies acting, reads plays and .puts on skits, but
does not produce plays before outside groups. At
community forums, which are co-educational,
subjects of interest to mixed groups, such as
Dutch treats and marriage, are discussed. Other
co-activities that are enjoyed in Decatur are: tap
dancing, folk dancing, orchestra, progressive
games, handcrafts and puppetry; most of these
are organized on
a club basis.

The Federal

Music Project

aids the program

in many ways.

The twenty-five

piece orchestra

plays for social

dances, square

dances, folk

: dances and com-

' munity sings. The

forty -piece band

I plays for festivals

>and other special

events. All activi-

i ties are conducted

;under trained

leadership, with

Of all the co-rec-
reational activities
reported, hiking
is one of the
most popular

the cooperation in many instances of neighbor-
hood adult recreation clubs.

Self-Operating Dance Clubs in Austin. Among
the popular co-recreational activities which the
Austin, Texas, Recreation Department promotes
are five married couples dance clubs and one club
of single girls who invite their dancing partners.
Each club has a board of directors appointed by
the superintendent of recreation which assumes
all of the administrative duties of the club. The
Recreation Department furnishes leadership and
a place for the group to dance ; each club pays for
its own music and a service charge for the use of
the dance floor.

Young Folks Set Pace for Elders. So popular has
a social dancing club for boys and girls in Two
Rivers, Wisconsin, proved, that 160 older persons
signed a petition requesting a similar program.

O Sole Mio! in Dearborn. To mention Dearborn,
Michigan's fascinating opera class first is not to
overlook that metropolis's other flourishing co-
activities. But this ambitious adult group, which,

Photo by Laurence V. Lay, Amherst, Mass.

324

THE MUNICIPALITIES LOOK AT CO-RECREATION

assisted by the dramatic class, presents winter and
summer programs, is attempting something a bit
out of the ordinary.

The Recreation Department serves young peo-
ple from sixteen to twenty-one years of age both
through its own centers and by helping churches,
clubs, and other community units to develop pro-
grams within their own organizations. At the mu-
nicipal centers mixed groups of adults enjoy such
activities as badminton, table tennis, swimming,
volleyball, music, social dancing, social dancing
instruction, and seasonal parties. Badminton has
emerged as Dearborn's most popular adult ac-
tivity. Since its introduction last year in the cen-
ter, attendance records have doubled. Other
rapidly developing interests are volleyball, tobog-
ganing, skating, dramatics and music, besides the
opera class. From Henry D. Schubert, Superin-
tendent of Recreation, Dearborn, Michigan.

Highland Park Votes for Badminton. "Without
doubt badminton is our outstanding co-recrea-
tional activity," says George Scheuchenpflug, Di-
rector of Community Service of Highland Park,
Illinois. Four years' continued growth of the
sport is due, in Mr. Scheuchenpflug's opinion, to
the fact that it has been promoted entirely as a
co-recreational activity. While most popular with
the "young marrieds," the sport draws widely
varied age groups. Practice rackets are loaned to
beginners and instruction in fundamentals is given
in many of the classes. At first "birds" are sup-
plied to players, but as they become more profici-
ent they are expected to buy their own. Gourt
play is for half -hour periods and the instructor
sees to it that all who come get to play for at
least two half-hour periods. Directors discourage
establishment of groups that want always to play
together.

Volleyball a Favorite in Denver. Volleyball and
dancing as co-recreative diversions interest adults
in Denver, Colorado. In the junior and senior
high school groups the following activities are
rated tops by mixed groups :
dancing, volleyball, shuffle-
board, ping-pong and archery.
From Willard N. Greim, Di-
rector of Health Education,
Denver Public Schools.

Fort Morgan Emphasizes Co-
Recreation. Folks in Fort
Morgan,. Colorado, have many
opportunities to take part in

"We find that mixed group recreation
tends to create the friendly, cooper-
ative spirit among young people
which is so necessary to an effective
recreation program. We heartily en-
dorse co-recreational activities pro-
vided the leadership available can
promote the program successfully." —
G. W. Danielson, Director of Rec-
reation, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

mixed-group activities. Children enjoy tap danc-
ing, singing games, storytelling, checkers, Chinese
checkers, dominoes, wari, ping-pong, mill, pick-
up-sticks, jacks, tag games, relay races, shuffle-
board, circle games, line games, dramatics, folk
dancing, volleyball, deck tennis, arts and crafts and
social clubs. The adults favor square dancing,
shuffleboard, ping-pong, volleyball, deck tennis,
social dancing, cards, mill, wari, checkers, Chinese
checkers, puzzles, arts and crafts. From Henry
Amicarella, Director of Recreation.

Normal Social Situations Stressed. In Wichita,
Kansas, boys are being taught how to invite girls
to be their partners in social activities; girls are
taught how to accept invitations gracefully. Co-
recreation which is a weekly feature of the phy-
sical education program in two of the city high
schools offers a fine opportunity for developing
normal social situations, Wichita educators feel.
Every effort is being made to teach some of the
manners and customs desirable for social gather-
ings. By using a radio speaker in the gymnasium,
one physical education director can stand on a
platform with a microphone and with a few as-
sistants helping on the floor, do a splendid piece
of teaching. Instead of dressing for their regular
gym classes, the boys and girls put on their gym
shoes, go immediately to the gymnasium and
enter into their chosen activities. When the pro-
gram was initiated some difficulty was experienced
in inducing boys and girls to participate, but now
greater difficulty is encountered if the program is
omitted !

Favorite indoor co-recreative pursuits of these
high school youngsters are swimming, square
dancing, softball, tennis and volleyball. Outdoor
co-activities include tether ball, horseshoes, cro-
quet, softball, tennis, swimming, canoeing, roller
skating and bicycling.

Washtubs a Thumping Success. Washtubs, wash-
boards and other unorthodox instruments were
used in interesting a group of colored boys and
girls in forming a rhythm band
at Lincoln Recreation Center,
Harlem, sponsored by the
New York City Boys' Athletic
League. Although rhythm
bands are usually thought of
as suited to small children,
Miss R. Vereda Pearson, the
leader of. the group, found the
(Continued on page 360)

Activities of Co- Recreation Clubs

WHY DO young
people join co-
recr cation
clubs ? When boys and
girls try to explain
why they wish to join
this type of club or
organize one, they often say
one thing and mean another.
Or they have several reasons.
Perhaps it is the impersonal

boy and girl relationship that a club affords that
attracts many. The expressed purpose of twenty-
nine of the fifty-three co-recreation clubs in the
Milwaukee Municipal Recreation Department in
the leaders' histories of them, was "just to have a
good time." Some clubs were vague in explaining
what they meant by a "good time"; more were
explicit and listed hikes, dancing, sports, parties,
and similar activities. A few of the fifty-three
clubs gave very serious reasons. One even wished
to study the Bible and did, all this year. Another
had a series of discussions on their philosophy of
life. Several were interested in vocational guid-
ance. If they are serious-minded and desire to
follow a serious line of study, we try to place
them in a stimulating environment related to their
interest and to find a leader trained to meet their
need.

Clubs know, however, that they do not have to
pretend a serious interest, if they do not have
one, to get a place to meet in the center. If they
wish to organize a club just to have good times
and say so, we admit them to the centers. After
all, it is their leisure time and the leaders under-
stand that even a good time can involve vital
social processes that make for wholesome per-
sonality growth. Situations arise in the planning
and executing of a "good time program" that
under good leadership result in adjustments and
in the exercise of many qualities that these boys
and girls will find essential in their relationships
with those with whom they live and work and
play.

"Storm and Stress" Periods!
Some of these co-recreation clubs started as
natural groups, were organized and functioning as
clubs before they came to the center, but felt a

Milwaukee's fifty- three co- recreation
clubs enjoy good times, learn to solve
their difficulties, and acquire inval-
uable experience in the art of living

By MARION PREECE

Department of Municipal Recreation
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

need for leadership
and came to us seek-
ing it. Some came just
for a place to meet.
These were usually
high school graduates
who wished to con-
tinue school friendships.
Other clubs have had as a
nucleus boys' or girls' clubs
that opened their member-
ship to the opposite sex after having existed two
or three years in a state of "single blessedness."
Clubs have started out as segregated clubs,
changed to co-recreation, and then broken up into
segregated clubs again. This is particularly true
of some of the younger boys' and girls' groups.
"Girls always want their own way," or "Oh, those
old boys, they want to run everything." One club
divided over a whittling project that the boys tried
to force the girls to accept! Club leaders have
solved such problems by advising the boys to form
their club and the girls theirs, and then to come
together for a recreation period or an occasional
hike or party.

Some of our members have had rather stormy
careers before they came to the centers, not only
as individuals but as club groups. Ten girls came
to one of the centers asking for a meeting place.
The director assigned a leader to them. Yes, they
told the leader, they had been organized for some
time as a club. They had been meeting at the
homes of members. No, they weren't going to
meet in the homes any more, and they didn't want
any boys in their club now. Yes, there had been
ten more members, boys. There followed a rather
disjointed history of the group as a club. Evi-
dently home after home had been closed to them
with broken windows, broken dishes, noise and
general rowdy conduct as reasons. The final meet-
ing place had been the home of an elder sister of
one of the members who turned her apartment
over to them one night a week when she and her
husband went to a club of their own. But this
refuge was decisively denied them after a particu-
larly destructive meeting which had called down
the wrath of the neighbors on the head of the big-
hearted sister. So they came to the center like
world-weary little women seeking a retreat. The

325

326

ACTIVITIES OF CO-RECREATION CLUBS

club must go on, minus its
male contingent, however.
For two years they continu-
ed as a girls' club, a very
excellent girls' club. They
are now some of the most
resourceful and reliable girls
in the center.Their stand-
ards, especially those of a
good time, have undergone
a change. This cannot be
attributed just to the age;
they are still in their teens.
We like to believe that the

environment and the understanding leadership of
the center were factors in the change. This year
they asked their leader's opinion on opening the
club membership to boys again. She advised them
to invite the boys to a few social affairs to test
the compatibility of the group. Today they are a
flourishing new co-recreation club.

A few co-recreation clubs are off-shoots of
special interest groups— athletics, drama, nature,
music, or handcraft. Some had their beginnings
within the center itself in such activities as ball-
room dance classes, game rooms, co-recreation
rooms, Saturday night dances, and other com-
munity affairs.

The Power of Suggestion
The power of suggestion is a factor in promot-
ing these organizations. A boy comes to Sat-
urday night dances and is met by club members
who are acting as hosts and hostesses. Or he
wanders into an activity room during the week
and sees a club making decorations for a party,
favors and programs. He sees other clubs start-
ing out for a moonlight hike or a treasure hunt.
He passes a club room exuding the tantalizing
odor of popping corn. In another room he hears
a club rehearsing a "sing band" program. He
catches glimpses of boys and girls running type-
writers and mimeograph machines getting out the
club bulletin or a center news sheet. He inquires
of the door man or some one in the hall the mean-
ing of the activities in these rooms and learns that
these are co-recreation club rooms. Club rooms !
Why, they are just class rooms with seats pushed
back, blackboards washed clean, and boys and
girls his own age sitting at the teachers' desks
conducting meetings or discussions ! Later in the
evening he may see these same clubs in the lower
hall playing shuffleboard, learning archery, or in

There are 7,528 young people in organized
clubs in the social centers of the Milwau-
kee School Department of Municipal Rec-
reation. Of this number 2,948 are of grade
school age and are classed as Juniors. The
Senior Division is composed of 4,580 high
school and college students, and employed
and unemployed young men and women
registered in 266 clubs. Two hundred and
thirteen clubs are segregated clubs of
boys or girls, and fifty-three are co-recre-
ation clubs, or clubs made up of both
boys and girls. It is to the activities of
these clubs that this article is devoted.

the gym dancing country
dances. Some members may
be just sitting on the side-
lines talking ; boys and girls
together having a good time.
Another club may be set-
ting the stage for the pro-
duction of a play one of
their members has written.
He commences to look about
for a chance to join a group
or to interest some of his
friends in starting one of

their own.

The centers have organized some co-recreation
clubs to solve playground, neighborhood, or cen-
ter problems. In attempting to solve these prob-
lems new ones are often created. Only skilled,
mature leaders are put in charge of these groups.

Regarding Competitive Activities

The Department has no pattern to which the
club must conform in organization, number of
members, age grouping, program, or method of
conducting meetings. These are determined by
the club itself with the aid of the leader. Nor
does the Department make any stipulation as to
a club's participation in other activities in the
center. No service is demanded of it. There are
no awards, no point systems. It is not asked for
the sake of "dear old" this or that to take part in
any competitive program. There are no routine
leagues or tournaments. To be sure there are
leagues and there are tournaments. There is lots
of competition, but all competitive events are or-
ganized by the .clubs, by their club council in the
center or by the All-City Club Council. Partici-
pation is purely voluntary. There is no discredit
cast on a club or a leader if a club is not
represented.

The Department itself has organized only two
out and out competitive events in nine years for
these clubs. One was the "Better Homes Con-
test" in which boys' and girls' clubs entered home
units in an exhibit and competed for nothing more
than a blue ribbon. These units were boys' rooms,
girls' rooms, living rooms, kitchens, recreatior
rooms, or a corner of one of these rooms witl
rugs, curtains and furniture the clubs had madf
or redecorated. This contest was held ever)
spring for six years, but wore itself out. Thi;
year we conducted a flag making contest whict
the Colonial Dames sponsored in the centers

ACTIVITIES OP CO-RECREATION CLUBS

327

Clubs made the historical flags of America and
they were given to the Department for class work
with the foreign born after the contest. Two
prizes were given. They were pictures painted by
well-known Wisconsin artists under the WPA.
They now hang in two centers after appropriate
unveiling ceremonies presided over by the wan-
ning clubs.

For three years the All-City Club Council has
conducted a table tennis tournament. For two
years we have had ice festivals with competitive
events. Three years ago we had an all-city club
vaudeville. It was non-competitive, but many of
the boys and girls were disappointed that no de-
cisions were given as to which club had the best
performance. There has been some talk of giving
another one and making it competitive.

Cooperative Projects

There are innumerable projects conducted co-
operatively. It is impossible to attribute the pro-
motion of any of these activities exclusively to
the co-recreation clubs, as they are participated in
by other clubs. Sometimes they are limited to two
or three clubs ; sometimes all the clubs in one
center join forces, and several times a year the
clubs of the entire Department cooperate.

Some of these projects are civic, as is the Mil-
waukee Midsummer Festival where the clubs
assist the Festival Commission by cooperating
, with other city groups on the seven-day program.
The Youth Citizenship Council of Milwaukee
1 County has asked our All-City Club Council to
: cooperate in registering all the young men and
I young women who are eligible to vote for the
^first time this year, and to assist in a program at
jthe State Fair on Citizenship Day. This year the
| All-City Club Council organized a drive for eradi-
\ cation of hay fever weeds
•in response to a procla-
jmation by the Governor
jof the State. Many of
'the cooperative projects
tare purely social, such as
(dances and picnics.

especially if they have money enough to expand
their activities beyond the confines of the center
Mid the immediate community. One club this sum-
mer had a dancing party at the City Club ; another
club, a buffet supper and its initiation ceremony
at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. Others occa-
sionally have dinner and dance at a downtown
hotel. This is a new form of adventure for many
of them who are fearful of crossing a frontier
guarded by a uniformed doorman without a van-
guard of their club leaders. These affairs cost
more than most of the clubs have to spend regu-
larly for their parties. For some clubs it means
saving dues for an entire year to meet the ex-
pense. But such parties do not appeal to all clubs,
nor are all clubs ready for them. It is at this
point that the judgment and the tact of the leader
count. Leaders at times must make decisions for
their clubs, sometimes quite arbitrary ones, espe-
cially when standards of conduct and the policies
of the Department are involved.

Standards of Conduct

Last year the refreshment committee of a new
club brought in a report that included the recom-
mendation of the purchase of a case of beer for
their first big party. When the leader explained
that beer could not be served in a school building
some of the boys sneeringly dismissed the build-
ing as a fit place for a party. They would go
somewhere else. There was opposition to this as
the plans of other committees had gone too far to
be so easily scrapped. The use of the teachers'
dining room had been granted them and the dec-
orations had been made for that room, games and
dancing had been planned, 'favors had been bought.

The leader, a young woman whose experience

in college as a sorority girl had made her opinions

in social affairs generally

A Few "Isolationists"

The first-year clubs as
la rule find interest and
(activity enough in their
:own organization. Some
of the large clubs con-
tinue this isolation policy,

The age range of the 1,713 members of the co-
recreation clubs maintained by the Department
of Municipal Recreation is from fourteen to
twenty-five years. There are only thirty mem-
bers who are under fifteen years of age, and
sixty-five who have passed their twenty-fifth
birthday. The number of members in the co-rec-
reation clubs tends to be much larger than the
number in the segregated clubs. Fifty per cent
of the co-recreation clubs have twenty or more
members, while only eight per cent of the seg-
regated clubs have twenty or more members.
The lowest number of members in any co-recrea-
tion club is ten, as opposed to clubs of five mem-
bers in the segregated groups — statistical evi-
dence of the popularity of co-recreation clubs.

acceptable to the girls,
was openly laughed at by
some of the boys when
she suggested , punch in
place of beer. Not only
the party but the club it-
self seemed to be on the
verge of dissolving into
nothingness right there,
but by dint of hard work
with the girls, who were
younger than the boys,
as is the case in most of
our co-recreation clubs,

328

ACTIVITIES OF CO-RECREATION CLUBS

and with the help of some of the boys, the party
came off on scheduled time. A punch bowl was
heaped with colored ice cubes that were covered
with fruit juice and ginger ale. The beer was for-
gotten for the evening, but the club broke up soon
after.

It is very difficult for a leader to find a satis-
factory substitute not only for liquor, if it is gen-
erally acceptable to the group, but also for some
of the activities that are thought by the group to
be the only means of entertainment. Some activi-
ties must be prohibited. Some of them merely dis-
couraged from time to time in order to interest
the group in experimenting in different forms of
recreation.

Finding Substitutes for Dancing

Dancing seems to be the first suggestion and
sometimes the only one that some clubs make for
every social gathering.

Seven years ago a plan was made by a leader
and her drama club for all the drama clubs and
classes of the Department to get together for in-
formal social affairs. The leader and the club
promoting the idea had a Christmas party to
which they invited the other drama clubs and the
classes with their leaders and instructors so that
the plan could be discussed. It was decided that
the only time that everyone would be free to go
would be Sunday afternoon, as most of the mem-
bers worked or were in school week days, and
nights were filled with rehearsals and productions.

The leader presiding then stated that her idea
and her club's was a series of teas for which they
would procure a good speaker each time, some
one to talk on the arts of the theater. Tea! at a
party ? Why not have ice cream ? And a speaker !
Why not a dance ? What was the fun of a party
if you couldn't dance? The leader explained that
she doubted the Department would open a build-
ing Sunday just for dancing when almost every
center in town had dancing the night before. She
added that Sunday dancing, furthermore, would
be frowned on in many neighborhoods. She and
her club offered to take charge of the first Sunday
afternoon.

This occurred at the time when the depression
was at its worst. There was not much money in
the club treasury, the leader said, but a tea would
cost very little. The word "tea" brought forth
shrugs and frowns and a few rude titters from
some individuals every time it was mentioned.
However, there were enough of the clubs in favor

of the plan to encourage the leader and her club
to try it.

Invitations were sent out. The day came. There
was a long table with candles and flowers and bor-
rowed silver. The girls poured. The boys of the
club "faced down" the other young men as they
passed sandwiches and cakes. There was music,
there was an excellent speaker and there was a
fine audience. The day was a success.

That was in 1932 and we are still having Sun-
day Drama Teas. We always have good speakers,
drama critics from the newspapers, drama direct-
ors from colleges or little theaters, artists, musi-
cians, designers; actors.

The suggestion that there be dancing on these
Sunday afternoons comes up every so often when
new members join, but it is always talked down
by the older members. There is never a question
concerning tea. The Department has even pur-
chased two samovars!

The boys carry the heavy trays of cups anc
plates to the kitchen and the washing of them is
shared by boys and girls. At one of the centers
some cups were broken one Sunday. The social
center director wrote a note asking that the boys
be kept out of the kitchen, as the report had been
made that when they washed the dishes those who
were drying them lined up in a bucket brigade
formation and cups were thrown in rapid suc-
cession, from boy to boy to the cupboard! The
letter was given to the head of the Department
who answered that she felt that the experience
these boys were getting in assisting the girls in
entertaining and taking the responsibility of do-
ing the not too attractive job of cleaning the kit-
chen was worth a broken cup or two. But the
boys were asked to use trays to carry the dishes
to the cupboard.

Service Activities

Such activities which are open to our clubs
from every section of the city furnish opportuni-
ties for the casual meeting of different nationality
groups and promote understanding and tolerance.
New acquaintances are made and sometimes fol-
lowed up by invitations to parties, discussion
groups or even by requests for help.

A Polish Club this spring was working on an
operetta that called for an Italian folk dance. The)'
asked a club from an Italian neighborhood to
teach them the Tarantella. After the first lesson
one of the Italian girls said to her leader: "Oh,
we had so much fun. They were so nice. We

ACTIVITIES OF CO-RECREATION CLUBS

329

laughed so much. They
had an accordian player
and all he could play was
Polish songs. So we
taught them to dance
Italian to Polish music."

Though the majority of
the fifty-three co-recre-
ation clubs gave "having
a good time" as their ma-
jor interest when they
organized, their histories
show that many of them
have worked out well-
rounded programs, in-
cluding discussions and
forums on youth prob-
lems and questions of the
day; programs of sports
and games including
skating, hiking, bicycling,
theater parties, and ser-
vice projects. Even the
most frivolous co-recrea-
tion clubs at some time
or another seem to burn

with a desire to serve, "to do good for some one."
At Thanksgiving there are always baskets filled ;
at Christmas toys are made or old ones mended,
dolls are dressed, games made. Often there is
very little money in the club and it taxes the lead-
er's ingenuity, if ideas are scarce in the club, to
help find projects to satisfy this desire to give
that will cost little or nothing but look well.

One year a club learned Christmas stories and
during the holidays went to orphanages and told
them to the children. And of course there are
always carols at Christmas for those burning can-
dles in their windows. This year, while the other
clubs of the center went caroling, two clubs re-
mained in the club room and made doughnuts and
coffee which they served to the singers when they
came back cold and hungry.

This spring a club council at one of the centers
asked their director to teach them playground
games for little children, and they are volunteer-
ing their services in the neighborhood for back-
yard play.

In one of the centers where co-recreation ac-
tivities for the young people have been frowned
upon by the parents who are largely foreign born,
one of the clubs with an age range of from eigh-
teen to twenty -five years has sponsored several

Courtesy Milwaukee Department of Municipal Recreation

successful dancing parties for high school age
groups. The parents will permit their boys and
girls to go to these dancing parties where the
older brothers and sisters take the responsibility
of keeping a watchful eye on them.

Another club built brush shelters and feeding
hoppers for birds and small wild animals in the
parks. The Izaak Walton League furnished sev-
eral hundred pounds of grain which the club car-
ried to the hoppers in the woods during the win-
ter months. They combined this project with a
pleasure trip and always took along their skis in
snowy weather. Other clubs have made bird
houses and installed them in the parks, assuming
the responsibility of cleaning them in the spring.

One club transplanted seedlings into a tree
nursery on a playground, planted flower seeds in
flats and distributed the plants to the children in
the neighborhood for window boxes and flower
pots, sponsored a series of three nature lectures
at their center, and are furnishing a nature mu-
seum at their center. A very popular service is
editing and printing a center news-sheet which
involves setting up departments for reporting,
editing, illustrating, printing and distributing.

Several of the drama clubs each year produce
as their service one full length play for our Mu-

330

ACTIVITIES OF CO-RECREATION CLUBS

nicipal Children's Theater. At first this was not a
popular project. The clubs preferred doing adult
plays and thought this "fairy tale— kid stuff" be-
neath their concern. There are still many drama
clubs in the Department which do not care to
spend the time it takes to do a children's play and
give it for a children's audience, but the ones that
have taken it over enjoy the reception the chil-
dren give them and include a play for them in
their year's program now as a matter of course.

What About Money-Making?

The problem of money-making is one that
comes up every so often in club and council meet-
ing. Sometimes it seems to be just the desire to
be making money that motivates all the hard work,
or it may be for the satisfaction of seeing some-
thing result from work as concrete as cold cash,
a satisfaction that the present economic situation
has made impossible for so many boys and girls.
Sometimes there is a real need for money, as
there was this year for beds and bedding at
Mauthe Lake, an overnight, week-end camp the
State has given us permission to use.

Clubs and Councils are not permitted, accord-
ing to the Department's policy, to make money in
the school house for the purchase of personal
property for club members such as sweaters,
leather jackets, golf clubs, and badminton rackets.
These needs may be met on a club project basis
by money-making affairs outside the school build-
ing, such as theater parties in cooperation with
neighborhood motion picture theaters, or paper
and candy sales. But the personal needs of club
members have been taken care of occasionally by
club dues. One treasury last winter was almost
depleted by the purchase of trousers, sox, shirts,
and a sweater as a birthday gift for a club mem-
ber who had been out of work for a long time.
Two birthday cakes were added for good measure,
one for a party at the center and the other for the
guest of honor to take home.

Then there was the time when all the clubs in
a center donated funds to cover the funeral ex-
penses of a club boy who had been the only wage
earner in his family and had died leaving only
sixteen dollars in the bank.

Center Councils have various methods of mak-
ing money for center projects such as shows and
fairs, but the most popular one and the surest one
is selling pop at the Saturday night dances. The
sale of pop not only gives the club members ex-
perience in buying and selling, and in handling

money, but it piles up a meat little account for the
Councils which are spent so judiciously that they
sometimes almost miss being spent at all while
conference after conference is held and price lists
are consulted to enable the Council to get the most
for its money !

Spotlights have been bought for the lighting ef-
fects for parties and dances, screens and flats for
the stages, dishes and silver, paint and even radios
for club rooms.

Their Own Club Rooms
We do have, in several of the centers, club
rooms that are available entirely for club pur-
poses. Furniture has been made, old furniture re-
painted, and curtains and pictures purchased for
them. Sometimes club leaders have been able
through suggestions to get the clubs to call in ex-
pert volunteer help on decorating problems. Oc-
casionally some one in the group has so success-
fully sold his own decorating ideas to the other
members that there has been nothing to do but
accept them and carry them out for better or for
worse ! The effects have been pretty gruesome in
some instances, but the lessons learned through
these mistakes have been well worth all the scrap-
ing and scouring it has taken to remove the paint.
The furnishings for the club rooms have been
gathered from every corner of the city. Old
pianos can now be had for the carting. The city
frequently condemns buildings, and our Depart-
ment has salvaged enough stoves and sinks from
them to supply every club room. These sinks and
stoves are far from being new models, but wooden
covers have been made for them which are painted
to look like chests. The stoves have encouraged
the art of cooking in both boys' and girls' clubs.
Parties grow more elaborate as skill increases.
This means going to the pop funds for dishes,
silver, linens, and even copies of Emily Post !

Applied Etiquette

Mrs. Post has been featured in more than one
club program. This interest in the right thing to
do has had queer beginnings. Two boys became
angry one evening at a club meeting, rushed out
of the room and slammed the door. One of the
girls said it was time they learned some manners.
Some one else said it was time they all thought
more about manners, and the course was in-
augurated. A second generation group was in-
vited to do some dances at a reception given for
(Continued on page 361)

Co-Recreation in the Y.M.C.A.

t'%Y/OMEN AXD GlR^s in the Y.M.C.A.?" Such
yy is the honest query of many people
today who do not realize what has taken
place over the past decade in the program and
constituency of the Association. Originally a
work for young men, it has broadened to include
boys and older men in practically all units, and
today many Associations have a women's mem-
bership. National figures for 1938 show 97,632
women members of Y.M.C.A.'s and 236,557 en-
rolled in one or another form of group activity.

What is the reason for this change in practice?
It has come along as a natural development in
terms of good program planning. The Associa-
tion's objective has been to serve men and boys,
and especially those young men who have com-
pleted their schooling and are striving to establish
a home. Getting started is the main task ahead
and in it is included finding of a position ; main-
tenance of health; finding a mate; and this,
coupled with the normal desire to have a good
time, brings the program of the Association into
focus. The last two items mentioned are of such
importance in the art of living that programs in-
cluding women seemed to be the natural response
to meet this need.

Family events have been in vogue for many
years in the program of events. Many Associa-
tions carry on such activities as family play
nights, family picnics, and family swimming par-
ties. These have been so successful that it was
just another step to include programs for young
men and women, and so dancing and mixed swim-
ming parties were promoted as well as picnics and
co-ed outing events. Some Y.M.C.A.'s have di-
vided their programs so that on two days of the
week the place is open for men only, two for
women only and two others for men and women.
In many places this is possible, as the constitu-
ency is not great enough to support two separate
organizations, one for men, the other for women.
The majority of the Associations, however, do
concern themselves primarily with a program for
men and boys. It has been a real problem to
know when to curtail the women's work in view
of the demand on facilities by men, or to expand it.

Sometimes we adults make the mistake of under-
estimating young people, of thinking that they want
only "soap-bubble" amusements. The splendid ac-
counts we are presenting of worth-while programs
of mixed group activities which are being offered
by two Y.M.C.A.'s at opposite geographic poles of
our country are proof to the contrary. Young peo-
ple want — as well as fun and companionship —
guidance in the art of living.

By ROBERT E. LAVEAGA

Director of Recreation and Health
Boston Y.M.C.A.

Some Tested Activities

In the Huntington Avenue Branch of the Bos-
ton Y.M.C.A. there are several interesting pieces
of co-recreational work. Let us start with those
activities which have been going on for some time.

Learning to Dance. This seems to be one of the
necessary skills for the modern young person.
Many of these young people have grown up in
homes where dancing was on the taboo list; as a
result, at twenty or so they find that they do not
know how to dance, and are therefore shut out
from one of the main social activities. It should
be the duty of any recreation system, either pri-
vate or public, to present an opportunity for the
learning of this skill. Correctly taught in the
right atmosphere, the individual enters into a
wholesome happy experience which enrichens life.

Eleven years ago the Y.W.C.A. and the Y.M.
C.A. joined forces with the Union Congregation
Church in Boston to promote a dancing class. The
object was to teach dancing under the auspices of
good leadership. Mr. William O'Brien was se-
cured as instructor, and the three organizations
furnished leadership to assist in the conduct of
the class. Primarily for beginners only, the class
grew so large that it had to be divided into two
sections; starting at 7:30, an hour's instruction
was given to beginners; at 8:30 the advanced
pupils came in and Mr. O'Brien "cut loose" with
all the modern steps; in fact it kept the class on

331

332

CO-RECREATION IN THE Y.M.C.A.

its toes to keep up with him. At 9:15 the two
classes combined for a "grand mixer." Couples
were changed frequently and the group soon be-
came acquainted. "Lights out" at n o'clock.

There were ten lessons in each course, at $3.00
per ten lessons, or 50 cents single admission (rela-
tively few). The course is sold out for women
two weeks before the class starts, and the total
quota of 300 different people is reached on the
third or fourth night. The course is a financial
success as well as a social contribution. During
the three sessions held each winter approximately
600 different young men and women have taken
part.

On the tenth night of each course there is a big
party. A committee is selected from the class and
this group of five young men and five women
work with the Directors of the Y.W. and the
Y.M. to discuss what kind of a party it is to be,
and decide on the games and mixers, decorations
and refreshments. On the night of the party this
committee is in charge. Some of the party themes
have been : masquerade, barn dance, sports, May,
hard times, hill billy, and once each season there
is a "Formal" when the young men have a chance
to put on a "tux," "full dress," or come in dark
suits with bow ties, and the girls "dress formal."
It is interesting to hear the negative remarks when
the "formal" is announced.
Almost all of them an-
nounce they are not going,
but with constant "taking
it up" by the leaders and
the committee the night of
the party finds the great
majority in evi- r .
dence and more
than happy at the
opportunity to
"dress up." It is
one of those nights
when a fellow wears
his first "tux" and
hates to take it off
when he goes home !

There is more to
dancing than just
whirling a girl
around the dance
floor. There is an
opportunity to
teach the social
graces, to explain

One of the winter activities of the Outing
Club which Mr. Laveaga mentions. The pro-
gram of this club will be described in de-
tail in an article by Leslie Updegraph of the
Huntington Avenue Branch of the Boston
Y.M.C.A., to be published in a later issue.

common courtesies, interrupt rude and boisterous
conduct and have those stopped thank you for
helping them out. Friendships, courtships, mar-
riage, are common results of this dancing class,
and to many this Monday Night Club is a chance
to meet fine young people of the opposite sex in
a most congenial place, and that is what the Y.W.
C.A. is. At intermission those who do not go out
for refreshments join around the piano for a fif-
teen minute sing. It is an experience which opens
the doors socially for many young people who
have been timid or reluctant to join in with 'others.
With most beginners it is a matter of gaining con-
fidence ; not of conquering difficult steps but of
overcoming the fear that one will do wrong and
be marked for so doing. This is one feature of
learning in a class for there are others in the same
boat, and when this is recognized the learning of
the skills is comparatively simple. It is a splen-
did activity and warrants the consideration of any
organization working with young people.

The Splash Party. This has come to be one of
the most popular winter season activities we offer,
and again it is an event which furnishes an op-
portunity for young people to get together and
meet each other in a wholesome, happy experi-
ence. Swimming is universally known and en-
joyed by the great American public, especially in
the summer time, but dur-
ing the winter season this
activity is abandoned ex-
cept at those places where
indoor pools are located.
For many years groups of
young people ranging in
numbers from
thirty to two hun-
dred per party have
participated in the
Splash Party pro-
gram of the Y.M.
C.A. in Boston.
Usually there is an
athletic exhibition
or social recreation
program for these
young men and
women to observe
or participate in
prior to the swim-
ming part of the
program, which
takes place at 9

Courtesy Huntington Avenue Branch, Boston Y.M.C.A.

CO-RECREATION IN THE Y.M.C.A.

333

p. M., on Saturday nights.
The "Y" is so built that the
women go to one dressing
room, which has showers ad-
joining the natatorium, and
the men to another, and there
are separate entrances to the
pool. One hour is given over
to the "splashing," and the
degree depends on the num-
ber in the pool. When over
a hundred are in at one time,
it is a "big splash" ; when 150
are in it it is "terrific," and
when more than that try to wedge into the water
it is "impossible"! But somehow, whether thirty
or two hundred, everyone seems to have a grand
time.

After the swim the dancing program starts,
continuing until 11:00 or 11:15 P.M., when all
are ready to go home. No refreshments are
served, and the cost for the evening's fun is
thirty-five cents, including the towel, soap, pool
fee, and dance fee. Each person brings his own
suit. If you have not tried one of these events,
you have a happy and worth-while experience
before you.

The Church Recreation Institute. Another co-rec-
reation and co-educational activity is that Church
Recreation Institute, which is based upon the idea
that there are too few leaders in the churches
who are familiar with social recreation methods
and materials. To meet this need, in 1933 the
"Y" held its first institute.

The institute sessions, each two hours in length,
number six. For five years they were held on
Tuesday nights in October and November. Last
year and this year the school met in January and
February. Representative young men and women
come from more than thirty-five different churches,
and the enrollment averages about seventy-five
per institute. This makes a very workable group.
A short devotional period is held first, followed
by a short theoretical presentation on some phase
of recreation. The greater part of the evening is
spent in demonstrating and playing all kinds of
games and stunts which may be used during the
year. A mimeographed manual is prepared and
presented to each of the members of the institute
, at the end of the course. This is a real help as it
presents the materials covered in the course and
saves note taking. The cost of the course is $1.00 ;
this includes the manual.

THE CHALLENGE

"It matters not what activities are best
liked. Nor is it a question of who initi-
ates the program. Rather, the import-
ance is placed on the leader's philoso-
phy. Does the leader believe in youth?
Does the leader have faith in these young
magnificents to carry the burdens of a
troubled world on their shoulders? Does
the leader have a philosophy of, by, and
for co-recreation? Can you leaders of
men and women meet this challenge?" —
Charles F. Weckworth, Director, Men's
Division, Y.M.C.A., Providence, R. I.

After experience with six
different institutes there is no
doubt but that there is a need
for such training programs.
The enjoyment which the
young people have in partici-
pating in this activity faces
one with the fact that there
is a real place for well-con-
ducted social recreation pro-
grams in making life more
abundant.

Outings. Many of the ath-
letic groups conduct outings
for their members and women friends, including
such activities as hiking, and picnics, and trips to
the beach.

School for Young Adults. In the Young Men's
Division of the Association, the Association
School for Young Adults has courses of all kinds
for men and women. These courses include :
visits with interesting people, photography, stain-
ed glass, crafts, public speaking, leadership train-
ing, home-making, home budgets, vocational sub-
jects, and many other topics. The School has
two semesters and enrolls about 500 young men
and women.

The Outing Club. Last but not least comes one
of the most popular co-recreational groups known
as the Boston "Y" Outing Club, of 300 young
men and women, which conducts between thirty
and fifty different events each month of the year,
offering each member an enviable schedule. From
single hikes or bike rides to a nine days' summer
vacation jaunt, one finds any kind of outdoor rec-
reation he desires. Each of the trips is made as
inexpensively as possible and yet the quality of
the total program is above any price.

Boys and girls grow up in the home together,
young people go together, and finally become
united in marriage to continue the cycle again.
Life is not complete without companionship. It
is the right of young people to have the best lead-
ership there is, for while the youth of our day
are increasingly independent, they always respond
to that high type of leadership which tends to
make them the better citizens of tomorrow.
Surely, there are women and girls at the Y.M.C.A. !

"An evaluation of co-educational activities
should show that such a program 'brings out the
individual,' tends to do away with shyness, and
helps the individual to get along with others."

SO-ED NITE

MARCH M
For Younq Men ^ Women.

So-Ed

Nites

at the

Tacoma

Y.M.C.A.

Where sociabil-
ity and education
form a happy and
successful union

THE MEMBERS of our Young Men's Council in
their fall meeting were looking for an inter-
esting and appealing program they could spon-
sor. They wanted something that was new,
different, which would fill a real need in the
community, and at the same time prove bene-
ficial to those who participated. This seemed
to be a pretty big order, but young men like
to tackle something that is challenging. The
discussion wound up with one definite de-
cision— that the program must be of a co-
educational type.

In the manner of all typical Americans, these
young men appointed a committee and vested in
this committee the power to go ahead and map
out such a program. The group met with a
group at the Y.W.C.A. and talked over the
idea, which met with a great deal of favor.
The final committee in charge of planning this
program consisted of four young men and foui
young women.

The name of our program we borrowed from
the Portland, Oregon, Y.M.C.A., because it so
well fitted the idea— "So-Ed" for "Social Edu-
cation." So-Ed Nite was to be held in the
spring starting on March first and running for
a period of six weeks on each Wednesday eve-
ning. The whole idea was to be an experiment
in providing a place where mature men and

334

By ROYAL J. LINDAL

Boys' Work and Program Secretary

Young Men's Christian Association

Tacoma, Washington

women might learn to do those things they
had always wanted to do for the sheer fun o:
it, but previously had not been able to find
the right time or place. We planned a three-
fold program : education, which would be a
series of courses ; recreation ; and a social hour.

Promoting the Program

In promoting such a program we worked
out a very attractive mimeographed folder
which explained the courses and gave other
information necessary for registering for this
course. We had many posters made up and
posted in downtown stores. The newspapers
cooperated by running a picture of our com-
mittee. Then we followed up those who en-
rolled for each course with postal cards to
remind them of each session. However, the
best piece of promotion consisted of contact?
made by committee members who gave talk;
before young people's groups all over the city I
encouraging them to register for the courses
We felt very definitely that our promotion waei j

SO-ED NITES AT THE TACOMA Y.M.C.A.

335

highly successful, for whereas we were hoping
for a possible group of a hundred or so, wrhen
we finally closed registration we had 279 and
had to turn down a large number who still
wanted to register for the courses.

Content of Courses

Education hour was held from 8:00 to 9:00
p. M. with the following courses offered :
Modern Marriage, Finding Yourself, How to
Buy, Photography, and Behind the Headlines.
In each of these five courses a married couple
acted as host and hostess, introducing mem-
bers of the group to one another and present-
ing the speakers who were to appear each
evening. In the Modern Marriage course we
offered the following topics : "The Choice of
a Life Mate and the Premarital Period," Dr.
Marvin Shaffer, professor of sociology at the
College of Puget Sound, speaker; "How Much
Money Does It Take?" Mr. C. J. Shaw, General
Secretary of the Tacoma Y.M.C.A.; "The
Biology of Sex and Sexual Adjustment in
Marriage," by Dr. S. F. Hermann and Dr. P. C.
Kyle; "Are Marriages Made in Heaven?" Dr.
Harold Long of the Immanuel Presbyterian
Church ; "Modern Marriage," by Fred 15. Mes-
sing, Director of Social Hygiene of the state
of Oregon ; "Practical Problems of Marriage,"
by Dr. Marvin Shaffer. Throughout the whole
series of courses the speakers did their utmost
to be frank and realistic about the problems
that face young people who are looking for-
ward to marriage. For two hours, following
Dr. Messing' s talk, young people were gathered
around him asking him personal questions
about their personal problems.

The course entitled Finding Yourself dealt,
in the first two meetings, with the subject,
"Personality"; the speaker was Mrs. Lyle
Drushel, Dean of Women at the College of
Puget Sound. "Philosophy of Vocational
Guidance" was discussed by Dean Phil Hauge
of the Pacific Lutheran College; "Vocational
Guidance" was the topic of V. P. Patterson,
president of Knapps Business College; Dr.
Holland F. Burr, pastor of the First Congrega-
tional Church talked on "Religion in Person-
ality." This course had a dual purpose in that
it stressed problems of personality and adjust-
ment, and proper manners, and also touched on
the field of vocational aptitude of individuals

and the possibility through guidance of finding
satisfactory occupations for individuals.

In the How to Buy class the first topic was
"Looking Well Dressed," and the speaker was
Freda Belle Worden, assistant buyer at the
Peoples Store. Other topics included "Stretch-
ing the Food Dollar," by Miss J. Stevens,
Director of Home Economics at the College of
Puget Sound; "Fakes and Fads to Avoid in
Foods and Medicine," by Walter West, direc-
tor of the Tacoma Better Business Bureau ;
"Buying Rather Than Being Sold Insurance,"
by C. C. Raymond of the National Insurance
Co. ; "Renting or Buying a House," by H. A.
Briggs of the Briggs Realty Co. ; "Don't Be a
Sucker for Buy Rackets," by Walter West.
The purpose of this course was to give young
people an idea of values in buying and acquaint
them with many of the problems which arise
for buyers.

Behind the Headlines was the subject of a
course to keep its members up to date with
latest developments in the European situation
and in the Orient. The series of six lectures
was handled by Professor Frank J. Williston,
well-known lecturer and professor at the Col-
lege of Puget Sound.

The final course in our educational hour \vas
Photography. "Know Your Camera" ; "Ex-
posure, Outdoor and Interior, and Film";
"Flashlights, Floodlights and Synchronized
Flash" ; "Development, Printing and Enlarg-
ing"; "Composition, Arrangement of Subject
and the Use of Filters"; and "Criticism of
Prints" were the topics treated by experts.
The sole purpose of this class was to teach the
amateur how to take a good picture.

It will be interesting to note at this time
that the 279 who were enrolled in the courses
were distributed in the following way:

Behind the Headlines 33

How to Buy 25

Photography 44

Finding Yourself 33

Modern Marriage 134

Unclassified 10

In looking over these numbers one can
readily see the great interest in a course such
as Modern Marriage. Other statistics of in-
terest are the facts that the average age of the
students enrolled was twenty-four years, 113

336

SO -ED NITES AT THE TACOMA Y.M.C.A.

men were registered and 166 women. This
made for a little problem in our social functions
which needs to be remedied before another
course is given.

Then Came the Social Hour
A recreational hour followed the education
courses between 9 :oo and 10 :oo p. M., when
qualified leaders were in charge to give in-
struction in swimming, volleyball, badminton,
rifle shooting, contract bridge and beginners'
ballroom dancing. The game room was open
for those who wished to play billiards, pool
and ping-pong.

A social hour was held from 10:00 to n 130.
The first affair was a mixer type of dance in
which Robert Hager, Supervisor of Tacoma
Public School Recreation, led marches and
other forms of mixer games and dances. This
type of dance proved very popular because it
made the group acquainted and gave a feeling
of esprit de corps. The second social event was
a splash party in the Y.M.C.A. pool, and the
third a talkie moving picture. The last three
socials were dances which proved the most
attractive to the young folks. At one of our
dances we used an orchestra ; at the rest of
them "canned" music — phonograph records
amplified. Punch and wafers were served and
a committee was in charge to make introduc-
tions and to see that everyone took part and
had a good time.

The cost for the series was $1.50 per person.
Out of this the committee paid all expenses
and has $24.65 on hand for the session which
they are planning in the fall.

Sounding Out Opinion

At the close of the session the committee
sent out questionnaires to determine how many
would be interested in another series in the
fall and how they had liked the past program.
To the question, "What part did you like
best?" 1 02 said education; 50, recreation; and

16, social. "Would you be interested in So-Ed
next fall?" was a question to which 116, out
of 125, said "Yes." "What courses would you be
interested in again?" brought the answer
Modern Marriage from 56, Photography from

17, Behind the Headlines from 33, Handicraft
from 18, and Finding Yourself from 36. A
new list suggested contained History of Re-

ligion, Etiquette, Interior Decorating, Golf,
Improved English, Gym Classes, Character
Study, Knitting Classes, Floral Arrangement,
Fencing, Archery, Woodshop, Glee Club,
Cooking, Public Speaking, Current Literature
and Selling. Other questions were: "Was the
recreation program satisfactory?" to which 105
said "Yes," 4, "No" ; and "Would you like the
social to be a dance each time?" with an
affirmative reply by 66, a negative by 50.
Changes and suggestions for recreation listed
were summer outings, weiner roasts, cruises,
picnics, questionnaires, spelling bees, skating
party, old time dance, international party,
dances and games of different nations. Re-
marks were made : "a very interesting pro-
gram" ; "looking forward to next fall" ; "super-
vision in organized play games" ; "Dr. Messing
for a speaker again" ; "mixed dramatics class" ;
"canned music better than three-piece or-
chestra" ; "less dancing" ; "classes only for
young married couples" ; "more educational
movies" ; "orchestra better than nickelodeon."

Some Recommendations

The committee had a final dinner meeting
to discuss the entire So-Ed program, go over
the material in the questionnaires and make
definite recommendations and suggestions for
future So-Ed programs. The committee made
the following comments and suggestions :

1. That this committee become chairmen
with subcommittees chosen by them to take
over specific duties.

2. That the fee remain $1.50, payable at the
first session.

3. That a membership card for the course
be worked out, which would be carried by
each member and presented at classroom for
attendance.

4. That a number of hosts and hostesses be
chosen for the purpose of introducing mem-
bers of So-Ed so as to create closer fellowship.

5. That the length of the course be six
weeks, the fall course starting the last Wed-
nesday in October; the spring session, the
middle of February.

6. That these suggestions as to educational
courses be offered for the fall program : Modern
Marriage, Behind the Headlines, Finding

(Continued on page 362)

Cooperating in Co-Recreation

A LITTLE OVER ten years ago the
Bronx Union Y.M.C.A.
found itself discussing a sub-
ject of great interest to its mem-
bers. Social dancing had not been
featured prominently in the program of this
branch and increasing demand for it had brought
its leaders to a consideration of how they could
best meet the needs of its members at this point.
At one of the very first meetings held to discuss
the matter, the young men and their leaders to-
gether stated six reasons why they felt that social
dancing was an important part of an individual's
social life and why they would like to see it in the
Y.M.C.A. program. Expressed as they noted them
in their minutes of the meeting, the reasons were
as follows : Social, dancing gives young people an
easy basis for getting together for fellowship;
social dancing is good recreation; social dancing
gives one an opportunity to meet young people of
similar tastes ; social dancing in the Y.M.C.A. as-
sures good standards ; social dancing gives a con-
tinuous opportunity for meeting new people;
dances of the right sort should be a normal part
of the social life of young people.

In these stated reasons lie the evidence of socio-
logical factors which made the needs and desires
of the young men of the Bronx express them-
! selves in terms of social dancing. The Bronx, a
j rapidly growing community, provided very few
1 opportunities for its young people to meet each
i other in a normal way. Small apartment living
i conditions offered little chance for entertaining in
I the home. School or church ties had been severed,
j for many of the families of these young people
i had only recently come to the community. There
| were but few guides to direct the young people to
jthe channels through which they could renew their
'group contacts and enjoy normal satisfactions of
; wholesome recreation with
•the opposite sex. The
•churches offered some oppor-
tunities and in many cases
iwere trying to meet the needs
?of their youth under chang-
•ing conditions. But here again
the channels were difficult to
find unless the individual had

By JEAN S. BOGAN

Recreation Director

Uptown Branch, Y.W.C.A.

New York City

It is with open and exploring minds that
such organizations as the Y.W.C.A. have
for years been seeking the most desirable
ways of serving the interests of youth. We
are fortunate in being able to present in
this, and in the article which follows, some
of the recorded experiences of Y.W.C.A.'s
in their search for designs for co-recrea-
tion. For other articles see October issue.

the courage and the urge to de-
liberately explore for himself.

And so, in thinking about social
dancing, the men naturally thought
about girls. In order to enjoy a
program of social dancing, there must be girls
and where would they get them? Did they know
girls ? But, they said, they wanted an opportunity
to meet people, and that meant they didn't know
too many girls to invite. And then, too, they
wanted to meet new girls. Fellowship was what
they desired — it was fun to meet girls and to get
to know them.

At this point the Y.W.C.A. came into the pic-
ture. The Bronx Union Y.M.C.A. asked the
Bronx Y.W.C.A. if they could interest their girls
in this matter. As it happened, the Y.W.C.A. had
been thinking about the same thing in relation to
the needs and interests of its members. The young
women were saying that they wanted opportuni-
ties to meet men, to know the fun of fellowship
and comradeship with the opposite sex, and they
wanted the Y.W.C.A. to provide this for them.

The upshot of all this was that a committee of
young people was selected from the two associa-
tions, and they, with their leaders, set up as a
first project a social dancing class. It wasn't long
before this group began to ask for dances. They
were learning social ballroom techniques and were
having a good time together, but they wanted to
use these learnings in a specific way. They
wanted to have a dance. Again the committee met
and decided to try monthly dances and a regular
dance committee was selected. This committee
planned the dances from the beginning to end-
decorations, refreshments, mixers — because this
was a new venture and they wanted everyone to
have a good time. What was most constructive,
they set up their own dance standards. This basic
structure for assuming re-
sponsibility is still being
used by the present dance
committees.

The Program— Then
and Now

This program of social
dancing initiated a co-ed rec-

337

338

COOPERATING IN CO-RECREATION

reation program which has increased and broad-
ened over a period of years. After the dances
had been established and were successful, the
next thought was that there were young people
who didn't care to dance or felt ill at ease in this
type of activity and yet would enjoy social rec-
reation. It was then that the midweek social eve-
ning became a part of the program. Table games
of all kinds, active games in the gym, some sing-
ing, or just sitting about and talking were the ac-
tivities for the first part of the evening; then
dancing for all who cared for it, and refreshments
to end the evening's fun. These midweek pro-
grams were so popular that they were increased
from once a month to twice a month and then
later to every week.

Over a period of time there have been various
other projects started ; some have been successful
and some have been lost on the way. Always
these projects have been organized because of
some expressed need of the young people them-
selves. Dramatics, theater parties, the Young
People's Conference, trips to interesting places,
and sports such as roller skating, hiking and ten-
nis, have been featured in the program and groups
formed around these interests.

The Young People's Conference
One of the most interesting groups has been
the Young People's Conference which meets every
Sunday afternoon. This group was originally or-

ganized by the Bronx
Union Y.M.C.A. cooper-
ating with the Bronx
'Protestant churches and
their young people. After
operating five years un-
der the Y.M.C.A., the
Young People's Confer-
ence itself voted to be-
come one of the activities
of the steadily expand-
ing program in the co-
operative enterprise of
the Bronx branches of
the Y.M. and the Y.W.
C.A. This group at the
present time has some of
the same characteristics
as the original group. It
is not a highly organize
group such as a clu
would, be, but does ha
a chairman, a vice-chairman, who takes care o
extracurricular activities, so to speak, a secretary
whose main responsibility is to work with a host
and hostess committee, and a treasurer. The group
is large, rather transitory, and with many varied
interests, although the predominating motivation
has been the fellowship of the two sexes express-
ed through social activity throughout the years.
The group has always been more or less of the
same cultural and educational level, and up to the
present time, when conditions of employment
have changed things, has been of the same eco-
nomic level.

When the Conference was first organized the
method of program procedure was this : the sam
discussion leader met with the group each wee
after a general topic for discussion had beet
planned for the winter. However, in 1931 th s
was changed to a plan whereby different speakers
presented a variety of subjects. The program has
varied widely. Interesting speakers, discussions,
visits to other organizations, special moving pic-
tures or talks with slides, and devotional services
all feature in a year's schedule. This variety aims
to catch the interest of everyone at some point,
and inspiration, education, and recreation are all
part of this composite program which helps tc
widen the interest and experience of the younii
people who attend.

In looking through the program content of five
or six years, it is interesting to note the two prc-

COOPERATING IN CO-RECREATION

339

dominating interests under which the various sub-
jects might be classified. "Christianity in Japan" ;
"Recent Experiences in Liberia"; "Present Situ-
ation in Manchuria"; "The American Indian To-
day"; "India"; "Hitler and His Program in Ger-
many" (1933); "The Philippine Situation";
"Norway" ; "Behind the Headlines" ; "Tech-
nocracy"-— are titles of talks and discussions
which reveal a -consistent interest in national and
international affairs. "Young People's Conversa-
tions" ; "Putting Your Resources to Work" ;
"Looking Ahead at 21"; "The Personal Factors
in Social Adjustment" ; debate by Conference
members "Character Is Hereditary"; "Youth of
Today in the World of Tomorrow" ; "Economic
Problems of Youth Today" are significant of the
other strong interest in subjects that deal with
themselves — with youth, marriage, boy and girl
relationships, and personal adjustment.

How far the stimulation of these programs
really penetrated is difficult to estimate. The pre-
sentations and discussions on international affairs
have been in most cases well done, as it has been
possible to secure some very good leadership for
the group. Although interest seems keen at the
moment, it never has been possible to transform
it into further study or action. Even when inter-
est in China was so acute and other groups in the
association were raising funds there was little
response from this group. Their momentary en-
thusiasm seems to
become diluted in
their interest in
each other and in

I a good time. In

! evaluating a pro-

i gram dealing with

ithemselves the

I task is even more

! difficult, although

' their persistent re-

j quests for these

I subjects and re-

| turns on interest

jquestionnaires

jmake us hopeful

'that the need is
being met.

One encourag-

Hng sign of more
, sustained interest
'has been the de-
cision of the com-

mittees for the past few years to present program
series rather than a number of unrelated subjects.
Again an interest in themselves has been the
dominating topic. The following subjects with
their week by week topics give some picture of
the area covered :

Preparation for Marriage
"Making the Most of Friendship"
"Finding the Best in Our Dates"
"Popularity — How and Why"
"Gaining Intelligent Views of Love, Courtship and

Marriage"
"Adequate Home- Making in the Days to Come"

Psychology and Effective Living
"Why We Are As We Are" or

The development of personality traits.
"Methods of Life Adjustment" or

The good and bad of withdrawing . . of fighting

. . of day dreaming.
"Personal Relationships" or

Friendship . . sex . . love . . marriage.
"Social Relationships" or

The wider contacts, interests, and loyalties of life.

Personality Series, Getting Along with People
"Understanding Human Nature"
"Putting Color into Our Lives"
"Can You Read Character and Faces ?"
"The Circle of Friendship"
"What Shall I Look for in Others ?"

Other interesting series have been four weeks
on "The Motion Picture in the Life of Today" ;
three weeks on "Helps for the Consumer"; five

340

COOPERATING IN CO-RECREATION

weeks on "The Radio in the
Life of Today" ; and a four
weeks series that we are just
finishing on "This Business
of Making a Living — or Life
for the White Collar
Worker."

In spite of the earnestness
with which the committees
plan these programs, it would
be a mistake to assume that
they are the major interest in
these Sunday afternoon gatherings. Interest in
each other is the central motivation and one hour
of planned program with attention focused on a
given subject is only a small part of the period
from 3:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. which the group
spends together. Singing around the piano, shar-
ing a radio program, chatting over refreshments,
listening to someone who plays the piano well or
who sings, all serve to draw in the newcomer and
to produce the social atmosphere in which friend-
ships are begun and in which they can develop.

Special Interest Groups

The program of the Young People's Confer-
ence has been discussed somewhat at length be-
cause it is the largest single organized group and
has held a consistent place in the program of the
two organizations since it became a cooperative
venture. However, a much more varied program
is in operation at the present time, participated in
by some members of the Conference group but
also by others not in that group. At present,
special interest groups include dramatics, glee
clubs, an archery club, a group which meets for
church every Sunday morning, a group which
meets occasionally to visit some interesting place,
and the newest group which has been organized
to meet the need of those just growing out of
these activities — the Young Married Couples
Club. Besides the long and short time interest
groups, week ends at camp three or four times
throughout the year, and an intensive summer
program of swimming parties, picnics, boat rides,
and roof dances are planned for all who wish to
participate.

As this varied program developed, it became
evident that a coordinating body was necessary.
A YM-YW Council for the Bronx branches was
organized. The general structure of the Council
is still the same although its functions have ex-
panded. The Council is made up of representa-

"Recreation has to do with the individ-
ual and his own creativeness and his own
satisfaction, but recreation has also to
do with the adjustment of that indi-
vidual to life in general. Recreation has
to do with the individual and his rela-
tion to his home, his friends, his job,
and the community in which he lives.
Recreation has to do with self-direc-
tion and with the democratic way of
life. Recreation has to do with the
very fullness and richness of living."

tives from the various activi-
ties together with those who
serve as representatives for
the co-ed group on a branch
or community committee.
The Council has very clearly
defined functions that are
recognized by all groups : it
coordinates activities and acts
as a clearing house for dates ;
it advises on problems relat-

ing to the co-ed program and
committees consult the Council concerning their
activities; it initiates and sponsors each new ac-
tivity until it is able to proceed independently ; it
evaluates programs. This last mentioned respon-
sibility is taken seriously by the Council and a
very thorough job of evaluation is done in the
late spring when plans for the following year are
set up.

Goals Along the Way

Working closely with these activities and ever
under pressure to meet the increasing demands
for more activity, it has sometimes seemed to the
leaders in both organizations that we are entirely
preoccupied with immediate goals. To secure
good speakers and discussion leaders ; to find a
teacher for social dancing who can instill the
social graces as well as teach the techniques of the
dance ; to set up the mechanics for advanced regis-
tration and plan with a committee for a co-ed
week end in the country ; to get a dramatic coach
with no money in the budget and at the same
time keep the interested young people from be-
coming discouraged, not to mention the personal
contacts which need to be made with individuals
— all take time and energy which do not show up
in terms of far-reaching goals.

In each unit of activity the aim is to organize
sufficiently to meet the needs of young people,
and it seems to me that the basic reasons for our
program are these : First, to provide opportuni-
ties and activities for young people of both sexes
to meet in a wholesome atmosphere and to learn
to play and to work together. It is almost too
obvious to say that it is the lack of just these op-
portunities that lead to maladjustment and frus-
tration. Second, to give the individual a sense of
self-respect through matching skills with men and
girls of his own age and through sharing respon-
sibilities. Those who take on responsibilities be-
( Continued on page 362)

Swing Night"

REALIZING the necessity
of having some type
of co-educational pro-
gram in the community, we
decided early in the fall to
open the building one night
a week for co-ed groups alone.
Our experiences have been very
enlightening, and after a six
months' trial we feel that we
have a really worth-while proj-
ect, with a good many problems still ahead of us
but also a good many problems already settled.

At present we have on Wednesday nights the
following co-ed activities: roller skating, a dra-
matic club, swimming, dancing and a games room.
It would be hard to tell, on entering the building,
whether we are running a Y.M.CA. or a Y.W.
C.A., and because of the overflow of boys we have
received much criticism, both within and without
the building. We have found that we could easily
open our doors to co-ed groups every night in the
week, but of course this is impossible with our
present leadership and facilities.

Some of the groups have been no problem
whatsoever. The co-ed swimming was started
some years ago and each year has become more
popular. Medical examinations are required for
both men and women and this limits the group
somewhat as it makes the fee for swimming
higher than any of the other co-ed activities.
There has never been any problem as to organi-
zation or discipline, as over a period of years a
nucleus of young married people has made up
the group.

At the same hours we are having roller skat-
ing for co-eds. The group varies from week to
week — industrial, high school, and business peo-
ple. As there are other larger skating rinks in
town our skating is not as popular as it should be
and we get chiefly the group that wants to have
more room and fewer skaters on the floor. The
fee for skating is fifteen cents an hour.

The dramatic club is as yet a small group of in-
dustrial boys and girls. They are a self-govern-
ing body and choose their own plays and musicals.
They design and build their own scenery and
produce at least two plays a year which are given
here in the building. They have also responded

A Co-ed Activities Night which
created problems, satisfactions,
and a demand for expansion

By SUZANNE D. COPE

Director, Health and Recreation

Y.W.C.A.
Trenton, New Jersey

to many requests from the
community to give short
plays. An open house was
held this fall where they
had exhibits of miniature
stage settings, lighting, cos-
tumes and other drama essentials.

Problems — Plenty of Them!
Then we come to the dancing
and games room. I combine
these two because the boys who are not able to
pay the fee for the dance always hang out in the
games room, and it is on account of this group
that we have received so much criticism. From a
study made of this dance group we have found
that of approximately 400 different individuals
the majority are out of school and are working or
are looking for work in industrial occupations.
The age range is between sixteen and twenty-five
years. In about half the cases we found that these
young people were children of foreign-born par-
ents. With this background it is not hard to see
what a problem it has been to adjust this group
to the Y.W.C.A. and to make them feel that ours
is not an act of charity but that they are an essen-
tial part of our program. And it has been just as
much of a problem to adjust the other "Y" groups
to them. We have had many problems too num-
erous to mention — the breaking of furniture, a
monopoly of every free space in the building, in-
terference with other meetings, and requests for
admission from girls too young for the group.
We are just now beinning to feel that we can
''come up for air" !

A committee from the dance group was or-
ganized, and without its members' cooperation and
willingness to face the situation, we would never
have been able to continue the dances. Some of
the biggest problems have been put up to the com-
mittee, and this plan in most cases had worked
very satisfactorily. The dance committee meets
every week to discuss the immediate problems
such as repairing of furniture, repayment for
damage, questions of improper attitude and be-
havior and ways of encouraging respect for the
building. The dances have cleared some money
so the committee can vote to pay for any damage
(Continued on page 363)

341

Co-Recreation at the University of Iowa

By FLORENCE M. CRUICKSHANK and KATHERINE TROESTER

THE UNIVERSITY OF
IOWA is in the heart
of a region which
lives from the yield of
the rich earth. The
campus spreads over
green and hilly banks
on both sides of the
Iowa River, Heavy
shade trees frame im-
posing views of the Old
Capitol on the east bank,
the hospital tower on
the west. Iowa City
surrounds the campus
with the familiar milieu
of the small town which
can quickly be left be-
hind for open country
of rolling woodlands
and fertile fields.

Iowa's student body
reflects a culture indige-
nous to the rich earth.
Although modified to
some extent by eastern,
southern, far western
and foreign students,

the great bulk of the University are Iowa boys
and girls who hold to such early American tradi-
tions as respect for hard work, honest living, and
higher education. More than half of them work
as well as study to realize their dream of en-
riched living through a college education. But,
like all young folk, they need play as well as work.
College social life and campus politics absorb the
energies of a few. The others have found many
forms of recreation, some planned by themselves,
some organized by the faculty.

And what are these forms of recreation? Let
us take some of the more organized activities. The
first Saturday night of Freshman Week in the
fall, and the first Saturday night of the Summer
Session everyone on campus is invited to an All-
University Play Night. These play nights are
held for six consecutive Saturday nights during

342

the Summer Session
and at frequent inter-
vals during the aca-
demic year. Here an
average of better than
two hundred students a
night forget term pa-
pers, library assign-
ments, mid-terms,
theses, to relax and re-
vive in a bit of whole-
some frolicking.

Come Visit Our

Play Night!
Suppose you accom-
pany a group of us in
attendance at a sum-
mer play night so you
may understand why it
attracts so many. The
night is warm and clear
so we decide to go first
to the women's field.
At the entrance we are
greeted by hosts and
hostesses, members of
th e co-recreation

class distinguished by colorful sashes, who point
out the locations of various activities and inform
us that an archery demonstration will take place
later in the evening.

With a gay "See you later," some of our crowd
rush off to join a mixed group playing a snappy
game of volleyball. Someone else confesses a
private yen to "bat that overgrown ball around'
in a game of cageball. Two others leave the group
to play off a tetherball tie left over from the last
play night. They also plan to obtain specifications
for the equipment from the leader in order to
supply the school playground back home with a
new activity.

The rest of our group decide in favor of arch-
cry, so we head for the target range on the west
side of the field. We pass the softball diamond
just in time to see the third run come in, tying up

CO-RECREATION AT THE UN1TERSITY OF IOWA

343

the score in the married versus single couples'
feud.

As we check out our archery equipment, the
beginning and advanced ranges are designated,
and anyone who desires assistance is offered in-
struction by the leaders. Everyone takes ad-
vantage of the opportunity to shoot until time for
the archery demonstration. While checking in
equipment, someone remarks he hates to wait
until next play night to get a chance to shoot. A
girl from the department informs him at what
hours the range is open during the week, and an-
other potential Robin Hood vows to be on hand
for practice.

The demonstrators are men and women arch-
ers with tournament experience, whose display of
form and technique, plus superb marksmanship,
present the sport at its best. The demonstration
concludes the outdoor program, and we adjourn
to the women's gymnasium for the indoor play
night activities.

Again we are assisted by guides who direct us
to the various activities. On the first floor one
hears the hollow "pop-pop'' rhythm echoing from
the ping-pong room. Kick-it, devil-in-the-deep,
box hockey, baseball darts, and numerous games
of a less strenuous na-
ture attract many peo-
ple to the game room.
We round a corner and
discover one of the cor-
ridors has been con-
verted into a bowling
alley. Strikes and spares
appear on the enlarged
blackboard score sheet.
As we pass the small
gymnasium we notice
numerous couples en-
joying social dancing.
Upstairs, the Mirror
Room is the setting for
paddle tennis, aerial
darts, ring tennis, bad-
minton, and shuffle-
board, alternated dur-
ing the evening.

Hilarious sounds from
the big gymnasium re-
veal a social mixer
under way. We join the
crowd immediately.
There is an amazing

amount of wholesale dropping of scholarly dig-
nity as the roomful of students romp through the
"Paw-paw Patch" and "Shoo-fly." Now, every-
body gets a chance to catch his breath while mem-
bers of the Co-Recreation class demonstrate some
relatively easy sets of square dancing to be learn-
ed presently by the entire group. "Callers" carry
on in quite a professional fashion, and even the
most sophisticated individuals find themselves
cavorting through the sets, gaily swinging their
partners with many an appreciative chuckle.

Jt is time to go, and another play night is
tucked away. What was so much fun about it?
We have been thoroughly relaxed throughout an
evening of wholesome play with newly discovered
comrades in the friendly setting typical of play
night.

These evenings, when the facilities of the De-
partment of Physical Education are made avail-
able to the campus population, are sponsored at
different times by different groups. Before reg-
istration in the fall the Religious Activities Com-
mittee assembles young student leaders from
Iowa high schools for conferences. Play Day and
Play Night contribute vitally to their program.
The Orientation Week Committee feels the im-
portance of recreation
and asks for a Play
Night to be organized
as part of the introduc-
tion to campus life.
The Women's Athletic
Association sponsors
several during the
school year. The pro-
gram of activities is
varied according to the
season, thus allowing
for an emphasis on out-
door activities in the
fall and spring, while
the winter play nights
heretofore were plan-
ned for indoors. How-
ever, a lagoon for ice
skating, a shelter house,
and a newly installed
lighting system for the
lagoon (the gift of one
of our graduating
classes) should greatly
increase the opportun-
ity for outdoor activi-

344

CO-RECREATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA

ties during the colder months.
The German Club has arrang-
ed evenings of folk dancing,
charging only a nominal admis-
sion fee to cover the cost of re-
freshments. The Campus Camera
Club, with its units for beginning, advanced, and
movie enthusiasts, offers instruction and incentive
with its monthly programs, its field trips, its dis-
play of the "picture of the month" hung in the
lobby of the Iowa Union for a pleasant and
creative hobby.

The Women's Athletic Association

A very much alive Women's Athletic Associa-
tion reaches a large proportion of the student
body through the various clubs of which it is
comprised, and through the activities which it
sponsors. Officers and governing board are
chosen from the student leaders ; there is a faculty
sponsor for this group. Besides the usual varied
program of sports for girls, there are many pro-
grams planned which furnish splendid oppor-
tunity for men and women to enjoy companion-
ship with one another. Outing Club is planning
for coeducational activities in the spring. The
intramural volleyball season is climaxed with a
mixed volleyball tournament. Badminton and
archery clubs are active with tournaments and
practice periods for men and women. The swim-
ming organizations, Seals for women and Dol-
phins for men, have had several happy get-to-
gethers.

All youth loves to dance. Those who have not
had an opportunity to learn social dancing before
entering college are given that opportunity through
a series of ten lessons offered three times during
the year by the Women's Athletic Association.
There are two sections, beginning and intermedi-
ate, taught by expert student teachers, with stu-
dent accompaniment. Here one may learn ball-
room etiquette and a sufficient number of dance
patterns to enjoy the University dances. These
classes are always filled to capacity.

The Dry Night Club

Out of an attempt at solving a need for a place
for University students to dance, and to fraternize
around a refreshments table, came a unique con-
tribution to the co-recreation activities on the
campus of the University of Iowa in the opening
of "The Silver Shadow," in 1936, rather widely
known now as "the dry night club." After much
deliberation as to the best possible space to be

"Nor do I call pleasures idle-
ness, or time lost provided they
are the pleasures of a rational
being." — From Letters, Lord
Chesterfield, 30 October, 1 747.

used, it was decided to use the
cafeteria in the Iowa Union, with
a dance floor in the center, thus
easily combining dining service
with dancing. The dance floor
will accommodate approximately
one hundred couples.

The room has been decorated with silver cur-
tains and colored lights to give an atmosphere of
a night club. A large silver curtain conceals the
serving counter of the cafeteria. Confetti and
streamers help to create a party atmosphere. Some
parties are formal, others informal.

A student band and student talent for the floor
shows makes the income from students to students
through this project amount to approximately
$3,000 a year. Each fall a notice is published in
the school paper asking for talent for the floor
shows. Try-outs are held before a committee of
the Union staff members and an effort is made to
schedule any and all dance, musical and novelty
numbers that are at all usable. An average of
four acts per night for the floor show are pre-
sented. The Silver Shadow is open ten or more
Saturday nights during the winter months, the
number depending upon the whole University
schedule of events and upon how soon the winter
sets in and the spring opens up.

Leadership Training Opportunities

Well-managed and smoothly run social events
take careful and detailed planning. Though no
professional course in this field is offered by the
University of Iowa, some courses in the curricu-
lum of the Department of Physical Education are
given with a definite view to training people for
recreation leadership. Courses for the undergradu-
ate in "Recreational Sports" and "Methods of
Recreation Leadership" give an introduction to
this growing field. Supervised play during the
recess hours in the city and the University experi-
mental schools, and work on the community play-
grounds furnish the laboratory for this study.
The community recreation center with its paid
and volunteer workers also offer opportunity for
practice. "Trends in Recreation," "Folk Danc-
ing," "American Rhythms," "Program in Co-
Recreation," all add to the rounded training of
those interested in leadership in this field.

The University administration gives full co-
operation to the program of recreation. Steps are
being taken to coordinate recreation facilities on
the campus. Recreation is recognized as a vital
need in higher education.

Where Cross the Crowded Ways

NEW YORK can be such
a lonesome place.
All big cities seem
so very impersonal — so
ruthless in their brusque
way of brushing aside in-
dividuals. Do you remember
your first weeks and months
of trying to keep pace with the
rather terrifying speed that
seemed so natural to everyone
else — that insatiable urge to be
incessantly moving faster — faster ? Do you re-
member thinking quite wistfully about the picnics
and outings in the summer and the socials and get
togethers in the winter that the "gang back home"
must be having ? And then did you wonder where,
in all New York's swarming millions, you could
find kindred souls to spend leisure time in doing
the things that used to be such fun with the "old
gang?"

If you were very lucky, as we were, you dis-
covered the Thursday Evening Group of the
Marble Collegiate Church "where old-fashioned
friendliness still prevails." That is the motto of
the church itself, and it was handed over to a
small group of young people who called them-
selves the "Thursday Evening Group." This
nucleus of approximately twelve young men and
women, inspired by the leadership of Miss Merce
E. Boyer, Director of Church Activities, has
grown to an attendance of between 250 to 300 at
weekly meetings within the miraculously short
space of eighteen months. This has resulted with-
out coercion of any kind — not even that of attend-
ance records, for there are no officers. Each in-
dividual comes with the knowledge that the eve-
ning pays big personal dividends, the amount de-
pending entirely upon the person's initial contri-
bution. A person comes once to see what it's all
about, finds out, and comes next time with a
friend. It's such a wonderful thing to find such
a group right in the heart of New York City that
enthusiasm proves contagious.

"Nickels and dimes pay for good times" reads
the sign on the little green box that sits on the
table at the entrance door — and your nickel or
dimes goes in voluntarily and at your own discre-
tion, according to your budget. No compulsion is

Even in an impersonal, lonesome
big city like New York, strangers
can find a place "where old-fash-
ioned friendliness still prevails."

By MELBA M. MUMFORD

and
CONSTANCE W. CARTMELL

needed, for it is the aim of
the group to become com-
pletely self-supporting, and
each member takes pride
in his contribution.

And now won't you join

us at a typical evening meeting

of the group?

A Typical Program
Promptly at eight o'clock the
early arrivals wander down to
the front seats of Burrell Memorial Hall to join
in the community singing of good old folk songs
under the guidance of a volunteer song leader. At
eight-thirty, when the late arrivals have filled all
the seats, the speaker of the evening is introduced
by a member of the group. These evening speak-
ers represent just about the acme of perfection in
practically every field — and each one is glad to
volunteer his services to such a group of young
people, even though it may perhaps mean crowd-
ing an already heavy schedule. It is a rare treat
to hear these speakers, sought after by thousands,
who deem it a privilege to speak to a "representa-
tive group of young Americans," as one of them
appropriately phrased it. For the members com-
prise every type of young man and woman be-
tween the ages of eighteen and thirty, coming
from almost every section of the country, doing
every type of work (some are unemployed at
present), some with degrees and others without,
but all uniting with a mutual purpose. The ad-
dresses are extremely varied in their subject
matter. We have heard from an expert in news
photography, an aviatrix, a well-known theatri-
cal producer, an eminent radio announcer. And
there have been talks on advertising and current
events, astrology and the development of cartoons.
Almost every field is included in order to encom-
pass the diversified interests of some 250 people.

At the close of each talk a period is set aside
for informal questioning. All the speakers are
extremely helpful in assisting at this particular
period.

At nine-thirty the group breaks up into smaller
units which include a wide field of hobby interests.
And who hasn't a hobby? Or who wouldn't ac-
quire a new one? Or is there anyone who doesn't

345

346

WHERE CROSS THE CROWDED WAYS

prefer doing one thing just a bit better than any
other one thing? The Thursday Evening Group
is no different. Hobbies play a very vital part in
attaining the highest standards of fun, fellowship
and creative ability.

Do you like to sing? There is the choral group
designed for lovers of music who want to know
just a little more about it. Indeed they were so
successful last year that towards the end of the
season they presented a beautiful concert arranged
by their leader, a young volunteer who is a teacher
of music in the public schools. To it were invited
the entire church congregation.

Perhaps you would prefer studying the correct
way to address an audience. In the Public Speak-
ing class you may have instruction in poi^e, enun-
ciation, voice, general control, with stress laid on
actual participation in sample speeches. Here also
we are fortunate in having as a volunteer a teacher
of Public Speaking who came once as a visitor
to the Thursday Evening Group and was so in-
trigued by it that she offered her services.

To a large number of people there is strong
appeal in the romance of drama — that momentary
lapse from realism into the fascinating land of
"make believe." But one soon realizes the import-
ance of the vast number of little details which go
to making up the perfect performance. Special
attention is given to the intricate study of stage
technique, costume, make-up, and lighting effects.
At the same time four or five plays are being pre-
pared to be used as concrete examples. These de-
cidedly add to the enjoyment of the whole Thurs-
Evening Group when they are presented during
an evening. Periodical theater parties are ar-
ranged to see how Broadway productions vary
from our own. The able supervision of the dra-
matic coach of a well-known Long Island College
makes this group really worth while.

In a world so full of activity, current events
cannot help but be a topic of general conversation.
One of our groups listens to a radio program,
Town Hall of the Air, then conducts a discussion
period based on some particular country or on a
current problem at home or abroad inspired by the
radio program.

We can't all travel, but we all like to learn about
places that attract tourists from near and far, so
there is a Travel group. We have visioned bull
fights in Spain, journeyed to Bermuda by plane,
ynd seen America by Greyhound bus. Don't mis-
understand! We haven't actually traveled our-

selves, but we have had speakers and some ex-
cellent travel films. Here a Y.M.C.A. secretary
lends a helping hand.

No royal road exists to achieving facility with
words, but the Writing group is striving to learn
how to write interesting stories, articles and let-
ters. An occasional periodical is prepared under
the leadership of the editor of a prominent youth
magazine and an editor in a publishing concern.
Valuable experience is gained from writing — and
who knows where it may lead ? Anyway, it's lots
of fun!

Interior Decorating and Arts and Crafts go
hand in hand. Both have their supporters— ardent
Tyros. Baskets, rugs and other handicraft arti-
cles are prepared with an occasional illustrated
slide lecture. Here again, a young person skilled
in handiwork is the guiding light.

Photography and Stamp Collecting are perhaps
two of the most practiced hobbies of all, so they
never lack enthusiasts. Many stamp books have;
been proudly displayed, and an expert amateur
photographer explains the methods of developing
and printing films. The latter has his own ma-i
terials and equipment which he makes available
for actual practical demonstration. It is fascinat-
ing even for those not actively engaged in pho-
tography to watch the various stages of treat-
ment to which a roll of film is subjected. Many
come in to watch this group at work.

There is no rule forcing a member to remain
in any one group. Every attempt is made, how-
ever, to make each hobby so interesting that those
who make one visit will want to return again and
again. A person may change his group freely
and thus find his chosen interest. Then, of course,
there are always those who prefer the spirit of
competition afforded in a game of ping-pong,
checkers or badminton — it's never difficult to find
a partner !

Ten-thirty usually terminates the hobby groups
—so back to the general conclave to enjoy a skit
by the dramatic club, stunts by various partici-
pants, organized play periods and games of al
kinds suitable to the occasion under the leader
ship of a volunteer recreation leader. Of cours<
no evening is complete without refreshments, sc
the boys trudge manfully up to the tables anc
volunteer their services as hosts — while the girli
gracefully accept their steaming cups of coffee
and doughnuts or lemonade and cookies. ( Frankly,
the girls help, too, but the other makes a nice
picture, doesn't it ? Food for thought ! )

WHERE CROSS THE CROWDED WAYS

347

All too soon a complete
evening has passed and we
find ourselves standing in
a huge circle singing
"Goodnight, Ladies" or
"Home, Sweet Home" with
more than a tinge of re-
luctance. It always takes
more than a gentle hint to
remind everyone that cus-
todians have homes, too!

The question may arise in the minds of some
of our readers as to how all these various
social affairs are managed. It should be
explained that committees are selected from
among the young people to help with special
recreation programs. From a questionnaire
filled out early in the year by members of
the group, leaders know on whom they may
call to print or paint signs and posters,
make decorations, play the piano, assist in
the leading of games, or help in other ways.

Many Other Events Planned

But just Thursdays aren't enough. So many of
the boys and girls get together during the week
for roller skating, swimming, bowling, dancing at
Y.M.C.A.'s or a near-by girls' residence, and vari-
ous other events. Occasionally on Sunday morn-
ings (Oh, very early — seven A. M.) a group meets
for breakfast and a bicycle ride through Central
Park. Some of them go on to church to hear one
of those inspiring sermons by Dr. Norman Vin-
cent Peale, Pastor of the Marble Collegiate
Church. As a matter of fact, a group frequently
meets on a Sunday for dinner after church, since
so many eat "out," anyway. A grand time is then
had at the chosen banquet table and a vote is taken
on the program for the afternoon — a bus ride, a
long walk or a visit to some place of interest.

Of course, during the summer, vacations inter-
fere with regular indoor programs, so they are
replaced by frequent outings, picnics and swim-
ming parties. This past summer large groups went
hiking through the Palisades and back over the
George Washington Bridge by moonlight; went
on a boat trip to Rye Beach; met for a dancing
party on the Mall in Central Park (so successful
that it was repeated) ; and took frequent bicycle
trips in between times. In this way contact is
kept by the whole group until the fall program is
resumed.

Just to deviate from the usual program, special
evenings are planned throughout the year. Per-
haps it might be well to mention in detail a few
of those Thursdays enjoyed last year.

Common interests — such as a common home
state or community — do help in bringing about
real and lasting friendships. Casual meetings quite
frequently result in renewed friendships, a dis-
covery of mutual friends, and the whereabouts of
familiar hunts. Realizing that members of the
Thursday Evening Group came from all parts of
the United States, a recreation program was

planned one evening to
give young men and
women an opportunity to
discover who came from
their own state and locality.
The names of all states
were printed on white pa-
per pennants suspended
around the walls of the
recreation hall. In some
instances only one state

appeared on the pennant, while on others there
were more, depending upon their proximity to
New York City and the probable number of
young people coming from each. Since the mem-
bership from New York State was large, it was
divided into small groups, including those from
each of the five boroughs of New York City. It
was under these pennants that members gathered
for the recreation period, far westerners, midwes-
terners, New Englanders and southerners all mak-
ing sure that they were correctly identified with
their state banners. Where the numbers were
small, people from sister states were brought to-
gether. Provision was also made for those whose
homes were in other countries. After all had as-
sembled there was a period for visiting.

Next, bundles of old newspapers and packages
of pins were handed to each group, with instruc-
tions that within a limited time each was to pre-
pare costumes depicting the industries, the life,
or traditions of its state. The results were amaz-
ing! A bundle of wheat came from Nebraska; a
Sioux Indian resulted from the combined efforts
of former residents of North Dakota, South Da-
kota, and Minnesota; a sunflower blossomed in
Kansas ; John Bull dropped in from Canada. A
parade of all the costumed contestants followed,
many wearing state mottoes and names across
their chests. Winners were selected and crowned
with a fitting ceremony. The winner was a paper
donkey frame, ears and all, nicely concealing two
young men from upper New York State. This
turned out to be a very interesting and successful
get-acquainted party.

In planning the recreation program, careful
consideration is always given to games and activi-
ties which will break the ice of strangeness and
embarrassment which some people always feel.

Here is a program which because of its utter
informality was enjoyed by all. It turned out to
be a real mixer.

348

WHERE CROSS THE CROWDED WAYS

An Indoor Hunt

The articles or names listed below are on, or
refer to, some person in the room. No more than
one to a person. Locate them. Secure full name
of bearer and fill in blank space. CAUTION : Do
not let the WORLD hear about your discovery.
Keep it a SECRET.

Article Name

1. Frying Pan

2. A Real Flower

3. Norwegian Coin

4. Elgin Watch : . . . .

5. Red Hair Ribbon

6. Gold Safety Pin

7. Landon-Knox Pin

8. Engagment Ring

(on girl's little finger)

9. N.B.C. Broadcast Ticket

10. Theta Chi Fraternity Ring

11. Alice (Last Name?)

12. Omaha and Council Bluffs

Street Railway Token

13. Silver Button

14. White Feather

There were, in all, thirty-six different articles
and names listed. Good use was made of the small
novelties often hidden in wedding and holiday
cakes. These were purchased at a local five and
ten cent store.

A Rural Play Day

One of the most successful parties was a
"Rural Play Day."

We're going rural Thursday next,
So come dressed for the farm,
Wear straw hats, bonnets, aprons, too,
You'll cause no great alarm.

Bandannas for the men you'll need,

And gingham frocks for Susie —

With games and stunts and songs and food,

Now what could be more floozie?
This was the advance notice that enticed a large
crowd in the big city back to the country ! There
had been no opportunity during the week to dec-
orate the auditorium, so as
each member arrived he vol-
unteered his services, and
in no time at all balloons
and colored pennants cov-
ered the walls. Everyone
came in old clothes, and
straw hats and red bandan-
nas sold at the door turned
the boys into regular farm-
ers, while the girls became
coy farmerettes with their

"To insure the success of any program, one
must make sure that the content is planned
by as well as for those taking part in it.
Avoid superimposing on younger people an
adult conception of what to do. Certain
questions should be raised, such as: Will
this program meet the needs of those pres-
ent? Will there be a real opportunity for
sociability and friendship because of the
program? Do we have adequate leadership
to make the content worth while?" — From
"Recreation in Church and Community."

gaily colored little poke bonnets which had been
bought in quantity and sold at cost. The room
had four big road signs which divided it into four
country towns — and soon friendly rivalry was
equally distributed among the "citizens" of Rose-
dale, Sleepy Hollow, Hicksville and Oskaloosa. A
leader was chosen in each town who in turn se-
lected cheerleaders, teams, and individuals to take
part in competitive games and contests, points be-
ing given to each winner.

From that time on it was each town for itself,
and hilarity reigned supreme ! The suitcase race
was "too funny for words," with a skirt failing to
stretch around an excessively large waist and
galoshes that just wouldn't stay on adding to the
merriment. A "milking contest" in which the
girls fed the boys milk from babies' bottles, and
a hog calling event that sounded like a cross be-
tween would be "Tarzans" and "cowboys from
Brooklyn," sent everyone into convulsions. The
finishing touch came when the girls competed in
a husband calling contest. And woe be unto the
husband who failed to answer in that game ! When
Hicksville finally captured the winning title every-
one joined forces for singing games and the Vir-
ginia Reel. In keeping with the prevailing picnic
atmosphere, lemonade, doughnuts in pails and
bushel baskets of apples were served to the farm-
ers and farmerettes seated in groups on the floor.
Everyone agreed after that evening that there cer-
tainly was nothing in the city to compare with get-
ting back to that old country atmosphere !

The events in the rural play day program fol-
low. The number of contestants from each town
is indicated for each event.

Market Day Relay. (Five women.) At the sig-
nal to start, the first player on each team picks up
from the floor in front of her a number of empty
cartons of various sizes. (There are always a few
more boxes than she can conveniently carry. ) The
contestant hurries as quickly as possible to a desig-
nated spot, carrying with
her all of the boxes and re-
turns to the starting line.
The cartons are dropped in
front of the second player
and the performance is re-
peated. If any of the boxes
fall during the journey the
player carrying them must
stop to pick them up before
continuing.

WHERE CROSS THE CROWDED WAYS

349

Courtesy Recreation Board, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Farmyard Conversation. (One man or woman.)
Contestants one at a time imitate the sounds of
familiar farm animals — cow, calf, sheep, chicken,
duck, turkey, dog, cat and others. Judges decide
who is the best imitator.

A Neighborly Fight. (Four men.) Give each con-
testant a swatter made of rolled newspaper and an
inflated balloon tied at the center of a piece of
string about three feet long. The string is tied
around each player's waist, with the balloon at
the back. Contestants stand in circle formation
some distance apart. At a given signal, each
player moves about and tries to swat and break
each other's balloon, at the same time protecting
his own. The player who comes through at the
end with an inflated balloon is the winner.

Cow Milking Contest. (One man and one
woman.) Give to each male contestant a nursery
or soda bottle filled with milk — plus nipple. The
first to drain his bottle of all the milk after a
starting signal is crowned "Champion Cow
Milker." The nurses hold the bottles while the
babies drink. Warning: Some babies often bite
the nipples to make the holes larger !

100-Yard Dash. (One man and one woman.)
Provide each couple with a pair of scissors and
strips of rolled paper ribbon or adding machine
paper approximately 2 or 2l/2 inches in width, and
of the same length. Give the roll of paper to the
man on each team, and the scissors to his partner.
While the girl holds the free end of the paper, the
man unrolls it by walking slowly backwards. The
paper is then held taut, and the man is instructed
to stand in the same position until the contest is

over. At a given signal the woman moves slowly
forward cutting the piece of paper into two strips.
The team that is first to separate the paper with-
out cutting through the sides wins the race.

Hailstorm. (Three men and three women.) Re-
lay formation. Give to the first player of each
team an inflated balloon. On the word "Go," the
player bats the balloon to a goal line and returns
to the starting point. This is repeated by other
players of his team.

Farm Quiz. Questions asked the assembled audi-
ence are listed below. No scoring is made.

Questions Answers

What vegetable is found in the laundry? Mangel

What vegetable is the plumber's delight? Leek

What vegetable does a policeman walk on ? Beet

What vegetable do you find on bargain day

at Macy's ? Squash

What vegetable has been through fire ? Chard

What vegetable gives an invitation ? Lettuce

What herb is most comforting ? Balm

WThat herb is most dreaded by women ? Thyme

What herb is full of regret ? Rue

What herb is most learned ?. Sage

What herb is a money maker ? Mint

What herb is found in a stable ? Sorrel

Dust Storm. (One man.) Contestants take their
places behind a starting line. Each has a small
downy feather. When a signal is given, the feather
is dropped from high in the air, hands are clasped
behind backb and the players begin to blow their
feathers toward a finish line. The distance is not
more than twenty-five feet. Anyone touching the
feather with his hands after the race has started
is disqualified.

WHERE CROSS THE CROWDED WAYS

350

Husband Calling Contest. (One woman.) Each
woman contestant is given thirty seconds to call
her husband to dinner. Range, volume, tone and
effectiveness should be taken into consideration in
selecting the women.

Suitcase Relay. (Two men and two women.)
Players of each team line up in relay formation,
one behind the other. The first person in line is
handed an old suitcase containing a number of
articles of women's wearing apparel— such as a
skirt, coat, hat, galoshes. On command, the first
person on each team picks up the suitcase and
runs to a goal line. There he opens it, puts on the
clothing, picks up the suitcase again and returns
to the starting line. The second player assists the
first in removing the clothing and places it back
in the suitcase. Then he picks up the suitcase and
repeats the performance.

Hog Calling Contest. (One man.) Each con-
testant is given thirty seconds to call his hogs.
Judges pick as winner the one they feel has the
most effective call.

Hobby Night

There is always one topic of conversation that
anyone can go into raptures over and that is his
own particular hobby! So it was decided to set
aside one whole evening for people who wanted
to show and discuss their hobbies. It worked like
magic. Each contribution was labeled with the
owner's name and all were placed around the
room for everyone to examine and admire. It
was a representative collection, ranging anywhere
from a piece of embroidery or a homemade pair
of boots to a photographer's album, with, of
course, innumerable paintings, creative writing
and stamp albums to make the show complete. It
was remarkable to see the results of so many lei-
sure hours ; and it seemed indicative that young
people of today have by no means given up crea-
tive work as a hobby.

One of the most unique creations was later used
as an evening's entertainment. A complete set of
marionettes was made to carry out an amusing
version of the old legend of Bluebeard. Several
members of the dramatic group composed the
cast, and many evenings of rehearsals were given
over to the learning of lines and the working of
the stringed dolls. The little stage had quite a
professional touch and all the scenery and light-
ing effects were done by members of the group.
1'lucbeard captured the hearts of everyone, and it

was invaluable experience, besides being loads of
fun for those members involved in the under-
taking.

Talent Night

Did you ever find a group of young people that
didn't have plenty of talent hidden away — just
needing a little bringing out? So a Talent Night
was inaugurated to see what would happen. The
results surpassed even the most hopeful. The
Stage Committee worked hard and successfully at
converting the whole stage into a country store.
Various food companies donated boxes and pack-
ages of labeled empty cartons which kept the audi-
ence thinking they were real until the very end.
Huge placards were posted about, a storekeeper
was installed, and even a cat was secured to lend
atmosphere! A "talent scout" from Hollywood
interviewed the local citizens from Junction Cen-
ter and found plenty of singers, actors, imper-
sonators, musicians and dancers to take back with
him. It takes an evening of this kind to see what
some people really can do.

"All Aboard !"

What could be more appropriate for a final
June meeting than an imaginary cruise, train or
auto trip to near or distant places, particularly
since members were already making plans or
dreaming of such summer excursions? In keep-
ing with this vacation day party theme, interesting
and colorful maps and posters, which railroad,
bus and steamship lines had been most generous
in contributing, were hung around the recreation
room. Hallways leading to it were transformed
into cruisers' decks. Ropes bearing three-cornered
cambric banners, port and - starboard lights, and
cardboard life preservers, had been loaned to the
decorating committee by travel agencies. A few
descending steps which served as a gangplank, a
balcony railing which became the deck rail, and a
polished deck floor helped in creating a ''party"
state of mind.

Although no one was asked to come in nautical
attire, white sailor caps were sold at the door to
those who wanted to add an appropriate touch to
their costumes. The plan could go still further
in providing for the guests crepe paper in shades
of red, white and blue, scissors and pins and card-
board patterns to aid in making middy ties am'
collars.

(Continued on page 363)

Some Sports That Succeed with Mixed Groups

There may be some readers — not such old ones, either — who will gasp
faintly over matter-of-fact accounts of men and women playing to-
gether on volleyball and basketball teams. As for co-recreational bad-
minton and roller skating, these sports are perhaps not so startling
until we consider that the history of both is within the recollection of
people fifty years old. Winter sports alone, of those mentioned in the
following articles, were enjoyed to some extent by grandmother and
her beaux. Times change! Old taboos vanish! Fortunate indeed are
those of the present generation who enjoy the new freedoms!

Roller Skating on Tennis Courts

By GEORGE A. FAIRHEAD

Superintendent of Recreation
Danville, Illinois

PERHAPS one of the most difficult types of ac-
tivity to promote in any recreation program
is one in which boys and girls can enjoy
themselves together as equals with both social and
physical benefit. Dancing and swimming are two
such activities, but aside from these we find the
number limited. Not often do we find girls who
are so highly accomplished that they stimulate
"boy-girl" companionship in the various sports
such as golf, tennis, horseshoes, and volleyball.

There is one activity, however, which lends
itself very readily to promoting this boy-girl rela-
tionship. It is the popular, well-known sport of
roller skating.

In Danville we are fortunate enough to have
double cement tennis courts with lights for night
playing. It is true they were used practically every
night during the summer for tennis, but at the
most they would serve only thirty-two people per
evening. It is also true that very little tennis is
played in the evenings after Labor Day. Early
fall is the ideal time for an active outdoor eve-
ning function. There seems to be a lull after the
busy summer program, just before the community
centers attract young people to the indoors.

There might be the danger of injuring the
courts as an argument against using them for
skating. After consideration and consultation with
the Park Commissioner, it was decided to try it
out to see if a splendid facility could stand double
duty and not be harmed.

An article was put in the local paper notifying
the public of our plan, giving the time and place,
and inviting all persons to enjoy the use of the
rink. It was further decided in order to make it
more attractive, that music should be furnished.
Previous experience had proved that musical in-
struments were affected by the dew, so we could
not use our orchestra. But we have sound equip-
ment in our department and a portable victrola,
which were brought out for the occasion. The
records in our department were somewhat out-of-
date and we were soon reminded of the fact by
our participants. This complaint was overcome by
using the radio in our sound operator's car. This
was turned on and amplified through our sound
system, allowing the skaters to continue to the
"swing and sway" music of outstanding orchestras
from all over the country.

Did we have any skaters ? From the first even-
ing the enterprise was a success. All the old
skates in the city were brought out and if they
needed repairs or oil our sound operator was
called on for assistance, which he gave to the de-
light of many a girl and boy. Every evening new
skates and skaters could be seen on the rink. The
facility was open two nights per week from 7 to
0 P. M. for a period of eight weeks. Our attend-
ance record reveals that we served 3,380 boys,
girls, and young adults. This does not include the
hundreds of spectators who stopped their cars and
came over to watch and listen to the music.

After our first successful evening it was de-
cided to arrange a program for each of the next
sessions. These programs took the form of such
events as girls skating alone, boys skating alone,
partner skating, races for all groups and fancy
skating. On the last evening a championship pro-
gram was conducted for all age groups.

351

352

SOME SPORTS THAT SUCCEED WITH MIXED GROUPS

Our total light bill was $9.24 for the eight
weeks, or an approximate cost of $.0027 per par-
ticipant. The only harm to the courts was the
wearing off of the painted lines which are always
painted in the spring. It is our plan to open two
such rinks in the early spring and continue until
the tennis players again take over the courts and
put them to the use for which they were built.

They Want to Play Badminton

By PETER J. MAYERS, M.A.

Superintendent of Recreation
New Rochelle, New York

AJOUT-THREE YEARS ago recreation was recog-
nized as a city department and we began to
build our program. The sports for men were
popular and our leagues flourished. However, we
once realized that we were not attracting young
married folks and middle aged men and women
to our centers. We examined our program and
resolved to give these people a social game and
yet a physical sport that would appeal to them.
What should it be ? What should we do ? In rec-
reation you can't wander around like Ulysses nor
can you rest on your oars with lackadaisical in-
dolence. You must be active. We turned to a
game which is comparatively new in America —
badminton.

Having had experience with games and their
appeal we reasoned that badminton might be an-
other midget golf, a flash in the pan which might
pass quickly. Consequently we proceeded with
caution. We introduced it into our open mixed
groups and watched the reaction. The local
papers gave splendid publicity. The people started
to come — a few — many. After the missionary
work had been done, the game had an instantane-
ous appeal. We soon found ourselves in much the
same position as the "Old Woman in the Shoe."
We' next took up the work of organizing these
enthusiasts and we were successful in having each
group of friends establish itself. Some of the
groups were smaller than others. By introduc-
tions and salesmanship we united smaller groups
into larger groups. We were all set to go now
but had no facilities for this game — badminton.

We took our plan and story to the Superin-
tendent of Schools and he in turn referred it to
the Board of Education. The Board cooperated
generously and placed courts in every school we
suggested without charge to the Bureau of Rec-
reation! There were some individuals who would
not or could not join the various groups and we
kept our original open night for these people.
When this organization work was accomplished
we found we had twenty-two organized groups
numbering from sixteen to forty members; our
total players in these groups is over five hundred.
This figure must be raised to nine hundred if we
include those playing on open nights and those
who have made applications for facilities which
we cannot supply.

Anyone wish-
ing a copy of
the rules for the
Badminton
League as car-
ried on by the
Bureau of Rec-
reation in New
Rochelle, may
secure it on
request from
the National
Recreati o n
Association

SOME SPORTS THAT SUCCEED WITH MIXED GROUPS

353

It is one problem to get the folks to come to
your centers but the real test of a program is to
keep them coming. We tried to give the utmost
satisfaction to every player by perfecting details.
We immediately set up rules and regulations gov-
erning the sport, the use of facilities, the paying
of custodians, and other administrative details.

We introduced the groups to one another by
the institution of a badminton league which plays
at the Senior High School. It must be remem-
bered that there is more to the promotion of a
badminton league than the assembling of people.
Any recreation executive will testify to the im-
portance of planning wisely and accurately. Re-
member this — you can't copy a set-up from an-
other community as each town has its individual
problem for local solution. You may, however,
use the same psychology in initiating a new sports
venture.

Successful Mixed Baseball
and Volleyball Teams

By MARGUERITE M. SCHWARZ

Department of Physical Education
University of Wisconsin

A i' THE; University of Wisconsin, mixed teams
of young men and women play baseball and
volleyball in intramural tournaments. These
mixed team sports — which in no way replace the
regular separate team sports of both sexes — had
their inception as an experiment on the part of the
Department of Physical Education for women in
1933 when, under Miss Blanche M. Trilling, the
department expanded its program to include vol-
leyball and baseball for women.

Under the usual intramural plan in operation
at Wisconsin, women's groups submit their own
team lists. Following the same plan for the mixed
sports, each women's group organized its own
mixed team and invited the required number of
men to join the team. The university church cen-
ters and the sororities were the most active par-
ticipants, although independent groups were also
organized.

A regular intramural tournament schedule was
drawn up for these teams, playing first a group
round-robin and then an elimination schedule
among the group winners. Because each mixed

team was entered under the name of some
women's group, all organization problems were
handled through the women's groups. The trophy
for the winning team was awarded to the women's
group also.

In the past few years the number of mixed
teams in each tournament has varied between
twenty and twenty-five. Volleyball has proved to
be the most popular offering, and in general the
degree of skill of the play has been superior to
that of baseball. In the mixed team tournaments
it has been necessary to set up certain rules to
adapt the games to the participants. Following^ is
resume of the regulations for each of the sports:

Rules and Regulations
Volleyball

1. A team shall consist of three men and three women
who are placed alternately on the court. The players
shall be placed in two rows and rotation shall be
counter-clock wise.

2. No assistance shall be allowed on the serve at any time.

3. A player shall have two serves if necessary on the
first serve ; thereafter but one shall be allowed.

4. Women may play the ball twice in succession, but men
shall be allowed but one hit.

5. The ball may be played any number of times on one
side of the net unless in the opinion of the referee
there be unnecessary delay.

6. Pushing the ball and holding the ball, especially on
the smash, shall be called closely by the referee.

In all other rules the game shall follow the Official
Women's Rules in the above sport.

Baseball

1. A team shall consist of nine players, four of which
shall be men, the remaining five shall be women.

2. The game shall consist of five innings unless the score
is tied. In the case of a tie the necessary innings shall
be played.

3. Substitutions must be made so that the ratio of four
men and five women is maintained.

4. A man shall play the position of catcher.

5. The position of pitcher must 'be alternated between a
man and a woman, with a man pitching the first, third
and fifth innings. This rule may be reversed, but in no
case shall a man pitch more than three innings.

6. Placement of the remaining players in the infield and
outfield shall be left to the individual teams.

In all other rules the game shall follow the Official
Women's Rules.

The success of the mixed team intramural tour-
naments is demonstrated by a steady increase in
the number of groups participating. The mixed
tennis tournament, also an intramural event, at-
tracts some one hundred to one hundred and
(Continued on page 364)

Plus Experiments in Co- Educational Camping

WHILE MA N Y recreational
agencies maintain co-edu-
cational camps for younger
children, only a few offer pro-
grams for mixed groups of boys and girls between
the ages of twelve and eighteen. Some agencies
feel unprepared to make the necessary physical
changes for such a setup ; others fear the problems
which a co-educational camp for young people of
this difficult age presents. But other agencies have
assumed that since we emphasize more each year
the value of bringing boys and girls together for
work and play in our city recreation centers we
should fearlessly extend this opportunity for bet-
ter standards of social behavior into the most nor-
mal of all situations — living together in the coun-
try. They believe that a healthier atmosphere may
be maintained in a camp where counselors and
campers are men, women, boys and girls.

Subscribing to this latter belief, Hudson Guild
is one agency that has experimented in teen-age
camping. From observations of their experiences
and those of other organizations pioneering in this
field I would high-light the following points :

Although natural resources and camp equip-
ment are tremendously valuable in any camp, a
more vital asset is good leadership, and in camps
for the teen age this need is accentuated. Strong
counselors of experience are of inestimable value.
Maturity, with the understanding of the needs and
desires of young people, must be combined with
skills in which leaders have such interest that the
pursuit of constructive enthusiasms will be "catch-
ing" rather than tolerated by bored adolescents.
Leadership should take that place on the budget
which means the best rather than the mediocre.
This does not mean that fine volunteer leaders
may not sometimes be available, but it does mean
that no camp director should be forced to take
volunteer leadership.

Even among the underprivileged we find many
boys and girls of fourteen years who have had
seven or more years of experience in organized
camps, and they may well suffer from the indif-
ference we find too often among the clientele of
expensive private camps.

Every time we go to the country we should go
as explorers in search of those things which the
city cannot supply. The spirit of adventure should

354

By OLIVE L. WHITSON

Hudson Guild
New York City

be cultivated. We cannot rely on
the usual athletic program to sup-
ply for this age a vital stimulus
in experience of living together
in rural surroundings.

Developing Latent Powers
Less than two decades ago young people were
going out to earn a living at fourteen, and some
of us can remember the zest with which a four-
teen-year-old boy or girl brought home the first
pay envelope to drop in the lap of the mother
who waited on Saturday evening for the family
earnings. While we rejoice that the law no longer
makes wage earners of these children, we will do
well to recognize that the young person as a wage
earner becomes a more respected member of the
family and community. How can we give young
people at camp an analogous joyous feeling by
making use of their latent powers in some other
useful way?

Surely we must be careful of artificial setups,
but we must supply in our programs opportuni-
ties for young people to use the powers they have
to the full and in some creative way. Who shall
decide what is creative? Certainly the campers
themselves should be involved deeply in any plans.
Too often we see camp programs which change
nothing but the environment in which activities
arc carried on. Perhaps the more primitive the
surroundings the easier it is for young explorers
to find some useful outlet for their energy. It is
not impossible to appeal to young people to sup-
ply those things vital to the carrying on of new
adventures. A hike may meet with little enthusi-
asm, but a morning's walk to a quiet spot in the
woods or to a pond on the camp grounds may,
under skillful leadership, bring out enthusiastic
suggestions for the making of a crude but sub-
stantial shelter or lean-to, perhaps a tepee or boat-
house. A camp director who starts out with the
finest equipment, supplied to meet every need,
may be working at a disadvantage for no new
games or athletic programs will furnish the sub-
stantial, underlying quality in a camp which comes
from the recognition by the young people of cer-
tain definite things which they may wish to work
for and supply for themselves. Girls respond no
less than boys, if treated as people who have

PLUS EXPERIMENTS IN CO-EDUCATIONAL CAMPING

355

power to contribute of their brains and brawn to-
ward making a good camp. The desire for food
and shelter is basic, and as opportunity to supply
these in primitive surroundings appeals to most
young folks.

Activities as Vital Parts of a Whole
Creative Life

Music, dramatics, crafts, all have their place in
our programs but should be seen as vital parts of
a whole creative life rather than as isolated ac-
tivities. If a camp is fortunate enough to combine
some farming features the opportunity to enter
into the vital life of the place is offered. Boys and
girls alike love a hay field, and the thrill of riding
in on hay they have loaded makes the artificial hay
ride to town seem tame indeed. "We go to town
by auto, but we ride to the barn on a load of hay."
Situations must be real if they are to really
awaken interest.

Should all activities in a co-educational camp be
for boys and girls ? Not necessarily, but in the in-
terest of the girls let us not assume that there are
many things which girls cannot do. "I'm tired of
just doing dining room work," said one girl. "I
want to pitch pebbles like the boys." The boys
had been gathering stones for the foundation for a
new shack, and this plea gave the key to a more
active program for some, husky girls who went to
work and constructed a much needed bridge over
a swamp between their
house and the public
road. It is sometimes
wise to have boys and
girls working separate-
ly on certain tasks for
there may be an emo-
tional strain which
comes from too con-
stant companionship,
and girls and boys
alike may want to do a
number of things alone.
A group of girls be-
tween the ages of
twelve and eighteen
were eager last sum-
mer for a badminton
court near their house.
The ground surround-
ing the house was
rough, full of weeds,
and at one side a heavy _ courtesy Life Camps, inc.

growth of underbrush had grown up. However,
they were told that their counselor would give
advice and help them if they wanted to take off
the sod and level the court. Anyone who has ever
tussled with sod knows what a job it is, and the
girls labored through the entire vacation weeks
taking off the humps and filling the holes. Septem-
ber came and saw the court ready for a top coat
of clay or sod , and now the same girls are look-
ing forward to that first game on their own home
built court.

One of the most popular parts of a camp pro-
gram is the supper hike. In preparing for a hike
both boys and girls enjoy clearing a new spot along
lake front or in woodland and building a fireplace
for cooking. Very often these supper parties may
be small in number with a half dozen boys and
the same number of girls. The natural division
of labor may be that the girls prepare the food
beforehand, the boys carry most of it to the camp
site, and they share in the actual cooking. If the
place chosen happens to be on the lake front
canoes may be taken out by those boys and girls
not scheduled for cooking and later, when clean-
up time conies around, the cooks may get a chance
at the canoes. The boys and girls enjoy the walk
home together, probably in pairs, but an evening
of this kind carried out under the right conditions
fills a real need in the lives of the teen-age group.
Their picnic has been not only play but has repre-
sented considerable
work together.

On the athletic field
boys far outshine the
girls and, this being the
case, real competition
seems pointless. How-
ever, girls' events on a
general athletic pro-
gram meet with the ap-
proval of all. The same
is not so true of swim-
ming, and programs
must be worked out by
the swimming counselor
who knows the ability
of the boys and girls.
On all-day hikes girls
offer the boys good
competition, and many
is the group that has
returned finding the
Photo by L. B. sharp girls in much better

356

PLUS EXPERIMENTS IN CO-EDUCATIONAL CAMPING

shape than the boys ! In general,

let us have the athletic program

as natural as we can, with mixed

group activities in which both

boys and girls are interested;

but be careful not to force competition where

boys or girls feel particularly inferior.

On starlight nights there is often a real interest
in the constellations, and this activity, more gen-
erally known as "stargazing," has been known to
work out quite well. One counselor, however,
objects to the use of the telescope for a group of
boys and girls. She feels that their interest in
one another gets in the way of the real activity.

Songs and stories must be carefully chosen for
a mixed group around the campfire, but there are
some that will be liked equally by boys and girls.
The touch of adventure, seasoned with reality, is
unfailingly appealing. One of the most successful
stories in our experience was "Fools' Parade," *
that thrilling and human story of the attempted
escape of five prisoners through the jungle from
Devil's Island.

It is inevitable that in a co-educational camp for
the teen-age group there will be some "couples"
and some "wallflowers." The experienced and
sympathetic leader will have to watch carefully
the boy or girl who is unpopular with the other
sex. A girl may not get her quota of attention
from the boys, and leader must see that she has
an opportunity to excel where and when she can
gain the approbation of her group. The impor-
tance of group life must be stressed and situations
created which will give each one an equal chance
socially. For example, in one co-educational camp
it was discovered that a certain shy boy could
concoct an exceptionally delicious spaghetti sauce.
This small art of which he was master, practiced
often for the benefit of his fellow campers, elicited
admiration that built up the boy's self-confidence
and helped him to develop his latent social
qualities.

Evening programs may be the greatest prob-
lem, and these should be planned by the group
or a committee of boys and girls. Stunts for
these programs may be prepared on rainy days.
These programs give an excellent opportunity for
such group dancing and games as will give each
person a chance for a normal amount of activity
and attention. Country square sets with a "caller
off" make it possible to change the couples with-
out resorting to the obvious "mixers."

The outline of the program of the
Work Camp presented in this arti-
cle has been taken from the report
of one of the leaders of the camp.

"Work Camp" Proves Young

People's Mettle
Returning to the subject of
the value of "real" situations in
mixed group camp programs —
situations close to life that call for serious effort
— I may mention an interesting experiment in a
young people's work camp held last summer on
Hudson Guild Farm property located fifty miles
from New York City, and eight miles from Net-
cong, New Jersey, on the Delaware & Lacka-
wanna Railroad. Already on the scene before the
work camp was set up were groups of under-
privileged people. These underprivileged folk,
summer campers, did part of their own camp
work and were encouraged to initiate projects in
which they were interested. But their primary
reason for being on the farm was to enjoy a happy
outdoor summer as free from care as possible.

The work camp, on the other hand, was avow-
edly organized not only to be self-dependent in
the matter of camp work but to perform service
work on regular schedule for the farm and for
the underprivileged campers — work which would
otherwise have had to be paid for. When it is
added that the young people of the work camp
were "overprivileged" youths and maidens (the
majority from private schools) who paid good
summer camp rates for the opportunity to put in
full days of physical toil, a rather unusual picture
is presented. The work camp project was in-
spired by the Friends' Service group and spon-
sored by the Progressive Education Association.

In developing the work camp no attempt was
made to combine its program with that of the va-
cationers. The work campers lived by themselves
and planned their own schedule of duties. The
work campers decided that everyone should take
his or her turn at all the jobs which they agreed
to undertake. The work fell into two classes :

1. Routine jobs which had to be done, such as
camp clean-up, dining room work, dish washing,
and personal laundry.

2. Service work on the farm which included :

a. Barn duty beginning at 6:00 A.M. This
entailed milking, cleaning the stables and
working in the hay field and returning to
the barn for the afternoon chores. Per-
haps fortunately for the carrying out of
this scheme the farmer cut his foot badly

* "The Fools' Parade" in stories by John W. Vandercook. Pub-
lished by Harper and Bros., New York City.

(Continued on page 364)

Co-Recreation at the Recreation Congress

IN THE SPIRIT of the theme
of this issue of RECREA-
TION, the Twenty-Fourth
National Recreation Congress
will carry out the co-recreation
idea in its play night which
will be one of the features of
the opening session of the
Congress in Boston on Mon-
day, October 9th.

Play night has long been an

important part of the Recreation Congress pro-
gram to which delegates who have been coming
year after year look forward with genuine pleas-
ure. This hour of fun is the "ice breaker" of the
Congress ; the introduction to the friendliness and
good fellowship which characterize the gathering,
ft gives the delegates an opportunity to become
acquainted, and it is a practical demonstration of
one of the objectives of recreation — having fun
together !

This year Mr. R. E. Laveaga of the Boston
Y.M.C.A., author of the article, "Co-Recreation
in the Y.M.C.A." which appears on page 331 of
this issue, will be in charge of the program. Mr.
Laveaga has been very active in training social
recreation leaders and is a social recreation en-
thusiast. The program will include ice breakers,
psychology tests, a conversational grand march, a
birthday song fest, and a number of mass recrea-
tion activities. It will be valuable in showing how
a recreation leader can use this type of program
for large numbers of people.

"The only requirement for taking part in play
night," Mr. Laveaga suggests, "is a broad smile
and a willing spirit." He urges that everyone get
off to a good start by joining in the fun which this
hour of co-recreational fellowship will offer.

Monday night will be a notable one in the Con-
gress program, for preceding
the play hour the delegates
will be officially welcomed by
the Honorable Leverett Sal-
tonstall, Governor of Massa-
chusetts, and the Honorable
Maurice J. Tobin, Boston's
-Mayor. These greetings will
be followed by an address by

And, quite incidentally; of
course; some of the other
program features which
will help make the Twenty-
Fourth National Recrea-
tion Congress one you
can't afford to miss

A FINAL REMINDER!
The Twenty-Fourth National Recreation
Congress will be held in Boston, Octo-
ber 9-13, 1939, with headquarters at
the Hotel Statler. It is not too late to
make your plans to come if you have
not already done so. Write the Na-
tional Recreation Association for further
information regarding the Congress.

Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, who
has spoken to the Congress on
a number of previous occasions
and whose inspirational mes-
sage is one eagerly anticipated
by old friends of the Congress.
Delegates who have never be-
fore heard Dr. Silver have a
rare treat in store. His sub-
ject will be "The American
Way of Life."

New England is so widely known as the home
of educational institutions that a Recreation Con-
gress held in Boston would not be complete with-
out the presence of college presidents. On the
second evening of the Congress six of them, pos-
sibly more, will come together in a panel discus-
sion in which a number of questions will be raised.
They will be asked to discuss such questions as :
"What is the relation of recreation to democ-
racy?" "To what extent can the fundamental de-
sires of men and women for living be met through
public recreation programs?" "What are the col-
leges doing to prepare our people for the use of
leisure?" "Does increased leisure under existing
conditions tend to breed discontent rather than
make life more satisfying?"

An important event of the Boston Congress
will be the Joseph Lee memorial meeting to be
held on Wednesday afternoon, October nth.
Honorable William P. Long, Chairman of the
Boston Park Department, is serving as chairman
of this meeting. Dr. John H. Finley, President of
the National Recreation Association, will preside,
and there will be singing under the leadership of
A. D. Zanzig. Dr. Henry W. Holmes, Dean of
the Graduate School of Education, Harvard Uni-
versity, which Mr. Lee was instrumental in es-
tablishing, will give the main address. His topic
will be "Joseph Lee, Educa-
tional Philosopher." This
meeting will have particular
significance for those who at-
tended the Congresses dur-
ing the years when Mr. Lee
as President of the National
Recreation Association pre-
( Continued on page 366)

357

WORLD AT PLAY

THE Play Center
The Play Center . _ ,, , ' , , ,,

, _, Mother s Club of the

Mothers Club A1, ~ ..,

Albany, California,

Recreation Depart-
ment is made up of mothers of the children en-
rolled at the play center. Meetings are held once
a month at which refreshments are served. The
club supplies equipment and meets incidental ex-
penses connected with the program through the
payment of dues of 50 cents a month. One of its
purposes is to furnish mothers with an oppor-
tunity for recreation with children safely taken
care of. They may enjoy such active sports as
tennis, archery, and golf or may join groups in
block printing, contract bridge, and dramatics.
Speakers are arranged for at some of the meet-
ings, and problems of the preschool child are dis-
cussed. Luncheons at some interesting place are
favorite means of entertainment, and an occa-
sional evening party is held in order that the
fathers may attend. Special parties for the chil-
dren at Christmas, Easter, May Day, and other
special days are a part of the program.

Recreation for
Shut-ins

THE services of two
"play ladies" and an
attractive magazine
edited for shut-ins are

two of the features of the recreation program
offered home invalids in Fargo, North Dakota,
and vicinity under the auspices of the WPA Rec-
reation Department and the American Legion
Auxiliary. The play ladies visit about a hundred
persons twice a month bringing games, toys, read-
ing matter, and materials for the invalids' hob-
bies. The magazine, called Cheerio, contains an
editorial page, weekly "sermonettes" contributed
by local ministers, games, pastimes, puzzles, jokes,
and a page of personalities concerning the shut-
ins themselves.

Going Fishing in
France

FEW people realize
how important a place
line fishing occupies in
the recreation of the
French. It is estimated that there are 250,000
kilometers of inland shore in France, and out of
these rivers fishermen extracted last year 5,300
tons of fish valued at 45,000,000 francs. The

358

French government is now taking great interest
in the question, and recently a "Group for the
Defense of Line Fisherman" has been constituted
at the French Chamber of Deputies. The follow-
ing objectives are offered: (i) the creation of an
international fishing committee; (2) the allot-
ting of definite fishing space to fishing societies ;
(3) the attaching of the river fishery question to
the Ministry of Agriculture; and (4) the protec-
tion of waters against pollution.

They Governed
Themselves

LAST summer children
on the Montreal play-

grounds had their first

taste of self-govern-
ment. They elected officers, electioneered for
their favorite candidates, and voted for them. Elec-
tion posters were made up for each candidate and
pasted in prominent places. Some playgrounds
were run on the lines of an Indian encampment
with chiefs in charge; others as small cities with
police, health, and safety officers, as well as mayor
and council. The boys and girls showed great
initiative in organizing their teams, handcraft
groups, and various activities.

Upward Trend in
Camp Use

THE National Park
Service has announc-

ed that as a result of

improved camping fa-
cilities throughout the country summer vacation
activities of city dwellers are showing an increas-
ing trend toward outdoor life. Through the acqui-
sition of recreational lands, the Service has de-
veloped organized camps which are helping greatly
to provide low-cost vacations. In 1936 there were
nine camps in operation under the National Park
Service with a total of 37,310 camper days. In
1938 this figure grew to 49 camps and 376,173
camper days. For 1939 the Service believes that
a conservative estimate will be at least sixty camps
in operation with a total of 600,000 camper days.

Recreation in
Hawaii

WALTER A. MAY,
member of the Board

of Directors of the

National Recreation

Association, recently visited Hawaii and was
given a splendid reception by the recreation au-

LETS SERVE YOUTH!

359

thorities in Honolulu. He has submitted to the
National Recreation Association several reports
describing the recreation activities in Hawaii.
One of the interesting historical notes indicates
that on May 25, 1920 an ordinance was passed
creating a Recreation Commission for the City
and County of Honolulu. This ordinance was a
result of a visit to Hawaii of Dr. Henry S. Cur-
tis, former Secretary of the Playground and Rec-
reation Association of America, former Super-
visor of Playgrounds of the District of Columbia,
and author of "Education Through Play." Dr.
Curtis at the invitation of several associations
made a recreation survey of the Islands early in
1920 and after careful consideration of the prob-
lems presented various recommendations in talks
and lectures. He was deeply impressed with the
possibilities of recreation in Honolulu and thought
of it particularly with reference to the drawing
together of all classes of society and all religions
and nationalities represented in that community.
Dr. Curtis was also responsible for the idea of
developing a water park for boating and various
other water sports.

Enthusiasm Over Clubs Grows — The group-
ing together of a number of persons, either adults
or children, into clubs at the various community
centers for the study, development, or enjoyment
of a hobby or some other interest or activity has
been the means of stimulating in Minneapolis,
Minnesota, a fine neighborhood spirit of sociabil-
ity, according to the 1938 annual report of the
Park Commission. As a new experiment garden
clubs were formed at eight recreation centers.
Both parents and children showed great enthusi-
asm over this field of nature study. Other clubs
have been organized in music, airplane making,
checkers, chess, and craft work.

A Record for Publicity — During the past
four years the Playground Board of Oak Park,
Illinois, according to Josephine Blackstock, Di-
rector of Playgrounds, has never once missed
;having a weekly article or photographs in the
[local press. Over a period of twenty years, since
'the inception of the playground system, the Board
jhas not missed more than seven weeks of con-
isecutive weekly publicity.

Let's Serve Youth!

(Continued from page 317)
Open House Nights. Too many agencies still

THE P. GOLDSMITH SONS INC.

JOHN AND FINDLAY STS., CINCINNATI, O.

open their gymnasium to boys on certain nights
and to girls one or two periods a week. There
has been little recognition of the joy young peo-
ple have in playing normally and naturally to-
gether in their summer play clothes on our
beaches and on our picnic areas during the three
short summer months. Why should this not be
continued throughout the year in open house
parties where they can come in the same play
clothes for mixed group volleyball, badminton,
relays, mass games, social recreation and old-time
dancing in the gym, as well as activities in every
other room of the house, especially game rooms
and informal singing of popular songs around the
piano in the lounge ? Usually the open house is a
weekly event from seven until ten at night, with
free choice of activities until about nine o'clock,
when all gather in the gymnasium for informal
community singing, an amateur hour, floor show,
or informal entertainment followed by social rec-
reation and old-time dancing.

Social Dance Instruction. Although this is one
of the best conducted co-recreational activities to
be found in most of our centers today, still many
agencies fail to realize that a new social dance in-

360

THE MUNICIPALITIES LOOK AT CO-RECREATION

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struction class for beginners should be started
every six or eight weeks and that the most im-
portant part of the instruction is social dance
etiquette. In many centers uncouth adolescents
get their first "taming" under the friendly guid-
ance of a social dance teacher who even goes so
far as to demonstrate the correct procedure in
introducing friends who drop by a table in a dine-
and-dance-place, as well as the more customary
ballroom etiquette.

Saturday Night Dances. So many, many agen-
cies close their doors Saturday evenings, which is
the important date night of the week and the one
time above all others when young people want to
go somewhere to dance. In many cities welfare
workers and youth leaders tell us that girls of
even junior high school age are to be found in the
taverns and roadhouses on Saturday evenings. It
is most important that at least one agency in our
smaller cities and one in each neighborhood of our
larger cities conduct an inexpensive Saturday
night dance, especially for the high school age
and that all other leaders in the neighborhood co-
operate and urge their young people to attend.
This dance should have just as much atmosphere

as we can possibly create. Many youth leaders
could profit by the example of the "dry night
club" on the University of Iowa campus.

Youth Themselves as Leaders

From earliest years boys and girls should serve
on committees together. As soon as they show
leadership responsibility in the teens they may
well be organized into a junior council to help
promote their own parties, picnic, outings, play
days, sports rallies, and other events, especially
where the emphasis is placed on activity rather
than on the opposite sex. Many of our boys and
girls develop real leadership ability in their high
school extracurricular activities. Then suddenly
they are out of school, often without a job, or
their vocations do not permit them to make use of
their leadership ability. These natural leaders
should be on our open-house councils, on our Sat-
urday night dance committees, on a house com-
mittee in charge of collecting furniture, repairing
it and fitting up a room to serve as a lounge. We
should marshal the forces of interested patrons,
electricians, sign painters, and all interested in
making our recreation centers really enjoyable
places for youth. We should secure the best pro-
fessional teachers of social dancing, the best quali-
fied women as leaders of our game rooms' anc
lounge libraries for these activities can be feeder
for all of the more highly organized co-recrea-
tional and cultural classes and clubs.

Let's give youth opportunities for service on
their own councils and committees. Let's make it
possible for them to feel the thrill of success.
Let's help them to help themselves through co-
recreation.

The Municipalities Look at
Co-Recreation

(Continued from page 324)

older children eager to perform on whatev
rhythm instruments could be easily and inexpei
sively secured. Today the band still has a was!
tub and a washboard but it boasts many other ii
struments both home-made and manufacture!
bazooka, bass drums, Chinese cymbals, Chinese
tom-toms, triangles, small cymbals, tune time
bells, tambourines, spoons, tubs and castanets.
With glee club, trios and quartettes added to its
activities, the band has advanced in membership
and ability and has found great enjoyment in its
work and in its numerous public performances.

ACTIVITIES OF CO-RECREATION CLUBS

361

Badminton in Hastings-on-Hudson. Of all mixed
group activities in Hastings-on-Hudson, Lucille
W. Harrold, Supervisor of Girls' Recreation,
considers badminton the most successful. "It was
more or less a case of making available an easily
accessible place to play, and advertising that there
was such a place," says Miss Harrold. "The bad-
minton enthusiasts of the community then inter-
ested their friends. The newspapers carried
notices, wrote up special features, club matches,
high-lights of the games and players of the com-
munity. In the past three years the group has
grown from four persons to one hundred and
twenty-five different individuals participating.
There is an outstanding Badminton Club com-
posed of men and women with a high degree of
skill in the game. There is, besides, a large num-
ber of adults who play for the exercise and the
fun of it rather than for technical perfection.''

A social dance class, a folk dance group, social
recreation parties, spring and fall outings, a
forum, snow parties and ice-skating are all flour-
ishing co-recreative pursuits in Hastings. The
forum is in connection with the Town Hall of
the Air.

Indoor Archery Ranges. Indoor archery ranges
at three of Sioux City's recreation centers are en-
joyed by a large number of young men and
women. A regular hallway is used for the range,
with two 9' x 12' rugs suspended from an iron
rod 9^2 feet from the floor as a backstop. Three
bales of straw covered with burlap make a target.
Besides the archery classes two evenings a week
at each center, informal practice is possible on
other evenings.

"What's Your Recreation? We Have It," says the
Union County, New Jersey, Park Commission, to
seekers of pleasurable mixed-group activities.
Here's the list: horseback riding, golf, trap and
skeet shooting, camera club, nature study and
hiking, archery, lawn bowling, badminton, swim-
ming parties, alley bowling, tennis, model boat
sailing, fishing, painting, gardening, discussion
forums, picnics, field hockey, winter sports, dra-
matics, game parties and dances. From F. S.
fathewson Superintendent of Recreation, Union
County Park Commission.

Journalistic Groups. In Ben Franklin's city it is
fitting that journalism should be a subject which
young people meet to discuss. Other mixed-
group activities that draw interested participants
,in Philadelphia are : symphonic orchestras, debat-

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ing forums, badminton and mixed gymnastic
nights. Philadelphia young people like dramatics
mixed with social good times. The presentation
of each play is followed by an after celebration.
Social evenings with refreshments and dancing
are held at intervals by the dramatic groups.

Clubs such as hiking, horseback riding, bicycle,
archery, roller* skating, glee, bridge, tennis and
garden all flourish in Philadelphia. Week-end
camping, with the girls doing the meal-planning
and cooking while the boys take care of the heavy
chores and dish washing has been most satis-
factory. From Minna B. Reichelt, Executive Sec-
retary and Supervisor, Bureau of Recreation,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Activities of Co-Recreation Clubs

(Continued from page 330)

the Consul of their parents' homeland. When
they were discussing the affair with their leader
afterward one of the boys said that everyone there
seemed to be having such a good time, but there
were so many things that he was uncertain how
to do when he met new people that he was too
uneasy to enjoy himself. Another course started !

Other Lessons Learned

Aside from the good time that these co-recrea-
tion club members have, the new interests they
are exposed to, the skills they acquire, there is
the training in group living that they themselves
are conscious of getting. Recently a club was
working on a piece of organization that covered
several weeks. A young man who was chairman
of one section sent word that he would not be
able to continue on the committee and gave a rea-
son that sounded trivial. One of the girls in the
club said to the leader, "You can see the differ-
ence, can't you, between some one who had been

362

an old member of a social center club and a new
one like him ? He hasn't learned what it means to
be responsible for a thing when it gets hard, and
see it through."

These clubs give an opportunity for group ex-
perience to boys and girls who never have been
attracted to segregated clubs. Through these
groups they come into contact with boys and girls
of various skills and interest. One girl, as wild as
the proverbial March hare, who would spurn an
invitation to join a girls' club, belongs to a co-
recreation club that has as part of its program the
reviewing of new books. She confessed to the
leader that she had never read an entire book be-
fore she joined the club. Last year she read
fourteen.

How valuable, how significant were the activi-
ties of these clubs in the lives of the boys and
girls who participated in them? What needs did
they serve? Well, the girl who read fourteen
prescribed books in her leisure was at least
pleasantly occupied for a good many hours and
was not twiddling her thumbs for something to
do. The club that had a forum on youth prob-
lems enjoyed stimulating discussions with boys
and girls of various backgrounds and experiences.
The club members who in answer to the Gover-
nor's proclamation helped in the eradication of
hay fever weeds had the exhilaration of collec-
tive experience in social action within their scope.
The young adults who worked in the Milwaukee
County Citizenship Day Program for the "new
twenty-one year olds" had an actual experience in
the responsibility of citizenship. Even the boys
and girls who organized a social function like a
mid-winter dance encountered conflicts within
their groups and learned that they could be solved
only by compromises and adjustments if the dance
were to be a success.

New environments, opportunities for creative
efforts in the arts, new social and cultural inter-
ests, new skills, new friends, social participation,
learning to give and learning to take, a gamut of
life experiences have become part of the lives of
1,713 boys and girls of fifty-three self -governed,
co-recreation clubs.

NOTE: Descriptions of the program of Co- Recreation
Clubs in a number of other cities will appear in the
October issue of RECREATION.

the spring: substitution of Dramatics for
Effective Speaking.

7. That the recreation program include be-
ginners' ballroom dancing, rifle shooting, fenc-
ing, volleyball, badminton, swimming, and
bridge ; also a song fest, headed by some good
song- leader, for the benefit of the large group
which would like to participate in singing. The
boys' game room to be open for ping-pong,
pool and billiards.

8. That the social hour be primarily dances,
with the first two dances in the form of mixers.
That some time during the six-week period,
if a dramatic group can be built up, a play be:
put on for the social part of the evening.

We feel that the So-Ed program was one of
the highlights of our year's achievements at
the Tacoma Y.M.C.A. because the sharing and
planning of this experiment gave many of our
young people an opportunity to use construc-
tively some of their leisure time. It also was
an inexpensive form of entertainment, a fact
which means a great deal these days. The fine
comments we have heard from those partici-
pating make us eagerly look forward to another
session.

So-Ed Nites at the Tacoma Y.M.C.A.

(Continued from page 336)
Yourself, Handicraft, Effective Speaking. For

Cooperating in Co-Recreation

(Continued from page 340)

come the leaders for the larger group, and it is
necessary that they have a fine and satisfying ex-
perience in relation to the group itself and the
staff that are working with them, and that they
themselves grow through that experience. Third,
to develop in the individual, through a variety of
relationships with young people of like experi-
ence and with others of different and wider ex-
perience, a philosophy of life which shall give them
courage and assurance in facing their own prob-
lems and in facing the problems in the world to-
day. Fourth, to develop an awareness of the
forces at work in the world today and to help the
individual to make his contribution, however small,
toward making this world a better place in which
to live.

Where Do We Go from Here?
And so, where do we go from here? That is a
question that we all must ask ourselves. Recre-
ation can be an end in itself, and rightly so at
times. Recreation can be purely relaxing, purely
fun. Recreation can give personal satisfaction.

'SWING NIGHT"

363

However, it is in the last two basic reasons for
our program, just stated, that we find some indi-
cation as to where we go from here. Those who
work in the recreational area of life know that
recreation doesn't stop at being just play or just
fun. Recreation has to do with the individual and
his own creativeness and his own happiness and
satisfaction, but recreation has also to do with the
adjustment of that individual to life in general.
Recreation has to do with the individual and his
relationship to his home, his friends, his job, and
the community in which he lives. Recreation has
to do with self-direction and with the democratic
way of life. Recreation has to do with the very
fullness and richness of living.

Recreation, therefore, may be an end in itself
at certain points, but is also at the same time a
means to an end. In an organization such as the
Y.W.C.A., which in itself has a dynamic purpose,
the co-ed recreational program should be related
to this purpose and is related through the small
leadership group. We are challenged at the point
of developing young leaders who are conscious of
this purpose and its philosophy of life. We are
challenged at the point of helping them relate this
purpose and this philosophy to their own courage
and assurance in facing problems which confront
them. We are challenged at the point of develop-
ing an awareness in all young people of the forces
at work in the world today and helping them to
view these forces objectively so that they may
constructively contribute their share in helping
make this world a better place in which to live.
We know that through this recreational program
within an organization of dynamic and challeng-
ing purpose, life may become more integrated,
richer, and a Christian fellowship.

"Swing Night"

(Continued from page 341)

or to buy new equipment. The committee also
takes registrations, collects admission fees and is
responsible for the music and checking. The fact
that the committee comes out of the group itself
makes the young people feel that they are a self-
governing body. An advisory committee from the
Board of Directors has also been appointed and
many of the problems have been taken to them.

Some Hints for Keeping Out of Trouble !

To those of you who may be contemplating
such a venture as ours, I should like to make these
following suggestions, for whereas we failed to
realize their importance, we are now up against a

much harder problem because it involves a re-
tracing of many steps.

First, have your leadership, plenty of it, before
you ever attempt to start a group. Once started,
the project is too big to handle without not only
trained leaders but many volunteers. Second,
limit the group from the first — either to high
school or out of school boys and girls, or by an
age limit. Wre are getting too many young girls,
and because they have been coming for some time,
it is hard to start limiting at this late date. Third,
limit the space to be used to either one or two
rooms, and then, as the group learns more respect
for the building and property, you may be able to
have lounging rooms, smoking rooms and a rec-
reation room. At lastly, let the boys know that
they are welcome that one night a week — but only
that one night. We have had the boys coming
every night in the week to use the game rooms,
or just to hang out in the building, and we have
found it difficult to make them understand that we
can welcome them only Wednesday nights.

We are at present up against the problem of
feeling a definite need for expansion, for the bene-
fit of the group already coming to the building,
and for other young people in the community who
have no means of recreation at a small fee. The
situation has grown so far beyond us that we are
now considering the advisability of taking it to
the City Council of Social Agencies so that they
may see, as we have demonstrated, that there is a
great need here for co-ed recreational activities
for the young people of Trenton.

Where Cross the Crowded Ways

(Continued from page 350)

We were very fortunate in having as our guest
a steamship cruise captain who took us on a de-
lightful trip to Nassau and the Bahamas by means
of colored motion pictures. Following this, we
promenaded the "deck" in a snake dance, played
nautical games, and autographed sailor caps. After
refreshments were served, everyone joined hands
in a huge circle and sang "Aloha Oe" with that
sentimental feeling that goes with the docking of
a ship and the parting of friends who have had a
perfect voyage. Although there is bound to be a
tinge of sadness at vacation time, we knew that
with the foundation we had laid in the year be-
hind us, the coming year would be even better.

.So the Thursday Evening Group of the Marble
Collegiate Church proudly sets a unique precedent,
and proves that recreation for young people in a
big city need no longer be a problem !

364

.90 ME SPORTS THAT SUCCEED WITH MIXED GROUPS

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EDUCATION, 1939. A REALISTIC APPRAISAL, 160
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HUMAN AFFAIRS, 1939. ca 450 pages, for Fall Pub-
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II BEACON STREET BOSTON. MASS.

Some Sports That Succeed with
Mixed Groups

(Continued from page 353)

twenty-five couples. The extent of the program is
limited by the fact that available facilities are
needed for women's activities. The solution would
be an additional sports building that could be
dedicated to a mixed program.

Winter Sports Were Made
for Co- Recreation

By JESSIE SCHOFIELD

Superintendent of Municipal Recreation
Salt Lake City, Utah

WINTER SPORTS are a boon to the recreation
worker who is eager to develop his co-rec-
reational program. Winter sports don't
need to go through a process of trial and error to
prove their suitability for mixed groups. They

already are co-recreational. Very seldom are
groups of boys, or of girls, alone, seen skiing in
the mountains. Always a mixed group is found.
Seldom does a toboggan full of gay people pass
composed entirely of boys or of girls. Nearly
always there is a combination of both. An ice rink
is never used by boys alone. If the young people
have gone separately, they soon "team up."

Perhaps the very nature of winter sports is
responsible. Each activity is an individual thing,
and because young people do things together is
no reason that they need do them equally well.
Not a little of the day's enjoyment comes from
the "teacher-pupil" attitude of each pair, the boy
teaching the girl the things he thinks he knows.
A frequent scene shows the young man far up
on the hillside with a "Watch me" attitude as he
comes down, and the young lady "watching" from
the bottom. Vaingloriously he tries again if he
fails !

More often, however, are the young people ski-
ing together, riding the lifts, and attempting the
same slopes. The boys take steeper "schusses"
and faster turns, but the girls are rapidly becom-
ing proficient and able to carry on.

The companionable part of the day is meal time
around the fire or on a sunny slope. (Only win-
ter sport enthusiasts know that it is far warmer
on a sunshiny day on the mountainsides where
the snow is ten feet deep than in the valley
below.) There the yarns are told and the songs
are sung. Most fortunate are those who are stay-
ing over night. The fun of skiing in the moon-
light can be equaled nowhere, and afterwards
games and dancing, songs, stunts, and stories in
the cabin make a week-end which long remains a
red-letter memory. Certainly true recreation is
enjoyed most when there is a mixed group.

The ride to and from the area is part of the
complete enjoyment of the day. Whether it be by
car, bus or ski-train, the trip is voted a success if
young people together make the ride a merry time
with songs, games and stories.

Winter Sports, then, are really a grand co- rec-
reational activitv !

Plus Experiments in Co-Educational
Camping

(Continued from page 356)
early in August, and one of the more able
of the work camp boys took over the
management of the barn work. Other
boys asked permission to help and for

PLUS EXPERIMENTS IN CO-EDUCATIONAL CAMPING

365

HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor

C. R. VAN NICE. Managing Editor

Subscription
Price

A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY

in which

Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly, Financing Activities, and Social
Functions make democratic settings and life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.

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TOPEKA, KANSAS

two weeks got up regularly at 4 :oo o'clock
in the morning to bring in the cows, to do
the milking, and clean the stables. It was
enlightening to see the tremendous satis-
faction the boys took in feeling that they
were filling a real place and that their
work was not only an addition to the
farm but essential to its carrying on.
Preparing vegetables each day not only
for the work camp but for the main din-
ing room where over a hundred were fed
each day.

Forestry. This was started after an expert
had gone over with the campers the prob-
lem of caring for the woodland. It in-
volved cutting away the underbrush, tak-
ing out dead and undesirable timber,
stacking the good lumber, and burning the
brush. It was hard labor and popular
throughout the summer.
Helping in the day camp which was run
by a professional worker who cared for
the children of settlement families who
were vacationing and doing their own

housekeeping in rented cottages on the
farm. Although this job was physically
less strenuous, it was also less popular
than the others.

e. Work in connection with the rehabilita-
tion of an old ten room farm house. This
included tearing off old plaster, putting in
new lathing and plaster, repairing window
frames, putting in glass, laying floor
boards and painting, and in the end see-
ing a clean, usable house available for the
use of underprivileged families.
It wasn't all work and no play even for these
ambitious young folk. There were daytime trips
to a silk mill, a large laundry, the Borden Farm
at Plainfield, and the Government Homestead at
Hightstown. Always, following one of these trips,
there was fruitful discussion of the work which
interested the group. Many questions of interest
arose as an outcome of the work done at the
farm. Visitors from the State Agricultural Col-
lege led discussions which had direct bearing on
farm problems. The evening programs included
country dances in the dining room where the

366

CO-RECREATION AT THE RECREATION CONGRESS

CHARACTER
AND CITIZENSHIP

brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing — or
not doing —

To lay the foundation ior good citizenship

To build good character

To develop personality

To solve community problems

To safeguard democratic institutions

To improve family life

To promote recreation and good health

To encourage cooperative activities

The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Educa-
tion for Character and Citizenship. It is
of particular value to:

Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and

Directors

Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation
Leaders of Other Character Building Agencies

Dr. Francis L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue of your magazine, CHARACTER and
CITIZENSHIP, came to my desk this week. I
carried it home and pleasantly, I believe profit-
ably, too, spent an evening reading the entire
contents.

"Permit me to express my appreciation of the
increasing value of this unique periodical. I could
ardently wish that every school library possess
one or more subscriptions. It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance teachers might ' well utilize
the magazine as reference material for students.

"The overview which your periodical gives to
the work of the various social agencies and the
emphasis afforded to the desirable coordination
of school and community social agencies consti-
tute a superior service. More power to your
efforts!"

Send your order to

Character and Citizenship

5732 HARPER AVENUE

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Nat. Rec.

neighborhood fiddler was invited to play for
square sets ; singing around the campfire ; and two
"free nights" during the week. On these even-
ings the young people were responsible for their
own recreation and within limits were free to go
and do as they wished. It is interesting to note
that as the summer passed the work camp boys
and girls gained the respect of the vacation camp-
ers, and a feeling of confidence and friendship
grew up through respect for the sincerity of what
each group was doing.

When the camp season was over there were
many differences of opinion as to the solution of
specific problems that had arisen, but there was
universal enthusiasm for the work plan as a whole
and the leaders of the group felt that the method
was essentially right. The boys and girls agreed
that it was the finest summer they had ever had.

We recognize the tremendous interest of boys
and girls in each other. After some study of ex-
periments with the teen age in co-educational
camps it seems evident that these camps fill some
of the vital needs of young people and that some
of the fundamental ideas embodied in the work
camp may well be tried with less privileged boys
and girls. More leaders are becoming convinced
of the advantages of co-education in camps, but
they know that it can only be successful if the
life of the young people is focused on vital work,
spontaneous play, and intellectual activities suit-
able to the mentality of the group.

Co- Recreation at the Recreation
Congress

(Continued, from page 357)

sided over the meetings and took part with keen
enjoyment in the play nights.

Much interest is being shown in the meeting a
which representatives of industrial plants will dis-
cuss their problems and achievements in provid-
ing employee recreation. At an industrial recrea-
tion luncheon on October nth, Ralph Lees of the
General Motors Corporation, will speak on "In-
dustry's Responsibility for Recreation." John W.
Higgins, President of the Worcester Pressed Steel
Corporation, will preside.

The Twenty-Fourth National Recreation Con-
gress bids fair to be a vitally important one. With
so many subjects demanding discussion and so
many groups asking for hearings, the program
will be an unusually full one. October 9-13 will
be a busy time but a happy one for those attending !

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

Camp Management

A Manual on Organized Camping. By H. W. Gibson.
Greenberg, Publisher, New York. $5.00.

THE FIRST EDITION OF Camp Management was published
in 1923. The demand for the manual was so great
that the entire edition was sold within a short time. New
chapters have been added in making the revision, some
chapters have been omitted, and a number have been
rewritten to meet the many changes which have taken
place in the camping world in the past two decades. In
its revised form, with its practical discussions of all the
various phases of the camp movement from buildings,
equipment, and sanitation to a digest of laws affecting
camping, the book will prove an invaluable guide to
camp directors.

Your City

By E. L. Thorndike. Harcourt, Brace and Company,

New York. $2.00.

W/HAT MAKES for "goodness of life" in a city? Dr.
" Thorndike has measured and appraised three hundred
American cities in an attempt to answer this question,
and as a result he has given us a score card for measuring
the qualities of cities. In his appraisal he has selected
thirty-seven items or features or traits, as he calls them,
as significant for "the goodness of life for good people in
| a city." The first four concern health ; eight; the educa-
i tional opportunities provided by the public ; two, public
[ provision for recreation, or the per capita public expense
1 for recreational facilities and park acreage. Eight items
[are listed as economic and social; five concern "creature
j comforts"; and the final six taken as evidence of good
I conditions are the infrequency of death from syphilis,
i homicide and automobile accidents, and the value of the
Icity property in schools, libraries, museums, parks and
j other recreational facilities in relation to the value of its
fother property in police stations, jails, courthouses, and
il buildings used for general government. The conclusions
;'Dr. Thorndike reaches are challenging and will arouse
Smuch discussion.

Herbs for Urbans and Suburbans

•By Katherine van der Veer. Loker Raley, 505 Fifth

| Avenue, New York. $1.25.

ijlERE is A READABLE book about herbs, with tested

recipes and random thoughts. All the herbs listed

:an be grown or purchased in the United States. The

aising of herbs is becoming so increasingly a popular

nobby that books on the subject are in great demand.

The Cine-Sports Library

"nternational Sports, Inc., 611 Security Trust Building,
Indianapolis. Each $1.00.

FHE Cine-Sports Library offers new educational and
instructional material in various sports in a series of
'ooklets which cannot fail to be of interest to recreation
vorkers, physical educators, and coaches. The authors

have collected all available data on technique and put it
in the form of moving pictures. It has been their ob-
jective to sift, shake down, test, and measure the best
of the known points on technique. Thus far the series
include The High Jump; The Hurdles; The Shot Put;
The Broad Jump; The Discus Throw; The Pole Vault;
The Distance Runs — Cross Country ; The Javelin Throw
and Relay Races; The Middle Distance Runs; and The
Sprint Races.

Games for Rural Schools

By Myrtle Yoder Messenger. Burgess Publishing Com-
pany, Minneapolis, Minnesota. $1.35.
IN ASSEMBLING the games described in this booklet — and
they have been thoroughly tested and selected only on
the basis of their practical value — an effort has been made
to secure games adaptable to a variety of existing situa-
tions in rural schools. In addition to active games, there
are indoor quiet games suitable for mixed groups and a
section on "Community Clu'b Ice Breakers."

Training for Championship Athletics

By C. Ward Crampton, M.D. Whittlesey House, Mc-
Graw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. $2.50.
THIS BOOK is designed to be of help to every man or
' boy who wants to excel in his chosen sport. Part I
concerns itself with scientific advice on the coordination
of muscles and the development of good form for track,
baseball, basketball and football. The second part of the
book offers detailed rules for training, covering general
diet, pre-game diet, daily exercise, special exercises for
special sports, and practice schedules. There are sugges-
tions for all on how to have a healthier, happier time all
through life. The information is presented in the same in-
teresting style which makes Dr. Crampton's Boy's Book
of Strength so popular.

Municipal Index and Atlas 1939

American City Magazine Corporation, 470 Fourth Ave-
nue, New York. $5.00.

THE FIFTEENTH annual edition of the Municipal Index
* and Atlas contains information on municipal services
and directories of municipal officers which are invaluable
for city officials. One chapter is devoted to parks, play-
grounds, swimming pools, and airports, and there is a
section on new publications for the City Hall Library
which lists a number of new publications on recreation.

From Building to Neighborhood

By Abel J. Gregg and Charlotte Himber. Association

Press, New York. $.50.

THIS MANUAL on the decentralization of group work is
' the result of a resolution passed at the fifth North
American Assembly of Y.M.C.A. Workers with Boys,
which requested the National Council Boys' Work Sec-
tion to produce a manual on decentralized community
work. Among the subjects discussed are the reasons for

367

368

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

decentralization; the first steps to be taken in the de-
centralizing program; the formulation of policies by
governing boards and guiding committees; leadership
and supervision; financing; recruiting and grouping;
and interclub councils.

Social Services and the Schools.

Educational Policies Commission. National Educa-
tion Association of the United States and the Ameri-
can Association of School Administrators, 1201 Six-
teenth Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C.
In this study by the Educational Policies Commission a
section is devoted to community recreation administration
in which various forms of administration are presented.
Recreation workers will be interested in studying this
section and the decisions reached by the Commission as
to a desirable form of administration, though there will
be undoubtedly a division of opinion regarding the recom-
mendations of the Commission.

The report as a whole is given over to an analysis ot
cooperative relationships between public schools and pub-
lic health, welfare, and recreation agencies and public
libraries. William G. Carr is Secretary of the Commis-
sion which was appointed by the National .Education As-
sociation and the American Association of School Ad-
ministrators.

Amateur Craftsman's Cyclopedia.

Prepared by the Editorial Staff of Popular Science
Monthly. Grosset and Dunlap, New York. $1.95.
Here is a complete manual for the home workshop
enthusiast with detailed working drawings and instruc-
tions for making toys, novelties, sporting equipment,
models, furniture, house and garden conveniences, radios,
photographic accessories, and scientific instruments.
There are over 1,400 working drawings, diagrams, and
illustrations. The selection of material has been made
from the hundreds of articles which have appeared in
Popular Science Monthly over a four-year period. Each
article has been selected because of its popularity with the
home craftsmen. There are almost 350 pages in this
volume.

Traditional Ballads Mainly from West Virginia.

Collected under the auspices of the West Virginia
Folk Lore Society by John Harrington Cos. Federal
Thpater Project, New York, Publication No. 75-S.
$.25.
A collection of 37 folk tunes and 49 texts, fragments

and variants included. Full notes and references are

given for each ballad.

Physiology of Exercise.

By James Huff McCurdy and Leonard A. Larson.

Lea & Febiger. Philadelphia. $3.75.
In preparing the third edition of this standard work
considerable research has been necessary and very ex-
tensive revision has been made. Two new sections have
been added — a chapter on exercise for people over forty
years of age and a section on exercise for women which
reviews the particular problems related to women's phy-
sical exercise. Under "Muscular Ability" the authors
discuss the three fundamental physiological factors re-
lated to the development of recreational skills — postural
strength and flexibility, organic power, and neuro-muscu-
lar skills. "The two biggest factors in games skills are
eye judgments and the feeling judgments of muscle sense.
The joy of accomplishment comes from ability in these
three factors." An important contribution has been made
in the specific and general bibliographies all of which will
prove of great value to research workers and to students
in professional courses in health, physical education, and
recreation.

Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy Rope Work.

By Raoul Graumont and John Hensel. Cornell Mari-
time Press, 350 West 23rd Street, New York. $10.00.
A complete encyclopedia of knots consisting of 640
pages with 270 photo-engraved plates illustrating 3100
designs, including every variety of knot, weave, braid,
whipping, sizing and splicing. Each design is clearly and
completely explained in the twelve chapters that make up
the volume. The book contains a comprehensive history
of rope and rope making, also a glossary of rope terms.

Bruce and Marcia, Woodsmen.

By William P. Alexander and Maribelle Cormack.

American Book Company, New York. $.80.
Here is a book on nature lore through which many
Marcias and Bruces may join Professor Freudemacher
in exploring the out-of-doors and in adventuring in
indoor laboratories. Children of the upper elementary
grades will be interested in this book, designed to
familiarize them with plants and animals, because the
descriptions are offered in a natural and vivid way which
cannot fail to appeal to them. Many illustrations add
to the interest of the book.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

- JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCHER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Con:.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Boy Meets Girl

^OY meets girl" has now been changed to "Girl meets boy," as the mother of
any young man of eighteen will tell you. What is important is that girls and
boys are still meeting as they have since Adam found Eve in the Garden of

Eden. When they no longer meet life will be over, the planet will have cooled off

and the earth will be a frozen place.

Why does the moon shine except that boys and girls may meet surrounded by
greater beauty? Why do the flowers come out in the spring? Why are some ears
of corn red? To what better use can the canoe be put? Why are picnics held?
Why should church socials continue?

The time comes when the telephone is worth its weight in gold to boys and
girls. They know at last for what purpose the automobile was invented. The young
people's societies in the churches give a normal chance for boys and girls to see each
other. Choirs and orchestras would justify themselves for the hours afterwards for
the boys and girls on the way home. The 4-H has its place. Likewise the Hi-Y
where boys and girls meet to discuss common problems. Amateur dramatics pre-
pare Romeos and Juliets for later reality.

Young men and young women together enjoy softball, volleyball, badmin-
ton, ice skating, roller skating, swimming. Much may be said, without words as well
as with, in dancing. The folk dances, the dances of the people, often have centuries
behind them. Words are only one form of communication for the young in heart.
The eyes and the whole body say much more. Youth is often inarticulate as far as
words go.

Fortunate are the young men and the young women who live where the peo-
ple through their homes, churches and their recreation centers and in all appropri-
ate ways give opportunity for the young to be together without self-consciousness,
without undue restraint, and naturally and easily to come to know each other. If
the community leaves the boys and girls in the mating time of life to the road houses
and more or less secret places, the community is responsible for what happens. All
fathers and mothers know the urges of life, their depth, their power, their inevitability.
The young man and the young woman will "pursue happiness" together just as surely
as they will seek food and drink, and that which is most fundamental in nature can-
not be ignored among any races in any climates in hard times or good times. What
God hath instituted, let not men forget. "Wise men cooperate with the inevitable."

When one finds that his heart beats no more rapidly in the moonlight; when the
mating season for boys and girls has lost its beauty for him; when he does not long
for boys and girls to know each other so truly and with such understanding that they
are sure whether they want to go on forever for better or for worse; when these
major matters no longer grip and challenge all the ingenuity and creativeness for
keeping a world natural and normal for young people, then one is old and cold
whatever his age.

HOWARD BRAUGHER

OCTOBER, 1939

369

October

ioto by Philip Gendrcau

370

Co-Recreation in the Heyday of Lif<

That youth may be the "heyday of life" that poets claim it to be, a number
of national organizations are working, some for boys alone, others for girls.
Inevitably, however, and naturally, co-recreation has entered into the pro-
grams of these groups. It has been perfectly normal for the girls to want
to entertain boys on special social occasions and to include them in activi-
ties such as drama and music. Boys have wished to share with their sisters
and friends many of their pleasures. A nd so we find Girl Scouts, Camp Fire
Girls and Boys' Club members enjoying certain of their activities together.

Boys and Girls Together

By C. FRANCES LOOMIS

Camp Fire Girls, Inc.

THOSE WHO HAVE been to the New York
World's Fair come away with the refrain
boys and girls together ringing in their ears
( from that old time song "The Sidewalks of New
York"). The tractor trains use that melody to
warn people from their path and it reminds us
that, old as the song is, co-recreation is a good
deal older. In fact, looking through the very first
volume of our magazine, then called Wohelo and
published twenty-seven years ago, we find ac-
counts of treasure hunts, hikes, cook-outs, and
| parties not so different from the scavenger hunts,
= camping trips, and dances which leaders describe
! in their most recent reports as being vastly en-
1 joyed by Camp Fire Girls and boys together.

Quite often, now as then, a Boy Scout leader
iand a Camp Fire Guardian unostentatiously pull
;the strings that bring about a boy-girl party which
the youngsters feel they have initiated themselves.
1 Of ten at camp it has been possible to arrange for
jan exchange of hospitality with a nearby boys'
Jcamp, the boys being invited for some special oc-
•casion and vice versa. Square dancing, softball,
rodeos and stunts have been popular forms of en-
tertainment for these events — and always, of
course, eats.

Out-of-Camp Trips Together

Sometimes the boys and girls take out-of-camp
:rips together, usually at the close of the camping
season and always, of course, with adequate lead-
ership. Typical of such trips are the following:

Older campers and counselors at Camp Sweyo-
laken (on Lake Coeur d'Alene, Idaho,) will re-
member with pleasure the fifteen mile canoeing
trip taken with Boy Scouts. Directly after break-
fast they embarked, paddling along the lake shore
to their first stop, where they viewed the Indian
sign writing. The second stop was at Pilot Rock
for more sights, and renewed energy from choco-
late bars thoughtfully provided by the boys. Then
on to the Girl Scout camp after battling wind
and waves, arriving pretty much drenched. A
hearty dinner, then rest hour in the tents — and
that rest was appreciated! A sightseeing tour of
camp, then homeward bound, with a stop at Ar-
row Beach, where they cooked supper and the
girls reciprocated the courtesy of the morning by
making fudge. They arrived at their home camps
in time for taps (almost). Needless to say, the
girls did their full share of the paddling and it
was a day full of excitement, friendliness and
good sportsmanship.

Girls at the Portland, Oregon, camp who have
shown special skill in camp craft are privileged
to share a horseback trip with Boy Scouts, which,
after several days of riding and camping, leads
them to a Boy Scout camp near the sea. Commit-
tees of the boys and girls together plan their sup-
plies. The girls learn, to be adept in stowing their
packs, caring for their horses, and helping to
make camp at night. The boys are handy with the
skillets, and altogether it is an experience of fun,
work, and friendship shared and enjoyed.

In the winter time ski trips are planned in many
cities for boys and girls together. A report from
Seattle, Washington, tells of annual trips with
YMCA boys which are typical of the good time
enjoyed. "The days, of course, were spent out of
doors — most of the time on skis; the evenings in
front of the huge fire in the lodge, dancing to

371

372

CO-RECREATION IN THE "'HEYDAY OF LIFE"

polka and schottische records, talking, singing,
and playing games. The girls taught the boys to
dance and the boys taught the girls to stem and
christie — a fair exchange, we thought, and fun
all around."

These trips, hikes, and cook-outs are, of course,
in addition to the parties and many other good
times shared by the boys and girls, but they have
the added advantage that the youngsters are work-
ing together on something which challenges their
skill and obliterates self consciousness. As a good
outdoor mixer we recommend a John Smith party.
To quote Janet McKeller's directions in the Camp
Fire Girls Outdoor Book*:

"All I can remember of the picturesque early history
of Virginia is John Smith's mandate to the community —
'Those that do not work may not eat' — and although I
would present the formula indirectly after the manner
of the shrewd psychologists of the day, it seems a good
point of departure for any sort of cook-out whether of
small numbers where everybody tries or wants to do
everything, or the large group — oh, up to two hundred
— 'where there is much opportunity for the easy going to
sluff responsibility and for the 'born leader' types to come
to a clash over how this or that shall be done. It's valu-
able for the outings that include 'boys and girls, since
each has a non-negotiable job and Mary and Bill will
not go for a pail of water and get lost on the longest
way home — and since by its terms the girls do not do all
the cooking while the boys tease, or the boys exploit
their skill in frying and flipping while the girls stand by
and giggle.

"First plan the menu carefully and list all the work to
be done. Be sure to include gathering wood, peeling
onions, frying bacon, setting table, serving, clean up and
fires out. Have as many jobs as persons. An attractive
little meal ticket is given to each — folded, mind you —
and on the inside is a notation something like this : 'Good
for food for one supper on September 15th. To validate,
holder is invited (shall — is instructed) to keep the fires
burning and see that they are properly put out.'

"or 'To cash in, holder will fry the bacon and onions
for chowder.'

"or 'Valid only after holder has toasted twelve slices of
bread golden brown on both sides.'

"Someone is John Smith — the leader. The group might
first be divided into two sections, i.e., on arrival — one di-
vision to gather wood for ten minutes, the other (and
smaller) division to spread out provisions so the whole
group can work without confusion.

"The meal should be ready to serve and all should eat
at one time. After the meal those who have worked may
sing while the 'cleaners up' and 'fire put-outers' finish
their work. This should keep everyone busy and happy."

Perhaps, though the account of the canoe trip
did not include their menu, they roasted corn,
which is fun for an outdoor supper in September.

* Camp Fire Outfitting Company, 197 Greene Street, New York
City. SOc.

Open the husks and pull out the silk, any damaged
kernels or extras. Then twist the husks together
at the top and soak them in salted water. Bury
them in the hot ashes of the fire you have had
going for some time and build it up over them for
your coffee or whatever other cooking you are
doing. The corn will be done in about twenty
minutes. Be sure to have plenty of butter and
salt ready. Watermelon, which has been cooling
in the lake or brook, is a grand finale for a corn
roast.

Judging from reports of happy boy and girl
festivities, we would say that the secret of suc-
cess is to give them plenty to do — and plenty of
eats. As with all activities, the more responsibili-
ties the youngsters have for planning and running
off the events the more they enjoy them and the
more worthwhile the experince is. One Guardian,
made wise from experience, says that she puts the
noisiest or hardest-to-manage boys and girls on
the entertainment committee and they never fail
to rise to the occasion.

We find less urge for co-recreation among the
ten and eleven year olds and do not force it dur-
ing this period when many youngsters are enjoy-
ing a spell of hearty antagonism toward the op-
posite sex. For girls a little older, when they are
really getting interested in boys but don't want to
say so, rather impersonal group-and-group proj-
ects where the boys and girls can work or play
together seem to be the answer. As the girls ad-
vance into their teens, they prefer to ask their in-
dividual friends, and the smoothest arrangement
seems to be to have girls give the invitation com-
mittee the names of the boys they want invited.

Our Guardians seems to feel that co-recreation
is to be desired and girls enjoy it. It is the parents
who sometimes need a bit of persuading — a little
help in untying the apron strings.

Getting Along with the "Other

Fifty Per Cent"

By ANNE L. NEW

Public Relations Division
Girl Scouts, Inc.

ONE OF THE principal purposes of any group
work agency is to help its members get
along better with other people. Approxi-
mately fifty per cent of the "other people" in any
girl's life are boys and men. The Girl Scouts

CO-RECREATION IN THE "HEYDAY OF LIFE"

373

believe therefore that Girl Scouting should in-
clude activities which help a girl to get along with
her fellow citizens of the opposite sex.

It is easy to state thus briefly the general Girl
Scout philosophy of co-recreational activities. In
practice, the Senior Girl Scouts (Girl Scouts who
are from fourteen to eighteen years old) are the
group most interested in boy and girl projects.
Senior Girl Scouts have reached the age at which
they feel keenly the need for adjusting them-
slves to boys as friends, some of whom may be-
come their husbands in the future. Many of them
must make family adjustments, getting acquainted
with father's as well as mother's point of view on
teen-age problems.

rThey Enjoy These Together
The Girl Scout program provides many oppor-
tunities for girls and boys to work and play to-
gether. Not just at parties but in dramatic groups,
sports, excursions, and in other undertakings.

One Senior Girl Scout troop invited a Boy
Scout troop to square dancing every two weeks.
The same groups went for walks in the country
as part of their study of local trees and flowers.
Everyone had such a good time that the boys
asked to have the joint affairs continued another
year.

Senior Girl Scout Mariners and their leaders
often find it interesting
and valuable to carry out
program plans with Sea
Scouts. They sail to-
gether, visit Coast Guard
stations and other points
of marine interest. Some-
times the girls are in-
vited to attend one of the
boys' demonstrations of
seamanship and the girls
cook dinner for the
party afterward. The
Cod Fish Ball given by
one group of Mariners
is one of the important
social events of the sea-
son for the younger set
of their town. Money is
raised and spent, decora-
tions are planned and
constructed, the program
of the evening and re-

freshments are prepared — all by the girls them-
selves.

In some communities where there is no suitable
place for young people's gatherings, the Senior
Girl Scouts have renovated any old building that
might be available, turning it into a recreation
hall where chaperoned parties for girls and boys
are run by the girls at cost or at a small profit to
the troop.

Reading plays, building scenery, acting, and
producing has brought girls and boys together in
one Pennsylvania town. Getting along with boys
as people and fellow workmen helps these girls to
find poise in all their social relationships.

In Iowa girls and boys got together to raise
money at a carnival. They made plans and pre-
parations for games, booths, refreshments, a rec-
reation room for social dancing, entertainment,
tickets, music, publicity, and decorations. Many
weeks of effort went into the project which turned
out to be well worth the energy expended. Six
hundred people came, although only two hundred
had been expected. It was a financial success, and,
best of all, it was such a social success that it
started a series of joint boy and girl activities.
There was cooperation and mutual sharing of re-
sponsibility to the greater benefit of all concerned.

Winter sports have provided many opportuni-
ties for boy and girl projects in communities

"Paul Parker Photo"

374

CO-RECREATION IN THE "HEYDAY OF LIFE:

where such sports
are possible. In up-
per New York
State girls choose a
winter Snow Queen
and, at her crown-
ing, stage a carnival
for boys and girls.
The day includes
skating, snow-shoe-
ing, and ice sculp-
ture for all.

Girl Scout ex-
periments with boy
and girl camping
have been carried
out in various places
for some years. A
joint mountain

climbing camp has been conducted in one com-
munity, and, in another town, boys and girls have
come together to take short mountain expeditions.
Boys from a Y.M.C.A. camp have been invited
to share certain activities of a neighboring Girl
Scout camp and in many other ways joint camp-
ing has been practiced. The Girl Scout organiza-
tion plans to explore more and more the possi-
bilities of such camping enterprises.

The Girl Scout program includes ten fields of
interest: the out-of-doors, nature, sports and
games, community life, literature and dramatics,
arts and crafts, music and dancing, international
friendship, health and safety, homemaking and,
for Senior Girl Scouts, an eleventh-vocational ex-
ploration. Social adjustments, so important to
girls of teen age, are not included as a special field
of interest in the Senior Girl Scout program.
Leaders learn that these social adjustments may
be made in connection with any part of the
program.

Even the compilation and publication of a cook
book was made a joint project by a group of New
England Girl and Boy Scouts. Girls and boys who
are too likely to think of each other only as dance
partners or playmates sometimes need the experi-
ence of working rather than playing together. The
wise Senior Girl Scout leader is urged to meet this
need wherever possible.

Why Not Father, Too?

There is one other type of co-recreational ac-
tivity which is seldom touched upon as such, but
which is nevertheless important. Girls need to get

"Paul Parker Photo"

along, not only with
boys their own age
but with older men,
for they will not go
out into a world
peopled wholly by
young people.
Father-daughter ac-
tivities have long
been a part of Girl
Scouting. Fathers
may serve on troop
committees or help
daughters do the
heavy work in
building a meeting
place. The father
who likes to whittle
and the daughter

who is interested in Girl Scout arts and crafts,
the father who likes to camp and the daughter
who knows how, the father who likes to eat and
the daughter who can cook — these are Girl Scout
fathers and daughters who find new bases for
friendship and understanding, bridging a gap be-
tween the male and the female, the old generation
and the new.

Co-Recreation in the
Boys' Club

By ELIZABETH MORROW McSTEA

Boys' Clubs of America

CO-RKCREATION in Boys' Clubs is not carried
on to the same extent nor emphasized to the
same degree as in those agencies which de-
liberately assume the dual function of service to
boys and girls.

It has been most generally assumed that straight-
line Boys' Clubs are designed primarily to conduct
a boys' program, exclusively, in a building where
activities for boys are central. But from time to
time club directors throughout the land are beset
by puzzled little girls who would like to know
why provision has not been made for them, and
frequently the young female artists bring pressure
to bear on Brother in the hope that he may per-
suade leaders at the Boys' Club to allow Sister to
attend some special activity. This has been the

CO-RECREATION IN THE "HEYDAY OF LIFE"

375

entering wedge in the greater number of those
Boys' Clubs which are either successfully con-
ducting programs for girls in conjunction with
that for boys, or the gradually increasing num-
ber of clubs which have found the necessity for
experimenting with the co-recreational idea dur-
ing these years of depression.

The co-recreational phase of the Boys' Club
program may be classified under three distinct
headings as follows : ( i ) programs conducted for
the senior membership of the Boys' Club provid-
ing mixed dancing classes, parties, dramatics, glee
clubs, musical groups, occasional outings or pic-
nics; (2) programs organized for girls on a de-
partmental basis, with joint participation in se-
lected activities; (3) programs deliberately plan-
ned for girls similar to those conducted for boys,
but under separate leadership, with separate build-
ing, facilities, and budget.

A Few Examples

Worcester Leads the Way. In 1916 the Wor-
cester Boys' Club first experimented in the field
of co-recreation with dancing parties three eve-
nings a week following basketball games. The
program was confined to the senior membership.
iBut the depression made it apparent -that there
[was a need to bolster the morale of the Club's
[youth, and so there evolved the ten-cent dances
(at the Boys' Club where young men and women
up to the age of twenty-three might enjoy music
(and dancing under proper supervision. The suc-
cess and ease with which the dances were con-
jducted led the leaders to organize co-recreational
ij"Splash" parties on Sundays, followed by games
sand box lunches.

Basing opinion on twenty-three years of ex-

!perience, the Worcester Boys' Club leaders be-
lieve that co-recreation in the Boys' Club should
ibe restricted to the senior membership because
bf the difficulty of holding within the club, for
my length of time, large numbers of youth over
jseventeen. On the other
hand, it is believed that
here is a definite need of a
program strictly for boys
inder seventeen.

The Worcester commu-
lity now has its own Girls'
pub, which takes care of
bart of the girl problem.
3oys are invited to attend
lances given at the Girls'

"There are 200,000 youth between the
ages of sixteen and twenty-four in Los
Angeles. Only thirty per cent of them
are in organized clubs and associations,
yet the second most popular request of
these young people is for a club organ-
ization where they may meet and work
with other young people." — From the rec-
ord of a "trial" of the community in a
complaint that its youth were not being
adequately served by local agencies.

Club and frequently participate in many activities
at stated times.

In Mount Vernon and West Orange. Similar in
development to Worcester has been the co-recrea-
tional program conducted at the Boys' Club of
Mount Vernon, New York, and at the Valley
Boys' Club in West Orange, New Jersey, in that
all have tried to cooperate in recognizing that
there are girls as well as boys who lack the nor-
mal recreational privileges accorded more for-
tunate youth. These clubs, in conjunction with
their Boys' Club program, conduct dances, dra-
matics and musical groups as well as mixed out-
ings. The Mount Vernon Boys' Club last year
organized a Junior Women's Auxiliary composed
of young women between the ages of sixteen and
twenty-five. This group renders service to the
club in any way possible, sometimes acting as
volunteer leaders in the library for the five-to-
eight-year-olds. Frequently they assist with the
organization of activities for girls ten-to-four-
teen. In their sewing classes they make dish
towels and new covers for camp mattresses, and
conduct cooking classes. The gymnasium is made
available to them one day each week at specified
hours. In addition, the older girls invite speak-
ers to their group meetings on program including
health discussions, recreation, home-making,
clothes design and selection, and cooking.

The younger girls are divided into club groups.
They hold meetings in the afternoons and do not
conflict with the boys' meetings which are held in
the evenings.

The programs in these clubs have been well re-
ceived. The community has recognized this
broader service, bringing about a closer relation-
ship between the club and the parents. The con-
duct of the older boys is noticeably improved, and
new activities have been added with no additional
cost.

The Children's Aid Society Experiments. The

Children's Aid Society,
which for years has been
serving boys and girls, has
had no difficulty in conduct-
ing joint activities under
one roof. More than eight
years ago their industrial
evening classes were dis-
banded, and provision was
made for boys' and girls'
clubs.

376

CO-RECREATION IN THE "HEYDAY OF LIFE"

Girls were handled in the same manner as boys,
the tendency being to adapt the tried program of
the former to the needs of the .latter. Girls reg-
ister, are examined by a physician, and hold mem-
bership tickets. The greater number of activities
which interest boys are adopted by the girls, some-
times in a modified form, and the program itself
is frequently enriched by the joint participation
of the two sexes.

The Children's Aid Society provides separate
game rooms and gymnasiums for boys and girls,
and separate rooms for some craft activities, but
beyond these limitations boys and girls fourteen
and over combine dancing classes, educational
trips, socials, library programs, dramatics, some
craft and hobby activities, and playground
interests.

Girls Included in Liftle Rock. The Little Rock
Boys' Club at Little Rock, Arkansas, has a girl
membership of several hundred. Although the
building, when originally planned, was designed
for the use of boys only, a separate girls' shower
and locker room was included in order that the
swimming pool might be made available to girls
during stated hours on two days of each week.
But even this provision was the result of com-
munity feeling that too much was being done for
the boy population of the community in propor-
tion to what was being done for girls who were
their sisters or who came from families whose
circumstances were similar.

The Women's Auxiliary of the Little Rock
Boys' Club cooperated in augmenting the Boys'
Club program to include the joint activities now
enjoyed by both boys and girls. Additional lead-
ership was provided in this case for the swimming
pool and for some special activities.

With the Boston Clubs. The Boys' Clubs of
Boston, Massachusetts, is recognized as having a
particularly fine set-up for girls, with a complete
program apart from that work conducted in be-
half of the boys. Mixed groups, however, enjoy
special recreation programs and activities together.
The Bunker Hill Girls' Club has a separate en-
trance into the building with separate rooms,
leadership, administrative staff and budget, under
the central supervision of the Boys' Clubs of
Boston.

"50-50" with the Chicago Clubs. Two of the
eight clubs of the Chicago Boys' Clubs have for
the past eight years conducted co-recreational
programs, occupying a separate building unit in

one case, and in the other sharing the facilities
of one building. Under the age of fifteen years,
success has been attained in such activities as
library, the arts and low organized games. Social
dancing, swimming, picnic and beach parties
have been limited to the older groups, as well as
the more highly organized gymnastics, civic and
social clubs. Approximately one-half program
time is devoted to co-recreational activities.

Those clubs having camps which serve girls as
well as boys provide quarters and camping fa-
cilities on the same grounds, but conduct co-rec-
reational activities only to a limited extent. Sepa-
rate leadership and program activities do not pre-
vent occasional joint participation on set occasions.

It would seem that the co-recreational pro-
gram in the Boys' Club is taking hold, with more
clubs making their facilities available to girls on^
a joint participation basis. By and large, this is
due to the great number of older boys and young
adults who are stranded midway on the thin sup-
porting bridge between the school terminus and
the enmployment agency. Normal social relations
between the sexes are rendered difficult, if not im-
possible, because of lack of funds, and with mar-
riage indefinitely postponed there is a growing
conviction that it is both natural and necessary
to move gradually toward a fuller recognition of
youths' plight and make way for desirable mixed
activities.

Insofar as the age groups affected by this pro-
gram adjustment are concerned, it cannot be said
with any degree of accuracy at just what early
age the co-recreational program can be mani-
festly most effective. This will depend, finally, on
the community and more specifically on that sec-
tor of the community served by the club. So fre-
quently development and maturity are conditionec
by nationality and old world traditions.

There are many additional problems — those af-
fecting the objectives of the Boys' Club, the mem-
bership at large, and finally, leadership. But these
will all have to be carefully examined and ana-
lyzed and leveled off before the pattern will be-
come objectively visible. All such conditions and
difficulties are now being studied by the National
Advisory Program Committee of the Boys' Clubs
of America and other working committees, and
particularly by the newly appointed Commission
on the Older Boy.

Come and See Lincoln's Youth Program

ONE OF OUR most inter-
esting experiments in
co-recreation here in
Lincoln grew out of a special
and urgent need in the Whit-
tier Junior High School.
The location of this school
in a busy business and in-
dustrial section made it nat-
ural for the pupils — a ma-
jority of whom do not go
home for lunch — to congre-
gate at noon hour in drug
stores, railroad yards and
other places where their un-
supervised time was not
always wisely spent.

By RUTHALEE HOLLOWAY

Assistant Superintendent

Recreation Board

Lincoln, Nebraska

"We cannot say in Lincoln, 'Come and see
our complete co-recreational program,1 but
we can say, and warmly, 'Come and see our
beginnings of a program.' We believe In
good beginnings — not spectacular displays
but a slow development founded on careful
planning. If any recreation worker from
afar should drop in on us, we'll be happy
to exchange experiences on this vital sub-
ject. With those whom we shall not have
the pleasure of entertaining in our city
we'll compare notes here in Recreation
on the progress we've all made in this
new-old department of human happiness."

Noon Hour Programs

A program of athletic games which had been
held successfully for some years was only a par-
tial antidote to the noon hour difficulty. Nor did
the opening of the library for reading, the show-
ling of educational films and other measures un-
idertaken by an inadequate number of teachers
j prove effective.

The Recreation Department, called upon to
solve the problem, did so by putting on a large-
-scale program of social games and crafts. At our
i suggestion four of the schools' Industrial Art
jshops and adjoining corridors were thrown open
if or checkers, lotto, dominoes, jig-saw puzzles, peg
sgames, croquinole, anagrams, parchesi, helma, the
^tremendously popular fiddle sticks, ping-pong,
shuffleboard, billiards and handcrafts (the making
candlewick articles, knitted articles and reed
aaskets).

So attractive has this program proved that even
'corner store addicts" who were loath at first to
•eturn to the fold have become eager converts.
The success of the program is due both to the set-
ip and the organization of the program. The in-
'ormal appearance of the game rooms — contrasted
vith the rigidity of the regular classrooms —
lelped psychologically in making the program ap-
>ealing. To furnish the rooms, cellars and attics,
./ansacked for needed furniture, yielded a crop of
)ld tables, chairs and even stage properties. Some
:incient opera seats, planks on sawhorses, stumps of

trees, and boxes served as seats.
Games were bought, donated
or made in the school shops or
by the workmen of the Rec-
reation Board.

The program was in
charge of six workers sup-
plied by the Recreation De-
partment. The principal of
the school assumed respon-
sibility for overseeing the
project as a whole and serv-
ed as a bulwark in the mat-
ter of discipline. One teacher
was very helpful in patrol-
ling the neighborhood and
recruiting boys and girls to
learn games.

In order to encourage at-
tendance by pupils who were timid and backward,
small groups were permitted to spend the after-
noon home room period learning to play games
under direction of the recreation leaders. One
group of special problem girls met twice a week,
acquiring skills that would prepare them for suc-
cessful participation in Girl Reserve or Camp
Fire programs and would interest them in higher
standards. In a short time these non-adjusted
units became oriented and joined in activities.
Some of the needy pupils were supplied with
handcraft materials.

Committees of boys and girls were organized
to help in the management of this program. Com-
mittee members served as doorkeepers, instructed
pupils in the games, acted as game referees, and
helped to enforce the necessary rules of conduct.
Each committee member wore a civic league badge '
which marked him as an officer to whom au-
thority had been delegated.

Other Lincoln junior high schools and even
grade schools, profiting by the example of Whit-
tier Junior High School, have established noon
hour programs. The only limit to the expansion
of the work is the ability to provide leadership.

Youth Nights

Table tennis outfits and other game equipment
which had been acquired for the noon hours — plus
facilities of one of the school plants furnished

377

378

;COME AND SEE LINCOLN'S YOUTH PROGRAM"

through the cooperation of the superintendent of
schools — were made to do extra duty in Youth
Nights. These Nights were designed for out-of-
school young people, many of whom were unem-
ployed, others of whom came from homes where
they would not feel free to entertain their friends.
The names of the young people were obtained
from the high schools, which supplied lists of
graduates and those who had dropped out. Tickets
were given to these young people and to others
reached through the P.T.A. A varied recreational
program was offered under Recreation Depart-
ment leadership, social dancing being omitted be-
cause of community sentiment.

We were pleased with the response to our musi-
cal games and mixers. The eighteen-piece Lin-
coln Civic Orchestra (a WPA unit) played for
the mixers and added much to the atmosphere of
the affairs.

Gay Colors in New Game Center
Lincoln's youth has responded ardently to our
new downtown game center, formerly a basement
miniature golf concession. The original wall mu-
rals depicting outdoor scenes were brightened;
three colorful shuffleboard courts were built in
side by side on a wood flooring with removable
side boards between adjacent courts. A large
shuffleboard score board is part of the decorative
scheme and there is a built-in seat for players who
are waiting their turns. Fifteen spectators' beaches
were moved from the golf locker rooms and
painted a bright apple green. Besides twelve new
table tennis tables with low adjustable overhead
lights and three undersized badminton courts for
use when the tennis tables are not set up, the room
boasts a dart ball corner, an orchestra platform
and shell with piano and victrola radio, and a
lounge containing armchairs, lamps and tables for
quiet games. There are gay curtains, dull blue-
violet colored waste baskets and flower pots of
the same shade filled with bright flowers. Pro-
vision is made for whisking the whole place into
a social dancing room by storing the tables behind
a curtain under the stairway and removing the
divisions between the shuffle-
board courts.

Needless to add, every
possible hour is scheduled
for activities in the game
center. The full possibilities
of this room are yet to be
realized. It is the hope of the

"Young folks are interested in getting
together in large groups of their own
age. They like to have a little larger
cruising radius than that provided in
their own neighborhoods or church
groups." — James C.Lewis, Superintend-
ent of Recreation, Lincoln, Nebraska.

Board that this center will pave a way for other
such arrangements in Lincoln. The cooperative
interest on the part of the business men has been
splendid.

Associated Youth Clubs

The game center is made available to groups of
young people by tickets for designated evenings
of socialized sports, musical mixers and social
dancing. These groups — young people's small
clubs in different parts of the city, organized with
varied purposes such as music, drama or hand-
crafts — are affiliated as Associated Youth Clubs,
each club being represented by two officers in an
inter-city council. We are happy to furnish part-
time leadership to these clubs whenever possible.

Youth in the Community Centers
Our community centers are comparatively small.
At each of the six, however, provision is made for
the socialized activities such as table tennis, shuf-
fleboard, dart baseball, table games and crafts.
Special time is allotted to the different age groups
for tournaments, parties and special events. It is
our plan that those groups made up of young
men and women over sixteen years of age or-J
ganize as local clubs of the Associated Youth
Club. This will offer them an opportunity to mix
with young people from other sections of the
city and will answer that urge to belong.

Social Recreation Service to Youth

In the fall and winter the Recreation Depart
ment is called upon to serve many groups, such
as churches, schools, fraternal organizations, the
Y.W.C.A. and Y.M.C.A., by suggesting activities
or providing leadership. Naturally a large part of
this service is given to mixed groups of young
people. As an example of this type of service, the
Y.M.C.A.'s private game rooms for which we
have furnished leadership for several years might
be mentioned. Need for the service arose when
so many boys and girls turned out for roller skat-
ing periods at the "Y" that not all could be ac-
commodated at the first session. The problem of
what to do with the overflow
was finally neatly solved by
instituting the two private
game rooms — one a quiet
game room and one an active
game room (the latter con-
taining a piano, shuffleboard
and ping-pong) — where

"COME AND SEE LINCOLN'S YOUTH PROGRAM"

379

under leadership the young-
sters fill in the time hap-
pily.

Our recreation leaders
find these opportunities to
work with outside groups
particularly interesting ; they
especially enjoy putting on
programs of musical games
and square dancing. One
type of program which they
have found very popular is
the progressive mixer. Each
guest receives an individual

card giving a list of activities in which he is to
engage at given periods. A whistle announces a
change which scatters the participants in a given
activity, so that for each period every player meets
a different group.

Church Family Night

There is no reason why an occasional get-to-
gether may not desirably include both parents and
children of all ages. Such an affair is the weekly
Family Night held by one of the Lincoln churches,
for which leadership is drawn from the church
staff, the Recreation Board's staff, an4 volunteers
of the church, University and community. After
a covered dish supper and a stage program, the
mothers, fathers, and children disperse to meet in
groups of their choice for religious discussion,
handcrafts, hobbies, music and drama. After two
such periods they reassemble in the church gym-
nasium for a period of social recreation. Those
families with small children then depart and the
young adults remain for musical mixers.

Young People in the Governor's Mansion
Pulling social chestnuts out of fires is one of the
things the Recreation Board does best. A few
years ago we had an opportunity to salvage a par-
ticularly hot handful of chestnuts — in fact to
solve what threatened to become a community
problem. In the governor's mansion is a recrea-
tion room which the governor's wife graciously
decided rightfully belonged to the young people
of Lincoln and should be made available to them.
Accordingly she issued an invitation to them. The
young guests came and behaved rather badly, to
the horror of the more easily shockable citizens.

Since it was realized that the trouble was lack
of leadership, the adolescent offenders were of-
fered another chance and subsequent parties —

"More and more we are emphasizing the
importance of providing co-recreational
activities which boys and girls may en-
joy together. We know from experience
that such participation is conducive to
a normal, natural, social relationship on
the part of both sexes which is invalu-
able in bringing about desirable individual
development. We have noted a more
wholesome attitude on the part of both
sexes through their intermingling in lei-
sure-time activities and programs." —
Minnette B. Spectot, Department of
Playground and Recreation, Los Angeles.

held under supervision of
the Recreation Board —
have had better luck all
around. At first suggestions
for novelty activities were
not well received, but be-
fore long they came to be
the most popular part of the
program. The program
dance, although new to
these boys and girls, helped
greatly in keeping them in
the dance room. The parties
have come to be weekly af-
fairs and the plan now is to reopen in the fall on
a club basis. Any young person may join who is
willing to abide by a set of rules established by a
committee chosen by the group. Each week a
committee of young people will plan and present
a program under the leadership of the Recrea-
tion Board.

Community Theater and Marionette Guild
The Lincoln Community Theater functions
under two divisions : the workshop and the three-
act-production division. The workshop, which is
the experimental division, provides trained lead-
ership for those who have had little training or
experience. It offers its members opportunity to
participate in acting and in the allied arts of the
theater. Two weekly classes are scheduled in play
direction and make-up. Two one-act plays are
prepared for each monthly meeting of the organi-
zation. The three-act-play division of the Com-
munity Theater is composed of the more experi-
enced actors and stagecrafters.

The Marionette Guild, rejoicing in a well
equipped shop and a portable stage, is making
progress in the construction, costuming and ma-
nipulation of marionettes.

Surprise Feature in Outing Clubs
A novel quirk in the Lincoln Outing Club pro-
gram is the element of surprise. The membership
is informed as to what type of clothing to wear
or equipment to bring, but usually does not know
the plans of the committee or destination of the
trip. The club meets once a month — sometimes
oftener — for ice-skating, bob-sled rides, sled slid-
ing, snow games, hikes, swims, picnics, overnight
excursions and exchange outings with other
Nebraska groups. The Recreation Department
(Continued on page 414)

Training Social Recreation Leaders Can Be Fun!

ASOCIAL RECREATION insti-
tute for the develop-
ment and training of
volunteer leaders is an indis-
pensible part of any well-or-
ganized, year-round recreation
system. The problem is to de-
termine the type of institute
which will attract the greatest
number of leaders and keep
them actively interested after
the institute is over.

Ever since the Cedar Rapids Department of
Recreation was organized back in 1925, the fall of
each year included in its activities a social recrea-
tion institute. This occurred with such regularity
that it soon became a custom. It differed from
year to year in subject matter as well as organi-
zation. One year, every night for two weeks
found the group playing and learning together;
another year, it was held one night a week for ten
weeks. Still another year, short three session in-
stitutes were conducted for various special groups,
such as P.T.A. recreation, church recreation and
Farm Bureau recreation, thus making it possible
to work out programs to fit definite needs.

Each year the institute was planned in hopes of
finding the ideal type of organization which would
meet the greatest need of the community as well
as have the most lasting effect. Each year, though
much fine leadership was discovered and many
fine volunteers were trained, we did not feel com-
pletely satisfied. After personal invitations were
sent to all churches, lodges, P.T.A.'s and other
groups that had sought assistance during the year,
and a general invitation was extended through
the newspaper, the group would consist mainly of
the same faithful ones who had responded year
after year. To make things still more discourag-
ing, we kept receiving just as many requests
from the various groups for social recreation
leadership. Many of them were groups, who, hav-
ing been invited to send a representative to the
institute, failed to do so. Others had, perhaps,
sent a leader, but had found he lost interest when
the going got tough and he had to plan a program
unassisted.

Then Ethel Bowers of the National came to
town for a two-day institute. Two very enthusi-

380

By NEVIN NICHOLS

Superintendent of Recreation
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

We hear much about the Importance
of leadership in a program of co-
recreation. Here is a recreation
leader who has some practical sug-
gestions to give us on methods of
training the necessary leadership.

astic evening classes in social
recreation were conducted by
Miss Bowers, who made con-
tacts with local women's or-
ganizations during her short
stay. From these contacts
came the nucleus which later
developed into the Party of
the Month Club.

In every community there
can be found several people
who make a hobby of game
leadership, and our city was no exception. Five
people, two men and three women, were called
in by the Superintendent of Recreation to lay the
plans for this new system of social recreation
training. It was first decided that a monthly meet-
ing would be most successful because most peo-
ple were able and willing to give one night a
month to this activity. The first Monday of each
month was selected as the date, thus allowing a
program especially planned for that month to be
used. Each participant then could take back and
put on for his own organization the party pre-
sented. It was further decided that the party
would be held in a different church in a differ-
ent section of the city each month, thus working
no hardship on any particular church and taking
the program to the community rather than bring-
ing the community to the program.

Each program was to be approximately an hour
in length and was to be conducted according to
Miss Bower's outline for a social recreation team
consisting first of all of a master of ceremonies,
who should be a man with a good loud speakin;
voice, and pleasing personality, to act as host and
conduct the pre-party games. He would also
handle disciplinary problems when necessary, see
that the room to be used was well ventilated and
that necessary chairs were available. Further, he
was to be prepared to assist any other leader who
might need his help. Other members of. the team
would consist of an active games leader, to take
charge of all walking and running games ; a quiet
games leader, to conduct the less strenuous games ;
a musical games leader for the grand march fig-
ures, musical mixers and folk dances ; and a song
leader, not necessarily a finished musician but en-
(Continued on page 414)

Social Dancing in the Co- Recreation Program

Of all the activities which seek a place on the co-recreational program,
the social dance inevitably makes the loudest bid for favor. For it seems
to answer most nearly the need of young people for rhythm, romance, and
large mixed group social gatherings — the "wider cruising area," as one rec-
reation executive describes it. To give boys and girls these desiderata
and yet throw around them the best safeguards of society — this is the rec-
reation leader's problem. How he is meeting it is told with remarkable in-
terest, we feel, in this section and in scattered paragraphs in this issue.

Summer Dances for Teen Ages

By JENA V. HOLLAND

State Supervisor

Women's and Children's Activities
Utah Works Progress Administration

No WONDER Provo boys and girls want to
dance in the summer — as well as all the rest
of the year! Everyone dances in Utah!
From square dances intricately executed by grand-
mother and grandfather, to the Lambeth Walk
;n joyed by everyone — we all dance, young and
)ld! Perhaps this is because social dancing in
Jtah has come up through the generations. When
[he Mormon pioneers were making their trek
vest, dancing was one of the main diversions of
he nightly encampment.

Checking on Their Desires

Such being the case, Provo high school boys
i.nd girls did not astonish school and city recreation
ilanners when they signified through a survey
hat eighty-five per cent of them wanted dancing
i the summer. The survey was undertaken by
he executive committee of the local Recreation
Council to find out not what some adults thought
ioung people wanted but what young people
jiemselves desired. In fall, winter and spring, the
ioys and girls enjoy weekly matinee or evening
jance parties under the auspices of the schools,
t had seemed to the committee that the greatest
.ck in the summer schedule was supervised social
ancing, since there was already in operation a
immer co-recreational program of games, sports,
ramatics, music and nature activities. Neverthe-
:ss, the committee double-checked its opinion by
;;ferring the matter directly to the boys and girls,
•he survey was conducted by school officials

through personal contact questions, group con-
tact questions, and individual questionnaires. Each
boy and girl of the Junior and Senior High
Schools thus had a three-point contact. The ques-
tions on which the survey was expected to shed
light were:

1. Did the boys and girls continue to dance
during the summer months?

2. If so, where did they dance?

3. To what extent did they enjoy dancing com-
pared with other co-recreational activities
offered through the community recreation
plan?

Results of the survey revealed that public dance
halls, rural beer parlors and road houses were the
places where these adolescents danced because
there were no other places to dance; and that
they preferred dancing to any co-recreational ac-
tivity offered in the community recreation program.

On the basis of this discovered need for a
wholesome avenue of expression for adolescent
urges, the committee went into action with over-
whelmingly successful results !

Promoting Dances on a Club Basis
First, it was decided to promote the summer
dances on a club basis. A "Dance Club Organiza-
tion Week" was accordingly inaugurated. Articles
were run in the town papers informing the par-
ents and the boys and girls that an orchestra and
ballroom would be available to interested groups
for twelve weeks for a nominal fee of ten cents
per person. Certain age groups were invited to
meet at designated times and places with local rec-
reation supervisors. It was stated that a mini-
mum number of twenty would be accepted as a
nucleus of a club. The clubs were then organized
by the boys and girls themselves with the help of
recreation supervisors. Each club that was begun

381

382

SOCIAL DANCING IN THE CO-RECREATION PROGRAM

during "Dance Club Organization Week" selected
its own name and developed its own artistic motif
to be printed on the club's membership cards
which were to be used as admittance cards to the
club's dances. Each club elected a president, vice-
president, secretary and three directors who were
responsible for formulating club policies. The of-
ficers, for example, decided on the maximum
number of members to be admitted to the club;
they drew up regulations regarding proper con-
duct at the dances ; they scheduled the dances and
planned special entertainments. The elected of-
ficers also controlled all funds collected, which,
by the way, were used for punch and cookies or
party favors for the special evening parties which
occurred during the dance season. A maximum
number of one hundred was accepted for each
club, and any person could join any club he de-
sired providing the club membership was not filled.
Although decisions were made by the young
folks themselves, leaders were of course always
available for counsel. This combination of free-
dom and guidance worked out well in every way.
For example, in the matter of joining the clubs,
the youngsters almost invariably associated them-
selves with comrades of similar social develop-
ment. The Junior Clubs as a rule were composed
of boys and girls of the same age ; this was true
of the Senior Clubs, too. During the dance season
only a few club members were penalized by their
peers for misconduct. It was never necessary to
suspend any member from his club because he did
not meet the standards set by his associates.

Nine hundred boys and girls were affiliated with
the summer dance clubs. Each club sponsored a
guest night during the season when each member
was privileged to bring one guest for whose con-
duct he was responsible.

Junior clubs as a rule preferred to meet from
9:00 to 10:30 P. M. An interesting characteristic
of their programs was the demand for dance mix-
ers— a demand due partly to the boys' timidity in
asking girls for dances and partly to a hearty
adolescent fondness for the livelier activities. For
approximately three-fourths of the evening they
wanted to secure partners through social games
and dance mixers, and to learn new ballroom
dances. The remainder of the time they would
choose partners by themselves. Senior dance club
members, on the contrary, preferred to spend
more of an evening in exchanging dances, with
probably two or three dance mixers interspersed.
Some instruction in ballroom etiquette was de-

sired. Occasionally a director would be asked to
teach new dance steps, but the demand was not
so great as that in the Junior Clubs.

All dance club entertainments were held at
Senior High School and Junior High School gym-
nasiums, which were offered free by the Board of
Education. An orchestra from the Recreation
Project of the WPA was available for dance
music. Salaries of recreation directors for this
activity, as for all other recreational community
activities, were paid conjointly by the Board of
Education, Provo City, and the Works Progress
Administration; thus the only cost for each par-
ticipant was a ten-cent membership fee. So here's
how, when and where nine hundred boys and girls
of the teen ages of Provo City with a population
of 16,000 people enjoy twelve dancing parties for
ten cents — and what fun!

An Experiment in
Church Co -Recreation

By JAMES McKiNLEY

Director of Recreation

Collingwood Avenue Presbyterian Church

Toledo, Ohio

Ar THE BEGINNING of the year a mixed class ii
the Senior Department of the Sunday
School of our church began a study of com-
munity resources. Recreation was included in the
study and the group made a survey to find out
just what co-recreation facilities were available in
the neighborhood. The survey showed that the
places for wholesome co-recreation were few and
far between. Dancing was one activity the youn J
people decided they could promote in a better
manner for having a good time. They thought it
should be held in the church, and a committee so
informed the minister. The minister said that
while he was not opposed to dancing he had seen
it tried in other churches and could see no ad-
vantage in promoting it within the church walls.
He discussed it with the committee and then told
the members to work it out with the director of
recreation. This was the plan finally evolved :

Finding a Place to Dance

A city park shelter house about a mile from the
church was available for dancing at the low price;

SOCIAL DANCING IN THE CO-RECREATION PROGRAM

383

of one dollar per evening. The Senior Depart-
ment would sponsor a trial dance there to see what
interest there actually was in dancing. The com-
mittee, with the aid of the director, worked out
the program which was to continue from 8 :oo
p. M. until ii :oo p. M. in the shelter house. After
this the entire group was to go back to the church
for refreshments. For music they would have an
amplifier with all the latest tunes on records.

It was a shy, strange crowd that gathered the
evening of the first dance. Strange, because as the
evening advanced it was discovered that over a
quarter of the crowd did not know how to dance
or was just beginning to learn. The committee's
first job was to put those people at ease and in the
mood for dancing without making any individuals
conspicuous. They all wanted to dance, but were
afraid every eye would be upon them if they ven-
tured out on the floor.

i I
On Early Arrivers

In planning the program, the committee had not
supposed the guests would
arrive before eight o'clock.
But by seven-thirty a dozen
was there, with more coming
in each minute, and the am-
plifier was not yet ready for
use. So on the spur of the
moment a game was impro-
'vised. The floor of the shel-
jter house was of white tile with a pattern of dark
fines radiating from the center with a design
.which was perfect for running on. Here was a
hplendid layout for a game of line tag which could
;)e played without music with everyone joining in.
jiFhe game accordingly began and was continually
enlarged to include later arrivals — who invariably
"tepped on the lines and were tagged. After this
nitiation they entered the fun wholeheartedly. At
le end of ten minutes the entire group was yell-
ng and playing together with no thought of self-
onsciousness.

Then Came the Dance

Promptly at 8 :oo P. M. the music began, and dur-
ig two pieces some of the young people danced
/hile many others sat on the side lines. Next, all
j/ere brought together in a big circle and told how
J3 do a grand right and left. Everyone tried it, and
;ien, at a signal, each person took a partner and
anced. After a very short time the same proced-
re was used again to mix up the partners. In the

There are doubtless many churches in
which young people are asking why they
may not have dancing as one of their
activities. This account of an experi-
ment in a Toledo church will be help-
ful to church recreation leaders who
being asked similar questions.

spirit of the dance good dancers accepted poor
dancers and helped them all they could.

A get-acquainted game was then introduced to
break the ice still further. It was "Zip-Zap," and
how the players did enjoy it! Following this a
Paul Jones was tried, the success of which was
attested by the fact that it ran for over half an
hour before the group was willing to go on to
something else. Again came a rest period follow-
ed by waltzes. Now the young people were in the
mood and eager to try the "Lambeth Walk."
Everyone chose a partner, took his place in a
double circle, listened to detailed instructions, and
did what he had been wanting to do — the latest
dance step out. To conclude the evening's danc-
ing the lights in the shelter house were extin-
guished and by the light that shone in from the
street a marvelous moonlight waltz drew every-
one to the dance floor.

Back in the church for refreshments and a dis-
cussion of the evening's entertainment, the group
decided that more such dances should be held.
Dancing inside the church
was forgotten. Other things
that they could do together
were enthusiastically talked
over.

are

Other Activities Popular
Since that dance the group
has held roller skating parties,
a sleigh ride, and two skiing and coasting parties. It
has presented a religious play, sponsored a young
people's carnival, and is playing badminton, shuffle-
board, table tennis, and board games. The church
is the young people's playground and their play
is guided along the lines of Christian education.

This is one such co-recreation experiment that
can be tried and expanded. We are trying others.
Our fun nights, our roller skating parties and our
movies are all planned for mixed groups of .younger
children from the Junior and Intermediate De-
partments.

Class Social Dancing

By ARTHUR J. ROLFE

Physical Education Instructor
Emerson School, Gary, Indiana

ASS, fall in without changing into your gym
clothes today." This order was given to the
8:15 boys' gym class at Emerson School in

384

SOCIAL DANCING IN THE CO-RECREATION PROGRAM

January 1937. The boys look-
ed at each other in astonish-
ment and wondered what this
strange order of events was
to be, for they have always
changed into gym clothes for
the gym activities. After ar-
ranging themselves for roll
call, they were told to report
to the girls' gymnasium, and
informed that once a week
for the next eight weeks they were to take social
dancing with the girls' class.

This announcement was met with varied results.
Some of the boys immediately fell in line, some
of them were non-committal, and the rest very
much opposed to the idea. The instructor then
explained the reason for attempting this new pro-
gram which had never been tried before in the
history of Emerson School.

Some salesmanship was necessary to persuade
the doubtful ones to enter into the experiment,
and they were told at that time that after spend-
ing two class periods in social dancing they would
not have to continue and could withdraw from
further participation. This, in brief, explains the
beginning of social dancing in mixed class groups
at the Emerson School.

The girls' physical education director, Miss
Reynolds, originated the plan and presented it to
the boys' directors for trial. She has long super-
vised the dancing parties here and could see that
if certain social etiquette and dancing itself could
be taught through the class medium, a great deal
could be added to the social functions. With this
idea in mind, the program was launched and,
needless to say, the first day we had various re-
actions. With careful supervision by both in-
structors and by an appeal to the better dancers in
the class to aid the beginners, the first day passed
off with fair success, and we felt that the pro-
gram could be continued.

The following Tuesday nothing was added to
the program, but a stronger appeal was made to
the students themselves to enter into the idea
wholeheartedly. After the second week a poll was
taken among the boys to see what their reaction
was. The result was surprising and gratifying.

Our classes range in number from fifty to one
hundred fifty, and, for example, in one class of
one hundred forty-two boys, only two asked not
to continue participating in the program. We con-
tinued the program as planned without attempting

"Co-recreation is one of the most impor-
tant forms of recreation for the church.
Churches need co-recreational activities
because people who meet together want
to play together. Boys and girls playing
together in the church form friendships
that are lasting. Co-recreation is increas-
ingly coming to be recognized as an im-
portant aid to religion. Keep it thus, and
under good leadership co-recreation will
help to work wonders for any church."

to teach a great deal of social
etiquette, merely selling the
idea to the students. At the
end of the eight weeks per-
iod the instructors unani-
mously felt that it was a pro-
gram well worth while, and
Miss Reynolds reported a
marked improvement in the
other social affairs of the
school.

This year we began the program again with a
more definite objective. The students had ac-
cepted the idea ; the majority of them liked it and
were eager for the eight weeks period to begin.
We decided to attempt each week to improve
some social defects. Of these, gum chewing was
the most glaring, and so we gave the classes little
talks upon the unsuitability of gum chewing in
public places. From then on we directed attention
to other points of desirable social behavior; boys
were encouraged to thank their partners for
dances and to escort them to seats instead of
leaving them in the middle of the floor; girls
were shown that it is graceful and proper to ac-
cept an escort's arm. We tried to avoid having
the boys congregate in one corner and the girls
in another. In general, we made an effort to
eliminate the prevalent impoliteness and rudeness
which we believed were due mostly to ignorance.

Then came propaganda to have the boys more
conscious of their personal appearance. Following
the first Tuesday when the common edict was
put before them, a request was made for all boys
to wear ties. Following that they were asked to
shine their shoes, and then we asked that some
sort of a jacket be worn which would resemble a
coat. The boys responded almost a hundred per
cent, and it was noteworthy to see the change in
their appearance on the days of social dancing.

The question of music used is always impor-
tant. The first year we danced to piano music,
but the graduating class of 1937 presented to the
school an electrical phonograph on which we now
depend entirely.

In order to break down the stiffness which
sometimes appears at the beginning of these
classes, we use two or three different methods
of bringing the couples together. For the first
dance we generally line them up, boys and girls
in separate lines, upper classmen in front. Then
we have them march and meet at one end of the
(Continued on page 416)

A Symposium on Social Dancing

High School Age Dances on Club Basis. Many
carefully thought-out features characterize dance
programs for high school age boys and girls
sponsored by metropolitan agencies in Tacoma,
Washington. Among the interesting points are
(i) the club basis on which dances are run; (2)
the tests in dancing and etiquette which are pre-
requisite to club membership; and (3) the co-
operative council through which the direction of
the club is shared with P.T.A. and other civic
organizations.

The Sponsors' Club — which consists of high
school students who attend the dances — elects its
own officers, furnishes host committees and se-
cures chaperones. When a dance is held the club
secretary sits at the entrance of the building;
from each guest he receives ten cents, the weekly
membership dues, and a signed membership card.
An adult attendant who is also at the door regis-
ters the name, age, address and school of each
guest. No person having liquor or the smell of
it on his breath is admitted. There are no pass out
checks, and once out an individual stays out ; nor
is rowdyism tolerated. A seven piece orchestra,
public address system, two dance instructors and
five attendants furnished through the WPA de-
partment of recreation help to make the affairs
enjoyable for an average of five hundred dancers
each Friday night. The first half hour is devoted
to beginners' instruction and the rest of the time
to social dancing.

To direct the administration of the dances and
to relate the club to various civic organizations a
Cooperative Council has been organized with the
following rules :

Rules for a Cooperative Council
The Council shall be composed of one repre-
sentative from each of the following: (i) Public
Schools; (2) Parent-Teacher Association; (3)
Metropolitan Park District, (4) WPA; (5) "Hi"
Social Dance Club. The Council shall deal with
all problems relating to the promotion and admin-
istration of the community Hi Social Dance Club
or Clubs. The Public School representative on the
council shall relate the program to school activities
and requirements, the P.T.A. representative shall
coordinate the program with home activities and
furnish chaperones, and the Metropolitan Park

District representative shall relate the club mem-
bers' desires and organization to the Council.

Because the school function is the developing
of skills, all students between the ages of fifteen
and twenty-one desiring membership in the club
must first pass a test in dancing ability and eti-
quette given by the school teacher in dancing.
After passing such a test, a membership card giv-
ing all necessary information shall be filed with
the Park Director of Recreation. On payment of
dues to the club treasurer at each dance session,
the membership card will be given to the student,
who will then surrender it to the club secretary
stationed at the entrance to the dance hall.

Membership will be accepted from those young
people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-
one years of age not attending school, providing
they pass the same test at either the school center
or park recreation dancing instruction classes.

For violation of rules, cancellation of member-
ship, either temporary or permanent, will be in-
voked by the Cooperative Council.

High School Dance Club Officers shall consist
of a president, secretary, patrol of six, vice-presi-
dent, and treasurer, all elected for a three months'
period during the first week of January, April and
October. These officers shall have active charge
of the dance floor and program of activities.

The high school age dancing clubs are directly
sponsored by the Playground and Recreation De-
partment of the Metropolitan Park District with
the cooperation of the WPA Department of Rec-
reation. From Alfred R. Hodges, Director of
Recreation, Metropolitan Park District.

Recorded Music for High School Dances. In Al-
bion, Michigan, dances are held for high school
students on Friday or Saturday night each week
unless some other activity takes the gymnasium.
Unlike Albion's Junior and Senior proms, these
recreation dances, as they are known to the stu-
dents, have recorded music. An excellent ampli-
fying system has been developed which brings the
latest records as loudly or as softly as desired to
the three hundred or four hundred boys and girls.
The students are enthusiastic and many have said
chat they like the informality of the recreation
dances better than the more formal school dances.
The dances are held from eight to eleven and the
(Continued on page 416)

385

Clubs Further Co- Recreational Objectives

The young people of today will be the adults of tomorrow. In their hands
we, their elders, will eventually leave the conduct of all departments of
life. Gradually boys and girls must be taught to handle their own affairs
wisely. It devolves upon all leaders of young people to share in induct-
ing them into responsible adulthood. Organized clubs are growing in favor
as a means to this end. In the accounts presented here, some of the leaders
who are employing this approach to youth education tell of their methods.

A "Drop In" Room

By MINNA B. REICHELT

Executive Secretary and Supervisor
Philadelphia Bureau of Recreation

YOUNG PEOPLE have two very strong social needs
— one is for the large gathering that supplies
glitter and romance; the other is for a pleas-
ant place where they may meet informally by
twos, threes and fours whenever the spirit moves
them. In a neighborhood such as that of the East
Germantown Recreation Center, Philadelphia,
where families are poor and home conditions un-
pleasant, the first need used to be most widely
satisfied by the cheap dance halls. To fill the sec-
ond need — the urge to foregather informally —
street corners served in place of homes. And
while looking for glamour, pleasure and compan-
ionship, boys and girls were meeting in surround-
ings that were far from uplifting.

Thinking about these neighborhood young peo-
ple, who were mostly the out-of-school group, the
directors of .East Germantown Center agreed that
a co-recreational social club might solve their
problem. The club could hold parties and dances
to meet the desire for large-scale social functions.
And — of equal importance — an attractive club
room could be established which would be an ad-
missible substitute for the non-existent home back-
ground— a communal "drop in" room, available
for everyday informal use and enjoyment.

In initiating an enterprise of this sort it is easy
for directors to spoil young people's fun by an-
ticipating their wants, by providing equipment
without allowing them to work for it, and in gen-
eral, by stealing the show. East Germantown cen-
ter directors were successful in avoiding this mis-

386

take. During the summer months the idea of the
club was put forward in such a way that the
young people took it up with enthusiasm. In the
early fall a series of four dances, held during a
two weeks period, served as an attraction to get
the group together. The directors provided an
amplifying set and the latest records. Between
three and four hundred boys and girls attended
the dances, at the last of which an election of of-
ficers (publicized in advance) was held for the
new co-recreation club.

Two hundred and forty young people were suf-
ficiently interested to take part in this election.
They chose a very popular boy as president and
elected other officers and standing committees.
They also voted to pay ten cents apiece per week
as dues to furnish and decorate a co-recreation
social room, buy new dance records and a spec-
trum for the dance lights.

And how those boys and girls have worked,
with the directors, to equip a cheerful, livable
club room! Gradually, the room acquired rugs,
piano, radio, table lamps, bridge lamps, bookcase,
pictures, chairs, tables, plants and monks' cloth
draperies. Much of the equipment was donated
or purchased from a second hand dealer. Mem-
bers of the group collected magazines, books,
cards, chess sets, sheet music and plants. The
painting, repairing and decorating of the equip-
ment was done by the directors and the group.
The entire cost of furnishing the room was thirty-
five dollars.

The recreation room comfortably accommo-
dates thirty persons and is open daily from 2 130
p. M. to 10:30 p. M. It is a meeting place where
boys and girls, parents and outsiders may read,
play the piano, sing, hear radio broadcasts, play
cards, chess, checkers, meet "dates," sew, knit,
relax and rest.

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

387

The standing committees
elected by the club have meas-
ured up capably in the matter
of taking responsibility for
activities. The social commit-
tee arranges tournaments such
as bridge, chess, camelot and
ping-pong ; this committee also
takes care of the music pro-
gram for the dances. The arrangements commit-
tee selects boys and girls to sing, dance, whistle
or imitate over the microphone with the records.
The host and hostess committee consists of ten
boys and ten girls assigned to dance with "wall
flowers" of the opposite sex during the dances.

With the opening of the co-recreation room, a
greater community spirit has developed. The boys
and girls use the room to good advantage and
conduct themselves properly. They make every
effort to keep the room in order and supplied
with the latest reading material. The room has
increased the attendance at the center and has
brought many people from different parts of the
city and from other cities to see the club and how
it functions. The club has decreased corner
lounging and, incidentally, added much interest
and greater participation in other established
classes at the center.

The success achieved at the East Germantown
Recreation Center has created an interest and de-
sire throughout the remaining centers under the
jurisdiction of the Philadelphia Bureau of Recre-
ation to establish co-recreation rooms. Several
have already been opened with similar success and
others are under way.

A "Body Meets - a - Body"
in Cincinnati

By MABEL MADDEN

Public Recreation Commission
Cincinnati, Ohio

"It is the consensus of opinion among
leaders in the Philadelphia recrea-
tion centers that co-recreational pro-
grams have resulted in increased in-
terest in the centers and their activi-
ties, instilled a spirit of comradeship
and harmony, and dissolved unruly
cliques and gangs, thereby eliminat-
ing many disciplinary problems."

//^X NLY THE LONELY heart can know my sad-
^^^ ness," says Tschaikowsky in one of his
most poignant songs. True it is that lone-
liness is one of the most tragic experiences which*
j by its very nature reaches those gentle, quiet, un-
assuming souls who are generally helpless in try-
ing to make social contacts. Someone has said
there is no loneliness quite so terrible as that of a

big city where people who are
established with friends and
position are too busy with their
own affairs, too hurried, and
too self -centered to make an
effort to help those less fa-
vored socially.

The Recreation Commission
^J_ of Cincinnati had made an ef-
fort, through various classes and clubs, to give our
citizens an opportunity to meet socially, but with
limited success until the Meet-a-body Club was
organized in 1929. The club was formed at the
request of three newspapers- whose "advice" col-
umnists had received so many letters from men
and women asking for help in getting acquainted
that the editors felt this need had to be met. From
the beginning we had the help of these papers,
and it was interesting to listen to the reporters
and editors of the newspapers discussing the
problem of meeting friends in a big city. Most of
them hadn't realized that the need existed. Most
of them couldn't see why adult men and women
couldn't make friends and acquaintances. I would
say to them: "How should a stranger in a city
go about making friends?" The inevitable an-
swer was : "Join a church group." My answer to
this would be : "How many of your present
friends have you met through church affiliations?
I, for example, have been attending the same
church practically every Sunday for the last five
years, and in this time have never been intro-
duced to a single person, and no one has even
tried to speak to me."

From my conversations with Meet-a-body Club
applicants I know this condition exists everywhere
in certain large city churches. Parishioners at-
tend the services and rush away immediately
afterwards; when they come to dinners, suppers,
or other events in the church, each group has its
own circle of acquaintances, and unless the clergy-
man or some member of the congregation makes
a determined effort to help strangers, the occa-
sion is more of an ordeal than a pleasure for the
newcomer, especially if he is a middle-aged man
or woman.

The editors and columnists of the newspapers
advised lonesome persons to join our club, and
N. Robert Christy, a prominent business man, of
Scotch ancestry, by the way, suggested the name
"Meet-a-body." The newspapers helped, too, in
trying to convince the public that the club was
not a matrimonial agency.

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

It Started Ten Years Ago
The first "Meet-a-body" social party was held
on Hallowe'en, ten years ago. We made provision
for refreshments for eighty-five people, wonder-
ing what to do with the "left-overs." Exactly one
hundred and fifteen persons, business men and
women, housewives, factory and department store
workers, bookkeepers, stenographers, and several
retired business men attended. We listened to
many of their stories: "I have been transferred
to Cincinnati from Chicago and our officials frown
on office friendships, so my wife and I have no
means of meeting others" ; or, "I'm a telephone
operator. I sit in my little booth all day long and
never have a word with anyone excepting on busi-
ness"; or, "I am so shy, I just don't seem to be
able to make friends."

The most important problem was to find some-
thing interesting for such a diversified group. We
formed two clubs, one for those under thirty-five
years of age, the other for those over thirty. The
man or woman from thirty to thirty-five years
old had the privilege of choosing the older or
younger group. A social party to which everyone
was invited was held once each week, and in ad-
dition interest groups or hobby groups were or-
ganized. The Meet-a-body Hiking Club was one
of the first interest groups formed and has sur-
vived for ten years. Every Sunday the club meets
for a hike of some kind. The Cincinnati Chorist-
ers, a group which has sung with the Cincinnati
Symphony Christmas Concert and is the successor
to the Meet-a-body Choral Club, has met once a
week for the past nine years under the direction
of one of Cincinnati's outstanding musicians for
two hours of singing, with a social dance follow-
ing the rehearsal. Concerts have been given every
year. The Bridge Club, Dancing Club, Supper
Club, and Old-Fashioned Dancing Club are in-
terest groups of the larger social organization.

Making the Wheels Go Round
Membership in the club is open to everyone of
good character. No one is admitted without an
interview with the director of the club, who,
through the courtesy of the
Y.W.C.A., is given an of-
fice at the Y one afternoon
and one evening each week
for the interviews. Each ap-
plicant must file a member-
ship request giving infor-
mation concerning employ -

A number of experiments in the type of
club described by Miss Madden have been
tried in various cities, but more often
than not such clubs have failed to real-
ize the hopes of their founders. Cincin-
nati seems to have discovered the key to
success, which we suspect is leadership!

ment, length of residence, references and special
interests. At the first interview the director de-
cides whether the applicant should be accepted for
membership and to which special interest group
he should be assigned. The applicant is then in-
vited to the party held every Friday night.

Officers of the club are elected annually, and
they, with the Board of Directors, decide all mat-
ters of policy, arrange schedules and appoint
chairmen of events. We have tried to make the
club self-governing in every respect. The Rec-
reation Commission provides the director, who
assists the officers and interviews applicants. All
other questions are referred to the club for
decision.

In dealing with men and women who find it
difficult to make and keep friends it is first neces-
sary to instill in them a real desire to have friends,
and, what is more important, to be friends. We
are constantly stressing the idea that friendship
is a mutual responsibility, a give and take propo-
sition ; that no one can remain perpetually on the
receiving line, and that the person who waits for
others to make all the overtures of friendship
will soon find himself alone and lonely in spite of
anything the club can do.

We still have the problem of attracting men to
the club, our present ratio being approximately
six women members to every man. This problem,
in all probability, will always be with us, since it
is so much easier for men to make friends, espe-
cially friends of the opposite sex. As long as
social custom requires the man to be the one to
have the privilege of asking for engagements and
making all advances, there will always be more
women than men who want to add to their list of
acquaintances and friends.

Dues are twenty-five cents a month, and in
addition each member pays his share of the ex-
penses of each party or activity. There is no
element of charity and the club members are most
careful to impress the public with the fact that
the club is not designed only for people of low;
incomes. Some of the activities are comparatively
expensive, and the semi-formal New Year's Eve
celebration, which included
a buffet supper at midnight
at a downtown hotel, cost
the members the same as
was paid by revellers in
other ballrooms in the hotel.
Since the membership in-
cludes men and women of

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

389

varying economic levels we have tried to arrange
activities which will fit various purses. If one
party is too expensive, the members who cannot
afford it simply miss this event. At the Friday
night social, however, where we play games, dance,
enjoy movies, or have something else arranged by
a committee of the club, the expense is never more
than twenty-five cents. Most often it is ten or
fifteen, and whenever we build up a sizable sum
in the treasury we have free parties.

We have been most fortunate in finding a di-
rector in Miss Rhea Braun whose sympathetic
understanding and tact has weathered many a
storm of clashing personalities, misunderstandings
and petty jealousies. Miss Braun has been the
director for the past three years, and in her the
club members have found a friend whom they can
telephone for advice, who is willing to attend a
movie with them, or visit them even when she
is supposed to be off duty.

What They Do

The director has tried to make the program of
the club as diversified as possible. Within the
past two years we have conducted three all-day
boat rides. Every spring and fall the club mem-
bers take a train trip to High Bridge, Kentucky.
The railway company provides a private coach,
and those who care to take the boat from Natural
Bridge to the Dix Dam. Recently the Cincinnati
Street Railway Company fitted up one of the old
trolley cars for an old-fashioned trolley trip for
the club. Some members came dressed in "Gay
Nineties" costumes, the old-fashioned ice cream
freezer was attached to the rear of the car, and
at the end of the line at a suburban park the car
stopped for an hour while everyone was served
refreshments. The ride lasted four hours and the
hour's intermission gave everyone a five hour
party at a cost of thirty-five cents.

Meet-a-body Club members have learned more
about nature than most people in our city through
their participation in the nature hikes, bird walks,
and tree study groups held by the Park Board.
They meet at a central location, join the Park
Board instructor and her group for the hike, and
then have their own social gathering afterwards.
Three hay rides given this year attracted large
groups of members. WLW and other radio sta-
tions have invited the club members to make a
tour of the studios and broadcasting plants, to
watch rehearsals of important programs and to be
in the audience at broadcasts featuring important

radio personalities. Trips to local factories and
plants have been arranged and visits made to the
Museum of Natural History, Grant's birthplace,
Harrison's tomb, the Observatory, the Conserva-
tory, Trailside Museum, Art Museum, and twenty
parks. Next month we are planning a Sunday
trip to the Ohio Caverns, sixty-five miles from
Cincinnati. A special bus will leave at 8 A. M. and
will return to Cincinnati at 10 P. M.

Small groups often make their own arrange-
ments to meet during the week at theaters, con-
certs, lectures and other gatherings. Quite often
the director will announce : "Some of us are hav-
ing dinner on Wednesday at 6 p. M. at the
Tavern. Anyone who wants to come is welcome/'
Sometimes five or six will be present, but gener-
ally fourteen or sixteen will come, have their din-
ner and then break up into small groups, to go to
a movie, to "window-shop," or to go to the home
of one of the members for a game of bridge.
Every effort is made to encourage these informal
meetings, to bring three or four people together
so they may feel they are meeting as friends and
not as members of a club. Frequently fine friend-
ships have developed, and after members have
made a number of friends and acquaintances they
no longer attend the club. This is what we are
striving for, to make it unnecessary for them to
rely on us for entertainment, recreation and
friendships. We try to give the members a knowl-
edge of all the facilities, education, recreational
and cultural in the city, so they need not depend
on us to tell them what to do, but instead will use
their own initiative in participating in the activi-
ties they prefer with friends and acquaintances
whom they have made through their contacts at
the Meet-a-body Club.

A Sure Cure

for
Sunday Afternoon Blues!

By MARY FLO SIEGEL

Assistant Director

Recreation Department

Evansville, Indiana

DID YOU EVER want something to do on Sun-
day afternoon without knowing what you
wanted? After you had read the newspapers
did you ever want a substitute for that forced
retreat to the Sunday afternoon nap? Or have

390

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

you ever really felt alive on
Sunday afternoon ? Can you
look back over a year of
Sunday afternoons that
were really crammed with
happy times? New faces?
And new scenes?

Those who have walked
with the Evansville Hiking
Club, joined in the singing
and laughter around the
campfires, have memories
of many profitably spent
Sunday afternoons and de-
lightful week-ends during the last four years.

In April, 1935, an outing club for men and
women was organized by the city recreation de-
partment as the Evansville Municipal Hiking
Club. The purpose of the club is to promote hik-
ing, camping, swimming, boating, tours to state
parks, and to further interest in out-of-door rec-
reation for adults.

Since the first hike, when two women and one
man braved the rain to walk three miles and cook
a picnic supper over a smoky fire built on the wet
ground, the club has evidenced an unquenchable
"will-to-hike." Neither rain, sleet, snow nor hail
dampens the hikers' ardor much. They have
tramped over icy fields when it's been seven below
zero. They've crawled through unexplored caves
when it's been thundering and lightning outside.
They've played games in old empty barns out in
the country to keep dry during sudden April
showers. Since the day the club was organized
there hasn't been a single Sunday during its hik-
ing season (autumn, winter and spring) without
a trip! An average of fifty persons attends each
hike.

Types of Hikes and Hikers

The Evansville club features three types of
hikes. The local or afternoon hike is planned for
inexperienced hikers and is inexpensive. The
typical day trip takes in some interesting spot per-
haps sixty or seventy miles from the city. The
week-end house party at a state park or some
scenic spot within the radius of two hundred
miles is planned for those who can get away Sat-
urday afternoons and Sundays. Longer trips are
arranged for those who can be away for two days.
Each hike is planned so that there is a definite
meeting place and some social activity such as
outdoor cooking, picnic supper, campfire singing,

"To be genuinely successful, a hiking club
should have hiking as its main objective,
but the organizer should also keep in mind
the need for social activities. A hiking club
should be co-recreational and made up of
adults, with no red tape involved in mem-
bership. It should be kept inexpensive and
friendly. Hike schedules should be careful-
ly planned, with definite leaders in charge
and with the hikes held at a time when the
majority of members are not at work. The
objectives of hikes should be out of the city
in the country, woods, or along a lake or
river. Above all, a hike should be fun!"

games or folk dancing at
the end of every hike. It
has been the custom for
each hiker to carry enough
food for one person plus
utensils for cooking. The
average hiker carries also a
thermos bottle filled with
coffee, hot chocolate, milk
or water. Some hikers have
found that a knapsack is a
convenient way to take all
necessary equipment.

Comfortable shoes and

clothing suitable to the season are worn on the
hikes. Experienced women hikers wear boots and
riding breeches, snow suits, slacks or jodhpurs
which are not too tight at the knee. Men wear
walking shoes and riding or hunting clothes. Hik-
ers find leather or suede jackets better for going
through brush than wool sweaters.

The 225 members of the club are men and
women over sixteen years of age. Children may
go on hikes if their parents are hikers. College
professors, salesgirls, industrial workers, and
clerks have a jolly time together. One of the most
enthusiastic hikers in the group is a postman who
rarely misses a hike ; he says the sociability of the
walk makes it different from pounding the pave-
ment on week-days ! The hikers are friendly and
welcome new members and guests, and many new-
comers in the city have found friends through the
group. The hikers are good sports. Cooperation
with property owners and with other members of
the club for the good of everyone concerned is
manifested in the closing of gates, walking around
the edge of planted fields, and climbing fences at
stiles. The men help the girls over streams and
fences.

They "Cover the Waterfront!"

The hikers have visited all the state parks with-
in a week-end distance of the city; walked for
eight hours through Kentucky's Mammoth Cave;
hiked through nearly every Indiana county; gone
on moonlight boat rides, and sponsored roller-
skating parties. One of the most exciting trips the
club ever took was in Harrison County, when
members spent two hours walking through an un-
charted cave. To get to the entrance they walked
down a steep incline and then, tying ropes around
their waists, swung over onto a narrow ledge. In
the cave they had lanterns as their only illumina-

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

391

tion. Crawling around rocks and tree roots, they
looked through holes in the floor — and couldn't
see the bottom.

Indoor Social Affairs

In addition to outdoor activities, the club holds
indoor social affairs. The annual banquet is held
in November each year when officers for the com-
ing year are announced. At last year's banquet
the program was built about the international
theme of "Hiking Over the World," with Youth
Hostel songs and speeches on hiking and biking
in foreign countries. Other banquets have had the
Western Cowboy and Mexican ideas with decora-
tions and entertainment carrying out the themes.
The Birthday Party or Founders' Day is cele-
brated in April each year, usually at one of the
week-end house parties at state parks. One year
it was celebrated with a Kid Party when each
member came dressed as a child and carrying an
excuse to be out later than eight o'clock. A birth-
day cake with candles is always featured. Games,
stunts and dramatic skits enliven the program.

Organization Simple

The organization of the Evansville Hiking Club
is simple. There is no constitution, only a few
rules and customs. The club observes the rules of
the department of conservation of the state in
which it hikes — Indiana, Kentucky or Illinois.
Dues of seventy-five cents per year, payable
twenty-five cents per season, cover expenses of
mailing notifications and bulletins, and pay for
decorations and programs for the banquets. The
club has not endeavored to build up a treasury as
it aims only to pay its own way. Each hiker pays
his own expenses while on a hike or trip. To save
embarrassing moments for the earless members,
the officers of the club have arranged that when a
member rides in some other member's car he shall
pay one half cent per mile for the total distance
traveled. A mimeographed
bulletin stating the dates and
hours of scheduled events,
meeting places, expenses in-
volved, and the names of
the leaders is sent to each
club member three times a
year.

Officers of the club are
elected by written ballot of
the club members. Ballots
(printed on postcards) are

"Our community has realized how vital —
mentally, morally, socially, and from a civic
standpoint — a well-rounded co-recreational
program is, and how important it is that
this program be made available to every-
one regardless of age, social position or
financial status. The Department of Recrea-
tion is happy to say that the co-recreational
activities instituted in Dearborn are among
the most popular of the entire program.
The only difficulty encountered is that of
securing capable and interested leaders."

enclosed with the autumn bulletins to be returned
to the Recreation Department office by a certain
date. The only office of the club that is non-elec-
tive is that of secretary-treasurer, as the assistant
recreation director fills this post, thus keeping the
club closely affiliated with the city Recreation De-
partment. The officers have charge of organizing
the hikes and planning all details. The general
members of the club have opportunities to serve
as hike leaders and committee members and to
turn their special talents to account in services
such as leading games, or making favors for
parties.

Take the Zephyr Club,
for Example

By HENRY D. SCHUBERT

Superintendent of Recreation
Dearborn, Michigan

SPEAKING OF SUCCESSFUL wide-awake young
people's clubs, take the Zephyr Club of Dear-
born, Michigan, for example ! The group,
organized in 1938 from the remnants of the
Youth Incorporated movement, numbers approxi-
mately one hundred young men and women be-
tween the ages of eighteen and thirty. The pri-
mary objective of the club is to promote a varied,
wholesome leisure time program of physical, edu-
cational, and social activities. The organization
supports itself through the payment of monthly
dues and the sponsorship of special activities
which attract public support. The club is spon-
sored by the Recreation Department and is under
the supervision of an executive committee com-
posed of interested adults. The officers of the or-
ganization compose a board of control which
meets once a month to dis-
cuss policy and program
plans. Meetings are in the
club house, rented from the
Y.W.C.A. for the last four
days of each week. The
rent fee entitles the club to
the services of a chaperon
who is present continually.
Two Thursdays of the
month are devoted to busi-
ness meetings. Friday eve-

392

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

nings are reserved for special parties, and Sunday
the club house is kept open all day. Sunday ac-
tivities, beginning in the morning, are : breakfast,
horseback riding, hiking, skating, pot luck sup-
pers. Two evenings are devoted to lectures de-
livered by imported speakers. Lectures have been
delivered on the subjects of narcotics, Federal
Bureau of Investigation, vocations, traffic rules,
delinquency, sports, dramatics, and the Youth
Hostel Movement.

Some of the other features of the Zephyr Club
program include social and old time dancing,
bicycle riding, hay rides, all kinds of suppers and
breakfasts, box socials, holiday parties, basketball
and softball teams, panel discussions, millionaire
parties, roasts, scavenger and treasure hunts, pic-
nics, music, dramatics and formal parties. The
members are enthusiastic, aggressive and keenly
alert to develop and make their club a permanent,
growing organization.

The Dearborn Zephyr Club is especially de-
signed to take care of that group of young people
who, upon graduation from high school, find
themselves without the social participation possi-
bilities which they enjoyed in school. The club
serves as a means of adjustment to community
social practices. Boys and girls are given oppor-
tunities to observe, to participate in, and to direct
community activities; this training helps them to
become mature social individuals. Every member
of the club cultivates a sympathetic, friendly at-
titude to his fellow members. The personnel of
the club consists of laborers, stenographers, news-
paper reporters, musicians, an artist, college stu-
dents, store clerks, dentists, public officials, and
other professional people.

On January 29th, the club celebrated in gala
style its first birthday as the Dearborn Zephyr
Club with the parents and friends of the mem-
bers as guests. Mayor John L. Carey delivered
the principal address.

A High School Recreation Club

By JACK JAMES

Parlcersburg, West Virginia

A HIGH SPOT in the school week for many a
high school student in Parkersburg, West
Virginia, is the three-quarter hour period
when the Recreation Club meets for games in the
gym. This club is one of the most interesting and

successful co-recreational activities sponsored by
the city Board of Recreation. Although adult
leadership is provided for the club by the Board,
boys and girls are encouraged to take part in di-
recting their own games. This sort of training,
the Board feels, not only builds mental and phy-
sical alertness but demonstrates how to use lei-
sure time to advantage and strengthens in stu-
dents the qualities of fellowship and sportsman-
ship that come from association in play.

The club, which meets once a week for twelve
weeks during each semester, has been in progress
for two years and has had an enrollment of 240
students. The use of the gym has been provided
and the club period is from 12:45 to 1 130 p. M.
The club is open to both boys and girls of the
Sophomore, Junior and Senior classes, but it has
been limited so as not to number over sixty-five
members. The average attendance for a sixty-
five member class is about sixty.

The program for a twelve week period consists
of three different types of games : active, quiet,
and rhythmic.

In the active type of games, the high and low
organized games are divided and given on sepa-
rate days. The quiet games include brain teasers,
pencil and paper games, mixers, and mental
games. The rhythmic games consist of folk
dances, children's singing games, and games with
songs. Thus, a four type standard is used in
planning the program for twelve weeks. The fol-
lowing is a sample program covering four weeks :

First Week. Low 4. Who Am I?

Organized Games 5. Simon Says

1. Over and Under Relay Third Week.

2. Squirrel in the Tree High Organized Games

3. Dizzy Izzy Relay 1. Volleyball

4. Club Snatch 2. Corner Ball

5. Crows and Cranes 3. Indoor Softball Game
Second Week. Quiet Games (alternate)

1. Barter Fourth Week.

2. True and False Rhythmic Games

Questions 1. Hickory Dickory Dock

3. Twenty Questions 2. Virginia Reel

We in the Parkersburg recreation department
are well pleased with the high school Recreation
Club. The eagerness with which the boys and
girls take part in the activity and the repeated re-
quests for the opportunity to rejoin the club have
proved its popularity.

To any other recreation department that is con-
sidering such a project it is needless to point out
that generous cooperation of school authorities is
essential not only in arranging for gymnasium

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

393

space and time, but in promoting the program as
a whole effectively. Where such cooperation
exists, the possibilities of this type of service are
great. The high school club need not necessarily
be a noon hour club, of course. Sometimes an
after school or evening club suits a particular
group better.

Schenectady's Otyokwa Club
By MARGARET C HARRISON

Club Secretary

Young Women's Christian Association
Schenectady, New York

«_HE OTYOKWA CLUB, sponsored by the Young
Women's Christian Association and the Young
Men's Christian Association of Schenectady,
New York, was organized in 1930 to meet the
recreational and social needs of local young
women and of young men, chiefly college men,
who come to the city each year from all over the
country to begin their careers as engineers or ac-
countants in the General Electric plant. The idea
was first presented to a group of eight women and
eight men, and since that time the idea and its
possibilities have grown until one needs merely
talk with a member to realize the enthusiasm
stirred up by the fellowship and activities of the
club.

The present constitution establishes the execu-
tive functions in a committee made up of the
president, three vice-presidents (promoting mem-
bership, special interests and program respective-
ly), a secretary, treasurer, and the club secretaries
of the Y.W.C.A. and the Y.M.C.A. When the
president is a man, the second vice-president and
the secretary are also men, and the other officers
women; the following year the arrangement is
reversed. This committee, in monthly meetings,
evaluates and coordinates
the program of the club
and otherwise keeps the
machinery in working
condition. A monthly bul-
letin keeps the member-
ship informed not only
of the club program but
of interesting bits of
news concerning mem-
bers of the club and of
special musical, dramatic

or art programs scheduled for the capitol district
—this is, Albany, Troy, and Schenectady.

When They "Step Out"

In its nine years of existence a number of tra-
ditions have of course been established, and cer-
tain things must be done each year, such as climb-
ing Mount Marcy, holding an amateur night, an
anniversary dinner, a May Day breakfast, and a
gymkhana. In a general way the schedule consists
of a "regular meeting" once a month, at which the
program is more or less cultural ; a social meeting
once a month, which may be a dance, a dinner, or
some other sort of party ; special occasion dances ;
Saturday afternoon outings (hiking, skiing, skat-
ing, toboganning, swimming) ; and occasional
week-end mountain trips.

The regular meetings this past season have been
devoted to a talk on the early history of the local
region, a talk and colored movies of the National
Parks, a peace play, a talk and movies on Labra-
dor by the son of Sir Wilfred Grenfell, a talk
on honey and the honey bee, a talk on city gov-
ernment by the City Manager, and a book talk by
a librarian. (During the summer months the
regular meetings take the form of outings, gen-
erally including a swim and a meal.) After each
program there is a social hour and refreshments
are served.

The social meetings have included a scavenger
hunt, a Christmas dinner dance (formal), a skat-
ing party followed by a waffle supper, a Valen-
tine party, an amateur night when practically
every member had a part, and a gymkhana
(games in the gymnasium and a swim in the
pool). The special dances have been the Hal-
lowe'en dance in appropriate costumes, a Thanks-
giving semi-formal, a winter dance, also semi-
formal, and a St. Patrick's dance which was
informal.

For the Saturday afternoon outings swimming
(Continued on page 417)

Introducing Boys and Girls to Co- Recreation

CO-RECREATION has taken
its place today as an
important means to
social adjustment because it

helps to lay a foundation for social poise, friend-
ship and companionship among boys and girls.
The problem which now faces many teachers is
how a program of co-recreation may be presented
so that boys and girls will like it and want to en-
large upon it.

There are four important aspects to the prob-
lem : first, who shall have the responsibility of
introducing and conducting co-recreational activi-
ties ; second, to what extent should these activities
be included in the physical education program;
third, what activities are best adapted to co-recre-
ation ; and fourth, how shall they be introduced ?

The responsibility for introducing this phase of
the program rests with members of the physical
education department — both men and women. It
is not always an easy subject to present, and one
of the essentials is that it be done by people who
are interested in it themselves and who have con-
tacts with boys and girls. For best results mem-
bers of both departments should share responsi-
bility jointly.

Co-recreation is conducted for recreational
purposes — to bring about a feeling of good fel-
lowship, a good healthy interest in the activities
of the opposite sex, and a knowledge of the
pleasure derived from playing with mixed groups.
The aim is not to teach skills; therefore the ex-
tent to which these activities should be included
in the program is comparatively small. It is suf-
ficient for them to occur every four, six or eight
weeks during regular class time, and more fre-
quently during noon hour periods and after
school, depending on the facilities available. A
mixed group may be brought together naturally
at the end of a sport season
or tournament. For example,
after boys and girls have had
separate badminton and ping-
:pong tournaments, mixed
doubles will easily follow.

What activities are most
adaptable to co- recreation ?
This is not the place to list

394

By ELEANOR W. CHAMBERLIN

Scarsdale High School
Scarsdale, New York

No discussion of co-recreation would be
complete without a presentation of the
subject from the school's point of view.
And so we are publishing the talk given
by Miss Chamberlin at the meeting of
the Women's Athletic Section, Eastern
District, American Association for
Health, Physical Education, and Recrea-
tion, held in New York City last May.

activities in detail ; suffice it
to say that any activity not
involving body contact and
not requiring advanced skill

for enjoyment may justifiably be included in the
program. These activities will include individual
and team games and dancing. The list becomes
endless depending upon equipment, time, space
and interest.

As to the final question of how co-recreation
shall be introduced, the introduction should be
gradual, but the approach may vary. If possible,
it should come through some desire shown by the
students themselves. When a group of boys and
girls show interest in playing together, capitalize
upon that interest by arranging a time when they
may do it. When they want activities that are
not well adapted to mixed groups, such as basket-
ball, try to redirect their interests to a sport better
suited to both. Schools that have club periods
may use those to advantage for introducing co-
recreation, and the opportunity for noontime
activity is great. Social dancing fits in readily at
times such as these.

Class Organization

Class organization on a co-recreational basis
may take three forms : ( i ) two entire classes may
be combined; (2) students may elect to play; and
(3) only those who have attained a required
amount of skill may enter. Perhaps each form
has its rightful place, since children who have not
learned the fundamental skills may not enjoy
mixed classes, and those who definitely do not
want to play in mixed groups will be a detriment.
When only parts of the classes are combined some
form of activity must be provided for the remain-
ing group.

Because our ultimate aim is co-recreation for
all, combining entire classes
is of more vital importance.
Where there are leaders'
groups within the school, let
these be the entering wedge.
As a concrete example, we
have the following case of a
mixed volleyball game at the
(Continued on page 418)

The Evolution of Flint's Co-Ed Night

THIS DEPRESSION hit Flint and
other industrial cities like it a
little harder, perhaps, than
many communities, so that the
problem of recreation for the unemployed and
their families has been a real one from the first of
those difficult years. The Young Women's Chris-
tian Association, as well as other social agencies,
soon saw that the young people who had been in
their clubs, as well as many with whom they had
no contact, had need for a new type of inexpen-
sive recreation — something different from that
which the Y.W.C.A. had been offering.

As the Y.W.C.A. had a good sized building to
use, a little money in the budget for experimenta-
tion, and at that time a fairly adequate sized staff
for supervision, it was thought desirable to make
some study of the needs and the resources of the
community for meeting them. As a result, a pro-
gram for boys and girls out of school was ini-
tiated on a small scale in the fall of 1930. By 1939
the "Co-ed night" had developed into one of the
most interesting and perhaps most needed parts

By MARIE WATTERS
Y.W.C.A.

Flint, Michigan

of the Association's program.
For the first few weeks there
were weekly dances in the gym-
nasium. Then classes along the
line of the then popular "Charm School" were
started for the girls who wanted to come before
time for the dance. The next year the program
was expanded, with more classes and other rec-
reational features besides dancing, and boys were
included in the entire evening's activities.

Solving Problems

More and more young people continued to be
attracted. Some came out of curiosity, some with
genuine interest, others who wanted a "hang-out"
but had little regard for organized programs. The
influx of the latter presented an additional prob-
lem, as the budget and staff had been reduced and
there was not enough money to employ the lead-
ers needed. Volunteers gave of their time, there
was some F.E.R.A. assistance, and a few special-
ized instructors were paid. To try to take care
of the problem of those who seemed to have no

395

396

THE EVOLUTION OF FLINT'S CO-ED NIGHT

interest except to hang around the halls and create
disturbance, the plan was tried of making class at-
tendance compulsory in order to attend the dance.
That plan was followed until this year.

It took a great deal of patience and understand-
ing during those first years of working on indi-
vidual problems to discover ways of gradually
bringing the most asocial into the group. It took
enthusiasm and a faith in youth to convince those
responsible for the upkeep of the building that it
was worth the toll, for part of the time one did
not know what to expect "the morning after the
night before." Undoubtedly the furniture in the
Flint Y.W.C.A. is far more worn than it other-
wise would have been, the floors are marred and
the pianos scratched, but it is not true that in the
program the seventeen to twenty-five year old
youth are the forgotten group.

The program year of 1938-39 seems to many
who have watched its development through the
period of years to be superior in many ways. A
number of reasons for this are evident. There has
been a natural process of stabilization. A nucleus
of leaders among the participants has been a
part of it long enough so that they help assimilate
newcomers. There has been a constant training of
leadership by staff members who were skilled in
working with groups. It is no longer just a co-
ed "night" ; it is a co-ed "club."

A Council, elected by the group, determines the
policies and program. For instance, it was their
decision that classes need no longer be compul-
sory. The Council meets for a few minutes each
week to discuss immediate problems and once a
month spends a longer time on future plans. Be-
sides making plans for the group, these young
men and women of the Council are alert all eve-
ning to see that things are running smoothly.
One or two of them stay at the registration desk
most of the time. Here they help welcome new-
comers and watch out for those who seem most
timid or perhaps do not have even the small fee
required. One of the girls of the Council was
overheard talking with a shy girl who had been
coming to the group for two or three weeks but
staying on the fringes. She discovered that the
girl was so eager to come that she had walked
from an outlying part of the city, a distance of
over four miles, and expected to do the same at
the end of the evening. The Council member and
her escort took the girl home. The time and em-
phasis given to the development of a Council and
training them for leadership responsibility have

begun to show and undoubtedly add to this year's
success.

Another problem has been pretty well solved
by the adopting and executing of a policy to ex-
clude high school students. The program was
never for them, but some leniency was shown in
accepting them.. It was soon evident that the two
groups could not satisfactorily be included, and
for a while the older group dropped out because
of the "kids."

Not only greater variety but greater depth of
program has been possible this year because of
new community resources which will be discussed
as this year's setup is given.

An Evening of Co-Education
And now perhaps you would like to follow a
boy or girl through one of these co-ed evenings.
But first you may ask who comes and how they
know about it.

The first publicity, and occasionally some since,
was sent out to the continuation school, employ-
ment offices, stores, churches and newspapers.
Now that the program is established publicity
seems unnecessary except through news items and
notices to members, who bring in their friends.

The total enrollment in this program year is
375 ; interestingly enough there are 188 boys and
187 girls. Attendance has run from 85 to 125.
Seventy-seven of those enrolled are between the
ages of sixteen and eighteen. The rest, except
twelve who are older than twenty-five, fall in the
nineteen to twenty-four year age group. One
hundred thirty-four of them this year have no
jobs at all. The jobs held by the rest, some part-
time, represent forty-eight different kinds of
work. Clerks, factory workers, household em-
ployees, and restaurant workers outnumber the
rest, although there is a goodly sprinkling of stu-
dents from Junior College, business college and
General Motors Institute of Technology. Eighty-
two are either first or second generation foreign
born as might be expected from Flint's population.

A Busy Place on Wednesday Night !
On Wednesday evenings, from seven o'clock on,
the first floor lobby of the Y.W.C.A. is a busy
place. A registration desk is set up at one end
and at the other is a free check room. This latter
is more important than it might first appear for
the Council members are insistent that it be used,
not just because they cannot be responsible for
wraps left elsewhere, but because they expect

THE EVOLUTION OF FLINT'S CO-ED NIGHT

397

members to come in and stay for the evening and
appear and feel at home. At the registration desk
some of the most important contacts are made.
New members here fill out enrollment cards and
find out about classes offered. Every member
stops at the desk and checks in. This gives the
registrar an opportunity to get acquainted with
people and find out something of their problems
which can be followed up later. Tickets for the
dance are sold here for ten cents; this small fee
which provides money to pay the orchestra is the
only one required.

One of the registrar's jobs is to take care tact-
fully of those who come without money. Tickets
are given free or often club or Council members
take care of it. The rest of the expense is borne
by the Industrial Department of the Y.W.C.A.
whose committee and staff are responsible for this
as well as the rest of that department's work. Last
year, when a reduced budget of the Y.W.C.A.
made curtailment in this department seem immi-
nent, many individuals and a few organizations in
the community came to the rescue with sums all
the way from twenty-five cents to twenty-five
dollars. One of the organizations which not only
helped financially but with volunteer leaders is
the Business and Professional Women's Club.
Two of their members have had charge of the
registration desk all year.

After registration and wraps are disposed of,
members proceed to the second floor for classes or
wait around the lobby for friends or go in the
lounge, if there is time, for the spaciousness and
furnishings there provide an atmosphere and de-
velop a poise in meeting
friends.

Classes and Still
More Classes

The classes are ar-
ranged so that one may
take two in one evening
if desired. Ballroom

Such councils of young
men as that function-
ing at the Flint, Michi-
gan, Y.W.C.A., are
helping in a number of
cities to make co-recrea-
tion programs successful

dancing, one of the most popular, runs in two
shifts to take care of those who want to learn the
new steps and be ready for the dance at the end
of the evening. Another group, very different but
almost equally popular, was one called "Personal
Interests." This was in reality a preparation for
the marriage course taught by the health education
director of the Clara Elizabeth Fund, a private
foundation working with the Public Health De-
partment. The response and frankness of discus-
sions were interesting and gratifying. That course
is being followed by one suggested by the Coun-
cil and named by them "Etiquette." It includes
instruction in the etiquette of the "hostess," of
"courtship,"' or "eating out," and different speak-
ers have been secured for each course. The
series will close with a discussion of a wedding.

A number of musical groups have been tried
with varying success according to the leadership
available. Tap dancing had its appeal ; a few
wanted an art class, but not enough to keep a
teacher; and crafts classes have interested a few.
It is evident that these young folks want most to
learn how to get along with people.

A Guidance Center

A new class was tried this year which was an
experiment in the community. A guidance center
for vacational counseling has been established,
financed by a private foundation together with the
Community Fund. Both the Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.
C.A. were used for making the necessary con-
tacts with out-of -school youth. The staff of the
(Continued on bayc 419)

Co-Recreation in the Y. W . C. A.— a Symposium

In addition to the preceding article telling in some detail of programs
in a number of local Y.W.C.A's, brief descriptions are given here of some
of the co-recreational activities conducted in a few other associations

MONTHLY Supper Meeting for Dance Com-
mittee. The duties of a dance committee
are made pleasant in New Haven, Con-
necticut, where young men and women commit-
tee members meet at monthly supper meetings,
held in turn at homes of the fourteen members.
After supper they plan the program, arrange for
the orchestra, draw up announcements for the
three Saturday dances per month, and have a
social gathering. At the dance the committee
leads the Paul Jones, acts as hosts and hostesses,
serves the punch. Six boys handle the check
room in rotation so that all may have opportunity
to dance. From Marjorie Lundvall, New Haven
Y.W.C.A.

"Play Night Has Become Quite Popular," says
the Omaha, Nebraska, Y.W.C.A. of its monthly
young people's open house night. On these oc-
casions the whole building is humming with ac-
tivities fitted into every available space : the gym
for badminton and ping-pong; the gym balcony
for shuffleboard ; the lobby for box hockey (which
is noisily and enthusiastically enjoyed). The
north and south parlors are dedicated to table
games, cards, darts, ring toss, bean bags and pick-
up-sticks. At eleven o'clock there is always danc-
ing in the gym. Admission is free to Y.W.C.A.
members ; ten cents to outsiders. Pop, candy and
popcorn are sold. The Play Nites are in charge of
Council groups. One girl is in charge of each
activity for a Nite, several girls acting as hos-
tesses for each evening. From Edith Koehler,
Omaha Y.W.C.A.

Swimming Clubs a Co-Recreational Success. When
health education classes began to slump in Novem-
ber, the Sioux City Y.W.C.A. Board questioned :
"Have folks stopped going places ? If not, where
do they go and what attracts them ? And so what
should the Y.W.C.A. offer ?" The conclusion was
that people do not go places in groups and they
like mixed or co-recreational activities. As a re-
sult, various mixed activities were promoted with
great success. One of these was the Junior Mari-
ner Club, a swimming club (for boys and girls

398

aged 13-17) whose only requisites were some
swimming skill and a desire to improve skills
under training. The group enjoys a hard work-
out in the pool followed by a noisy good time at a
supper meeting and then another hour of singing
and games. From Julia Wilcox, General Secre-
tary, Sioux City Y.W.C.A.

Chaperones Still Have a Place. The Y.W.C.A.
advocates enlisting the support of mature hostesses
or chaperons for all evening dances. Members of
the P.T.A., Y.W.C.A. committee women and their
husbands, and other qualified adults have willingly
volunteered to assist at Y.W.C.A. dances in
Moline, Illinois, Sioux City, Iowa, and many other
places where highly successful affairs of this type
are held. "No Y.W.C.A. secretary should con-
duct an evening dance without the backing of such
adult volunteers," says Edith Gates, Director
Health Education, National Board, Y.W.C.A.

Saturday Nite Club in Moline. Saturday night
is a night on which young people specially want to
go places and do things. This need has been met
in Moline, Illinois, by a Saturday Nite Club open
to high school students only, sponsored by Y.M.
C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Badminton, shuffleboard,
pool, ping-pong, Chinese checkers, pick-up-sticks,
radio are among the activities enjoyed. From
Mrs. Betty Veterane, Secretary, Y.W.C.A.

Adult Play Nite in Wichita. Play Nite is divided
into three parts : ( i ) Games such as shuffleboard,
ping-pong, table checkers and hand badminton;
(2) More active games such as social mixers, re-
lays and stunts. In this division, one game is
played for boys and one for girls only. (3) Rhyth-
mic work such as a circle dance, a reel type of
dance, square dancing. Then some popular step
like the Lambeth Walk is taught, and the eve-
ning ends with social dancing. Among the volun-
teer groups which help to put on these affairs are
members of the morning gym class and their hus-
bands, members of the health council, and groups
of college students. From June E. Morell,
Wichita, Kansas, Y.W.C.A.

It's Easy to Have Fun!

Especially when there's a "Y"
Outing Club which is ready to
offer you recreational oppor-
tunities ranging from sailing
and canoeing to concerts!

PICNICS, outdoor steak roasts, sailing,
horseback rides, mountain climbing,
canoeing, bicycle rides, motoring,
bowling, ice and roller skating, ski
trips, toboganning, maple sugar parties,
fall foliage trips, swimming, week-end
and eight-day camping trips, concerts,
theater parties, lectures and socials —
pick your favorites and sign up!

That's how easy it is for members of the
Boston "Y" Outing Club to have fun. This
club for young men and women was organized
four years ago by some folks who had learned
from previous occasional outings that outdoor
life is fun. They limited membership to in-
terested young people eighteen to thirty-five
years of age. They decided that it should not
be necessary for a man to belong to the
Y.M.C.A. in order to join the club, but they
penalized him a little if he did not! They set
the annual membership fee at $.25 for "Y"
members, $2.00 for non-members and $1.00 for
girls. Since its organization, the original mem-
bership of forty has grown to 315. In June
there were 169 men and 146 women. The
number and variety of activities has kept pace
with the growing membership and last month
there were thirty-eight activities (more than
one a day) from which to choose.

A great many people think of summer week-
ends as their only out-of-doors opportunities,
while others limit their outdoor life to a one or
two weeks' vacation. The Outing Club, how-
ever, operates the year round, adjusting its
program to the season, and offering to its
members continuous opportunities for vacation
highlights. This is how it is done. Each year
two girls and three men are selected by the
club members to serve as a planning com-

By C. LESLIE UPDEGRAPH

Young Men's Secretary

Huntington Avenue Branch, Y.M.C.A.

Boston, Massachusetts

mittee. The committee elects its own chair-
man and, working with a secretary of the
Y.M.C.A., makes whatever policy decisions are
necessary and plans the monthly schedule of
events.

Each month a meeting of the club is held
when movies are shown or lectures given on
subjects of interest to outdoor enthusiasts. This
is followed by a stunt, skit or comedy act pre-
pared and presented by members of the group.
The schedule of events for the coming month
is distributed (it is later mailed to absentees)
and the program closes with a social period
and refreshments.

The monthly schedule is always eagerly
awaited. It is like an elaborate menu, people
picking out those events which most suit their
tastes or their pocketbooks. It usually contains
a few surprises and its release rings the gong
for reservation making. There follows a rush
for the sign-up book, and a flood of phone
calls from folks who wish to get their names

399

400

ITS EASY TO HAVE FUN!

on certain lists before they are filled to
capacity.

It is easy to make reservations. No deposits
are required. The member's credit is good.
On the basis of the reservation list prepara-
tions are completed. Commitments are made
for food, supplies, theater tickets, transporta-
tion and sleeping accommodations, often to the
tune of several hundred dollars, yet nothing
is collected from the member until he starts
on the trip. On some events we announce a
date after which cancellations will not be ac-
cepted. On some others, each reservation is
final, but the general rule applying to all events
is stated as follows : "If, when reservations
are cancelled, we have made advance guaran-
tees involving expense on our part, you will be
held responsible for the amount involved." The
system works. In four years' time we have
written off about $2.00.

And It's Inexpensive, Too

The Outing Club has shown that it is not
only easy to have fun but that it is inexpensive
as well. In July 1938, we conducted our first
week's vacation trip. Our destination was Mt.
Katahdin in Maine. We had interesting stop-
overs en route for sight seeing, swimming, and
outdoor meals around a campfire. We took in
Mt. Cadillac and visited the great paper mill
at Millinocket. We packed our blankets and
food up to Chimney Pond and spent three days
climbing over Mt. Katahdin's peaks and its
famous knife edge, sleeping at night in open
shelters. In returning to Boston we crossed
the huge Ripogenus Dam, canoed on Moose-
head Lake, and drove back through the White
Mountain area of New Hampshire. Fun and
fellowship ruled the trip to such an extent that
the group who called themselves the Maine-
iacs later held a reunion banquet where two of
the girls introduced a song and one of the men
a poem, both written to commemorate the
happy occasion. And the cost for the entire
week, including food, transportation and every-
thing was less than twenty dollars.

We took a three-day Labor Day week-end
trip to the Adirondacks in New York State for
$7.50, and for $5.25 we offered our annual
Maple Sugar week-end this year. One hundred
and ten members signed up for the latter,
necessitating our dividing the group and con-

ducting two trips on consecutive weeks. We
stayed at an old New England Guest House
which dates back to an original grant by the
King of England. The local Grange sponsored
an old-fashioned dance in our honor, and the
Mayor and Secretary of the Chamber of Com-
merce were there to welcome us. We visited a
sugar orchard, pausing to drink raw sap from
the pails hanging on the maple trees and to
have our pictures taken with the oxen which
are used to collect the pails of sap. Then on
to the sugar house where the sap is evaporated
into maple syrup, for a sugaring off party. This
included the opportunity for each one to whip
up a dish of hot syrup until it became maple
sugar; to pour hot syrup on snow and eat the
resultant crispy maple sugar "frogs" ; and to
top it off with coffee, doughnuts and sour
pickles. Then an afternoon of skiing, a late
dinner and the time had arrived to start home.
Not bad for $5.25, is it?

Ski and mountain climbing week-ends cost as
little as $2.50 or may run up to $5.00, depend-
ing on the distance covered and the accommo-
dations provided.

For those who lack the time or money for
week-end trips, there is a wealth of local
events of varied types and costs from which to
choose. During the last year we have had 281
events attended by 3933 men and 3466 young
women. The average cost per event was 37/4
cents. Not too expensive, is it?

Some of the Club's Accomplishments
We are frequently asked just what is ac-
complished by the program of the Outing
Club. In the first place, it clearly develops
and deepens one's interest in the out-of-doors.
Some folks feel that man was not intended to
spend his time indoors; that crowded city life
is unnatural ; that there dwells in most of us
an instinctive interest (though often dormant)
in outdoor life. The Outing Club provides a
vehicle through which young people may thus
compensate for busy city existence.

In the second place it also teaches a variety
of outdoor skills. When they first join, most
of the members belong in the novice class.
Soon they are introduced to new skills. They
learn to roller skate, ride a horse, ski or ride
a bike ; to climb a mountain without undue
fatigue or build a campfire, to prepare a meal

ITS EASY TO HAVE FUN !

401

or tote a well packed knapsack. They learn the
joy that comes with personal accomplishment.

In the third place the club provides a high
type of sociability and friendliness. A big city
can be a lonely place for young people. What
better aids to friendship are there than through
participation in outdoor activities? The in-
formality of dress, the give and take of banter,
songs and stunts around the campfire, climb-
ing side by side up a mountain trail, a sunset,
hilarious laughter, wisecracking — all lend
themselves toward the breakdown of reserve
and unnaturalness. Good fellowship and good
sportsmanship are the club's dominant em-
phasis. Few of its members join as couples.
Most of them come "stag." The club is by no
means a matrimonial agency and its members
have no appearance of being lonely hearts. Yet,
several marriages have resulted from friend-
ships formed in the club. It is an excellent
proving ground. A young couple should have
the opportunity of see-
ing each other not only
at their best but also
at their worst. If a
boy can see a girl
dead tired, rain soaked
and wind blown ; if
a girl can observe
whether a boy accepts
the give and take of
cooperative living by
submerging personal
wishes for the benefit
of the good of the
whole ; if they see each
other under these cir-
cumstances and still
are in love, well, it
doesn't augur too
poorly for their future
happiness, does it?

Some folks ask
about the standards
which we try to main-
tain. With three hun-
dred young people of
different personal
standards and back-
grounds, they foresee
danger ahead for us.
The dangers are more

imagined than real. Before a young person
joins the club we suggest that he go on some
event of his choice as a visitor. It gives us a
means of sizing up prospective members and,
what is just as important, it allows them to
look us over and determine if we are the kind
of folks with whom they wish to become
affiliated. We have an active and enthusiastic
membership. We want to keep it so for we
are not interested in merely collecting mem-
bership fees. We believe that if we must err,
we should do so in making our standards too
high rather than too low. We have few rules,
but it is thoroughly understood in the club
that alcoholic beverages have no place in any
event connected with the Outing Club. When
this is disregarded we explain that we have
neither the right nor the desire to dictate
another's way of life but as far as the club's
activities are concerned the individual must
either give up liquor or give up the club.

When away on week-
end trips every effort
is made for those who
wish it to attend Mass.
For those who remain
at camp a brief devo-
tional service is held
with either the leader
or members of the
group conducting it.

At no time in the
history of the club has
there been any mem-
bership promotion. We
still harbor the old-
fashioned idea that if
a program is really
good enough, if it is
well conducted and
actually meets the
needs and interests of
young people, there
will be no lack of
members. Information
about the club is
passed along from
friend to friend. One
enthusiast recently
counted thirty -three
present members
(Continued on page 420)

Co-Recreation at the University of Wisconsin

Where interest groups rather than mass recrea-
tion are the basis of the co-recreation program

A .THOUGH many leisure-time ac-
tivities of students are segre-
gated along sex lines, the col-
lege campus is the scene for more
co-recreation than is any other
area. Groups of college age utilize their leisure
time more frequently in co-recreation than do
other age groups.

Wisconsin leaders in recreation early recognized
the advantages of handling students in relatively
cohesive social groupings rather than as a mass
student body. Important examples are the resi-
dent groups : fraternities, sororities, dormitory
houses, and organized rooming houses. Recrea-
tion is planned for these groups on an inter-
house basis. While this program is not essentially
co-recreational, the grouping is pertinent to this
discussion because so many co-recreational ac-
tivities based on interest groupings are organized
and publicized through the medium of house units.
Other examples of cohesive social groupings
result from a community of interest among the
members. The program at Wisconsin for these
groups is definitely co-recreational. Most of the
discussion of this paper is concerned with the co-
recreational experiences of students in special in-
terest and multi-interest groups.

Findings of a Study

A study of leisure time utilization was made at
the University of Wisconsin in 1934.* Among the
findings of this research was the fact that more
than 75% of all students were involved in leisure
time activity arising out of interest in the other
sex, one of the main drives in co-recreation. This
type of activity absorbed 8.4% of the leisure time
of Wisconsin students.

Dancing as a co-recreational activity is partici-
pated in by 73.6% of the students. This includes
a variety of dances ranging from the formal
Junior Prom to the folk dancing organized last
year by jitterbug fans. Classes in ballroom danc-
ing reach several hundred students yearly, which

By REUBEN L. HILL
and

MARY MACKECHNIE

may partially account for the thou-
sands participating in this mass
co-recreational activity.

Table I is a presentation of the
relative popularity of co-recrea-
tional activities among Wisconsin students at the
time this study took place.

TABLE I

The Popularity of Co-Recreational Leisure Time Pursuits,
Ranked According to the Total Number of Students Who
Participate in Each, Either Regularly or Occasionally.

Activity

Percent of Students
Who Participate

Rank

Movies 84.40 1

Dancing 73.60 2

Out Door Exercise 68.30 3

Sports Spectator 58.20 4

Cards 51.80 5

Sports Participator 48.50 6

Parlor Dates 41.20 7

Union Lectures 36.80 8

Student Organizations 36.70 9

Concerts 34.40 10

Dramatics 34.00 11

Hobbies 24.10 12

Forums and Debates 15.90 13

Teas and Receptions 11.50 14

Art 8.60 15

Bowling 3.83 16

Outdoor sports are largely co-recreational at
Wisconsin, thanks to the interest of both sexes in
hiking, canoeing, cycling, skiing, skating, tobog-
ganing and swimming. The Wisconsin Hoofers;
the outing club, sponsors all these outdoor excur-
sions . and they are usually for mixed groups.
Faculty members as well as students participate as
members and leaders.

Cards probably do not play a large role as a
co-recreational activity at Wisconsin since most
of- the card playing on this campus appears to be
in segregated groups. During the recent depres-
sion bridge became popular in the Union for
mixed groups and an occasional mixed tourna-
ment took place, but in general this activity has
lost its allure as economic conditions have!
improved.

402

CO-RECREATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

403

Over two hundred student leaders serve on
house committees of the Wisconsin Union, plan-
ning and administering a social and recreational
program for the student body. (See Table II
which lists the typical activities making up the
program.) Working closely with this group are
church centers, clubs, and other special interest
groups planning their own special social events.

Dramatic groups have fine opportunities in
campus co-recreation. Studio productions, varsity
plays, operettas, and radio broadcasts form a pro-
gram to which hundreds of students are attracted
yearly. Several dramatic clubs of mixed mem-
bership operate in play writing and play produc-
tion, giving students the opportunity of moving
up the ladder from the status of apprentices to
full-fledged players.

Music-minded students of both sexes enjoy
phonograph symphony concerts in a special music
room at the Union.. The selection process which
takes place here brings to the Music Room a
highly congenial co-recreational group. Other
music experiences for mixed groups include the
mixed choruses, community sings, a Christmas
festival and pageant "Numen Lumen," and the
many concerts sponsored by the Union.

Hobby groups find congenial atmosphere in the
informal art and hobby workshop in the new
Union building. Opportunity to putter with or
without instruction has resulted in creative work
in this place of co-recreation. Picture framing,
linoleum blocks for Christmas cards and small
scale carpentry are activities which bring boys and
girls together directly through common interests.

One of the last activities mentioned by students,
but important from the standpoint of co-recrea-
tion is the group labeled "teas, receptions, lunch-
eons, and coffee hours," where students of both
sexes meet with faculty members. The advantages
of the small college with its reputation for in-
formality and intimacy are attained in some meas-
ure at a university as large as Wisconsin by the
regular coffee hours in the Union, which bring
faculty members and students
together on an informal basis.
In addition, the university
president and his wife spend
Wednesday afternoon "at
home" and are fast building
up a desire in students to at-
tend the president's monthly
teas. When well planned,
these teas and receptions can

Co-recreation at Wisconsin exists mainly
in special interest and multi-interest
groups, with decreasing emphasis on mass
student body recreation. Using these in-
terest groups as nuclei, the co-recreation
program centers on dancing, outdoor
sports, public services in the campus com-
munity, student clubs, dramatics, music,
arts and crafts, hobbies, teas, recep-
tions, coffee hours, and discussion groups.

be a worthwhile co-recreational experience. Large-
scale receptions, open houses, and dances preced-
ing or following cafeteria-style "brunches" (break-
fast-lunches) or suppers have always been a
popular form of co-recreational activity. Mortar
Board supper, sponsored by the senior women's
honorary society is the oldest example of this
type of entertainment. Freshman Open House,
staged by the Freshman Orientation Committee
with a low cost supper and free dancing and
games for new students during their first week at
school is a successful co-recreational mixer. More
recently the desire to raise money for victims of
floods, wars, and other disasters has prompted the
rise of twelve o'clock brunches followed by an
hour or so of dancing or other entertainment.

Some of the most unique co-recreational activi-
ties planned by students are in the field of forums
and discussions. The library committee of the
Union has organized browsing sessions in the
Union library at which leaders in the field of
literature discuss the latest and most controversial
works.

Another student-planned discussion program is
the friendship and marriage series which began
spontaneously two years ago as a series of lectures
for men and a series for women. The result of
these segregated discussions has been a request
for mixed lectures and discussions which have
been followed with some enthusiasm. Men air
their views to co-eds and the girls reciprocate. An
example of the way frank discussion of the prob-
lems of courtship and marriage before marriage
takes place, is the case of G .... House. Men in
this house at the men's dormitories invited girls
in a house from the women's dormitory to meet
with them in discussing "What a Girl Expects
from a Fellow on a Date." The results were so
interesting that a second meeting followed.

These are experiences which help to make other
phases of co-recreation meaningful.

Summarizing the program, in Table II will be
found a list of the activities which are being con-
ducted. These reveal both
unique and common leisure-
time pursuits.

TABLE II
Dances
Dateless

Matinee — Saturday afternoon
Class — Sophomore Shuffle,
Junior Prom, Senior Ball

House — Fraternity, Inter-lodg-
ing house, Dormitory

404

CO-RECREATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN

Table If — (Continued)

Dancing classes
Clubs — International,

Graduate, etc.
Folk dancing
Special Events— Military

Ball, Homecoming, etc.

Outdoor Sports

Winter carnival

Hikes, bike trips, canoe
trips, ski outings, to-
boggan parties, skat-
ing parties

Summer session outings

Physical Recreation
Tennis — mixed doubles
Bowling
Badminton
Swimming

Community Service
Union House Committees
Wage and Hours

Committee
Housing
Community Chest,

All campus
Social Action groups

Political Groups
Young Progressives
Young Republicans
Young Communist
League

Music
Union Music Room

programs
Sunday afternoon

concerts

Supper musicales
Band and orchestra
Mixed choruses

Community Sings
Tudor Singers
Summer sings
Christmas festival

Hobby and Creative Work in
Union Art and Hobby
Workshop

Receptions, Teas, Suppers
President's Teas
Coffee hours
Wisconsin Salon of Art
Mortar Board
Freshman Supper

Clubs

Graduate Club
International Club
Y.M.C.A., Y.W.C.A.
Church groups
Country Life Association
Honorary groups : Artus,

Alpha Kappa Delta,

etc.

Dramatics

Wisconsin Players
Apprentices
Theater productions

Discussion Groups

Browsing sessions

Friendship and marriage
Forums

Special Parties

Christmas party
Thanksgiving party

Training Student Leaders

The program of co-recreation ' at Wisconsin
will be stimulated in the future by the training of
group leaders in recreation now being started at
the Union. Five active students are systematizing
their work by taking courses in group work theory
and group work practice. The problems of group
organization and leadership and the techniques
used by group leaders are discussed and tried out
in 300 hours of practice with campus groups. A
problem met by these campus group workers not
met by group leaders in settlement houses and boy
scout work is that of acting as advisors and lead-
ers to groups of their own age. These student
leaders help to provide the critical evaluation of
the going program working as they do with the
perspective of "participant observers." Already
they are bringing in suggestions for revamping
the present program and adding to it new and
novel activities to meet the changing recreational
and co-recreational needs of students on the
campus.

Al

ong

>omes

Mallow

een!

And that's the time to have a party

Yoi; WON'T FIND it difficult to persuade your
friends to come to a Hallowe'en party, but
you'll want to invite them in as novel a way
as possible, so try this plan.

Prepare black witches from construction paper,
and make a broom for each witch by tying some
small bristles around a toothpick. In white ink
write the following invitation :

Follow the witches whither they go

»And you'll be sure to end your woe.
Return this broom and we will know
You'll join us for fun, what ho!

The name, address, date, and time are written
on the reverse side of the witch. The little broom
is to be returned as an acceptance.

Decorations

Almost anything goes for Hallowe'en decora-
tions ! Witches, black cats, ghosts, goblins, pump-
kins, and skeletons may be used in profusion,
and lamps may be turned into queer and eerie
shapes by the judicious use of crepe paper.

If your guests must go
upstairs to leave their wraps,
why not make them walk
through a ghost? If there
is no stairway, the ghost
may be used in the main
entrance.

How to Make the Ghost.
A broom makes a good
foundation for the ghost.
Attach a ghost cutout to the
top of the handle with gum-
med tape. Use an old piece
of cloth over the head,

Hallowe'en is on the way, and with it will
come the urge (or a good time, a mad, glad,
carefree time, when dignity is thrown to
the winds and recaptured with difficulty!
Here are a few suggestions for activities
gathered from bulletins issued by recrea-
tion departments in a number of communi-
ties. Most of them, however, come from the
Playground and Recreation Board of De-
catur, Illinois. We hope many of them will
be helpful for the party you are planning.
And if you feel you have thought up
some better ideas, we hope you will send
them in to us so that we may pass them on.

knotting the corners to give the effect of a hood.
Wrap ten pieces of wire twelve inches long with
strips of white crepe paper until they are thick
enough to serve as fingers. Attach to the ends of
a heavy flag stick fastened across the broom. Cut
long fringes of crepe paper and fasten four thick-
nesses to the "arms." Attach the broom to the
newel post with spool wire.

Pirate's Den. If the party is to be held in the
basement, turn it into a pirate's den by stretching
paper painted to represent rocks around the bot-
tom of the room and placing pirate head cutouts
on top to resemble pirates looking over the wall.
Fasten strings crisscross overhead and hang
orange and black crepe moss over them. Fasten
\vitch, bat, owl, and pumpkin cutouts among the
moss. Arrange the strings so that they are just as
low as possible to give the impression of a cave.
The tables for refreshments or games should be
barrels, and boxes are used for chairs. Bottles
with candles complete the picture.

If you have a spare room, why not turn it into
the spooks' graveyard? Us-
ing small kindergarten
chairs, make slip covers for
the backs out of white paper.
On these write the names
of the guests and any fit-
ting epithet about them.
Sprinkle dried leaves about
the floor. An old trunk lid
might make an appropriate
''grave" for someone. It's
pretty spooky to have a
ghost rise up from behind
one of the tombstones !

405

406

ALONG COMES HALLOWE'EN!

Some Activities

Follow the Cat. After all the guests have ar-
rived, the master of ceremonies stands in the cen-
ter of the room, unrolls a scroll, and reads : "Cry
for your partner and form in line ready to ad-
vance. We are going to start the Caterwaul with
a Catacoustic Dance."

"Cat criers" are passed around. These are the
"squashy" kind that "meow" when squeezed.
Each cat crier has a number pasted on it, and the
guests find their partners by crying for them. The
wail is sent out fire-alarm fashion. For instance,
if the number is 13, the crier is squeezed once,
pause, then squeezed three times in quick suc-
cession.

After partners have been found a "Follow the
Cat" game starts the line, marching two by two
with everybody crying out loud. They must not
only follow the leader, but must imitate his catlike
antics as well.

Mouse Hunt.

Oh, hear ye cats ! A mouse there is

With a price upon its head ;

A reward awaits the cat that brings

It back, alive or dead.

A toy mouse is concealed in a not too obvious
spot — the toe of a slipper, for instance, or the
folds of a closed umbrella hidden in a closet.
Small cardboard cats on which the following
words are written : "Cold," "Freezing," "Warm,"
"Burning," are placed around the rooms to help
guide the searchers. The reward is a black kitten
dressed for the occasion in a ruff of orange crepe
paper.

Pumpkin Exchange. This is a good starter be-
cause it gives the guests a chance to mingle. Seven
orange colored cardboard pumpkins are required
for each guest. They may be cut from orange
paper. One letter of P-U-M-P-K-I-N should be
printed on each pumpkin. The pumpkins should
be shuffled and dealt into as many piles of seven
as there are guests. Each seven should be placed
in an envelope. Put the envelopes in a hollowed
out pumpkin, and when all the guests have ar-
rived allow each one to select one envelope. The
object is to collect seven pumpkins that spell the
word "pumpkin." Undesirable letters may be ex-
changed for others. Only one letter may be ex-
changed at a time, and if a person is asked for a
letter that he cannot supply he may not be asked
for another, but the questioner must go to some-
one else. The first person who gets the complete
word should receive a small prize.

The Fatal Blow. Mark off a large sheet of wrap-
ping paper in six inch squares, and in each square
write a fortune. Place the paper on the floor.
Each player, in turn standing on a mark three feet
from the paper, places a small feather on the
palm of his hand and blows it. The square in
which the feather lands determines his fate.

Nut Pass. From a bag of nuts in charge of a
"starter" one nut at a time is passed along the
line. All players sit close so that the passing may
not be detected by the "spotter," who stands at a
little distance. If at any time the spotter thinks
that he knows who holds the nut, he challenges
that person. If he is right he gets the nut, and
that person becomes spotter. If wrong the one
holding the nut may keep it, and another one is
passed. At the end of fifteen minutes the one who
has collected the most nuts wins.

A Hallowe'en Fortune Game. Provide a quart
milk bottle, a tablespoon, and a dish containing
corn grains. Each contestant in turn holds the
bottle on the top of his head with his right hand,
while with his left hand he scoops up as many
grains of corn as will stay in the tablespoon.
Standing before a mirror he tries to transfer the
corn to the bottle, his efforts usually being at-
tended with considerable failure. Each contest-
ant tries to put three tablespoon fuls of corn intc
the bottle. Each player's score is the number of
corn grains which he succeeds in getting into the
bottle. The player with the highest score will be
the one who at the age of fifty will have amassed
the fortune in thousands of dollars as indicated by
each kernel of corn.

Bad Luck. Allow the guests ten minutes to write
as many superstitions or bad luck omens as they
can remember. The player with the longest list
of correct omens wins a prize.

.

Pumpkin Roll. The "pumpkins" are oranges wit
faces put on with paint or ink. Put them on
floor, and when the signal is given let all th
players start rolling them toward the other sid
of the room with pencils or small sticks. The firs
to reach the goal wins the game.

Collaring the Cat.

Health, happiness, luck — yes, all of that
Comes to the one who collars the cat ;
But he who fails three times, they say,
A forfeit he will have to pay.

A toy cat is placed at one end of the room.
Each player in turn stands eight feet away from
the cat and attempts to collar it, using three dif-

ALONG COMES HALLOWE'EN!

407

ferent sized embroidery hoops. Those who fail
pay forfeits.

Black Cat Bowling. Cut seven cats from black
mat stock. Insert them in a wire menu holder so
that they will stand upright. Then give each guest
an apple rather irregular in shape and let them in
turn roll the apple toward the cats, and see how
many they can knock down with one blow. A
very appropriate prize might be a box of licorice
cats.

Cat-Ography. Give each guest a pencil and
paper. Ask each person to write on his paper a
word containing the word "cat." When he has
done this, the paper is folded and passed to the
person on his right. Then in turn each person
must act out or interpret the word
written on his piece of paper for the
others to guess. Here are some sug-
gestions: Catnip, catapult, catastro-
phe, cattle, catch, catwalk,
caterpillar.

Table Decorations
and Favors

An important part of
the fun on Hallowe'en
comes when the guests
stop long enough to eat.
Attractive table decora-
tions and favors as well as re-
freshments should be planned.

Pumpkin House. A wire frame
can be made in the shape of a pumpkin, or a real
pumpkin can be used. In either case, cut the eyes,
nose, and mouth out and place Christmas tree
lights on the inside for light. Make a picket fence
of black mat stock and place about the pumpkin
house. Witches, black cats and owls may be
placed on the fence posts or on top of the house.
This will make a colorful and interesting center-
piece.

Lollipop Ghost. For this you will need a round
lollipop. Push the stick firmly into a large round
mint and it will stand upright. Then cover the
lollipop with either white crepe paper long enough
to hide the mint on which it stands or use a white
handkerchief. Tie a "ribbon" of orange crepe
paper around its "neck" and paint large eyes upon
it. If a handkerchief is used, pin black circles of
paper on for eyes.

Apple Candlesticks. These may be used for
place cards as well as favors. Use very small

A pumpkin house will make an ef-
fective and colorful centerpiece

tubs, such as the tiny washtubs in children's
miniature washing sets or individual tin muffin
pans. Fill with water and get a very tiny crab
apple to float in each. In order to make the apples
float so that the candles will stand straight up,
attach lead dress weights or fishline sinkers to
the bottom of each apple by a very short string
fastened to a pin, to act as a counterweight. Paint
the name of the person on the tub or stick a small
piece of paper bearing the name through the
handle.

Popcorn Bali Witch. Wrap a corn ball in yellow
cellophane. Tie at the top, cutting off the surplus,
thus leaving just enough for a "neck." Stick a
marshmallow on a toothpick, insert in the neck,
and draw the features with melted
chocolate. Gather a strip of crepe
paper for the cape and add a pointed
hat made of two flat pieces of black
mounting board fastened
together at the point and
at the edges of the brim.
A broom made of candy
and a bit of brown crepe
paper may be added.

Apple Caldron. Cut the
stem end off a bright red
apple and hollow out the
center. Fill with celery
and nut salad. Wrap three pieces
of heavy wire with black crepe
paper and fasten together tightly
at the top with fine wire. Paste a silhouette of a
cat, witch, or owl to one of the wires. Spread out
so that they will stand up. Just before serving,
stand in the plate over the apple salad.

An orange may be used for the caldron and
filled with candy or nuts. Scrape the inside out
of the orange and let the skin dry for a very
short time.

Pipe Cleaner Favors. Witches, owls, black cats,
ghosts, pirates, and many other Hallowe'en char-
acters may be made with pipe cleaners. A few
twists of the cleaners, some bits of paper, and
some paste will make many attractive and amus-
ing favors for the table.

Walnut Favors. Use walnut shells for favors.
Write fortunes on narrow strips of paper, roll
them up, put one in each nutshell, and seal the
halves together.

(Continued on page 421)

A Business Executive Turns Park Administrator

ROBERT J. DUNHAM is
coming to the Boston
Recreation Congress.
As president of the Chi-
cago Park District since it
consolidated the forme r
score of independent dis-
tricts into one major and
centralized administration
five years ago, his accom-
plishments have command-
ed national recognition.
Members of boards of ad-
ministration from other
cities will doubtless wel-
come an opportunity to
consult so outstanding a
figure in the field of both
public and private admin-
istration.

Mr. Dunham retired
from active private busi-
ness several years ago. He

was known throughout the country as the indus-
trialist who in private enterprise first achieved
notable success in the Universal Oil Products
Company after his days in Harvard University.
Following this he held executive office for about
twenty years with Armour & Company, retiring
as that company's vice-president. He did not re-
tire, however, to escape responsibilities and enjoy
a life of relaxation. Retirement to him was an
adventure in responding to interests which had
long attracted him. There was art, in which he is
something of a connoisseur. There was oppor-
tunity for further travel, which he had always
enjoyed. But most compelling was his desire to
apply his vast business experience to public ad-
ministration, devoting his extraordinary abilities
to the service of his fellow men.

He carried through the great task of setting up
and operating the Illinois Emergency Relief Com-
mission, creating its machinery and organizing its
operations. When the twenty-two independent
park districts of Chicago were consolidated by
vote of the city electorate, he took as a challenge
the invitation of his friend, Mayor Kelly, to ac-
cept the presidency of the new Board of Park
Commissioners, in 1934. A superhuman task was

408

ROBERT J. DUNHAM

in prospect. Few of the
former districts were finan-
cially solvent. Park build-
ings were closed in sev-
eral of the former juris-
dictions. Others were oper-
ating under caretakers
only, or were staffed by
workers on relief, unac-
quainted with park opera-
tions. Bond issues were
generally in default.
Grounds and facilities were
in many instances uncared
for. Only the major sys-
tems of the former admin-
istration were operating a
normal service. The job
called for extraordinary
financial statesmanship, as
well as for inspired plan-
ning and construction.

In human engineering

he faced the challenge of welding into effective
unity an operating personnel holding in common
only suspicion of each other, and of making a re-
duced fraction of the normal operating budget
yield, in a time of universal social crisis, a return
in ministry to public well-being. He faced the
certainty of criticism and misunderstanding. But
the challenge appealed to his fighting spirit. Re-
stricted as the funds were, it was still big business,
calling for a master hand in management, and
while he was unfamiliar with parks except as he
casually knew them, he relied upon the ability
which he had cultivated throughout his business
career to cut through extraneous confusions and
get at the core of his problem, to master that, and
build an organization into frictionless efficiency.

No salary was involved for the ten-hour work-
ing day in prospect, but there was the promise of
adventure in grappling with new problems, cre-
ating a new and socially useful organization. He
accepted the appointment without hesitation, ac-
cepted it even while he was still serving as head
of the Relief Commission, and for a time, at least,
must do double duty.

(Continued on page 421)

Courtesy Los Angeles Playground and Recreation Department

Hallowe'en in Manhassefc

HALLOWE'EN in Manhasset in
the years prior to 1937 was
probably no worse or no bet-
ter than in similar communities.
There was the usual marking with chalk on auto-
mobiles and store windows and ringing of door
bells by younger children. There also was, how-
ever, a marked degree of vandalism — the carrying
off of signs, and destruction of hedges and prop-
erty by the older boys and young men.

Some citizens thought it merely a nuisance, but
others regarded it as a civic outrage, a sign of the
laxity of the school system, the indifference of
parents, and the deterioration of the younger gen-
eration. To pacify this latter group, the American
Legion organized a volunteer committee to guard
the community and aid the police in apprehend-
ing offenders. This committee was successful in
what it attempted to do, but its work was simply
to aid the police in catching the culprits rather
than in seeking the fundamental cause in order to
prevent the vandalism which occurred each year.

The school authorities were
brought face to face with the
Hallowe'en situation in 1936
when several members of the
football team landed in the
hands of the police. An un-
diplomatic officer handled the

By REX M. GATE

Physical Education Director
Manhasset Public Schools

The story of a Long Island community
and its determination to provide for
its young people Hallowe'en enter-
tainment designed to "insure sane
recreation which would foster a car-
nival spirit within bounds of decency."

situation badly by using the strong,
simple, but vividly understandable
language of the longshoreman.
The boys' fathers objected to this

treatment and brought charges against the police

officer.

They Decided to Do Something About It

In spite of all this hullabaloo, no attempt was
made to meet the disturbance constructively. Par-
ents blamed the school and police. The police
blamed the parents. Finally, after a meeting of
the Department of Physical Education of the
Manhasset schools, the members went with a con-
structive plan to the Superintendent of Schools,
the Board of Education, and the School Com-
munity Association. They wanted to open the
high school building for the students, parents, the
alumni, and boy or girl friends from neighboring
communities for an evening of wholesome, legiti-
mate fun.

There were many objections. Would the chil-
dren go on to other communi-
ties or to undesirable places
after the party was over?
Would the large number of
cars parked around the school
provide temptation for mis-
chief? Would the building be

409

410

HALLOWE'EN IN M AN H ASSET

abused? Nevertheless, a committee was formed
to discuss the party. Each high school class presi-
dent, the General Organization president, the foot-
ball captain and certain "key" boys and girls
represented the students. Some of these "key"
committeemen were school leaders and others
were often troublemakers. By including the latter
the committee enlisted their energies for a good
cause. The school authorities were represented
by the high school principal and the head of
Health and Physical Education. The School
Community Association sent its president, the
chairman of the guidance committee, and two
members at large.

The committee discussed the situation frankly.
Both students and adults agreeing that something
should be done, they decided that some sort of
"participating entertainment should be provided
to insure sane recreation for the youth of Man-
hasset which would foster a carnival spirit within
bounds of decency."

With this quotation as a standard, the joint
committee went to work. An executive commit-
tee of four, composed of two citizens, a faculty
member and a student, appointed subordinate
committees : program, advertising, refreshments,
community singing, bridge (for parents), games
(for children who did not dance), music and
dancing, amateur hour, booths, decoration, and
admission.

The advertising was done through the local
papers and the art department of the school made
the posters.

And This Is What They Did!

Students, parents and teachers were urged to
come in costume. Most of the students and many
of the parents and teachers did. Since the idea
was to have something doing every minute, the
building was opened at 7 p. M. At 7:30 games of
low organization, relays and stunts were con-
ducted in the gymnasium. This part of the eve-
ning's entertainment was brought to a close by a
grand parade of costumes with prizes for the
"best," the "most original," and the "funniest."

At 8 :3o an "amateur hour" called the group to
the auditorium for twelve acts — ten by students
and two by parents. From 10:00 until 1:30 an
excellent orchestra provided music for dancing.
Chosen by the students, the orchestra had to be
paid by the General Organization, which meant
that funds had to be denied athletic teams.

During this time class rooms were opened with
a teacher, a student, and a parent in charge. The
visitors had their fortunes told, bobbed for apples,
ate pies, played ping-pong, went through a cham-
ber of horrors or danced a Virginia Reel.

The refreshment committee had one of the biggest
jobs. This committee was made up entirely of
mothers, though they had to call for assistance.
Two hundred dozen doughnuts, three barrels of
cider, two barrels of apples, besides quantities of
home made cake and cookies, were served at
intermission.

The bridge committee had set up tables and
chairs in the school library for parents who might
wish to play bridge. Two couples played only one
hand — after that they were too busy watching and
joining the festivities.

The Result of It All

The community sing was not successful, but
other than that the Hallowe'en party was a great
success. There was no damage done to property
in the town. The police had a night off as far as
Manhasset was concerned. The American Legion
committee reported the streets quiet and no dis-
turbances. A few store windows and automobiles
were marked with chalk between 6:00 and 8:00
p. M. by very small children.

The young people didn't go on to other com-
munities, or to undesirable places after the party
was over. The janitors and some volunteer par-
ents stationed to watch the cars parked about the
building reported that none were disturbed. The
only damage to the school occurred when one
enthusiast threw a chair out of a lavatory window.
The building was dirty, however, and the janitors
worked all night to clean up. But even the jani-
tors declared it was worth it.

In 1938 the American Legion, the Chamber of
Commerce, the School Community Association,
Women's Clubs and other civic organizations con-
tributed a total of $200 in order that there might
be another party. The Hallowe'en party of 1938
naturally saw many improvements, corrections
and refinements, but the underlying thought was
the same — "to foster a carnival spirit within the
bounds of decency" and to provide a proper place
to house this carnival spirit.

In Manhasset the school and the community
are going to continue to foster and provide a place
for a decent Hallowe'en.

You Asked for It!

IN OXFORD, OHIO, a group
of Hi-Y boys made out a
list of questions which
they asked Camp Fire Girls
to answer for them. Nelle
Overholtz, Guardian of the
group, says : "This pleased the girls very much
and they spent two full meetings in preparing
their answers. In looking over these questions
and answers you will notice the echo of college
life. Our little town has Miami University, a
State College, and Western College for Women
— about 3,100 college students — more than the
population of our town. You can well imagine
the special problems which this situation presents."

The Questions

1 . What should a boy spend on the average date ?

2. Do girls object to being tagged at dances?

3. Do you like humorous or serious discussions
on a date?

4. Do Stewart girls object to Stewart boys
bringing outside dates?

5. Where should a boy meet a girl for a date?

6. Should a girl go with a boy if her parents
object?

7. Should a boy have a car on a date? Is it
expected ?

8. Do you expect a boy to treat uptown after a
dance ?

9. How long before an occasion should a girl be
asked for a date?

10. Should a girl ask a boy for his awards for
sports such as football or basketball?

11. Should a girl return the awards after a break
of friendship?

12. What time do your parents expect you to be
home?

13. Should a girl refuse to dance with a boy who
asks her ?

14. Do you expect punch at a dance?

15. Should a boy smoke on a date?

1 6. At formal dances should girls dance together?

17. Would the girls object, at formal dances, if
couples only could come?

1 8. Should a girl brought by a boy dance only one
or two dances with him ? If not, how many ?

19. What form would you like the boy to use to
ask for a date ?

These questions and answers have come
to us from Camp Fire Girls, Inc. When
you are asked to answer these, or sim-
ilar questions in your co-recreation
program this list may be a life-saver!

20. What form should be used
in asking for a dance?

21. What kind of decora-
tions would you suggest
for a dance?

22. How should a boy say
good-night ?

23. What kind of clothes should a boy wear at a
dance ?

24. About what per cent of the girls in high
school would like to get married as soon as
possible after graduation?

25. Would the girls like to help the Hi-Y boys
learn how to dance, after basketball is over,
some afternoons from 3 130 to 5 :oo ?

The Answers

1. If a group of boys and girls go together, a
Dutch treat is the thing. For example, after
a basketball game or a play, or trips of clubs.
If a boy definitely asks a girl for a date on a
specific night or time, it should not be Dutch.
If a high school boy dates a girl for a show
or dance it isn't necessary to take the girl to
the restaurant afterward. The cost of the
date should be the price of the function
attended.

2. The girls do not object to being tagged at a
high school dance after they have danced a
few moments with their partner. The girls
do not object to dancing with boys who aren't
good dancers.

3. The right amount of both makes a worth-
while evening.

4. The girls themselves do not mind the boys
bringing outside girls, but it often leaves out
a lot of our own girls.

5. The boy should always come to the home of
the girl and go to the door. It is correct to
converse a few moments with the girl's par-
ents. It is never correct to honk in front of
the girl's home.

6. The girl should consider her parents' objec-
tions very seriously before disobeying them.

7. It is not expected of the boy to have a car
for a date.

8. Answered in Question i.

(Continued on page 422)

411

WORLD AT PLAY

^ „ AS the result of a
A "Pay-As-You-Go" dmta amendment>

Portland, Oregon, will
levy a city tax of four-
tenths of a mill for ten years to finance the de-
velopment of public recreational areas such as
neighborhood parks, playgrounds, and playfields.
The program will follow a systematic plan and
will be financed on a pay-as-you-go basis. No
project will be approved by the City Council until
the City Planning Commission in cooperation with
community organizations has prepared and sub-
mitted a detailed plan of execution, including a
list of projects based on relative needs. The new
levy is estimated to produce slightly over $100,000
a year based on present valuations. Acquisition
and improvements will be made gradually through-
out the ten year period beginning in 1939 and
will be financed out of current revenues. The city
and the school district, a separate unit of govern-
ment, have also taken steps to set up a joint com-
mittee for the purpose of bringing about a closer
coordination of recreational facilities of the two
governmental units. (Information taken from
Public Management, June 1939.)

trial plants will be carried on at the Victory Play-
ground, newest center in this Florida community.

From Coffee Beans
to Playground

JACKSONVILLE'S
new playground, Vic-

lory Park, is the fif-
teenth complete play

area of the city and the second one dedicated with-
in a period of six weeks. Victory Park was built
as a project of the WPA, sponsored by the local
Department of Public Recreation. The playground
site was once a desolate patch of ground covered
with coffee beans which grew ten feet high. To-
day, in the place of the coffee beans, there is a
beautifully landscaped park and a modern play
area. -Completely fenced, the area contains a shel-
ter house, a set of six swings, two shuffleboard
courts and horseshoe courts. The main facility is
a concrete combination play court which affords
an opportunity to play basketball and volleyball,
dance and roller skate. All facilities are lighted
by floodlights for night use. An open play area
with a clay softball diamond serves teams in the
vicinity. In addition to the regular organized play
activities for children, the baseball leagues and
activities of the employees of nearby large indus-

412

Reading's Municipal
Symphony Orchestra

THE Philharmonic
Symphony Orchestra
of Reading, Pennsyl-
vania, sponsored by the

Department of Public Recreation, concluded its
season in May with a concert including selections
from Wagner, Bizet, Brahms, and Mozart. The
orchestra will continue its activities next year be-
ginning with a concert in October.

Columbia Initiates
Recreation Program

THE city of Colum-
bia, Missouri, last Jan-
uary initiated a year-
round recreation pro-
gram with a budget of $8,800. The community
has responded enthusiastically to the Recreation
Commission's efforts to provide a broad program
of activities and is participating wholeheartedly in
the activities which are being promoted. In the
few months of its existence the Commission has
sponsored junior basketball leagues, a downtown
newsboy center, a summer music camp, weekly
band concerts, three adult softball leagues, a girls'
softball league, and a craft program. Junior base-
ball, movies, parties, nature activities, camping,
and a variety of special events have been con-
ducted. Among the facilities are two community
houses, two swimming pools, and six playgrounds
for colored and white children. Kenneth Osman
is director of the program.

Dancing Through the
Summer

CLOSING the
fourth summer of
dance instruction
under the Recreation

Department, Provo City, Utah, witnessed a Dance
Review. "Dancing Through the Ages," featuring
500 boys and girls. Held in the largest auditorium
in the city, the review attracted a capacity crowd
a half hour before the show was scheduled.

The dancing lessons, in which 2,650 in a city of
16,000 participated in one week, were given free to
boys and girls between five and eighteen from
June ist to August I5th. Creative, tap, clog, folk,
ballet, eccentric, character, natural and modern
were the types taught. Two or three lessons a

WORLD AT PLAY

413

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week, each thirty or forty-five minutes long, were
given to each group of twenty children, with two
hours daily devoted to boys and girls who wanted
special help. Classes were held each day at four
centers, plus two evenings a week for adult
instruction.

Private dance teachers reported an increase of
fifty per cent in interest shown in the schools since
the inception of the dance program in the local
recreation department.

Gardening Unites School and Home — Con-
vinced that gardening is a form of recreation,
Paul R. Young of the Cleveland Garden Center
believes that school gardening becomes the con-
necting link between the school and the home.
Gardening as a school project was introduced into
Cleveland schools through science courses. More
than 16,000 youngsters in 132 schools are now
participating. The training is included in the reg-
ular science classes, and instructors make two
visits a year to the children's homes to observe
their gardens. Each child pays a small enrollment
fee for membership in the garden home project,
and these funds cover the cost of seeds and plants,
secured at a great saving by buying in bulk. Mr.
Young states that the project pays dividends other
than the garden. The project is voluntary but has
been accepted by a large percentage of pupils and
parents as well, making it most important to
school curriculum. The contacts of teachers and
parents, occuring when the teachers visit their
pupils' gardens, are valuable both for good will
and for planning in the school system.

Religious Drama Institute — The Religious
Drama Council of the Greater New York Feder-
ation of Churches, 71 West 23rd Street, New

York City, announces a religious drama institute
which will include acting, directing, costuming,
staging, lighting, voice, and movement. The insti-
tute will be held on six Thursday evenings from
October 5th to November 9th at the Madison
Avenue Presbyterian Church. The course will
include a demonstration of the casting and direct-
ing of a Christmas play.

A New Portable Folding Stand — After sev-
eral years of experimentation, the Mitchell Manu-
facturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has
placed on the market a portable folding stand for
use of bands, orchestras, and choral groups. The
stand is entirely portable and can be readily moved
from one place to another. It is made up of units,
each eight by four feet, in three or four eleva-
tions depending on individual requirements. The
units are supported by steel tubular legs of special
design which fold into the apron of the individual
platform in such a way that the total folded thick-
ness is only two and a half inches. A minimum
storage space is required as the corner pieces also
fold and the guard rail around the back and sides
is demountable. The stand may be set up and
taken down in a very short time by only two
people.

American Education Week, 1939 — "Educa-
tion for the American Way of Life" will be the
general theme for the nineteenth annual observ-
ance of American Education Week to be held
November 6-u, 1939. The observance will be
sponsored by the National Education Association
in cooperation with the American Legion, the
United States Office of Education and the Na-
tional Congress of Parents and Teachers, and
with the support of many other organizations. As

414

WORLD AT PLAY

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Company; Manufacturers of the famous "Louden" line.

in previous years, the National Education Asso-
ciation, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washing-
ton, D. C., has prepared material including color-
ful posters, leaflets, stickers, and packets contain-
ing special folders for each day of the week
adapted to different school levels. Further infor-
mation may be secured from the National Edu-
cation Association.

Book Week, 1939 — November 12-18 will
mark the observance of the 1939 Book Week
when magazines, newspapers, and radio networks
will carry the story of Book Week to a large
audience. The theme around which programs,
exhibits, and discussions will be planned is "Books
Around the World." Suggestions for special
projects keyed to this year's theme will be found

Credit to Fitchburg

We want to call to our readers' attention the
fact that the photograph which appeared on page
315 of the September issue of RECREATION should
have been credited to the Board of Park Com-
missioners of Fitchburg, Massachusetts. It shows
an interior view of the fireplace room in the
Memorial Building of Coggshall Park.

in the free Book Week manual available from
Book Week Headquarters, 62 West 45th Street,
New York City. Other helps available from the
same address are a new poster 17 by 22 inches,
obtainable at 20 cents a copy; bookmarks at $1.50
a thousand; "The Magic Carpet," a four page
newspaper containing articles, a variety of infor-
mation about books and reading, special book lists,
and a book quiz at $7.00 a thousand.

"Come and See Lincoln's Youth
Program"

(Continued from page 379)

hopes to develop from this club, which is made up
largely of young married couples, leadership for
similar outings of younger folk.

Play Areas Attractive to Youth
In summer a large playing field known to every-
one as "Muny" is very popular and draws many
young people who come partly because of the
games and partly for the opportunity to meet and
play with each other. An instructor from the
University physical education department for
men was employed last summer to supervise the
activities of the grounds. He had a very well at-
tended program which met the needs of young
people some of whom have little else to do in the
way of leisure-time amusements. Now, instead of
just hanging over the fence or walking about,
boys and girls are playing together.

Among the most popular pastimes for mixed
groups at Muny were volleyball, shufneboard and
table tennis (played under lights). Night lighting
of this area has added greatly to its service to the
community.

Several additional playgrounds were lighted last
summer and new equipment and games suitable
for use under lights introduced. There was no-
ticeable increase of interest in the community as
a whole as well as among young men and women.
The lights not only provided for longer periods
of play but for a different type of activity — one
more suitable for couples, and with greater social
appeal. We hope to enlarge upon these out-of-
door facilities for we feel that the lighted areas
are a specific answer to co-recreational needs.

Training Social Recreation Leaders
Can Be Fun!

(Continued from page 380)

thusiastic and with the human touch that makes
people want to sing. The last member, but by no

TRAINING SOCIAL RECREATION LEADERS CAN BE FUN!

415

means the least, of the team, was to be the pianist
to accompany the community singing as well as
the musical games.

This plan was put into effect with great success.
A new team was selected each month, preferably
all from the same organization, thus building up
permanent teams. This plan also permitted a great
many to participate in actual leadership, and by
dividing the duties up among six people the novice
leaders would not be required to face the fright-
ening task of conducting an hour's program alone.
Each team met with the superintendent of recre-
ation at least once before each party to plan it and
in this way gained additional experience in find-
ing and assembling material.

Mimeographed copies of the party were made
in the recreation office, and, following the presen-
tation of the program, were distributed free of
charge to all attending. In addition, they were
used as monthly service bulletins and distributed
from the recreation office to all individuals or or-
ganizations desiring help. To encourage attend-
ance, postcards were mailed preceding each party
to all individuals who had signified interest, and
newspaper articles were published announcing the
program.

The most valuable part of each party was the
informal discussion conducted for a few minutes
at the close of the program. A post-mortem, as it
were, with the various leaders offering construc-
tive criticism and offering suggestions for future
parties. Party themes that were presented the
first season were as follows : November, Thanks-
giving; December, Christmas; January, Valen-
tine; February, Washington's Birthday; March,
St. Patrick's Day; April, Spring; and May, an
outdoor campfire party.

This season, although the same holiday theme
may be used in some cases, the material presented
will all be new. The leaders, by saving the mime-
ographed programs each month, will find at the
end of the season that they have a complete note-
book on social recreation arranged in seasonal
order.

The results of this plan are very interesting.
First, the attendance grew from seventeen at the
first party to thirty-five at the second and over
sixty at the third. This peak attendance held up
fairly well during the winter months then dropped
off in the late spring. Programs were discon-
tinued during the summer months of June, July,
and August. Second, many new leaders became
interested and after attending one party continued

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coming to others that were offered. Third, the
month after the parties started we noticed a defi-
nite decrease in the number of requests made to
the recreation office for social recreation leader-
ship. This led us to believe that these monthly
programs were being used when the leaders re-
turned to their own organizations. Fourth, through
the use of different churches, different leaders,
and the postcard announcement system each
month, the department has gained many new
friends and has developed within the community
a keener appreciation of social recreation.

We express our sincere thanks to the National
Recreation Association who through one of their
field representatives helped us to discover this ex-
cellent method of training our volunteer leaders.
To those who may be interested in trying this
plan I earnestly recommend the booklet published
by the Association entitled "Parties — Plans and
Programs" edited by Ethel Bowers. It contains,
not only an excellently arranged fund of social
recreation material, but also a more detailed out-
line of the organization of social recreation teams
than it was possible to include here.

416

SOCIAL DANCING IN THE CO-RECREATION PROGRAM

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Social Dancing in the Co-Recreation
Program

(Continued from page 384)

floor. In that way each person secures a partner.
Sometimes we have them exchange partners on
the floor; occasionally we have what we call a
"blind dance" in which the boys come in from
behind one side and the girls from the other side
of a corner, and no one can see who his partner
will be until they meet at a common point. We
tend to mix in more boys' choices as we have gone
along and fewer dances by chance are used. Oc-
casionally we have had a ladies' choice, but in
general we have been trying to teach the boys to
take the initiative and conduct themselves as they
would at regular social dances.

As a climax to the eight weeks course, we con-
clude with a formal dance. On that day we have
the boys all wear coats which are to represent
tuxedos. The boys are given programs and they
are requested to make out the programs and take
care of their partners throughout the entire period
just as if they were, at a formal affair.

At the conclusion of this eight weeks period we
have noted the following improvements. Both the

boys and girls have improved their dancing con-
siderably and many who were stiff and lacked
rhythm have smoothed out both their movements
and their timing. Practically all of them have
gained in social approach and the boys and girls
converse between dances instead of separating
into different corners. The general conduct of
dancing has improved a good deal. The attitude
of the boys and girls towards each other is more
spontaneous and wholesome. We at Emerson feel
that of all our co-recreational programs, this is
one of the very best.

A Symposium on Social Dancing

(Continued from page 385)

music is played most of the time. To high school
age boys and girls, this is important, for they do
not like to wait during intermissions. The dances
are supervised very carefully by the recreation
staff; although about twenty dances have been
held, no trouble has been reported. The towns-
people have commented favorably on these affairs,
saying that they take the young people off the
streets and put them into healthy surroundings
where they dance themselves tired. There is no
charge for these dances. From Chase Hammond,
Director of Recreation, Albion, Michigan.

Friday Night Dances in Richmond. Friday night
dances are outstanding events in the recreation
program of Richmond, Virginia. Tickets of ad-
mission are given older boys and girls attending
two of the recreation centers on the east side of
Richmond, and the dances are attended chiefly by
young people from fifteen to eighteen years of
age. The use of the schools is made possible
through the superintendent of schools ; the Coun-
cil of Social Agencies pays the salary of the di-
rector and an assistant or two, and the Recrea-
tion Department and the WPA furnish the other
workers. An orderly, enjoyable dance is the re-
sult of this joint planning.

One Public Auditorium Used for Dances of Local
Groups. Young people of Portland, Oregon, at-
tend evening neighborhood recreation classes many
of which are held in the public schools. Instead
of using the school buildings for neighborhood
dances for these young folks, the city recreation
department invites the various groups to schedule
dances in the ballroom of the Public Auditorium.
Thus each district's dancing enthusiasts have the
best of dancing facilities and leadership, and the
dance is as much their own as if held in their
local community. There is no admission charge;
directors in charge of the buildings merely sign, as

CLUBS FURTHER CO-RECREATIONAL OBJECTIVES

417

hosts, the invitation blanks. This arrangement is
made possible by cooperation of the city depart-
ment of public affairs. From Dorothea Lensch,
Director of Recreation.

Clubs Further Co-Recreational
Objectives

(Continued from page 393)

parties have been held in most of the lakes in the
region about Schenectady. Hikes have been an-
nounced for Wolf Hollow, Lishas Kill, Vroo-
man's Nose, Plotter Kill, Devil's Punch Bowl
and Countryman's Hill, Indian Ladder, and Verf
Kill. This means that the club has become ac-
quainted with the hills and valleys for several
miles around. "There will be either skating or
skiing each Saturday afternoon, depending on
weather conditions," read the announcement in
January, and February added a real sleigh ride.

Week Ends

Very much of the Otyokwa fun comes in the
week-end outings. In August this past year there
was a two-day camping trip to Sand Point camp
site on Schroon Lake. In September the Labor
Day week end was spent in a canoe trip through
the Saranac Lakes. Twenty-eight signed up for
the trip and twelve canoes were used. Early in
October the camping trip was in the region of
Mt. Marcy and the mountain climbers had their
choice of Marcy, Golden and Mclntyre. Over the
New Year week end some thirty-five club mem-
bers skied at Aiden Lair.

Special Interest Groups

Aside from these events open to the whole club,
there are special interest groups as demand for
them arises. This past year there have been three
special interests. One, popular for several years,
.was a music appreciation group. Square dancing
became a real hobby with a large number of the
club members, and the announcement of a ball-
room dancing class brought out a large and en-
thusiastic crowd which carried on for about ten
weeks. In former years there have been book
study groups, a photographic group, one in the
early history of the Mohawk Valley section of
New York, a French group, various dramatic
groups, and a choral group — in fact, the Special
Interests Committee keeps its ear to the group
and hastens to promote any interest for which
they can find enough followers.

If You Would Have a Successful Club
Our club, with its nine year history, has cov-

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reached some conclusions as to essentials. Among
these essentials the following may be listed :

i. A balanced active participating membership
is imperative. The man who belong to the Otyokwa
Club have classes and study in connection with
their work and can not be as regular in attendance
on some nights of the week as the women. This
means that the membership list should tend in the
direction of a larger number of men than women.

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418

INTRODUCING BOYS AND GIRLS TO CO-RECREATION

Sckoof

HARRY C. McKOWN, Editor

C. R. VAN NICE, Managing Editor

Subscription
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SJ3.IIII

A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY

in which

Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly, Financing Activities, and Social
Functions make democratic settings and life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.

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2. Married persons are admitted to member-
ship only when both husband and wife are inter-
ested. When a member marries a non-member,
the new husband or wife automatically becomes a
member.

3. A membership larger than sixty or seventy
tends to become unwieldy.

4. A varied program is necessary.

5. Club responsibilities should be as evenly dis-
tributed between men and women as possible.

6. All outings and parties are expected to pay
for themselves — that is, expenses for such events
are apportioned among those who participate.
Members who use their cars for transportation
are paid a definite rate per mile.

7. Groups are expected to stay together on
mountain climbing trips.

8. All parts of the program are for all of the
members. The club has been proud of the fact
that "pairing off" is not important. If at times
there seems to be a tendency in the direction of
too much pairing, definite efforts are made by
planning committees to counteract it.

Introducing Boys and Girls
to Co-Recreation

(Continued from page 394)

end of the volleyball season. Through the co-
operation of two members of the physical educa-
tion department, the boys and girls who are lead-
ers in the Junior class were arranged in mixed
teams and played a round robin tournament
within one leader's period. Although the girls
were hesitant at first, it was not long before they
entered into the game wholeheartedly, and when
the physical education classes were combined in
the same way, these leaders were helpful and
enthusiastic. Again, in anticipation of a seventh
grade party, the two sets of leaders danced the
Virginia Reel together. The girls had previously
been taught the dance, and they were a great help
in teaching the boys. On the evening of the party
when it was necessary to organize a large group
of children, there was a definite nucleus around
which to build. Working with leaders' groups is
an ideal way to start, because small groups lend
themselves more readily to experimentation.

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

419

However, many schools use leaders in class without
having the opportunity of meeting a mixed lead-
ers' group. In this case the leaders will still be of
untold assistance if they understand fully before-
hand how the program is to be presented.

In classes handled with no assistance from
student leaders, the program for a day of co-
recreation must be worked out in detail ahead of
time, and a foundation should be laid in the pre-
ceding physical education period to prevent con-
fusion and excitement from outweighing the
value of participation.

Whether the teachers have entire responsibility
or whether they have students to assist them,
there are certain fundamental rules to follow in
organizing a class with co-recreation as its basis :
(i) the activity must be one that all may enter
and all will enjoy; (2) rules must be adapted to
a mixed group, some regulations may be added,
or, as in volleyball, boys and girls may abide by
their respective rules; and, (3) mixed teams, ar-
ranged so that they will contribute most to the
success of the program must be planned in ad-
vance. Each teacher knows her particular situa-
tion best; she will know whether she wants all
teams of equal ability, or several classes of teams.
The planning must necessarily be done by the in-
structors of both groups beforehand.

In conclusion, we must accept the fact that co-
recreation may take root gradually, and the real
results will not show immediately. The three
main essentials for the success of the program are
cooperation, a real desire to make co-recreation
popular, and careful planning, which cannot be
stressed too much. Every teaching situation is
different and each approach may vary in detail.
However, by following the general outlines that
others have found workable, a teacher will soon
find that she can build her program from her own
experiences. These experiences are going to give
her the best foundation for a successful program
of co-recreation.

Magazines and Pamphlets

] Recently Received Containing Articles j
V of Interest to the Recreation Worker

The Evolution of Flint's Co-Ed Night

(Continued from page 397)

center experimented with some group counseling.
Discussions were held following talks, some group
tests were given and opportunities offered for in-
dividual tests. It was not particularly successful
from the standpoint of attendance, but some good
contacts were made, the director reports, and some
follow-ups have been made at the center. Perhaps
it was too new for the members to understand

MAGAZINES

Parks and Recreation, June 1939

"Planning the Recreational Swimming Pool"
by C. P. L. Nicholls

School and Society, June 17, 1939

"What the Future Holds" by Professor Marvin L.
Darsie, University of California

The Camping Magazine, June 1939

"Tipi Camping" by W. M. Harlow

"Camera Campers and the Camera Counselor"

by Elizabeth G. Look

"A Study of Camp Accidents" by Light for Life
Foundation and the American Camping Associa-
tion

Hygeia, July 1939

"Camp Counsel" by Lawrence Riggs. Gives expert
advice on many aspects of camping that are often
unobserved by counselors and children alike. For
example, the effect of a higher altitude on the
physical condition of children, the necessity for
sleep and adequate rest.

"The Psychology of Loafing" by Kenneth P. Wood.
This is a plea for cultivating the ability to cast
aside completely the care of business with a view
to enjoying nature or absolute quiet without bore-
dom.

"Highway Health" by Beulah France. Cautions
against the lurking dangers of food and drink
likely to be found on the common highways.

Student Life, April 1939

"Camp Life at Home" 'by Sid Katz

"This is Youth Hosteling" by Margaret J. Brown

Beach and Pool, July 1939

"How to Stage Annual Swim Week"

by Herbert Allphin

"Principles and Design of the Water Level Deck
Pool" by William P. Campbell

Youth Leaders Digest, July 1939

"Shall We Play to Win?— Or Just for Fun?"
"The Professional Preparation of Recreation Lead-
ers" by Dr. Edwin L. Haislet
"Indicted!" by George Hjelte

Parks and Recreation, August 1939

"Casting Pool Answer to Angler's Prayer"
"Archery Comes to Essex County" by L. C. Wilsey

The Child, July 1939

"A Museum for Children" by Mrs. William L.

Garrison
"Museum Facilities for Children"

Character and Citizenship, September 1939

"Democracy and Education" by Robert M. Hutchins
"Recreation and the 'Mormon' Church" by T. Edgar

Lyon
"Some Emotional Needs of the Child" by Clarence

G. Moser
"The Evaluation of Propaganda" by Henry O. Evjen

420

ITS EASY TO HAVE FUN !

School Activities, September 1939

"Activities and Projects of Student Councils"
by C. C. Harvey

The Guardian, September 1939

"A Caravan Party" by Catherine Lee Wahlstrom

PAMPHLETS

Annual Report 1938

Onondaga County Park and Regional Planning
Board, Syracuse, N. Y.

Annual Report 1938

Department of Public Recreation, Board of
Education, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Report 1938

Playground Athletic League, Baltimore, Maryland

Annual Report 1938

Park and Recreation Divisions, Toledo, Ohio

Annual Report 1938

Playground and Recreation Department, Santa
Monica, California

Report of the Board of Recreation Commissioners for
1937 and 1938 Elizabeth, N. J.

Fourth Annual Report

New Jersey State Planning Board 1938, Trenton,
N. J.

Wisconsin State Planning Board and Conservation
Commission — Bulletin No. 8

A Park, Parkway and Recreational Area Plan,
Madison, Wisconsin, 1939

First Progress Report

Louisiana State Planning Commission, Baton Rouge,
La., April 1938

Use of Roofs for Play

Otto T. Mallery, a member of the Board of
Directors of the National Recreation Association,
is anxious to secure information on play roofs
constructed on one-family houses. If any of our
readers are familiar with such projects, may we
not hear from them?

what it was all about, and since there was no
placement bureau connected with it, those who
had the most need of such counseling could least
see its value because there was not immediate help.
A dramatics group has been tried almost every
year with varying success according to the ability
of the director. This year has been one of the
very best, and perhaps more has been done in the
way of creative dramatics than at any other time.
The best production undoubtedly was a skit about
the Y.W.C.A. given at the annual dinner for As-
sociation members and friends. It was adapted
from Barbara Abel's "Follow the Leadership"
and not only got ideas across to the members with

good humor, but made the co-ed group much more
conscious of being part of a large organiza-
tion and familiar with some of its underlying
philosophy.

After the classes, the last two hours, from 9 130
to 1 1 130, are spent dancing in the gymnasium. An
informal atmosphere prevails here too, as more
come "stag" than with dates. Various mixers and
tag dances are used to help get everyone on the
floor. The same young woman is at the door
every time to take tickets and they have learned
that she will enforce the Council's rules of check-
ing wraps and no smoking except in corridors.
There is no other apparent supervision, but a staff
member is always present.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young people
have come and gone in these years. Some we
have not known at all, some long enough and in-
timately enough so that we know their Y.W.C.A.j
contacts have helped them in problems of job,!
personal appearance, family and marriage adjust-
ments. Some perhaps have stayed too long in this
program and should be moving on to new inter-
ests and greater responsibility in the community.
We believe that most of them are better fitted to
take their places in society because of the time
spent at the Y.W.C.A.

It's Easy to Have Fun!

(Continued from page 401)

whose membership was due to him or to some
one whom he had interested. As a result of
this type of contagious enthusiasm we are
faced with the problem of just how large we
should permit the club to grow. Is there a
limit beyond which a group like this can not
go and still maintain its characteristic friend-
liness and informality? Should we take in all
who are interested or should we maintain a
numerical balance between the two sexes? We
have decided on the latter and keep a waiting
list of whichever sex is in the ascendant.

The spread of information by our "satisfies
customers" also resulted in inquiries by folks
of all ages. We decided to keep it a young
people's group and therefore will not admit
any one over thirty-five. Our one notable ex-
ception is a man sixty-two years of age who
is affectionately called "Pop" by the rest of us,
and who can climb New England's highest
mountain at the head of the line. He holds
our only honorary life membership.

EXHIBITS AT THE CONGRESS

421

Exhibits at the Congress

Another problem which accompanies a
growing membership and an increasing num-
ber of activities is that of leadership. With TriERR WILL BE interesting educational and com-
thirty-eight events in one month it is clearly ' mercial exhibits at the Twenty-Fourth Na-
impossible for one leader to cover all of them. tional Recreation Congress which delegates will
Out of the club has emerged a group of young not want to miss. They will be located in the ball-
men who have demonstrated the qualities of room f°yer of the Statler Hotel, Boston, head-
leadership. They have been selected by the quarters of the Congress, and it is hoped that all
planning committee. They accept assignments delegates will examine the exhibits and learn
of events and take their responsibility about them through the representatives of the co-
seriously. They meet regularly to discuss the operating agencies and firms. For your conveni-
techniques involved in leadership, to exchange ence .in locating the exhibits the booth numbers
experiences and to help each other with prob-
lems which have arisen. We do not think of ,r , AJJ

Name and Address Number

the leader as playing the role of a policeman. . ,. , ^ XT • ,, , r,.. 0. ,~f

Abingdon Press — New York City 24 and 25

Rather is he the "tour conductor" who handles American Youth Hostels, Inc.— Northfield, Mass. 29

the details, collects the money, gives the signal Association of American Playing Card Manu-

to move on to the next activity, handles facturers— New York City 26

emergencies, and does all in his power to give Association Press-New York City 24 and 25

. r ., ,. r .... A. S. Barnes and Company — New York City.. 18

the folks the time of their lives. Benjamin Ekctric Manufacturing Company-

Des Plaines, 111 21 and 22

A I f+ (I it ii Boy Scouts of America — New York City 28

Along L,omes Hallowe en ! ; E Burke Company) The-Fond du Lac, wis. n

(Continued from page 407) Chicago Recreation Commission 7

Refreshments Cokesbury Press— Nashville, Tenn 24 and 25

MENU No. I Cornell University Extension Service —

Deviled Ham Sandwiches Ithaca, N. Y 32

Black Olives *. Everwear Manufacturing Company, The —

Ginger Ale and Grape Juice Punch Springfield, Ohio 1

Orange Cups with Orange Sherbet Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agricul-

Orange Cups. Cut off top of oranges and scoop out ture — Washington, D. C 33

pulp. Keep orange shell in water until ready to use. P. Goldsmith Sons, Inc., The — Cincinnati, Ohio 27

Dry cut before using. Hillerichand Bradsby Company — Louisville, Ky. 16

MENU No. 2 Law Pipe Railing Corporation — Long Island

Man-in-the-Moon Cookies City, N. Y 38

Pie Faces Witches' Punch Model Yacht Association — Eastern Division 30

Witches' Punch. Use grape juice to get dark color. Magnus Brush and Craft Materials, Inc. —

Pie Faces. Individual pumpkin pies with chocolate faces. Wakefield, Mass 39

MENU No. 3 National Billiard Association — Chicago, 111 40

Assorted Sandwiches National Golf Foundation — Chicago, 111 31

Olives Pickles Cheese National Recreation Association — Arts and

Doughnuts Cider Crafts 34 and 35

Salted Peanuts Candy J- E- Porter Corporation— Ottawa, 111 19 and 20

A TW«f TJ;KI;« ,~u Prentice Hall, Inc.— New York City 24 and 25

A tfriel BlDllOgrapfty Public Affajrs Committee> jnc._New York City .24 and 25

Obtainable from National Recreation Association) A. G Spalding & Bros.— New York City 14

Plays Pantomimes and Other Entertainment Material for TJ. S. Housing Authority-Washington, DC 4 and 5

^ Hallowe'en. A bibliography. Free University of Chicago Press . .24 and 25

t for Hallowe'en. A seventeen page bulletin including W j. Voit Rubber Corporation-
activities and ideas sufficient for several Hallowe'en Los Angeles Cal 10
parties, as well as entertainment numbers for an audi- Wilson Sporting Goods Company— Chicago' 111 ' 23
tonum or club program. $.25 Womans Press-New York City. . . .24 and 25

feter Pumpkin Eater, by Marion Holbrook. A short

play for young boys and girls. Only the spell cast by AD* f • T n

a pumpkin shell house makes Peter's wife stay at A DUSineSS bxeCutlVG TumS Park

home. $.15 A J * * i. L

Hallowe'en Gambols, by Marion Holbrook. Traditional ,_ . mmiStratOr

Hallowe'en characters appear before Mephistopheles (Continued from page 408)

and report on the success of their evening travels. At his call the operating family assembled.

Folk dance groups. Festive court scene. $.10 Revolutionary change was in the air, but here was

422

YOU ASKED FOR IT!

CHARACTER
AND CITIZENSHIP

brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing — or
not doing —

To lay the foundation for good citizenship

To build good character

To develop personality

To solve community problems

To safeguard democratic institutions

To improve family life

To promote recreation and good health

To encourage cooperative activities

The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Educa-
tion for Character and Citizenship. It is
of particular value to:

School and Church Leaders

Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and

Directors

Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation

Dr. Francis L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue of your magazine, CHARACTER and
CITIZENSHIP, came to my desk this week. I
carried it home and pleasantly, I believe profit-
ably, too, spent an evening reading the entire
contents.

"Permit me to express my appreciation of the
increasing value of this unique periodical. I could
ardently wish that every school library possess
one or more subscriptions. It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance teachers might well utilize
the magazine as reference material for students.

"The overview which your periodical gives to
the work of the various social agencies and the
emphasis afforded to the desirable coordination
of school and community social agencies consti-
tute a superior service. More power to your
efforts!"

Send your order to

Character and Citizenship

5732 HARPER AVENUE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

y — --. ...........

^P ^ Please record my name as a sub-

4? scriber to CHARACTER AND CITIZEN-
S SHIP as checked below.

One year subscription at $2.00

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY ... ... STATE

Nat. Rec.

leadership, and proud to be consulted, they gave
him instant loyalty. He saved millions for the
taxpayer by refunding outstanding debts. Seizing
the opportunity to use Government provided
labor, he has modernized and rebuilt. The con-
necting Outer Drive Bridge across the River link-
ing north and south side boulevards is completed.
Highways have been redesigned for motor safety
and convenience. The recreation service has been
unified and extended uniformly throughout the
city, converted from a predominantly children's
service to a service to the entire community, in a
frontal attack through the means of recreation
upon the problems of community morale. Think-
ing and planning has been converted from im-
mediate inspiration into long term expectancies.
Credit has been restored, and leadership is con-
stantly enlisting more of community participa-
tion, to make the parks of Chicago not only min-
ister to, but also creative of, a more effective
democracy.

10.

ii.

12.

13-

14.

15-
16.

17.

18.

19.
20.

21.

24.

25-

You Asked for It!

(Continued from page 411)

At. least a week before a dance ; a day or two

before a show.

Absolutely no. A girl should not ask a boy

for his athletic awards.

The girl should offer to return the boy's pins

or letters after the break-off of friendship.

If they go home immediately, the girl should

be home in half an hour after the function.

If they go to the restaurant they will need

more time.

The girls should not refuse a dance unless

she already has the dance. It is correct for

the girl to tell the boy when she has a dance

free.

Not necessary.

If not objectionable to the girl.

Unless you restrict to only couples attending.

This leads to our boys inviting our own girls.

Dance every third or fourth dance and always

the first and last dance.

Appear in person and very politely ask her

for a date.

May I have the next dance with you ?

Appropriate for month, season, and type of

dance.

Just a simple good-night.

Usually a "Sunday Suit."

At this time, not interested.

Will aid at any time.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

The Complete Swimmer

By Harold S. Ulen and Guy Larcom, Jr. The Macmillan
Company, New York. $3.00.

FROM THEIR EXPERIENCE, one as swimming coach at
Harvard College and the other as competitor, the
authors have written an up-to-date and practical account
of how to become a competent swimmer. The beginner,
as well as the average swimmer and competitor, will find
much practical help in this book. There are over a hun-
dred photographs and drawings illustrating the text.

Yachting with Models

By John Black. Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill Book
Company, New York. $3.50.

THIS VOLUME is designed for use as an instruction book
and contains general information about hull construc-
tion, types of fittings, the making of sails, and the actual
sailing of the model. The author tells what tools and
equipment are needed and gives the step-by-step pro-
cedure for the three principal ways of making the hull.
There are suggestions for organizing a model yacht club.

A Textbook of Physical Education

By Jesse Feiring Williams, M.D., Sc.D. and Whitelaw
Reid Morrison, M.D. W. B. Saunders Company, Phila-
delphia. $2.75.

THE SECOND EDITION of this book is fully up to date, and
numerous changes and additions appear both in text
and illustrations. The volume will serve its purpose of
"arousing in the student a genuine appreciation of the
need for recreational facilities, as well as to give an ade-
.quate education in recreational skills." Throughout the
book the author has emphasized the importance of de-
veloping an intelligent regard for the physical activities
that play so large a part in our daily lives.

Sources of Free and Inexpensive
Teaching Aids

By Bruce Miller. Ontario Junior High School, Ontario,
California. $1.00.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS are given regarding the sources
mentioned and information on how the material may
[ be secured. This list of material covers man}' subjects,
j including arts, crafts, birds, foods, electricity, health, and
j hobbies.

Youth in European Labor Camps

! By Kenneth Holland. American Council on Education,

Washington, D. C. $2.50.

' "pHis STUDY of work camps in European countries was

• prepared for the American Youth Commission of the

American Council on Education. Tracing as it does the

growth and present status of work camps abroad, the vol-

ume should be of real value to all who are concerned with
the social, educational, and political significance of the
camps in our own country.

Labor camps have been in existence since 1920. They
now seem to be a permanent part of the world program
for the care and training of youth.

Perspective Made Easy

By Ernest R. Xorling. The Macmillan Company, New
York. $1.40.

-pnis BOOK, illustrated by 271 drawings by the author,
I is a treatment of line perspective for beginning stu-
dents in freehand drawing. The material is arranged in
a series of sequential steps, which makes the learning of
perspective simple.

Making Good Before Forty

By Walter B. Pitkin. Robert M. McBride and Company

New York. $2.00.

I F YOU ARE LOOKING for new ways of making good in
I both your private and business life, here are helpful
hints. "A guide to successful living," the book contains
suggestions for well rounded leisure-time pursuits and
hobbies, and in the author's opinion the essence of well
rounded leisure lies in "doing what you can and what
gives you satisfaction with the skills and abilities used in
your working life."

What Councils of Social Agencies Do

Bulletin No. 100 of a Series on Community Planning.
Community Chests and Councils, Inc., New York City
$1.00.

A CLEAR STATEMENT of the objectives and activities of
*» councils of social agencies based on a study of twelve
large cities. The report shows many variations in what
councils do and points out that local structure and action
must be based on local situations.

Meeting the Needs of the
Mentally Retarded

Bulletin No. 420. Department of Public Instruction,
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg.

CLASSES FOR THE mentally retarded have been in opera-
tion in Pennsylvania for forty-five years, and the pur-
pose of the program has been "to capitalize each child's
special abilities and to minimize his defects so that he
may live happily and effectively." This booklet is an ex-
ceedingly practical one, dealing as it does with the es-
tablishment of classes, courses of study, methods, class-
room organization, and similar subjects. Emphasis is
laid on the importance of health and recreation activities
for the mentally retarded, and the recommendation is
made that at least an hour of each day's program or its
equivalent be devoted to health and physical education.

423

424

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

Health Facts for College Students.

By Maude Lee Etheredge, M.D. W. B. Saunders

Company, Philadelphia. $2.00.

In the third edition of Dr. Etheredge's book every
chapter has been revised to conform to present-day
knowledge, and two entirely new chapters have been
added. A chapter on Work, Leisure and Play stresses
the importance of recreation. "The challenge for the
college student to meet the increased leisure confronting
America today becomes great. He must meet it for
himself and help meet it for his family and his
community."

A Study of Education in the Civilian Conservation
Corps Camps of the Second Corps Area.

By Samuel F. Harby, Ph.D. Edwards Brothers, Inc.,
Ann Arbor, Michigan. $1.50.

In presenting the results of his study, Dr. Harby first
establishes a background against which the considerations
which follow stand out in relief. He then shows factually
what educational activities are being offered in the camps
and gives an interpretation of the program. In a chap-
ter on Informal Leisure-Time Activities Dr. Harby tells
of the program of sports, music, dramatics, arts and
crafts.

"Your Neighborhood Club."

A Manual for Group Leaders, by Gregg and Him-
ber. Association Press, New York City. $.60.
This Manual for Group Leaders, a booklet of 108
pages, will meet a growing demand for detailed R
ance in the setting up of neighborhood groups of boy& —
the influence of leadership, the nature of the program to
be administered, the objectives to be sought, records to
be kept and a host of other suggestions as to member-
ship, financing, interpretation, club relationships and
relationship of boys' leaders to parents in communities.
There is special emphasis on the relation of such boys'
groupings to training in the democratic processes of
citizenship. The book will be helpful not only to boys'
workers in Y.M.C.A.'s but to all those who have the
problem of setting up and conducting neighborhood boys'
groups.

"Let Me Think."

By H. A. Overstreet. The Macmillan Company, New

York City. $.60.

Why do minds go dead and what can be done to keep
minds from dying? What can people do about the
unhappiness about them ? What is to be gained by trying
to do something about that unhappiness aside from the
smug satisfaction of helping others? Dr. Overstreet
attempts in simple fashion to answer such questions
without laying down specific rules. He deals in principles
and shows how principles can be applied to life. The
chapter, "The Mind as Artist," is especially stimulating
and helpful.

Fun with Words.

By Jerome S. Meyer. Greenberg, Publisher, New

York. $1.95.

Fun u'iflt Words is the logical outgrowth of two very
popular pencil and paper games— Guggenheim and Alpha-
Jet, and it combines the best features of each. A vast
amount of research has gone into this book which con-
tains twenty categories, including animals, radio, screen
nd stage stars, operas, musical instruments, etc. The
book will not only serve its primary purpose as a source
of entertainment, but it will also prove valuable as a
categorical dictionary.

Knitting Manuals.

James Lees & Sons Co., Bridgeport, Pennsylvania.
A series of booklets, each discussing in some detail
vanous phases of stitch-craft, accompanied b7?0mplete

and easy to understand instructions. One is able to
choose from a variety of rugs, the ever popular afghan
sweaters for every member of the family, and other
hand-knit costumes of every type.

"Complete Knitting Manual" Volume 44, includes in
addition to general instructions fundamental knitting and
crochet stitches, models, and instructions covering all
kinds of garments. This volume sells for 50^. Others
can be purchased as follows :

Volumes 1, 2, 3 —Stitches and Styles— 50<f each
Volume 41 —Juvenile and Baby Book— 25 f

Volume 45 —Styles of the Future— 25<£

Volume 46 —Afghans— 25 #

Volumes 47, 49, 51— Style Book— 25tf each
Volume 48 —Needlepoint Book— 40tf

Volume 50 —Men's Book— 25 tf

Flowers and Still- Life.

Compiled by J. B. Charles. Studio Publications,
Inc., 381 Fourth Avenue, New York. $2.50.
This anthology of paintings is designed for those who
are fond of flowers and who appreciate the painter's
efforts to make fleeting beauty permanent. It champions
no school of painters, but confines itself to reproduction
and description of beautiful pictures of every type. There
are reproductions of seventeen paintings, sixteen of them
in full color.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-president
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCIIER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. L, N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan, City, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. II.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

T. SUFFERN TAILER, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Friends of Recreation

TO BOSTON as to a Mecca from the United States and Canada came the friends of recrea-
tion— for a week together — October 9-13, 1939, came to Boston as the home of Joseph Lee,
the prophet of the recreation movement.

Not a convention this. Not the annual meeting of a single institution but a parliament on
gracious living, not on living tomorrow only but also today.

The emphasis was upon the child, the man, the woman and their needs as human beings.
Man is man only so far as he plays. Play is the sign of life. When play ends death is on its way.

There is the play of the very little child in the home or the nursery school, the play of
the family together, play in the school, the play of men at work in industry, in the department
store, recreation in the church, in the service clubs, in the farm or as in the open country —
as well as on the playground in the established recreation center. Leaders in the Y.M.G.A., the
settlements, the Boy Scouts, the Boys' Clubs, the 4-H, the labor organizations, school and park
recreation workers, paid and volunteer came together to exchange ideas, to sing and to play
together.

If no one of the thirty-nine section meetings met an individual's particular need, there
was time set aside just for special meetings on any recreation subject desired by those present.

One special meeting had only one person present. Sometimes there were only three or
four. The Society of Recreation Workers of America had its own meetings as did other
special groups.

Music, drama, arts and crafts, hiking, nature activities, winter sports were debated from
the human point of view of satisfaction in living without too much attention to institutions.
Anyone interested in "the enduring satisfaction of life" found perfect freedom of discussion with
college presidents and students, employers and employees, mayors, lay board members, volun-
teers joining in. The machinery of the Congress was only such as to keep perfect freedom of
discussion. There was almost no mention of the National Recreation Association and its prob-
lems and its financing.

Even the questions to be discussed had come from all kinds of leaders from all kinds of
places. Thirty-two years of experience are behind these Congresses, — the first was in Chicago
in 1907 one year after the national movement was organized. All recreation groups, private as
well as governmental, and all individuals have been free to share in it. It has never been used
to push any political party, or serve the interest of any special religion, race or class. The one
thought has been to build that life here and now be made more permanently satisfying.

One early Congress had meetings attended by 4,000 persons but smaller gatherings have
seemed on the whole more effective for real discussion purposes.

The Recreation Congress meets not to fight vice, crime, "liquor," gambling, bad motion
pictures, burlesque, salacious literature, nor to control each individual's growth but to build so
many delightful, normal opportunities for fairly inexpensive recreation that vigorous flowing
life more nearly cares for itself and leaves little time and inclination for what men have found
through the centuries leaves afterward a very bitter taste in the mouth.

Such a free Congress on living is unique and is worth maintaining. Such a Congress is
not an accident. It does not just happen. Back of it is the labor of many — of many who have
passed on. Thousands each year have some share in this free discussion platform which is a
slow and natural growth of thirty-two years. With such a Congress, rich in traditions, open
to all, serving all, we ought to do everything in our power to preserve its special quality, to
avoid duplication that would weaken it, to try through our united effort to keep it free and

growing.

HOWARD BRAUCHER

NOVEMBER 1939

425

Novembei

Courtesy Red Cross C\

Recreation in the World of T

omorrow

I AM GRATEFUL to the
Women's National Radio
Committee for providing
me with an opportunity to take
a look ahead in recreation.
Two women champions of
recreation come to mind at
once : the first is the beloved
Jane Addams, who set forth
the need for recreation so
powerfully and appealingly in
her book, "Youth and the
City Streets," and who work-
ed for so many years of her useful life in an
effort to bring about better recreation for youth.
To my mind at once also comes Mrs. Eleanor
Roosevelt, who, in her own life, so perfectly il-
lustrates the best possible use of leisure time, and
who, only the other day, wrote that recreation is
next in importance to food, health, shelter and
education. In a recent conversation Mrs. Roose-
velt made two very telling points. She said that
with a more profitable use of leisure time some
countries might have prevented much of the pres-
ent marching and counter-marching abroad. The
second point had to do with the incentives for
maintaining ourselves in the state of well-being.
Ann O'Hare McCormick, competent observer of
European affairs, was struck by the amazingly
fine physical condition of the youth of the dicta-
tor-led countries. One of the tasks that faces us
in the recreation of tomorrow is that of encourag-
ing our people of all ages to sustain themselves
in the best possible physical condition for their
own sakes rather than because the whip of na-
tionalism and dictatorship is held over them.

The recreation of tomorrow must provide both
the incentive and the means for the maintenance
of physical health. The public parks and forests
of our nation will be opened to people of all
classes, and mountaintops, once the sanctum of a
few, will be used by all those who may be healed
in spirit by them, and by all those, and may their
ranks increase, who want to try their legs, their
hearts, and their lungs against mountainsides. We
are on our way to the greater use of state parks,
with their increasing number of camping places,
where release may be found from the confines
of the modern kitchen. Improvements will bring

By MARK A. MCCLOSKEY

This broadcast, on September 2nd, was
one of a series on "Women in the World
of Tomorrow" presented by the Columbia
Broadcasting Company in cooperation
with the Women's National Radio Com-
mittee. Mr. McCloskey, who made the
broadcast at the request of the National
Recreation Association, is Director of
Recreational and Community Activities,
Board of Education, City of New York.

people to our great outdoor
places. For many years the
declining agricultural popu-
lation and an increasing in-
dustrial life have brought
millions of our people to the
cities. They will temporarily
return to green fields, moun-
tains, and forests for sane,
satisfactory exercise, and for
freedom from the dust, noise
and tempo of our great cities.
The recreation of tomor-
row will find a way for all children in America to
have a camping experience; for them to see the
varying greens of nature without a background
of brick and mortar; to see where milk comes
from and how the food they eat grows ; to see the
curve of hills and the shape of trees; to become
sensitive to the smells of the country as against
the city smells; and to tune their ears to recog-
nize the harmony of country noises in contrast to
those of the city.

Numberless thousands of our city children
grow to manhood without a camping experience
in the country. We should vow that this experi-
ence shall not be denied to children now growing
up in this country. Great numbers of our young
people are growing to maturity without ever hav-
ing tried their bodies against nature's resistance.
No one should grow to maturity without having
tried his back against stone, wood, and water.
Dotted throughout the country now are work and
state camps providing this free experience. There
should be more of them. They are needed.

The recreation of tomorrow will find cheap
means of transportation so that our young people
can go about the country on their holidays, sens-
ing the spirit of other cities and states, appreciat-
ing the immensity and physical grandeur of our
nation, and traveling through the artificial walls
set up by provincialism. The CCC, among many
other accomplishments, contributed greatly to the
physical well-being of our youth and moved them
about the country, but many of them might well
have been wrapped in cellophane, for they traveled
in body but not in mind. Cheap transportation,
good hostels, an interpretation of the places seen,
stakes out another task for the new recreation.

428

RECREATION IN THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

Under the impetus of the nation's work relief
program the parks and playgrounds of our cities
have been increased tremendously. Golf courses,
tennis and handball courts have been multiplied.
The nation's housing program is making provision
for recreational facilities. City and county plan-
ners are giving fundamental recognition to recre-
ational needs. We will never again see a blue-
print for proposed development without seeing on
it space for recreation. City streets will no longer
be the cities' playgrounds. The thrill of active
games will be gotten without the added hazard of
dodging cars, and fewer streets will be wet with
the blood of children killed or maimed while
playing.

For a country that likes to get value for money
spent we have failed miserably to get our money's
worth out of the billions of dollars invested in
school plants. In the old school buildings we
locked the gates at 3 :oo P. M. and the spiked
fences kept children out. Now we put up fences
high enough to keep baseballs in. Adequate play
space will surround every school to provide plenty
of room to stretch limbs, to expand lungs, and to
keep from annoying neighbors as well. They will
be illuminated for use at night by adults and en-
gineered for skating areas in winter.

In England they are constructing separate
buildings for adult education and recreation. I
believe this is unnecessary. We can and will plan
gymnasiums and auditoriums with easy access to
streets ; put movable furniture in lower floor class-
rooms; place our shops and music rooms on the
lower levels of the buildings and scoop out the
earth under them for game rooms and club rooms
where adults may smoke and artificial light is no
handicap.

Let us construct school buildings with adequate
adult sanitary facilities and storage space for
chairs and equipment. The school auditorium
should be built so that it can be used for amateur
or professional dramatic performances. It should
be possible to shut off the upper part of the build-
ing so that there can be economy of heating and
lighting, as well as protection of the school
property.

Then, too, in the community school building of
tomorrow, many of our school administrators who
now think they hold the deed
of the school property in their
pockets will be relieved of that
idea and will recognize that the
schools belong to the public and

"Light streaming from the windows
of a schoolhouse by night can be
just as patriotic a symbol as the
flag flying over it by day."

that the public should enjoy their maximum use.
The problems of plant and maintenance can be
met if we agree that from the small town to the
big city that the public is wiser financially, politi-
cally, and socially which gets the full use of its
school plant.

Can't you see in your mind's eye what can take
place when you match the unoccupied time of the
school with the unoccupied time of the public?
In the afternoons children will come back to
school to play and do voluntarily those things in
which they became interested during the day;
they will enjoy the gayety of music and dancing,
and will have the satisfaction of finishing a job in
the shop ; mothers and teachers will be giving con-
sideration to their common problems, and there
will be adult classes for those who can't go out
evenings.

In these lighted community schools the game
rooms will be busy; the hobby groups will be at
work in the shops; the music rooms will give
forth sounds unpleasant to some but dear to the
hearts of those who make them; and the audi-
torium will house those who meet for their own
enlightenment, those who want to maintain the
political status quo and those who want to
change it.

The dramatics on the stage will run from high
to low; but good, bad or indifferent, it will be
loved by those who participate and their relatives.
Boy Scout troops and Girl Scout troops, social
clubs and voluntary learning groups will have a
place to meet, and there can be dancing all the
way from those who want to be jitter-bugs, or
whatever the prevailing mode is, to those who
want to enjoy the dance.

The various civic and social agencies of the
community will hold their meetings here. The
gymnasiums will be busy with those who want the
satisfaction of hard-fought games and those who
want to play badminton or reduce their waistlines.

The classrooms will be used by those who want
to fill up the gaps in their education, and their
numbers should be great, for those who have
stopped learning have stopped living.

What I have portrayed I have seen — thousands
of people passing into a school building at night
for all the activities I have described.

These schools and all recrea-
tional services they offer should
be manned by competent peo-
ple. To organize the leisure
time activities of people requires

RECREATION IN THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

429

a high type of personnel. It is not a job for
weight-lifters or dumbbell exercisers. It is a job
for a professional recreation staff paid at profes-
sional wages, and we should be glad to pay them,
for they would be very useful members of our
community.

All of this will cost money. Of course it will.
But we will be unwise not to spend money on it.
On the morrow we will not talk about recrea-
tion as though it were just a panacea for juvenile
delinquency or
maladjusted be-
havior. It must
be more than
that. I have not
been talking
about s an d-
boxes, wading
pools, swings and
slides. Recrea-
tion must be that
and more, too. I
haven't drawn
much distinction
between educa-
tion and recrea-
tion. I don't
know how to
make that dis-
tinction. Educa-
tion should be
recreational, and
recreation should
beeducational.
They are both a
part of living
and learning.

The increased leisure
time of our people must be

used for developing our democratic culture. What
we do in our leisure time will very much deter-
mine what our civilization will be, what the quality
of our experience and what the quality of our
people will be like.

Tomorrow's recreation program can do much
to promote the love of our country. It can do
much to break down our prejudices and make tol-
erance a really living thing and not a concept to
which we give lip service. The interest in com-
jmon, worth-while activities can dispossess the
j baser feelings of dislike and distrust. This sum-
mer I was thrilled to hear 17,000 children of all
colors and creeds singing and dancing in an in-

At the Tyson Schoener Recreation Center
in Reading, Pennsylvania, is an orches-
tra which conforms to its own pattern!

ternational song and dance festival — beautiful to
the eyes and ears, and I was grateful that these
children could sing and dance without fear in
their hearts.

Our recreation program of tomorrow shall
eternally seek for the preservation of cultural dif-
ferences in our people and appreciation of those
differences. A new cultural pattern can be in the
making in America — a fusing of all the best that
has come to us from other lands.

Here's to the
recreation of to-
morrow! May it
bring us sound,
straight, grace-
ful, healthy bod-
ies. May it bring
us an apprecia-
tion and an un-
derstanding of
our country and
its people. May
it make our
hands skilled to
produce those
things which are
pleasant and
beautiful to us.
Here's to songs
coming from
hearts unafraid,
and to dancing
for pleasure and
for grace, and
here's to the con-
flict in games
that tames the savage in-
stincts in us. Here's to the
place and chance for calm

and solitude to balance the drive of our American
life. Here's to those who recognize the need for
statesmanship and leadership in this field whose
edges have just been plowed. Here's to those who
have pioneered for recreation in America !

I was supposed to talk to you on recreation in
the world of tomorrow. That was impossible. In
the whole world round, save here, men march to
one rhythm and march in one direction — to de-
struction. May the "right about" command come
soon in all languages, and may the promise that
the new leisure and recreation holds for us in this
beloved country be soon on their horizons as well.

A Creative Community Christmas

IT WAS IN a town of about
six thousand, the center
of a rural county in
mid-Wisconsin, but it might
have been in a much larger
town, a completely urban
area, and still have called
into a meaningful com-
munity expression the vari-
ed and often hidden gifts
of all kinds and ages of the people living there.

Early in November, at two "leaders' " meetings
of rural club representatives especially interested
in music, and at an evening meeting open to all
members of the clubs, there was, after some gen-
eral singing and simple talk about music, a sug-
gestion that we take advantage of the nearness of
Christmas and celebrate that happy occasion with
a simple festival. We sang "Silent Night" and
recalled how much more deeply and warmly we
feel the meanings of Christmas when we sing
carols. That deepening of the meanings of an oc-
casion, so that we enter fully into them, was said
to be the main purpose of a festival. What are
the meanings of Christmas? we asked. The won-
der, reverence, and divine promise of the coming
of the Child, and the love of our children and a
sense of their high promise that go with that
wonder and reverence is one set of Christmas
meanings. Another has to do with the ancient
peoples' ever recurring renewal of hope and joy
at the winter solstice, the general friendliness and
jollity, with the feasting, the burning yule log, and
the delight in the evergreen trees and in the plants
that maintain their freshness and beauty even
when all the other trees and plants have seem-
ingly died.

What can we do to celebrate the wonder and
reverence, the religious side? was asked. The tell-
ing of the Christmas story was suggested — a Na-
tivity Play. St. Francis of Assisi, it was said, was
confronted by this same question when he gave
the first Nativity Play in 1223 to make the story
plain to the country people of his community in
Italy. Some talk of how he did it was now given,
and it was suggested that we together make such
a play with no directions save what are implied in
the story itself as told by St. Luke and St. Mat-
thew. To heighten the interest in doing this and

430

By A. D. ZANZIG

National Recreation Association

The story of a simple Christmas
festival which called into mean-
ingful community expression the
varied gifts of many people

:

to enrich the emotional tone
of the meeting, a series of
stereopticon slides* was
shown of paintings of the
Nativity, the Adoration of
the Magi, and related scenes
by the great and worship-
ful masters of old Italy.
The leader played familiar
carols appropriate to the
pictures as they were shown.

A sort of synopsis of the play-to-be was then
written on a blackboard as suggestions for the
making of it were given by various individuals in
the group. And as each scene and episode was
described, the question as to what carols could be
sung to accompany it was asked. Three carols not
generally known by the audience were suggested
at appropriate points by the leader, but all the
other carols were suggested by the people them-
selves. Each of the carols was sung amidst our
discussion, making the latter more interesting
and vital.

This done, though tentatively, we talked again
of the jolly aspects of Christmas, sang "Deck the
Hall with Boughs of Holly," and then discussed
how we could celebrate those aspects fully. Lack-
ing immediate response and being conscious of the
approaching limitations of time and energy, the
leader suggested that the decorating of the hail
the hanging of the greens, be itself an occasion
for celebrating with jollity and procession anc
lights. The outcome of this discussion will be ap-
parent in the description of the final progra:
which follows.

Before the leader left the county center where
the meetings were held, a committee was formed
of a group of people who met at a luncheon to
discuss the Christmas festivities. This group was
comprised of the music chairman of the county
federation of clubs, the county superintendent of
schools, the superintendent and the music teacher
of the schools in the county center, the principal,
the music teacher and the art teacher of the
county normal school, a leading minister, the
county agricultural agent and home demonstra-
tion agent, a volunteer drama leader who lives in

Obtainable from art museums, some public libraries, and uni-
versity art departments*.

A CREATIl'E COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS

431

the county, the University's own Extension Ser-
vice drama leader, its part-time music leader, and
the visiting music leader from the National Rec-
reation Association. This group gave unanimous
approval of the festival project. The most im-
portant feature of the project, for our purpose,
was the expressed intention to try to interest all
members of all the rural clubs in singing familiar
carols and learning new ones at their regular meet-
ing or meetings in the ensuing month in prepara-
tion for the festival. Another intention was to
have the children in the schools sing the same
carols. The school music teacher, though exceed-
ingly busy, was very willing to give what time
she could to helping in the project of having the
homemakers' and other clubs learn the carols. One
of her high school students might also help, she
said. It was expected that some of the county
normal school students could also help in this
project. The dramatic side of the festival was to
be worked on by a few people who had had ex-
perience in the production of plays in previous
years in the county. This drama group had not
undertaken any play for this year and so could
take the Nativity Play as its next project.

The home demonstration agent was shown
some very interesting plans and directions for
home Christmas decorations that might happily
engage many a person in contributing in that way
to the enrichment of Christmas meanings. It was
hoped that the Christmas festival would in this
way, as well as in other ways, be related to the
everyday life of many a home, having its roots
there and leaving them there to be nurtured
throughout the year by what in many instances
might be a new-found interest in family cultural
expression. The singing of carols in the clubs, to
sing them better and learn new ones, was to do
likewise for those groups, especially since this
singing was to be really significant, expressive and
lovable, not merely amusing or rousing.

It was believed that much of our effort at musi-
cal culture starts mistakenly where the branches
and leaves are, which can be plainly seen and ac-
claimed, and neglects the roots, with results that
should be expected from such an approach. The
idea of having the school children learn the same
carols that are being learned by their parents was
mainly for the same purpose of bringing about
family participation in the homes. The high
school a cappella choir was to have a very sig-
nificant part in the festival, thus again linking the
schools — this time in one of their best, most culti-

vated activities — with the life of people outside.
Another reason for the intertwining of music,
drama, crafts, procession, home decoration, and
beauty of other kinds was the idea that running
through them all, at best, is the same inherent will
to live more fully and significantly, to find some-
thing we love to do, and to give ourselves to it
just because it is lovable and inspiriting and not
merely another tribute to necessity or to our ma-
terial wants. All that is best in individual and
social living springs from that will. Music seems
to be its purest and most direct expression and the
most ready to awaken and nurture it. But for the
sake of the individual or group life as a whole,
and even for the sake of musical enjoyment it-
self, that will needs to find satisfaction in such
other kinds of expression as have been mentioned,
and even in one's daily work and social behavior.
For some people, perhaps many, not music but
some other medium will provide the initial or
main means of awakening and nurturing that
wellspring of full, significant living.

Invitations had been sent to ministers and choir-
masters to come together to consider ways of
making the most of music's place in the church.
A stock of fine, simple choir music for Christmas
was brought by the visiting music leader, as well
as ideas for making more of congregational sing-
ing with the thought that there might be interest
in having a joining of choirs and any existing
secular choruses in another festive Christmas cele-
bration, this one purely musical. But only two or
three churchmen responded to the invitation, and
the meeting to which they were invited was also
for club leaders and normal school students so
that little could be done with respect to the special
interests of the churches.

During the afternoon the president of the
county federation of clubs had been asked to be
chairman of the Christmas festival committee.
She had not been at the luncheon meeting so there
is no telling what her ideas as to the project were
when, after the evening celebration, she told the
departing music leader that the festival must be
held during his next visit, a month later. Though
he explained that his purpose was to help local
people to prepare and direct the festival them-
selves, his next visit being only to help them
further along the way, she insisted, saying that
next year they may do the whole thing themselves
but "this first year we must be sure that it is done
as well as possible." She had already arranged
for an early meeting of the committee to make

432

A CREATIVE COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS

definite plans and set them in motion. Moreover,
the Agricultural Extension Service music leader,
who had attended every meeting held during the
two days, was to come again in a week or two to
give further help if it were needed.

The Festival

It began with a procession of about thirty carol-
lers who came from a rear entrance singing the
gay "Here We Come A-Carolling." Many of the
audience, having learned this carol in our rehears-
als, also sang. The carollers in the procession
were of all ages and sizes from a four-year-old
to a sixty-five year old farmer who had his red
lined winter cap turned inside out, and each one
carried a wreath or other Christmas greenery. At
the head of this gay procession was the Spirit of
Toy, a lovely high school girl in appropriate cos-
tume. When she reached the steps in front of the
middle of the stage, she arose to the second step,
beckoned her carolling followers to stand on either
side of the steps, and exclaimed :
"I am the Spirit of Joy :

Here at the Christmastide

Where hearts are united,

I come to abide.

Let your candles be lighted,

Your holly be hung,

Your hearth fire be merry,

Your carols be sung."

"In this of all houses

The Christ Child will bide :

Make room for His coming,

Throw the door wide;

Hang your greens for His welcome,

Trim gaily your tree

Put wreaths in your windows,

Follow me, follow me !" *

Then, as she resumed her place in front of the
line of carollers, she and they again walked gaily
around the hall hanging the wreaths on the walls
and distributing the other greenery on window sills,
the front of the stage, and the top of the piano
while everyone sang "Deck the Hall with Boughs
of Holly."

It was at this point that two groups of school
children came marching in, each from a separate
entrance, one group singing "I Saw Three Ships
Come Sailing In" and the other, later, singing the
gay Burgundian carol, "Patapan," with its Willie
and his drum and its Robin and his whistle lead-
ing the procession.

• This poem and much else of the ceremony of hanging the greens
.nd lighting the candles were drawn from the celebration of
Christmas carried on at the Y.W.C.A. in Wausau, Wisconsin,
each year.

The decorating done, and the Spirit of Joy once
more back at the steps, she now called for the
lighting of candles, saying :

"We'll touch the taper in our hearts
To the flame of the Advent Star,
And set the light to burn a path
Where the shadowed places are."

"And some who never lift their eyes
To the Star that floods the night
May find their way to Bethlehem
By our friendly taper's light."

Then to each of the two seven-tapered cande-
labra, set at either side of the curtained stage,
went a blue costumed "page," one a boy and the
other a girl, each bearing a lighted taper. As the
girl lighted a candle, a member of the county
drama committee, seated inconspicuously off to
the side and front of the audience and half facing
the latter, read :

"We light a candle for the light
and wonder in children's eyes
as they greet Christmas morn."

Then, as the boy lighted a candle on his can-
delabrum, she read another sentence, this one for
the fragrance of balsam and pine. And so the
candlelighting and reading went on until each of
the fourteen candles had been lighted for some
joy of Christmas.

Now the high school a cappella choir sang the
Bach "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly
Light" from behind the closed curtains. Then the
audience sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem,"
after which a shepherd's piping was heard from
behind those curtains. The latter then parted, and
we saw in dim light five shepherds watching the<r
flocks by night, one of them walking slowly about
while the others reclined or sat about a fire.
These, of various ages, were the best Christmas
shepherds we have ever seen. Three of them were
well bearded for the evening and all were in heavy
bathrobes and other simple adornment just right
for an ancient shepherd's wintry night. When the
angel appeared, whom they had indeed never seen
before, and chanted the great news, their aston-
ishment was as real a thing as could be seen on a
stage, and their movements in awe and reverence
were also very convincing. After the angels'
Gloria the audience sang as to the shepherds, "0
Leave Your Sheep, Ye Shepherds on the Hills."
They left to seek the Child while the audience re-
counted what they had just seen in singing the
first three stanzas of "The First Nowell."

The curtains being now closed, the audience
sang "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear," thus

A CREATIVE COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS

433

incidentally filling the time needed to change the
scene. When the manger scene now appeared,
Mary was singing the beautiful French "Lullaby
of the Christ Child." (She, a rural schoolteacher,
was the most beautiful Mary imaginable, but de-
spite much eager effort on her part she could not
be sure of the tune so two of the high school girls
sang in the wings near her while she sang.)
Joseph was excellent also. The audience then
sang "Silent Night," during the last stanza of
which the shepherds
came down an aisle from
the rear of the hall on
their way to the Child.
These men, long accus-
tomed to tending farm
animals and walking on
rough ground, were again
ideal people for their
part. Their crooks were
tall sunflower stalks.
While the shepherds
made their obeisance to
the Child, the audience,
sang "Away in a Man-
ger." Then the three
kings in the rear of tbe
hall were heard singing
their "We Three Kings
of Orient Are" as they
came toward the manger.
Excellent kings they
were, with costumes bor-
rowed from a local lodge,
and being members of the
local Viking Chorus they
sang well and with ma-
jestic confidence.

The carol presented
here has been taken
from " 16 National
Christmas Carols"
copyrighted and pub-
lished by the E. C.
Schirmer Music Com-
pany, Boston. Used
by permission. The
complete set may be
obtained by remit-
ting forty cents to
the publisher.

Finally ten of the high school girls, all in lovely
white dresses, came also from the rear of the hall,
each bearing a lighted candle, as we all sang
"Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella." The scene
was now complete, holding Mary, Joseph and the
manger, the shepherds, the kings and the children,
the latter's candles seeming to join in sweet,
happy praise those on the still lighted candelabra
on either side of the front of the stage. We all
(Continued on page 474)

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SYSTEMS which close buildings at
night are not only saving light and heat, they
are denying light and heat spiritually. "-

Dr. Edwin A. Lee, Teachers College, Columbia

University.

"In the complexities and pressures of modern
life, our children's leisure is in grave danger of
extinction. So insistent are the many demands
upon their time and attention that unless we do
plan a so-called leisure program, their leisure is
likely to disappear altogether beneath the rushing
waves of doing things and going places. Organize
leisure we must — or at least we must plan for it.
But in so doing we must also be careful to pre-
serve the very essence of leisure — the quality of
spontaneity and choice." — Josetta Frank in "Chil-
dren and Their Leisure Activities," Childhood
Education, June 1939.

"It is the non-commercial and community pro-
ducing groups existing all across the country that
are responding to the desire of the American peo-
ple for a non-merchandized, personal theatre. It
is very largely through them that a national thea-
ter is coming into being. They are closer to the
people than any professional theater can be and,
therefore, at their best they present a truer and
more fundamental reflection of American life and
thought." — Gilmore Brown.

It is significant that in the statement of phi-
losophy of Sun-Yat-Sen, who did so much to
create national feeling in China, one of the three
items emphasized was, "The people are to enjoy
life." The other two were : "The people are to
have national loyalty" and "The people are to
govern."

"Increased leisure, brought about by the inven-
tion of so much machinery, brings another new
problem to education. There must be training for
the proper use of leisure time and there must be
facilities which will enable adults to use their lei-
sure to good advantage." — Dr. Ben G. Graham,
President of the American Association of School
Administrators, N.E.A.

434

"To very few of us comes the opportunity for
adventure in far-off, unexplored lands, but fresh
experience that stirs the soul pleasantly is adven-
ture, and all about us lie little-known regions. The
old frontiers are gone, but close to our dooryards
lie the new frontiers, the preserving and restoring
of our plant and animal life. On these frontiers
every citizen may become an adventurer." Mary
C. Butler in Happy Nature Adventures.

"Some contemplative freedom is required, and
some spiritual insight, to discern and realize, even
in the sports we ourselves play, the ardor of the
true amateur who, sportive and glad in each
moment of action, unperturbed by check or loss,
by triumph or victory, delighting in the loyal and
generous contest, rises to the creative joy of an
art that would express the utmost possibilities of
skilled and disciplined play." — Percy Hughes in
Journal of Health and Physical Education.

"No one can look at the world situation today
without recognizing the unique function of edu-
cation in a democracy where the wisdom, the
morality, and the vitality of the state, and the
freedom, well-being, and happiness of the popula-
tion rest so directly upon the education of all the
people. It may well be doubted if there can be a
democracy without free education, or anything
else but democracy where education is free."-
Dr. Luther Gulick.

"If an individual is to be an adequate or a
superior adult, successful in his undertakings and
well adjusted to the civilization in which he lives,
then that person needs to have had a happy,
wholesome childhood filled with worth-while ac-
tivities. And of all the activities of childhood play
is the most worth-while. The successful adult is,
nine times out of ten, the person who was a suc-
cessful child, and by successful child we mean not
the child who works steadily to prepare for his
future maturity, but the child who gets most out
of, and puts most into, the life of the present." —
Dr. Josephine Foster in Busy Childhood.

A Christmas Present to Decatur

CHRISTMAS present to
Decatur" is what the
holiday shoppers
from near and far proclaim
the Christmas Village in
Central Park, Decatur, Il-
linois, erected and operated each
year by the Department of Pub-
lic Recreation under the sponsor-
ship of the Retail Merchant's
Bureau of the Association of
Commerce. The Christmas Village is not a com-
mercial enterprise and no commercial aspect of
any description is in any way promoted or linked
with the activities of the Village.

The Christmas Village is erected prior to
Thanksgiving Day of each year. On the day after
Thanksgiving Santa Claus is brought to Decatur,
usually by train, and after a parade with appro-
priate ceremony is installed at the Village where
are to be found Santa's Post Office, his Work
Shop, and a Marionette Theater. At his Post
Office, Santa interviews
the children each day,

The Retail Merchants Bureau of
the Decatur; Illinois, Association
of Commerce each year pre-
sents a Christmas gift to the
city in the Christmas Village

By R. WAYNE GILL

Superintendent of Public Recreation
Decatur, Illinois

broadcasts daily radio pro-
grams over Station WJBL,
Decatur, and through the
cooperation of the local
postmaster children can mail
their Santa letters in a reg-
ulation mail box, postage free.

In the Santa Workshop, new
toys are made and old toys re-
paired by workmen dressed in the
conventional red and white, for
the "Christmas Goodfellow Guild," an organiza-
tion of women who operate a Christmas store for
the benefit of needy and underprivileged families.
Santa's Marionette Theater completes the group
of buildings, and during productions is a magnet
for both young and old. Performances are given
at three different periods each week day. Sessions
are one hour and a half in length, and four com-
plete performances are given during each session.
Through an agreement of the local Retail
Merchants, the Santa Claus at the Village in Cen-
tral Park is the only

With Workshop, Marionette Theater and Post Office,
Decatur is ready to meet any Christmas emergency!

Santa in Decatur. In-

435

436

A CHRISTMAS PRESENT TO DEC ATI] R

dividual stores do not employ men to play Santa,
but cooperate in the promotion of the Christmas
Village. Parents in the community have been re-
lieved from the task of explaining "why" so many
Santas, for in Decatur there is only one. Children
hear Santa's voice on the radio broadcasts, and
when they meet him face to face and hear him
talk they can really believe their eyes.

In the course of two weeks last year Santa
received in his post office box over one thousand
letters from the children of this and surrounding
communities. He held in the neighborhood of
four thousand interviews with youngsters, and
made twenty-six fifteen minute radio broadcasts
during which he would tell of the activities at the
Christmas Village and invite his little friends who
were listening in to call for a chat. He gave the
names of boys and girls who sent letters and on
each broadcast read one or two letters over the
air. Noise-making toys were used on the broad-
casts such as horns, crying dolls, trains, and air-
planes. There was always a crowd of boys and
girls gathered at the door of the Post Office at
broadcasting time, and Santa would usually end
his broadcasts by having the children at his head-
quarters join him in singing Christmas carols.

At Santa's Workshop children may see toys
being made by Santa's helpers. All types of new
wooden toys are made and old toys are repaired.
In connection with the Christmas Village project,
five hundred new toys were made, and one thou-
sand old toys were reconditioned. These toys
were then distributed by the Goodfellow Guild
through their Christmas Store to needy and un-
derprivileged children.

The Marionette Theater, with its variety of
shows, furnished thousands of Christmas shop-
pers, both young and old, a few moments of
amusement, fun and relaxation during the rush of
the holiday season when everyone seemed bent on
catching up with the bewhiskered old gentleman.
During the 1938 season the theater presented five
different shows. Four of the productions were
given during the daytime sessions, and one, the
Nativity, a sacred production, was given at night.
The day shows included : "The Prologue," "Frau
Lumpkin's Kindergarten," "Swingin' Mother
Goose," and "Santa's Circus."

A Santa Marionette was the master of cere-
monies in all day shows. In "The Prologue"
Santa represented America and played host to
welcome all his friends from foreign lands. Ten

characters made up the cast for the Prologue,
bringing greetings to Decatur.

The kindergarten sketch, "Frau Lumpkin's
Kindergarten," was a Dutch scene drawn in tulip
time in Holland. Santa visited the kindergarten,
much to the embarrassment of Frau Lumpkin, in
tulip time, "just to check on her girls and boys,
and mark in his book either good or poor, and
put in his order for his toys." Santa and Frau
Lumpkin made many forget their troubles with
their acting and lines over whether Frau Lump-
kin's chimney should be enlarged or Santa's "great
big tummy" reduced.

The outstanding attraction of the Toyland
Revue was "Swingin' Mother Goose," which
captured the fancy of the crowd all during the
season. Mother Goose, geared to swing time, was
scored as a "smash hit" from her debut. Opening
the scene, Mother Goose appeared old and de-
pressed as she entered on the back of her fowls,
who also seemed about ready to call it a day ! Old
King Cole, Little Boy Blue and Bo-Peep were
other characters on whom life was beginning to
tell. But Santa, to the delight of the crowds, had
a remedy — swing music ! Under Santa's direction
Little Boy Blue came through with such fine
swing tunes as "Toy Trumpet," "Old King Cole," *
and "Rhythm In My Nursery Rhymes," as the ;
characters fell to trucking and pecking in a fiery
jam session which restored their youth.

The final show of the group, "Santa's Circus,"
was the delight of youngsters and oldsters as well.
Featuring a galaxy of trick characters, the ring
master paraded the acts in rapid-fire order before
an awed and astonished public. The favorites of
the circus skit were: the elastic man in top hat,
who stretched from six to thirty-six inches in:
height, his partner Toto, the clown, and the dis-
appearing lady.

"The Nativity, "a sacred production, was shown
only at night and was truly a masterpiece in mari-
onette construction, manipulation and lighting.
The story of the nativity was written in seven
scenes. The characters were: Mother Mary, the
Prophet, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, King
Herod and the Shepherds. Beautiful sets and
lighting effects that portrayed the scenes to the
best possible advantage held the large crowds in
quiet meditation even after the final scene, "The
Prophecy Fulfilled," was reverently blacked out.

The equipment necessary to put on the first pro-
duction in 1936 amounted to approximately $350.
(Continued on page 475)

Six POLICE precinct stations
in Cleveland are used for
crime prevention instead
of places in which to incarcer-
ate lawbreakers. These police
stations are neighborhood "City
Halls" where boys eight to
eighteen years of age are carrying
on a model self-governing project.
The miniature communities are call-
ed "Boystowns" and a youthful mayor, council-
men, and judges elected by the citizens of each
"town" conduct municipal affairs just as a real
city administration runs a city.

More than three thousand boys have become
members of "Boystowns" since they were or-
ganized last January. They have set up their own
courts ; they have written their city charters ; and
with the help of city and WPA recreation super-
visors the boys have planned a program of cul-
tural, physical education and craft activities for
the coming year. The movement has received en-
thusiastic support from all juvenile authorities,
service clubs, school officials and similar groups
in Cleveland who believe this is an effective way
of preventing juvenile delinquency.

Experiments similar in some respects to the
Cleveland "Boystown" movement have been tried
before. Such a plan was started in 1904 at the
Hudson (Ohio) Boys' Farm. Hiram House, a
settlement house in Cleveland directed by George
Bellamy, has supported a program known as
"Progress City" during the summer for a number
'of years. The "Boys' Brotherhood Republic" in
Chicago was incorporated in 1914 and is still
pperating. Cleveland juvenile authorities believe,
jiowever, that never before has such a program to
:ombat juvenile delinquency been planned on a
:ity-wide, year-around basis. In these Boystowns
Jill boys are eligible for membership ; they make
:heir own rules, mete out punishment according
:o the dictates of juries composed of their mem-
bers, and actually control the administration of
:heir affairs. Adults serve only as advisors and
mist consult with the boys before new plans are
idopted or old ones changed.

The Boystown idea in Cleveland is the result
•)f several years' study by police and recreation
Authorities. These officials realized that the annual

A large city attacks its

crime prevention problem

through the organization

of "Boystowns"

By FRED KELLY

Division of Recreation
Cleveland, Ohio

cost of crime in the United
States, according to the De-
partment of Justice, is about
$i8,cx)o,ooo,ooo — half the na-
tional debt. They knew also
that seventy-five to eighty per
cent of all criminals have pre-
vious records as juvenile delinquents.
In an effort to correct this appalling
condition a crime prevention bu-
reau was organized in the Police Department. An
officer particularly adapted to getting along with
school children was put in charge. He talked with
hundreds of youngsters in the course of conduct-
ing safety work and found out who were the
leaders of neighborhood gangs. He discovered
one major cause of delinquency — lack of any pro-
gram in school or recreation centers where boys
who were natural leaders could command a fol-
lowing except for antisocial enterprises. If it were
possible, the officer told his superiors, to give these
boys who were leaders the opportunity for lead-
ership in constructive rather than destructive
channels, we might be on the way to a real solu-
tion of juvenile crime.

Juvenile authorities know that it is misdirected
leadership of boys that causes gangs to plunder
and rob rather than engage in pursuits making for
good citizenship. But the question for decades
has been, "How can we encourage leadership in
worthwhile activities for a large mass of our
neglected youth?"

Housing the Experiment

Last fall the golden opportunity presented it-
self. In reorganizing the Cleveland Police De-
partment six old precinct stations located in slum
areas were abandoned. Civic groups had many
suggestions for the use of the buildings. Some
wanted settlement houses, others suggested branch
libraries or recreation centers. Police and recrea-
tion officials, however, had made up their minds
on the future of these old buildings. The chance
they had been waiting for finally had arrived.
Boys' communities with each precinct as its city
hall would be organized. Talents for youthful
leadership which formerly had been dissipated in
delinquent pursuits now could be turned to de-
veloping model communities in which boys would

437

438

"BOYSTOWNS" FOR CLEVELAND YOUTH

learn good government, self-reliance, and respect
for law and order.

The idea took hold immediately. Harold H.
Burton, Mayor of Cleveland, appointed three
members of his administration to serve as a com-
mittee to put the Boystown program into opera-
tion. Recreation Commissioner J. Noble Richards
and Assistant Safety Director Robert Chamber-
lin, who had been active in the crime prevention
movement among boys, were named; the third
committee member was Robert Burri, Assistant
Director of the Department of Public Health and
Welfare. All three had had experience in dealing
with juvenile problems, and each serves a depart-
ment that is instrumental in carrying out the
Boystown program.

Heat, light, water, and the general maintenance
of the precinct buildings were continued by the
Safety Department. The Recreation Division
supervised the boys' activities for the first few
months until they were able to take over entirely
their local government. The committee decided
to place special emphasis on a health program.
Were child health properly protected in delin-
quency areas, the committee felt that the con-
tributing causes of delinquency in the field of
physical pathology would tend to be eliminated.
The city Welfare Department, therefore, was as-
signed the task of making periodic health examin-
ations, both mental and physical, and teaching
correct health habits.

The Form of Government Adopted

Boystowns' governmental structure is modeled
on Cleveland's own municipal administration. Ten
elective positions for each "town" consisting of a
mayor, seven councilmen, and two judges are pro-
posed by the committee and filled at a general
election. The voters are all boys who had been
registered for fifteen days prior to the election.
In addition to these elective officials, the mayor
of each "town" selects a cabinet cpnsistmg of a
law director, safety director, finance director, ser-
vice director and welfare director. Other appoin-
tees are a city clerk, fire chief and police chief.

Duties of these officers are similar in some ways
to those of real city officials. Of course, the same
problems do not confront a neighborhood club
that stalk most city officials. In the Boystown
communities such duties as supervision of a phy-
sical education program are an additional duty of
the safety director. The director of law looks

after office equipment. The cultural development
program is under the service director who is also
in charge of the general care and upkeep of the
buildings and grounds. Each director is charged
with the responsibility of a project particularly
pertinent to the Boystown program, as well as the
normal duties of his position.

In outlining the initial program it was the pur-
pose of the committee to start the boys in their
governmental experiment with only the bare es-
sentials. Even the task of drafting a city charter
for each "town" was left in the hands of the
young officials, although experienced adults were
available for advice. They felt that the boys
would learn many of the fundamentals of gov-
ernment if they, themselves, wrote their own
charter. Moreover, the committee did not attempt
to completely furnish or renovate the old precinct
stations. The building of furniture and painting
of the buildings, the committee believed, would
serve as an excellent objective for the first two or
three months' operation of Boystowns.

Making the Plan Known

The general plan of procedure was worked out
by the mayor's committee before any public an-
nouncement was made of the project. Shortb
after the first of the year bulletins were poste(
on the five precinct stations announcing the 'date
of the primary elections and urging all boys in
the neighborhood to register so as to be able to
vote. Announcements also were made in the pub-
lic schools. Boys in classes from the fourth grade
up through high school were asked to stop in and
look over the premises. News of the coming
election spread quickly. By the middle of Janu-
ary more than one thousand had registered and
heated primary campaigns were being conducts
at each "town." Election day was set for Febn
ary first.

There was nothing immature about the Boys
town primary elections. Boys who were leader
soon asserted themselves. To win the nomin?
tions, it was explained, a definite platform
what they expected to accomplish must be es-
tablished. One sixteen-year-old aspirant for
mayor told his "citizens," "I'm going to appoint a
police chief to make you fellows behave. Not a
husky one. That doesn't make a good chief. A
good cop is a fellow who is honest and trust-
worthy." Believe it or not, this boy won the
nomination.

"BOYSTOWNS" FOR CLEVELAND YOUTH

439

The First Election Is Held

Two weeks after the primaries, Boystowns held
their first general election. Two candidates were
running for each office, and as election day neared
the five old precincts took on the atmosphere of a
Democratic or Republican convention. Candidates
were buttonholing their friends, promising favors
and appointments if votes could be swung for them.
Platforms were extended to include almost every
attraction to citizens of teen age. One boy whose
best friend was a candidate for mayor took upon
himself the duties of police chief. "When my
friend is elected," he said, "I will be appointed
police chief, so I might just as well start in now
keeping order."

At another Boystown a "dark horse" suddenly
entered the running. Feeling the term "dark
horse" not descriptive enough he called himself
the "black horse." By waging a "write in" cam-
paign he succeeded in winning one of the mayor-
alty positions.

To discourage too extravagant promises, super-
visors of the elections told the candidates that
their administrations would have to win re-elec-
tion or go down to defeat in the next year's elec-
tion "on their records." This thought served to
keep the campaign promises within reason.

In a genuine voting day atmosphere of vigor-
our electioneering and a pro-
fusion of campaign signs, bal-
loting was conducted in an
prderly fashion. Six mayors
!md the other elective officials
jwere chosen, their ages rang-
ing from fourteen to eighteen.
iBefore being inducted into of-
:ice, all promised to take a
leadership in the city's juve-
jiile crime prevention program.
Probably no other six boys
In Cleveland or America ever
ivere transported so quickly
jrom the narrow confines of

heir lives to the glaring light

>f public attention. First local

icwspapers, then journals in
j'ther cities, recognizing the
Uniqueness of the Boystown
povement, carried articles and

ictures of the new mayors.

•'lickey Rooney, the juvenile

layor in the Hollywood

And while we're reading about
the boys of Cleveland, let's give
a thought to all the boys and
girls banded together in the
American Junior Red Cross!

movie, "Boystown," wired his congratulations.
The boys were introduced to the mayor and other
prominent persons in the city before a radio
microphone. For a time, it seemed that their new
positions might interfere with their schooling, that
this publicity might completely disrupt their lives.
Though it is possible the publicity given the young
mayors did give them an undue sense of import-
ance, the glamor served to impress on them the
seriousness and responsibility of their positions.
There was no doubt in the minds of the boys that
the welfare and growth of each Boystown de-
pended upon their individual efforts. The com-
mittee, remaining in the background during the
introduction of the mayors to city officials, be-
lieved that the ceremony would help impress the
young officials with their responsibility.

Learning About Government
Soon after the mayoralty election the cabinets
of each Boystown were appointed. Arrangements
were made for these officers to visit the various
city department heads and obtain a glimpse of
municipal operation before attacking their own
problems. The Boystown mayors spent a morn-
ing with Mayor Burton and sat in on a session of
the City Plan Commission; council members at-
tended several Cleveland council meetings, and
the ten Boystown judges, two from each town,
were invited to sit as guest
judges on the bench and hear
civil and criminal cases. Con-
ferences between Boystown
and city cabinet officers were
arranged and the function of
each city department explained
to the boys.

A few weeks after the elec-
tion three thousand boys were
registered and taking part in
governing the towns. Even
girls of the community were
clamoring for admittance. The
question of whether or not to
admit the girls was left up to
the boys, who overwhelmingly
voted to bar them !

The enthusiasm of mer-
chants, professional persons,
and others in Cleveland for the
movement is amazing. With-
out solicitation, one radio dealer
donated a radio to each Boys-

440

"BOYSTOWNS" FOR CLEVELAND YOUTH

town. Members of the Cleveland Bar Associa-
tion offered their services to help the boys draft
a city charter and advise on legal matters. Clubs
such as the Kiwanis, Chamber of Commerce, and
Rotary invited the Boystown mayors to luncheons
where the youths were able to present their prob-
lems and ask for aid in the development of each
town. Others in the community are taking keen
interest. Mrs. Newton D. Baker, widow of the
former Cleveland mayor and Secretary of War,
has allowed the use of the name "Newton D.
Baker" for one of the Boystowns. Tools, lum-
ber, victrolas, three pianos, and furnishings have
been donated by individuals who for the first time
are taking an interest in the welfare of the boys
of their city.

The Program

At the instigation of the Mayor's Committee, a
Boystown Mayors' Association has been formed.
This Association outlined a
program of leisure time ac-
tivities to be carried on uni-
formly at each town. The
program consists of physical
education, social and crafts,
cultural activities, and ex-
tension of play facilities.
With the aid of WPA super-
visors and Recreation De-
partment personnel these
these four phases of the program are now being
developed.

Ball leagues, boxing, wrestling, swimming, and
ping-pong teams are organized under the physi-
cal education program headed by the Boystown
safety director. Teams from the different towns
compete and championship matches will be played
before all of the "citizens." One- of the first reso-
lutions introduced in a Boystown council called
for the cooperation of the Cleveland Police De-
partment in removing cell blocks from the build-
ing to make room for a gymnasium. The Depart-
ment lost little time in obliging this governmental
body.

Under the social and crafts program, model
yacht and airplane building is being taught. Such
crafts as metalwork, woodwork, and leathercraft
are conducted under competent instructors. The
Boystown finance director is in charge and even
adult instructors must confer with him in setting
up the projects.

The cultural development includes music, glee

"Although the Boystown movement has
not been in operation long enough to
determine whether there has been a de-
crease in juvenile delinquency, reports
would indicate that this is the case. Police
records show fewer calls for police
cruisers to break up gangs of boys loi-
tering on street corners in sections of the
city in which 'city halls' are located."

clubs, dramatic offerings, debates, lectures, and
plays suitable for radio productions. A monthly
newspaper has been started. Boys from each town
report and write sports, political and general news
events that take place in their communities. This
material is sent to the Recreation Division where
a trained newspaperman edits the news and ar-
ranges for printing. 'Members of the Boystowns
editorial staffs have been taken through the large
Cleveland newspaper plants. Boys writing for the
paper, through contact with a veteran newsman,
gain a good journalistic groundwork which may
well develop into a profession for the more
talented.

A radio construction department has been or-
ganized. Boys are learning the Morse code and
it is hoped that money will be available soon to
purchase parts from which a short wave broad-
casting station may be built at each town. All
broadcasts will be on the some wave length, per-
mitting the boys to broadcast
sports events and debates,
and even transmit dramatic
productions from one town
to another.

Some of the Results

Results speak for them-
selves in the few months the
Boystown movement has been
under way in Cleveland. A
teacher in one of the public schools, in whose
civics class one of the Boystown mayors is a pupil,
told a member of the committee, "It is remark-
able how Jack has shown an increased interest in
this class since he was elected to the Boystown
office. I believe this experience he gains enables
him really to appreciate the governmental prob-
lems that we discuss in class."

A "citizen" of one Boystown had a chronic
weakness for playing hookey from school. School
authorities had not been able to convince him of
the necessity for regular attendance. The mayor
of his town learned about this disobedience, called
the boy before him and reprimanded him. The
Boystown police chief called on the boy's parents
and successfully secured their cooperation in
keeping their son in school. For two months,
now, according to school authorities, the wayward
youngster has not missed a class.

Six members of the Cleveland Bar took time
off from their regular duties to help the boys in
(Continued on page 475)

The Spirit of Joseph Lee Day

IMAGINE, if you can, the
scene shown in this pic-
ture occurring on scores
of playgrounds in America.
The photograph of Joseph
Lee may not have been in
the center, but in its place
was a leader telling the story
to groups of children such

as this. This leader told of Mr. Lee's childhood and
youth, hisTove of games and sports, his dedica-
tion of his life and future to the end that all chil-
dren everywhere might have a place to play. The
children heard of his long and faithful service to
the National Recreation Association; how he
helped to found it; how in twenty-five years he
never missed a meeting of the Board of which he
was President. They learned of his simplicity and
his greatness, his love of play and his deep serious
purposes in life. They caught the impression of a
great man whom they could respect and love and
in some degree emulate.

On one Utica, New York, play-

All over America last summer,

children paid tribute to the

memory of Joseph Lee in song

and story, in prose and poetry,

and, above all, in happy

play activities

ground, a leader with imagi-
nation and a gift for teach-
ing told the story of Joseph
Lee and then asked the chil-
dren to write poems about
him or to his memory. So
many good ones were writ-
ten that it was decided to
print the best of them on a

long scroll and send them to the National Recrea-
tion Association. The scroll, made of plain green
paper, was carefully prepared, and the poems were
printed on it in bold letters in ink. The spirit of
the occasion and the depth of impression on the
children were expressed in these words :

Poetry Scroll

by the

Mary (Playground) Safety Patrols

We the patrols of the Mary Playground

dedicate this Scroll to

JOSEPH LEE
Father of Our Playgrounds

Courtesy California Commission, Treasure Island

441

442

THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH LEE DAY

To celebrate Joseph Lee Day we
proudly present these poems and essays

Growth — by Sam Gigliotti
Everything, if taken care of, will grow,
As a plant needs water, sunshine, care
So it is with other things.
Playgrounds may easily be likened to a plant,
Only in this instance the plant was an idea,
An idea — even in Joseph Lee's mind and heart.
For water — he used untiring effort,
For sunshine — he used everlasting patience,
For care — he used himself and his associates
Until finally his idea became recognized.
No longer was he its only father.
Foster parents sprang up throughout the nation
Until the idea of Lee's was no longer in infancy.
The playgrounds have grown,
And are continuing to grow,
As only their father Joseph Lee
Would wish them to grow.

Not Merely a Name — by Frank Costello
What does the name Joseph Lee mean to you?
To me it stands for greatness,
It teaches me the lesson of success by hard work.
For Joseph Lee met many obstacles ;
But overcame them all,
His dream of playgrounds for children came true.

A Noble Monument — by Frances Krupa
Playgrounds today are living monuments
To a man who spent his life only that they might exist ;
To a man who loved children with his whole being ;
To a man blessed with insight into the future world's need
Especially for its children,
That man — may we honor him — was Joseph Lee.

Thanks — by Marion Farrelli
To Joseph Lee we offer thanks,
Ever mindful of his devotion to children,
Of his ever persevering efforts in their behalf,
Until he reached his goal
Playgrounds for children.

What greater results could any playground
leader expect than that some children should sense
and understand the growth of the playground
movement, could realize that Joseph Lee was
more than a mere name, that the playgrounds
were monuments to him and his work and that
they should be thankful for his devotion to the
interests of little children "until he reached his
goal."

The spirit of the Joseph Lee Day celebrations
was shown in the interest and hearty participation
in the preparation and carrying out of the pro-

gram. Mrs. Roosevelt in her column "My Day"
said,

"Last week on July 28, the recreational
authorities under the leadership of the Na-
tional Recreation Association celebrated the
second national Joseph Lee Day, in memory
of the father of the playground movement.
He devoted fifty years of his life and much
of his fortune to the cause of recreation for
young people, which is almost as important
as food, housing, medical care and schooling.
Therefore the use of this day to call the at-
tention of the public to the recreation move-
ment and to keep Joseph Lee's memory green
seems to me worth remembering."
Governor Olson of California in a state procla-
mation said,

"Safe and happy play for children ; recre-
ation and adventure for youth, and adequate
leisure time for adults— all are of vital im-
portance to the vigor, vitality and welfare of
our citizens.

"It is therefore fitting and desirable that
we set aside a period to be observed as 'Rec-
reation Week in California,' and it is also
fitting and proper that during that period we
pay homage to the memory of Joseph Lee of
Boston, the 'Father of Playgrounds' who de-
voted much of his life to the development of
the playground and recreation movement in
the United States."

Mayors in different parts of the country issued
proclamations calling for the observance of the
day and gave every assistance in making a suc-
cessful observance possible.

The press, as usual, gave excellent support to
the program in heralding the approach of the day
and in reporting its activities. Mrs. Roosevelt's
statement was widely syndicated. The close co-
operation of local papers with the leaders of the
recreation movement called for large commen-
dation.

As one glances over the programs of the vari-
ous celebrations their joyous spirit seems to speak
of a glad and happy day — play in memory of
Joseph Lee. Let your imagination play over these
events and you will see thousands of children
happy and free, and parents proud and glad to
have a part in the day. You will see play leaders
and directors who are conscious of leading whole
communities into better living relationships. You
will picture mothers' and daughters' teas with
short presentations of the history of Joseph Lee

THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH LEE DAY

443

and the play movement; fathers' and sons'
nights with games, dramatic skits and refresh-
ments ; doll shows and parades, pet parades ; girls'
play day affairs ; music — vocal and instrumental ;
carnivals, the very names of which conjure up
happy memories ; community nights ; and — dear to
all boys' hearts — rodeos. A day like that on a
playground is a day to be remembered, and when
conducted with the historical background of
Joseph Lee's life and the days of the early sand-
box gardens, the occasion gains significance indeed.
Two inter-city events that have been reported
should be noted for their widespread influence in
interpreting the importance of recreation as well
as observing the memory of Joseph Lee. In West-
chester County, New York, a thousand children
gathered from a dozen communities to celebrate
the day. Practically every activity used on the
playground of the county was demonstrated dur-
ing the day before the spectators who watched
from the great memorial stadium.

The celebration at the
Golden Gate Exposition in
Treasure Island gathered
children from the cities
around San Francisco Bay.
(The picture used on first
• page was taken in this cele-
bration.) Not only the resi-
dents of these surrounding

Cities saw the activities, but visitors from all parts
of the country attended.

Mr. Charles W. Davis, Administrator of Rec-
reation, California Recreation Building, Golden
-Gate International Exposition, writes, "A great
jdeal of interest was manifested on the part of the
jnewspapers throughout the West, because July 28
]was officially designated as Joseph Lee Day on
(the Island. Many of them inquired about the
Background of Joseph Lee to run stories con-
j:erning him and the tie-up with our program in
rhe local papers. . . . One of the pictures taken by
|:he press bureau in Treasure Island was sub-
nitted to practically all newspapers in California."
It is not known how many cities observed
Toseph Lee Day for no special clipping service
vas retained. From scores of letters, clippings
tnd reports, it is obvious that the celebrations
vere scattered all over the country and that the
quality of programs was generally high. We
Know enough to feel sure that the observance of
'he day has left its imprint on the lives of thou-
ands of children and doubtless will deeply affect

Readers of Recreation may wish to know
that copies of the December 1937 issue
of the magazine, which was devoted to
the life of Joseph Lee and to tributes
to him by friends and associates, are
still available and may be secured from
the National Recreation Association.

the lives and service of scores of recreation
executives.

The spirit of the day was climaxed when Dr.
John H. Finley, who succeeded Joseph Lee as
President of the National Recreation Association,
left his vacation home in New Hampshire and
came to New York against doctor's orders to
broadcast over N.B.C. at the close of the day's
ceremonies. That act was characteristic of him
and of Joseph Lee, for the desire to honor Joseph
Lee was dominant in spite of health handicaps.

After reviewing the historical facts of Joseph
Lee's life, Dr. Finley said, "In the book of the
prophet of Zechariah it was promised that a happy
time would come to the city, which is called the
City of Truth, and the outstanding reasons for
rejoicing were that old men and old women would
have their lives prolonged and that the streets
'would be full of children playing.' That was
written before the coming of the swift cars of our
times. Joseph Lee has been called a prophet, and
the word of his prophecy
which he had the joy to see
fulfilled in his day, was that
every child should have a
safe place in which to play.
"When he became Presi-
dent of the Playground As-
sociation, there were only
1,244 playgrounds. There
were in the year of his death nearly 10,000. In
flying across the continent, I had most hope for
the future in seeing not only the churches and
the schools, but also the playgrounds. They are
together the best promise for the future. Water-
loo was won on the playing fields of Eton — and
the battles for democracy are won on our fields
of play, as well as in our churches and school-
rooms— these places of joyous free life.

"There is a French word 'joli' which in its
original and highest use meant 'full of life and
spirit.' It came to have a less constructive defini-
tion which found a synonym in our word 'jolly.'
But if we were to coin a noun in our own speech
that had the higher significance, we should take
the name of our President, 'Joe Lee.' He was and
is the incarnation, the impersonation, of that full-
ness of life and spirit which is suggested by the
word recreation.

"Someone who knew him well has pictured him
as Greatheart in Pilgrim's Progress. 'And now
looking up, they (Greatheart and the little boy
(Continued on page 476)

Lighting for Night Tennis

THE GROWING interest m
night athletic events
has led a number of
cities to provide lighting

facilities for tennis. Ten of the twelve cities in
the United States of between 300,000 and 500,000
population have made available information on
this subject. Four of these cities — Portland, Jer-
sey City, New Orleans, and Washington, D. C. —
provide outdoor night tennis facilities for the
public. Seattle has plans drawn for two courts
and has an indoor court at present. Indianapolis,
Louisville, Minneapolis, and Rochester do not pro-
vide such facilities, nor does Newark, although
the Park Commission of Essex County in which
Newark is located maintains illuminated tennis
courts. Among the cities of the Pacific Northwest
of over 100,000 population, Portland now pro-
vides such facilities and Seattle has plans drawn.
Spokane and Tacoma have made no installations,
having dropped plans for two such courts on ad-
vice of neighboring Canadian city officials that
damp air is bad for rackets at night.

Information is also available for twelve other
cities that have public night tennis courts. These
include Binghamton, Denver, Houston, and New
York City; two Florida cities — Jacksonville and
Orlando ; and six California cities — Beverly Hills,
Los Angeles, Oakland, Palo Alto, Pasadena, and
Santa Monica.

The information received is tabulated in the
table which appears on the following page.

Types of Installation and Costs

Summarizing the information as to type of in-
stallation, materials used,
and equipment, it may be
said that two general types
of installation lay-out are
used. Four California
cities, Los Angeles, Bev-
erly Hills, Pasadena, and
Santa Monica, and Den-
ver, Colorado, suspend the
lights lengthwise over the
center of the court. The
remainder space lamps
around the court or courts
in varying combinations.

444

Compiled by RUSSELL BARTHELL

Bureau of Municipal Research and Service
University of Oregon

The Bureau of Municipal Research and Service
of the University of Oregon has made a study
of the lighting of tennis courts for night
play in a number of cities. Information was
received directly from recreation officials in
all the cities except Birmingham, Jackson-
ville and Orlando, for which the National Rec-
reation Association supplied data. Through
the courtesy of the Bureau we are presenting
sections of the report. Anyone wishing the
complete report may secure a copy upon order
and remittance of twenty-five cents to the Bu-
reau of Municipal Research and Service, Fenton
Hall, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.

Representative of this sec-
ond group, Palo Alto re-
ports that it has used sev-
eral arrangements in spac-
ing lighting standards and that the local tennis
players prefer one light opposite each end of the
net and the other four at the corners of the court,
all being outside of the playing area. New Orleans
has eighteen courts that are grouped in series of
three, and each group is lighted with four 2,000-
watt lamps. However, their new installation now
being erected on fifteen adjoining courts provides
for separate illumination of each court with eight
i,ooo-watt lamps.

In cities that report total cost of installation
these costs range from $200 to $600 per court.
(See column 3 of table.) Three cities report only
equipment costs. Poles are a major item of cost
which varies considerably not only with the type
of pole used but also with the method of running
wires and the type of other equipment. A num-
ber of cities report that labor has been furnished
by the Works Progress Administration.

Lamps used most commonly are 1,000 and 1,500
watts, although Los Angeles uses 2,500- watt
lamps on some of its installations. Maximum
wattage per court varies from 3,000 to 9,000.

Fees and Charges

Amount. Eleven of the seventeen cities listed
in the table charge for night tennis. Jersey City
and Portland make no charge, Seattle is unde-
cided, and no information is available on Birming-
ham and Orlando. New York City requires a fc
fee for a season permit to play on any of the city
courts and no additional
fee is charged for night
courts. The remainder
charge a flat rate regard-
less of whether singles or
doubles are played. This
varies from Pasadena's fee
of 25 cents for forty min-
utes to 75 cents per hour
in Washington, D. C. The
most frequent rate is 25
cents per half -hour. Bev-
erly Hills, Houston, Newl
Orleans, and Washingtor

LIGHTING FOR NIGHT TENNIS

445

NIGHT TENNIS COURTS IN f IFTEEN AMERICAN CITIES

CITY

1930
Popu-
lation

No.

of
Cts.

Cost
per
Ct.

Max.
w. per
Ct.

FEES

Closing
Time

Length of
Season

Day

Night

Method of
Collection

Beverly Hills * . .

. . . 17,429

13
2
4t
10
3
5
39
33
10
10
5
6
11
19
5
2
10

$477
250
500
200

400
400
666*

500

loot

600
300

150$
338
230

7,000
3,000
5,000
6,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
* 8,000
6,000
9,000
8,000
9,000
6,000
4,000
7,500
9,000
3,000

150 a person

600 per h.

Attendant

11:00

12 Mo.

6 Mo.
12 Mo.
12 Ma
12 Mo.
12 Mo.
12 Mo.
6 Mo.
12 Mo.

12 Mo.
12 Mo.
6 Mo.
12 Mo.
6 Mo.
6 Mo.

Birmingham

. .. 259,678

Denver *

. .. 287,861

No
Yes

250 per Y2 hr.
500 per h.
400 per h.
No
250 per */2 hr.
500 per h.

Included in
daytime fee
250 per J4 hr.

Meter
Attendant

11:00
10:30

Houston

. .. 292,352

Jacksonville

. .. 129,549

Jersey City

.. 316,715

No

No
250 per h.

$3 season
permit
No

No

Meter
Attendant
Attendant
Meter

10:00

11:00
or later
10:00

Depends
on use
10:30

Los Angeles * ...

...1,238,048

New Orleans ....

. . 458,702

New York

...6,930,446

Oakland

. .. 284,063

Orlando

. . . 27,330

Palo Alto

. . . 13,652

No
No
No
No
No
400 per h.

250 per y2 hr.
250 per 40 m.
No
250 per y2 hr.

?

750 per h.

Meter

Meter
No
Meter

p

Attendant

11:00
10:30
10 or 11
10:00
10:00
11:00

Pasadena *

. . . 76,086

Portland

. .. 301,815

Santa Monica* ..

. . . 37,146

Seattle

. . . 365,583

Washington, D. C

... 486,809

* Installation suspended lengthwise over center of
t Includes metered courts only.
** Estimate for equipment only, based on IS court
$ Estimate for equipment cost only.

court,
battery in

construction.

also charge for day use, and Oakland has five
courts for which there is a daytime reservation
i charge.

Method of Collection. Five California cities and
i Denver, Colorado, use an automatic prepayment
time meter. Collection of fees by coin meters is
I reported by several cities to be the most practical
[procedure. Denver officials report that "we find
the use of meters meets with the approval of the
players both as to rate for playing and type of
equipment and construction of our courts." It
jappears that not all of the coin meters have proved
j satis factory, but there is at least one satisfactory
'meter on the market, according to reports.

The cities listed in the table that use attendants
for fee collections also make a charge for day
jplay; thus similar collection methods have been
;extended to night courts. In Washington, tickets
iare issued and fees collected at a booth located at
!the courts and tickets may be obtained two weeks

in advance. Houston has an attendant on duty
from 6 A. M. to 10:30 p. M. No meters are used
and they have been considered impractical for
Houston. New Orleans groups its night courts
together at the city park and tickets are issued at
the tennis club house which is next to the courts.
This method is reported to be practical and eco-
nomical. The city is now providing approximately
one hundred lockers for men and women players,
which will be rented at a nominal fee. Beverly
Hills collects fees through a regularly employed
attendant, who is paid 60 cents per hour. The at-
tendant also inspects players for proper dress.
Nine of the courts are on a reservation basis,
which is reported to add to their popularity.

Revenues and Costs. In most instances revenues
approximate maintenance costs including lamp re-
newals. Cost of electric power is a major operat-
ing expense and varies according to local rates
and load factors. Los Angeles considers its night

446

LIGHTING FOR NIGHT TENNIS

courts to be wholly self-
supporting, including in-
vestment retirement. The length of the tennis
season would have a definite relationship to fixed
charges, such as installation costs, but its relation
to maintenance costs would be less pronounced.
The total amount of revenue would be based on
participation. This is discussed in more detail in
the last section of this report. Comments by rec-
reation officials on the relationship of revenues
to costs are summarized as follows :

Beverly Hills reports that on nine reservation
courts there was a total 1938 revenue from night
and day play of $11,000, with a total maintenance
cost of $7,000.

Denver reports that 1938 revenue of $372.50
took care of maintenance costs.

Houston estimates that the revenue from night
play in 1938 was in excess of maintenance costs.

Jacksonville figures electric current costs at ap-
proximately 50 per cent of income.

Los Angeles collected approximately $9,000
from night tennis in 1938. About 50 per cent of

A lighted tennis court which was in operation
more than ten years ago in a mid-western city

maintenance costs was for
electric power, leaving an

ample sum for maintenance and investment re-
tirement.

Oakland's night courts brought in $1,527.50 in
1938 and cost a total of $1,645.33, which repre-
sents $645.33 f°r electricity and about $1,000 for
other maintenance, including lamp replacement
repairs to electrical equipment, and servicing.

Palo Alto received $379 in revenue for 1938.
Costs for electric current are estimated at $210,
leaving $169 to cover maintenance cost plus in-
terest on the investment. Ten dollars per year per
court is estimated for electrical upkeep.

Santa Monica's five night courts were placed on
a fee basis April 26, 1938, and produced $495.25
in revenue by December 31. Revenues are con-
sidered ample to take care of all costs including
lamp renewals.

Washington, D. C, received $1,658.25 in rev-
enue during 1938 from night tennis and attend-
ants employed during night hours were paid
$628.65.

LIGHTING FOR NIGHT TENNIS

447

Advisability and Acceptability. Recreation of-
ficials have commented as follows on the charging
of fees for tennis facilities :

Beverly Hills : "We have found that a fee is
acceptable, and agreeable to all concerned. Espe-
cially when reservations are available. The player
seems to enjoy the pride of possession of a court
after a small fee has been paid. Courts so operated
amount almost to a club membership situation,
and an atmosphere is created around the courts of
a high social order. (Certain courts are reserved
for public school students after school hours for
free play ; otherwise children are charged 5 cents
per person per hour.) It appears that some
method should be employed on public courts,
whereby the 'tennis hound,' the fellow who likes
to play four, five or six hours a day, should be
kept moving along. Cliques of excellent players
develop and rotate courts among themselves, pre-
venting the person who would like to play now
and then from getting much benefit from public
courts. An attendant should be in charge of ten-
nis courts and a small fee should be charged in
order to pay salaries and overhead."

Denver: "We find the use of meters meets
with the approval of the players both as to rate
for playing and type of equipment and construc-
tion of our courts."

Houston : "The tennis public is in favor of
charges for night and day tennis for it means bet-
ter conditioned courts. I think in night tennis the
public easily will see the extra costs and will be
most willing to help defray expenses."

Indianapolis: "We have never at any time
charged a fee for the use of our courts. The local
tennis playing public being accustomed to free
play would not, in my opinion, agree to a fee even
though we provide illuminated courts."

Los Angeles: "The lighting of tennis courts
was in response to the demand of the tennis play-
ing public for longer playing hours, the theory
I being that if existing courts can be put to greater
use to satisfy the players, additional courts need
I not be built. It also follows that spreading out
the demand through the evening hours of the
week lessens the play over a week end, evenings
and week ends being the time when the majority
of the adults are at leisure."

The public in general expects to pay for spe-

' cialized services, particularly where such services

are exclusively set aside for an individual or a

. group. Night lighted metered courts are reported

to be generally acceptable in Los Angeles and
there is a constant demand for their installation.

New Orleans: "We find no objection from
tennis players in paying the nominal fee we
charge. In a measure it gives the players a sense
of responsibility and when the fixed charge is so
much per hour they know they must vacate the
courts when their time is up. If there were no
charges we believe there would be endless argu-
ments and little control of the players, but as it is
now, they know that no favoritism is exercised,
that first call for a court is first served, regard-
less of who it is."

New York City: "If we were to illuminate
other tennis areas where there is a large demand
for night play, a fee would be charged which I
am sure would be acceptable to the tennis playing
public."

Oakland: "By equipping tennis courts for
night play, a possible three additional hours is
added to the playing period, at a small additional
cost. The players seem glad to pay for the addi-
tional service."

, Palo Alto: "There should be no hesitancy in
charging a fee for use of lighted tennis courts
that are kept up in good shape. The initial cost
for a first class lighting installation is a consider-
able amount. Reasonable people cannot but realize
this and when a charge is made for its use (if
only a nominal one) they better appreciate the
service."

Santa Monica : "Prior to April 26, 1938 we had
been furnishing lights free from dark until 10 :oo
p. M. and we found that the courts were being
held almost every night by youngsters who could
do their playing during the day time. This kept
the regular tennis enthusiasts, who worked all day,
from night play. These folks welcomed the
meters, in as much as it kept the younger people
off the courts at night as they did not have the
necessary quarters (25^). It also saves the city
quite a large light bill each month."

Washington, D. C. : "The cost of lighting and
maintaining these courts in good condition with-
out expense to the taxpayer makes it necessary to
charge a fee for their use. The making of such a
charge was readily accepted by the tennis playing
public in Washington."

Length of Season, Closing Hours
In all of the southern cities listed night tennis
is played the year round. The play is heavier dur-
(Continued on page 476)

Miners of West Virginia con-
structing the wooden parts
of looms on which their wives
weave scarfs, luncheon sets,
purses, neckties, and many
other useful and ornamental
articles which can be placed
on the market for sale.

Courtesy Oglebay Park Institute

An Arts and Crafts Fair

IN THE REGION around Wheeling, West Virginia,
are clustered many nationality groups, each
with rich traditions, culture, and handicraft
skills. Knowing that these heritages might vanish
through lack of appreciation and protection, the
Oglebay Park Institute determined to hold an
Arts and Crafts Fair which would encourage the
production of contemporary handicrafts using in-
digenous materials and design. This handicraft
fair, representing the work of practicing crafts-
men in the Wheeling area, was held last fall at
Oglebay Park. Local crafts groups, youth or-
ganizations, educational institutions, individual
craftsmen, and many cultural and nationality
groups assisted in the arrangements, and the dis-
plays showed a diversity of artistic and creative
ability.

Because of the nature of the exhibit, planning
the fair was the biggest problem. Craftsmen had
to work for months in order to contribute a fin-
ished example of their skill for the fair. Long
before the opening date, the idea was presented
at a meeting of the Oglebay Museum Association,
an organization of volunteers interested in the
museum phase of the Oglebay Institute program.
Developments such as the home craft movement
in New Hampshire were outlined and preliminary

448

groundwork started on plans for
exhibiting home crafts products
and folk arts.

Following this meeting, Her-
bert J. Sanborn, Institute staff
member in charge of arts and
crafts, and Mrs. Robert M.
Browne, Jr., chairman of the crafts committee of
the Museum Association, called upon presidents
of crafts clubs, individual craftsmen, and leaders
of foreign groups. Contacts with craft groups
were easy to establish as the majority of them
were affiliated with the Institute. They uncov-
ered a startling variety of foreign cultural groups
who had migrated into the district in the latter
part of the nineteenth century because of the in-
dustrialization of the steel mills and the need for
labor in the coal fields as well as in the mills.
Syrians, Ukrainians, Bohemians, Croatians,
Greeks, Czechoslovakians and other nationality
groups signified their willingness to participate in
the fair.

After obtaining pledges of cooperation from
national groups and crafts people, the scope of
the exhibit was established. It was to be three-
fold : nationality handicrafts, assembled with the
cooperation of nationality groups and individuals
with nationality background in the Wheeling area ;
old time crafts, including coverlets, weaving,
hand needlework, glass, wooden implements, cos-
tumes, and folk arts ; and contemporary crafts of
the region, displaying pottery, sculpture, figurines,
wood carving, metal work, weaving, and needle-
work.

AN ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR .

449

The large carriage barn at
the park, over 125 years old,
was partitioned into booths
with the aid of the WPA
Museum Extension Project.
The floor plan was drawn,
and booths marked and as-
signed. Copies of the plans
were sent to the participat-
ing organizations, and the
arrangement of the exhibits was left to the in-
genuity of the exhibitors. Each booth, however,
was to be arranged to contribute to the general
theme and educational purpose in building a wide
interest in appreciation of handicraft. Contacts
through periodic visits and meetings with exhibi-
tors were established to check on the progress of
their plans. Suggestions of the park representa-
tives in arrangement, and their aid in the labelling
of objects, kept uniformity.

The fair opened with exhibits from the Oglebay
Arts and Crafts League, the Boy and Girl Scouts,
Ohio County Museum Extension Project WPA,
Ohio Valley Camera Club, West Liberty State
Teachers' College, department stores, the needle-
work department of the Women's Exchange,
Ohio Valley Home Craft Club, and the Art Club
of Wheeling.

The section displaying the crafts of nationality
groups was rich in design and fine workmanship.
It was composed of crafts-
manship brought from the
homelands as well as articles

Some of the outstanding special events
at Oglebay Park have included an Eas-
ter Sunrise service, a high school music
festival, an Arbor Day celebration, a
hobby fair, a Panhandle autumn festival
and regional Four-H Club fair, tennis
tournaments, swimming meets and ex-
hibitions, amateur theatricals, radio
programs from the park, and a Tri-
State Farm and Home program.

made in Amer-
ica. The na-
tionality crafts-
men participat-
ing were fam-
ous as elabor-
ate whittlers —
their displays
ran from wood-
en chains to a
"Life of Christ"
with 250 fig-
ures — wood
carvers, potters,
jewelers, glass
blowers, weav-
ers, rug mak-
ers, and needle-
workers.
Another sec-

A woman from Czechoslovakia weaves on a
loom which has been built by her husband

tion showed processes from
raw material to the finished
article : wool, vegetable' dye
materials, basket fibers, pine
needles, leather, cotton, linen,
and pottery. Calling attention
to the history, early proces-
ses, and present day use, the
wool exhibit was of special
significance. During the nine-
teenth century the panhandle region of West Vir-
ginia and adjacent territory in Ohio and Pennsyl-
vania had the reputation of being the finest wool
producing section in the country. The story of
wool attracted so much attention that part of the
display remains in the Mansion Museum at the
park as a permanent exhibit.

The booths were staffed with guides who ex-
plained nationality customs and use of tools. They
also took charge of the sale of pastries and home-
made articles. The exhibits, though colorful and
carefully labelled, became much more effective
through explanation, personal stories, and demon-
stration by craftsmen. There were demonstrations
of spinning, weaving, glass blowing, knitting, and
basket making.

Four nationality nights presented folklore
through music, dancing, narration, and drama.
The Quadrangle, formed by the stalls at the rear
of the carriage barn, became a natural informal
theater with an entrance
through the exhibition area.
The Greek, Croatian, Syri-

an, Bohemian,
and Ukrainian
groups were
represented.
Most of the
members of
these units had
participated
during the past
ten years in
various festi-
vals of nations,
folk festivals,
and nationality
picnics at Ogle-
bay Park and
were eager to
participate in
the nationality
nights. The

450

AN ARTS AND CRAFTS FAIR

Greek and Croatian group presented dances from
Greek mythology, including the Dance of the
Muses, of Apollo, and of the Three Graces. The
Syria-Lebanon nationality night featured a dra-
matic presentation, and the Bohemians demon-
strated native folk dances.

Four objectives have been accomplished by the
correlation of the crafts for the inspection of the
general public. First, the public has a more com-
plete conception of the folk arts of the valley.
Second, despite the industrialization of the area,
the exhibit shows that interest in fine handwork
has not died out. Third, the fair has developed a
keener appreciation of crafts by arousing in visit-
ors a desire to own the articles and by making
them available for purchase. Purchasing, of
course, has given the craftsman an added incen-
tive to work. Fourth, through bringing together
the achievements of craftsmen, the work of the
individual craftsman improves, because he is able
to compare his work with others, perhaps discov-
ering new methods by observation of the work of
others. In line with the objective of encouraging
contemporary handicrafts, the skilled work of
foreign groups of the region, together with craft
work in the early tradition, give a rich and varied
background for the inspiration of the contem-
porary craftsman.

Camps at Oglebay Park

Arts and crafts comprise only one of the many
activities recreational and educational in scope
which are conducted at Oglebay Park. Last sum-
mer the Park was host to three camps — the
Caddy Camp, the Ohio County 4-H Camp, and
the Ohio Valley High School Music Camp.

The Caddy Camp made it possible for some fifty
boys who partially earned their way by caddying
to enjoy camp experience. In order to assure the
permanence of the camp, the Golf Club sponsored
a dance at Oglebay, the proceeds of which cover
some of the camp expenses. The boys were quar-
tered in one of the old CCC camp barracks and
they followed a regular routine. Divided into
squads, they alternated in their work as caddies,
weeded greens, played, and learned handicraft.

The Four-H campers, 120 boys and girls be-
tween 13 and 20 years of age, enjoyed a week at
the Park under the supervision of twenty leaders.
Leather work, membership in their camp orches-
tra, swimming, rope making, folk dancing, and
outdoor games occupied the time of the Four-H
campers.

The directors for this annual camp are em-
ployed by the extension division of the West Vir-
ginia University, and the members of the county
Farm Women's Clubs donate time to prepare
meals for the youngsters.

A third camp at Oglebay Park, the Ohio Val-
ley High School Music Camp, was sponsored by
the Ohio Valley Music Educators' Association.
Vocal and instrumental sessions were planned for
the young people who attended the camp. The
Ohio Valley Music Camp Chorus, composed of
thirty-five boys and girls at the vocal session, pre-
sented programs at the Oglebay Park outdoor
stage preceding the regular Sunday vesper ser-
vices. About fifty students enrolled for the in-
strumental session.

Music is a part of the regular program at the
park. Among the features this summer was a
rhythmic dance recital together with a concert by
the Ohio Valley A Cappella Chorus. The Wheel-
ing Symphony Society Orchestra presented regu-
lar Thursday evening concerts in the Oglebay
Amphitheater. Friends of Music, the organiza-
tion which sponsors the orchestra, supplied out-
standing soloists for summer recitals.

Sigmund Spaeth, of radio "Tune Detective"
fame, was master of ceremonies at the second an-
nual Barber Shop Quartet Contest. Entries were
restricted to non-professional male quartets, resi-
dent or employed in Ohio Valley. Although any
instrument could be used to obtain pitch, the quar-
tets rendered their songs unaccompanied. Each
quartet had to be named and could wear costumes,
provided all four members dressed alike. Awards
were given after each barber shop quartet sang
two selections, one from any source and the other
one of the old time songs on the list made out by
a staff member of Oglebay Institute.

The Oglebay Institute Activities Bulletin for
1938, recently released in printed form, contains
a summary of participation in arts, crafts and ex-
hibits, camps, conservation, music, rural activi-
ties, nature study and physical education. The
report shows to what extent the arts, crafts, and
exhibits program has broadened and dove-tailed
into many worthwhile community activities. It
also reveals that this program embodies far more
than occasional exhibits of beautiful or interest-
ing objects, and that it helps promote an under-
standing and appreciation of local and regional
history through visual aids. Further, it ties to-
gether the efforts of local artists and craftsmen.

Thewrowth of Community Centers on Cape Cod

Cape Cod is a storied land. The beginnings of New
England are to be traced here. And here there is
rich soil for the growth of year-round recreation.

BARNSTABLE COUNTY — and
that means all of Cape Cod
— is essentially no different
from other American communi-
ties. Its commercial life is mainly concerned with
vacationers who come to the Cape during the
summer. But its native population is typical, and
faces the same problems of education, budgets,
taxes and depressions that trouble us all. To the
thousands of visitors who come to the Cape for
the summer season, it may have little reality as a
year-round colony. But our peninsula (it has
really been an island since the Canal was dug
laterally across its base) is very much alive from
November to May.

Contrary to widespread belief, Cape Cod is not

one isolated New England coastal village, but a

tongue of land that stretches some seventy miles

into the Atlantic Ocean southeast of the port of

Boston. In width, the Cape varies from twenty to

one mile at the narrowest part. The county seat

is at Barnstable, which this year celebrates its

three hundredth anniversary. In addition to the

county seat there are 142 other towns and vil-

! lages grouped around the main centers of popula-

I tion : Hyannis, the largest ; Provincetown, of art

! fame ; and Falmouth- Woods Hole, the jumping-

joff place for Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard

i Islands. Cape Cod is much larger in area than is

j generally supposed, and any problem concerning

it is correspondingly multiplied in scope.

The major part of the Cape's revenue is from
its summer visitors. Aside from this, it is an
- agricultural community specializing in cranberries.
i Metropolitan markets draw
I much of their fish from the
Cape, and a good grade of
i moulding sand is shipped.
But these economic consid-
erations do not alter our
basic status as a reasonably
normal group of people.
The problem of native rec-

By JOHN BRADLEY

Recreational Supervisor, WPA
Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Have you ever thought of what happens
at Cape Cod during the winter months?
Mr. Bradley assures us that the fact the
Cape is a vacation resort does not pre-
vent it from having problems of bud-
gets and taxes, and of recreation for
the resident population of 36,000 peo-
ple. And he tells us an interesting
story of Cape Cod from November to May.

reation is as important here as
elsewhere in spite of the fact that
our business is concerned with
recreation. What has the native
element of Cape Code done about it?

We must bear in mind that Cape Cod is still a
rural community. None of its towns, busy as
they are, can in any sense of the word be called
metropolitan ; they are simply clearing houses for
the vast majority who live in the surrounding
country. Here, as in all rural districts, life has
undergone an important change in the last cen-
tury. The industrial revolution has done its work
(both literally and figuratively) as efficiently on
Cape Cod as anywhere. More work is being done
in a great deal less time, and at the expense of
intellect rather than of brawn. Desirable as this
may be, there is yet an important discrepancy.
Man has succeeded in speeding up many proc-
esses, even organic ones. But he has not increased
the speed of the earth's rotation, so that there are
still twenty-four hours in a day. Play to fill lei-
sure hours was once a luxury. Now it is a neces-
sity because leisure is no longer the sole property
of the rich.

In this analysis we are not pioneers. The cause
which underlies the trend toward organized rec-
reation has long been recognized. But with ref-
erence to Cape Cod as a specific locality the cause
has had to be restated, since only the well-in-
formed are aware that Cape Cod is in better-than-
average social condition. The natural result
should be better-than-average progress. We think
that we have responded well in proportion to the
need.

What we have already
done is the result of an ex-
periment at Cotuit, a vil-
lage with a year-round pop-
ulation of about 800. Now
this may not, beside the
larger and more central
towns, seem the place to

451

452

THE GROWTH OF COMMUNITY CENTERS ON CAPE COD

Photo by Leslie Love, Model Yacht Club, Essex- County, N. J.

look for such beginnings. It is by no means the
largest town on the Cape. Nevertheless, the im-
petus that has since caused five other towns to
establish recreation centers came from this place.

The work began in 1935. In a none-too-ade-
quate attic of the grammar school (enrollment
75), interested townspeople managed to install
two tables for table-tennis, space for cowboy
hockey, a thirty foot skiball bowling alley, shufrle-
board, pool table and two checker tables. There
was also space for a boxing ring and wrestling
mat, medicine ball, punching bag, and table cro-
quet. All this in the cramped, poorly lighted and
ventilated (and for the most part unheated) attic.
Mere aggregations of equipment do not make a
dynamic recreation program, but they are usually
the nucleus around which such programs grow.

Recreation centers are not new ideas of course.
But it is surprising how slowly the need for them
is recognized to the point of action. There is a
certain amount of progressive thought in every
section on every subject. But as an excellent ex-
ample of the gap between thought and fact you

Boats invariably
come to mind in
thinking of Cape
Cod. But model
"railroading" is
a popular recre-
ational activity
at the community
centers through-
out the winter.

will recall that it
has taken some
six thousand
years even to be-
gin to approach
education from
an objective
point of view.
In the field of
recreation we
have an unex-
pected conflict
with the very
gains that edu-
cation has made ;

and this conflict seems paradoxical until it is un-
derstood. Taxpayers vote down recreation appro-
priations on the ground that equipment has al-
ready been furnished to the schools, and that
therefore it is duplication of school responsibility
to provide further means and equipment for
recreation.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The
schools cannot possibly assume the whole burden
of young peoples' leisure, and they should not be
expected to assume it. Including extracurricular
activities of all kinds, children spend a maximum
of forty hours a week in school, sleep another
sixty hours, and still have ninety-eight hours left
over. Very few homes, even in rural communi-
ties, have work enough to keep a child busy for
those ninety-eight hours. Many have no work at
all. But this is an example of a simple sum in
arithmetic that taxpayers do not trouble to do.
There is time left over that schools do not and
cannot fill, but nothing is done. With their eyes
on mounting school budgets, taxpayers are reluc-
tant to appropriate money for recreation. The

THE GROWTH OF COMMUNITY CENTERS ON CAPE COD

453

real paradox lies in the fact that these same peo-
ple do go on paying the bill for juvenile crime.

This reaction against our ideal is probably not
restricted to our community alone. But where
such situations do exist, recreation workers may
be interested in seeing how we have tried to meet
the reaction.

First of all, we have made an attempt to give
credit where it is due, and withhold it where it is
not. When people protest that recreation is largely
a school problem, we point out the facts which
prevent this from being possible. Again, people
must be made to understand that their own lack
of recreational (and of course educational) fa-
cilities in their youth is no valid excuse for deny-
ing such facilities to their children. It is not true
that if one generation can get along without a
thing, another can do the same. Such people have
to be carefully shown that the same conditions,
which made it easy for them to go without, no
longer exist.

These two instances of approach to the reac-
tionary type of mind should be sufficient to de-
scribe our tactics. Recreation will never become
a part of society by talking alone, any more than
equipment will make a program. What more
specific and ma-
terial moves have
we made in our
work?

Doing Some-
i thing About It
Community
cer ters have been
established in six
Cape towns :
Cotuit, Fal-
mouth, Province-
town, Hyannis,

Next in popular-
ity to games in
the program are
arts and crafts.
And this activity
whole families en-
joy together as
'this Hyannis
group testifies.

Sandwich and Osterville. In order that the adult
public should know and share what we are doing,
they have been encouraged to take actual parts in
the establishment and government of their centers.
Thus have lay committees been set up who man-
age the affairs of the center, handle its finances,
promote its interests. They stand in lieu of actual
municipal departments which we hope will in the
future be established by law.

Aside from the tangible advantages of the lay
committee, there is an equally important reason
for encouraging them to cooperate. Their very
existence emphasises the fact that recreation, like
education, is a community obligation and not just
another WTPA project. While we have often
managed to provide equipment and in some cases
rent space, the payroll is an item that only a reg-
ular municipal appropriation could meet. On the
other hand, the lay council gives the project an
air of permanence.

Another way in which we on Cape Cod have
sought to overcome opposition (and what is worse,
pure apathy) is in the type and purpose of our
various activities. The finest equipment in the
world will not make our centers the going con-
cerns that thev must be to survive. Games them-

454

THE GROWTH OF COMMUNITY CENTERS ON CAPE COD

selves will not keep children off the streets. Adults
can adapt themselves to much monotony and re-
pression, but children definitely revolt against it.
And they are right, for their impulsiveness makes
us work harder for better recreation.

Stressing Dynamic Activity
The best results are obtained in recreation
when dynamic activity is stressed. Our figures
show that games have been the most popular of
all activities since we began our work, but that is
probably because we have in the past had little
else to offer. Next in the list, with very satis-
factory participation figures, stands arts and
crafts. Was this simply because the children liked
to do and make those particular things? We did
not think so. It seemed more reasonable to sup-
pose that arts and crafts were but media to ex-
press the same creative desire. We thought of
what we ourselves liked to do when we were young
— things which we were prevented from doing be-
cause of lack of equipment or help. Arts and
crafts, as important as they are, covered only a
small part of the list we compiled. And from this
grew the idea of a dynamic program that would,
by the sheer number of different activities, ap-
peal to every type of boy and girl.

Most boys like to play with trains, but soon tire
of them. It might seem that this is the inevitable
outgrowth of childish things were it not for the
fact that grown men play with trains in a highly
organized way. Just because the men who belong
to model railroad clubs do things in the accepted
manner of real roads does not obscure the fact
that they are gratifying the same creative urge as
the child playing with his first toy locomotive.
Children tire of their trains because their facilities
are limited. Few have enough space or money to
maintain elaborate sets. After the train has gone
backward and forward around the track for a
month or two, the novelty is gone, and the train
is neglected.

But suppose ten or twenty of these young rail-
roaders have space enough to pool their equip-
ment and lay out a really big system. Suppose,
further, that instead of the usual haphazard
methods used by children, there are real railroad
men — engineers or brakemen or conductors — to
help and to show how a railroad is really run.
Railroads, in their campaign to combat competi-
tion by other carriers, are only too willing to make
children railroad conscious. Each youngster is to
the wideawake railroad man a potential customer.

They have in many sections of the country been
prevailed upon to show young people "the works,"
and children have been in roundhouses, yards,
power plants, switchtowers and dispatchers' of-
fices where twenty years ago they would have
been unwelcome.

The logical clearing-house for such activity is the
community center. Officials of our centers ap-
proach the proper authorities and arrange details.
There is ample floor space for the model railroads.
Instructors entice enginemen and other railroad
employees to lend a hand. Soon the young
pioneers are talking in railroad slang and running
trains just as the railroads do.

We think that all this is very important, for it
does not apply as a method only to railroads, but
to a great many things that children like to do and
see. There is no air of the schoolroom, although
the youngsters are learning. (Listen to their talk
and you will be convinced of that!)

Under the present organization, model railroad-
ing is a part of a much larger group which we call
our Scientific Club. This is divided into appro-
priate age groups, which are in turn divided into
activity groups. Model airplanes are built, and
trips to the airport made. At Woods Hole the
Government maintains a marine biological labora-
tory which contains one of the most complete col-
lections of marine life in the country. A visit to
this laboratory may be combined with either a
hike or a bicycle trip in which both members of
the scientific club and others may participate. At
the center shops we make telegraph sets, teach the
International Morse Code, do work on radio sets,
and eventually hope to own and operate our own
short wave amateur transmitter.

The great thing about this type of activity is
that it is practically limitless.. One thing sug-
gests another, and the child's horizon broadens
from the simple to the more technical. We think
it represents a type of activity that will make the
recreation program a success. For it is chiefly by
the value of activities that we win or lose in our
effort to sell the recreation idea to the public so
that they will finance it as generously as it de-
serves. Children who are interested in their cen-
ter and its progress can put tremendous pressure
on their parents, the taxpayers. How many par-
ents would oppose a plan that has actually (and
not theoretically) kept their children off the
streets? One that was at the same time teaching
valuable lessons? Theoretical programs fail be-
(Continued on page 476)

A

Nursery

u

'rows

APRE-SCHOOL nurs-
ery in a recrea-
tion center? A
rarity in many cities,
it was an innovation
without precedent in
Geveland. But here
was a neighborhood with a
great need for such a proj-
ect, and there was a recre-
ation center with available
space. Through the efforts
of two staff members who

had an urge to make the space fit the need, a fine
nursery grew up.

Neither the superintendent of the center nor
the staff supervisor had had much experience
with nurseries, so they first outlined a campaign.
Printed material was collected and read; other
pre-school groups, play schools and even day
! nurseries were visited. They gleaned valuable in-
formation as they progressed on this tour. They
jfound a nursery specialist whose services were
I available through the Child Health Association, a
| Community Fund agency. A city-sponsored
;WPA toy project could and would furnish toys
!for the undertaking. In addition, they learned
jthat the Cleveland Foundation had partially or
| completely supported other nurseries in town.

With all this information buzzing in their heads,
iand more determined than ever to have a nursery,
;the two staff members ended the tour at the Sal-
vation Army Store to see what equipment might
be purchased there to outfit a nursery. A victrola
in fine condition, selling for $1.50 and complete
jwith twenty-five records, was too great a bargain
;to pass up. The nursery's first piece of equipment
jwas purchased without hesitation.

Chapter two began with a visit to the nursery
specialist. She wasn't enthusiastic when the two
staff members admitted that they had no trained
leadership and no money. They rashly promised

It took lots of hard
work and just as much
patience, but it was
well worth the effort
when a real community
institution of which
everyone was proud
was the happy outcome.

By MARGARET E. MULAC

Supervisor, Division of Recreation

Department of Parks and Public Property

Cleveland, Ohio

not to have a nursery
if they couldn't meet
all the standards, and
with that promise the
specialist agreed to
look into the situation.
The next day the
three met at the center. The
specialist was pleased with
the surroundings. The walls
needed plaster in a few
spots and a coat of paint,
but the room was large and

well lighted with eight double windows facing
north and east, and there was a wooden floor.
Steam heat assured proper temperature during
the winter. The building, which served as a pub-
lic bathhouse was scrupulously clean, and toilet
facilities were conveniently located. There were
several rooms near by where small groups could
be taken for special activities. What was most
important, the room could be set aside for nursery
use only.

With the facilities approved, the problem of
furnishings was tackled next. WPA craftsmen
made the tables and stools to specifications; the
\VPA toy project furnished doll house furniture,
toys, blocks and vehicles. A women's organization
provided the curtains.

It was the question of physical examinations
and doctor service that nearly ended the project
before it began. The Commissioner of Health
was approached and asked that a period of ex-
aminations be set aside in a nearby dispensary.
The reply was that the clinic already had more
than it could handle. Then, when the interview
seemed to be coming to a futile end, the Commis-
sioner said: "If Dr. Blank in the Child Hygiene
Division can give you any help, it's all right
with me."

They enlisted the aid of a sympathetic doctor-
psychiatrist and child specialist and a nurse, who

456

A NURSERY GROWS UP

were assigned to the center for a special clinic
one morning a week. But there was a difficulty.
The doctor and nurse would need a room equipped
in the proper manner, which meant scales with
a measuring rod, a cupboard for supplies, tables
and chairs and other things.

So far the project had progressed without any
money, but the time had come when the two staff
members could go no further. A letter sent to the
Cleveland Foundation listed the needs and the
approximate cost of supplies. Within a short time,
seventy-one dollars was sent to the nursery. It
was all that was needed. Three weeks from the
day the staff members had first discussed the idea,
the nursery was furnished and ready for the first
group of children.

Three leaders were supplied by the WPA Rec-
reation Project. The nursery specialist outlined a
program of reading for the girls, only one of
whom had any previous nursery experience. She
devoted hours of her time to training them in the
technique of nursery procedures, and made ar-
rangements for them to visit existing groups so
they might observe them. In the mornings the
girls observed, and in the afternoons they can-
vassed the neighborhood for children between the
ages of three and five whose mothers would be
interested enough to bring their children and call
for them every day.

On December i, 1937, the Central Recreation
Center Pre-School Group opened its doors. It was
not to be called a nursery until trained nursery
teachers could supervise the program. The plan
was to let the nursery get off to a slow start, with
the first group of children passed by the doctor.
So the first week there were fewer than ten chil-
dren. This number increased until there were
thirty enrolled, and a waiting list had to be estab-
lished. NYA supplied nursery aides to keep the
toys and furniture washed. The councilman of
the ward promised milk, codliver oil and crackers
for the first six months. Later the donations made
by the mothers bought all supplies except the
skim milk which was donated by a milk company.

Believing that unless the parents were educated
along with the child, there was little to be gained
in educating the child, the leaders approached the
Family Health Association and asked for someone
to conduct the Mothers' Club meetings. A na-
tionally-known parent education lecturer was sent
to the center every week to help the mothers with
all types of problems from budgeting to child care.

Gradually the school took hold. New equip-

ment was added from time to time. The Federal
Art Project contributed a mural and three ap-
propriate pictures. Goldfish, turtles, garden proj-
ects and other types of projects were added to
make the program more interesting. All this time
the mothers had been making small weekly dona-
tions (no charge can be made for activities in the
recreation center), and those who could not pay
served the nursery in one way or another.

In January 1939, an afternoon group, started
on the same basis as the morning group, raised
the total enrollment to sixty, with as many on the
waiting list. The age requirement was dropped
from three to two and a half years and a rest
period was added to the program. A milk fund
established by Flora True Bo wen, young Cleve-
land musician, provides milk for this group.

The one weak link in the whole chain was the
uncertainty of leadership. By this time the nurs-
ery was being run by two competent and trained
nursery teachers, but because they were subjected
to WPA regulations, no one could be sure how
long the nursery could count on them. Some-
thing had to do done to insure permanent teach-
ers. Up to this point the staff members and the
teachers had shouldered all responsibilities. It
seemed time to let the Mothers' Club take over.

After several exciting meetings of the Mothers'
Clubs, a constitution was drawn up and accepted.
Committees were organized to run a benefit to buy
needed equipment, cots and linoleum. Weekly
donations, however small, and attendance at club
meetings and lectures were voted to be necessary
duties of each mother. A fund was started to take
care of a teacher's salary, and a movement was
begun to try to get a teacher on the city payroll.

Those mothers who protested that the require-
ments were too strict, and others who regarded
the nursery as a "parking place" for their children
were told : "Your children need us more than we
need them. The waiting list is crowded with
mothers who understand the purpose of the nurs-
ery and are ready and willing to help."

And the mothers saw the point! They have a
new respect for the project and are responding
valiantly. Their plans for the year are enough to
make any campaign manager sit up and take
notice !

Besides the actual benefits to child and mother,
the nursery has helped to acquaint the other mem-
bers of the families with the recreation facilities
of the center. Whole families make use of the
(Continued on page 476)

Co-Education and Recreation

in the

Jewish Community Center

THE HISTORY of the Jewish
Community Center movement
in the United States is from
one point of view a striving for
the development of a pattern of program and or-
ganization that encompasses the leisure-time needs
of all members of the family. The Jewish com-
munity is in a sense the enlarged Jewish family
and the Community Center the larger home. The
conditions of urban life, which have deprived the
home of much of its power and ability to meet the
after-school and after-work needs of its mem-
bers for recreation, social life and cultural growth,
have emphasized the obligation of the Community
Center to serve in these areas of human interest.
The Center can, of course, readily become a sub-
stitute instead of an adjunct of the home with a
consequent serious loss of value to the individual
and to society. But it will not happen if the Com-
munity Center in truth represents a community
of interest of parents and children.

The Principle of Universal Membership
This philosophy of the Jewish Community Cen-
ter governs the program, policies and manage-
i ment and has implications also for Jewish com-
imunity organization which perhaps are beyond
Uhe immediate scope of this article. One of the
I basic principles that follows naturally from the
^ concept of the Jewish Community Center as the
i enlarged Jewish family is
jthat of universal member-
'ship. All individuals of
: the community, regardless
(of sex, age, social or po-
litical status, are eligible
j for membership. Member-
jship privileges are alike
for all, men, women,
jboys and girls, except for
.those minor limitations
jthat may be necessary in
'the interests of good ad-
ministration. In order to

By Louis KRAFT

Acting Executive Director
Jewish Welfare Board

"The Jewish Community Center is still in the
process of development as a cultural and so-
cial agency. Many phases of its work are as
yet experimental. It is, however, of the es-
sence of its character as a community organi-
zation that it views its program in the broad-
est terms of service to all elements in the
community. Hence its co-educational approach
is basic. The records of participation give
encouragement to the belief that it is suc-
ceeding as a co-educational enterprise. Ap-
proximately forty per cent of the 380,000
members of the Jewish Centers are women
and girls, and in many joint activities they
are dominant in numbers and in leadership."

make membership actually avail-
able, allowance is made for differ-
ences in ability to pay fees, so that
no one may be barred from affilia-
tion. A very substantial number of Centers have
family memberships, in order to further empha-
size the desire to serve all members of the family.
The principle of universal membership has not
always been recognized in Jewish center work.
Many of the Centers that now function on an all-
inclusive basis originally served more limited
groups. Some began as Young Men's Hebrew
Associations, serving men only and later opening
membership to boys. Young women formed
Young Women's Hebrew Associations of their
own, or such organizations were established by
older women to serve girls. Jewish settlement
houses, Educational Alliances and similar organi-
zations were established to help immigrant groups
to become Americanized.

All of these organizations had limitations as to
clientele, purpose and program. Gradually they
assumed a common pattern, that of the Jewish
Community Center, although a few still function
on the original basis. The movement towards an
acceptance of the Community Center idea has
been stimulated by the Jewish Welfare Board,
which since 1921 has served as the national co-
ordinating agency of local Centers and kindred
organizations. The total number of these organi-
zations is in fact smaller
than it was twenty years
ago. But whereas, in 1921,
there were 150 Y.M.H.A.'s
113 independent Y. W.
H.A.'s, and but 62 Cen-
ters, that might be said to
serve on a broader plan of
membership ( Settlement
Houses are included), at
the present time 261 of
the 325 constituent socie-
ties of the Jewish Wel-
fare Board are of the

457

458 CO-EDUCATION AND RECREATION IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER

Community Center type. Y.M.H.A.'s have merg-
ed with Y.W.H.A.'s in many communities to
form Community Centers and in each case mem-
bership was opened to adults and children as well
as to young people.

Universality of membership implies not only
equality of privilege in use of facilities but free-
dom to share in management. Progress in this
direction has been slow. The government of
Jewish Centers is still largely man-controlled,
though the tendency is definitely in the direction
of more adequate representation of women on
Boards of Directors and committees. The prin-
ciple is gaining in acceptance not only that adults
of both sexes should share in management, but
that young people should, as they demonstrate
ability and interest, be given Board and Commit-
tee responsibility. Similarly it is true that men
and women are increasingly elected to the Board,
who do not represent wealth or social position.
This development is in part due to recognition of
the democratic character of the Center as an in-
stitution of the people, to some extent because of
the degree of self-support of the Center, and be-
cause affiliation of the Center with the local Jew-
ish Federation or Community Chest, makes "com-
munity" support impersonal. All of these factors
limit the need of depending upon individual phi-
lanthropy, and encourage the selection of individu-
als for responsibility in the government of the
Center on the basis of ability to make a contri-
bution of leadership and service.

Cooperation of the sexes is further promoted
through a variety of house councils, club councils
and functional councils, the latter organized on
the basis of a common interest in a specific ac-
tivity or group of related activities. These coun-
cils are, with few exceptions, composed of mem-
bers of both sexes. Some of the councils have
limited governmental functions. They are pri-
marily concerned with program and may be re-
garded as part of the government of the center
only when they have representation in the board
or on committees of the board. They are of in-
terest in this discussion because they play a vital
role in engaging the cooperation of members of
both sexes in the exercise of responsibility and the
planning of activities, thereby contributing to
normal relationships and cultivating the habit of
working together for socially desirable goals.

Cooperation in Planning and Administration
Cooperation of the sexes in the planning and
conduct of activities is a significant factor in Jew-

ish Center life, primarily because of two charac-
teristics of the center. First, it is a voluntary as-
sociation or fellowship. Men and women join of
their own will and pay for the privilege. They
have a strong consciousness of belonging to an
organization of their own, where the act of affilia-
tion symbolizes entering fellowship with equals.
They are joining a "Club House" to which they
feel free to come at any time. The need of indi-
viduals for a "Club" responds to an inner drive
for the society of their fellows. It also answers
the urgent need for status. In the free atmosphere
of the center young men and young women are
accepted as individuals for their contributions they
make in activity — social, cultural, recreational
without reference to success or failure in the out-
side world. This is particularly true of girls and
single women.

The restrictions imposed by conventions upon
their social activities outside of the home are shed
when they enter the Center. No one will question
their going to the Center unescorted or attending
activities with members of the opposite sex in
their own club house. Because the Center is so
vital to the satisfaction of individual needs, mem-
bers of both sexes can be readily encouraged to
assume responsibility for helping to make it a
good, desirable and interesting place.

The Program of Co-Recreation

The second important characteristic of the Cen-
ter is the "co-educational" character of most of
the activities. It may be said that practically every
leisure-time activity in which it is natural or de-
sirable for members of both sexes to participate
finds place in the program of the well organized
Jewish Community Center. Dances, entertain-
ments, social games, suppers, Parents' Day pro-
grams, observance of civic and Jewish holidays,
dramatics, art, formal classes, forums, concerts,
choral societies, informal cultural groups, some
clubs and special interest groups, discussion
groups, religious services, study groups in Jewish
and general subjects and many other activities are
conducted for both sexes. Indeed, some could
not be held otherwise, the activity depending upon
participation of men and women, boys and girls.
In recent years some Centers have introduced
activities in the gymnasium in which boys and
girls play together. Mixed swimming is likewise
no longer a novel venture. Naturally the Center
has not been immune from the general movement
for mixed participation in sports that is a grow-
ing manifestation of activity of young people.

CO-EDUCATION AND RECREATION IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER 459

The Center is not exceptional
among the many youth-serv-
ing agencies that recognize
the need for participation of
the sexes in leisure-time pur-
suits of an informal and for-
mal character. If there is any
distinctive element in the
Center program, it derives from the fact that
such participation is regarded as a normal purpose
of the Center and that people engage in co-educa-
tional activities not as invited guests, but as mem-
bers of an organization which treats both sexes
as equals.

Interests Which Cannot Be Shared

It should not be concluded that all activities are
on a co-educational basis. The Center recognizes
that boys and girls have interests also as boys and
as girls which they cannot share with members of
the opposite sex. There are age levels at which
boys prefer the companionship of boys in activity.
This is also true of girls. It is true of adult
groups as well. Certain activities are designed for
or appeal more to boys than to girls, and vice
versa. Practically all of the typical boys groups,
e.g., Boy Scouts, and the typical girls groups are
given place in the Center program. Special classes
and cultural courses for senior and adult women
are conducted in the domestic sciences, child care,
personality development, and other specific inter-
ests which they have as women. The Center
houses many adult women's societies with specific
programs of their own.

The separation of the sexes is most striking in
the gymnasium and allied activities, formal classes,
in some games, and special activities such as Men's
Health Club, married women's groups.

Many Centers conduct Day Camps and coun-
try camps. The former serve boys and girls, but
in the case of country camps, co-educational pro-
grams are as yet limited. Although some camp
sites are used for boys and girls, sometimes si-
multaneously, there is little mingling of the sexes
in daily activity. Dramatics, social functions, re-
ligious exercises, holiday observances are often
jointly planned and conducted. In some instances
children eat together and there is some inter-
camp visiting. Except for the very young chil-
dren, however, camp life as a whole is not shared
by campers of both sexes. Even under the pres-
ent limitations in co-educational activity, there
are nevertheless obvious advantages in joint man-

"The values of co-education and recrea-
tion cannot be measured statistically.
They are the intangible by-products of
normal association of men and women in
a rich social experience of benefit to
themselves as individuals and to the
society of which they are members."

agement, common use of fa-
cilities, convenience to par-
ents who visit sons and
daughters in camp, central
registration and promotion
and economies in purchasing.
The fact that so many ac-
tivities are offered for the
members of one sex is a reflection of the policy
of the Center to try to serve the individual needs
of members, to recognize common interests and
differences of a psychological nature. It does
not signify a modification of the essential charac-
ter of the Center as a Community Center and as
a co-educational enterprise. It is necessary to bear
in mind that affiliation with the Center is on the
basis of life time interests. Boys may grow into
youth, young manhood and adulthood in Center
life. The same is true of girls. Interests change,
but affiliation may continue since the Center rec-
ognizes, in its manifold program, the importance
of satisfying changing needs. At many points,
therefore, in the association of the individual with
the center, there are opportunities for co-educa-
tional activity.

Physical Facilities

The ability of the Center to serve various age
groups and members of both sexes depends largely
on physical facilities that provide for common
interests and also for special needs of the sexes.
They must further permit the simultaneous use
of facilities by both sexes, and in so far as pos-
sible, all age groups. The architectural problem,
while difficult, has been effectively solved. In gen-
eral, the facilities may be classified into those for
common use and those especially designed for
separate use.

The common areas are the auditorium (used
for dances, social functions, dramatics, forum
concerts, banquets, religious services, mass meet-
ings, annual meetings and dinners of communal
groups, and sometimes as a gymnasium), stage,
class and club meeting rooms, library, common or
social lounge for seniors, a similar lounge for
adolescents, quiet game rooms, social game room,
bowling alleys, art rooms, arts and crafts, gym-
nasium, swimming pool, basket room, health club,
roof garden or play yard, restaurant or coffee
shop.

The special areas for women consist of a
women's lounge, sometimes a special meeting

(Continued on page 477)

DISCUSSION of the enormous con-
tribution which more leisure
time will bring to national culture has made
it almost a platitude. Recreation leaders, how-
ever, give only a subordinate position in the rec-
reation program to cultural subjects. The basis
for this action lies in the belief that boys and girls
disdain cultural pursuits. Obviously this opinion
results from weighing popular activity prefer-
ences rather than needs ; from ignoring the fact
that appreciation of the arts follows cultural
exposure and discipline.

The recreation program in Huntington Park,
California, has shown that potential participation
in the arts exists in any playground group. Chil-
dren of all ages can definitely be interested in
cultural activities through an integrated, properly
presented program. Using Huntington Park as a
representative metropolitan area, the problem of
imparting culture is one of approach.

Making the arts intelligible and natural — and
therefore appreciated - - as-
sures participation, the Hunt-
ington Park Recreation De-
partment has found. Leaders
must introduce art as a by-
product of living, rather than
as something divorced from
everyday life. They must show

460

Ally the Arts!

By HUGH LACY

Mr. Lacy who, in this article, makes
a plea for the development of an ap-
preciation of the arts as an objec-
tive of the recreation program, is edi-
tor of the "Recreation Round Table,"
published by the WPA Division of
Recreation, Los Angeles, California.

young people that art is a way of see-
ing things more satisfactorily.
According to Richard C. Littleton, Hunting-
ton Park's City Director of Recreation, successful
development of an interesting cultural program
which will fulfill its aim of contributing to indi-
vidual completeness and satisfaction depends on
the program directors' knowledge that apprecia-
tion and understanding go hand in hand "As
long as art is something esoteric," Mr. Littleton
says, "It will hold no position of worth in the
community recreation program. Art must be
brought home to the young participant as an ex-
perience he can have in his own way, and not as
an effete possession or thing belonging to the
privileged. Then art begins to come into its own."
That is the basis of culture in Huntington Park.
This method of presenting a cultural recreation
program attracted 1,500 participants in music
activities alone during the first six months of
the organization of the program.

At the outset, the campaign
stressed music, as this art has
probably the highest receptiv-
ity among the untrained. Since
the beginning of the plan
dozens of adults and children,
many of whom had no previ-
ous interest in music, gather

ALLY THE ARTS!

461

at the Miles Avenue auditorium to practice or
hear and take part in programs. One novel feature
of the program is the Miles Avenue Kitchen
Symphony, a rhythm-band group of boys and
girls from six to ten years old with an enrolled
membership of fifty. Another is the band for
older boys which gives weekly concerts in the
city park. Two other highly organized groups
are the Gage Avenue Swing Band, and the Miles
Avenue Symphony.

But the musical program was not aimed just at
the appreciation of music. The plan included the
integration of the arts. As synthesis is the key to
unity, integration of the arts was considered the
key to an effective cultural program. The rhythms
of musical note, of spoken line, of visual form
and of motion are interlinking. Young musicians
began to examine their instruments with a crafts-
man's eye. As a result, many are making their
own violins and guitars. The youngsters' rhythm
group made their own sal-
vage-craft instruments-
drums of pasteboard and tin-
can xylophones. Then too,
craft enthusiasts interested in
instrument-making have been
introduced to music.

With this lead, recreation
musicians turn naturally to
dance and pageantry; dance
enthusiasts gravitate to music
and drama ; dramatic groups to song and rhythm ;
craftsmen to stagecraft, painting and design.
Further development follows with heightened in-
terest in drawing, modeling and carving. The in-
ter-relationship is complete when recreational
playwrites, poets and lyricists begin to appear
within playground confines.

This cultural growth and achievement has not
been without problems. Many are circumvented
or solved by leaders; others solve themselves.
Professional conflict is one unfortunate obstacle,
but it is not insurmountable.

In the formative stage of the program private
music and dance instructors justifiably feared for
their livelihood in the face of 'a free city-spon-
sored program in which beginners could practice
these specialties. Careful planning during this
period, limited instruction to groups with no in-
dividual assistance even in instrument tuning, and
time smoothed over this situation. Citizens grew
to realize the values of a broad program of art
appreciation. As many children with hitherto un-

"When art is shown to be expression and
self -realization in which all can take
part, then art is liberated. A program
that promotes the cultural phase on an
intelligible participant basis rather than
on a misunderstood spectator basis,
places culture on a sound footing. Then
the art of living can become the
greatest art." — Richard C. Littleton.

discovered talent turned to music and dance, they
learned that group participation is insufficient for
perfection and sought private instruction. Stimu-
lation of this sort also resulted in sale of instru-
ments and wider use of drawing supplies, arts and
crafts materials. No survey has been made, but
one can logically assume that library reading,
school activities, dramatics, and literature have
come in for their share of the enthusiasm.

In considering resultant personal enjoyment and
the aggregate contribution to the arts themselves,
the value of community cultural arts programs is
immeasurable. Schools, by making literature a
part of their curriculum, provide every literate1
person with hours of enjoyment from reading.
Similarly, recreation programs, by bringing
into the home less-known mediums such as the
interpretive dance, discover for the spectator and
participant new areas of pleasure and experience.
As this also creates greater appreciation for the
professional, it is a movement
in which all gain.

For urban dwellers this in-
tegrated cultural program has
a manifold reward. It adds
to education and versatility,
thereby to confidence and
poise; and, opening new
realms for personality ex-
pression, it counterbalances
hypertension and city strain.
In practice, it is what Rodin meant when he said,
"Slowness is beauty," for leisure and reflection
are requisites of art. Most important of all, cul-
tural pursuits provide a basis for home stability,
enlivened and enriched home life, home dramatics,
photography, crafts-and-game rooms, music, read-
ing, and a higher type of discussion. Ultimately
these pursuits reach the highest art — the art of
living. The child whose home life is antipathetic
needs activities which absorb his mind and crea-
tive powers as well as his body. On the other
hand, a congenial home finds its congeniality
enhanced.

These results have appeared in the recreation
program of Huntington Park, a program in which
culture is not a fad but a permanent phase. These
results were achieved not by accident, but by de-
sign which can be applied anywhere. Director
Littleton knew that the common ingredients of
art are the human materials. He began with his
own hobby — music. Then he simply made each of
the arts interesting and allied them.

Under the Harvest Moon

MANY YEARS have passed
since a harvest moon
shone down on the Ply-
mouth Colony and the Pilgrim
Fathers' thanksgiving; many
have passed since President
Lincoln proclaimed Thanks-
giving a national holiday, but
today Thanksgiving is still the
same. Not forgetting its dig-
nity in thankful worship, we celebrate with feast-
ing and joyous sport. An informal, old-fashioned
party seems more appropriate for Thanksgiving
than for any other holiday. Here are some jolly
games which will help celebrate the occasion at
your Thanksgiving party.

Puzzle Relay. Prepare a large picture of a tur-
key and cut it up as a jig saw puzzle, into as many
sections as there are members on a team. For a
contest, two or more teams are necessary, and one
turkey is needed for each team.

Teams are lined up at one end of the hall, one
along side of the other, all facing the same way,
with the members of each team in single file be-
hind their captain. About five feet in front of
each team a chair, a table, or box is placed, and
on this table the cut-up parts of the turkey picture
are arranged, upside down so the picture is not
noticeable. The parts should be thoroughly shuf-
fled after being cut up.

At a reasonable distance from this chair a circle
about two feet in diameter is drawn on the floor
in front of each team, and in the circle the puzzle
is to be put together. Another table will serve the
same purpose.

Starting line is marked in front of each captain,
and at the signal "Go" the captain runs to the
first table, takes one section of the turkey picture,
and runs to the circle, laying it down so that the
rest of the sections can be put there one by one to
build up the turkey. Then he runs back to his
team and touches the hand of the next person in
line; this player, after being touched, repeats the
performance of the captain, and
then runs back to touch off num-
ber 3. This continues until the
turkey is properly put together.
Each runner, after touching
the next player, falls in at the

A few suggestions for a
Thanksgiving frolic from
which you are invited to
select a jolly game or
two, a few social mixers
or some mental "teasers"

The game suggestions offered here
were taken from a bulletin entitled
"Thanksgiving Party Suggestions,"
compiled by the Recreation Divi-
sion of the Chicago Park District.

rear of his team; if there are
more pieces than players, each
one may run twice. After the
turkey has been assembled, the
captain of each team runs
again to the turkey and sees to
it that the puzzle is properly
put together. Then he raises
his hand and runs back to the
starting line. The team finish-
ing first, of course, is the winner.

Putting the Head Back on the Turkey. Draw a
large headless picture of a turkey, goose, duck, or
chicken, on cloth, cardboard, or wood. Then draw
the head on a separate piece or make the head of
a piece of paper. This headless picture is placed
at the other end of the room, hanging or standing
vertically, as a blackboard would be.

Each player, one at a time, is blindfolded and
given the bird's head with a couple of pins, and is
then led to the headless bird and instructed to pin
on the head. After each player does this, the spot
where he or she pinned the head is marked with
the player's name; and after all have had a turn,
the one closest to the proper place is given an
award. In case of a tie, the accuracy of the posi-
tion of the head shall determine the winner.

Mayflower. Divide players into groups of about
twenty persons who are to be Pilgrims. Have a
leader of each group start with number one and
say, "We are about to sail for America. What
do you plan to take with you?" Number one
names an article — suitcase, soap, chair, horse,
pipe, etc. The leader asks number two what he
expects to take, and number two selects an article.
This proceeds around the group.

The leader returns to number one and asks,
"What do you intend to do with this article?"
Number one makes a sensible reply; if he men-
tioned a suitcase, he says, "Carry my clothes in
it." Then number two repeats his article and ap-
plies this answer, to it. If he took soap, he says,
"I'm taking soap; I intend to carry my clothes
in it." If number three took a
chair he says, "I'm taking a
chair; I intend to carry my
clothes in it." When everyone
has used number one's answer,
the leader goes to number two

462

UNDER THE HARVEST MOON

463

and asks what he intends to do with his article.
He answers sensibly, "Wash my hands with it."
Then number three applies this answer to his
article : "I'm taking a chair ; I intend to wash my
hands with it." This game continues in this man-
ner until each player has given an intended use
for his article.

Football Teams (a mixer). Pin on the back of
each guest the name of a football team such as
Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Yale, Harvard, Prince-
ton, Army, Navy, Notre Dame, N. Y. U. Each
is told not to let anyone see what is pinned on his
back. The leader then tells the guests that they
are to try to see how many names they can get on
their lists, at the same time trying to keep anyone
else from seeing what is written on their backs.
Require them also to secure the name and color
of the eyes of the person whose word they suc-
ceeded in getting. Let this continue for five or six
minutes, and then have them count the number
they have, giving a prize to the one who has the
largest number.

Thanksgiving Menu. The players should be asked
to suggest a Thanksgiving menu, each item of
which will begin with a letter in Thanksgiving.
The following is a suggestion :

T Turkey G Grits

H Hominy I Ice Cream

A Applesauce V Vinegar

N Noodles I Iced Tea

K Kraut N Nuts

S Sugar G Grapes

A prize may be given for the quickest to make
a list, another for the most balanced menu.

Turkey Hunt. Before the party starts, hide small
turkeys, purchased at the

other, one side being the Indians and the other
the Pilgrims. One person, who is blindfolded,
beats a drum. A dishpan may be substituted, al-
though a trap drum is better. One of the players
is given a tin can with rocks in it so that it will
rattle. As long as the drummer keeps beating, the
rattle passes back and forth. The line caught
with it when the drum stops is the loser, so the
other side wins five points. When the drum starts
again, the rattle moves on. Continue the game
not longer than five or ten minutes. A piano may
be substituted for the drum.

Feeding the Turkey. Choose one couple from
each team, and have the boy and girl sit facing
each other. The girl is given a paper bag with
twelve peanuts in it. At a signal from the leader
she is to open the bag, shell the peanuts, and feed
them to her partner. The others look on and root
for the couple from their team. The couple that
finishes first should receive a prize.

Stormy Weather. The grand march is used to
get the guests lined up in eight lines, each guest
taking plenty of room for himself. The leader
tells them that a terrific storm has arisen and that
if they are keen barometers they can sense the
feeling of the storm. She will read weather re-
ports to them, and as she does this they are to
pantomime the action of the storm. However,
when she calls out the direction in which the wind
is blowing, they are to face in the opposite direc-
tion. For example, when she says, "The wind is
blowing toward the east," everyone must face the
west ; but when she says, "The wind is whirling,"
they must spin around in a circle three times.

When she says, "The

five and ten cent store
or cut out of brown
paper or cardboard,
over the room. Tell the
guests that they are all
going turkey hunting
for these hidden tur-
keys. There will be a
mad scramble to find
them. About five min-
utes later, blow the
whistle and give a prize
to the one finding the
largest number.

Indian Drum Race.
The players line up in
two files facing each

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
"It was the autumn of 1621 in the Plymouth Colony.
The Pilgrim Fathers, having gathered in their meager
harvests, decided to set aside a time for the giving
of thanks. Governor Bradford sent out four men to
shoot game, and they came back heavily laden with
wild game, particularly wild turkey. Many friendly
Indians were invited to the feast, and they brought
in a great deal of deer meat and other game as their
contribution. A whole week was taken up with feast-
ing and recreational activities, including archery,
target practice and Indian sports. From this time on,
Thanksgiving as a custom spread to the other col-
onies and was finally observed as a national holiday
by proclamation of President Lincoln, who designated
the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day,
and called upon the people of the nation to offer
thanks for blessings received." — From Activities
Bulletin Series No. 3, Chicago Park District.

wind is variable," they
must sway back and
forth until she gives
them another direction.
All orders must be con-
tinued until another
order is given. If the
leader will end her re-
port by saying, "And
the wind whirled (al-
lowing the players to
whirl three times), and
whirled (repeat), and
whirled" — the game will
end in helpless laughter.
(Continued on page 478)

You Asked for It!

Question: We are having great difficulty in
interesting the boys and girls of our centers in
civic affairs and in feeling any sense of responsi-
bility for helping in conducting a program directly
affecting their own welfare. Can you tell us of
any experiments in which self-government prin-
ciples have been used in an effort to meet such a
situation ?

Answer: In one large city two approaches are
being made to the problem. In the first project,
in a neighborhood where there is a high delin-
quency tradition, a boys' self-government court
has been established with weekly court hearings
and regular court procedures. The judge and a
prosecuting attorney are appointed for three week
terms. Any boy guilty of misbehavior at the com-
munity center is served with a summons to ap-
pear at the next session of court. He is permitted
to have an attorney of his own choosing to repre-
sent him, and he may appeal for jury trial. If
charges are sustained, the usual penalty is some
form of labor contributing to the center operation.
For example, he is sentenced to scrub the floor,
wash windows, or perform some other service.
The feeling of participation in self-government
has resulted in a definite change of attitude on
the part of the boys.

In another project designed to create a feeling
of responsibility on the part of the boys and girls,
the plan was tried during Youth Week of having
an election for mayor, a state's attorney, and a
commissioner of public service in each park of the
city. Legion posts, parent-teacher groups, schools,
and adult clubs frequenting the parks became in-
terested and took an active part in the forthcom-
ing campaign. In several of the parks sound
trucks were provided to support the juvenile
tickets, and while voting was restricted to chil-
dren between the ages of ten and sixteen, the
adult groups became more excited over the elec-
tion than they had been over some of the recent
municipal campaigns! Posters and banners were
made by the children with the aid of adults ; sur-
rounding neighborhoods were organized into vot-
ing precinct wards, and in some instances there
were door-to-door campaigns, and canvassing can-
didates had their watchers at the polls and dur-
ing the counting of ballots. At one park boys
printed the ballots for their own and other parks.

464

On Election Day, though it rained violently while
the polls were open, nearly 8,000 votes were cast.
Each ticket had its announced platform, and an
interesting fact in connection with the platform is
that in every park one of the first principles enun-
ciated was that the candidates pledged themselves
and their party and supporters to an administra-
tion eliminating vandalism and other misbehavior.
In a number of the parks the candidates pledged
themselves to support clean-up activities to im-
prove the appearance of the parks, as well as to
help develop its services. Elaborate meetings were
staged to induct the elected officers into office,
their terms to run for the year.

Elected officials have taken their offices with the
utmost seriousness. In one of the parks, where
girl officials were elected, the officials wrote a
letter to the Mayor and to the President of the
Park Board pledging themselves to support the
efforts of the park administration to make the
park a better influence in their neighborhood.

Park supervisors have been sitting in with these
juvenile officials ever since their election, and a
number of plans have been developed through these
cooperating representatives of the neighborhood
to appoint special youth committees with specific
functions to perform. In one of the parks the
children, looking over the building, decided there
should be a general house cleaning, and they en-
listed the entire electorate in helping the park
maintenance staff in a building and grounds clean-
up. Another group approached the park super-
visor regarding an unsightly and unused wading
pool in front of the building which had been con-
demned. After the maintenance department had
filled in the area and arranged for a flower bed,
the children took over the task of caring for the
flower bed and planting it.

The park officials plan to call together from
time to time the elected officers of the various
parks and to discuss with them some of the prob-
lems they will face and some of the activities they
can undertake in their own field of operation.
The plan represents a new adventure in active
junior citizenship and service for the common
good made adventurous, and appealing also to the
ambitions of the children to accomplish things on
their own account.

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THE entire week be-
Christmas Time in . _, .

T . . fore Christmas is de-

Los Angeles „, . A

_ voted to Christmas

celebrations at the Los

Angeles recreation centers. Each playground has
its own illuminated Christmas tree, and there are
programs throughout the week including chil-
dren's and adults' seasonal plays, operettas, pag-
eants, tableaux, puppet shows, dances, community
and carol singing, dramatized ballads, verse choirs,
harmonica music, costume parties, toy band selec-
tions, readings, pantomimes, and other entertain-
ment appropriate to the season. Children's parties
are an important part of the program, featuring
as they do plays and skits, storytelling, games,
singing, doll parties, and many other activities.
Instrumental music programs are presented by
Federal Music Project bands and orchestras, and
other musical groups. Choruses fostered by the
Recreation Department go a-caroling during
Christmas week to bring holiday cheer to hospitals
and shut-ins. All the choruses, orchestras, and
radio groups of the Department participate in the
celebrations. The groups broadcast ever various
radio stations a series of Christmas songs. In 1938
they presented "The Creation," "A Christmas
Carol" by Dickens, and other selections at
churches, schools, and playgrounds.

out-of-town groups into Chicago for personally
conducted tours of ten museums and points of
public interest located in the Park District or on
park property. Several all-expense tours have
been set up and folders have been prepared for
general distribution. Further information may
be secured from Fred G. Heuchling, Chairman,
Chicago Museum Tours Committee, Chicago Park
District.

Play Activities
"Under Light"

AN attractive poster
issued by the Public
Recreation Commis-
sion of Cincinnati,

Ohio, invites residents of the city to enjoy activi-
ties "under light" which are listed as bicycling,
archery, horseshoes, tennis, badminton, and ping-
pong. The poster also urges that groups plan a
bicycle picnic party.

Play Areas Increase
Property Values

Christmas Seals
1939-1940

CHRISTMAS SEALS

THE annual sale of Christmas
Health Seals will begin this year
on December ist instead of the
day following Thanksgiving.
Recreation workers all realize
the importance of cooperating
in this movement to eliminate
tuberculosis.

See the Museums
of Chicago

THE Chicago Park District is
sponsoring a project to bring

Help to Protect Your
Home from Tuberculosis

THE Union County,
New Jersey, Park
Commission reports a
631.7 per cent increase

in assessed valuations on properties adjacent to
Warinanco Park for the seventeen year period
from 1922 to 1939. This is nearly fourteen times
the average increase of 46.4 per cent for the en-
tire city during the same period
of years, according to a survey
recently made. In 1922 property
in Elizabeth, adjacent to the
park, was assessed at $703,155;
now the assessed valuation of
the same property is $5,144,980.
A similar, though less spectacu-
lar, increase was shown on lands
adjacent to the park in Roselle
where valuations on land ad-
jacent to the park jumped 256.7
per cent. By using the 1939 tax
rates for the two communities
it was found that the tax rev-
enue on the increased valuations
directly traceable to park de-
velopment totals $251,049 for
one year. The Commission also
calls attention to the fact that
less than three cents of each

465

466

WORLD AT PLAY

dollar paid in property taxes by the residents of
the county is required to pay for the entire annual
cost of the county park system, including amor-
tization of and interest on bonds, and the yearly
maintenance appropriation.

For Conservation of America's Resources —
Congress has authorized the expenditure of ap-
proximately one billion dollars for Conservation
during the fiscal year 1939-40, according to the
American Forestry Association. Analysis of the
bill of expenditures by the Congress which ad-
journed last August 5 shows regular appropria-
tions of $870,193,223 and Unemployment Relief
Allocations of $23,866,840, making a total of
$894,060,063. This total is divided among the
Civilian Conservation Corps and the conservation
bureaus of the Departments of Agriculture and
Interior. The largest item, $500,000,000, is for
payments to farmers for soil conservation
practices.

"A Tribute to Youth" — The Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Bureau of Recreation on August
1 8th presented a pageant in Schenley Park under
the title, "A Tribute to Youth." The pageant,
which was two hours in duration, showed the ac-
tivities of the Bureau during the summer months.
Among these were singing games, volleyball, bas-
ketball, a Polish folk dance, boxing, party group
games, a campfire scene, pantomime, and a toy
symphony. In this way the main divisions of the
program were covered — physical, arts and crafts,
social, nature study, drama, and music. The script
was written by John M. Wilkoff, one of the work-
ers of the Bureau of Recreation, of which Louis
C. Schroeder is Superintendent.

Festival Making — The September, 1939 issue
of Childhood Education is devoted to the subject
of making festivals. Among the articles are the fol-
lowing : "Festival Making the Means of Growth" ;
"A Festival of Lights" ; "How a Community Festi-
val Contributes to Democratic Living" ; and "Fes-
tivals in a Mountain Community." There is a
helpful bibliography on festivals under the title
"The Calendar in Books." This source material
has been classified according to age groupings.

Training Standards for Aquatic Directors —
The National Council of the Young Men's Chris-
tion Associations announces the establishment of
new standards for accrediting professional direct-

ors and instructors of aquatics. These standards,
Mr. T. K. Cureton, Jr., Chairman of the National
Aquatic Committee, points out, are in strict ac-
cordance with the professional standards of the
National Council of the Y.M.C.A.'s and of the
Standards Committee of the American Associa-
tion for Health, Physical Education and Recrea-
tion. During 1939 approximately sixty training
institutes have been conducted in various parts of
the country for the introduction of the new pro-
gram to Y.M.C.A. physical directors and their as-
sociates.

Full information is given in a circular issued
by the Y.M.C.A. National Aquatic Committee,
347 Madison Avenue, New York City.

A Salute to Sidney Teller — Sidney Teller,
Director of Irene Kaufmann Settlement in Pitts-
burgh, Pennsylvania, has completed his twenty-
third year of public service as a social worker in
Pittsburgh and the thirty-seventh in his chosen
profession. The American Jewish Outlook in its
issue of September i, 1939, selected Mr. Teller as
the thirty-first "salute" winner, Henry Kaufmann,
founder of the Irene Kaufmann Settlement, hav-
ing been the first. Says the Outlook: "The wel-
fare of his community has ever been foremost in
Sidney Teller's mind."

Along Coronado's Trail — Miss Sarah Ger-
trude Knott, director of the National Folk Festi-
val, is now in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where
she will be working on the Coronado Cuarto Cen-
tennial Festivals to be held along Coronado's trail
of four hundred years ago. She will be glad to
hear from any recreation groups in Colorado,
New Mexico, Arizona, or West Texas who might
be interested in cooperating in the festivals. Miss
Knott requests that communications be addressed
to her in care of Washington Post, Washington,
D. C.

Soap Sculpture Contest Announced — The

National Soap Sculpture Committee, 80 East nth
Street, New York City, announces the sixteenth
annual competition for small sculptures in white
soap. The contest will close May 15, 1940. Copies
of a folder giving full information about the
classifications and conditions of the competition,
together with suggestions on how to do soap carv-
ing, may be secured on request from the Committee.

On the Wheeling Playgrounds — An all-time

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467

high for weekly playground attendance at the
eighteen playgrounds of Wheeling, West Vir-
ginia, was recorded this summer at the figure
of 50,244. Among the competitions carried on
at the centers were basketball, with three-man
teams, a new fad in novel tournaments called
"Stick in the Mud," mumble-de-peg tourna-
ments, boxing, model airplane contests, horse-
shoe contests, mushball, softball, and tennis.
The boys and girls also enjoyed pet shows,
hobby shows, moving pictures, hiking, marsh-
mallow toasts, and other parties.

Junior Inspectors' Clubs on the Playground

— Last summer the Bureau of Recreation of
Scranton, Pennsylvania, introduced into the play-
ground program the Junior Inspectors' Club
which proved of great help in keeping the play-
grounds clean and free from rubbish. There were
fifteen units in the club, one for each of the four-
teen playgrounds ; the other the Long Table
Council. Each club held a weekly meeting. Any
boy or girl between the ages of eight and seven-
teen previously registered on the playground could
become a junior inspector and wear the official
red-on-white button provided by the Bureau. A
junior inspector was permitted to continue in
active standing until he persistently violated the
junior inspectors' honor code or failed to take an
enthusiastic part in the club and playground pro-
gram. The purpose of the organization was "to
help make every week Clean-up Week in the an-
thracite capital of the world" by refraining to
throw rubbish in the playgrounds, buildings and
streets, and by picking up scattered papers and
depositing them in receptacles.

New Facilities in Cincinnati — According to
the annual report of the City Manager, over three
hundred acres of new facilities were put in use
in 1938 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and improvements
costing over a million dollars were completed
through the cooperation of WPA. Among the fa-
cilities were ten shelter buildings, a golf club
house, five hundred concrete park benches,
bleacher seats for seven hundred people, and out-
door lighting facilities for sixteen tennis courts,
two general play areas, and two softball diamonds.

Respect for Beauty — Before the Great Lakes
Exposition held in Cleveland, Ohio, during the
summers of 1936 and 1937 the lake front was a
city dump of the most unsightly variety. Skeptics

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said it would never be anything else. A man with
a vision and a sense of beauty, however, made it
into horticultural gardens covering three and a
half acres and stretching for more than a thou-
sand feet along the shores of Lake Erie in the
city's downtown area. With the closing of the
exposition, the gardens were turned over to the
city of Cleveland, automatically becoming a part
of the park system. The gardens now belong to
the citizens of Cleveland and are open every day
from noon until evening. An admission fee of ten
cents is charged except on Mondays and Fridays.
Children with their parents or teachers are ad-
mitted free at all times. Sunset orchestral con-

Regarding Photographs

May we explain that the frontispiece of the
September issue of RECREATION should have been
credited to the New England Council, and the
picture showing a group of hikers on page 323 of
this number to the WPA of Massachusetts. We
regret the omission of the courtesy lines.

468

WORLD AT PLAY

certs add to the beauty of the gardens on a sum-
mer evening. After the concerts, with few excep-
tions, the gardens are as lovely as before the
crowds come — a fine mark of appreciation on the
part of the citizens.

At a State Conference of Mayors — At the
New York State Conference of Mayors and other
municipal officials held in Niagara Falls, New
York, June 5-6, a number of the speakers men-
tioned the use of tax delinquent properties for
recreation.

Activities for Girls and Women in Lincoln,
Nebraska — Functioning under the Recreation
Department of Lincoln, Nebraska, is a Council of
Girls' and Women's Activities which is very en-
thusiastic and active. The Council has arranged
for a questionnaire to be filled out by each girl
enrolled in the junior and senior high schools.
These questionnaires will be analyzed and the
findings made available. It is hoped that more
girls will be reached by the various organizations
as a result of the survey. Recreation clubs for
girls known as the Beacon Clubs are functioning
in various sections of the city, ten clubs having
been in operation during the past winter season.
One club will continue throughout the summer
months. This program reaches girls who are not
served by other agencies. Eight women's recrea-
tion clubs were organized during the winter sea-
son, two of which will continue through the sum-
mer months. Free golf and tennis classes for
business girls and women will be conducted by
the Recreation Department.

Nineteenth Annual Meeting of National
Conference on State Parks — Colonel Richard
Lieber of Indiana was elected to the newly cre-
ated position of Chairman of the Board of Di-
rectors of the National Conference on State
Parks at their nineteenth annual meeting, June
4-7. Harold S. Wagner, Director, Secretary of
the Akron, Ohio, Metropolitan Park System, was
elected President of the Board. Major William
A. Welch of New York and W. E. Carson of Vir-
ginia were re-elected Vice-Presidents, and Miss
Harlean James was re-elected Executive Secre-
tary. This year's meeting was held at Lake Itasca
State Park, Minnesota, and was attended by ap-
proximately one hundred delegates from twenty-
six states. Next year's meeting will be held at
Starved Rock State Park and New Salem State

Park, both in Illinois, and Spring Mill State Park
in Indiana.

Beach Safety — According to a release from
the Los Angeles, California, Playgrounds and
Recreation Department, it's the youthful "he-man"
swimmer who has to be rescued at the beach most
frequently rather than the weaker swimming but
more cautious feminine bather.

This was one of the facts brought to light in a
report by C. P. L. Nicholls, aquatics supervisor
of the Recreation Department, following a ten
year survey of rescues at local beaches. Mascu-
line swimmers who had to be hauled out of the
sea by lifeguards far outnumbered girls and
women, the proportion being 71.32 per cent male
to 28.67 Per cent female rescues. Age group
studies showed that the majority of individuals
saved by the beach guards were in the years be-
tween ten and twenty-five. Youths from fifteen
to twenty topped the list with 21.44 Per cent °f
the total rescues. Children from ten to fifteen
were responsible for 20.13 per cent, and young
adults from twenty to twenty-five contributed
16.04 per cent- The study showed that the Los
Angeles municipal beach guards had made a total
of 2,830 rescues during the ten year period from
1929 to the present year.

It was pointed out in the release that the em-
phasis has shifted to accident prevention and
safety education by which lifeguards warn bath-
ers against potential hazards, in that way remov-
ing the necessity for many rescues.

Aiding Churches in Their Recreation Pro-
grams— The Playground and Recreation De-
partment of Los Angeles, California, working in
cooperation with church educational leaders, con-
ducted in February a demonstration of types of
social recreation. Church leaders were invited to
attend the gathering where demonstrations were
given in leading community singing, conducting
folk dancing and folk games, and putting on stunt
programs and social mixers.

Toy Lending Centers in Racine — Racine,
Wisconsin, has three toy lending centers
operated by WPA, and two more are to be
opened. The libraries are very successful. At
one of them alone there is an attendance of
125 a day, and over 900 toys are in circulation.

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469

Winter Activities in Cincinnati — As the Cin-
cinnati, Ohio, Public Recreation Commission has
almost no municipally owned facilities, it has been
obliged to exercise great resourcefulness in secur-
ing facilities for its program. During the current
winter season the Commission has utilized the fa-
cilities of more than 170 different institutions,
forty of which are public schools, forty parochial,
while others include a great variety of types of
facilities such as branch libraries, the county jail,
the art museum, the general hospital, the National
Catholic Community House, and the Jewish Com-
munity Center. Tens of thousands of boys and
girls use the coasting streets and facilities for
coasting at the Commission's municipal golf
courses and playfields. On the play streets set
aside for coasting there was not a single instance
of serious injury.

Music Enjoyment in Dartmouth — The De-
partment of Music at Dartmouth has put into ef-
fect a new schedule of eighteen courses which are
divided into non-technical and technical. As a
prerequisite for the non-technical group, students
will now be required to take an introductory
course dealing with the essentials of music com-
position which is designed to stimulate the enjoy-
ment of music by the development of intelligent
listening. In the non-technical group there are
also courses on chamber music and the art song
which have been combined with former elemen-
tary survey courses.

Extensive outside musical activities on the
campus include outstanding orchestras, artists,
ballet as a regular part of the year's musical pro-
gram subsidized by the college.

An Old-Fashioned Picnic -- Philadelphia's
first annual picnic day sponsored by the Bureau
of Recreation was a great success. In preparation
for the event the city's recreation centers had been
divided into eight districts with a chairman in
charge of each. Meetings had been held, pro-
grams planned, and eight ideal picnic sites selected
for the outing. At 9:30 on July igth, mothers,
fathers, sisters, and brothers met at their respec-
tive centers loaded down with lunch boxes, and
climbed into busses. On arriving at the picnic
site, the district centers gathered together around
the flag pole for patriotic exercises. Even though it
had not been planned for lunch to follow immedi-
ately after the flag raising, the program was tem-
porarily disrupted until appetites were appeased!

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After lunch scheduled events were held, similar
throughout the city with slight variations. They
included bathing where facilities permitted, a free
play period, quiz contests, spelling bees, baseball,
volleyball, dodge ball, sack races, egg races and
peanut scrambles, water contests, a treasure hunt,
fishing, band concerts, community singing, and a
home talent hour. At 5 :oo o'clock the picnic was
officially over, and the picnickers returned in
busses to the starting points. Over 2,000 people
took part in the picnic.

Autumn Festival at the Golden Gate Inter-
national Exposition — On September 22, 23 and
24, a gala festival was held at the Golden Gate
International Exposition in San Francisco, Cali-
fornia, with a continuous country fair and rural
Olympic competitions. On the first day came folk
music and dances by English, Scotch, Irish, Welsh,
Spanish, and Mexican groups. The second day
featured native America in song and dance,
climaxed by a barn dance. International groups
participated on the third day when rural Olympic
finals were scheduled, and an international ball
was held at night.

Day Camp Programs in Milwaukee — On

each of its three nature playgrounds last sum-
mer, the Milwaukee Department of Municipal
Recreation conducted day camp programs.
Each playground was given an opportunity to
send a group of children to one of these nature
camps to spend the entire day "adventuring in
nature."

After securing written permission from their
parents, the children were picked up at the
playgrounds by a specially chartered bus for
which they paid twenty cents a round trip.

470

WORLD AT PLAY

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A day camp assistant supervised the bus trips
of the forty children between the ages of 11
and 14 who could be included and acted as
assistant to the director at the camp. The
children brought their noon lunches. Meat and
wieners were broiled and potatoes and corn
were baked over the campfire. Each child was
given a half pint of milk to drink with his
lunch.

The activities at the day camp included
nature trails, nature talks, stories and discus-
sions, nature handcraft, scavenger hunts,
nature games, camp cooking and swimming.

Discussion of Swimming Pool Construc-
tion— Recreation officials will be interested in
noting a discussion of swimming pool con-
struction which has appeared in the June and
July issues of Parks and Recreation. This
material was prepared by C. P. L. Nicholls,
Supervisor of Aquatics, Department of Play-
ground and Recreation, Los Angeles, Calif-
ornia. It is entitled "Planning the Recreational
Swimming Pool."

Houston Park Dedication — In conjunction
with the Juneteen Celebration, seventy-fourth
observance of the Emancipation Proclamation,
the Emancipation Park Civic Improvement
Club of Houston, Texas, and the Houston
Colored Recreation Council dedicated Emanci-
pation Park in that city this summer.

The Emancipation Civic Club boasts fifteen
years of service to the community in trying
to improve the physical surroundings, per-
petuate and preserve the natural beauty, im-
prove the moral conditions, encourage social
and recreational experiences of the highest
type for both the youth and the adult citizen
of Houston. In addition to improving the
playground and building a bandstand for
Sunday afternoon concerts, the Club agitated
for tennis courts and instituted a library
reading room. The members have now pledged
themselves to secure city-wide membership
so that Emancipation Park will remain "one
of the finest leisure time units in the entire
South."

A Demonstration Playground — In its annual
report for 1938-1939 the Playground and Rec-
reation Association of Victoria, British Col-

TO PROMOTE NATURE RECREATION

471

umbia, tells of the success of the demonstration
playground conducted in Carlton for the pur-
pose of arousing the interest of the citizens in
the project. Daily programs were rigidly
planned. Sports included cricket, football,
wrestling, jumping for boys ; and for both boys
and girls, basketball and other team games,
relay races, ball games, and deck tennis. There
were such quiet occupations as clay modeling
and finger printing, storytelling, and play with
toys from the toy lending shop. Water sprays
were much enjoyed, and as many as four
hundred children a day were taken from the
playground to the Olympic pool where swim-
ming- lessons were given. Attendance averaged
between three and four hundred children of all
ages, and on a gala day the record reached
over seven hundred.

The demonstration was of special importance
because a large section of the public saw for
the first time a modern playground in opera-
tion. A working model of the recreation center
which was on display attracted much interest.

Steubenville Holds Sports Gathering — Play-
grounds are awarded city championships in
games and athletics in Steubenville, Ohio. At
their annual sports gathering the winners from
each center competed in checkers, horseshoes,
bean bag tossing, hand tennis, jackstones, hop-
scotch and swimming. On the day following
the competition, more than a hundred children
from one of the playgrounds visited the state
park under the sponsorship of the Recreation
Department.

Chicago at Play — Some of the summer rec-
reation facilities enjoyed by Chicago's citizens
are listed in the June 9th issue of the Service
News Bulletin prepared by the Chicago, Illi-
nois, Recreation Commission. They include
twenty-three street-end beaches under the
jurisdiction of the Municipal Bureau of Parks,
Recreation and Aviation which also supervises
three natatoriums, thirty-nine playgrounds,
and numerous small parks. The 'Chicago Park
District last summer administered fifteen lake-
front beaches, fifty-two outdoor pools, six in-
door pools, five golf courses, forty-one picnic
groves, thirty-six archery ranges, 353 softball
diamonds, 571 tennis courts, in baseball
diamonds, 282 horseshoe courts, and fourteen

To Promote Nature Recreation

THE; ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL of the Society
of Recreation Workers of America has made
the promotion of nature recreation one of its
major objectives for 1939-1940. The importance
of this action and ways in which best results
might be accomplished were enumerated by V. K.
Brown of Chicago, retiring president, in his re-
port to the Society at a meeting held on October
1 2th at the Recreation Congress in Boston. ''I
want to propose," said Mr. Brown, "that concert-
edly we make nature recreation a major objective
of the coming year. I propose that as a profes-
sional organization we institute a nation-wide cam-
paign, whether our function be that of adminis-
trators or groups, whether we be physical experts,
drama experts, crafts or arts, or music experts,
that we resolve we will add to our accustomed
planning and program a determined emphasis on
developing and organizing a nature exploring
movement." In doing this Mr. Brown urged co-
operation with garden enthusiasts and park au-
thorities, home owners' associations, and inter-
ested citizen groups.

"We can carry on nature interests in the win-
ter months in preparation for spring. We can
extend gardening interests by window boxes in
our shelter buildings. We can plant vines to cover
enclosure fences. We can promote the making of
nature study collections, the use of nature pat-
terns in art, the study of natural color in flowers
and vegetation. We can hold exhibitions of
flower arrangement. We can organize insect zoos.
We can gather mineral specimens, develop aqua-
riums, give attention to pets. Even in small parks
we can organize nature trails in the guise of
treasure hunts."

As a result of a campaign for nature recreation
Mr. Brown predicted two main results. "For
ourselves and our following in the communities,
if we agree to make this a matter of special effort
this year, we will develop naturally a new ex-
tension of the recreation movement into another
field of interest. We will get nature study started
everywhere on a more vigorous program of de-
velopment. But, secondarily, we will safeguard
our movement against indifference or misunder-
standing at the hands of a great many people in
the country who are not without considerable in-
fluence and who think of us now as being inter-
ested only in sports and physical activities alone.
Merely talking recreation from the viewpoint of

472

WORLD AT PLAY

its cultural significance is not convincing to them.
Joining with them to effect, in community life, a
partnership in operational development of pur-
poses about which they are enthusiastic will go
much further in convincing them that our move-
ment is actually interested in a richer pattern of
life than anything which we can can say. Our
action will be eloquent, beyond the eloquence of
words."

miles of bridle paths. In addition, many parks
have bowling greens, shuffleboard, roque, la
bocce, badminton, volleyball, handball, and
croquet courts.

Annual Play Day — As the final event of the
Springfield, Illinois, playground season, the
city Playground and Recreation Commission
sponsored their annual play day at Lincoln
Park. The twenty playground units all
gathered together to celebrate the last outing
of the summer.

During the summer months the playgrounds
offer among their sports dodgeball, ping-pong,
horseshoes, and a game devised by a play-
ground director, which has no name but is
played with homemade paddles, a tennis ball
and a volleyball net. The day's activities at the
park included a dodgeball tournament, hop-
scotch tournament, checkerboard contest,
horseshoe doubles and singles, mile bicycle
race, bean bag pitching, Softball, picnic con-
tests and games.

The Newest Municipal Rose Garden — "As
we go to press, Boise, Idaho, seems to have
the newest Municipal Rose Garden, having
dedicated it June 21, just ten days after Presi-
dent Kirk of the American Rose Society dedi-
cated Salt Lake City's new garden. The
Boise Garden is located in Julia Davis Park,
and at dedication time had 112 beds containing
102 different varieties of roses with some
2,600 plants on hand for additions and re-
placements." Extract from The American Rose
Magazine, July-August, 1939.

The Sandlotters Play Ball in Cleveland-
Leading the nation in the development of
sandlot baseball, the city of Cleveland spon-
sored a patron drive for their Amateur Day,
the one day when the Cleveland Baseball

Federation asks financial support through
patrons and gate receipts at the baseball game
held that day. Six hundred and forty-one
teams are affiliated with the Federation, mak-
ing a total of 9,615 players, not including the
independent and wildcat leagues which rely on
the organization. Of this total, 4,755 youngsters
play in the Catholic Youth Organization and
in three unbacked classes. As the Cleveland
Baseball Federation is responsible for the
activities of these children, the Amateur Day
funds supply bats, baseballs, catcher's outfits,
gloves, and free umpire and scorer's services.
Aside from this use, the funds make it possible
to guarantee each player free medical attention.

Keeping Money at Home — Representative
Thomas A. Jenkins from Ohio recently fore-
cast that the resumption of land purchases by
the Forest Service of Ohio would add millions
of dollars to the value of forest areas and rec-
reational facilities of the state. The removal of
restrictions on land purchases in Ohio cleared
the way for the ultimate acquisition of 1,000,-
ooo acres in the southeastern counties. Having
set up five sections for inclusion in a land
purchase program in 1934, the Forest Service
has bought 34,234 of the 1,000,000 available
acreage.

The reason for the marked emphasis on land
purchases lies in the statement of Representa-
tive Jenkins that no state comparable to Ohio
has so few recreational centers. By some such
method as land purchases, Ohio will be able
to hold tourist money at home. Now a large
percentage of southern resort traffic is com-
prised of cars with Ohio license plates. Into
Michigan, too, a state whose $300,000,000
tourist patronage arises partially from her rec-
reational advantages, Ohio sends more tourists
than any other state.

World Federation of Education Associations

—Early last July 750 teachers sailed from New
York and returned on August 28th after a
goodwill cruise of 15,000 miles to fifteen Latin
American ports and a conference of the World
Federation of Education Associations. A
pamphlet giving the history, aims, and objec-
tives of this organization may be secured from
the Secretary General, 1201 Sixteenth Street,
N. W., Washington, D. C.

WORLD AT PLAY

473

Fifty Years of Growth — With a population
of 450, Lakewood, Ohio, was incorporated in
1889. This year Lakewood celebrated its
fiftieth anniversary with a parade witnessed by
100,000 spectators. The highlights of the
parade were a group of colonial flags, a por-
trayal of the spirit of '76, and a covered wagon
drawn by two mules. Contrasting modern
Lakewood to the village incorporated a decade
before the turn of the century, a "dinky"
streetcar of the nineties traveled through the
parade by the side of a modern Cleveland
streetliner. Included in the lines were the
Cleveland mounted police, the sheriff and 50
deputies, and a 4O-piece Salvation Army Band.
An additional activity, the Lakewood mer-
chants' eighth annual community picnic, con-
tained on its program numerous contests with
prizes, and distribution of peanuts, candy, and
coffee. Still another part of the anniversary
was the celebration pageant, "Wagons West."
With a cast of a thousand persons, the eighteen
episodes of the spectacle dramatized the
history of the Lakewood area.

Fun with Education — Staff and students of
the I2th Annual Nature Leaders Training
School last summer spent a four week session
of education and fun at the school's mountain
camp at Lake Terra Alta, Preston County,
West Virginia. The campers interspersed rec-
reation with training : they studied botany and
mammology, mounted insects collected during
the class in insect study, listened to informal
lectures, tramped on field trips, swam, and
played games. After the camp closed, the
volunteer workers of the West Virginia Nature
Association met at Oglebay Park for a review
and discussion of the camp activities. In
achieving their first objective, they discussed
the school's favorable and unfavorable aspects
with a view toward making the I3th school
more effective. A second objective was to plan
for the reorganization of the association. The
new development of an i8-acre camp site at
Lake Terra Alta necessitates an expansion of
its membership in order to make full use of the
proposed permanent camp.

A New Playground for Cape May — Funds
left by John W. Underbill, a Negro philan-

"KEEP THE RECORD"

of the Twenty-Fourth National Recreation

Congress at Boston by ordering a copy of
the Proceedings scheduled for publication
early in November.

The Proceedings will contain the main
addresses, summaries of discussion
groups, findings of committees, and other
important information about the Congress.

• Order copies now at
$1.00 each from . . .

NATIONAL
RECREATION
ASSOCIATION

315 Fourth Avenue
New York City

thropist of Mays Landing, New Jersey, are
making possible a playground for the public
school children of that county seat town. Mr.
Underhill many years ago opened a little
candy, tobacco, newspaper, and novelty store.
School children brought most of his trade.
He prospered, invested in a real estate business
which was financially successful. When Mr.
Underhill died it was found he had left his
estate of more than $100,000 to the township
and School Board for recreational purposes.
Part of the bequest has been used to improve
Memorial Park. Trustees of the fund have
used much of the remainder to buy a large
tract which will be equipped as a modern
playground.

1939 Softball Rules Available— The Official
Softball Guide for 1939 containing rules, in-
terpretations, pictures, and sources of local
softball activities is now available. It is pub-
lished by the American Sports Publishing
Company, 19 Beekman Street, New York City.
Price 25 cents.

474

A CREATIVE COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS

Sckoaf

HARRY C. McKOWN, Editor

C. R. VAN NICE. Managing Editor

Subscription
Price

A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY

in which

Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly, Financing Activities, and Social
Functions make democratic settings and life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO.

1515 LANE STREET

TOPEKA, KANSAS

A Creative Community Christmas

(Continued from page 433)

sang "O Come, All Ye Faithful," thus closing the
festival. The curtains were drawn.

There was much hesitation in leaving. We had
to call out a "Merry Christmas" to indicate that
the festival was over, but two or three women
came to the piano to ask for more singing and
playing. So we had some more, informal and
around the piano or near it, and it was unforget-
tably enjoyable. Many individuals expressed sin-
cere appreciation of the festival, and almost all
regretted that there were not more people gath-
ered for it. The normal school principal, how-
ever, upon hearing this regret expressed, ex-
claimed, "That's all right. This is only a begin-
ning. Next year there will be more !"

A very delightful part of the whole affair was
the informal chatting after it in the corridor while
people waited for the costumed and made up par-
ticipants to get back into their usual costumes and
physiognomies. One felt assured that the pur-
poses and faiths of a Christmas festival are en-
tirely true and practicable.

The following are the songs referred to in this
article. Each number beside the title of the song
refers to the song collection listed below in which
words and musical accompaniments are included.
Many of these are also included in other
collections.

Silent Night— 1 -2-3-4-5-6

Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly— 1 -2-3-4-5-6
Here We Come A-Carolling (in some collections called

Here We Come A- Wassailing) — 3 - 6
I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In — 1 - 2
Patapan — 7

Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light — 8
O Little Town of Bethlehem— 1 -2-3-4
O Leave Your Sheep, Ye Shepherds on the Hills — 6
The First Nowell— 1 -2-4-5-6
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear— 1 -2-3-4
Lullaby of the Christ Child (under title "Entre le boeuf

et 1'ane gris") — 3
Aiway In a Manger — 1 -2-3
We Three Kings of Orient Are— 1 -2-3-4
Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella — 2 - 3
O Come, All Ye Faithful— 1 -2-3-5-6

Song Collections

1 — Treasure Chest of Christmas Songs and Carols.
Treasure Chest Publications, Inc., 303 — 4th Ave.,
New York City. 13tf

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

475

2 — The Ditson Christmas Carol Book, by Norwood

Hinkle. Oliver Ditson Co., 1712 Chestnut St., Phila-
delphia, Pa. 50tf
3 — Christmas Carols from Many Countries, by Satis N.

Coleman and Elin K. Jorgensen. G. Sehirmer, Inc.,

3 .East 43rd St., New York City. 50tf
4 — Golden Book of Favorite Songs. Hall & McCreary

Co., 434 South Wabash Ave., Chicago, 111. 20tf
5 — Twice 55 Community Songs — The Brown Book. C.

C. Birchard and Co., 221 Columbus Ave., Boston,

Mass. 15rf
6 — 16 National Christmas Carols. E. C. Sehirmer Music

Co., 221 Columbus Ave., Boston, Mass. 40^
7 — Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford University Press,

114— 5th Ave., New York City. $2.50
8 — Available from G. Sehirmer, Inc., 3 East 43rd St.,

New York City. 10*

The following are available from the National Rec-
reation Association :
"Christmas Carols" Word Sheet — 80^ per 100 copies.

Includes the words of ten carols.
"Christmas Music" — 5$
"Christmas Plays and Pageants with Music." — Free in

single copies.

A Christmas Present to Decatur

(Continued from page 436)

Since the first production the Department has
added each year to the list of properties until now
there is invested a sum in the neighborhood of
$700. This equipment includes the portable build-
ings, electrical supplies, a public address system,
dolls, curtains, heating units and other necessities.
To install and maintain the buildings, purchase
new equipment and employ the staff necessary to
carry on the activities at the Village requires an
annual expenditure of approximately $800.

"Boystowns" for Cleveland Youth

(Continued from page 440)

each town draw up their city charter. The at-
torneys explained court and parliamentary pro-
cedure to the law directors of each town. The
Boystown courts are conducted in the utmost
seriousness. Members of their juries are drawn
from citizens of the towns. The law director
prosecutes each case and the judge appoints an-
other boy to defend the accused.

One boy who persisted in smoking in the build-
ing after being warned that it was against the
rules was brought to trial. He was convicted and
the judge sentenced him to six weeks' floor sweep-
ing. The boy took his punishment without rancor
and told the youthful judge that he was going to
stop smoking altogether.

Cleveland believes that with the cooperation of

Magazines and Pamphlets

\

Recently Received Containing Articles
of Interest to the Recreation Worker

I

MAGAZINES

Parks and Recreation, August 1939

"New Jersey Parks Increase Property Values"
"Archery Comes to Essex County" by L. C. Wilsey
"Checking Response to Recreation Programs" by

Samuel D. Marble
"Casting Pool Answer to Angler's Prayer"

Journal of Health and Physical Education

"Interscholastic Athletic Standards for Boys." A

committee report
"Noon Hour Coeducational Recreation" by Dudley

Ashton

"A Tumbling Club Playday" by Lucy S. Proudfoot
"Folk Dance: An Expression of Culture" by Her-

mine Sauthoff

The Guardian, October 1939

"Play for the Modern Child"
"Fun with and for New Members"

PAMPHLETS

Children's Book Week 1939

A manual of suggestions

Yearbook of the Association for Childhood Education

1939, Washington, D. C. $.25.

Cincinnati Municipal Activities 1938

Annual Report of the City Manager, Cincinnati,
Ohio

"Shall Our State Parks Be Self Supporting?"

Connecticut Forest and Park Association, New
Haven, Conn.

Annual Report 1938 — Recreation Commission
Alton, Illinois

Annual Report 1938 — Mott Foundation
Flint, Michigan

Annual Report 1938 — Department of Recreation
Greenwich, Connecticut

Health Education Bulletin, March 1939

National Board, Y.W.C.A., New York City

Annual Report of the Playground Community Service
Commission 1938

New Orleans, Louisiana

Annual Report 1938-1939, Recreation Division, Community
Service Council Hastings-on-Hudson, New York

Annual Report 1938, Recreation Department
Superior, Wisconsin

Rural Youth by David Cushman Coyle

U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
1939

city officials and the general public, the plan of
self-government instituted by Boystown will play
an important part in introducing a new era in the
solution of juvenile crime.

476

THE SPIRIT OF JOSEPH LEE DAY

The Spirit of Joseph Lee Day

(Continued from page 443)

whom he was leading by the hand) saw the house
beautiful not far ahead. . . . Greatheart went up
to the gate and knocked loudly. "The Pilgrims
will go in," said Greatheart, "but I must return at
once to my master." Then the little boy took him
by the hand and said, "Oh sir, won't you go on
with us and help us ?" '

"He has gone back through the darkness, but
his life will lead on. We shall ever have Joe Lee
as our guide in making this a better world for us
all, and especially for children.

"But what is needed above all in this movement
is more Greathearts, more laymen who will give
of their time and thought, of their effort and their
means, to provide recreation not only for children
but also for youth and the adult— lay leaders who
will themselves remain young till they die, 'playful
up to the gates of death,' versatile, resourceful,
and full of the joy of life as was Joseph Lee."

After repeating the message of President Roose-
velt which was given last year on Joseph Lee Day,
Dr. Finley said, "This message, repeated in com-
ing years, should be accompanied by the beautiful
prayer in which thanks for his splendid life were
spoken at his funeral service at King's Chapel in
Boston :

Let us thank God for Joseph Lee.

For his many years of life among us ;

For his unselfish work to help others ;

For his devotion to the life of all children;

For his faith that there is joy at the heart of things;

For his assurance that there is good in everyone ;

For his persistence in expecting a nobler world;

For his generous purposes which were without guile ;

For his delight in simple things ;

For his imagination which bridged the gulfs of cir-
cumstance and creed ;

For his counting himself no better than others, but
gathering up in himself the better thoughts of
many;

For his gentleness which made others feel greater ;

For his continuing influence, and the things which
abide with us always —

We thank the God of Life and bless His Holy Name.

O God, accept our thanksgiving for our beloved citi-
zen and for all of like spirit, in the name of Thy
son, Jesus Christ, who did lift up the weary and
set a little child in the midst of His disciples.
Amen.

Orleans expects a larger number of participants
for night playing during the warm season when
nights are cool. Oakland reports that there are
few nights in the year when it is not possible to
play but that the largest play comes during sum-
mer months.

Lighting for Night Tennis

(Continued from page 447)

ing the summer than in the winter months. Los
Angeles figures on 300 fair weather days. New

The Growth of Community Centers
on Cape Cod

(Continued from page 454)

cause they do not interest the children. All pro-
grams succeed when children demand them.

In the matter of physical equipment, our centers
on Cape Cod are not badly housed. At Hyannis,
we rent the Grange Hall from that organization
for $720 a year. In return we occupy an entire
building that is reasonably well adapted to our
work. The main hall, which has a small stage,
has been lined off for badminton or volleyball.
At a boxing tournament recently we accommo-
dated 150 people and a 14' x 14' boxing ring, and
were not overcrowded. This space supplies the
terrain for model railroads. On another floor we
have an office, arts and crafts room, shop, and
game room.

In Falmouth, Provincetown, and Osterville we
occupy space in the school buildings. Falmouth's
Town Recreation Commission, like our Council in
Hyannis, is a chartered corporation under state
law. Provincetown and Osterville have strong lay
committees. In Sandwich, the Catholic Church
has turned over its old parish house to the Sand-
wich Recreation Committee, so that they occupy
their own building. Of these towns, three are the
largest on the Cape. It is evident that community
centers are available to a large number of people.
But we have only begun. Eventually we shall
impress the various towns of the Cape that our
better-than-average social conditions can be
further improved by our work. The schools have
gone far in this direction. But for about one half
of every year, children are not in school (includ-
ing extracurricular activities) nor are they asleep.
This is the rich ground recreation has to work.
On Cape Cod we have made definite progress.

A Nursery Grows Up

(Continued from page 456)

gym, pool and club rooms. The nursery has be-
come a community institution. Visitors come
from a wide area to observe and marvel at the
project which developed from almost nothing, i
Both staff members agree that the success of the

CO-EDUCATION AND RECREATION IN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER 477

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little experiment has surpassed their most rosy
dreams, and all connected with the nursery be-
lieve that in community benefits it has been well
worth the struggle to establish it.

Co-Education and Recreation

in the
Jewish Community Center

(Continued from page 459)

\ room for adult women's groups, and usually a
: separate locker room equipped with dressing
! booths, showers and hair dryers. In the larger
I buildings a separate gymnasium is provided. Other-
j wise women and girls alternate in the use of the
I main gymnasium and pool.

Separate provision for men consists of billiard
: rooms, quiet game room, men's lounge, separate
j locker and shower rooms, exercise rooms, hand-
v ball and squash courts. The athletic facilities are
j so arranged that men can use their locker room,
showers, health club, exercise rooms and hand-
ball courts at all times, without interfering with
the use of the main gymnasium and pool by
women and girls, or by classes of younger boys.

It will be noted that dormitories are not a
feature of the typical Jewish Center. Only four
organizations make such provision, three for men
and one for women. The experiment of accom-
modating men and women in one building has not
been tried, though some Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A.
buildings have, I believe, demonstrated its feasi-
bility.

Aside from the fact that a well planned and
equipped building can adequately serve the needs
of both sexes, there is an obvious economy in the
cost of building and maintaining one structure
that can meet the requirements of all age groups
of both sexes.

Leadership

The conduct of a co-educational program has
implications in connection with the selection and
duties of professional personnel. Men and women
serve on the staff on the basis of qualifications for
the duties to be performed and the special needs
of the groups in the membership. Except in Cen-
ters in small communities, where the resources
and clientele are limited, the professional staff in-
cludes at least one woman. Since so much of the
contact of professional workers and membership

478

UNDER THE HARVEST MOON

is on an individual basis, it is recognized that the
services of a woman, generally known as Director
of Women's Work, are necessary in dealing with
the personal problems of women and girls and in
planning special activities for them. Gymnasium
classes for women are customarily in charge of
a woman physical training teacher. Practice in
the direction of swimming groups varies. Often
the women prefer a male instructor. Frequently
junior activities for boys and girls are in charge
of a woman. Sometimes social activities and the
supervision of dramatics and music are assigned
to women workers. The librarian is usually a
woman, trained for the work. Women are em-
ployed in day camps and, of course, in country
camps for girls and for young mixed groups.
Leaders of clubs are of both sexes, usually de-
pending upon the sex of the club members. Al-
though the trend is towards employment of a
professional staff, except for special needs of
women, without reference to sex, but solely on
the basis of qualifications, there are limitations
which thus far have restricted professional oppor-
tunities for women in Jewish Center work. The
executive head of a Center is almost always a
man, partly because of the arduous nature of his
administrative duties, but for other reasons as
well. The board of directors, as has been previ-
ously observed is still predominantly masculine in
composition and this is true also of other important
communal groups with which the executive has
relationships as the representative of the Center.
They prefer to deal with a man. The member-
ship of adults and seniors is largely male and
they naturally prefer an executive to whom they
can talk freely and in whose understanding and
authority they have full confidence. Since the
staff, by reason of the nature of the work, is
largely composed of men, it appears natural that
their chief be one of their own sex. The execu-
tive of a Center has long hours, including evening
work, that would be taxing on the physical capa-
cities of a woman and deprive her of normal social
life. These are practical considerations and to
that extent affect the policy of employment of
women solely on the basis of qualifications for
executive positions in the Center.

Under the Harvest Moon

(Continued from page 463)

Gobble. A speaker is to give a speech on
Thanksgiving, using all the barnyard animals in
it. Each player chooses the name of some animal,
and when the speaker raises her right hand, every

one immediately imitates the animal chosen ; when
she raises her left hand, all keep silent ; and when
she raises both hands, they imitate a turkey's
"Gobble, gobble !" All calls are continued until the
speaker lowers her arm.

Remnant Stakes. Divide the guests into two
groups, and give each person in one group a piece
of colored material. Give the other group en-
velopes containing corresponding material. At a
given signal, the group with the envelopes rush
toward the other group, match their materials and
return with their partners to a winning post. Of
course there should be many shades of the same
material, so that the matching may not be so easy.

Turkey Walk. This is a relay race with about
ten players on each team. When the leader says
"Go," the first person on each team starts out
crossing left foot in back of right, then right foot
in back of left, and so on, progressing about four
inches forward on each step. They continue in
this manner until they reach a goal line, then run
back, touching the next person in line who does
the same thing.

Thanksgiving Spelling Game. Players or groups
of players unscramble these jumbled words. The
one with the most correct in a given time wins.

Word Key

1. reykut 1. turkey

2. thylopum 2. Plymouth

3. lapirlcis 3. Priscilla

4. sircarbeern 4. cranberries

5. wamelofry 5. Mayflower

6. hivistganngk 6. Thanksgiving

7. mippekipun 7. pumpkin pie

8. gismripl 8. Pilgrims

9. dinnias 9. Indians

10. peattos 10. potatoes

11. sunt 11. nuts

12. damsselnitish 12. Miles Standish

Think Fast. Give each player a sheet of paper
upon which has been written the word "Thanks-
giving" along the left side of the paper, one letter
written beneath the other. On the right side of
the paper the same word should be written, but
with the first letter at the bottom. The letter T
will be opposite the letter G, the letter H opposite
the letter N, and so on. The participants are in-
formed they will be given just three minutes in
which to write a word between these letters, be-
ginning with the letter on the left and ending with
the letter on the right. For instance, the first word
might be TryinG, the second HeleN. The player
who finishes first is entitled to a prize which can
be some little article significant of Thanksgiving
time.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

Cowboy Dances

By Lloyd Shaw. The Caxton Printers, Caldwell,
Idaho. $3.50.

FOR YEARS Lloyd Shaw has collected and taught cowboy
dances, and with his Cheyenne Mountain dancers has
demonstrated them from Coast to Coast. There are sev-
enty-five dances described in this volume, with complete
calls and explanations, each illustrated with photograph
and diagram.

Romance of the National Parks

By Harlean James. Macmillan Company, New York.

$3.00.

f\v THE MORE THAN sixteen and a quarter million per-
^^ sons who visited the various units of the Federal
Park System in 1938, almost seven million passed through
the gateways of the national parks. Miss James tells the
fascinating story of the development of these natural
wonderlands which each year attract more people. She
has devoted the first part to giving the historical back-
ground of the parks. The second section, profusely il-
lustrated with photographs — and there are more than 120
of them in the book — is appropriately entitled "Journeys."
Here will be found imaginary travels through the parks
so arranged as to be helpful to those who may wish to
visit several of them on a single summer trip. Person-
alities associated with national park development, among
them Stephen Mather, John Muir, Horace 'M. Albright
and others, receive appreciative mention.

Creative Play

By Ivah Deering. Emerson Books, New York. $2.00.
THIS BOOK was first published in 1930 under the title,
• The Creative Home. The continued demand for it
has necessitated a new edition. There has, however, been
no change in the content since the material is pertinent
to any period and is essentially scientific in its approach.
The book, designed primarily for parents of young chil-
dren, is based on the author's own experience. As
Joseph Lee said in his introduction : "It tells what so
many parents want to know, with a combination of vie-
tailed advice as to just what to do, with true insight as
to how to do it — and, above all, how not to do it."

By Lon W. Jourdet and Kenneth A. Hashagen. W. B.

Saunders Company, Philadelphia. $2.25.
I IN THIS BOOK two former intercollegiate basketball play-
• ers, both of whom are now basketball coaches, have set
down the fundamental techniques of the game in clear,
i easily understood language. They have covered practi-
| cally all the details which will prove useful to coaches of
; college or high school teams, or to any group interested
• in playing the sport. Throughout the text excellent use
; has been made of diagrams and action photographs to
illustrate the plays described. The appendix contains
thirty-six different drills with specific guidance on out-
standing scoring plays.

Bird Houses— How to Make and
Where to Place Them

By Edmund J. Sawyer. Cranbrook Institute of Science.

Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. $.20.

/"\F THE UNDERTAKING of this practical booklet with its
^~ many illustrations and diagrams, Mr. Sawyer says,
"The providing of suitable bird-houses needs no defense
or excuse. Whether it be the beautiful and demure blue-
bird, the bustling and industrious chick-a-dee, or the
alert and pompous flycatcher, the native tenant of the
bird-house will be a good and interesting and entertain-
ing neighbor, always prompt to pay his rent in one form
or another, or in many forms and with interest. Does
one need any special excuse for offering hospitality to
such a neighbor?"

Uses for Waste Materials

Compiled 'by the Committee on Equipment and Supplies.
The Association for Childhood Education, 1201 Six-
teenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C. $.20.
Q ECREATION WORKERS, continually on the hunt for hand-
^ craft projects in which waste materials may be used,
will find many practical suggestions in this pamphlet.
The bulletin is presented, says the committee in its fore-
word, "not with the idea that anything mentioned herein
is to be substituted for more desirable media of use and
expression, but rather as supplementary material which
has educative value and which provides opportunities for
experimentation and challenges ingenuity, particularly
when other means are limited."

Selected List of Ten-Cent Books

Prepared by Mary Lincoln Morse. Revised by Alice
Temple. Association for Childhood Education, 1201
Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, B.C. $.15.
ODERN TIMES and reduced budgets have resulted in
the publishing of ten-cent books with recognized
standards rapidly being incorporated as to what makes a
book good in content, in approach, in form and illustra-
tion. Today parents of limited means and teachers with
a need for variety of good classroom books may both
seek and find them in ten-cent editions. In the list pre-
sented by the Literature Committee books have been in-
cluded that are accurate and authentic as to fact and
also those with story, verse, and picture value. The list
has been classified to facilitate its use.

Government and the Arts

By Grace Overmyer. W. W. Norton and Company, Inc.,

New York. $3.00.

QINCE THE ESTABLISHMENT of the Federal Arts Proj-
*^ ects, WPA, and particularly since a fine arts bill has
become a matter of wide public interest, the question of
the extent to which the government should give encour-
agement to the fine arts has been much discussed. Pro-
ponents of the plan and those who oppose it have had
little on which to base their information since compre-
hensive data on the subject have been lacking. This book

479

480

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

has been compiled to present facts regarding the history,
plan of organization, financing, and operation of systems
used for the official support of art and artists. There are
two parts, the first of which deals with state aid m more
than fifty foreign countries. The second section, de-
voted to the United States, presents important facts con-
cerning art institutions and activities sponsored by na-
tional or local governments, and art legislation, past and
present.

The World of Plant Life.

By Clarence J. Hylander, Ph.D. The Macmillan

Company, New York. $7.50.

Plants have their own design for living, and a thrilling
one it is as outlined in this popularized botany. In a
volume of over seven hundred pages Mr. Hylander dis-
cusses and classifies the native and naturalized plants
found throughout the United States from bacteria to
orchids. In all, 2,000 species are described in detail.
There are over 400 plant photographs and line drawings.
So inclusive is the book that it will be appreciated by
amateurs, students, and experienced botanists alike.

Teaching Wholesome Living in the
Elementary School.

By Alma A. Dobbs, M. A. A. S. Barnes and Com-
pany, New York. $2.50.

This book is based on the fundamental premise that
children should be encouraged and taught to grow in all
ways. It has been demonstrated that physical growth and
the" fullest development of the child are best attained
under conditions of security, love, contented work, and
happy play, through all of which the child builds a happy
personality. In Part One the author discusses the point
of view as regards principles of growth and fostering
child growth. Part Two takes up the question of the
curriculum, and Part Three outlines specific phases de-
scribing the common life activities of the child with ref-
erence to the determination of the quality of living.

Health and Physical Education
Class and Record Book.

Prepared by Hugh Fischer. A. S. Barnes and Com-
pany, New York. $.75.

Record keeping can be an arduous part of the daily
routine. This book, prepared for the teacher of health
and physical education, is designed to facilitate the keep-
ing of records and to make them more readily accessible.

The Garden Encyclopedia.

Edited by E. L. D. Seymour, B.S.A. William H.

Wise & Company, New York. $4.00.
"A single, all-purpose volume for real dirt gardeners,"
said the New York Herald Tribune in its review of this
volume which answers in simple, nontechnical language
the many questions which are bound to arise when you
adopt gardening as your hobby. There are 1,300 pages
with 750 pictures and diagrams.

Motion Pictures in Physical Education.

By Thurston Adams, Ed.D. Bureau -of Publications,
Teachers College, Columbia University. $.90.
Motion pictures are now being used in almost every
field of activity. They have for some time played an ex-
ceedingly valuable part in the training of athletes, par-
ticularly in football, track and field, baseball, swimming,
and diving. This booklet discusses in detail the function
of the motion picture in physical education, production
and use of the experimental films, and the equipment
needed for taking and projecting motion pictures. In-
formation regarding the use of motion pictures is given.

100 Games of Solitaire.

By Helen L. Coops. Whitman Publishing Company,

Racine, Wisconsin. $.10.

Directions for play are given briefly and simply, and
there are complete layouts for playing in this inexpensive
booklet which contains a hundred popular games of Soli-
taire and seventy-five well-known variations of these
games.

Motion Pictures in Sports.

Compiled by Elaine M. Dear, Louise S. Kjellstrom
and Jenny E. Turnbull. National Education Asso-
ciation, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington,
D. C. $.25.

This selected and carefully annotated bibliography and
film list, presented by the Motion Picture Committee of
the National Section on Women's Athletics of the Ameri-
can Association for Health, Physical Education, and
Recreation, has been prepared as a means of familiariz-
ing administrators and teachers of physical education
with the place of the motion picture as an integral part
of the teaching program. Much of it will be of interest
to recreation workers as well, particularly the directory
of commercial and educational film services and the list
of films available on various phases of sports for enter-
tainment and instruction.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President

JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President

ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer

HOWARD S. BRAUCHER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan, City, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

On What Is to Be Taken for Granted

OF COURSE, recreation workers believe in truth, honesty, good-
ness, beauty, loyalty, courage, cheerfulness, open-mindedness.
But they also believe that we should not always be talking
about these virtues or even thinking about them. If we do, we make
this a dull, tiresome, priggish world.

Leaders should possess a few qualities which are contagious.
Character by contagion is much easier to take and is in all proba-
bility better than character by constant, continuous, conscious coun-
seling and molding.

Boys themselves have a high regard for goodness but not for
talking about it. It will be a sorry day for America when the nor-
mal, red-blooded boy is willing to stand patiently and have a badge
pinned on him indicating that he has been a good boy. The average
boy in good health with plenty of beefsteak in him is skillful in
trying to keep even his parents from calling him good. If there must
be any thinking about it, let it be taken for granted. What is taken
for granted and not even talked about is what is most important,
and has the deepest influence. The boy himself is concerned that he
is good for something.

We certainly need occasionally to take a recess from character
building or, for that matter, from any kind of building and simply
live and let others live.

We have not yet begun to explore the compelling power of
being in a current of vital living, of having worth-while ends that
really command our entire affection and all our being.

Just having an opportunity to be with comrades of the right
kind, to rid ourselves of fear, to be entirely freed from loneliness,
to have opportunity to give form to our dreams — this in itself helps
to abolish evil and create positive good.

DECEMBER, 1939

481

Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts

482

Professional Leadership in the Field

Public
Recreation

By
H. A. OVERSTREET

Courtesy Essex County Park Commission

Wii ARK FAR from the days when public rec-
reation was conceived of merely in terms
of the underprivileged. In those days dire
necessity was the mother of invention. We pro-
vided playgrounds because we simply could not
disregard the children of the gutter. Today pub-
lic recreation is as much concerned with the chil-
dren in garden areas as with the children in the
slums; with adults who own businesses as with
adults who are run by them; with mothers who
have most of the things they want as with moth-
ers who have practically nothing. Public recrea-
tion is beginning to be thought of as we have long
learned to think of education and of library ser-
vice, as necessary for everybody, high and low,
rich and poor.

The time is rapidly approaching when every
sizeable community and every rural region will
have its recreation center. Recreation from the
most juvenile physical level to the most mature
mental level will take its place
as an absolute essential of
civilized community life.

This means that we shall
increasingly be in need of
men and women trained to
organize community recrea-
tion. We have such men and
women now working in hun-
dreds of our towns and

In connection with the Boston Recreation
Congress, the Society of Recreation
Workers of America held a luncheon
attended by approximately two hundred
members and their friends. We are in-
debted to the Society for permitting us
to publish in Recreation the address de-
livered at the luncheon by Dr. H. A.
Overstreet, Professor of Philosophy at
the College of the City of New York.

cities. Most of them have undergone such train-
ing as has thus far seemed wise. As the move-
ment grows and as our experience ripens, there is
every reason to suppose that the training of rec-
reation leaders will assume the importance that is
now accorded the training of teachers. We re-
member how in the early days of the public school
system there was very little systematic training
of teachers. Teachers had to be taken on because
of a little book larnin' they possessed and the
ability to keep children occupied at classroom
tasks. We have gone far beyond those days.
Training teachers is serious business that invokes
all the arts and sciences. The same thing is sure
to happen in the training of recreation leaders as
we come to regard recreation, of young and old,
as essential to healthy community life.

It will not be amiss, then, to examine the quali-
ties that we now can see are needful in a success-
ful recreation leader. If we hold these qualities
in mind, we have the basis
for organizing our training
procedures. This training has
one advantage over the train-
ing of public school teachers :
it has not yet been hardened
into a pedagogical pattern. It
has all the advantage of
newness. The educational
fraternity scarcely knows

483

484

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF RECREATION

that such training is going on. Hence the training
has thus far escaped being crowded into a Pro-
crustean bed of pedagogic method.

Essential Qualities

There would seem to be at least ten indispen-
sable qualities essential in a recreation leader :

The first essential quality is ^visdom with peo-
ple. Here is a quality that is probably native.
There are individuals who have the gift of being
able to project themselves into others, of being
sensitive to what others feel and care about and
suffer, the gift of knowing how to make the right
responses so that others are made more alive by
their understanding. If this gift is lacking — as it
is in many a too-self -centered introvert, or in
many a too-brash extrovert — there seems nothing
to do about it. Such an individual has no place
as a leader of young or old in the deeply personal
area of the play life. But if the gift is there it
needs training. A native sensitiveness to other
people, uninstructed, can easily go wrong. Hence
the need for a thorough-going education in the
psychological sciences; the psychology of child-
hood and adolescence, of maturity and old age;
the psychology of learning, of work, and of play ;
the psychology that deals with frustrations and
aberrations ; the psychology of the group and the
crowd. A recreation leader — far more even than
a classroom teacher — is touching individual lives
at many points. It is fatal if he is grossly ignor-
ant of what people are, what they desire, what
hurts them, what heals and sustains.

The second indispensable is community intelli-
gence. This is something more than what is broadly
called "social intelligence." The recreational leader
has to be more than a generalized lover of man-
kind; he has to have a gift for being intimate
with his specific community. He has to like to
move around in it, to know its hidden places,
feel its life, know its people. Here, too, is a
native gift, but one which needs training. Gen-
eral courses in sociology will help, but they are
seldom enough, for they deal in large generali-
ties about society spread over large expanses. A
recreation leader needs training in becoming in-
timate with a specific community. This means a
very special kind of course, one which has its
observation posts and its laboratories in the
streets and houses, the schools and library, the
police court and post office, the slums and the
garden areas.

A third indispensable is ingenuity with ma-
terials. I am afraid we have here, again, a native
gift, but one which needs training by contact with
the special kind of material that a recreation
leader is likely to use. Here is the chance for a
unique kind of laboratory, a laboratory of rela-
tively meagre materials out of which the student
is to succeed in organizing a rich recreational ex-
perience for his people. It is the project of learn-
ing to feed the multitude with a few loaves and
fishes.

A fourth indispensable is a long patience. This,
I think, can be trained by giving the student a
sufficiently clear, long-range view of what he is
aiming to accomplish, and at the same time a
sufficiently realistic knowledge of the shortcom-
ings— lovable and otherwise — of the people with
whom he is to work. To know what to expect of
people is already to be on guard against too sud-
den and devastating disappointments. Patience
is a kind of wisdom of insight. Not to expect too
much at the same time that one aims at much is
to be proof against the inertias, stupidities, petti-
nesses, and double-crossings that make honest
effort in a high cause difficult to maintain.

A fifth indispensable is a sincere tolerance.
Both words here are necessary. There is the kind
of tolerance which is a surface thing, a passing
politeness; and the kind of tolerance which
springs out of the deep love of letting the other
mind release itself, a tolerance that respects the
other as one respects oneself. Can such tolerance
be taught? Yes and no. It cannot be directly
taught, but it can be helped into being as one
learns deeply to know people, their unexpressed
prides, their hurts, their outreachings to things
beyond their power. Tolerance is the fruit of a
mature philosophy. When one has learned to see
life steadily and see it whole, one is less likely to
set up one's own private opinion as a measure of
the universe. One takes in the other fellow be-
cause he is a part of what one sees steadily and
whole. The recreation leader must grow into a
mature philosophy.

Following closely upon these is the sixth in-
dispensable— a sense of humor. A sense of humor
is the divine marriage of modesty and playful-
ness. It is the ability to see oneself in proportion
—but not solemnly, virtuously, self-deprecatingly.
Humor is a sense of proportion that is gay in
acknowledgment of its own shortcomings. To be
able to laugh at oneself is the essence of humor.
When one laughs, one condemns oneself ; but the

PROFESSIONAL LEADERSHIP IN THE FIELD OF RECREATION

485

laughter heals the condemnation. There are per-
sons, apparently, who have no sense of humor.
They do not belong on recreation fields. But even
a native gift of humor needs cultivation lest it
become a too-easy habit of wise-cracking and back-
slapping. All that we have said about philosophy
applies to the cultivation of humor. We say of
certain tobaccos that they are mellowed in the
wood. We can likewise say of humor that it has
to be mellowed in a philosophy.

The seventh indispensable is a democratic at-
titude and procedure. The worst sin, almost, that
a recreation leader can commit is to dominate his
people. His supreme art is to elicit their own
initiative, to give their own freedoms the chance
to blossom into joy. The recreation center is a
democracy-in-the-little, or it is no proper center.
Can the democratic attitude be trained? It, too,
is probably native. It goes with the gift of liking
and understanding people. It
goes with a native absence of
snobbish aloofness. But it
can be widened and deepened
by understanding people, and
it can be made to become ef-
fectively alive by making con-
tact with people. Also, there
are many procedures which
a recreation leader needs to
learn : how to talk with peo-
ple and to people; how to
conduct meetings ; how to get
a discussion under way and keep it on the high
level of democratic give-and-take; how to be the
administrator and still keep in the psychological
background ; how to work helpfully with a staff
of fellow-workers. These are all matters that can
be learned.

The eighth indispensable is obvious : skill in a
particular field and in several avocations. Here,
again, while there will be native leanings, there
must be training. The recreation leader must be
not only a theoretical looker-on and administrator,
but an enthusiastic doer of something that he can
do fairly well. For learning, after all, goes by the
contagion of example far more than by word of
mouth. The leader who can be "in on the game"
is in that very act of participation far more of a
leader than he who stands on the sidelines. Hence
the need for as much skill in as many fields as
possible.

The ninth indispensable is emotional maturity.
This is profoundly important. To have a badly

"And here, perhaps, lies the essential
secret of life. We make our games and
the rules of the games, and we play them
with zest. But we humans have it in us
to be more than followers of rules. It
is part of the adventure of our exis-
tence to be forever initiators of new ways
of experience that bring intimacy with
the materials of life and a release for
our special kind of joy." — H. A. Over-
stteet in A Guide to Civilized Loafing.

adjusted individual in charge of those who seek
release from their own maladjustments is to put
the sick in the hands of a sick man instead of a
physician. To put children in control of one who
has childish regressions - — bad temper, jealousy,
boast fulness, the wish to be noticed, the craving
to be praised — is to hinder their own growth into
maturity. The recreation leader can be trained to
know the signs of emotional maturity in himself
and how to rescue himself from childish regres-
sions and fixations. Nothing is surer than the
need for a vibrantly whole man or woman, an
emotionally sound man or woman, in a situation
where people are supposed to be given the chance
to escape from their own onesidednesses and im-
maturities.

Finally, there is the tenth indispensable : a deep
happiness in the zvork. The schools, we know,
have long suffered from the fact that many a
teacher hates his work, wishes
he could do something else,
has no confidence in what he
or his fellow workers are
doing. This is fatal to gen-
uine education. It is fatal,
too, to genuine recreational
leadership. There must be,
therefore, the deep convic-
tion that this thing is worth
while, and that one is pro-
foundly fortunate in being
permitted to devote a lifetime
in its service. Only the deeply and happily dedi-
cated can be movers of men. Fundamental to
everything else is the conviction that this job is
the way, not only to human usefulness, but to
one's own intensest happiness.

Ten indispensables. Can we build a curriculum
upon them ? I think we can. It will be a curricu-
lum far richer in content, far more nearly related
to the life of human beings, than most. There is
every reason to believe that if recreation becomes
one of the major cultural concerns of our civiliza-
tion, we shall build training courses that will cul-
tivate qualities like the above, qualities that make
the recreation leader into a wise and resourceful
guide of his people.

"Here are three qualities of personality : con-
tinuous growth, emotional control, and interest in
others. When combined, these can make the kind
of person whose life has unity of aim and direc-
tion."— From Let Me Think, by H. A. Ovcrstreet<

What They Say About Recreation

"•y-HE SIMPLE folk songs, music, and dances
which served as the chief recreation in early
colonization days and during our nation's
early struggles are needed now in these restless
times to help us keep our balance. We are pio-
neering again in many respects, searching for a
better way of life in a civilization much more
complex than our fathers found here. We need a
song, as they did." Sarah Gertrude Knott in
"The National Folk Festival — Its Problems and
Reasons."

"The field of recreation is on its way. While it
is not new as a life process, its importance is
new, and every factor of the social and economic
set-up indicates that it will grow exceedingly
more important in the near future." — Harold D.
Meyer in "Recreation Continues Its Impetus,"
Social Forces, May 1939.

"There are signs which give us assurance that
we are moving forward in desirable directions.
We see that striving in athletics is not toward
gold stars, or felt letters, or sports wearing ap-
parel, but toward the self-satisfaction and joy
from within which comes from being able to drive
a golf ball a greater distance, swim a few hun-
dred yards further, or jump some hurdles or
escape some physical danger through sheer ath-
letic ability in skill or endurance. We know that
the satisfaction which springs deep from within
is greater than any material rewards that last but
for the moment." — Pauline B. Williamson.

"Tests show that the amusements which con-
tribute most to personality are those involving
activity and physical exercise. Therefore, let's
have more fun! And if we acquire new habits
and skills in the process, and benefit both our
friends and ourselves, so much the better." -
Henry C. Link in the Journal of Adult Educa-
tion, June 1939.

"Our stage of civilization is not going to de-
pend so much on what we do when we work as
what we do in our time off. The moral and spirit-
ual forces of our country do not lose ground in
the hours we are busy on our jobs. Their battle
time is the time of leisure." — Herbert Hoover.

486

"Recreation facilities provided under proper
supervision for the use of our youth can accom-
plish a great deal of good in molding the charac-
ters of children so as to assure fine, outstanding
citizens for posterity." — John Edgar Hoover.

"In a school, play is truly one for all ; the play
must go on and it must be good. Everything is
shared ; competition is no more than that between
one's right and left hand. It is the provision of
such situations in music, dramatics, forensics,
nature study, crafts, radio, and social service that
the new school content offers its brightest hopes.
The skills, habits and experiences, the feelings,
attitudes and social living among school children
should lead directly into adult practices and re-
sponsibilities."— George D. Stoddard in Childhood
Education, October 1939.

"Art does affect the lives of men. It moves to
ecstasy, thus giving color and movement to what
might otherwise be a rather grey and trivial af-
fair. Art for some makes life worth living. "-
Henry Adams in Mont-Saint Michel and Chartres.

"We can't think in terms of an 'occasional ath-
letic star, an occasional boy reclaimed from de-
linquency, an individual artist encouraged here
and there. Our responsibility goes beyond that,
so to plan and program as to affect whole modes
of thought and patterns of living. We must think
of the carry-over into the community, the culture,
the folkways. We have to do that, just as we must
think of the carry-over into maturity and after
retirement, of interests capable of life-long en-
richment of outlook and purpose in the indi-
vidual. Leisure, interests, relationships, and ac-
complishments— these are the things that fix the
culture and determine the texture of life for
society no less than for individuals." - - V . K.
Brown, Chicago.

"It would seem that if we can be sure of any-
thing these days we can believe that all of the
processes of modern civilization point very di-
rectly toward an increasing amount of leisure for
which people must be adequately prepared if this
important time is to be used in wholesome and
constructive ways." — /. W. Studebaker.

A Community Christmas Party

CHRISTMAS time, perhaps
more than any other
holiday or season of the

year, is a time for a community-wide party. Fe\v
get-togethers are as eagerly anticipated by both
young and old.

In every case let it be a party providing for a
maximum amount of fun with a minimum ex-
penditure of time and effort. By the elimination
of those things which require a great deal of work
and expense, it can be a party devoid of hectic
last-minute preparations. At this time of the year
everyone is kept too busy with other numberless
tasks. Where there is work to be done, let as
many people in the community as possible share
in the responsibility.

Essential for a large Christmas party is a com-
munity hall, a recreation building room, a school
auditorium, or some meeting place where the
party can be held. Some care should be taken in
the selection of a chairman and other committee
members needed to look after such details as
finances, decorations, the tree, program features,
recreation period, and refreshments.

Invitations

. The invitation will inevitably be
written or printed in red or green ink
on cut-outs of Christmas symbols
from colored construction paper.
Holly wreaths, stars, bells, candles,
stockings, Santa Claus and yule logs,
offer a bewildering choice of subjects
for such designs. If your party is to

By CLARK L. FREDRIKSON

National Recreation Association

be a large one, invitations could
be printed on penny post cards
at a considerable saving in
both time and expense and decorated with tiny
gummed seals. Every attempt should be made to
have the invitations so unique and striking that
everyone will scarcely be able to wait until the
party date. If, in your invitation, you plan to use
a bit of verse, the following may be suggestive.
Sister, brother, mom and pop,
Grandma, grandpa, and all the lot —
For an evening of fun and lots of good cheer,
Stop ! Look ! and lend a good ear.

Three nights before Christmas, the 22nd of December,

It's a Friday night — be sure to remember.

For a Community Christmas Party is planned for that

night
And we hope you'll come, for a good time is in sight.

Bring a dime gift for another, and see what you get,
'Twill make for a party that you'll never forget.
The hour and the place are given below,
So you'll know just when and where to go.

Where

Time '. .

Decorations

Decorations add greatly to the spirit of the oc-
casion and a wealth of material awaits those re-
sponsible for them.
Christmas tree orna-
ments used with greens,
branches or wreaths of
evergreen or hemlock
tied with bows of red
satin or crepe paper,
holly boughs, candles,
bells or other seasonal

487

488

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY

symbols placed about the room, may strike the
keynote of your party. Stars of different sizes
sprinkled with "glitter" and suspended by silver
string from light fixtures and ceiling are effective.
Colored bulbs in ceiling and spotlights can often
be especially helpful in getting seasonal effects.
Experiment to see what colored lights will do to
your party room.

Silhouettes or transparencies of Christmas
scenes and symbols constructed for illumination
are simple, effective and inexpensive methods by
which the atmosphere of Christmas is created.
These can be placed on mantels, in windows, un-
used doorways, and other corners of the hall.
Directions for their construction are included in
publications which are listed at the end of this
article.

A community Christmas tree, with green
branches richly trimmed with many colored elec-
tric bulbs and strings of popcorn and cranberries,
colored paper chains, apples highly polished, tis-
sue paper balls, and other homemade trimmings,
is certain to delight all. If in your community
you are fortunate in having a living tree outside
the clubhouse, let the party guests decorate it with
due ceremony before going in for the regular
program.

Decorations should be as festive as possible, yet
inexpensive.

Mrs. St. Nick, Our Hostess

Who is better qualified than Mrs. St. Nick to
greet the party guests with a broad smile, hearty
handshake, and a cheery "Merry Christmas" as
they enter the party hall? Mrs. St. Nick, or her
helpers, hands each guest a small evergreen sprig
to which has been attached a bow of colored rib-
bon. It is essential that every guest be instructed
to wear the tiny corsage or boutonniere as the
color of the attached ribbon will determine which
team or group a player will join to take part in
competitive games and contests later in the eve-
ning. The number of different colored ribbons
used will be determined by the size of the party
and the number of players desired in each team
or group.

The ten cent gifts which guests were asked to
bring are also collected by the hostesses and later
placed at the base of the community tree for dis-
tribution. If the party is not a large one, guests
may be asked to hang their parcels carefully on
the branches of the tree. A ladder should be on

hand for the convenience of those who wish to
place them on higher branches.

If Mrs. St. Nick and her helpers are costumed
in red and green cambric dresses with white ker-
chiefs and aprons or other suitable garments, a
distinct and homey touch is added to the party.

Music

Christmas is the time for singing and there
should be opportunity during the evening, pref-
erably at the beginning of the party, for the sing-
ing of carols. This is one season of the year when
the impulse to sing takes hold of almost everyone,
and a small group singing to piano accompaniment
is certain to attract the guests as they enter the
party hall. Telling the stories of the carols will
add to the interest and delight in singing them.

A simple tree lighting ceremony just prior to
the game program does much to bind all together
in the real spirit of the holiday.

Games, Stunts and Contests
Christmas Parade. For a large crowd where
there is plenty of room, nothing is more mirth-
provoking than a grand march with numerous
variations. Everyone will want to join this jolly
parade. A primary requisite is to have someone
at the piano who will enter into the spirit of the
march and keep the crowd moving. The leader,
who stands on an elevated platform or stage, is
provided with a series of cards, each bearing in
large, bold, black letters one of the following
words: S-M-I-L-E, L-A-U-G-H, G-R-I-N-Grin,
HA-HA-HA-HA-HA, S-H-A-K-E, GO-AND-
SEE-A-FRIEND, etc.

Two separate lines are formed on opposite sides
of the room — men on one side, women on the
other. All are facing the leader. The group is
taught the following verse which is sung to the
tune of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

It isn't any trouble just to S-M-I-L-E
It isn't any trouble just to S-M-I-L-E
For if there's any trouble
It will vanish like a bubble
If you only take the trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E.

When all are familiar with the words they join
in the singing of the song and proceed to march
in the opposite direction from that which they
were facing. Leaders of each line meet at the end
and center of the room, join hands and march
toward the elevated platform. As they sing
S-M-I-L-E when holding the hand of a partner,
each person turns to his partner and smiles.

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY

489

Players separate when they
reach the platform, turn right
and left, and again march
single file down the sides of
the room — men on one side,
women on the other. They
again meet at the center and
opposite end of the room and
join hands with their original
partners.

Other grand march figures
—four and eight abreast,
circle countermarch, three
and one, and arches could be
included in the parade. But
this is not half of the fun, for at any moment the
leader may hold up one of the other lettered cards
when players are in couple formation. If it hap-
pens to be L-A-U-G-H players continue singing
as usual and substitute the word for S-M-I-L-E.
Not only must they substitute the new word for
the old, but also the laughing that goes with it.
The players will have probably reached the HA-
HA-HA-HA-HA stage long before that particu-
lar card instructs them to do it! Try it just the
same, for everyone will enjoy "HA-HA-ing" to
music.

When the card bearing the word S-H-A-K-E
goes up, partners shake hands with each other
every time they sing the word. On "GO-AND-
SEE-A-FRIEND," men move forward one place
and take the arm of a new lady. The first man
proceeds to join the last lady in line. The fre-
quent display of this card will result in new part-
ners and this is highly desirable.

Impersonations. For this game there must be a
double circle with the men on the outside facing
in, the women on the inside, facing the men. The
men are told that they are first of all to imagine

| themselves as small boys visiting the toy depart-
ment of a large store with their mothers, whose
parts are taken by all of the women. On a given

| signal from the leader partners begin to talk to

'< each other. Each person will have individual
ideas as to what he will say and will no doubt
work out a character of his own and add many
action details fitting the character assigned to him.
At a signal players stop talking, and bid their
partners goodbye. Men then move on to the next

j lady at their right, extend holiday greetings, and

• introduce themselves.

Players now become other make-believe char-
acters — the girls telephone operators, their part-

In arranging this party program, which
is best adapted to the use of a large
community group, the attempt has been
made to select a variety of games and
activities enjoyable and interesting to
all. Some of the suggestions are new;
others are old but done up in new "gift
packages." It is hoped that many will
be found novel and amusing. The games
have been so arranged that when it be-
comes necessary to change from one to
another it can be done without confu-
sion, long delays, and complete reorgan-
ization. Don't try to use every game
suggested, but select those which will
best meet your particular program needs.

ners business men who have
just put through an urgent
telephone call but on getting
their party discover that the
operator has given them the
wrong number. At this holi-
day time what could be more
appropriate than to have the
men impersonate sales clerks,
and the women housewives
who, on returning from their
shopping, discover only eleven
Christmas tree ornaments in
place of twelve for which
they had paid!

Find Your Partner and Stoop. Couples form a
circle facing counter-clockwise, with girls in the
inner circle. To march music all walk or skip in
the same direction. When a whistle is blown
either the men or women, as instructed by the
leader, march in the opposite direction. When the
leader calls "Snow Storm" each player, regard-
less of where he is, runs to his original partner;
they join hands, and both stoop. The last couple
to stoop may be instructed to pay a forfeit.
Couples again fall back into the line of original
march. The men, on command, bid their old part-
ners "farewell," move up one place, and introduce
themselves to a new lady. Either the inside or
outer circle are later instructed to change their
direction of march, find their partners, fall back
into the circle and proceed to a new partner. This
is again repeated.

Greet Your Neighbors. All of the guests and
the leader join hands in one large circle. The
leader turns to the person on his right, shakes
hands, and says "Merry Christmas." He con-
tinues walking counter-clockwise around the in-
side of the circle and shakes hands with every
third person. The person whose hand was shaken
goes to the third person to his left and greets him
with a "Merry Christmas." When everyone is
drawn into shaking hands, start a new game.
Christmas music should accompany this mixer. If
those in attendance at the party are not acquainted
with one another, insist that they introduce them-
selves after exchanging holiday greetings.

Poison Snowball. Players stand in a circle. Balls
made of cotton are distributed among the players,
the number used depending upon the size of the
crowd. At a given signal the balls are passed
around the circle, to the right, from one player to
another. The leader stands on the outside of the

490

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY

circle with his back to the players, or in the center
with his eyes covered. At intervals he blows a
whistle. Those players holding snowballs at the
moment the whistle is blown are eliminated. They
step into the center of the circle and are asked to
follow the snowballs and help settle any disputes
arising as to just who of the remaining players
was holding a ball when the whistle blew. The
fun of the game depends on quick playing with
intervals of varying length and signals that are
sharp and decisive.

Christmas Drama. This offers possibilities for
some side-splitting fun. A person is selected and
given instructions on how to read Clement C.
Moore's poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas,"
which begins, " 'Twas the night before Christ-
mas, when all through the house." Characters are
chosen to act out the story in pantomime as it is
being read. The stunt may be quickly and easily
prepared; however, its effect is improved by giv-
ing some attention to such details as entrances,
exits, and costumes. The reader should be care-
fully selected and instructed to read the poem
very slowly. This enables the actors to dramatize
the story more effectively.

"Round the Christmas Tree"
-£3X

-++

&

-+

***

1. Here we go round the Christmas tree, two by two
Here we go round the Christmas tree, two by two
Here we go round the Christmas tree, two by two
Merry Christmas all.

2. Let's look at all the Christmas toys, two by two
Let's look at all the Christmas toys, two by two
Let's look at all the Christmas toys, two by two
Merry Christmas all.

3. You are a very fine baby doll,* yes siree
You are a very fine baby doll, yes siree
You are a very fine baby doll, yes siree
Merry Christmas all.

* teddy bear
choo-choo train
spinning top
drummer boy
hobby horse

The formation for this game is a circle of
couples, with the men on the inside. All face in
one direction with inside hands joined. One couple
stands in the center of the circle. During the sing-
ing of the first verse all march counter-clockwise.
The couple inside the circle also sing and jauntily
walk about. During the second verse all of the
players, with the exception of the center couple,
form a single large circle facing center and stand
still. The couple standing in the middle of the
circle imitate the action of some Christmas toy,
such as a stiff-jointed baby doll. On the third
verse all players march in a circle counter-clock-
wise in a single file. They imitate the action of
the center couple. During this verse the center
couple select a new couple to take their place. The
song is repeated with the action of other toys
being substituted. There are prancing horses and
a whole array of frollicking animals. It is a gay
parade, for the toys not only march but run,
dance, and skip. A small decorated tree placed in
the center of the circle would be particularly
appropriate.

Back to Back. The party guests are each handed
ten beans and told to scatter around the playing
floor. With the ringing of a loud bell each
player must find a partner of the opposite
sex with whom to stand back to back.
Those failing to secure partners must
forfeit one bean, which is dropped into a
kettle fastened to a tripod standing in the
center of the room. Players failing to get
partners again compete for partners when
the leader rings the bell signaling all to
find a new "back."

This will all but create a riot, particu-
larly where there are more men than
women, or vice versa, and when changes
take place frequently. The one who has
the least number of beans at the end of
the game is the loser.

The Lost Christmas Cord. Before the
guests arrive, cut several balls of inex-
pensive colored Christmas wrapping
string into small lengths and hide them
all over the party hall. Players are told
to hunt for the cord in couples. As they
find the pieces they are tied together at
one end. At a designated time the couple
with the longest string are declared the
winners. The amount of cord to be cut
up and hidden will naturally depend upon

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY

491

the number of people attending the party. Cau-
tion! Make it clear that the pieces of string are
hidden in plain view and that one will not have
to move or uncover things to find them. Hide a
single short piece of gold cord. The couple having
it at the close of the game is awarded a small prize.

Spell 'em! Two sets of large white alphabet
cards are prepared — one in green letters and the
other in red. Omit letters Q, X, and Z. The
guests are divided into two teams — men on one
side, women on the other. A set of the letters is
given each team and distributed among their
players.

The leader stands at the front of the room and
calls out a word, for example, "candy."' Players
on each team who have the letters C-A-N-D-Y
hurry to the front of their half of the room, stand
in a line facing the audience, and hold up their
cards so as to spell out the word correctly. The
team finishing first scores one point. After each
word has been spelled correctly players return to
their places and hand the card to someone who
has none.

The leader should prepare in advance a list of
words so that the same letter does not appear
more than once in the word. A few suggested
words are: candle, dancing, game, gift, ice,
Nicholas, orange, skating, snow, star, stocking
and tinsel.

Relays

We have now reached that part of the program
where all those wearing sprigs of evergreen with
tiny bows of red ribbon are asked to assemble in
one corner of the room, those having blue in an-
other, and so on. A leader is chosen in each group
who in turn selects teams and individuals to take
part in the competitive relays which follow. The
number of players called for each relay will vary
according to the event and the number of indi-
viduals present at the party. Points may be given
to the winners of each event. If a blackboard is
available, use it for keeping the score.

A Boxing Match. Players are in single file, relay
formation, three feet apart. The first player of
each team is handed a Christmas package of the
same size, wrapped in similar paper, and tied with
equal lengths of heavy cord or ribbon. At the
starting signal the first player unwraps the parcel
and passes it, together with the paper and cord to
the player next in line. The second player re-
wraps the package and hands it to the third in

line. This procedure continues until all have re-
peated the performance of wrapping or unwrap-
ping the parcel. Should the boxes, paper and
string be in one piece at the end - — ! Well !

Decorating the Tree. Teams of equal numbers
line up side by side behind the starting line. One
representative from each group stands at a dis-
tance of about twenty-five feet directly in front
of his team and facing it. He is referred to as
"the tree in need of holiday dress." The players of
each group are then provided with trimmings for
a Christmas tree — either a string of popcorn, tin-
sel, bells, candles, strips of colored crepe paper,
pins, or other ornaments. The same amount and
kind of material should be handed each competing
group. On a given signal the first player of each
team runs to his "tree" and pins or hangs his
ornament. He returns to the starting point and
touches off the second player in line, who then goes
forward. The procedure continues until all have
placed their objects on the "trees." Let the audi-
ence determine which team has the most artisti-
cally decorated "tree."

Santa Special Delivery. Players of each team
line up one behind the other in back of a starting
line. Each group is handed a sugar sack or pillow
slip containing ten tied, empty paper cartons. At
the starting signal the first player of each team
picks up the sack and starts for a goal line some
distance away. At each of ten designated spots
along the way, "Santa leaves a Christmas gift."
On reaching the goal line with his empty sack he
returns to the starting point. The empty bag is
handed to the second player in line. He starts
toward the goal line picking up and placing in the
bag each of the ten gifts deposited by the player
of his team who preceded him. On reaching the
goal line "Santa" returns to the starting line with
his "heavy pack" and hands it to the third player.
He deposits the gifts on his journey. The fourth
player picks them up. This performance is re-
peated until all have taken part.

Add to the hilarity of the game by providing
the teams with an inexpensive Santa Claus beard
which each player is requested to wear on his
hurried jaunt.

Snowball Rolling. Teams of equal numbers are
selected to represent groups participating. Ar-
range players five feet apart in relay formation.
Pieces of string five feet in length are handed each
person. On the word to begin the first player in
each line starts to wind his string into a ball. As

492

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PARTY

soon as he has finished winding he securely
fastens his string to one end of the piece held by
the second person in line. The second player
winds his piece of string to the ball and passes it
on to the third in line. This procedure is repeated
until the last player has wound his string on the
growing snowball. The line finishing first wins
the game.

Christmas Shopping Relay. This is a game that
one would probably term a "snap" after days of
real and hectic Christmas shopping !

Players of each team line up one behind the
other in relay formation. Directly in front of the
first player on each team place an equal number
of packages of different shapes and sizes. There
should be enough of them so that one will have
some difficulty in conveniently carrying them all
at the same time. The first contestant of each
team, at a given signal, picks up all of the parcels
in front of him and carries them to a goal line and
back. If any of the packages are dropped on his
tour, he must stop to pick them up before pro-
ceeding. On returning to the starting point the
parcels are dropped at the feet of the second
player in line, who in turn picks them up, with-
out assistance, and proceeds to the goal line and
back. Remaining players repeat the performance.
Team finishing first wins.

Snow Storm. Line up competing contestants
from each team behind a starting line. Each per-
son is provided with a downy snow-white feather.
At a signal the first player blows his feather to a
designated goal line. On reaching it the second
starts to blow his feather toward the same
goal. The performance is repeated by all.
A whirling snow storm it will be, with the
long-winded surviving! You may want
to require the contestants to get down
on their hands and knees if their
feather should drop to the floor.

Christmas Hoop Race. A single file relay with
members of each team standing three feet apart
and facing in one direction. The equipment for
each team consists of a barrel hoop wound with
red or green crepe paper. On a given signal each
player in turn goes through the hoop, either plac-
ing the hoop over his head and stepping out of it,
or stepping into the hoop and bringing it over the
head. The hoop is then handed to the next in line.
The team finishing first wins. This game can be
lengthened by having the hoops passed up and
clown each line a number of times.

Let's Act.

Allow each group a short period of time to pre-
pare a dramatization, pantomime, tableau, or cha-
rade based on a Christmas carol. The whole song,
the title, or just a few words of it may be used in
depicting the carol. The picturing of these songs
may be amusing or serious, simple or elaborate.
Bundles of old newspapers and packages of pins
(nothing more) are used to advantage in hur-
riedly making costumes. Groups in turn are in-
vited to stage their skit. Other groups are to guess
what the carol is and start singing it as soon as
they think they are correct.

St. Nick Arrives

At every yuletide party there should be an ami-
able old St. Nick, whose appearance is heralded
with all due ceremony. He frequently enters
through a make-believe chimney with fireplace.
Let his appearance this year, however, be in the
nature of a real surprise. If there is a balcony,
arrange for him to come through an accessible
window or door. Let someone in the audience vol-
unteer to get a ladder so that he can descend.
What excitement will result if, between each
deliberate step, he stops to wave to those in the
audience ! After St. Nick's arrival, guests are
asked to form in line one behind the other,
(Continued on page 526)

A City Celebrates Christmas in Drama

M)Ri-; THAN thirty religions,
music, and civic organiza-
tions joined in Atlanta to
revive the annual Christmas pag-
eant formerly presented by the
city. The pageant for 1938, "The Divine Promise,"
was written by Eugene J. Bergmann, Drama Con-
sultant for the Georgia WPA Recreation Division.

The script was divided into two parts, the first
depicting scenes from Old Testament history, be-
ginning with the Creation of the World, and clos-
ing with, the prophesy of the Birth of Christ. This
first section was in fourteen scenes, several of
them elaborate and colorful court scenes and
iprocessionals.

The second part of the pageant told the story
of the nativity in eight scenes, beginning with the
[Annunciation and ending with the scene at the
[Manger of the Christ Child. This finale of the
production was the most elaborate scene, charac-
terized by a processional through the area of the
'auditorium by a chorus of three hundred children
•dressed in white vestments.

The stage setting for the entire pageant was a
series of nine parallels or small stages at various
heights, connected by steps to permit movement
•from one level to another. Removable properties

By J. LEE HARNE, JR.

Director of Recreation

Department of Parks

Atlanta, Georgia

and special lighting effects were

used in depicting the various

scenes.

Approximately fifteen hundred

persons composed the chorus,
cast, and technical staff of the production. Ap-
propriate music was sung throughout the dramatic
sequence by a chorus of one hundred and fifty
voices. There were one thousand and seventy
costumed characters in the pantomime cast. All
speaking was done over a public address system.
The lines of the principal characters were read by
a microphone cast of seven persons who stood on
platforms located down stage, right and left, and
each line was coordinated with the action and ges-
tures of the character to whom it referred. This
plan proved to be most satisfactory, and it elimi-
nated the necessity for memorizing lines.

A crowd estimated at eight thousand persons
saw the initial performance on a Sunday after-
noon after more than three thousand had been
turned away because there were no seats ; in fact,
there was no standing room available. The eve-
ning performance the next day attracted seven
thousand more persons to the auditorium. It is
impossible even to estimate how many heard the
(Continued on page 527)

403

Modernizing the Christmas Legend

RESIDENTS of Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, have found the in-
ward pleasure and satisfac-
tion that results from the out-
ward display of Christmas greetings to their fel-
lowmen. In other words, they have modernized
the legend of the Christmas candle. Most of you
know this story about Christmas. People in some
parts of the world believe that it is true. And
whether we can quite believe it or not, we will
all agree it is a beautiful story that has given us
a lovely custom to add to the things that we do on
Christmas.

You remember how, on the night when Jesus
was born, nobody would give room for Him in
any home, so that His father and mother had to
find a place in a stable and had to lay the baby in
a manger for a cradle. This story is that on every
Christmas Eve the little Christ-child goes all over
the world, over all the streets of the cities, along
all the country roads, passing every beautiful
house of the richest people and every poor house,
too, looking always to see whether people are will-
ing to let Him come in. And people who believe
this story believe, too, that those who really want
to invite Him set a lighted candle in the window
of their homes to guide Him on His way. But
sometimes, they say, He comes in the guise of
some hungry person, or some lonely person who
needs help in some other way — and if they really
want to serve the Christ-child they give what they
can to the ones that come in His name.

This simple little story of a Christmas custom
suggested a new and attractive activity to the
Recreation Commission. What would be more
cheerful than a city in which every home showed
an invitation in light to the passerby — a city where
the custom of the Christmas candle was modern-
ized with electricity ! It indeed seemed to suggest
a new service which could be enjoyed by all, the
young and old, the rich and
poor alike.

In order to get the idea
started and obtain the inter-
est of the residents it was
decided that a contest would
be the quickest and sim-
plest method. The local light
and power company, which

494

By NEVIN NICHOLS

Superintendent of Recreation
Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Turn no one from your door this night
In country land or crowded town.

For, know you not? on Christmas Eve

The Christ-child wanders up and down.

Or rich, or poor, if you can help,

Turn none away with careless frown,

Whate'er His guise, this very night

The Christ-child wanders up and down.

was approached, became the co-
sponsors of the plan providing
five I.E.S. floor lamps of propor-
tional value for prizes. The local
newspaper was generous in its cooperation run-
ning two or three articles each week for the three
weeks preceding Christmas. These articles always
included the rules of the contest as well as a cou-
pon entry blank.

The presidents of three civic organizations were
asked to appoint a judge from each of their or-
ganizations. These three judges were transported
about the city one evening between Christmas and
New Year's to view the displays and grade them.
There were no separate classifications of homes
according to valuation or size, but all were en-
tered in the one class and the points upon which
they were judged were so planned as to give equal
recognition to all.

On Christmas Eve when the entries were closed
the newspaper printed a route to be followed by
those who wished to drive about the city viewing
the displays. Every home entered was included
in this route.

Contest rules were kept to a minimum so as not
to be confusing and to encourage originality. They
are as follows :

1. Only private homes within the corporate limits
of the city of Cedar Rapids are eligible to com-
pete. (This was to be a civic enterprise.)

2. Homes must be lighted between seven and ten
every evening between December 24th and
December 3ist. (Allows time for all who wish
to view the displays.)

3. All displays must be on the exterior of the
home, or readily visible from the street, to gain
the recognition of the judges. (Judges' time
would not allow for entering each home.)

4. Entries may be mailed or telephoned to the
Recreation Office. (A central registration place

most efficient.)

5. The deadline for entries
is 12 o'clock noon, De-
cember 24. (Gives a
chance for those who
decorate late to get in.)

6. Only private residences
are eligible to compete.
(Continued on page 527)

The Progress of Dearb

earoorn

THE SUMMER of 1938 marked
two events of importance to
Dearborn, Michigan, citizens.
First, there was the looth anni-
versary of the incorporation of the Village of
Dearbornville ; and second, Henry Ford, their
''small-town boy who made good," was celebrat-
ing his 75th birthday. At a joint meeting of the
Dearborn Day Committee, the City Council, and
the Recreation Commission, it was decided to pay
tribute to the town's first citizen and commemo-
rate the incorporation of Dearborn at the same
time, with one all-day program.

During the day they planned races and contests
of all kinds for children, with attractive prizes
provided for the winners by the Recreation De-
partment. There was a sof tball game and an ama-
teur show put on by young-
sters from the playgrounds.
The evening was to be ended
with a huge display of fire-

By IRIS BECKER

Director, Historical Pageant
Department of Recreation

Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ford viewing the
historical pageant which portrayed
the progress made by Dearborn during
the hundred years of its existence

works. Then came the question
of the evening's entertainment.
It was decided to put on a pag-
eant depicting the history of
Dearborn, dating back to the arrival of the first
white settlers. And since no history of the com-
munity could be authentic otherwise, the spectacle
was to re-enact the life of Henry Ford.

So the people of Dearborn put on a pageant.
It was one of those "colossal, stupendous" things
which everybody works on, and in the confusion
and bustle of rehearsals, swears, "Never again."
After the performance the same persons say, "We
ought to do something like this every year.*'

I am setting down, therefore, some of our
happy and sadder experiences, hoping they may
be of use to others finding themselves in our posi-
tion. In the first place, the
pageant had to be written, or-
ganized, and produced within
a period of less than a month.

THE PROGRESS OF DEARBORN

The first thing we had to do was find out how
much historical material Dearborn possessed ; and
secondly, we had to discover the best form to
which it could be adapted. We found plenty of
fascinating information (and so can any city with
an appreciable number of anniversaries), but it
had to be culled and written into usable form.

Our sources of material were numerous. We
used the public library extensively, private libra-
ries to some extent, and private pictures and data
collections a great deal. The files of the local
paper were invaluable. But the most interesting
hiehlisrhts came from the memories of old timers

o O

and their families; we ferreted out as many of
these stories as we could in a short time. Our
composition committee worked on these ideas in-
tensively for six days and drew up the general
outline of episodes and the rough version of a
narrative. In this form our plans were presented
to an all-city committee of over thirty persons,
who accepted our ideas enthusiastically. The pur-
pose behind the celebration appealed to them ; the
material of the pageant held special interest ; and,
though the time seemed much too short for such
a tremendous project, it wasn't going to take too
much of the summer to produce.

These factors illustrate some important points
about civic projects. They should always have a
legitimate and interesting purpose ; the material
should be sufficient and have city-wide appeal.
Much more time than we had should be spent on
the preparation of script, but actual organization
time should be short and snappy so that the event
will not go stale.

In a general form, what we presented to this
committee was an outline of the history of Dear-
born in a prologue and ten acts, from the seven-
teenth century to the present day. The prologue,
entitled "Northwestern Territory," told of the
first white settlers. The subjects of the episodes
were: Ten Eyck Tavern, The Arsenal, Pre-Civil
War Period, Michigan Central Railroad Fire,
Henry Ford's Boyhood and Youth, The First
Horseless Carriage Visits Dearborn, Patriotism
and Industry, Cultural Progress, Consolidation,
Dearborn — Present and Future.

This program was to be not strictly a pageant
in the old style, but a combination of dialogue and
pantomime set to narrative. Through the public
address system we could make use of spoken dia-
logue to add naturalness and variety to the show.

Going into the second week, our general com-
mittee was divided into specific committees. These

central committee members represented as many
groups and organizations in the city as possible, in
order to have everyone interested in the produc-
tion of the pageant. A list of our committees in-
dicates the scope of the work that had to be done :
casting, directing, costuming, make-up, staging,
lighting, properties, sound, publicity, dancing,
music, composition and narration.

The idea for the stage had been roughly mapped
out, and the job was to adapt the story episodes
in order to get the most natural and efficient use
of all parts of the huge stage, which was to be
185 feet in length. This was necessary because
the stage was in the Elizabethan style on a giant
scale. Finally the episodes were written so that
we could alternate the use of the three parts of
the stage.

Casting was taken over by those who knew the
personnel of the many civic groups of Dearborn.
In as much as our cast had grown to gigantic pro-
portions, over 700 in all, these people chose speak-
ing characters only. They also chose a director
for each episode, met with these directors, and
helped them find characters for the rest of their
casts.- As far as possible, directors were assigned
to groups with which they were somewhat
familiar. For example, the directors of the pro-
logue used the St. Alphonsus Catholic Church
group and the Isaak Walton League because they
themselves were members of those groups. Each
episode of the pageant was rehearsed separately
under the direction of these leaders, and then the
episodes were coordinated in the final production.

Women's clubs, service clubs, church groups,
playgrounds, and The Player's Guild of Dearborn
contributed actors and actresses as well as com-
mittee workers. The Allied Veterans' Council
helped with the military phase, and the Isaak
Walton League contributed very convincing In-
dians. In many cases it was possible to include
citizens in parts played in real life by their an-
cestors. For instance, in the scene which showed
the burning of the Michigan Central station, the
man whose father was the original station agent
(who called the engines from Detroit to fight the
fire) played that role in the pageant. These and
many others were hard at work, and our only
regret is that we did not have time to put more
people to work on this community tribute to our
early settlers and pioneers.

Costuming was a tremendous job and never
could have been done without an efficient costume
chairman and committee. Again, each episode was

THE PROGRESS OF DEARBORN

497

handled separately with a sort
of central commissary. Our
sources for costumes were at-
tics, collections, stores, sewing groups, costume
shops — and ingenuity. A great many clothes were
loaned to us. It was gratifying to discover how
many of the citizens had stored away the clothes
"belonging to their grandparents. Department
stores loaned us some, as well as did sewing
groups and individuals who wanted to have some
part in the production of the pageant. The cast
members, in several instances, were able to secure
their own costumes. In the end, a very small per-
centage— only the most difficult and unusual — had
to be rented.

In an attempt to keep the setting as authentic
as possible, we had to study buildings and fur-
niture of the periods to be represented. Mr. Ford
authorized the use of furniture and other articles
on display in the museum of the Edison Institute
for the purpose of lending the correct historical
atmosphere to numerous scenes in the pageant.

Attics and collections, stores and
costume shops, sewing groups and in-
genuity provided the costumes used!

For make-up, we made use
of the talent in local dramatic
groups. To this we added one
hired professional for lead character make-ups.

The dancing which was part of several episodes
was handled separately by dancing teachers who
contributed their services, and by recreation and
playground groups. Edison Institute boys and
girls, citizens interested in early American dances,
and the director did the rest.

We used two types of music — orchestral and
vocal — to set and portray the moods. The first
was provided by an orchestra of professional
musicians. The 150 boys and girls who made up
the chorus were from playgrounds and from the
Edison Institute Chorus. The group was directed
by a man from the Edison Institute.

Publicity, of course, was handled by the Recre-
ation Department and the local papers, through
historical accounts of the early days of Dearborn,
news stories, and advertisements. We discovered
(Continued on page 528)

Recreation for Public School Teachers

PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHKRS, with their heavy
teaching load and extracurricular activities,
have many problems standing in the way of
their personal recreational activities. The Recrea-
tion Department of the Kansas City Public
Schools and the Teachers College, recently co-
operating in an effort to serve these teachers in a
definite way, sent out a questionnaire to all teach-
ers in the system. The questionnaire had a dual
purpose : first, to enable the Recreation Depart-
ment to provide a program of varied recreation
activities, passive and active, set up in accordance
with the capabilities and desires of the teachers ;
second, to make it possible for Kansas City Teach-
ers College to offer in their extension classes any
type of physical education and recreation courses
desired by the majority of teachers.

In substance, the questionnaire asked for the
following: the assigned school, grade or depart-
ment, living quarters (hotel, apartment, boarding
house, private home), amount of money spent in
the current year for doctor bills with a note as to
whether this amount was unusual or average. In
an attempt to secure a starting place from which
to develop a recreation program, many activities
were listed, with the suggestion that the teacher
underline those activities engaged in once in a
while, underlining twice those activities partici-
pated in frequently. Other queries were included
on the subject of home recreation, activities away
from home, reasons why the individual did not
engage in leisure time activities, recreation pro-
gram the teacher desired to have the Recreation
Department promote and the type of courses de-
sired at Teachers College.

The return of these blanks was entirely op-
tional, but in spite of this fact more than fifty per
cent of the teachers made complete reports. They
realized that they must recreate themselves men-
tally, physically, and emotionally, in order to be
able to give their best service to the school system.

The returns proved to be quite interesting. It
was found that fifty per cent of those making re-
turns were living at home, twelve and one-half
per cent resided in private homes, twenty-five per
cent in apartments or hotels, while the remaining
twelve and one-half per cent rented homes or
lived in boarding houses. The reports disclosed
that individual doctor bills ran from an average

498

By LES L. WARREN

Kansas City, Missouri

Mr. Warren, Director of Recreation and
Community Use of Schools, believes that
each of the city's teachers is entitled
to a program of personal recreation of
his own choosing, made up of activities
which he enjoys, and he tells how
Kansas City is trying to achieve this

of $30.50 per year to an unusual $125.00. When
we had thus classified the group which we were to
serve, we turned to the activities in which they
participated.

Activities In and Out of the Home

Activities engaged in frequently at home
emerged in the following order : radio, reading
(fiction and non-fiction), entertaining, cooking,
card playing, music, writing, photography, gar-
dening, needlework, woodcraft, antique collecting,
and stamp collecting. Activities infrequently en-
joyed at home were headed by card playing (listed
here by over half of the teachers), followed by
radio, gardening, cooking, reading, needlework,
writing, entertaining, and music. Other activities
which received few votes ran all the way from
making scrap books, Chinese checkers, walking,
poultry raising, and interior decorating, to letter
writing, astronomy and other such activities. It
is interesting to note that four of the first five
activities on the first list coincide with four out of
five on the second list.

Activities participated in most often away from
home were listed in this fashion : card playing,
picnics, movies, dancing, parties, swimming, music,
hiking, nature study, riding, golf, tennis, and fish-
ing. Those activities engaged in once in a while
away from home were : picnics, card playing, hik-
ing, swimming, parties, boating, nature study, fish-
ing, camping, tennis, riding, dancing, and skating.
Proving these activities most popular, four activi-
ties of the first six on each list are identical. Other
things interesting the teachers included : concerts,
(Continued on page 529)

January First — Hospitality Day!

Have you ever tried keeping Christmas a "just-
for-the-family" day with New Year's reserved
for the entertainment of relatives and friends?

CHRISTMAS DAY is always the traditional time
for a family party. You exchange your
gifts, parade in the ones which can be "tried
on," admire the glittering Christmas tree, listen to
brother's explanations of how he can switch the
electric train to another track and watch him as he
proudly puts the train through its antics, enjoy
sister's confidences about her narrow escape when
someone happened into a room just as she was
tying up his gift. However, all the little anecdotes
about Christmas shopping are almost lost in the
rush of cleaning up the tissue paper and ribbons
knee deep on the floor, getting the turkey in the
oven and scurrying around in the myriad prepara-
tions necessary "before the company comes" for
the big family dinner.

You are glad to see your aunts, uncles, and
cousins, but your little private Christmas seems
almost lost in the rush. They, too, probably feel
that the haste with which they had to go through
their own Christmas morning festivities in order
to arrive on time has robbed them of part of their
celebration ! While these thoughts are forgotten
[ in shouting "Merry Christmas" through the open
door, subconsciously you feel just a little bit
cheated.

Instead of a big Christmas dinner, why not keep
Christmas Day for an intimate family party and
gather your relatives on New Year's Day, when
the Christmas celebrations are over? There'll still
be a Christmas tree and holly wreaths to add fes-
tive touches and provide lots of Christmas spirit.

Why Not an "Open House"?

For example, announce an "open house" for
'riends and relatives on the afternoon of New
Year's Day. When the guests arrive, between
three and four o'clock, they find the traditional
holly wreath tied with a big red bow on the front
door knocker; and inside, tiny wreaths hanging
I from the light fixtures and on the lamp shades,
and mistletoe fastened with narrow red ribbon to
the door frames. Above the wreath decorating the
fireplace, they discover on the mantel a miniature

village half buried in snow. Of course the snow
is simply cotton placed across the mantel and hang-
ing over the edges in an uneven line to create the
illusion. The village houses are the kind bought in
the five-and-ten to place in the yard under the
Christmas tree. Above the village, and reaching
in a semicircle almost to the ceiling, is a wooden
frame with heavy blue paper over it to provide the
backdrop of a blue sky. The narrow width of the
strips of wood is placed against the wall so that
the paper sky is about two or three inches away
from it. The arrangement is like the lid of a box
— the sides made of wood covered with paper and
the top composed of the paper forming the sky.

Your guests won't be interested in games at
once. A series of games would disrupt the jovial,
informal atmosphere of a gathering where your
friends and relatives have merely dropped in" for a
visit — after all, this is what an open house means
— so let them wander about and talk to one an-
other for an hour. Above all, you mustn't let
your open house assume the aspects of a planned
party. The planning ,is always behind-scenes.

About five o'clock you'll want to set up bridge
tables in the living room and hand out the "pro-
grams." Make these yourself by typing or printing
on colored paper, light blue, cream-colored or
green. Fold an 8^2x11 sheet horizontally and then
again vertically, and write your greeting on the
outside. Inside, on the left, you might have a
little game for the guests to play while the food
is being assembled on the dining room table for a
buffet supper. It may be a scrambled menu which
each person must decipher before he is allowed to
go into the dining room. A sample menu might
read like this :

kahbemad eshece wuverstril

stoghod dan slorl kabde safoen

tapoot pichs

lyceer clipesk dufefts selvio

shaderis

abder tubret

kitcufear curifupt

trawe ligergane foceef

sunt

499

500

JANUARY FIRST— HOSPITALITY DAY!

Of course the food is :
baked ham cheese

hot dogs and rolls

potato chips
celery

bread
fruitcake

water

pickles
radishes

ginger ale
nuts

liverwurst
baked beans

stuffed olives

butter

fruitcup

coffee

The names of the guests you invited might be
traced into the outline of a Christmas or New
Year's bell which is pasted or drawn on the right
hand side.

Or, if you want a particular theme to carry
through the program, you might try a "Specially
Planned New Year's Flight." Your program
might look something like this on the outside :

Specially Planned New Year's Flight

(your name) AIRPORT

January First

Preliminary take-off at 3 P. M.
, Manager *

, Generally Manager

, Hostess

, Airport Superintendent

* also in full charge of Commissary Department

Final Take-Off
will be delayed until the latest possible moment

Your list of "passengers" could be written on the
back cover. Across the inside are the words, "This
test must be passed before you test the repast."
A cross word puzzle on the right side is labeled
"plan of the airfield." If you use the cross word
puzzle given, write underneath it the instructions,
"Compose a suitable New Year's sentiment from
words in the above." Two phrases the guests will
discover in the puzzle are "Welcome to our open
house," and "Happy New Year."

The definitions of words to be placed in the
squares horizontally are labeled "EAST AND WEST
RUNWAY/' and the vertical set, " NORTH AND
SOUTH RUNWAY." The puzzle will look like this •

EAST AND WEST RUNWAY

NORTH AND SOUTH RUNWAY

1 joyous

5 exhibits (old form)
10 operatic melody

12 prophetic sign

13 tribe of Indians

14 recent

16 article (French feminine

form)

17 no sale (abbreviation)

18 to arrange in rows

20 of (French)

21 cavalryman

23 period of time

24 color

26 to receive cordially
30 paid (abbreviation)

32 South American humming

bird (plural)

33 preposition

34 pronoun

36 preposition

37 to taste

38 to disclose

40 cuts off

41 relaxes

42 dwelling

1 to visit persistently

2 craft (plural)

3 dessert

4 parent

6 a call to attract attention

7 Ostrich-like Australian bird

8 to go

9 grimace of contempt
11 thick mass of ice

14 almost

15 to entreat earnestly

18 hillsides (Scotch)

19 legless crawling animal

(plural)

(Continued on page 530)

21 moisture condensing from

atmosphere

22 denoting former name
25 trace of wi'd animal

27 to impede motion

28 aside from a main track

29 group of trees
31 to deceive

33 kilts

35 the thing (Latin)
37 French coin equal to
one cent

39 not (contraction.)

40 behold

Athletics for Industrial Workers

ON APRIL 20, 1939, the Newark Evening
Neu's carried the following item : "The
twenty-five teams that played through the
Newark Recreation Industrial League at West
Side High School were honored at a banquet at-
tended by 300 men. Thomas J. Ryan, of the
Benjamin Moore Company was toastmaster, and
Francis J. Meehan, prominent sportsman and at-
torney; James Dotigan, assistant superintendent
of schools; Supervisors Ernest J. Seibert, Louis
A. Canarelli and Vincent Farrell, League Di-
rector, were the speakers. Thirty industrial plants
of Newark are members of the Recreation As-
sociation that sponsored the basketball league."

This item, significant in itself, has a story be-
hind it because of the contribution the Board of
Education is making to a new phase in the his-
tory of athletics. Organized sport is compara-
tively a modern program which is entering its
third and most important phase. Started by the
athletic clubs and followed up by the educational
institutions, it has now spread to the industrial
field, and the expansion and growth in the next
decade will be to a large degree in this area.

From the beginning of the machine age Newark
has been well known for its industries, so it is
the desire of the Newark Board of Education to
be among the leaders for the advancement and
improvement of the leisure-time activities for the
workers of industry.

The history of the movement in Newark dates
back to 1932 when the Recreation Department, in
conjunction with the Y.M.C.A., organized a ten
team industrial basketball league and followed
this up by forming the North Newark Industrial
Softball League and the Ironbound Industrial
League. From the beginning the Board of Edu-
cation made every endeavor to convince employ-
ers throughout Greater Newark of the value of
industrial athletics and recreation, and particu-
larly the responsibility of employers in providing
adequate facilities and the opportunity of par-
ticipation in a broad program to employees for
the use of leisure time. The result was the com-

| bining of all the manufacturing

; leagues into one organization
which in September, 1938, took

' the title "Newark Industrial
Recreation Association."

By VINCENT FARRELL

Recreation Director

West Side High School

Newark, New Jersey

How the Association Functions
Supervision of the entire program is under the
Recreation Department. A president and vice-
president are elected from the companies repre-
sentatives, and the office of secretary-treasurer is
handled by a clerk in the central office of the de-
partment in order to facilitate matters of postage,
printing and sending out notices. Any industrial
and commercial organization located in the
Greater Newark area is eligible for membership.
Any person who is a bona fide employee of any
member of the organization may represent that
company in the various athletic activities.

A board of directors is the governing body of
the Association, and each company is entitled to
select one to be its representative on this board.

Rules Governing Competition
In order to be eligible for competition in any
activity, a person shall have been employed by the
company he represents for a minimum of twenty
hours per week and for a period of thirty days
prior to the first day of competition. All persons
must be regular employees of the concern they
represent, except when a member is forced to
leave the employ of a concern after being eligible
to compete. This leave is often due to seasonal
lay-offs. In such cases, to establish eligibility the
representatives may apply to the committee in
charge of that activity for permission to retain
such member. Proof must be submitted that the
member left the firm through no fault of his own.
Each committee in charge of a particular activity
sets up its own rules and regulations which must
adhere to those set forth in the official entry blank
of the Recreation Department.

(Continued on page 531)

The Newark Board of Education concerns itself with
the development of athletics for industrial workers

Volleyball— Popular American Game

VOLLEYBALL is rapidly be-
coming America's great
recreational sport for
both young and old. It is es-
sentially a game for recrea-
tion and participation. It is a
players' game, not an onlook-
er's athletic spectacle. If re-
liable statistics could be
gathered as to the number of
people playing volleyball in
schools, on playgrounds, at
colleges and universities, in
Y.M.C.A.'s and Y.W.C.A.'s, in boys' clubs, set-
tlements, churches, and athletic clubs, it would
undoubtedly rank among the first ten national
major sports from the point of view of
participation.

Volleyball takes its place with bowling, tennis,
golf, baseball, and basketball as a popular Ameri-
can sport, finding favor with millions. Softball
and volleyball are the two new games showing
remarkable growth in recent years. There are
many reasons for this. Both are primarily rec-
reational sports that are inexpensive and easily
played without the need for the long training and
specialization that goes with high powered com-
petitive athletics. Football, baseball, and basket-
ball have become highly skilled and specialized.
They are good games but have lost their recrea-
tional character for the mass of people.

Municipal recreation departments and authori-
ties, in their reports, show the phenominal increase
of interest in volleyball as one of the major games
throughout the country, on playgrounds and in rec-
reation centers. With hundreds of leagues for all
ages and groups, with many tournaments and with
thousands of players, volleyball has become popu-
lar both as an outdoor and as an indoor game. A
recreation executive recently stated that he felt
figures would reveal that more volleyball was
played on playgrounds than anywhere else. This
may be true, but similar recent statements from
other groups and organizations prove that the
same growth and trend are true in Y.M.C.A.'s,
boys' clubs, churches, colleges, and schools.

For years volleyball has been the popular game
in Y.M.C.A.'s and Y.W.C.A.'s. It is a favorite
among industrial leagues. With business men it

By JAMES E. ROGERS

National Recreation Association

For use in connection with the 1939-40
edition of the Volleyball Suide Book
(Spalding's Athletic Library), James E.
Rogers, Director of the National Physical
Education Service, prepared a state-
ment showing the increasing popularity
of volleyball. The information given
will be of so much interest to recrea-
tion workers that we present extracts.

has taken the place of bas-
ketball, which has become too
strenuous and skilled for
older men.

A report issued for the
Boys' Clubs of America is
most encouraging, showing
that throughout the country
volleyball has increased
rapidly and is practically one
of the major items in the
physical education and ath-
letic program. Of 114 clubs
recently reporting on their athletic program, 95
per cent stated that volleyball was a part of the
program.

Today volleyball is one of the outstanding
sports in the intramural program of our colleges
and universities. Observation of the game in re-
cent visits to more than fifty institutions of higher
education in various parts of the country has con-
firmed the belief that volleyball ranks among the
first ten, if not the first three games, in popularity
and number of players. Dr. May, of the Uni-
versity of Michigan, has stated that it is one of
the best liked games in the elective service pro-
gram required of all freshman students.

Reports from boys' and girls' physical educa-
tion programs in junior and senior high schools
show that in this area there has been a phenomenal
growth. Some cities and states report wide par-
ticipation. In Maryland, volleyball is one of the
favorite games among school children. It ranks
high in the program.

There are still, however, sections in which more
can be done in the public schools to promote the
game. The new modified rules for juniors or
beginners, as formulated by the national commit-
tee, will help tremendously in the public schools.
One can fairly say that there is a definite trend
forward and that volleyball has become an in-
tegral part of the physical education programs in
all schools, especially in our large cities.

Volleyball is also increasing in favor among in-
dustrial leagues, church groups, settlements, ath-
letic and business men's clubs. It is a game that
is used on different occasions. It is played at
picnics and social gatherings. It is used as a social
(Continued on page 532)

Co-Ed Events in Bethlehem

Ar THE MENTION of the
Young Women's Christian
Association, one naturally
thinks of an organization deal-
ing with women and girls.
In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania,
however, the Y.W.C.A. has
a much broader scope. The
local organization was quick
to realize that if work with
women and girls is to be
effective it must foster
healthy relations between
boys and girls, men and
women. Because of this
policy adopted by the Beth-

By HARRIET LARRABEE
Y.W.C.A.

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

So much interest has been aroused by the
articles on co-recreation in the Septem-
ber and October issues of Recreation that
material on the subject is still reaching
us for publication. We are very glad to
have the opportunity of presenting the ex-
perience of another local Y.W.C.A., and
also the interesting experiment described
in the article entitled "Milk Shake Night
Club" which appears in this issue. It is
our hope that still more material on this
subject will be sent us for the magazine.

lehem Y.W.C.A., visitors

are apt to find as many boys as girls in the build-
ing— playing, dancing, eating or just having a
good time together.

Social Dancing

The Health Education Department sponsors
weekly classes at the "Y" in social dancing, and
here, too, the same situation prevails. In fact, the
number of boys sometimes exceeds the number of
girls attending. The classes, though open to all
comers, are especially attractive to the teen age
group. Statistics for 1938 show, nevertheless,
that these dances do not cater to one particular
group, and as a result they have an approximately
even percentage of all ages of young folks from
all parts of the city. The price of instruction —
fifteen cents for each person — is within reach of
of any purse. Of course this fee only covers ex-
penses, but it includes the purchase of the latest
records for the new radiola-victrola.

At present, the Wednesday evening class has
reached an enrollment of three hundred. At the
beginning of the evening there is a class where
beginners not only learn the latest dance steps and
ballroom etiquette, but also develop poise and self-
confidence. The boy learns how to ask a girl for a
dance, the girl how to accept graciously. A class
in intermediate dancing follows the half hour re-
served for beginners; at this time those who
dance, but still need practice and instruction, have
the floor. Then come the advanced students who
hold an actual hour and a half dance when they

carry out the principles they
have learned as they advanced
through the first two classes.
Similar classes are conducted
on Friday afternoons for
junior high school boys and
girls.

Concerned with more than
just dancing instruction, all
of the classes center around
the boys and girls them-
selves. Often informal dis-
cussions take place as ques-
tions arise : "Why are some
girls always on the side
lines?" "How can those
girls achieve popularity —

is it dress, personality?" "What qualities do boys
consider the ones which make girls attractive,
and vice versa?" "What about petting?" Reac-
tions and conclusions are carried from one group
to the other, as the students advance and eventu-
ally plan by themselves their special dances,
chaperoned by committee members, with popular
orchestras. Instructors are delighted to see a self-
conscious, awkward seventeen -year -old trans-
formed by the end of the term into a poised, con-
fident dancer who can converse easily with any
dancing partner.

For Working Boys and Girls

But co-ed recreation can not stop with a danc-
ing class. There is still the problem of working
boys and girls: where can they visit together,
other than in movies, beer parlors, or crowded
homes? Must they walk from street corner to
street corner to talk together? An attempt to
answer this need resulted in a regular Thursday
evening of informal co-ed recreation at the south
side branch. Those who can afford it pay a fee of
twenty-five cents for six months, but no one is
barred for lack of a quarter.

A visitor would see perhaps forty boys and
girls, who attend high school or are employed in
the city — some playing ping-pong or checkers,
others reading magazines, playing the victrola, or
dancing a bit.

There are two or three unwritten rules which
the group formulated. One is that the ping-pong

503

504

CO-ED EVENTS IN BETHLEHEM

table shall not be used by boys or girls alone:
playing must be done in couples. If the second
rule — "No roughhousing" is violated, it is inter-
esting to see a boy, with his Boys' Club training,
step up and remark firmly, "We don't do that in
the Y.W.C.A." The third decree is that a boy
must wear a necktie and look presentable if he
expects to come to any Thursday evening
gatherings.

Cooperation in Co-ed Recreation

The south side branch of the Y.W.C.A. and the
Bethlehem Boys' Club are 'located within three
blocks of each other and work closely in matters
of staff and club groups. The Industrial Girls'
Club and the Senior Fraternity of the Boys' Club
have- dances, hikes, and discussions. As the Teen
Club Girl Reserves and the Junior Fraternity both
hold meetings on Monday nights, often one club
entertains the other, or they plan a party with
joint responsibility.

The "Y" recently acquired an old Pennsylvania
Dutch farm, fourteen miles from Bethlehem. The
property has excellent hills for skiing, and through
the winter months co-ed groups skied there. It is
intended for a camp site, however, and members
of the Boys' Club seem as anxious that the camp
be made ready for use as though it were their
own. All during the summer and fall groups of
boys and girls picnicked at the camp, but in addi-
tion to enjoying a picnic lunch and a swim in the
creek, they painted walls and ceilings, scrubbed
wood work and cleared grounds. At the end of
the day it was hard to tell which group had
worked the harder or had more fun. These were
indeed co-ed outings !

Other Activities

The three Business Girls' Clubs specialize in
co-ed parties and hold many unique ones during
the program months. One particularly interesting
contact they made is with the "loopers" of the
Bethlehem Steel Company, whom they include in
their party plans. These boys, picked college
graduates, come from all over the country to
study at first hand the work of this great steel
company. When the girls who work in the offices
of the company invite them to the Y.W.C.A. for
the first time, they wonder about "this woman's
place" but accept because they are lonely. They
feel safe because they come twenty or thirty
strong. However, before the first evening is over
and after they have danced and played shuffle-
board or ping-pong, they help serve refreshments

and clean up in the kitchen — and ask how often
they may come back.

Bowling, one of the outstanding activities of
the Y.W.C.A., is scheduled once a week, and the
girls and women of the bowling league periodi-
cally invite their husbands and boy friends in to
play with them. At such times competition runs
high, for the men find that they must bowl their
best to keep up with the ladies.

Our co-ed activities do not stop with these
groups but are carried out with as much zeal in
the foreign communities department. Bethlehem
has many nationalities, and one of the features of
the work in this department is the Folk Festival.
The Hungarians annually put on a Grape Festi-
val, and it is a picturesque sight to see young and
old men and women, some attired in their native
costumes, whirl in the Czardas to native music
played on violin and piano. Strife and nationality
differences are forgotten when everyone attends
nationality nights or works on a combined na-
tionality Folk Festival. Fathers and mothers also
attend free classes in citizenship and English.

The Bethlehem Y.W.C.A., despite its crowded
quarters on both the north and south side, knows
that work and recreation for girls and women
must include brothers, boy friends, and fathers,
and has attempted to answer this need in co-ed
activities. This "Y" is a young organization,
however, and it has dreams for more than can be
accomplished in the immediate future. It is grate-
ful to the Boys' Club, since by their assistance a
co-recreational program has developed. The Y.W.
C.A. knows that only the greatest good can come
from such cooperation, for through it the Boys'
Club and the Y.W.C.A. alike may realize their
dream of an extensive, planned program of co-
recreation fostered by the social agencies of
Bethlehem.

"If we are going to keep ourselves ready to face
the world of tomorrow we must listen to young
people. We will not always agree with them and
they will not always be right, but the majority
among them will help us approach new ideas with'
enquiring minds. No one of us knows at present
exactly how we are going to meet the problems we
see looming before us in the future, but we do know
that youth will have to meet these problems and
solve them. . . . Therefore we should encourage
youth in any efforts which they make to face the
future in cooperation with each other." — Eleanor
Roosevelt.

Milk Shake Night Club

I IELP WANTED" was a

I""! slogan of opportunity
in the boom years of
the late twenties, when jobs
were plentiful and employ-
ers were on the lookout for
capable young workers. The intervening years of
economic dislocation have seen youth paging jobs
and scrambling for the comparatively few oppor-
tunities available. Countless public and private
organizations claim, "We must give more atten-
tion to the involuntary leisure time problems of
youth." But what can youth themselves do? This
challenge to youth and to communities has been
aggravated by the depression, not born of it.
Recreation they had, of a kind, but not always
best fitted to their interests and pocketbooks.

In Rochester, New York, the self-restraint of
restless youth finally came to
focus in June 1939, when the
representatives of twelve
youth organizations came to-
gether to establish the Youth
Council of Rochester and
Monroe County. Inspiration
came from the young peo-
ple; counsel and guidance
came from the Youth Com-
mittee of the Character
Building Division of the
Council of Social Agencies.
With self-determined pur-
pose "to work together with
tolerance and understanding
for the mutual benefit of the
member organizations and
the young people of Roches-
ter and Monroe County," the
Council set out to prove that
youth can do something for
youth.

As the first step, these
young people, forgers of their
own destiny, launched the
Youth Garden. The Youth
Garden, now an established
success, took shape out of a
conviction that youth wanted
inexpensive recreation, danc-

By KENNETH M. STORANDT

Assistant Secretary

Character Building Division

Council of Social Agencies

Rochester, New York

ing in decent surroundings
without the sale of alcoholic
beverages. A committee of
Youth Council members set
about to build a framework
by which their convictions
could become a reality. Their original mobiliza-
tion was one of courageous effort and a will to
win, for there was a slim reserve of only seven
dollars in the Council treasury.

In the City Department of Commerce the com-
mittee members found an enthusiastic ally, and
they secured the use of an assembly hall in one
of the city parks. Well suited to dancing but in
need of some revamping, the hall was a call to
arms and elbows ! The floor had to be cleaned,
sanded, and waxed ; decorations were needed ; an
orchestra platform had to be built; and a variety
of odd jobs loomed up in the
path of the "night club"
transformation. Likewise, a
soda fountain and milk bar
had to be installed. Within
two weeks, without "financial
angels," but with youthful
effort, the backing of civic
leaders, and the "trust" of
merchants, the Youth Gar-
den was ready to open.

Local newspapers were
generous in their support,
and an enterprising reporter
headlined the Dry or Milk
Shake Night Club as a splen-
did endeavor to present some-
thing new and different in
night life. Aptly stated by a
news editorial was the chal-
lenge that the only way to
find out if a thing will work
is to try it. Rochester youth
did just that, and returned
with an affirmative answer.

Operating on Wednesday
evenings from nine to twelve,
and Saturdays from nine to
one, the Youth Garden be-
came a rendezvous for Roch-
( Continued on page 532)

505

The Harmonica in the Recreation Program

RECENTLY in one of the
well-known home maga-
zines a piano manu-
facturer published an adver-
tisement in the interest of his product
by showing a large picture of a boy
playing a harmonica. The title read,
"From Jig Time to Big Time ; Who
Knows." The author realized that
behind this very powerful means of
attracting attention to his article there
lies a sound philosophy in the fact
that we are too prone to laugh at
Johnnie's monkey shines on the mouth
organ, or Mary's growing passion for
her toy piano. Their urge for musi-
cal expression may indicate talents
that would bring rich rewards if pro-
perly trained, and these toys are
merely stepping stones. Though this
article deals primarily with the har-
monica there is no intention to mini-
mize the value of other toy instru-
ments for they all offer a distinct
contribution. However, the harmonica
can probably offer more practical
knowledge than most so-called toy
instruments, and if seriously considered, is really
above the toy class.

In Los Angeles a course in harmonica playing
was offered to teachers, recreational directors, and
laymen. The class opened with a registration of
over two hundred adults whose interest ranged
from those who wished to learn for their own
pleasure to those who planned to use the instru-
ment as an introduction to the rudiments of music
and as a foundation for future study. Introduced
at this course was a series of books by Mildred
Vandenburgh entitled "Music Education with the
Harmonica." Starting with instruction in rhythm
band and the very simplest form of harmonica
playing, the course progresses
in easy steps to the last word
in harmonica playing. Many
teachers are successfully us-
ing this new method which so
naturally combines education
with recreation.

A surprising number of in-

By RICHARD H. ABERNETHY

Director of Harmonica Bands
Los Angeles City School Playgrounds

"May we present harmonica playing from
a recreational point of view, in the hope
that those who might otherwise be de-
pendent upon others for their musical
pleasure will find a delightful form of
mental and physical relaxation of their
own making through this medium."

stances have come to light
showing how children have
found an interest in music
through the harmonica, and
how parents, discovering by this
means a child's natural talent, have
eagerly provided instruction in other
instruments, such as the accordion,
the piano, the violin or whatever the
child seemed most interested in as the
next step. An outstanding case is
that of a boy whose parents later
confessed that they never dreamed he
had musical talent. Through the har-
monica they discovered he not only
had talent but was profoundly inter-
ested in music. He became an artist
on the harmonica in a few weeks. A
twelve bass accordion was provided
as his next step. In three months he
had outgrown it and was pleading for
a larger one. He got it, and now is a
master of the one hundred and twenty
bass instrument.

Not all children provide such con-
spicuous examples, nor is it to be ex-
pected, for among the members of
harmonica bands there are varying degrees of
success. Some go far — others seem just to "get
by" — but it is safe to say that well over seventy-
five per cent of those who start will learn to play
and thus will be insured against having no means
of musical expression. The child who does not
advance and become a proficient player is not a
failure, for it is never known how far the mere
introduction to music through the harmonica will
carry into the future.

If it is your intention to try your hand at this
type of recreational music, realize beforehand that
unless it is done correctly you cannot expect re-
sults favorable to your purpose. There is a right
and a wrong way to play a
harmonica, just as there is a
right and a wrong technique
to swimming or any form oi
sport. Speed and grace a;
well as stamina are sacri
ficed by incorrect methods
In harmonica playing, unless

506

THE HARMONICA IN THE RECREATION PROGRAM

507

you learn the correct technique, you will be ham-
pered in ability and progress. Many books are
available — some free and others at varying cost.
They all tell the same story, but practice is the
true secret of accomplishment.

Most important to the beginner is to realize that
the instrument must be placed well back into the
mouth lightly between the teeth, and with the
tongue placed against the holes to the left in such
a way that only the note in the right corner of the
mouth plays. Later, after the ability to play sin-
gle tones in this manner has been accomplished,
the technique of introducing bass chords may be
mastered by simply lifting the tongue off the bass
notes to the rhythm of the music. It would be safe
to say that ninety per cent of all harmonica play-
ers play by ear whether they have a knowledge of
music or not.

The instrument has earned its popularity
through simplicity. It requires no musical ability
to play, results come quickly, and satisfaction is
assured. Often persons will spend many minutes
just playing notes and chords with no apparent
intention of playing a tune — just blowing and
drawing to produce the sound. When spoken to they
seem to be startled as if in a dream or wrapped in
profound thought. One often finds great satisfac-
tion in just listening
to the tones, while only
half hearing them,
while back inside is a
comfortable feeling of
complete relaxation
much the same as we
experience while sit-
ting before a slowly
burning log fire or by
a murmuring stream.
This is true recreation.
Such a complete feel-
ing of relaxation is
one of the greatest
cures for tortured
nerves and tired mus-
cles. It comes occa-
sionally by the fire,
occasionally by the
stream, but often
through music.

More compelling is
the sensation when we
produce the sound our-
selves, though it be a

sonata or a simple group of notes repeated over
and over again. To most of us this would justify
the price of the instrument a hundred fold, but
the little gadget is "tricky," and before long we
find bits of "Old Folks at Home," "Home on the
Range," and other familiar tunes taking form to
the satisfaction of the player. The simple friend-
liness of the instrument makes practice pleasur-
able, and since practice makes perfect it is not
long until, bit by bit, the mastery comes. What if
it has been months or even a year — it has been
fun! This must surely be the secret of the har-
monica's popularity. Is it not so with our best
friends? Those we enjoy the most are the plain,
sincere, friendly people with whom we find as-
sociation and companionship a pleasant relaxation.
Harmonica playing is not a new activity, nor is
the organization of bands a new recreation ven-
ture. However, the magnitude of the activity on
the Los Angeles school playgrounds may be of
interest. During the past eleven years considerably
over a hundred thousand boys and girls have not
only been taught to play but have enjoyed the
satisfying experience of playing in bands. There
are at present over seven thousand children en-
gaged in this activity as one of their recreation
(Continued on page 533)

Austin's

Symphony

Orchestra

"V/ES, I BELIEVE that we have the football team
| organized now," James A. Garrison, Di-
rector of the Austin Recreation Department,
told me a few days ago when we were reviewing
the progress that the Austin, Texas, Symphony
Orchestra had made over a very short period of
time. I could see that he was very proud of the
orchestra. But so was every citizen in the city.

When he said "football team" I knew what he
meant, for he had frequently used the term in re-
ferring to his recreation program. He would say,
"Unless you have every type of activity repre-
sented on your recreation program, professionally
you are just like the football coach who sends a
team on the field with some of the positions un-
filled."

Shortly after Mr. Garrison became director of
the Department in 1928, he started building his
team. Playground activities, city-wide athletics,
swimming, community sing-songs, various types
of dancing and municipal social dance clubs, dra-
matics on the playgrounds and community thea-
ters, boys' clubs, adult and junior municipal bands,
nature study along with the hiking clubs, and such
specialized activities as horseback riding, skeet
and golf had all been placed on the calendar dur-
ing the years. The one thing lacking was a sym-
phony orchestra, and in October of 1938 that final
"position" was filled.

Making the Plans

A meeting was held one afternoon in Mr. Gar-
rison's office at which several music school di-
rectors made known the fact that a symphony
conductor of a national and international reputa-
tion was in the city on leave of absence from a

508

neighborhood State University. Immediately
names of leading musicians in the city and inter-
ested business men and women were written down
and plans were laid for another meeting in which
all of these people were to participate.

Tn less than three months from the night of
that second meeting, the curtains were going up
for the concert of Austin's ninety-piece symphony
orchestra. At that second meeting, Mayor Tom
Miller, Lomis Slaughter, a business man, and Mr.
Garrison, serving as business manager, were
elected as a board of directors. Serving with the
board of directors, a board of advisers was
elected which included twenty-six men and women.

An experienced conductor, Hendrick J. Buy-
tendorp, was placed on the Recreation Depart-
ment's payroll on a part-time basis, since no other
funds were then available. He called his first re-,
hearsal early in October with some thirty-five
reporting. But by the end of the month he had
doubled this number, and by the time of his first
concert in December he had ninety pieces ready
for the initial appearance. Music teachers, tal-
ented musicians of the city, union musicians and
advanced students of music in the schools and
colleges of the city participated with the orchestra.
The Music Union threw open its doors and an-
nounced that its members might play without pay.

While the orchestra was establishing itself as a
definite unit, the board of directors and the ad-
visory board were seriously concerned with set-
ting up a plan to finance the orchestra. In spite
of the fact that the orchestra members were to
receive no remuneration, the director had to be
paid and musical instruments had to be pur-
chased. Lurking in the minds of the boards was

The development of
a symphony orches-
tra in a city of
85,000 inhabitants

By
KARL MEYER

the memory that once, years before, a director had
attempted to maintain an orchestra but had failed
because of lack of financial aid.

A tympani set, bass violins, drums and other
necessary instruments had generously been loaned
by the schools for the early rehearsals, but the
board felt that the good nature of the schools
should not be overtaxed.

Financing the Orchestra

A budget was set up for director's salary, pur-
chase of instruments, music rental, and other
items of expense which might be expected for one
year. Various plans were then discussed in re-
gard to raising the necessary budget.

The plan which was finally adopted was that
the Recreation Department should underwrite a
part of the estimated cost and business men and
women of the city the remainder. Under this
plan the proceeds of the orchestra from its con-
certs are supposed to carry the orchestra, and in
case of a shortage the underwriters have guar-
anteed to pay the balance.

When the newspapers announced the plans,
many of the underwriters, instead of having to be
approached, telephoned the amount that they
wished to sign up for. Under this plan the board
promised to establish the admission price for
adults at fifty cents and children at twenty-five
cents with no reserved seats.

Seven concerts were then booked for 1939 and
season tickets were placed on sale. Sufficient
money was received from the sale to carry on the
business of the orchestra. Individual ticket sales
for the first two concerts held have been ex-
tremely good.

From the Conductor's Point of View
When Conductor Buytendorp raised his baton
at the first rehearsal that October night, I am cer-
tain it didn't carry him into memories of great
symphonies that he had heard. From what I have
learned of the Conductor, I am convinced that he
is a courageous fellow, and instead of frowning
at what he heard he proudly smiled and made a
resolution that he would mold the group into a
harmonious unit.

The rehearsal hall was the second story of an
old fire hall with high ceiling and plenty of room.
Folding chairs furnished by the recreation de-
partment and music stands made in the recreation
department shop, formed the setting under which
the orchestra started. As the rehearsal group
grew from thirty-five to nearly a hundred, the
conductor was further equipped with a platform
so that he might see the whole membership with-
out standing on his tiptoes all evening.

Full rehearsals are called for every Thursday,
and sectional rehearsals are held at regular inter-
vals throughout the week.

"Now, is this municipal group open to anyone
desiring to play in it?" we asked Mr. Garrison.
"It is," he said, "if the player is good enough."
So that is why there is a waiting list and plans
are on foot for organizing a junior symphony
which will form a training ground for the num-
ber one unit.

The ultimate idea behind Austin's symphony
orchestra is not that Austin wants merely a con-
cert orchestra, but that it wants an activity which
will give men, women, boys, and girls an oppor-

(Continued on page 534)

509

The Society of Recreation Workers of America

A' THE Boston Recreation Congress, the Society
of Recreation Workers of America held a
number of sessions which aroused much in-
terest. At the opening session on October 9th, the
subject "Trends in Public Recreation" was con-
sidered from a number of points of view. The
viewpoint of social work was presented by Mrs.
Eva Whiting White, head worker, Elizabeth Pea-
body House, Boston ; of adult recreation, by Rev-
erend Michael J. Ahern, president, Adult Educa-
tion Council of Greater Boston; of the public
schools, including physical education, by Dr. H. C.
Hutchins, assistant secretary, Educational Poli-
cies Commission, Washington, D. C.

In the afternoon, questions from the floor,
many of them involving technical knowledge, gave
a jury of "veterans" an opportunity to make their
experience available to all. In a period set aside
for the discussion of Society problems a number
of recommendations were offered for the pro-
gram of the Society for the coming year.

Nearly two hundred members of the Society
and their guests came together at a luncheon
meeting on October nth when
Dr. Harry Overstreet of the
College of the City of New
York and author of "Guide to
Civilized Loafing" and other
books, gave a stimulat-
ing address on "Pro-
fessional Leadership in
the Field of Public
Recreation."

At the second annual
meeting of the Society
held on October I2th,
reports presented by
the President, Secretary
and Treasurer showed
that the Society had
successfully come
through its first year of
organization and was
ready for a new year of
larger activity and re-
sponsibility. Reports
were also received from
the following standing
committees: Member-

510

At the meeting of the Society of
Recreation Workers of America held
on October 12th, George Hjelte of
Los Angeles was elected president
to succeed V. K. Brown of Chicago

ship, Study and Research, and Training. The
recommendations offered by these committees
called for a program of work for the Society
which should be a challenge to the 550 members,
now enrolled.

The following officers, members at large, and
geographical district representatives were elected
at the business meeting:

President, George Hjelte, Los Angeles, Calif.
First Vice-President, Dorothy Enderis, Milwaukee, Wis..
Second Vice-President, C. E. Brewer, Detroit, Mich.
Treasurer, Lewis Barrett, Washington, D. C.
Secretary, Arthur T. Noren, Elizabeth, N. J.
Five Members at Large — V. K. Brown, Chicago, 111. ;
Charles Cranford, White Plains, N. Y.; De Hart Hub-
bard, Cincinnati, Ohio; F. S. Mathewson, Plainfield,.
N. J. ; Mark McCloskey, New York, N. Y.
Geographical District Representatives —
New England — W. D. Russell, Boston, Mass. ; James
Dillon, Hartford, Conn.

Mid-Atlantic— C. E. English, Philadelphia, Pa.; L. C.
Schroeder, Pittsburgh, Pa.

East Central— Russell Foval, Alton, 111.; D. D. Hicks,
Charleston, W. Va.

South-East — A. H. Jones, Charlotte, N. C. ; C. R.
Wood, Durham, N. C.

Mid- West — R. K. Bliss, Ames,
Iowa; Ernest Johnson, St. Paul,
Minn.

Pacific — Charles Davis, Berke-
ley, Calif.; Ben Evans, Seattle,
Wash.

E. Canada — Wm. Bowie,
Montreal, Canada; J. J.
Syme, Hamilton, Ont.

So. Western — Ralph
Schulze, Waco, Texas ;
Lucyle Godwin, Monroe, La. .
Western Canada — No
elections.

Western — No elections.
The Society, on the
recommendation of V.
K. Brown, retiring
president, decided to
make the promotion of
nature recreation a ma- |
jor objective for the
coming year. It will be i
of interest to Society I
members to learn that i
Mr. Brown was re-
(Continued on page 534)

A Message to Recreation Workers

COMPLETING the first year
of its existence, the
Society of Recreation
Workers of America held its
second annual meeting at
Boston on October ninth.
The meeting was held in con-
junction with the Twenty-
Fourth National Recreation
Congress. That the infant
Society has survived the first
year of its existence in such
a manner as to give assurance to its sponsors that
it was well born, could not be doubted by any
who attended the Boston meeting. It demonstrated
a capacity for vigorous growth and gave promise
of future achievement not only to the credit of
itself but for the advancement of the cause of
human welfare with which its life purposes are
inextricably entwined.

Since the birth of the Society in Pittsburgh a
year ago, five hundred forty-one recreation work-
ers had joined the Society. Nearly two hundred
of the members were privileged to attend the an-
nual meeting at Boston. All of these must have
been impressed with the splendid record which the
Society established during the first year.

Recalling the several sessions which constituted
the meeting, the following stand out in recollec-
tions as indicative of noteworthy accomplishments
of the Society: (i) the faithfulness with which
the elected and appointed officers had served the
Society throughout the year; (2) the work which
the several standing committees had done as re-
vealed in the written reports which were received
and the contents of which will be published for
the information of all members; (3) the lively
discussion on organization problems which the
Society faces in its early years 5(4) the informa-
tive addresses on, trends in recreation which were
offered by outstanding leaders from the fields of
adult education, social work, and public educa-
tion; (5) the inspirational address of Dr. Harry
Overstreet in which ten fundamental qualifica-
tions of leaders in the profession of recreation
leadership were expressed in a lucid and challeng-
ing manner.

Out of the discussion several new projects were
initiated in the form of recommendations to the

By GEORGE HJELTE

Superintendent

Playground and Recreation Department
Los Angeles, California

Mr. Hjelte, newly elected president
of the Society of Recreation Workers
of America, tells of the accomplish-
ments of the Society in its first year,
and outlines the objectives for
the second year's program of work

executive council. These look
toward the promotion of na-
ture recreation as a field for
special emphasis during the
coming year; the taking of
steps toward the formula-
tion of a code of professional
ethics, not only as a guide
for members but as a con-
crete expression of the ac-
cepted ideals of the profes-
sional workers affiliated with
the Society; and the appointment of a committee
on publication which will devise means for plac-
ing in the hands of all members the reports sub-
mitted by officers and committees and the papers
presented by oustanding speakers. The standing
committees on Membership, Research, Training
and Auditing, will, of course, continue the work
which each has started. New appointments to
these committees will be announced shortly.

It must be remembered that ours is a working
society, not one in which the work is done by a
well financed headquarters but by the members
working individually and collectively. The mea-
ger income from dues will preclude the possibility
of headquarters doing the work. This income will
be no more than sufficient to pay essential office
expense, printing and postage. The work of the
Society must be a voluntary contribution of the
membership motivated by unselfish devotion to the
welfare of all and to our movement.

If this be true it follows that much of the work
of the Society must be conducted in the geo-
graphical areas and under the stimulation of the
geographical representatives provided for in 'the
constitution. It is the hope of your officers that
the year now commencing may witness a healthy
participation in activities of the Society in the
geographical areas. These activities need not be
limited to those initiated and promoted by na-
tional and committee officers but may be of local
origin as well. The well known recreation prin-
ciple that participation contributes to growth and
continued interest is as applicable to an organiza-
tion as to the individual.

It is also hoped that the number of members
will expand during the year. This can be accom-
(Continued on page 534)

Recollections of My Boyhood Days

A GREAT MANY people real-
ize that the first duty of
government is to con-
serve its assets; and the boy
of today, who will be the citi-
zen of tomorrow, is certainly
an asset

When I was a boy, there
were no such organizations as
the Boy Scouts. We had the
neighborhood social organization. Nobody di-
rected it; nobody assumed any responsibility for
it; it just went along by its own power. There
were no playgrounds for children; there were
very few parks, and when we did have parks they
were removed from the centers of population;
and as a result the great playground, the great or-
ganization center, in my boyhood, was along the
waterfront.

Certainly, as a boy, I never heard of Bear
Mountain, although when I was Governor I went
there once a year while the Boy Scouts were in
camp, and they always thought it was quite a joke
if they could put the Indian hat on me and paint
my face up a bit so I could look like the Big
Chief. I reminded them that the role wasn't dif-
ficult for me to play inasmuch as I was a member
of the Tammany Society, which is supposed to be
made up almost entirely of Indians !

But somehow or other things adjusted them-
selves, and if we didn't have the playgrounds and
the gymnasiums, we did have along the water-
front the big sailing vessels, and the rigging of
the sailing vessels afforded a very good gym-
nasium— just as good as they have today. The
ship would be at the dock about two months. It
would take a month to unload it. Everything was
taken out of it with a block and fall, and the tow-
horse pulled it up the dock ; and as the ship load
was lightening the ship raised and it was out of
reach, but that adjusted itself because at the next
dock another one came in loaded down; so we
just shifted from one gymnasium to the other,
and in that way we were well satisfied !

It is impossible to estimate the influence of the
Church. When I was a boy, I was a member of
what was known as St. James Union, and it was

512

By HON. ALFRED E. SMITH

New York City

This address, which was delivered
by ex-Governor Smith at the twenty-
ninth Annual Meeting of the National
Council of the Boy Scouts of America
held June 28-29, 1939, is reprinted
through the courtesy of the Council.

attached to the old church that
is over 115 years old down on
James Street, right off the-
Bowery. The pastor of the
church was the spiritual di-
rector of that Union, and the
constitution of the Union con-
tained a provision to the ef-
fect that no boy could become
a member or remain a mem-
ber after the pastor's expressed wish to the con-
trary. Nobody wanted to have the stigma of being
taken out of that Union. A strange thing about
it was that it became known in the neighborhood,
and businessmen and trades people recruited their
employees from the Union because they were sure
that that boy was leading the kind of life that met
with the approval of the pastor, and if he wasn't,
he wouldn't be in the Union.

Well, we used to have a picnic in the summer,
up at Jones Woods, at the foot of East Sixtieth
Street, where we saw the familiar picture of the
goat licking the label off a tomato can. In the
winter we had a ball, usually up in Weber Hall
on Eleventh Street, because that was well up-
town. We had an amateur dramatic society, and
you would be surprised to know how the make-
up man could make me look like an Irish villain.
Religion will influence the boy when he is
taught to understand that if he is to be rewarded
in the world to come he must do two things in
life — he must obey the Divine Command, which
is, "Love the Lord, thy God, with thy whole
heart, thy whole soul and thy whole mind" -
and there is something else — " and thy neighbor
as thy self." Suppose that obtained throughout
the world today? There would be no bigotry;
there would be no intolerance ; there would be no
racial or religious persecution — the things that
are the cause of a great amount of the strife
across the Atlantic Ocean.

Speaking some years ago on the subject of the
use of leisure, Mr. Smith urged the desirability
of opening museums and similar institutions at
night. He himself, he said, was a well grown man
before he saw the inside of the Museum of Nat-
ural History because he never had time to go there.

Shoe Shine Boy

IF EVER YOU are walking in
the Richmond business dis-
trict and want a shoe shine,
you need only look about you
to discover two or three little
Negro boys, each proudly wearing a numbered
badge with the legend "Richmond Shoe Shine
Boys' Club." Upon your acceptance of their ver-
bal contract to refurbish your shoes for ''ten
cents, one dime, the tenth part of a dollar," the
boys will courteously direct you to a white-lined
oblong painted with broad strokes on the sidewalk
near the side of a building. With snappy wrist
work, they will make your shoes glisten; they
will accept your payment with white-toothed
grins, and thank you for the business.

Behind this streamlined trade and the badges
which the boys wear so proudly, is the story of a
problem that vexed both civic leaders and mu-
nicipal authorities ; the story of a recreational
agency which used its facilities in physical equip-
ment and man power to solve that problem.

The depression sent scores of colored boys,
anxious to pick up a few pennies, on the streets of
Richmond with their homemade shoe shine boxes.
Besides the imperative need to" help out at home,"
where the head of the family was frequently out
of work, these boys were taking the only means
open to them to earn a bit of spending money.
As the pressure of those lean years tightened,
more and more ragged urchins appeared on the
street corners "like a swarm of molested hornets,"
as the colored leaders of the city apprehensively
observed.

It was not long before dissension grew in the
bootblacking industry. Cliques developed; price
cutting wars ran rampant. Fierce fighting follow-
ed, and there was considerable bickering over
choice of stands. The weaker boys were forced
to take the less desirable corners. There was
profanity, recklessness, impudence; doorways of
business establishments were blocked; plate glass
windows were broken. In their commendable but
undirected efforts to earn an honest penny, the
boys became so objectionable that there were seri-
ous complaints filed at the Juvenile Court by har-
rassed merchants. Prospective customers at the
stores were mobbed by hordes of boys determined
to "make a shine."

By LEE G. CRUTCHFIELD

Public Relations Counsel

Community Recreation Association

Richmond, Virginia

What could be done? The
Juvenile Court judge, Honor-
able J. Hoge Ricks, is known
for his progressive tendencies,
and he did not wish to submit
these boys to court contacts, but there seemed to
be no other way. Finally he called a consultation
which was attended by the Chief of Police, the
crime prevention officer of the Police Depart-
ment, the patrolmen on duty in the business sec-
tion, the president and director of the Colored
Recreation Association, and the director of the
Community Recreation Association — the latter
two associations being recreational and character
building agencies of the Richmond Community
Fund. Also present were the assistant chief of the
Bureau of Parks and Recreation, and the state
Commissioner of Labor.

After a long discussion an agreement was made
with the Works .Progress Administration. Her-
bert Thompson, a boy's worker on the staff of the
Colored Recreation Association, and Mr. P. N.
Binford, Superintendent of Municipal Recrea-
tion, were selected to carry out the program. They
were to organize the bootblacks into clubs and ac-
tivities that would keep them busy and remove the
causes for complaint. Mr. Thompson was given
the names of fifteen boys by the probation of-
ficer of the Juvenile Court. He planned to instruct
these boys in law observance, assist them in pro-
curing work permits, impress upon them the im-
portance of keeping the sidewalks open, and sup-
ply recreational activities that would promote
personal development and inculcate in them the
ideals of American citizenship.

Without precedents, rules or regulations, Mr.
Thompson started out. The Colored Recreation
Association has a community center and gym-
nasium in the most densely populated Negro dis-
trict. With his fifteen boys as a nucleus he or-
ganized a boys' club at the center. He set up a
gym period for recreation and baths. Then he
went out on the streets and built up, by personal
contact, bootblack clubs in various sections of the
city. Prominent Negro citizens were asked to
sponsor clubs, and as a result, in 1938 four hun-
dred and ten boys were listed as members of the
Shoe Shine Boys' Clubs.

513

514

SHOE SHINE BOY

Regulatory measures were the next step. Their
interest caught through recreation, the boys real-
ized the need for rules in the pursuance of an
orderly conduct of their trade. A numbered mem-
bership badge was adopted and rules were formu-
lated by the clubs. Violations of these rules meant
automatic suspension of the badge and work
privileges for a certain number of days.

Athletic leagues were organized in all seasonal
sports, with uniforms furnished by the business
men sponsors. Individual case histories of all the
club members were filed with the Colored Recre-
ation Association; the club director visited the
boys' home to discover social needs which were
referred to the proper social agencies for treat-
ment.

The Colored Recreation Association was able
to achieve successful results because it had the
wholehearted support of the Juvenile Court, the
Police Department, and the Crime Prevention
Bureau of the Police Department. A local Negro
moving picture house also cooperated by giving a
benefit show for the camp fund for bootblacks
who could not afford a vacation otherwise. In
consequence, a successful holiday was held at the
colored camp at Echo Lake, near Richmond. The
annual ball given by the combined bootblack clubs
is among the most successful events ever staged
at the community center.

The system of control through badges and
permits proved so popular with the merchants and
police that they arranged space in six of the
largest office buildings where the boys could ply
their trade. The Police Department marked off
areas on the sidewalks where they could work.
The bootblacks themselves wanted to make this
new business method successful, and 118 of them
attended the Shoe Shine Boys' Institute held at
the Colored Recreation Association for the pur-
pose of impressing on the boys the principles of
orderliness, fair play and sportsmanship.

Realizing that the need for employment was
among the most urgent problems faced by the
bootblacks, workers continually attempted to
secure more remunerative employment for them.
They installed twelve boys in private employment,
placed twenty-one boys in Civilian Conservation
Corps Camps, and established sixteen more in
National Youth Administration jobs.

Complaints fell off miraculously during the
period Mr. Thompson was director of the club.

The boys took real pride in the badges and care-
fully observed all regulations in order not to lose
them. Recreation and character building activi-
ties had made another forward step in solving one
of Richmond's social problems.

This was the situation in 1939 when the first
blow fell. Herbert Thompson, the Shoe Shine
Boys' director, was appointed superintendent of
the Colored Detention Home of the Juvenile
Court. Without his capable leadership, the club
was comparable to a rudderless ship. Prior to the
time he left his directorate, there were practically
no complaints. The month following his relin-
quishment, however, showed a startling increase.
The old gang struggles were breaking out as med-
dlesome, unregulated shoe shine boys who were
not club members interfered with the trade of the
"regulars." The old profanity reappeared.

In perplexity, Judge Ricks again called together
the men who attended the meeting which resulted
in the formation of the Shoe Shine Boys' Club.
Representatives of the business men reported that
disorder was rife, that the bootblack trouble was
rapidly growing worse. The officials showed little
hesitation in deciding upon the best method to
combat this degeneration: recreation had solved
it once and could solve it again. Mr. Thompson
had gone, but they resolved to find other workers,
well qualified and conscientious, who could begin
where he stopped. The men voted unanimously
that the Colored Recreation Association, which
had so ably supplied the solution to the problem
in 1936, should be detailed to search for another
qualified worker to take over the organization and
directional duties of the Richmond Shoe Shine
Boys' Clubs. Where his salary would come from
— the Richmond Community Fund, the Works
Progress Administration, or the city Recreation
Department — the committee did not decide. They
were confident that it would be found somewhere.
"It is impossible," said these Richmonders, hav-
ing put their hands to the plow and sowed the
seeds of citizenship in such rich furrows, "to turn
back now!"

So the Shoe Shine Boys' Clubs will continue
under a new leader. The committee feels that the
training the boys received under the previous ad-
ministration will hold the clubs together until
they once more find a firm foundation and be-:
come so strong that all the shoe shine boys in thej
city will be numbered in their membership.

Through 0ames to Debating

AB BAG" is a game in
which the individ-
ual presents his
opinion to a group of his
peers. Frequently his presenta-
tion will be merely publicity
conscious or exhibitionistic.
"Blindfold" is a program which
demands more of him. He does
not merely present his opinion; he discusses it in
active intercourse with a small group. In "Heckle,"
he must not merely present and discuss, he must
advance, convince, and defend in a large group.
In "Team Court," he comes to the procedure
with a prepared opinion, and there must present
it in a convincing manner. It is a short step, then,
from Team Court to team debating — to an intel-
lectual, logical, democratic activity which demands
from (and develops in) the individual, prepara-
tion, the development of opinion, self-expression,
and self-confidence.

Gab Bag. As may be seen from its name, Gab
Bag is a combination of the grab bag and a dis-
cussion program. Contestants are asked to sign
up and be present on the night of the event. It is
recommended that boys and girls be divided into
age groups : ten to twelve years, twelve to four-
teen, and fourteen to sixteen.

A list of topics is prepared by the leader or the
committee of members, and each topic is typed on
an individual card. Judges, audience, chairman
are all the interesting appurtenances of the formal
debate, but here the resemblance ceases. The con-
testants sit in the audience.
When the program is
about to begin, the chair-
man calls the first contest-
ant who selects one of the
topic-cards from a box or
bag. The chairman then
introduces the program
while the contestant con-
siders what he is about to
say. Just before introduc-
ing the contestant, the
chairman calls the second
speaker who also selects
his card. In other words,

Putting "bait" into debating for
the under sixteen year old group

By PAUL L. SCHWARTZ

Irene Kaufmann Settlement
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

each speaker has his time
of preparation limited to the
time which the preceding
speaker uses.

The chairman should point
out that Gab Bag is not a mat-
ter of facts, but of opinions,
straight thinking, and clear
speaking. The judges take only
that into consideration, and the contestants are to
say what they think about the subject under dis-
cussion. Since the speeches are short as well as
interesting, the audience finds Gab Bag an enthral-
ling program. At the Irene Kaufmann Settlement
there is never any problem of disorder among the
listeners. Response to these programs has been
more than enthusiastic.

A suggested list of subjects :
AGES 12-14

1. Should you learn to play a musical instrument?

2. Should you go to bed at nine o'clock?

3. Should you do what your crowd does if you do
not like it ?

4. Should you tell people if you do not like them f

5. Which comes first, your friends or your club?

AGES 14-16

1 . At what age should you begin to go to dances ?

2. Is it good to belong to a club where most of the
members are two or three years younger or
older than you?

3. Can you tell a person by the clothes he wears ?

4. Is it good to have clubs with both boys and
girls in them?

5. Should older boys and

Mr. Schwartz points out that in recent years
debating has fallen somewhat into disrepute
among recreation workers for a number of rea-
sons. For one thing, the amount of prepara-
tion required was excessive from the individ-
ual's point of view, and from the leader's
viewpoint the activity had too often deterior-
ated into win-or-lose competition in which
sportsmanship was forgotten. It was to meet
these objections that a new type of informal
debating was undertaken at the Irene Kauf-
mann Settlement as an educational step-by-
step approach to formal forensic activities. The
descriptions of the games used will be of in-
terest at just this time when recreation work-
ers are entering the community center season.

girls in the family have

to take care of the

younger ones?

Heckle. In comparison
to Gab Bag, this type of
program is adapted to a
rather small group. The
maximum is twenty-five
people. To carry a pro-
gram of an hour or an
hour and a half, only three
or four speakers arr
needed.

The chairman presents

516

THROUGH GAMES TO DEBATING

the idea of the program and asks for a speaker.
The speaker rises and makes a statement of opin-
ion. He may say, "I think that football is better
than baseball," or "There should be no home work
in school," or any statement which is likely to find
two sides. The audience then proceeds to "heckle."
The object is to make the speaker retract his state-
ment by argument, question, or discussion — or to
defend his statement against opponents. Usually
a hot discussion can easily be worked up, for few
such questions do not have partisans for both
sides. A time limit is set on discussion and a vote
on the question at the end of the period settles
the problem.

It has been found that such a program is easy
to institute and conduct ; it develops a high degree
of discussion. Parliamentary procedure in the
recognition of speakers and discussion is good
training for formal debating.

Blindfold. This is a variation of both Gab Bag
and Heckle and is a good approach among the
fourteen to sixteen-year-old group. It is simply
a panel discussion on a topic unknown until the
program begins.

Three, four, or five speakers and an inter-
locutor may be selected from a list of volunteers.
They are presented with a topic by the chairman
and immediately proceed to discuss it informally.
If they do not come to any conclusion within a
specified time, the program may be closed by an
audience vote.

More advanced in technique than Gab Bag, this
program should properly come between Gab Bag
and Heckle. In Gab Bag, the individual discusses
his opinion alone; in Blindfold, he discusses it
with a small group; and in Heckle, he advances
or defends it in a large group. It is recommended
that these three games be used in succession, no
new one being advanced until the group has as-
similated and understood the preceding ones.
1 leckle is obviously the most advanced, and from
that point a few other programs will serve to pre-
pare various groups for the logical presentation of
discovered fact which is valuable in formal debate.

Team Court. This game has proved to be the
most successful and interesting of all. To the in-
formality and extemporaneousness of the other
three games, it adds the one essential of formal
debating which is still lacking — preparation.

The game takes the form of a mock trial — or
"moot court" — in which the prosecution and de-
fense are composed of teams with staff advisors.
In the beginning the leader must discover some

interesting quasi-legal problem among the mem-
bers and must get the permission of those in-
volved to bring it to trial. In most cases "moot
court" programs are bad because they are built
around a question which is comic and because the
participants are unable to carry off the humor of
the situation. It is therefore recommended that
the problem selected be a serious one, both in the
interest of a successful program and because this
game is one of a series with a definite purpose of
stimulating debating activities.

A judge, a clerk, and two or three bailiffs and
guards should be selected either by the leader or
by a vote. It is recommended that a leader and a
team of three "lawyers" represent the prosecu-
tion, and a similar team for the defense. They
should be acquainted with the case and should be
allowed one or two days for the preparation of
argument and the location of witnesses. It is ad-
visable that the case for each side be divided
among the lawyers — one for the opening address,
one for the case itself, and one for the closing
address. The judge should be aided and en-
couraged to spend his time in learning how to
conduct the court and case. The jury should be
selected, as usual, from among the membership
with each side having the right to reject jurors.
It is recommended that the selection of the jury
should be made only a short time before the case
is tried, and not in the presence of the audience.

This program has found a large response at the
Irene Kaufmann Settlement, and it is amazing to
see the amount of finish such a presentation ap-
pears to have. Several persons who saw a recent
"moot court" at the Settlement were under the
impression that a script was written for it and
memorized. If possible, the trial should be pre-
sented on a stage. The verdict should be taken
on a majority vote among the jurors since their
going out may keep the audience waiting too long.
At the Settlement, a staff advisor was used as the
foreman of the jury. He did not have a vote in
the verdict but supervised the voting. This pro-
cedure leaves eleven votes, and there is no danger
of a tie vote.

The Irene Kaufmann Settlement, under the lead-
ership of Sidney Teller, is conducting a broad
program of recreational, educational and cultural
activities. There may be readers of RECREATION
who will wish to secure from the Settlement some
of the interesting mimeographed material it issues
from time to time regarding its program.

Improving Our Rural Civilization

By the ever wider uses of leisure from the stand-
points of recreation, the fine arts and handcraft

IMPROVING our rural civili-
zation may well be ap-
proached through better
uses of leisure time. Stating
it another way, recreation is
re-creation and it may be de-
fined as a realization of values
which make up a better life.
Appreciating this, living in
the country can be made
more satisfactory through the initiation and pro-
motion of a well-rounded program including play,
handicrafts, and fine arts, which reaches all peo-
ple whether or not they be in disadvantaged cir-
cumstances.

The chief aim of leisure-time activities should
be to provide satisfactory emotional and mental
adjustment with emphasis on physical betterment,
social behavior and character building. This can
be realized by an appreciation of the need for a
well-planned program which includes attention to
fine arts, utilization of the things about us in pro-
viding handicraft and hobby experiences, as well
as sports or athletics ; a desire to carry through ;
and cooperation of all in the community to pro-
vide needed equipment and

At the Youth Section of the American
Country Life Association Conference
held at the University of Kentucky, lead-
ers from clubs and small groups which
had been holding local conferences to
consider methods of improving rural life
presented their findings. We quote here
extracts from the summary of the dis-
cussions which was published in the
January 1939 issue of Rural America.

the encouragement of leader-
ship training. Consideration
should be given to the amount
of time for leisure, resources
at hand, ways of arousing in-
terest, means of coordinating
as well as capitalizing on dif-
ferences of separate natural
groupings which are a result
of varying customs, tradi-
tions, racial or nationality traits, and religious be-
liefs. Special attention may also be directed to
finding sources of information already prepared
and available to those who look for it. Likewise
special talents and usable facilities often need to
be ferreted out.

Better uses of spare time may prove to be an
economic asset as well as a form of relaxation or
a means of increasing our esthetic values and
social satisfactions. This is particularly true in the
handicraft field but also applies to the other phases
when one considers increased valuation of the
home as emphasis is put on landscaping and beau-
tification. Wise uses of leisure sometimes means
money income from painting, dancing, writing and
other fields which are usu-

facilities ; but most of all

An appreciation of beauty in nature is an im-
portant value in rural as well as urban life

ally considered fine arts.

Courtesy lo-^a WPA

517

518

IMPROVING OUR RURAL CIVILIZATION

Thus, the advantages to be gained from a well-
rounded recreational program looking toward the
improvement of rural life include development of
cultural satisfactions, greater appreciation of arts
and nature, opportunity for further education,
more friendly relationship in home and commu-
nity, a pride in self -development, and often times
a source of supplementary income.

Organizations' Contribution. Perhaps more can
be accomplished with organizations than in any
other way. The local club can develop leadership
through having all take an active part and en-
couraging attendance at leadership training
schools. However, some are not destined to be
leaders, but through promoting interest and pro-
viding activity much is accomplished which not
only helps the individual but acts as a stimulus
in the entire community.

Through certain types
of educational programs
people may become aware
of their needs. These are
more effective if based
on actual situations as as-
certained by a careful
sizing-up, often by the
questionnaire method.
Pamphlets and books are
helpful as a guide and
may be secured from
state or national agencies
as well as at local and
traveling libraries. Clubs

can and should make use of the pertinent informa-
tion which has been compiled. Demonstrations
and exhibits are other effective ways of teaching
young people, particularly if they assume the re-
sponsibility for preparing them. Along this same
line, contests may be sponsored to increase inter-
est and show what can be done. More recently the
use of radios and moving picture films or slides
has come into prominence.

Local club programs need variety to avoid mo-
notony. Therefore, it is essential that such phases
as plays, musical performances, emphasis on ap-
preciation of fine arts (painting, literature, music,
sculpture, architecture, etc.), handicrafts and hob-
bies, in addition to games and socials, have a dis-
tinct part in our club activity. It is fully realized
that organizations live only so long as there is in-
terest on the part of their members. Thus, they
need to provide what the people want, but is it not

"The local club can contribute much to raising
and stabilizing standards of living by encourag-
ing the improvement of health services for rural
people, working for better church programs,
using educational facilities and resources more
widely, and emphasizing a wholehearted apprecia-
tion of farming. . . . Community meetings shared
by different groups are an effective means of
making 'farming a way of life.1 All organizations
and institutions can be led to share such activi-
ties as beautification campaigns, establishment
and maintenance of local parks and recreation cen-
ters, staging community plays or hobby shows, or
even conducting informal educational programs."

time that clubs try to arrange programs whicn will
help them to want what they need ?

Community Agencies' Part. The old saying, "a
chain is no stronger than its weakest link," applies
well to our local communities. Every separate or-
ganization or institution has a distinct part and
can contribute a great deal to bettering present
conditions, but today the key to the situation in
many localities is the need for a coordinated plan
whereby each knows his place and thus avoids un-
necessary duplication and waste of energy, ex-
pense, and efficiency.

The libraries have worthwhile books, circulars,
magazines, and frequently even prints or paint-
ings which can and should be made available.
They often have the facilities for displaying ex-
hibits and providing educational programs for
many different interest groups. Special attention
might well be given to
organizing further their
materials on rural art, fic-
tion, drama, and the like.
Schools, on all levels
and in every location, can
do much to teach better
ways of using leisure
time through encouraging
people to work with their
hands as well as their
heads. Increased empha-
sis should be placed on
hobbies and handicrafts,
music appreciation and

participation, better understanding of architecture,
painting, drama, and all of the other arts. Recre-
ation in the form of athletics seems to be getting
considerable attention, but the need for a well-
rounded leadership training is sadly neglected at
the present time.

Churches can and in some cases do provide pro-
grams which include good organ music, choirs and
orchestras, worthwhile plays, as well as recrea-
tional numbers. They even may become the com-
munity centers around which all activity concen-
trates. Thus the church could serve the Scouts or
other similar organizations, sponsor informal edu-
cational classes, carry other vital programs in
addition to the various religious phases which
naturally head up there.

All other social and welfare groups may find
ways of making distinct contributions locally to
improve our rural civilization by an increased em-

IMPROVING OUR RURAL CIVILIZATION

519

phasis on further uses of spare time through
handicrafts, fine arts, and recreation. Many or-
ganizations can be encouraged to formulate pro-
grams with varied activities that will better fill the
needs of all. Most of the work now lodges where
it is easiest done and where there are several
groups in the same field.

It is highly desirable, therefore, to begin look-
ing at the whole local picture with representatives
from all the various groups to determine condi-
tions, gain community- wide cooperation, keep view-
points broad enough to fill the needs of all types
of people, set up definite goals and really work
toward them. It was stated that "before we can
work together, we must first learn to play to-
gether." This may be a suggestion for closer com-
munity cooperation. There may be necessity for
assistance in a large enterprise like this, but many
of the county, state, and national agencies are able
and willing to offer guidance and suggestions.
Also it must not be overlooked that the radio,
newspapers, and even theaters are having an in-
creasing place in extending horizons, formulating
viewpoints and promoting ideas.

Personal Responsibility. With reference to spe-
cific things that each individual in attendance at
the Conference could do to improve rural living,
the responses were stimulating ;

(1) Take home ideas and information gained
at the meeting and put them into effect
right away while still enthusiastic. (The
following references for information on
various leisure-time activities were given) :
National Recreation Association, 315 - 4th

Avenue, New York City

Cooperative Recreation Association, Dela-
aware, Ohio

Home-Made Games, by Arthur H. Law-
son. (J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia,

1934)
Information on well-known pictures; Miss

Pottle, Western State Teachers College,

Macomb, Illinois
U. S. Film Service, National Emergency

Council, Washington, D. C.
Handbook, Youth Section, American Coun-
try Life Association, 297 - 4th Avenue,

New York City
Extension Service, Colleges of Agriculture

(in all the different states).

(2) Start a personal hobby and interest others
in hobbies. (A knitting club was mentioned

where participants did more than just make
things ; they studied color and design as
well.)

(3) Spot leaders in community to help with
program — locate special talents and de-
velop others.

(4) Use demonstrations and exhibits to help
portray improvement. Home beautification
projects or teaching crafts are possibilities.

(5) Utilize materials at hand — prunes, raisins,
apples, corn husks, to make decorations,
party favors and the like.

(6) Promote an interest in securing leadership
training.

(7) Encourage development of leaders through
rotating committees.

(8) Help provide a recreational program which
includes enough of the background in folk
games, music, to give it added meaning.

(9) Start with simple things (this applies to all
recreation and crafts) then go to the more
complex.

(10) Provide material for handicapped children
by having club make scrapbooks, games,
handicraft articles and the like.

(n) Use motion pictures to depict objectives
( home beautification ) .

(12) Conduct a tour to observe home beautifi-
cation and stimulate increased emphasis
upon improvement of homes and commu-
nity buildings and grounds. The local
paper, theater manager, and others might
help in sponsoring a contest.

(13) Emphasize or encourage appreciation of
good music (opera, symphony) and drama.
Invite a group to listen to the radio and
make a study of it by the use of such helps
as "The Victor Book of the Opera."

(14) Utilize the radio for discussion or other
study groups, or start book clubs to develop
an appreciation of literature.

(15) Cooperate with older people in community
and encourage them to take part so that
they will not oppose program.

The group assembled appreciate that they are
leaders in their respective communities and it is
up to them to be tactful in getting others to help
formulate a real program which would fill the
needs of all concerned. In addition it is their job
to interest as many as possible and encourage them
to take part, first by living a fuller and richer life
themselves and second by giving others a boost
in their efforts.

WORLD AT PLAY

THE CAMERA CLUB
The Union County oted bv the

Camera Club Union County." New

Jersey. Park Commis-
sion, an outgrowth of a photograph contest spon-
sored by the Commission several years ago. has
met with unusual success. While the contest held
serves as an incentive to all camera owners to go
out and snap pictures, the dub goes much further,
and through lectures, demonstrations, field trips,
and monthly competitions it helps these hobbyists
to take photographs properly. The healthy growth
experienced by the club, as shown by the large
increase in paid membership without any active
effort, is a sure indication of the worthwhile
work the organization is doing in its aim **to pro-
mote and cultivate the art and science of pho-
tography."

THE Department of

New Tone Approaches ~ . , — , - .

Parks of New \ork

Parks. This new recreation area, providing a
completely equipped children's playground with a
wading pool, is the 298111 new or reconstructed
playground completed by the Park Department
since 1934.

Detroit Celebrates
Christmas

the 300 Mark!

City announces the
opening in December

THE twenty-fifth offi-
cial municipal Christ-

mas tree celebration to

be held in Detroit,

Michigan, was conducted by the Recreation De-
partment on Christmas Eve of last year on the
City Hall lawn. A tableau depicting the stable in
which the three wise men and the shepherds found
the newborn King and the holy family was en-
acted on the steps of the City Hall. The Recrea-
tion Boys' Club gave a concert of Christmas
music preceding the program, and more than a
hundred boys and girls from the department's
singing groups, dressed in red capes and caps,
sang groups of carols. A patient from the chil-
dren's convalescent home pulled the switch mak-
ing more than five hundred h'ghts blaze on the

of a new three-quarters of an acre playground in
Bronx Park — part of the development of property
transferred in 1937 by the

Xew York Botanical Gar- ^ , ,. ,., ,

December ushers in that delightful season

when children everywhere regard with wide-
eyed wonder the gifts showered upon them

tree, the choristers sang "O Christmas Tree." and
in keeping with the old tradition thirty-six girls
danced around the brightly
lighted tree. A new and ef-
fective settinsr was evolved

520

Comrtert Iowa WPA

WORLD AT PLAY

521

for the tree, the gift of the Forty and Eight
Society, Voiture 102, American Legion. A ten
foot holly wreath, flanked by two huge red can-
dles tied with silver bows, faced Woodward
Avenue. This was made entirely of salvaged ma-
terial at no cost to the city. Every leaf on the
holly wreath was made from discarded tin oil cans
gathered up at gas stations, cut by hand and
stamped with a hand carving press. The candles
were made from discarded scenery taken from the
recreation storeroom. The setting was designer!
and constructed in the woodcraft division of the
department.

Michigan Fights Delinquency — As police
experience shows that crime is less rampant in
areas where boys are given recreational facilities
and a guiding hand, the Prosecuting Attorneys
Association of Michigan banded together last sum-
mer for a state-wide campaign to discourage
youth delinquency by sponsoring boys' clubs
throughout rural Michigan. These clubs are to be
sponsored by police agencies, war veterans and
fraternal organizations in communities with a
three or four thousand population. In the knowl-
edge that the major percentage of crime in Michi-
gan is perpetrated by young men, the Association
wants to provide an outlet for excess energy
through clubs which will curb delinquency by di-
recting the boys in the right path. In order to
eliminate the unusual situation of an untrained
layman sitting in judgment on misdemeanor cases,
the Association also favored legislation which
would provide a county- police court where such
cases are now being heard by justices of the peace,
who may or may not be attorneys.

Los Angeles Makes Softball History — Soft-
ball history was written on the evening of June
3Oth when the Los Angeles, California, Munici-
pal Softball Association, sponsored by the Play-
ground and Recreation Department and the city,
staged its first annual softball jamboree in the Los
Angeles municipal colosseum. Sixty softball teams
took part in the enormous sports spectacle which
was viewed by 25.000 people. The colosseum
floor was blueprinted off into six regulation size
softball diamonds in which thirty games were
played. Competition began at 6 DOO P. M., and all
games ended exactly on the hour so that fresh
teams took possession of the various diamonds at
7 x>o, 8 :oo and 9 xx> o'clock. This is the fifth year
of the association in Los Angeles. It has grown

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from a membership of 325 teams to 1,628 teams-
Boston Celebrates Columbus Day — The
447th anniversary of the landing in America of
Christopher Columbus was celebrated on Colum-
bus Day in Boston by an observance sponsored by
the Citizens' Public Celebrations Association.
Outdoor public exercises were held on Boston
Common, and there was a colorful ceremony in
which Pan-Americanism was featured as it has
been since 1913. A procession, a Pan-American
flag ceremony, an escort of representatives of the
Pan-American countries, addresses, music, reci-
tations, and choral speaking made up the pro-
gram. As a finale there was an assembly of flags
and escorts.

Biking for Health and in Safety — As a part
of the Highland Park, Michigan, health education
program, a series of bicycle races were conducted
at eight playfields in the dry. The director of
safety education and a member of the Recreation
Department supervised the eliminations and finals.

The city of Dearborn was interested in bicycles
from another angle. Working in cooperation with
the Automobile Club of Michigan, the Depart-

522

WORLD AT PLAY

ment of Recreation organized a bicycle Safety
Club, to promote safe cycling, at each city play-
ground. Each member agreed to obey all traf-
fic rules, to be on the alert, and to ride at a safe
speed, with one on a bicycle. Officials gave each
boy a membership card and reflectors for the rear
wheel guard. To protect the boys against theft, a
record was made of the serial numbers of their
bicycles. Bicycle jamborees were held at the close
of the playground season, featuring parades and
races.

The National Youth Administration in the
state of Michigan is another organization inter-
ested in the safety of children. Reports indicate
that thousands of youngsters were kept off city
streets during the summer by the promotion of
recreation facilities, under the sponsorship of the
National Youth Administration, is Saginaw, Hast-
ings, Port Huron, Owosso, Flint, Montreal
(Michigan), Detroit, Bending, Battle Creek and
other cities.

A Barbershop Quartet Contest — With a Lit-
tle German Band to set the plush and gilt atmos-
phere of the Gay Nineties, the second annual bar-
bershop quartet contest was held at Oglebay
Park, near Wheeling, West Virgnia. Sigmund
Spaeth (known as "The Tune Detective"), after
speaking on the aspects of community music work
at the Oglebay Institute dinner, presided as mas-
ter of ceremonies in the contests. The specially
prepared stage setting included barber chairs, old
time shaving mugs, handlebar moustaches cellu-
loid collars and straight razor artists. After a
skit and some horseplay, two "barbers" and two
"customers" retired from the stage to act as judges
in the contest. One quartet after another, enter-
ing as customers, found the barbershop deserted
and blended into song, singing the traditional
"mellerdramer" tunes of the Nineties which they
had chosen for their contest selections.

Know America — Recreation workers will
want to acquaint themselves with the services of
the United States Travel Bureau maintained by
the National Park Service which are available
free of charge. It is possible to secure through
the Bureau descriptive booklets on national parks,
maps of the United States showing the location
of national and state forests, parks, game pre-
serves and Indian reservations, and beautiful pos-
ters of American scenes. In addition, recreation
workers may borrow free, except for transporta-

tion charges both ways, motion picture films show-
ing many subjects — transportation, communica-
tion, sports, and scenes in the United States and
its territories and possessions. When making in-
quiries about films it is well to specify the par-
ticular section of the country or the subject de-
sired and whether the projector to be used is for
16 mm. or 20 mm. films.

The Bureau will also help with vacation and
travel plans by furnishing information on where
to hunt or fish, where trailer camps are located,
what national parks and forests have free camp-
ing grounds, when Indian tribal ceremonials take
place, and how to travel by land, sea, or air. In-
quirers in the eastern section of the country
should address the United States Travel Bureau
at 45 Broadway, New York City; west of the
Mississippi the Bureau's office in Sheldon Build-
ing, San Francisco, California, should be used.

Westchester County Holds Open House —

The fifteenth birthday celebration of the West-
Chester County, New York, Recreation Commis-
sion, held on October 25, 1939, took the form of
an open house, and all residents of the county
were invited to come to the county center to see
the activities of the Commission. Over 3,500 peo-
ple accepted the invitation. After greetings and
introductory remarks by Mrs. Eugene Meyer,
Chairman of the Recreation Commission, there
followed a program including spirituals sung by
the Westchester Negro Choral Union, chamber
music, an exposition of the modern dance, rhyth-
mic gymnastics, and exhibitions of ballroom danc-
ing and fencing. Around the auditorium were
arranged booths at which people gave demonstra-
tions of the many arts and crafts promoted in the
Workshop. In the Little Theater of the center
old-fashioned square dances with music by Sammy
Spring attracted many. The program closed with
a dancing program.

Camping for American Youth — The fact that
increasingly thousands of young Americans go
camping together each year brings the realization
of the tremendous influence this movement is
bound to have on American youth. It is the con-
cern of the American Camping Association that
this influence be made a positive, constructive one.

The Association will hold its 1940 meeting in
California in conjunction with the annual con-
ference of the Pacific Camping Association from

WORLD AT PLAY

523

January 25-27, 1940, at Asilomar, near Pacific
Grove, California. Many of the leading educators
and camping experts of the country will share in
the conference program, the general theme of
which will be "Implementing Democracy in Camp-
ing." Important phases of camping will be con-
sidered through the medium of addresses, semi-
nars, demonstrations, and panel discussions. Among
the topics discussed will be Leadership — Quali-
fications, Recruiting and Training; Correlating
Camp, Home and School ; Health and Safety ; the
Arts in Camp; Business Administration and In-
surance, and many others. Further information
may be secured from Miss Carol L. Levene, 619
Sixteenth Avenue, San Francisco.

English Masques and Balls— The Christmas
festivities throughout the various centers of the
English Folk Dance and Song Society of America
will take the form of parties, balls, and masques,
and will make use of the rich and colorful store
of traditional folk dance material. In New York
a Christmas masque and ball will be held at the
Beekman Tower on December I5th at 8:30 p. M.
There will be country dancing for everyone, and
featured in the program will be the rarely per-
formed A lorris Dance — the Bergomask Dance —
the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, a Boar's Head
Processional, a special Christmas dance, and
carols. The Boston center will hold its Christmas
party at the Windsor School on December I5th
at 8:00 o'clock, and the program will include
English and American country dancing, and spe-
cial interludes. The Washington, D. C, center
•will have its party on the i6th.

These programs will be of special interest to
teachers and recreation leaders in search of ma-
terial for Christmas activities. Further informa-
tion regarding the program and tickets for these
•events may be secured from the English Folk
Dance and Song Society of America, 15 East 4Oth
Street, New York City.

Pony Horseshoes — Three years ago Mike
Vernarsky, director on a Youngstown, Ohio,
playground, decided that if the eight to eleven-
year-old children on his playground had horse-
shoes lighter than the regulation ones they
would have a lot of fun playing the game. So
he bought a few pony shoes and put them in
a far corner. John H. Chase, Superintendent of
Playgrounds, seeing the popularity of the
horseshoes not only with the children but with

The Party Book

By MARY J. BREEN

• There are parties for every age and every
taste in this attractive volume prepared for
the National Recreation Association by
Mary J. Breen, author of Partners in Play.
Dress-up parties, gala parties, parties that
just seem to happen, and games for every-
day parties when friends drop in, or for an
hour of fun after club meetings are all
described in this volume.

If you want a party planned to the last
detail with recipes for refreshments, it is
here. If you want only some games to
brighten up an evening, they are here too.
Whatever your needs, you will find this
book a handy reference when you are in
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Published by A. S. Barnes & Company
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315 FOURTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY

married women, in August of this year pro-
vided a set on every playground in the system.
During that hot, sultry month the pony shoes
clicked from the time the grounds opened until
they closed, and neighbors begged for the use
of the outfits overnight. Here are some sug-
gestions offered by Mr Chase:

"The shoes, called No. 2 in the trade, should
weigh fourteen ounces. Do not get lighter shoes
for they roll around and do not stick. Do not
buy heavier shoes for the younger children
cannot manage them. Stakes three-quarters of
an inch thick and two and a half feet long are
satisfactory. The distance between stakes
should be 25 feet. Rules are the same as in
regulation pitching except that the shoe
nearest the peg counts one point even if it is
farther away than the diameter of a shoe."

Cadillac's Toy Loan Center — On June i2th,
after a successful campaign for toys, the
Cadillac, Michigan, toy loan center opened its
doors under the auspices of the local WPA
Recreation Division. The toys were put into
condition bv the Recreation Division with the

524

WORLD AT PLAY

help of NYA; the Business and Professional
Women's Club gave a cash contribution for
maintenance costs; and the Y.M.C.A. con-
tributed a large section of its second floor to
house the center. At the end of two months,
1,265 children had borrowed the 800 toys avail-
able, and 587 visitors had inspected the center.

"Corner" Playgrounds in Cincinnati— The
Public Recreation Commission of Cincinnati,
Ohio, reports that last summer the Commis-
sion extended its playground service to the
furthest corners of the city through the estab-
lishment of eight new playgrounds with a total
area of sixty-five acres. All of them, with the
exception of two, have been constructed on
properties transferred to the Recreation Com-
mission from other public bodies. Last summer
the supplementary budget of $23,500, in addi-
tion to the one-tenth mill levy voted by the
City Council for the playgrounds, has made
possible the operation of more than eighty
playgrounds and play centers. Play at the Air-
port Recreation Field has to date been more
than double the play of the preceding year.
The same is true of the California Day Camp,
now equipped with a shelter building and a
children's pool. The 15 cents charge for eigh-
teen holes of golf for boys and girls has
brought hundreds of young players to Avon
Field and California golf courses. Free group
lessons and the rental of golf clubs for a
nominal sum have made it easy for young
people to take up the sport. This is also true
in tennis where boys and girls pay only 50
cents for the privilege of playing throughout
the season on the Commission's 160 tennis
courts.

Flower Shows in a Rural County— The
Leisure Education Department of the St. Louis
County Rural Schools, Virginia, Minnesota,
has issued its 1938 Flower Show Yearbook
telling of the three year development in this
activity. Each year interest has grown in clubs
and classes in which instruction is given in the
growing and arrangement of flowers and
flower appreciation until in 1938 there were
1,361 entries and 628 exhibitors. As a part of
the program of the flower shows colored slides
of flowers were shown, and there were lectures
on flower growing and arrangement. Musical

numbers and garden parties were included in
the program.

Manhattan's Smallest Swimming Pool —
What is said to be the smallest swimming pool
in New York City is the 9 foot by 21 foot pool
at the Children's Aid Society playground on
the East Side. The children using the pool are
in the kindergarten group of the Society's
Avenue B center.

Expenditures for Sports — Some interesting
figures regarding expenditures for sports have
come from Thomas R. Shipp, Inc., Washing-
ton, D. C. Quoting figures issued by the
United States Census Bureau, Mr. Shipp lists
the fishing tackle industry from point of view
of production as an annual $15,000,000 enter-
prise. Golf runs a close second with a total
production of $13,797,080. Skating, with a total
output of $4,631,851, comes third; tennis, with
$4,628,897, fourth; and baseball, with $4,385,-
358, fifth. Skiing represents an investment of
$1,236,585.

When Funds are Low— Paul R. Elliott,
Director of Recreation, Kingsport, Tennessee,
writes that as awards at the local playgrounds
red, white, and blue ribbons have been used.
When funds ceased to be available for having
the titles printed on the ribbons it was found
by using a silk and rayon ribbon about an inch
and a quarter wide, bought from local five and
ten cent stores at five cents a yard, that it was
possible to produce any caption desired with
a typewriter. It is necessary, Mr. Elliott points
out, in selecting blue ribbons to choose a light
shade so that the typewriter will show plainly.
Very successul results have been secured, and
the children greatly appreciate the attractive
ribbon badges.

Recreation Area to be Extended — The new
Kiusi Park Bay Shore area in Alameda, Calif-
ornia, is to be increased in size from five to
twelve acres. It will be fully developed and a
community building costing $8,000 is to be
erected.

Somerville's Program — The Recreation Com-
mission of Somerville, Massachusetts, is
sponsoring 114 organized groups, exclusive of

WORLD AT PLAY

525

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the seasonal groups affiliated with summer
playgrounds and Saturday morning neighbor-
hood playgrounds. These groups, which are
served by leaders or counselors under
the Recreation Commission, include men's,
women's, boys', girls', and youths' organiza-
tions active in dramatics, photography, music,
crafts, softball, bowling, baseball, current
events, social activities, ping-pong, and a wide
variety of activities engaged in by the boys'
and girls' clubs and other organizations
affiliated with the adult recreation centers. The
current season in softball has enlisted seven
hundred men on teams in the leagues spon-
sored by the Commission.

Some Play Centers in Kansas City — On June

iQth the Board of Education of Kansas City,

j Missouri, opened ninety play centers in all

'parts of the city divided on the following

| basis : fifty-six playgrounds for white children ;

-.fourteen for colored; eight high school athletic

fields for boys between sixteen and twenty

'years of age and four special dancing centers

for girls; eight playgrounds for pupils of

special schools. Almost four hundred play
leaders and supervisors are in charge of the
program.

Safety Their Concern — Sixteen Montreal,
Canada, children between the ages of eleven and
seventeen, chosen by their 5,000 playmates to
represent them, last August appeared before
the Montreal Police Traffic Bureau to discuss
with officials the problem of youth safety on
city streets. These young mayors and safety
directors from seven playgrounds decided with
the police officials that the first step to be
taken by the young people on their return to
school would be to approach their principals
with a request that teachers be asked to con-
duct courses in safety instruction. They
offered it as their opinion that moving pictures
were the best media for impressing safety in-
struction upon young minds. They also pro-
posed such safety campaigns as those con-
ducted in North American cities. The adults
at the meeting were surprised to learn the
degree to which these young citizens have
planned the methods whereby they are en-

526

Holiday Parties

Dorothy Gladys Spicer
$1.50

Party programs to cover the year. Each is based on a

folk, patriotic or religious festival and is complete

from invitations and decorations to entertainment

suggestions and refreshments.

By the author of the BOOK OF FESTIVALS
THE WOMANS PRESS

600 Lexington Avenue, New York, N. Y.

forcing safety laws on their own playgrounds.

Garden Seed Made Available— The Recrea-
tion Bureau of Clairton, Pennsylvania, dis-
tributed garden seeds and fertilizer to 188
families in the city. These seeds were given
the Bureau for distribution by the Thrift
Garden Division of the Community Fund.

Roller Hockey in St. Louis— W. J. Giesler,
Boys' Work Director at the St. Louis, Mis-
souri, Neighborhood Association, reports an
adaptation of ice hockey which he and his
assistant, Mr. Arthur Newman, have prepared.
It differs from the popular ice game chiefly in
the fact that the players scoot about on wheels
instead of steel blades, and the playing field is
a stretch of city pavement instead of a frozen
rink. The playing field is 120 feet long and the
width of the street between curbs. A wooden
puck is used because it slides over the asphalt
pavement more easily than does a standard
rubber one. The Neighborhood Association
has organized a league composed of four
teams, and every Saturday from 10:00 A. M.
until noon a street block is closed to traffic by
the permission of the Police Department and
two games are played between league teams.

For Nature Hobbyists— Groups of both boys
and girls in Essex County, New Jersey, who
are interested in nature lore were taken last
summer to the South Mountain Reservation
for day camping experiences which involved
cooking over outdoor fires. Practice in this
art was given at the playgrounds where the
children were taught how to cook with fires
using the least amount of wood. Instruction
was also given in the making of such simple

camp gadgets as cup trees, swinging cranes,
pot hooks, plate racks, and lifters, as well as
the laying and building of the back log and
the trapper's fires.

A Community Christmas Party

(Continued from page 492)

men and women alternating. To the tune of
"Jingle Bells," "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow,"
or other appropriate melodies, the line proceeds
to march around the hall. Voluntarily all will join
in the singing. During the march the players
should be asked to place one or both hands on the
shoulder of the person in front of them. Other
march variations could also be added.

On passing St. Nick, who is now standing at
one side of the Christmas tree, he or his helpers
hand each person one of the gifts which were col-
lected at the door and deposited under the tree
earlier in the evening. If gifts are hung on the
tree a poster, "Help Yourself to a Gift" is
displayed.

The opening of these gift packages is an ex-
citing moment for all. Do emphasize on your in-
vitation the importance of their costing not more
than ten cents.

Refreshments

What community holiday party would be com-
plete without the usual distribution of bags filled
with apples, oranges, nuts, hard candies, and other
holiday goodies. If, however, one wishes to have
more elaborate refreshments there could be punch
served from a wassail bowl, cookies, stick apples,
or popcorn balls, which are all very appropriate.

Let's Sing Again

At the close of the party gather around the
piano, tree or fireplace and sing Christmas carols.
It will help in making your party a lasting memory.

References

Listed below are a number of publications of
the National Recreation Association which may be
of additional help to you in making plans for
your party.
"Christmas Carols." Includes the words of ten of the

more popular carols. 80^ per hundred copies
"Christmas Music." List of Christmas music prepared
in the hope that it will provide helpful source material
for communities and groups planning their Christmas
celebrations. 5^

"Christmas Windows." Directions for making window-
transparencies and silhouettes. Free

CHRISTMAS IN HARTFORD

527

"Make Your Own Christmas Tree Ornaments." lOtf
"The Party Book," by Mary J. Breen. A complete book
on party planning. Includes a Yuletide Frolic and a
Christmas Party. $2.50

"The Party Books," by Ethel Bowers. 50tf each, or $1.00
for the set of three.

Parties — Plans and Programs
Parties for Special Days of the Year
Parties — Musical Mixers and Simple Square Dances
"Stories of the Christmas Carols." 10^

A City Celebrates Christmas in Drama

(Continued from page 493)
broadcast of the production over station WAGA.

"The Divine Promise" has been called Atlanta's
biggest stage spectacle. It is further significant
because there was not the slightest tinge of com-
mercialism in the undertaking. It was sponsored
by the City of Atlanta, through a resolution of the
council, which appointed a Citizen's Advisory
Committee under the chairmanship of one of At-
lanta's leading ministers. The WPA Recreation
Division provided the technical direction, with the
cooperation of the Sewing Rooms and Engineer-
ing Division of the WPA. The City Council pro-
vided funds for the purchase of costume materials
and other items.

After the performances, the man , who intro-
duced the original resolution to City Council —
Mr. John A. White, Chairman of Atlanta's Audi-
torium Committee — introduced a second one
which would establish "The Divine Promise" as
Atlanta's Annual Civic Christmas Pageant. The
resolution was passed unanimously.

Modernizing the Christmas Legend

(Continued jrom page 494)

(Excludes commercial buildings, clubs, etc.,
with almost unlimited possibilities.)

7. There will be only one classification of homes,
regardless of size or value. (Eliminates con-
troversy as to which classification homes
should be entered in.)

8. Judges will tour the city between December
26 and December 31. (No definite time given
so as to encourage keeping displays lighted
through the holidays.)

9. Judges will have individual score sheets and
will judge on the following points: General
artistic effect, 50 per cent; originality, 25 per
cent; conformity to Christmas spirit, 15 per
cent; ingenuity in utilizing surroundings, 10
per cent, thus placing all homes on an equal
mathematical basis. (Gives the small home an

(Continued on page 528)

Christmas in Hartford

HARTFORD'S NATIVITY SCENE, the life size out-
door tableaux that was viewed by half a
million persons in a two weeks period last Christ-
mas, has been remodelled and enlarged for its
second season.

WPA and Park Department artisans have been
working on it since last spring, and, when it has
its unveiling in a few weeks, it will be more
elaborate and complete than ever and located in a
new setting selected because of greater visibility.
It will again be in Bushnell Park in the heart of
Hartford's business district and almost in the
front yard of the State Capitol. However, instead
of nestling into the sloping hillside, the imposing
reproduction of the birth of Christ in the Beth-
lehem stable will be mounted on a special plat-
form that will be built across the face of the city's
magnificent Music Shell. There, against a back-
ground of stately New England elms, shadowed
by towering business buildings and facing a wide
expanse of sweeping lawn, it will be on display
from December 19 to the night of January i.

The Nativity Scene was the conception of Di-
rector of Recreation James H. Dillon, who co-
ordinated the interests and labors of his and other
municipal departments with the Work Projects
Administration and private business to create the
striking spectacle.

The remodelled scene will be enhanced this year
by a specially designed system of illumination that
has been devised by the united efforts of Wilfred
D. Gorman, lighting engineer of the Hartford
Electric Light Company, Professor Stanley Mc-
Candless, of the Yale University Department of
the Drama, and W. W. Williams, state art di-
rector of the Work Projects Administration. The
new system will lend a lifelike reality to the plaster
figures.

An enlarged stable scene once more will be the
central motif with plaster characters, slightly
larger than life, representing the Christ Child, the
Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph as the Holy Family
group before whom kneel the Wise Men of the
East and the lowly shepherds. Gaily decorated
camels and grazing flocks lend a natural atmos-
phere to the setting, while snow white doves perch
overhead and a crowing cock holds a commanding
pose near the entrance. A hand painted back-
ground provides a panoramic view of the sleep-
ing town of Bethlehem in the distance.

Hartford's scene, which is the center of the
municipal observance of the Yuletide, has aroused

528

THE PROGRESS OF DEARBORN

"KEEP THE RECORD"

of the Twenty-Fourth National Recreation

Congress at Boston by ordering a copy of
the Proceedings just off the press.

The Proceedings contain the main
addresses, summaries of discussion
groups, findings of committees, and other
important information about the Congress.

• Copies are available at $1.00
each plus postage from

NATIONAL
RECREATION
ASSOCIATION

315 Fourth Avenue
New York City

tremendous interest among park and municipal
officials, and since its inception a year ago has
brought a flood of inquiries to the Hartford de-
partment from as far away as the Middle West
and Pacific Coast.

Modernizing the Christmas Legend

(Continued from page 527)
equal opportunity with the large home.)
TO. Homes entered in previous contests and win-
ning prizes will not be eligible for a prize this
year unless the decorations have been changed
from previous years. (Tends to rotate the
prizes each year.)
1 1. The decisions of the judges will be final.

The entry blank asked for the name and ad-
dress of the contestant as well as whether they
had entered in previous years and won a prize.

No, we were not swamped with entries (from
thirty to fifty for our city of 65,000 seems a good
average), and after discovering the reason we
were not disappointed. Some people decorate but
do not care for the publicity ; others had a tree
or wreath in the window and did not feel it worthy
of entering. Many had interior decorations that

were not prominent from the street, but all were
encouraged whether they entered or not to show
some greeting in light : a colored light in the porch
fixture, an electric candle in the window, a tree
outside the house outlined with strings of light,
window transparencies or silhouettes. Well over
fifty per cent of the homes in the city cooperated,
and with the merchants festooning the business
district the Christmas season took on a beautiful
and deeper meaning.

The Progress of Dearborn

(Continued from page 497)

that much of the public attitude and participation
depends on the publicity.

One of the biggest single jobs was the creating
of the stage and its coordination with lighting and
sound. We knew what we wanted and finally
hired a professional stage man and a professional
artist to take charge with our stage director. Ama-
teur contributors also helped here, but our main
force of workmen was contributed by city de-
partments.

Parallel to the growth of the pageant was the
development of a project undertaken by the chil-
dren at the city playgrounds. They combined play
with their measure of participation in the celebra-
tion and produced, in wood, cardboard, copper,
and clay, the scenes from the pageant. Each play-
ground took an episode and produced figures and
scenes of early Dearborn. The entire group of
models was placed on display the week of the
celebration.

On the day before the pageant, when all the
scenery had been set up, there was a torrential
downpour. It did not seem possible that the stage
and the water-soaked, washed out scenery, the
broken framework, and stage equipment could be
restored in twenty-four hours so that the pageant
could be presented the following night. The Com-
missioner of Public Works surveyed the wreck-
age and eventually promised that it would be
ready for the production. He sent for four car-
penters who were engaged in building his new
home to augment the city force, and then he called
the Ford Motor Company for more carpenters.
They set to work immediately, tearing apart the
broken sections of the scenery. New lumber ar-
rived in a truck, new bunting and canvas for
scenery came with a rush.

Within four hours the wreckage had been
cleared away and the framework for a new set
was in place. Into the night, the scenery builders

A CITIZENS' COMMITTEE REPORTS

529

tacked on new cloth and rebuilt scenery. Under
floodlights painters redecorated the washed-out
properties. Meanwhile, Mr. Ford had appeared,
and he promised to send an air-brush outfit the
next morning to repaint the rest of the scenery.

Before noon of the day of the pageant, the
entire 185 foot stretch of the border had been re-
painted. Other painters had gone over damaged
back drops and sets. By late afternoon only a
few finishing touches remained. When the first
of the audience arrived at 6:30 that evening, no
trace of the terrific damage of the storm remained.
Every available inch of space on the banks sur-
rounding Ford Field, where the pageant was
given, was filled, the level ground was jammed
with eager celebrants. Thousands had been turned
away. The crowd had come prepared to see some-
thing interesting. They saw a colorful, massive
spectacle of the growth and progress of a city; of
the changes in its aspect of one hundred years of
history, and inseparably mingled with it, and to a
great extent determining the history of that city,
the life of Henry Ford.

It was a birthday party and community celebra-
tion long to be remembered, both by the record
crowd which attended and the cast, technicians,
and directors who worked so hard to make it a
success.

Recreation for Public School Teachers

(Continued from page 498)

movies, travel, driving, book reviews, clubs, camps,
theaters, and art galleries.

Answering "I would enjoy additional recrea-
tion activities but do not, because I am handicap-
ped by" : the teachers listed lack of funds (placed
1 first by two-thirds of the group), lack of transpor-
tation, extracurricular activities, home duties, lack
of time, and health.

Few teachers, according to the previous in-

: quiries, had engaged in athletics to any extent, but

| replying to the call for a suggested recreation

program, the majority wanted sports — swimming,

| golf, tennis, bowling, and skating. The rest of the

list was varied, including social dancing, gym-

jnasmm work, book reviewing, arts and crafts,

parliamentary law, nature study, and casting.

The final inquiry dealt with the courses which
the teachers wished to institute in the curriculum
of Kansas City Teachers College. Much interest
;Was shown in an individual sports class in which
(instruction would be offered in various sports
.having a definite carry-over value. Social recrea-
tion was their second choice; folk dancing and

A Citizens' Committee Reports

THE CITIZENS' COMMITTEE appointed by the
Mayor to investigate the operations and ex-
penditures of the Chicago Park District has made
its report which is now available in printed form.
Its findings and recommendations point out nu-
merous desirable improvements. It is satisfied,
however, that "under park consolidation Chicago
is receiving more and better returns from expendi-
tures for park purposes than under the old system
of separate park districts and that the present
standard of park operations, in general, meets with
the approval of the citizens of Chicago."

The five Commissioners of the Chicago Park
District, according to the report, have replaced
with one authority the former divided authority
of no park commissioners, and in the short space
of less than four years they have succeeded in co-
ordinating the activities of the superseded
parks into a single, efficient operating unit.
When park consolidation became effective May
l> T934, the twenty-two superseded districts had
$127,138,306.93 outstanding in fixed and current
liabilities. Eighteen of the districts were in default
as to bonded indebtedness, and nine were in ar-
rears in employes' wages. Three years and eight
months later the Chicago Park District had ef-
fected a net reduction of $23,692,594.63 in total
debts. Under present plans these liabilities will be
reduced at the rate of $5,000,000 a year, unless
there is a serious reduction in tax collections. The
funding and refunding program under which these
striking results have been obtained was well
planned.

The boundaries of the Chicago Park District
coincide with the boundaries of the City of Chi-
cago. It has superseded twenty-two separate park
districts which, prior to May i, 1934, covered all
but twelve of the 212.8 square miles of the city.
In 1937 the total park, playground and boulevard
acreage in the city totalled 7,107.36 acres, of
which 6,818.84 acres are properties of the Chicago
Park District. The City Bureau of Parks has con-
trol of 206.5 acres in its seventy-seven parks,
parkways and squares, and the sixty playgrounds
of the Board of Education cover 82.02 acres.
Only the Park District's properties of 6,818.84
acres are studied in this report. Exclusive of bou-
levards, the actual park areas total 5,473.6 acres.

clogging, third; dramatics, fourth; playground
planning and administration, fifth ; games of high
and low organization, sixth; and handicraft,
seventh.

530

JANUARY FIRST— HOSPITALITY DAY!

HARRY C. McKOWN, Editor

C. R. VAN NICE. Managing Editor

Subscription
Price

A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY

in which

Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly, Financing Activities, and Social
Functions make democratic settings and life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO.

1515 LANE STREET

TOPEKA, KANSAS

Courses Planned

With this information at hand we felt that we
had much better knowledge of what was needed
in recreation for teachers. After tabulating the
results, we initiated a course in individual sports,
their first choice, at Teachers College. On a se-
lection made by the students instruction was given
in golf, archery, bowling, table tennis, dart base-
ball, paddle tennis, deck tennis, shufneboard,
tether ball, and aerial darts. Trips were made to
the driving tee for golf and to the bowling alley
for bowling instruction. Lectures and demonstra-
tions were given during the course by various city
champions. Other activities included in the course
were hand tennis, handball, casting, riding, skat-
ing, fencing, swimming, tennis, and lawn bowling.

The course proved so successful that the teach-
ers asked that it be continued for another semes-
ter, suggesting that it be enlarged this fall. If
possible the extension of the course will include
the other interests indicated by the teachers, so
that in the end each one can formulate a well-
rounded program of personal recreation of his own
choosing, and composed of activities he enjoys.

January First — Hospitality Day!

(Continued from page 500)

The program is really a favor, because the
guests will take it home as a memento of the oc-
casion. Don't worry for fear your guests won't
have any supper because they can't finish the
"test." A little friendly cooperation, and the New
Year's sentiments or scrambled menu are soon
deciphered.

When they reach the dining room, after pass-
ing the "entrance exams," the guests find a table
spread with a buffet supper. The centerpiece is a
square mirror upon which has been placed a half
dozen red balls tied together with wire (attached
to the metal rings used to hang them from the
Ghristmas tree). The mirror reflects the balls,
and the bright, sprightly effect is all you could
desire of a Christmas centerpiece. Or you could
purchase a small artificial white Christmas tree
which stands about twelve inches high and hang
tiny red balls upon it. A still simpler but effective
centerpiece is a bowl of evergreens and bitter-
sweet.

After the buffet supper your guests will be

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

531

willing to be entertained. Get out your table
games which can. be placed on the bridge tables
after the dishes and luncheon covers have been
whisked away, and spend the evening at games
such as parchesi, checkers, roulette and Chinese
checkers. If you rotate the games, every person
will have a chance to play each. Paper games such
5- as Consequences, Guggenheim, compiling as many
words as possible from a long word or phrase,
listing the names of cities or rivers which begin
with a specified letter of the alphabet, are the old
tried and true games which your guests, even the
children, will enjoy.

Then, in keeping with the holiday season, they

must sing carols to bring your open house to a

happy conclusion. Some one might have to play

on the piano for a stanza of the first carol, but

after that your guests will all join in. After they

have started singing — and they won't need carol

books because they will select the old ones which

everyone knows — turn down the lights. Over on

the mantel your decorations will spring into life.

In each house has been concealed a light connected

to a master switch. The blue paper sky has been

punched with a small nail and the outline of a

moon cut out over in one corner. Now the reason

why the "sky" had to be three inches away from the

i wall is apparent — there must be room to put blue

Christmas tree lights along the ledge at the bottom

! in back of the paper. When these lights are turned

on, with the Christmas tree lights, the rest of the

j room can remain in darkness. As the guests sing

! their favorite carols, they seem to be gazing at a

i real miniature village spread before their eyes, the

1 sky dotted with twinkling stars and the moon

'looking down on little cottages, the windows il-

] lumined with lights which will have the singers

| half believing that their owners are comfortably

ensconced behind them !

Magazines and Pamphlets

\ Recently Received Containing Articles

of Interest to the Recreation Worker

Athletics for Industrial Workers

(Continued from page 501)
Committees

The president appoints all committees necessary
to direct the functions of each activity of the
Association. Members are selected from the vari-
biis companies and the large staff of the Recrea-
|:ion Department according to their interest and
ibility. At present we have committees on Bas-
ketball, Softball, Swimming, Bocci, Horseshoes,
Baseball, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Badminton,

MAGAZINES

The Research Quarterly of the American Association for
Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, October
1939

"The Development of Public Recreation in Metro-
politan Chicago" by Elizabeth Halsey. A histori-
cal statement.

"A Survey of Recreational Interests and Pursuits of
College Women" 'by Ruth Toogood

Parks and Recreation, October 1939

"The Problems of the Park Executive" by Allyn R.

Jennings
"Use of Trailers in Recreation Areas" by Frank

T. Gartside

Public Management, September 1939

"How the New WPA Act Affects Cities" by Earl
D. Mallery, Executive Director, American Alunici-
pal Association, Chicago. Reports from ten cities
indicate how the recent changes in WPA legisla-
tion will increase the local relief burden.

School and Society, October 21, 1939

"Social Competence" by A. R. Brubacher

The Nation's Schools, September 1939

"When Park and School Systems Work Together"

by Robert F. Everly and John McFadzean
"Planning the Play Areas" by Thomas Lyon White,

Syracuse, N. Y.
"Surfacing the Playground" by C. L. Crawford,

Business Department Public Schools, Muskegon,

Michigan

"How Much Light?"
"Public Relations Tasks for Teacher Organizations"

by Lyle W. Ashby, Assistant Director, Division

of Publications, National Education Association

The Camping Magazine, October 1939

"Group Work in Camping" by Henry M. Busch

"Camp Safety" 'by Wilbur S. Russell

"Workmen's Compensation Insurance" — A Compari-
son of State Rates for hotel employees, private
camp employees, organizational camp employees,
and professional and other employees in educa-
tional institutions.

"What Parents Expect of Camp Counselors" by
Christina E. Pennington

PAMPHLETS

Specifications for the Annual Municipal Report, by Clar-
ence E. Ridley and Herbert A. Simon — Suggestions
for the content, preparation, design, publication, and
distribution of the annual municipal report. There is a
brief outline of a report on Recreation. Other phases
of the publication should be helpful to recreation
executives.

Published by the International City Managers' As-
sociation, 1313 East 60th Street, Chicago, Illinois,
1939. Price $1.50

25 Years of 4-H Club Work — Analysis of Statistical
Trends with Special Reference to 1938 by Barnard
Joy, Agriculturist, Extension Surveys and Reports.
Contains interesting information for those who are
working in relation to the Boys' Club.

Write for Extension Service Circular 312, 1939, U.

S. Department of Agriculture, Extension Service,

Washington, D. C.

532

MILK SHAKE NIGHT CLUB

Annual Reports

Playground Report 1939, Steubenville, Ohio
Playground and Recreation Department, 1938-1939,

San Diego, California

Berkeley Recreation Department, 1938-1939, Berke-
ley, California
Recreation Commission, Highland Park, Michigan,

May 1938-May 1939

Fortieth Report of the Park Commission of Essex
County, New Jersey, 1938

Newark, New Jersey

Seventy-Eighth Annual Report, The Buffalo Society of
Natural Sciences, 1938-1939

Buffalo, New York
Announcement of Activities, Season 1939-1940

Jewish People's Institute, 3500 Douglas Boulevard,

Chicago, Illinois

Report of the Committee on Recreational Activities of
the Commissioners of Fairmount Park for the Year 1938
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Handball, Track and Field, Soccer and miscel-
laneous activities.

Committees are also selected for finance, con-
stitution, and 'publicity. The latter committee did
a fine piece of work in keeping all the local papers
informed as to the daily activities and results and
standings of the various teams during the past
winter.

The annual dues are $1.00 per year for each
organization. The entry fee for each activity is
determined by the Board of Education.

League Play

Our basketball league was a tremendous suc-
cess. Twenty-five teams, grouped according to
their relative playing ability in four divisions,
played for four months, play-off games being
necessary to determine the winner in each group.
Thousands of spectators paid a fifteen cent ad-
mission fee to see four games each night in the
two West Side High School gymnasiums. Mem-
bers of the National Board of Approved Basket-
ball Officials officiated at all games with two men
on each contest.

A softball and baseball league were initiated
with our first industrial track meet held in June
in the Newark Schools' Stadium. In the past we
have held sectional track meets, and they have
been of interest to the concerns and their em-
ployees. Along with this we also supply athletic
service kits with advice as to the organization of
plant play programs on hikes and picnics. Several
concerns have taken advantage of this arrangement.

NOTE : By the end of October there were forty
organizations represented in the membership of
the Industrial League.

Volleyball — Popular American Game

(Continued from page 502)

mixer. It is one of the most popular of co-educa-
tional and co-recreational sports.

When one considers the hundreds of leagues,
the thousands of tournaments, and the many or-
ganizations and groups interested, the many indoor
and outdoor places and occasions where volleyball
is played, one feels confident in saying that with
bowling, tennis, golf, softball, basketball, and
baseball, volleyball ranks in the ten great Ameri-
can games that people play for recreation and
enjoyment.

Milk Shake Night Club

(Continued from page 505)

ester young people. Attractive indeed is the ad-
mission price of twenty-five cents per person, with
no "stags" allowed, and all young men required
to wear suit coats. Popular orchestras are en-
gaged and volunteer entertainment is welcomed.
Anyone attending the Youth Garden may provide
entertainment, novelty or otherwise. Many an en-
terprising vocalist has made a first public appear-
ance in this manner. Rochester radio stations
have made numerous spot announcements, and |
WHEC broadcasts regularly direct from the
Youth Garden.

"Sit and sip — self-service" is the refreshment
theme. Tables are appropriately arranged, each
with popular candlelight for atmosphere. The
soda bar and milk bar are prominent, with a wide
variety of soft drinks and ice cream for those who
wish refreshments. A recent estimate revealed
that the average couple spends seventy-five cents
an evening — fifty cents for admission and twenty-
five cents over the counter for refreshments. And
attendance has averaged two hundred young peo-
ple on Wednesday evenings, and four hundred on
Saturdays. Though primarily by and for youth,
the Garden is open to all and operates under the
philosophy that attitude, not age, is the determin-
ing factor: "If you like to dance, you're young."

A staff of unemployed young people receives
modest remuneration for their assistance to mem-
bers of the Council in manning the ticket window,
entrance, soda and milk bars, and check room.
Each of the member organizations of the Youth
Council in turn assumes sponsorship of a par-
ticular night, when that group takes over re-
sponsibility.

Live wire young people have thus produced
tangible proof that they can, and will do something

IS SKI JUMPING DANGEROUS f

533

for themselves. The Youth Garden has served a
multiple purpose : it has tested youthful ambi-
tion and initiative ; it has proved that liquor is not
essential in youthful co-recreation ; and it has
offered the kind of recreation many young people
want at a price they can pay. Asa going concern
it is demonstrating that worthwhile objectives can
be obtained through hard work and resourceful-
ness. Originally designed as a summer project, the
Garden is now planned as a full time venture on
Saturday nights throughout the year.

"We sipped chocolate milk, shagged to swing
music, gossiped over a candle-lit table, and had a
wonderful time." That's the story of a young
couple's night at the Youth Garden, and the an-
swer of young people who have made their own
wholesome fun in the face of continually faltering
economics.

The Harmonica in the Recreation
Program

(Continued from page 507)

outlets. In about one hundred and fifty of the
three hundred schools, interested teachers assist
the children by practicing with them.

Many opportunities are provided for these
groups to appear in public through the medium of
Parent-Teacher Association meetings, school as-
semblies, and community meetings. The big thrill
comes, however, through the courtesy of radio
station KECA. Time is provided every Satur-
day morning in which the various harmonica
groups present a program over the air. This is
proving an educational opportunity not to be over-
looked.

To satisfy the query "How do we sound?" ex-
periments have been made in recordings. Several
groups have made records of their playing at
various stages, and by comparison they are able
to note their progress and correct their mistakes.
This, however, is going beyond the original pur-
pose of the harmonica band, for it is not of
primary importance that the child becomes an
outstanding player or that the group becomes pro-
fessional in its accomplishment ; but to those who
wish to become expert the recordings have been
found to be of considerable help.

As has been said before, the intention and pur-
pose of harmonica bands is to provide the child
with an entering wedge to music. How far he
goes in the musical field depends upon the culti-
vation of an interest. All too often this interest
has died when approached from the painstaking

Is Ski Jumping Dangerous?

o Tine MAJORITY of the thousands who wit-
ness major jumping competitions each year
throughout the country, this phase of the sport
is probably the most hazardous. It would seem
to these people that the jumpers who in every-
day life will be found in all walks of life,
from plumbers to business executives, must be
lacking in gray matter. These men and boys who
constitute the nucleus of the jumping fraternity
in this country do not seem to look upon their
pastime with any feelings of imminent danger.
They sometimes spend hours preparing their skis
so as to get every last bit of speed from them,
before taking their turn on the hill. Before leav-
ing the take-off they summon all their strength in
driving their bodies far out into space as they
soar over the crowds below. Snow conditions are
often far from desirable and rather than disap-
point the spectators who have gathered for the
meet, they often go on with the show when the
track more closely resembles a skating rink than
a ski jump. There must be some reason for sane
people to do these things and there is only one
answer. They jump because they love to jump.
More than one would prefer to risk his neck on a
6o-meter jump than go veering down through a
tree-bordered down-mountain run. If one will
dig into the statistics on jumping accidents, it will
be discovered that the number of accidents is sur-
prisingly small, in fact so small that by compari-
son with downhill running, it would appear that
one is just as safe, if not safer, pursuing this
pastime as is one who confines his skiing to the
fast-dropping trails. One of the highest jumps in
this country is Intervales at Lake Placid. It has
a rating of 60 meters and was the scene of the
world championships during the 1932 Olympics.
Also located near it is a 3O-meter jump. Both of
these have been in use for several years and
records have been maintained for all competitions
held on them. These records show that in the
course of more than 5,000 descents, only three
accidents involving bone fractures occurred.

"This may help to show why the jumpers love
their sport and that it is not as dangerous as many
believe. As soon as the fear of ski jumping is
dispelled, more American youths will take up the
sport and America will turn out a better crop of
jumpers." — From "Winter Sports Bulletin Ser-
vice," Massachusetts State College.

534

AUSTIN'S SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Gi

ve

CHARACTER
CITIZENSHIP

WHAT better gift for a man or
woman upon whose shoulders rest
the responsibility for training the citi-
zen of tomorrow? What parent, recrea-
tion director, Y leader, church worker,
Boy and Girl Scout leader and teacher
would not be pleased to receive a gift
such as the magazine CHARACTER
and CITIZENSHIP — a gift that will
serve as a genuine aid to them in their
work of developing healthy young minds
and bodies?

CHARACTER and CITIZENSHIP

is unique in its field, serving as a clear-
ing house of education for character and
citizenship. The magazine brings to its
readers each month vital articles by au-
thorities in the field of character develop-
ment and citizenship training and induc-
tion, and four feature sections — "Keep-
ing Up with the Magazines," "News
From the Field," "Books — Good and
Not So Good," and "Through the Ages."

Some of the foremost leaders in the
country are working on the Editorial
Board of CHARACTER and CITI-
ZENSHIP.

•

Special Christmas Gift

Subscription Rates

Take advantage of the special rates
offered for the holiday season — give
CHARACTER and CITIZENSHIP to
each of your friends and give one to
yourself, too.

Single one-year subscription $2.00

Two one-year subscriptions 3.00

Additional one-year subscriptions,
each $1.50

Send your orders to

Character and Citizenship

5732 Harper Ave., Chicago, III.

and necessarily long periods of instruction on in-
struments more intricate and difficult to master.

May we present harmonica playing from a rec-
reational standpoint and trust that those who
otherwise would be dependent upon others for
musical pleasures will find a pleasant form of
mental and physical relaxation of their own mak-
ing through this medium.

Austin's Symphony Orchestra

(Continued from page 509)

tunity to enjoy their musical training after they
have completed their courses in public schools,
colleges, and music schools.

Conductor Buytendorp refrains from any indi-
vidual or private instruction. If a person is not
quite qualified for the symphony, he must secure
his necessary training and then he may again try
out for the orchestra.

There are men and women of wealth, business
men and women, music teachers, laborers, college
students, and high school students playing in the
orchestra. The orchestra is made up of Austin
itself, and it is the entire municipality that is sup-
porting it. Shouldn't Austin be proud of it?

The Society of Recreation Workers
of America

(Continued from page 510)

cently elected to the office of president of the
Institute of Park Executives.

All recreation workers interested in becoming
members of the Society of Recreation Workers
of America are urged to communicate with
Arthur T. Noren, Secretary, City Hall, Elizabeth,
New Jersey.

A Message to Recreation Workers

(Continued from page 511)
plished largely through geographical organiza-
tions, through which an opportunity for individual
participation in professional activities is afforded.
This means of membership promotion may be
supplemented by individual effort on the part of
each member.

As the member whom you have honored by
election to the office of President for the current
year, I extend to the entire membership my sin-
cere greeting, and express my desire to fulfill the
obligations of the office to the best of my ability.
With the collaboration of the able officers who
have been elected to serve with me and with the
assistance of the entire membership, I look for-
ward to a year of noteworthy achievement for the
benefit of our profession.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

The Party Book

Prepared for National Recreation Association by Mary
J. Breen, author of Partners in Play. A. S. Barnes and
Company, New York. $2.50.

" AA iss BREEN'S new book makes any party lively," says
the New York World-Telegram in its enthusiastic
review of The Party Book. You, too, will feel that the
informality and spontaneity of the programs offered will
insure gaiety and success for any party programs you
may select from Miss Breen's book. There is a wide
range of choice for there are party programs for young
and old, for special occasions and holidays, for novelty
dances with costumes, for banquets, picnics and outdoor
parties, and games and stunts for large or small informal
gatherings. There are parties, too, for men, parties for
women, for boys and girls, and for mixed groups. Not
the least important feature are the suggestions for un-
usual and delectable refreshments. Delightful illustra-
tions by Hamilton Greene form a gay setting to the
party programs.

3OOO Books of Leisure

Book Department of Leisure, 683 Atlantic Avenue, Bos-
ton. $.10.

IN THE SECOND EDITION of this valuable bibliography on
leisure a number of classifications have been added and
new titles of recently published books incorporated. An
additional feature is a listing of magazines on recreation
and hobbies. Recreation workers will find this compre-
hensive bibliography of great practical value.

Sports Education

By Seward C. Staley. A. S. Barnes and Company, New

York. $2.50.

DASED ON THE THESIS that there is no such thing as
^ physical education, since the physical, mental and
social aspects of life can not be separated, Sports Edu-
cation deals with physical education curriculums, dis-
cussing objects, outcomes and future changes, principles
of evaluation and methods of teaching. Dr. Staley, Pro-
fessor of Physical Education in the University of Illinois,
maintains that a sound program can 'be formulated only
by coordinating theory and practice, as he has attempted
to do in this book. It is designed for professional stu-
dents, teachers, principals and superintendents.

The Book of indoor Hobbies

By Emanuele Stieri. Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill

Book Company, New York. $3.00.
THERE ARE MANY highly desirable hobbies which re-
quire more space, more leisure, and more extensive
facilities than the average hobbyist, especially the apart-
ment dweller, can afford. Mr. Stieri has brought to-
gether in this volume a number of hobbies which can be
enjoyed in a minimum of space and at small expense.
The first part of the book describes hobbies with a
special appeal to nature lovers. These include window

and roof gardening, terrariums, aquariums, and the care
of birds. The second part contains suggestions for crea-
tive hobbies such as pottery, tile work, metal craft, and
carving. With each hobby Mr. Stieri discusses in detail
the materials and equipment required, and the pro-
cedure to be followed. There are more than a hundred
halftones and many line drawings which illustrate the
directions given in the text.

Tennis Type Games

National Section on Women's Athletics. American As-
sociation for Health, Physical Education, and Recrea-
tion, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N. W., Washington, D. C.
$.25.

DF-CAUSE TENNIS and related games contribute to social
^ contacts and are important in the development of
skills and have a part to play in the intellectual and emo-
tional development of individual students, it is desirable
that all of us should be intelligent concerning the games
and sports in which others engage and have a repertoire
of sports and games. This booklet, with suggestions for
activities and references, should be exceedingly helpful
to recreation workers.

How to Play Six-Man Football

By Ralph Henry Barbour and La Mar Sarra. D. Ap-

pleton-Century Company, New York. $1.50.
TTHE RAPIDLY GROWING interest in six-man football,
' which the authors refer to as a "tabloid edition" of
the standard interscholastic game, has resulted in a num-
ber of books on the subject of which this is the latest.
The claims made by the authors are that the game in its
modified form retains all the essentials of the parent
game — running, passing, kicking, blocking, and tackling
— and affords similar possibilities for generalship and
strategy. It is far less grueling and exacts a much
smaller toll of injuries. For the spectator it presents a
more open picture and one more easily comprehended.
Hozu to Play Six-Man-Football is not only a rules book
with all necessary information on plays of various kinds,
equipment, and information for officials and referees, but
it is written in an interesting, popular style. There are
many diagrams showing formations and plays.

Woodcraft

By Bernard S. Mason. A. S. Barnes and Company, New

York. $2.75.

I"%R. MASON, editor of The Camping Magazine and au-
"^ thor of Primitive and Pioneer Sports and other pub-
lications, has given us in this volume a comprehensive
book on woodcraft which will be useful to any individual
of any age interested in camping, woodcraft, and crafts
based on forest materials. The newest approved camp
equipment is described along with the ancient skill of the
Indian in woodcraft. An interesting section of the book
deals with bark-craft. Club leaders, camp counselors, and
recreation workers who are conducting craft programs
will find this book exceedingly valuable.

535

536

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

American Folk Plays.

Edited with an introduction by Frederick H. Koch.

D. Appleton-Century Co., New York. $4.00.
A collection of twenty one-act plays selected from
many scripts written in playwriting courses conducted by
Prof. Koch at the University of North Carolina and in
summer sessions of various other universities. Included
are plays of historical background, folk legends, and con-
temporary life. Eighteen are of the American scene, one
each from Canada and Mexico. Characters and scenes of
each are authentic, having been written by a playwright
native to the region of which he writes. All of the plays
have been successfully produced. This is a book that
students and all interested in folk drama and folklore will
want to add to their library shelves.

Modern Furniture Making and Design.

By Rodney Hooper. The Manual Arts Press, Peoria,

Illinois. $4.00.

This book is designed to show a variety of treatments
for the design and construction of domestic furniture
and woodwork. It seeks to indicate the main points of
the construction of various types of furniture as fully as
it is possible in the limited space available, and with
each example it has given in graphic form sufficient in-
formation for the understanding of its design and construc-
tion. It is hoped that the book will be of value to archi-
tects, designers and draughtsmen, and to students in
technical schools and training clubs, but most of all to
amateurs who find joy and recreation in working in
wood. There are many illustrations in the book.

American Folk Dances.

Kit 49. Cooperative Recreation Service, Delaware,

Ohio. $.25.

This collection of more than thirty circle and line
dances from the Midwest, South, and New England is a
useful sample of the fascinating variety of native Ameri-
can folk dancing. The booklet includes the calls and
descriptions of the various figures and the music for the
square dances as well.

Soilless Growth of Plants.

By Carleton Ellis and Miller W. Swaney. Reinhold
Publishing Corporation, 330 West 42nd Street, New
York. $2.75.

Soilless growth, the authors point out, is a game at
which anyone may play. The interesting experiments
which the authors have conducted are presented 'here
concisely and clearly. The individual whose hobby is
gardening will find this book fascinating.

Plays for High Holidays, with
Incidental Music and Dancing.

By Janet E. Tobitt and Alice M. G. White. E. P.
Button and Co., Inc., New York. $1.50.

A collection of four delightful full-length one-act plays
for young people. The first, "Star Over Bethlehem," is
a French Nativity play which can be performed in pan-
tomime with offstage singing, or as an operetta. The
second is a tenth century Christmas play based on the
well-known folk carol, "Good King Wencelas." A third
play, "Saint Patrick for Ireland" is particularly good for
lx>ys. The final play, "The Donkey That Carried a
King," is based on the New Testament accounts of the
procuring by two disciples of a young donkey on which
Jesus rode into Jerusalem. Complete production notes
are included for each play. A folk dance and several
songs with melody are given with each play.

This book of new plays which lend themselves to sim-
ple or elaborate productions will be welcomed by leaders
of drama groups. It should prove just as popular as the
first book by these authors, "Dramatized Ballads."

STATEMENT OF THE OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT,
CIRCULATION, ETC., REQUIRED BY THE ACTS OF
CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912, AND MARCH 3, 1933 of
RECREATION published monthly at New York, N. Y., for
October 1, 1939.

STATE OF NEW YORK, 1
COUNTY OF NEW YORK, J ss.

Before me, a notary public in and for the State a,nd county
aforesaid, personally appeared Howard Brauclier, who, having
been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that he is
the editor of RECREATION, and that the following is, to the best
of his knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership,
management (and if a daily paper, the circulation), etc., of the
aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption,
required by the Act of August 24, 1912, as amended by the Act
of March 3, 1933, embodied in section 537, Postal Laws and
Regulations, printed oti the reverse of this form, to wit:

1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor,
managing editor, and business managers are:

Publisher: National Recreation Association, 315 Fourth Avenue,
New York, N. Y.

Editor: Howard Braucher, 315 Fourth Avenue, New York,
N. Y.

Managing Editor: Abbie Condit, 315 Fourth Avenue, New
York, N. Y.

Business Manager: R. J. Schwartz, 315 Fourth Avenue, New
York, N. Y.

2. That the owner is: (If owned by a corporation, its name
and address must be stated and also immediately thereunder the
names and addresses of stockholders owning or holding ore per
cent or more of total amount of stock. If ,not owned by a cor-
poration, the names and addresses of the individual owners must
be given. If owned by a firm, company, or other unincorporated
concern, its name and address, as well as those of each indi-
vidual member, must be given.)

National Recreation Association, 315 Fourth Avenue, New ,
York, N. Y.

F. W. H. Adams, New York, N. Y.; F. Gregg Bemis, Boston,
Mass.; Mrs. Edward W. Biddle, Car'isle, Pa.; Mrs. Robert Woods
Bliss, Washington, D. C. ; Mrs. William Butterworth, Moline,
111. ; Henry L. Corbett, Portland, Ore. ; Mrs. Arthur G. Cummer,
Jacksonville, Fla.; F. Trubee Davison, Locust Valley, L. I., N.
Y. ; Harry P. Davison, New York, N. Y. ; John H. Finley, New
York, N. Y.; Robert Garrett, Baltimore, Md.; Austin E. Grif-
fiths, Seattle, Wash.; Mrs. Norman Harrower, Fitchburg, Mass.;
Mrs. Melville H. Haskell, Tucson, Ariz.; Mrs. Charles V. Hickox.
Michigan City, Ind.; Mrs. Mina M. Edison Hughes, West
Orange, N. J.; Mrs. John D. Jameson. Sugar Hill, N. H.; Gus-
tavus T. Kirby, New York. N. Y. ; H. McK. Landon, Indiana-
polis, Ind.: Mrs. Charles D. Lanier, Greenwich, Conn.; Robert
Lassiter, Charlotte, N. C.; Susan M. Lee. Boston, Mass.; J. H.
McCurdy, Springfield, Mass.; Otto T. Mallerv, Philadelphia, Pa.;
Walter A. May,. Pittsburgh. Pa.; Carl E. Milliken, Augusta. Me.;
Mrs. Ofrden L. Mills. Woodbury, N. Y.; T. Suffern Tai'er,
locust Valley, L. I.. N. Y.; Mrs. James W. Wadsworth, Wash-
ington, D. C.; J. C. Walsh, New York. N. Y. ; Frederick M.
Warburg. New York. N. Y.; Job" O. Winant, Concord, N. H.;
Stanley Woodward, Washington, D. C.

3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other securitv
holders owning or holding 1 per cent or more of total amount of
bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: (If there are none, so
state.)

None.

4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the .
owners, stockholders, ar>d securitv holders, if any, contain not
only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear
upon the books of the company but also, in cases where the stock-
holder or security holder appears upon the books of the com-
pany as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of
the person or corporation for whom such trustee is acting, is
given; alro that the said two paragraphs contain statements em-
bracing smart's full knowledge and belief as to the circum-
stances and conditions under which stockholders and security
holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as
trustees, ho'd stock and securities in a capacity other than that
of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe
that any other person, association, or corporation has any inter-
est direct or indirect in the said stock, bonds, or other securities
than as so stated by him.

5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this

(Th

cations only.)

HOWARD BRAUCHER.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 27th day of Septem-
ber, 1939.

[SEAL] MIRIAM DOCHTERMANN,

Notary Public, Nassau County.

Nassau County Clerk's No. 286. Certificate Filed in New York
County. Clerk's No. 10. Register's No. O-D-5. My Commission
expires March 30, 1940.

No Ivory Tower

ONE refuge in times of trouble and anxiety is to turn back to the good and simple
things which lie at the heart of normal human life. In any society these will be
the things that make life worth living. Indeed, they are the things that account for the
persistence of our species under the old terrors of the jungle, of darkness, of starvation.
They are individual things, individually experienced,, and in that way an answer to the
mass manias around us.

We ought to feel a strengthening of the ties of affection for our families and our
friends — for they make a charmed circle within which the hearth fire glows and into
which neither fear nor hate can penetrate.

We ought to see with clearer eyes the beauty and meaning of human faces, the
wonder of the pageantry of the daily work and play, the majestic pattern of the coming
and going of the seasons, the glory of sunlight over a city or a meadow or a forest or a
coast, of the roar of a city, of the humming of insects in the sleepy twilight in the country.

We may well shrink from what we read in print, see in the news reels, hear over
the radio. But shrinking is a negative response. We need a positive reaffirmation of
what life is and can be. We need a new, bright sense of its glory and significance, and
of the preciousness of the least of the human vessels into which it has been poured.

The spirit of freedom is not in laws and institutions alone — nor even chiefly. It
is expressed in the expansion of the personal experience, in an individual's rather than a
nation's room to grow, in the unlocking of human powers and human opportunities. No
disaster can black out a nation which lives in that spirit.

We cannot climb an ivory tower and cultivate our souls in indifference to the
dark tumult which rises on every side. But we can build in a democracy, in liberty, in
peace, a kind of life that shall seem to all men desirable, and which, whatever the fate of
liberty and men's hopes elsewhere, shall not be forgotten.

A factory humming with productive activity, a tired father going home to a family
which welcomes him, a mother singing her baby to sleep, two lovers walking into the
sunset, the smoke of a wood fire, the smell of ripening apples, the odor of good cooking,
the tranquility after storm in a Beethoven symphony, a policeman diving into the river to
rescue a drowning man, a fireman entering a tottering burning building, a craftsman
doing his work in love of his materials and his tools, the friendly face swimming out of
the crowd, the light falling slantwise past the glowing cornices of great buildings, love
and work and sacrifice and play — of these are the things that matter.

Sometimes in history they have had to be fought for. But first they have to be
lived for.

From The New York Times, September 24, 1939. Used by permission.

JANUARY 19^0

537

M E

The Dover Community School

IN 1937 the citizens of
Dover, Delaware, recog-
nized that the three-story
school building which housed
their elementary and high school pupils was no
longer adequate to meet the increasing enroll-
ments. The Board of Education and Superin-
tendent E. Hall Downes applied themselves to the
problem of planning the extension of this school
plant. Approximately twelve acres were available
as a school site, but very limited provision had
been made to prepare the site for general outdoor
recreation purposes.

In the planning certain assumptions prevailed.
A community school serving the needs of adults
as well as children was recognized as desirable.
Adult formal education, as well as provision for
their recreation and leisure, were considered
equally fundamental programs to be involved in
the planning. The curriculum of the school should
follow the immediate needs of children and not
prepare remotely only for college entrance. The
use of school facilities during the daytime by
adults as well as children should be made possible.
The school should be a living, throbbing center of
human activity meeting community needs as they
arose and serving all group as well as individual
social needs.

The Dover community school is now a reality.
It consists of four building units, as indicated in
the diagram (see opposite page), and has a plan-
ned utilization for all parts of the school site. The
four building units are the high school building,
the social hall, the elementary school, and the
field house, all integrated under the one plan.
The Field House

The field house shown in
Diagram 2 (see page 540)
was designed as a structure
apart from the school build-
ings proper. Here can be
held community fairs or
state exhibits. Here may be
assembled conventions con-
cerned with any of the ma-
jor problems of community
and state life. School ex-
hibits or school exhibitions

By N. L. ENGELHARDT

Professor of Education
Teachers College, Columbia University

The educational and recreational facili-
ties which have been planned for the
Dover, Delaware, Community School should
offer the inspiration to many communities
of this size to plan for school and com-
munity integration and for a wide use of
school facilities. The use of the plans
shown has been made possible through the
courtesy of Walter Carlson, A. I. A., Wil-
mington, Delaware, architect for the pro-
ject. Dr. Engelhardt served as educa-
tion adviser in the planning. E. Hall
Downes is Superintendent of Schools.

can easily be put on here. A
stage of ample dimensions
with the needed ancillary
spaces affords opportunity
for the drama, musical performances, or even
pageants. The field house, which will be open to
adults, has provision for many kinds of games in-
cluding handball, volleyball, basketball, and bad-
minton. A ping-pong room adjoins the main play
area. During the school day the gymnasium will
be used by the boys. Portable folding bleachers
have been provided so that they may be used at
the side walls in case of games, or may be ar-
ranged at the rear of the auditorium when the
stage is being used. This building can be used for
convention or assembly purposes during the school
day. It is sufficiently remote from the main build-
ings so that its use will not interfere with the regu-
lar school program. Separate heating has been
planned. Locker and shower spaces for men and
women have been arranged so that they serve the
dual purpose of dressing rooms for the stage as
well as after-recreation service rooms.

The Community Social Hall
Diagram 3 on page 541 gives the outlines of the
community social hall, with its connecting pas-
sages to the high school as well as to the ele-
mentary school building, and its entrances from
the out-of-doors for general community use. Here
may be held the meetings of the civic luncheon
clubs, the afternoon meetings and teas of other
community organizations, the evening gatherings
of a choral society, a literary organization, or any
other small community group. This room also
serves as the school cafe-
teria but is designed so that
the school lunch hour may
be meaningfully associated
with music, talks, or student
group presentations. The
kitchen is of ample size to
serve both community as
well as school gatherings. It
is cut off by soundproof
walls so that noise from the
kitchen need not interfere
(Continued on page 582)

539

540

THE DOVER COMMUNITY SCHOOL

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THE DOVER COMMUNITY SCHOOL

541

What They Say About Recreation

N is a leisure-time activity, pur-
poseftil yet unrewarded except in the indi-
vidual satisfactions achieved. It includes
many varied types of pursuits engaged in by in-
dividuals both as individuals and as members of a
group; it may be active or passive, organized or
unorganized, commercial, endowed, or publicly
financed. What may be work to some people may
be recreation to others. All experience is educa-
tional in the broadest sense of the term. Recre-
ation comprises those experiences which are en-
joyed, for the most part, during leisure hours.
Education and recreation both claim similar ob-
jectives. All recreation has educational values ;
likewise, to some people, educational activities
have recreational values." — From Social Services
and the Schools, Educational Policies Commission.

"To put off until tomorrow what one should
enjoy today is a wasteful act. Today's joy may
be stale tomorrow, stale as last week's daffodils.
A person who has not learned 'to pluck the hour
and the day virtuously and well' must adjust to
daffodils long gone by." — Abbie Graham in Time
Off and On.

"For the adult who was robbed of the pleasure
of making things when he was young, there is still
time. The greatest pleasure will come if he will
develop a creative attitude. This means an atti-
tude of experimenting, exploring, investigating,
inventing. While there are many materials like
clay, wood, leather, paper, and others which are as
old as civilization, no one yet has exhausted the
possibilities of any of these. No one has exhausted
the ways of drawing with pencil, or the ways of
painting, or the ways of arranging lettering in
pleasing spaces. There is an infinitely wide field
ahead for anyone who wishes to adventure in cre-
ating."— From Create Something, in Design.

"Since early primitive days festivals have been
a folkway. They have made use of all the arts-
song, dance, drama and all the crafts — and have
integrated them into an art form that is meaning-
ful to the participants because it utilizes their
various proficiencies. The folkway is the child's
way, and his early singing games typify this same
fusion of the arts." • - Percival Chubb in Child-
hood Education, September 1939.

542

"There is no greater pleasure in life than cre-
ating things. It is part of everyone's inheritance,
for before the days of machinery our ancestors
had to make everything they needed, either by
hand or with simple tools. Nothing compares with
the feeling of having made something that func-
tions, having contributed something to the enrich-
ment of life, having produced something for the
community in which one lives." — From Design,
October 1939.

"We tend to assume that competition and co-
operation are contrary methods. In fact, how-
ever, cooperation nearly always originates as a
means for making competition and survival more
effective. Most cooperative undertakings rely on
competition in many respects, while most competi-
tive projects require cooperation in internal rela-
tions. Cooperation and competition should be
complementary. Both are imperative in any exten-
sive venture. The problem is not how to eliminate
competition but how to control it." — Dr. Arthur
E. Morgan.

"Because recreation will be continually expand-
ing, and because many of its finest aspects can be
realized only in connection with the land on which
farmers live, it is important that organized farm-
ers recognize the significance of recreation, not
only as a source of demand for farm products,
but also as something which they themselves can
increasingly enjoy." - — Secretary of Agriculture
Wallace.

"What we are aiming to do with our recreation
program is to emphasize the fact that the human
spirit is as much in need of exercise as the human
body. Therefore we are encouraging the develop-
ment of natural aptitudes for the arts, crafts,
music, dramatics, without neglecting the needs of
the physical man. People are living outwardly and
not inwardly today. They have too little to dis-
tract them from the confusion of the times. They
are too dependent on the gadgets that consume
their time and leave their hearts and minds empty.
Never has there been a time when it is more im-
portant for us to reach every citizen with a broad
program of recreation." - — Mrs. Eugene Meyer,
Chairman, Westchester County Recreation Com-
mission.

Recreation and the National Morale

WE LIVE IN the storm and stress of immense
and incalculable events. As I consider the
import and the impact of such events upon
us, I am more and more concerned with the im-
portance in this country of the creative use of our
leisure time and of strengthening our national
morale.

There has been over a month of war in Europe.
Radio and press are full of reports on the effects
of war on the civilian population. School houses
and universities closed; children separated from
parents; urban children transferred to unfamiliar
rural sections without friends, books or play-
things ; theaters silent ; blackout nights ; money and
energy for bombs, destruction and conquest.

We believe these things are not the American
Way. We believe our task is to hold, to main-
tain, and to increase the opportunity for all peo-
ple for jobs, a decent income for the family,
security, and the good things of life. One of the
good things of life, one of the important things,
is recreation.

Recreation is peace insurance. Many ex-service
men who were in Europe during the last war say
that one reason they were anxious to get into war
the last time was because of the monotony, the
dullness, the sameness of life at home. In other
words, war represented something new, some-
thing different and exciting, something they looked
on as more of a fresh experience. I have a letter
in my scrap book from one of the members of my
outfit during the World War. He expressed this
in the single sentence which his letter contained :
''Dear Sir : I find that I like Army life better than
I do home life. Yours very truly, Sam Catan-
zariti." If the people of every community are
confronted with virile, challenging, interesting
recreational opportunities now, civilian interest in
the life of the community will be increased. Such
a program of broad recreation is peace insurance.

Recreation is a term that is now quite widely
understood. We must agree though, that recrea-
tion is an attitude of mind rather than a form of
activity. What is fun for one person may be labor
and even drudgery to another. Practically speak-
ing, however, "recreation is leisure activity en-
gaged in for its own sake." It includes outdoor

Some of the reasons why recreation is
not only one of the good things, but
one of the important things, of life

By HON. PAUL V. McNurr

Federal Security Administrator

and indoor games and sports, swimming, camp-
ing, hiking, nature games, dancing, picnics, drama,
singing, playing instruments, parties, arts and
crafts, travel, discussions and many other activities.
The dictionary defines recreation as refreshment.
However, it is extremely important also as a
medium of personality expression and develop-
ment. Recreation may be a personal hobby or
some experience shared with a small or large
group. It may be organized or unorganized, under
private auspices or governmental, commercial or
non-commercial. It is the principal opportunity
of many people for expressive, joyous living.

By helping the individual to develop inner re-
sources it enables him not only to live in a satis-
fying way under the normal responsibilities and
stresses of existence, but also the better to meet
unusual or peak demands on his physique and on
his mental, moral and nervous reserves. Through
habitual experience in leisure time activities that
involve personal achievement, men and women
develop high standards of what constitutes satis-
faction and happiness in life. They tend to find
enduring satisfaction in simple and usually inex-
pensive pleasures.

Increased leisure time can be either an asset or
a liability, depending upon how it is used. The
function of a recreation program is to lay out the
opportunities so that community members can, in
a democratic fashion, select the type of recreation
they wish by free choice. The program must be
broad and planned for all age groups.

The essence of true recreation is that it involves
personal effort on the part of the individual and
is not dependent on what is done for the individual
but by him. We are here drawing a distinction
between recreation and amusement. The latter is
frequently passive and while temporarily it may
serve an important function, it is not as substan-

543

544

RECREATION AND THE NATIONAL MORALE

Recreation out of
doors, with all it
has to offer both
in summer and win-
ter, is of the ut-
most importance
to young and old

Photo by William Newkirk, Cambridge, Mass.

tial as true recreation, which often involves per-
sonal skill. Amusement which carries the indi-
vidual into highly exciting vicarious experience is
often followed by an emotional letdown which
makes the morning after seem stale and flat. Gen-
uine recreation, on the other hand, tends to re-
fresh and stimulate and leave the individual better
prepared than before for the normal duties of
existence.

The outdoor recreation with which we are fa-
miliar in the United States — sports and games,
swimming, skating, coasting, tramping, mountain
climbing, camping, hunting and fishing, are neces-
sary outlets for men and women required to live
in our cities. Such recreation has important bio-
logical effects upon the system. It makes for the
"primal sanities" of which Walt Whitman so elo-
quently writes. Direct benefits to the body of
abundant exercise in the open air in contact with
the ultra-violet rays of the sun are too widely
acknowledged to need arguing here.

But if recreation has come of age it must be
considered as something in addition to a teeter-
totter, a swing, and a playground in a park for
children or even a lake in the mountains or a base-
ball game. It must include opportunities for art
and craft work ; community dramatics ; recrea-
tional music; choral work; dancing, forum and

discussion work; quiet activities such as reading,
the organization of clubs, groups in creative writ-
ing ; the aquatic and winter sports programs. The
American recreation program must not be a purely
regimented physical program as is true in some
foreign countries. Out of leisure time will grow
the new culture for America. It must be a culture
which provides for the intelligent use of the arts,
which provides for socializing experiences in ad-
dition to physical development.

One result of the strain of modern life is the
disposition of the individual to live in the past or
future, to day-dream and evade present issues and
responsibilities. Many forms of recreation, phy-
sical and otherwise, tend to relieve this condition
by compelling the individual's attention to the
present situation. For example, if a ball is thrown
to him, he must catch it or he is likely to be struck
and injured by it. If he is taking part in a play,
the success of the drama depends upon his meet-
ing his cues promptly.

For both individuals and masses of men, the
drawing off of pent-up energy through witnessing
pageants, spectacles, boxing matches and parades
and from listening to concerts has value. It has
particular value if the entertainment is the result
of the community of action of himself and his
fellows.

RECREATION AND THE NATIONAL MORALE

545

In order to be successful, recreation programs
must have good public relations. Activities of-
fered must be those which the people have demon-
strated that they want. This is one contribution a
recreation program can make to the democratic
way of life. This element of free choice may be
recreation's main contribution to democracy.

The provision of well-balanced recreation for
every individual has become a social question of
the first magnitude. The growth of leisure and
the realization that the purchasing power of mil-
lions of Americans contains little margin for rec-
reational services and equipment, coupled with
the recognition of the necessity of recreation in
the life of the individual has led to the enormous
expansion of interest in the subject on the part of
governmental and private agencies. Recreation
has become one of the great "musts" in com-
munity and national life. Our community parks
and playgrounds, national and state parks and for-
ests, camps, golf courses, beaches, social centers,
museums and libraries, not to mention the vast
network of commercially fostered amusements,
are the expression of the Nation's appetite for
recreation.

Recreational planning in the United States is
beginning to take on some of the large magnifi-
cent dimensions characteristic of our great indus-
trial developments and such gov-
ernment projects as the Panama
Canal, Tennessee Valley Au-
thority, and Boulder Dam. Wit-
ness, for example, our national
state parks and forests, Jones
Beach, and the statesmanlike de-
velopment of recreation proper-
ties in New York City, Chicago
and other large communities. It
is of immense importance to our
country's future that at a time
of great basic changes in Ameri-
can life the work of some of the
best brains in the United States
are going into recreation.

We know that basic social and
economic changes have taken
place in our country with the dis-
appearance of the frontier. The
term "frontier" carries a mean-
ing that is of the essence of the
American spirit and has always
been closely associated with the
promise of American life. The

existence of the frontier spelled opportunity for
livelihood, pioneering and adventure. Some of
the very means of livelihood on the frontier were
the exciting occupations of hunting, fishing, trap-
ping. It is fundamentally important that now
that the frontier itself is gone we shall retain the
frontier spirit — the admittedly restless American
spirit which is always seeking new experience and
new adventure.

Herein lies one of the great roles of organized
recreation in relation to national morale. Recrea-
tion offers the prospect to all American citizens
of avenues for the constructive employment of the
pioneering spirit. In this sense we want the people
of the United States always to remain young. We
want them to apply their restless urges to moun-
tain climbing, camping, swimming, sailing, sports,
arts and crafts, music, nature study, drama, travel,
and the many other forms of interesting leisure
experience.

Those who are professionally engaged in plan-
ning and organizing recreation need no reminder
that such activities as they have developed in the
United States includes opportunity both for the

Recreation, if it has come of age, must
include opportunities for arts and crafts
and for many other creative activities

Courtesy Oglebay Institute

546

RECREATION AND THE NATIONAL MORALE

expression of the individual's personal desires for
achievement and recognition and for social ex-
perience of the highest educational quality.

It is obvious that the great recreation areas and
facilities of the United States, and especially or-
ganized programs provided by recreation leaders,
are unifying influences among the people. They
draw citizens together in enjoyment of national
and state, county, urban and neighborhood recrea-
tional facilities and activities. One needs only to
visit the national parks and the community facili-
ties to see how this operates. On the highways, at
points of scenic i
or historic in-
terest, at picnic
grounds and at
camp sites in a
national park,
he will find the
Texan rubbing
elbows with the
Vermonter and
the man from
Puget Sound
exchanging ex-
periences and
ideas with the
man from Mi-
ami. One sees
the unifying in-
fluence at work
in the neigh-
borhood cen-
ters, carnivals
of sport, music festivals,
playground programs, picnics,
athletic meets, and discus-
sion groups which are com-
mon elements of municipal
recreation service. The di-
verse national groups who make up the popula-
tion of our cities are brought together in friendly,
harmonizing activities. Recreation is the great
democratizer and unifier.

In recent years the Federal Government has at-
tempted to provide in positive terms a free and
public program of recreation for all our people —
regardless of age, creed, race or economic status.

The depression was a challenge to national
morale and called forth a great extension of rec-
reational service. The closing of banks, swift rise
of unemployment, and the enormous reduction in
national income threatened the confidence and

This music shell in Reading, Pa., is
representative of the types of facili-
ties that are aiding in the develop-
ment of the "new culture which provides
for the intelligent use of the arts"

spirit of the nation. Besides the economic mea-
sures taken by the Government to meet this chal-
lenge was the expansion of recreation facilities
and services by all governmental units. Many of
the jobless themselves were put to work provid-
ing recreation and entertainment for the public.

Almost every agency of the Federal Govern-
ment created to combat the economic and devital-
izing effects of the depression has had a positive
effect on the leisure and culture on the people of
this Nation. Established agencies of the Federal
Government expanded their programs to meet

pressing needs
and new agen-
cies were cre-
ated dealing
specifically with
the problem of
recreation.

The full ef-
fect of these
efforts has not
been recorded
and we are per-
haps still too
close to the
emergency to
have the pro-
per historical
perspective on
them. Yet we
know that the
American peo-
ple with few
did gain much
emergency pro-
grams, not only in physical
equipment but in the recog-
nition of existing needs and
possibilities for meeting them.
It is impressive to think of the 17,000 new fa-
cilities built under the sponsorship of local recre-
ation, school and public works authorities, and of
the 40,000 workers per month which WPA has
supplied to recreation leadership projects in
over 7,000 communities during the past fifteen
months. It is particularly significant to know that
more than half of these communities had a popu-
lation of less than 2,500 — for it is in our small
towns and rural communities that future plan-
ning in recreational activities offers the greatest
challenge.

(Continued on page 583)

exceptions
from these

A Tonic" for the Craft Sh

op

WHILE MANY of the craft ac-
tivities which were so pop-
ular at the craft shop before
Christmas will be continued after
the holidays, it is a wise idea to
offer a whole new set of suggestions, or at least
the old ideas in a new dress to tempt lagging in-
terests. Just as soon as Christmas is over pack
away all the evidences of the holiday gift idea.
Rejuvenate the bulletin boards and bring out new
displays. A hint of what the post-Christmas sea-
son will offer should be forecast before the first of
the year. Along with this should come new pub-
licity. Let the newspapers know your new activity
plans and get a new craft bulletin for your per-
manent mailing list. New bulletins and posters
posted in the schools will keep the youngsters in-
terested. Extend special invitations to Scout,
Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. and other youth agency
executives to attend the craft classes for new
suggestions for their own groups.

The Place

Another thing to consider is the location of your
Community Craft Shop. Is it in an unattractive,
dark, out-of-the-way place? If it is, why not try
to do something about it?

The Davenport Community Craft Shop is lo-
cated in the Public Library. Situated in the cen-
ter of business activity, it has proved both popular
and convenient. The Library Board graciously
accepted our request for craft shop space and
turned over two large, light rooms on the second
floor. Aside from the benefits already mentioned
in using the public library
for your shop, you will find
the cooperation of the libra-
rians very valuable in mak-
ing special craft book dis-
plays for you and in fer-
reting out all sorts of
interesting source materials
for any number of crafts
such as weaving, puppetry,
modeling, wood carving and
the like. If you haven't
thought about approaching
your library board for craft

By ROBERT L. HORNEY

Director of Recreation

Park Board
Davenport, Iowa

Is your community craft shop likely to be
the victim of a post-Christmas lethargy?
Does it enjoy the rush accompanying Christ-
mas gift making, only to suffer from neg-
lect after the new year? The pre-holiday
season usually inspires everyone to a frenzy
of ambition and activity. The November
and December bustle around a craft shop is
largely a problem of how to take care of
everyone, but January may bring a slump in
attendance unless a special effort is made
to keep interest at its height. After the let-
up of the holidays, it is a clever leader
who can keep activity at a peak! There
are ways, however, of maintaining interest.

shop space, why not try? It's
easy to attract people to your
shop, because the library gets
hundreds of them every day any-
way, and they'll look in out of
curiosity first, then come back regularly if your
displays and suggestions are varied and attractive.
January is no time to allow any deficiencies in
ingenuity to occur. Rather it should be the time
of the year when your craft projects look so
tempting that even the most apathetic is lured to
a new hobby. The phlegmatic soul will be so at-
tracted by the activities you offer that she will
brave the slush and sleet in exchange for the pair
of plaster plaques she's creating for the guest
room !

What to Make

Of the crafts which were so in favor as gifts,
the following may continue to be popular at any
season :

Photo-Snap Books are always in demand, espe-
cially with amateur photographers and candid cam-
era fans increasing at such a rapid rate. The book
covers, measuring about S*//' by 14", are made of
ply wood. When the wood is sanded to perfect
smoothness it is ready to decorate with wood
burning. We tried Mexican designs and found
them very effective.

While not a new craft, hand-carved jewel and
glove boxes never seem to wane in popularity.
Boxes made from bass wood best lend themselves
to carving. They may be had from a number of
commercial craft companies at reasonable cost.
The craft is to be highly
commended, as it affords
one of the best opportuni-
ties for original design, and
the art of wood carving is
one of the oldest and most
fascinating of all crafts.

Two other craft ideas
which are popular most any
month of the year are in-
door flower boxes and hang-
ing flower pots made from
gourds. The indoor flower
boxes are made of ply wood

547

548

A "TONIC" FOR THE CRAFT SHOP

to fit any sized window desired. When painted in
bright colors they add a touch of spring to any
room, and may launch you on a new hobby — in-
door gardening — which is quite another thing and
worthy of more discussion than this article
can give.

The gourd flower pots are simple and easy to
make. Scoop out the seeds and let the gourds dry.
After this you'll find it fun to paint them in clear
primary colors. Hang in the sun room this winter
and forget the blizzard outside.

Dress ornaments such as clips, pins, buttons,
belts and jewelry are always in demand. In our
shop we use two materials for this craft — wood
or pewter. Wooden bracelets, buttons and the like
are much in vogue and command good prices in
the shops ; but they can be made for little money
and can be individually different when created
by you.

Pewter is a highly malleable metal and lends
itself readily to most methods known of beating
down, raising and casting. It is an admirable
metal for the beginner in metal work because it is
a soft metal, and scratches, dents and irregulari-
ties are easily removed. Unlike copper and brass,
bowls and plates can readily be pounded into
wooden forms, assuring the beginner in metal
craft good results from the start. If you haven't
tried this metal in your craft shop you're sure to
find it interesting to work with. Right now the
young set are fond of large pewter monogram-
med pins.

We also use the tooling or modeling of thin
soft metal as an introduction to more skilled metal
crafts. Requiring only a few tools, modeling
metal has practically no limits. The metal is easily
cut with an old pair of scissors and only inex-
pensive wooden modeling tools are needed to
place the lines of the design onto the metal. In
this way the classes have created interesting metal
plaques, name plates, greeting cards, award shields
and similar articles. The modeling metal comes in
discs of copper, pewter or aluminum.

Christmas is the big season for making table
decorations, party favors and ornaments, but this
craft need not be limited to the Yule season. We
have found that hostesses are just as anxious for
new party ideas other seasons of the year. If you
keep seasonal suggestions on display you'll find
there's always a demand. Unusual and interesting
mantel arrangements may be included in this
service too.

Weaving is another year-round craft which
never lags in popularity. Woolen scarfs, mittens,
ear muffs and rugs are favorite winter projects.

Some of the crafts new to our shop, which we
are introducing now or after the holidays, include
new block printing ideas, cork craft, suede craft
and shaggy rugs.

With Christmas cards out of the running for
another year, block printing can now lend itself
to valentines, mottoes or book plates. The book
lover will cherish a book plate which will desig-
nate his books and bring them back to the fold
when they show a tendency to stray. Block print-
ing is also highly effective when used on linens
and silks for a whole variety of interesting articles.
Block printing has unlimited possibilities for de-
sign for costumes stressing the peasant or dirndl
influence.

The preserving of baby shoes by mounting them
on book ends is one of the most popular of craft
ideas. The baby shoe is mounted on a wooden
base, the base carved to represent a book. Then
the shoe is filled with white modeling plaster and
allowed to "set." Even the wrinkles and the bent
over shapes of the tiny shoes may be preserved
this way. When the plaster is dry the book ends
may be antiqued white or painted with silver, gold
or bronze and preserved indefinitely.

Cork is an inexpensive and practical material
from which book marks, luncheon place mats, hot
pads, coasters, bracelets and many other small
projects may be made. Cork may be easily cut out
with a sharp knife or scissors and can be decorated
with water colors, oil paints, or drawing ink.

Leathercraft has always been, and undoubtedly
will continue to be, one of the popular crafts of
the shop. The first of the year, however, we are
introducing suede for jackets, hats, gloves, belts
and other costume accessories. This leather which
is high style now is a soft pliable and durable
leather, and may be obtained in a wide variety of
attractive colors. Remember that after you cut
the main article the suede scraps may be used for
coin purses, coat flowers, or applique designs.

Shaggy rugs are popular with matrons. Yards
of canvas and a heavy wrapping cord very much
like chenille provide the materials. The canvas is
the base for the rug and may be cut any desired
size or shape. The chenille is wound ten times
around a heavy cardboard, 3^" by 3^2". Then
the chenille is clipped at each end of the card-
board and the center sewed to the canvas with
(Continued on page 584)

A Different Kind of Little Theater

An interesting community pro-
ject in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin,
is a Children's Theater Guild
in which a group of non- pro-
fessional adults is presenting
plays exclusively for children

By
ETHYL PINE VAN HERCKE

BECAUSE the women of a community in
Wisconsin determined that their chil-
dren should not grow up without
creative as well as recreational advan-
tages, a different kind of little theater has
come into being in Wauwatosa. It is not
the kind that keeps children from doing
their homework for there is ample time
for reading, writing, and arithmetic ; and
there are glorious hours left for skating
and swimming. Children are not the per-
formers in the Children's Theater Guild
of Wauwatosa. They are the audience that shrieks
with delight at the antics of Billy Graybeard or
Jack-in-the-Box. Mothers, teachers, and fathers
I with such professional letters as M.D. and D.D.S.
tacked onto their names do all the acting, for Miss
Marjorie Colton, a teacher in the public schools
j who directs the stage plays, believes that parents
and teachers have a better understanding of child
| psychology and can portray characters from the
j world of fantasy more successfully than can
professionals.

A Wauwatosa mother, Mrs. Clarence Muth,
| originated the idea and interested the Parent-
I Teacher Association and Superintendent of
[Schools, Professor William Darling, in the proj-
ect. And then the entire community became inter-
ested. High school students set to work making
[posters; scenery was painted, and scenery shift-
I ers were engaged. Boy Scouts were trained to act
'as ushers and received credit from their units for
j their services in the project. With the whole com-

Milwaukee Journal Photo

The Wauwatosa Children's Theater Guild
in a presentation of "Hans Brinlcer"

munity designing stage settings and costumes and
with mothers and WPA workers making the cos-
tumes, the village has been very happy about its
community project.

Funds are raised for materials, costumes, and
for equipment by the sale of tickets through the
schools, and the plays are held in the high school
auditorium. Because of the large attendance it
has been necessary to limit the sale of tickets, and
at a number of performances many children had
to be turned away. A partial remedy for this has
been found in the sale of season tickets and in
repeat performances. However, a new high school
will soon be completed, and the new auditorium,
it is believed, will accommodate all the children
who want to come.

At the close of every performance the children
are loathe to leave, and they are invited to come

549

550

A DIFFERENT KIND OF LITTLE THEATER

across the stage and talk with the actors. More-
over they are urged to express their likes and dis-
likes, and notes are made of their opinions. In
this way a record is secured of the children's
reactions to the plays.

Original Plays Used

Although many plays requiring the payment of
royalties have been presented, the Guild fosters
creative ability by putting on original plays writ-
ten by mothers in the community. Mrs. Harriett
Lightfoot has written a play, "Dottie Calico and
Her Mischievous Rags," which has attracted
state- wide attention. The play, rewritten for
broadcasting, was included in a series of five plays
presented over WTMJ, Milwaukee Journal Sta-
tion, by the fourth and fifth districts of the Par-
ent-Teacher Associations during 1938 and IQ39-
It has been the dream of the Guild that it might
bring these adult performances for children into
the smaller towns and outlying districts so that
children throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, and
Illinois might enjoy this entertainment. Through
these broadcasts this dream is being partially
realized.

The performers are chosen from groups who
come for tryouts, and every effort is made to
select players whose voices carry well rather than
those who have had long dramatic training. From
one unit of twenty players the cast has grown
to three units with a total of approximately sixty
players.

The Plays They Enjoy

Mrs. Muth, who serves as executive director,
is able to determine the types of plays the chil-
dren most enjoy from the information she has
received from questionnaires sent hundreds of
school children. They are, she finds, especially
fond of fairy tales, but the trend seems to be to-
ward stories from real life. On the questionnaires,
which are signed by the parents, the children state
the order of their preference for plays produced
and make suggestions for future performances.

Many requests for performances have come to
the Guild from Parent-Teacher organizations
throughout the state, but because the performers
are engaged in professions in Milwaukee and
Wauwatosa it is not possible to make engagements
at long distances.

Objectives

From the beginning the Guild has had definite
aims :

To set a high standard of entertainment for
children

To develop cultural interest in the theater

To stimulate creative imagination

To set standards of good speech, diction, and
dramatics

To create interest in customs of other lands

To increase knowledge of good literature

To influence behavior patterns by setting ac-
cepted standards of courage, honor, industry,
unselfishness

To bring beauty, laughter, entertainment to those
who cannot afford expensive theater tickets

To foster creative ability in the community

To cooperate in making Wauwatosa "recreation
conscious"

Community Cooperation

Strictly a community project, noncommercial
and experimental, the people of Wauwatosa have
joined hands in preparing and presenting the fall
and spring series, which is usually climaxed by a
circus or marionette show.

The interchanging of plays with other com-
munities, such as Wrest Allis and Shorewood, in-
sures .wholesome entertainment throughout the
year. It brings the children a greater variety of
plays and, according to Mr. Thomas Greenwill,
Wauwatosa Director of Recreation, it is the ideal
recreation for stormy Saturdays.

Like Milwaukee, \Vautwatosa is proud of its
low delinquency record, its freedom from gang
hangouts, and its conspicuously low crime record.
The entire citizenry has become education con-
scious. In almost every family one or more mem-
bers are engaged in studying speech, English,
photography, painting, stenography, knitting,
leather tooling, or short story writing.

Various women's organizations urge the intro-
duction of new and interesting adult courses
which are taught by those successful in their vari-
ous fields in the community. These civic-minded
women have a way of getting what they want
because they go and get it ! They have faith in the
ability of Wauwatosa citizens and give them every
opportunity to develop creative ability.

If any of our readers have information regard-
ing projects similar to the interesting project
which the Wauwatosa Children's Theater Guild is
conducting, we shall be glad to receive accounts
of what is being done so that \ve may publish
additional information in RECREATION.

By

WILLIAM P. WITT

Former Superintendent of Recreation
Seguin, Texas

Ultra Modern Recreation

in a

bmall Community

IN 1938 SEGUIN, TEXAS, a community of 7,500
people, celebrated its centennial, marking a
hundred years of steady growth and develop-
ment. Seguin is a city in its own rights, owning
i its power plant, and distributing water and lights
to its citizens at a nominal fee. The town not only
has been able to stay free of debt, but has stored
up a substantial reserve fund while steadily build-
'ing and making improvements for the past thirty-
ttwo years.

Among the first things the casual visitor will
notice on entering Seguin are such structures as
the new municipal building built of Texas lime-
jbtone and outfitted with all the modern equipment
such as tile floors, Venetian blinds, air condition-
ing, and indirect lighting. On reaching the square,
the visitor sees the massive new courthouse also
of limestone and modern in every respect.

him a white concrete bathhouse and rec-
reation building. On the right is the play-
ground built not only for children but for
adults and furnished with permanent
equipment such as swings, slides, a jungle
-gym, and a concrete sand box with its
sand filter to purify the sand. On the
northwest end of the playground are lo-
cated two asphalt tennis courts well lighted
for night play. In the center of the play-
ground an area 150' by 200' has been set
aside for such games as shuffleboard, badminton,
volleyball, horseshoes, croquet, and teniquoits. This
area has a concrete curbing around it, and each
playing court is provided with a guard rail to
protect the players. There are four concrete shuf-
fleboard courts, two croquet courts, and one each
of the other game courts. The entire area is well
lighted for night play, as is all of the park.

In the northeast corner a lighted stage has been
constructed for community night programs. Last,
but not least, running parallel with the south
fence is an archery range. On the left is a well
kept softball diamond lighted for night play and
equipped with bleachers for spectators. All the
equipment for these activities are obtainable from
a modern storehouse located in the center of the
playground.

The Bathhouse

In Max Starcke Park

One mile south of Seguin, along one of the
seven paved highways leading through the town,
is beautiful Max Starcke Park. This modern rec-
reation plant, which occupies seventy-five acres on
the north bank of the Guadalupe River, is one of
the most complete of its kind in the South. Here
all recreation activities are
planned in one unit.

The Playground

i The visitor enters through a the argument that a small community does not need
wide gate to see just ahead of and cannot support a year- round recreation program

551

The bathhouse has a unique feature in a 40' by
90' dance pavilion on the roof with various col-
ored lights encased all around the wall and with
floodlights for special occasions. Overshadowing
the bathhouse is a massive pecan tree, one of the
several hundred pecan trees scattered over the

A city of 75OO people makes a convincing answer to

552

ULTRA MODERN RECREATION IN A SMALL COMMUNITY

park and along the bank of the river. The bath-
house contains dressing rooms, a large ticket
booth, storage rooms, and a manager's office. The
bathhouse is also equipped with a public address
system so that music is broadcast over the play-
grounds, swimming pool, and golf course for the
added enjoyment of the people at play. Often the
public address system is used to call doctors and
business men off the golf course when they are
needed.

Just west of the recreation building stands the
club house, similar in structure to that of the rec-
reation building. Separating the two buildings is
the swimming pool TOO' by 60', enclosed by a
cyclone fence. The pool is modern in every re-
spect and has been given a fine rating by the
Texas State Health Department in Austin.

Golf Course. A paved road runs through the
park and along the banks of the river to the west
end of the golf course. This road provides a
wonderful drive and affords a fine view of the
entire park. The golf course is one of the best
nine hole courses in the state, and not only has
fine Bermuda grass, but in addition has nine bent
grass greens. These bent grass greens draw golf-
ers from all parts of Texas as they afford an un-
usually fine putting surface. On the north bank
of the river a concrete boat landing has been con-
structed, and boating is enjoyed by many of the
Seguin citizens and visitors.

The Program

The Recreation Department has been organized
on a year-round basis and promotes winter activi-
ties as well as a more expansive summer program.
During the winter months such activities as dance
clubs, City League basketball, boys' clubs, classes
for preschool age children, volleyball leagues,
dramatic clubs, and handcraf t classes are con-
ducted to care for the leisure time of all ages and
types of people in the community. By working
hand in hand with the schools, the Recreation De-
partment has the privilege of using the school
gymnasium facilities in the carrying out of its
winter program. These facilities include the gram-
mar school and college gymnasiums for organized
sports and two of the school auditoriums for
plays. The playgrounds of one of the local schools
is used on Saturdays and after school hours to
promote supervised play for the adolescent boys
and girls.

The summer staff of the Recreation Depart-
ment is composed of the superintendent of recre-

ation, office girl, two bathhouse attendants, three
lifeguards, two playground leaders, and a golf
professional. There is also a maintenance crew
hired on a year-round basis. During the winter
months the staff is cut to the superintendent and
two assistants. During the summer months NYA
girls have been used as extra help when needed;
however, all the regular staff is paid by the city.

Statistics for the period from May 19, 1938 to
September 19, 1938 tell an interesting story. The
picnic units were used by 25,098 people; 26,431
people used the swimming pool; 5,992 people
played golf; 3,101 people played shuffleboard ;
5,1 16 enjoyed ping-pong; 1,821 played tennis ; soft-
ball had a total of 14,000 players and spectators;
1,193 people held private dances on the roof;
community night programs drew 1,400; and the
Fourth of July water pageant attracted 5,000,
making an attendance of 89,152 people for this
period. The financial report for the same period
showed the following receipts : boat concession,
$55.59; golf course, $2,687.92; swimming pool,
$4,538.99; rental from roof, $72.00 — making a
total of $7,354.50 in receipts for the four months'
period.

This successful year-round recreation program
in Seguin proves what a group of civic-minded
people working together toward a set goal can and
did do for a community. Seguin, with its beautiful
buildings, paved highways, and its ultramodern
recreation center, has not only proved an attrac-
tion for the "home folks," but has drawn people
to this modern little city from all parts of the state.

Leadership

Of course, in any progressive community there
must be a leader, and Seguin had an outstanding
one in its former mayor, the Honorable Max
Starcke, who is now operations manager for the
Lower Colorado River Authority. This man, for
ten years mayor of Seguin, had a vision of prog-
ress for the town he loved and, being a man of
action, he has lived to see his dream come true,
supervising the actual work being done.

All the improvements Seguin has made would
not have been possible without the aid of WPA
which has furnished labor for nearly all the proj-
ects sponsored by the city in the last seven years.
Following in the footsteps of Mr. Starcke, the
newly elected mayor, the Honorable Roger W.
Moore, is continuing to lead the way in the pro-
gressive movement already started in Seguin.
(Continued on page 585)

Recreation for Children in a Democracy

IS THERE a difference in the play and
recreation available to Pat, age
eleven, living in Burnett County, Wisconsin,
and Henry, the same age, living in Milwaukee?
Why doesn't Jane's mother understand why a girl
of twelve should be allowed to go with other boys
and girls to the church social? What can parents
do about Johnny — ever since he had that cold last
winter, he doesn't seem to have any appetite or
energy enough to play? And how can a mother
attend the class on "Child Behavior Problems"
when her own child, age six, has to be taken care
of all day?

If we want all our children, thirty-six million
of them, to grow into the democratic way of life
with healthy minds and bodies, what do we need
to do? This question comes before the White
House Conference on Children in a Democracy
which meets in Washington this January. Six hun-
dred members will discuss recommendations for
improved recreation along with problems of
family income, economic aid, health and medical
care, social services, housing, schooling, religion
and family life. As a setting for the Conference
a brief resume is given here of the present situa-
tion in the light of the last ten years of progress.*

Our organized recreation resources are a. part
of industry, government, private organizations
and associations. These organized resources re-
flect the natural advantages of the land and the
capacity of the people who live on it. These re-
sources are inter-dependent ; none of them affects
the problems of leisure independently. This
resume does not deal with natural resources and
the capacities of our people. They are, howevj^r,
no less important. Our organized forms of rec-
reation are but the signposts which indicate the
needs and desires of people and the way in which
we have set about to meet them.

What Money Can Buy

Some of our biggest national industries cater
primarily to the leisure interests of people. Our
radio resources have quadrupled during the last
ten years. Out of a total of 32,500,000 homes in
this country, 27,500,000 had radios on January I,
K)3Q. These radios are used on the average of

* The reader is urged to refer to the
current series of articles in Harpers
Magazine called "Since Yesterday" as

By IRMA RINGE

they give us a graphic picture of the
whole "social climate" of the riineteen-
thirties, and remind us that it has been
ten years of "portentious change: ten
years of Depression and New Deal,
against a disturbingly altered back-
ground of international dissension ^nd
totalitarian advance, leading to war."

Miss Ringe was a member of the re-
search staff of the White House Con-
ference on Children in a Democracy.
This article reviews the progress of
recreation over the past ten years.

four and a half hours daily — rural
families using the radio more each
day than urban families. The most popular radio
programs for young people are variety and com-
edy features like Fred Allen and Major Bowes.

Movie going has not quite recovered from the
effects of the depression. In 1938, the average
weekly attendance was eighty-five million; in
1930, one hundred and ten million. About one-
third of all persons attending are below the age of
sixteen. The favorite movies of young people are
closely related to their radio interests, running to
musical spectacles, adventure and comedy.

With the possible exception of theaters in a few
of our largest metropolitan centers and the pro-
gram of the former Federal Project of the WPA,
the legitimate theater has no large effect on the
leisure of our population. Some are asking the
question whether recreation agencies have capi-
talized much more on youthful knowledge and
enthusiasm for music as developed through the
radio than they have an interest in acting and plays.
Reading is often voted the most popular pas-
time of young people. However, estimates show
that not more than one-fourth of the reading
population reads books. Bookstores, like libraries,
are still urban institutions; approximately 51% of
our population, especially in rural areas, live in
communities without bookstores. Magazine read-
ers outnumber book readers six to one. During
the last ten years picture magazines such as Life,
Look, Pic came into being and have gained large
circulation. Most popular of all are our daily
newspapers, roughly two thousand of them,
reaching a total circulation of forty million daily.
The features best liked by the younger members
of the family are the life and fortunes of "Orphan
Annie" and other comic strip characters, puzzles,
contests and continued adventure stories.

Traveling, especially by the automobile, to visit
friends, parks and resorts is also a great favorite.
During the depression travel suffered compara-
tively less than other forms of commercial recre-
ation. This was largely due to increased domestic
travel by car.

In addition to these larger groupings, there are
niany types of recreation which
money buys as sporting goods,
athletic equipment, games, and
all the paraphernalia and ac-
cessories that go with hobbies.
Expenditures for these types

553

554

RECREATION FOR CHILDREN IN A DEMOCRACY

of items were estimated as being between fifty to
two hundred million dollars in 1935-

Who Buys Recreation?

The ability of families to buy these items of
recreation varies directly with the amount of in-
come which the family receives. What is our
family income? In 1935, 42 per cent of our fami-
lies had incomes less than $1,000 a year; 65 per
cent received less than $1,500 a year ; 87 per cent
less than $2,500 a year. Above this level there
were about 10 per cent with incomes up to $5,000 ;
about 2 per cent receiving between $5-$io,ooo and
i per cent with incomes of $10,000 or more. The
rural farm family"" the low income wage earner
and the unemployed, and people in the south and
other depressed areas, have disproportionately low
incomes. These facts are important to all mem-
bers of the Conference on Children in a De-
mocracy. They are of special concern to those
interested in recreation because these groups are
the least able to purchase recreational goods and
services.

Even within the same income groups, that is,
for two families each having four children and
each an income of $1,200, there exists a wide
variation in the kind of recreation which can be
bought, depending on where the family lives. The
same items of newspapers, movies, organization
fees, toys and tobacco may cost one family $87 a
year in Binghamton, New York, and the other
family $62 a year because they live in Kansas
City. A wide variation like this makes a big dif-

ference to a family
which must pinch the
pennies in order to
provide the necessities
of life.

Community Recrea-
tion Agencies, Public
and Private

Community recrea-
tion programs carried
out by recreation com-
missions, park depart-
ments, school boards
and other local gov-
ernment agencies are
reported each year in
the June issue of this
magazine. We should j
take great encourage-
ment in the fact that

by 1938, local public recreation bodies had re-
cuped all of the losses sustained in the depression
and in many respects reached new levels of ac- •
complishment. The number of cities reporting
new re'creation bodies, the number of new play-
grounds, the number of playgrounds open all year, •
the number of people employed full time (47 per
cent more than in 1932), the number of facilities \
used, the number of participants, all show large
and important gains. All such facts show that we
have made excellent progress. We still have a
large job ahead in holding gains such as these and
in eliminating the inequalities which exist among
cities, states and regions. We have states of large
population with but one city having a public rec-
reation agency; we have public recreation bodies
able to employ only part-time workers ; we have
many programs operating only during the summer
months ; we have too few activities especially de- .
signed for the physically handicapped child; we
have paid less attention than we ought to the child
with personality difficulties. All this we know
means a long and hard job ahead with splendid
rewards for all citizens who share in the shaping
and making of the programs as well as for those
who enjoy the fun!

Studies made in 1925, 1930 and 1935 show that
during these ten years total park acreage in-
creased 49 per cent. In the years 1930-35, facili-
ties for active recreation such as athletic fields,
swimming pools, golf courses, and play shelters
made important relative gains and show a grow-

RECREATION FOR CHILDREN IN A DEMOCRACY

555

ing popular demand for this type of recreation.
These gains reflect the use of federal funds in
recreation construction. The progress recorded in
many park statistics is heartening. We have our
eyes, however, on the many cities (three fourths
of those reporting) that are far below standards
established for park acreage; on the cities, espe-
cially those in the five to ten thousand population
group that have no parks at all ; and on all those
active recreation facilities that have no leaders or
supervisors to teach Johnny to swim and help
Mary to know more about flowers than just
"Don't Pick !"

Our school buildings are being increasingly used
for community recreation. As a result, new con-
struction includes such features as nursery schools,
auditoriums, social rooms, shops and outside play
spaces. The multiple use of school buildings has
been excellently illustrated through articles ap-
pearing in the Architectural Forum, Architectural
Record and Progressive Education. Those phases
of the school curriculum concerned with health
and physical education are coming to be closely
identified with recreation. We have also many
examples of ways in which school administrators
are conferring with parents and recreation di-
rectors to plan children's play centers, nursery
schools, camps and social-recreational activities
for young people out of school. Of special con-
kern to us is the fact that schools themselves often
lack funds to keep the doors open from nine to
five for 190 days in
the year for their own
educational program.
'.Knowing as we do
that the outcomes of
education and recrea-
tion are so closely re-
lated, persons desiring
io see further use of
the school as a com-
munity center (espe-
cially in rural areas)
will have to face
squarely, with educa-
tors, the issues in-
volved. The results of
several outstanding
educational studies,
| such as those made by
'the President's Advis-
jory Committee on Ed-
'ucation, by the Educa-

tional Policies Commission, by the American
Youth Commission and also the report of the New
York State Regent's Inquiry should be familiar
to recreation directors. The January meeting of
the Conference will give special consideration to
the problem of an adequate schooling for all
children.

The chance of having a good book to read on a
rainy afternoon is rather slim for many children.
Seventy-four per cent of our rural population are
without public library service. To get books to
children and to make it possible for them to pur-
sue hobby interests on their own, we must have
additional public libraries.

Before ending our list of public agencies, we
must also count in the local museum and art gal-
lery, the health agency, the housing authority,
police department and welfare department. All
of these help out in locating neglected groups, in
working out programs for these groups and in
strengthening and diversifying the activities which
the community provides for its children as well
as adults.

National private organizations like the Boy and
Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, Boys Clubs of
America are often represented in the community.
The combined membership of these organizations
is two million boys and girls. In the larger cities,
other national agencies such as the Y.W. and
Y.M.C.A.'s, the Y.M. and Y.M.H.A.'s have local
units. Sometimes communities have settlements,

Courtesy U. S. Housing Authority — Photo by Sckaer

556

RECREATION FOR CHILDREN IN A DEMOCRACY

educational alliances and welfare, associations
which have no direct affiliation to a similar na-
tional body. These agencies often receive their
funds, along with other private welfare organiza-
tions, from Community Chests. Approximately
one fourth of all Community Chest Funds are ap-
propriated for leisure services, many of which are
designed especially for children. In some 306
cities the financial consolidation has brought about
community coordination and planning through
Councils of Social Agencies. Within the last sev-
eral years, some of the larger cities have created
in these Councils a special division on recreation
or group work in order to give membership or-
ganizations continuous planning and advisory as-
sistance. Membership in Councils of Social agen-
cies includes both members and non-members of
the Chest.

The whole field of recreation has advanced
through the special emphasis which private agen-
cies have given, and are giving, to the problems of
leisure. Their best examples are the utilization of
volunteer leaders, the participation of citizens in
planning and advisory committees, provision of
programs for special groups, and the making of
community studies and surveys. All these are of
great importance and point to the fact the private
agencies have vital functions. Special studies in-
dicate that the participation of children from low
income groups is disproportionately small in some
organizations, that many centers are in need of
improvement and repair, that more funds are
spent for boys than for girls, and that the smaller
towns and rural areas are often not reached at
all by units of many of the national private
organizations.

Your state has no distinct permanent organiza-
tion for recreation, either public or private. There
may be recreational functions carried out in con-
nection with public education, state parks and
forests, conservation, works, health, and welfare,
and planning agencies, but these are usually all
carried out by a department which subordinates
the recreational phases to the major responsibilities
of the particular office. With few exceptions,
most of these functions are carried out in each
office as though no one outside the jurisdiction of
that office, were performing related or similar
functions. The 1938 Yearbook of the National
Park Service, Park and Recreation Progress, dis-
cusses the problem of state recreation organization
in connection with an article on "Federal Grants-
in-Aid for Recreation." The question is fairly

new to us and it probably will be of increasing
importance as we attempt to develop inter-com-
munity cooperation within the state and coordina-
tive relationship with the types of assistance
available from different federal bureaus and
departments.

State Park and Forest acreage on January I,
1939 totaled over six million acres for our nation.
One half of this acreage lies in two states — New
York and Michigan. The addition of four more
states — California, Massachusetts, Montana, and
Texas — accounts for over 70 per cent of this
total. Reports show that state parks devoted to
active recreation and providing day-use facilities
within reasonable distance of metropolitan centers
are inadequate. Virtually no state park facilities
for Negroes exist ; this is a particularly serious
matter in our southern states.

Some state planning agencies have given special
emphasis to recreation. Although surveys and re-
ports are often confined to tourist vacationing and
land planning, they show a growing appreciation
of the broader aspects of state planning for the
leisure of all the people.

Your national government during the past ten
years has done more in the field of recreation than
in any other decade. Much of this came about
through programs to give employment to the un-
employed and to speed the return of purchasing
power. As a result, public recreation made rapid
advances and has given us an indication of popu-
lar response to opportunities for play and recrea-
tion. The last decade has seen tremendous in-
terest and participation in informal games and less
pretentious sports as camping, softball, tennis,
swimming, archery, handball and the like. Much
of this was made possible through the aid and
assistance of federal funds.

The record of the achievements of the federal
agencies justifies more elaborate treatment than
can be given here. We must keep in mind that
many programs and new social legislation directly
affects the leisure of our population through reg-
ulating hours of work, extending economic aid,
electrifying rural homes, giving employment,
making possible continuing education, clearing
slums, and extending of health services. Affect-
ing recreation more directly are the programs of
the National Park Service, Forest Service, Ex-
tension Division of the Department of Agricul-
ture, Work Projects Administration, Natioiaal
Youth Administration, Civilian Conservation
(Continued on page 585)

Bicycling — the Sport That Came Back!

With bicycle sales mounting into astonishingly high figures; with
cities setting aside bicycle trails in their parks and passing or-
dinances controlling the licensing of bicycles and their use; with
the formation of bicycle clubs everywhere and the growing con-
cern on the part of municipalities for making the sport as safe as
Possible, there can be no question of the popularity of bicycling!

Biking Makes the Headlines

By LORNE C RICKERT

Director of Recreation
Ocean City, New Jersey

IN THIS DAY and age when thousands of people
are lulled into passivity by "easy" recreation,
biking strikes an interestingly new note. There
are many reasons why this old sport has been re-
vived and is again coming into its own. Foremost,
perhaps, is the economic one. Children are no
longer taught that there will be two cars in every
garage. Although many have still to make the
discovery, the bicycle is one of the best ways of
getting there at low cost. Still others look at
pedaling purely from the health angle. Groups of
middle-aged men and women cyclists are not an
uncommon sight on the

boardwalks of many of .... , ,

Milwaukee boys go

under the sponsorsh

our beach cities and on trails throughout the
country.

Biking is becoming more and more a social ac-
tivity. In its reincarnation it has blossomed forth
as a group activity. As a means of getting there
in a hurry the bicycle still leaves much to be de-
sired ; as a way of really seeing the countryside
it has few rivals. It will take you along smooth
highways, over gravel roads, through thickets, and
when finally a path is no longer available it can be
pushed with little effort. By virtue of these char-
acteristics, the bicycle can take you to places in-
accessible by automobile. Since the greatest speed
you can attain is merely "loafing," by modern
standards, you can linger long enough really to
enjoy your surroundings. We are prone nowa-
days to appraise scenery by the extensive amount
rather than to value it for its intensive worth.

Outside of these arguments, biking gives one a
feeling of achievement and

adventuring in Michigan
ip of the Optimist Club

mastery. Recreation lead-

Coiirtesy Cycle Trades, Inc.

557

558

BICYCLING— THE SPORT THAT CAME BACK!

Courtesy Cycle Trades, 'Inc.

ers are becoming more and more convinced, in a
world with so much of it vicariously and synthe-
tically enjoyed, that recreation involving activity
and exertion of some kind, whether mental or
physical, as biking does, has an exhilarative and
a strengthening effect.

Blazing the Trail

Last June the author was one of a party of
eight pioneers who circled the city of Milwaukee
on a trail-blazing bike trip in which a route, mostly
over secondary roads and by-paths, was charted.
Among the cyclists were Sam Snead, Boy Scout
Commissioner, who had visualized such a trail for
the scouts, Harold S.. (Zip) Morgan, Milwaukee's
Director of Municipal Athletics, and Louis Pier-
ron, grand old man of bicycling, who has reached
the age of 69 on a steady diet of bike trips.* It
was felt by the sponsors that this expedition
would do much to eliminate the danger of pedal-
ing through heavily-traveled thoroughfares and

JICAL uiiuiuay. in Ly&y jie pcuaieu nom iviiiwauKee 10 me
Pacific coast and last summer to the New York World's Fair,
covering a hundred miles per day. He is also a co'lector of
old bicycles, of which he has accumulated a rare display,
including many "jallopies" of ancient vintage.

traffic hazards. The end product
of the trip was a map showing
biking enthusiasts how to circle
Milwaukee through beautiful sur-
roundings without becoming in-
volved in traffic snarls. Added
to the map was a prospectus
showing the outing and camping
facilities of the various county
parks through which the expedi-
tion had passed.

Organizing the Trip

Encouraged by their leaders,
Milwaukee recreation workers
have organized bike hikes with
great success. To promote these,
much persuasive effort was nec-
essary, since group bike trips are
still something comparatively
new. But club leaders had suffici-
ent faith in the worth of biking
as a co-recreational group activity
to see it through its darkest
hours. Much advertising was done
through posters, bulletin board
notices, and personal solicitation.
The first trip undertaken from the Auer Avenue
Social Center on a gray, threatening, fall day in-
terested only nine participants. The following
spring a brief notice resulted in a turnout of over
twenty. There is every indication that subsequent
outings of this nature will bring even wider par-
ticipation with less effort, so thoroughly has bik-
ing sold itself. A promotional short cut can be
made by having some club or gang already in ex-
istence sponsor the trip and invite friends. For
reasons of safety, and because leadership will suf-
fer if too many make the trip, twenty or so is a
desirable number.

"Zip" Morgan, who has done a great deal of
hosteling here and abroad, suggests that each one
of the party on a bike trip be given some respon-
sibility. One of his Milwaukee expeditions in-
cluded a mechanic, a navigator, and a photog-
rapher, and the boys who were given these
assignments actually studied and practiced their
prospective duties ! The recreation leader is in-
terested largely in short excursions which can be
organized readily at a recreation center, which are
not too strenuous for girls and boys and require
no previous training. Assignments in the way of
program planning should, however, be made. If

BICYCLING — THE SPORT THAT CAME BACK!

559

a club is sponsoring the trip, interest can be in-
creased by selecting, by democratic methods, such
officials as mess masters, navigators, chief repair-
men. Recreation leaders should never forget to
make promotional partners out of boys and girls
by giving them certain responsibilities on the trip.
A round trip of from twelve to thirty miles is
suggested. If a greater distance is chosen there
will be stragglers. Furthermore, much of the at-
traction of the bike hike will be the program at
the destination, so be sure to leave plenty of time
and energy for that.

A Co-Recreational Trip

A co-ed bike trip was undertaken with unusual
success at Ocean City, New Jersey, on Novem-
ber loth. High school students, when queried,
showed great interest in mixed biking. The
Teachers' Convention provided the day off neces-
sary for the occasion. The local newspaper as-
sisted greatly in publicizing the event. Sixteen
boys and girls participated. At the destination,
seven miles from their starting point, the group,
divided into teams of boys and girls, were soon
busy carrying stones from a nearby rock pile to
the fireplaces they were constructing. In a short
time they were happily roasting hot -dogs, apples,
and marshmallows on a mound overlooking the
nearby lake. A treasure hunt over the surround-
ing countryside followed, with the losers required
to remain behind the winners all the way back.
And, to the prospective promoter of bike trips —
by all means take along a camera! Good times
recorded on film always whet the appetite for
more such fun and will do much to encourage
others to try it.

Touring on a Bike

There is no doubt but that the American Youth
Hostels have added impetus to the biking move-
ment. This organization has made bike outings
possible at a dollar a day, including food and lodg-
ings. In making the Milwaukee loop the cyclists
stopped at the Wauwatosa Hostel, where the con-
genial house parents gave them a friendly greet-
ing. These hostels have been set up to serve
those traveling under their own power and extend,
chain-like, across various sections of the country.
Two days of pedaling was recommended in mak-
ing the sixty-eight-mile loop, with an overnight
stop at the ffiauwatosiK Hostel. The hostels pro-
vide, for more sanguine bike enthusiasts, an op-

portunity really to "go places" at a trivial cost
which can be met by anyone.

There are quicker ways of getting about when
one is pressed for time, but pedaling is providing
a new source of pleasure for lovers of the out-
doors. There is little likelihood that the bicycle
will again be used to any great extent by men and
women going to work ; the renaissance has brought
the bicycle bark for other uses. If you have
plenty of time, the bike will get you there rea-
sonably soon — and with a great deal more pleas-
ure. People are again beginning to appreciate
their scenery intensively, where the rule has been
to scan it extensively. More and more couples are
spending bicycle vacations. The little black patches
that whiz by automobile windows have become a
revelation to them. Groups are issuing from meet-
ing places throughout the country for social rec-
reation, the occasion being a renaissance of the
versatile little black steed. Theirs is the delight of
mastery, the opportunity to ride side by side and
really to see what lies behind those grotesque
images many of the American public are letting
slip by.

Safety for Cyclers

By JESSIE SCHOFIELD

Superintendent of Public Recreation
Salt Lake City, Utah

IN RECENT YEARS, the revival of interest in bi-
cycling by young and old alike has opened a
new problem for park and recreation departments.
What used to be a means of locomotion, as well
as sport, for people during the gay nineties is now
a leading pastime. Its value as a mode of exer-
cise as well as enjoyment is unsurpassed.

Bicycle clubs have had a mushroom growth.
Bicycle shops have included rental of machines by
the hour and new shops have been opened to meet
the needs of the revival. Not only is the small
boy riding more but his older sisters and brothers,
and mother and father as well, are finding the joy
and activity that comes from balancing down the
road on two wheels.

This development in bicycling presents problems
to a modern city. Gone are the lanes winding
around the countryside. Gone are the dirt roads
with slow moving horse and buggies. In their
places are paved streets with fast moving traffic.

560

BICYCLING— THE SPORT THAT CAME BACK!

some are parallel to them. The lanes traverse some
of the lovely beauty spots in the park. They are
lined with trees and consequently are lovely and
cool. They have solved the problem of bicycling
there.

A rack is provided at one of the entrances to
the bicycle trail where bicycles may be locked
while the owners participate in other activities the
park affords. Bicycle shops cooperate by telling
new patrons of the bicycle lanes.

The project has been so well received that
tracks or lanes are being built in other parks.
Salt Lake City is hoping to increase the interest in
cycling, yet decrease its traffic hazards.

Bicycling is easier on a hard-surfaced road, but
safety comes before pleasure. Sidewalks are safer
than the street for a small boy on a bicycle, but
when riding there he is a hazard to the pedes-
trian for whom sidewalks were built.

Last year, the Police Department in Salt Lake
City was asked by the Parent-Teacher Association
to provide a safe place for boys and girls to ride
their bicycles. The matter was referred to the
Park Department.

For the last few years the park roads have been
closed to automobiles in the early morning hours
and reserved for bicycle riding. It is great fun,
in the cool, crisp hours of the morning, to cycle
around the park, but when the day's traffic starts
to roll, when the park drives are filled with an
ever-streaming maze of cars, bicycle riders are in
jeopardy.

A year ago, under the supervision of P. H.
Goggin, Commissioner of Parks and Public Prop-
erty for Salt Lake City, a forward step was made
to provide a safe, yet enjoyable place in which
to cycle.

When Liberty Park, the largest park in Salt
Lake City, was built, a bridle path was con-
structed. With the growth of the city, horseback
riding and riding academies moved nearer the
canyons. The bridle paths, idle for many years,
were converted into lanes
for bicycle riding only. ^ ^ .n ^ ^ ^ ^ ized in 1935. The program

Signs were made of gal- parks has b£come a blcyde ^ apd fhe7pe includes breakfast rides, all

are signs to direct the cycler on his way

In Other Cities

Manhattan, Kansas. The Manhattan Bicycle
Club was organized by the students of the Junior
High School in 1937. Committees drew up a code,
a set of rules, a membership card, and a license
card. The Safety Council of the Chamber of
Commerce and the City Commissioners approved
and endorsed the club.

Boston, Mass. The Boston Bicycle Club is a
famous old organization which celebrated its 6oth
anniversary in 1938.

Reading, Pa. The Junior and Senior Bicycling
Clubs for girls were organ-

vanized iron
and painted
with "This
Walk for Bi-
cycles Only" or
"This Walk Set
Aside for Bi-
cycle Riding,"
and others,
"End of Lane."
A sign of some
sort was placed
at strategic
parts to desig-
nate the lanes.

Pedestrians
are asked to use
regular walks.
The lanes do
do not cross
any traffic
drives, though

day rides, sca-
venger hunts,
picnic rides,
splash rides,
and overnight
camping trips.
New York
City. The Col-
lege Cycle Club
has "no dues,
no fees, no
charges, no
mailing list."
All expenses
are shared.
Last July and
August the
Club made a
tour of Mexi-
co, traveling
about fifty
miles a day.

The Twenty- Fourth Recreation Congress

One who stood in the "marketplace of Play"
gives her impression of the wares offered!

WE STOOD in the market-
place of Play and list-
ened to the merchants
calling their wares.

They were selling us a merchandise that had
strange weave and lustre. For one booth hung
qut a baseball bat and a deep knee bend; one a
square dance and a woven basket; one the grave
cloth of citizenship; and still another the hunger
of the spirit. But they were all play; they were
the wares these merchants were selling.

The men from the hills and valleys and the sea-
coasts who came with the pennies of their under-
standing to buy merchandise might well have felt
intent, confused. They walked in the bazaar of
Bagdad, with many a bright and glittering ware
hung out for their gaze. There were many voices
among the merchants. There was the salty, bal-
anced voice of Boston Town; the schooled and
adult tone of New York State ; the young and
lusty and adventurous voice of the Middle West ;
the gentle plea of the South ; the bland, alert ac-
cent of the West Coast. The music of the drum
and bugle playing in the square was a fine com-
panionship, and the Inn at the corner gave for
food the strong dish of opinion.

The travelers threw down their pennies and
bought lavishly. They carried home hope in their
knapsacks, and memories in a silver wrapping,
and the new dependable tools of their business.
One traveler told his fellow that his merchandise
was a fruit that the more he pared, the more skins
appeared, urgent and unfamiliar. And the scribes
of Boston Town listened and wrote, so that the
fame of the marketplace spread very widely.

The host at the Inn that fed the travelers was
not a man, but a spirit. He was the spirit of a
man who held that education could get more from
one wide-eyed rebel than from a regiment of con-
formists. A first-hand man, acquainted with
laughter; a man who thought that playgrounds
were a right thing for children, so spent his life
working to provide them — a man called Joseph
Lee. His spirit was omnipresent. You could feel

By JOSEPHINE BLACKSTOCK

Director of Playgrounds
Oak Park, Illinois

his fingers closing about the
gavel that — made from a tree
on the host's own grounds by
Ernst Hermann, a great player
in his own right — presided over the proceedings
when the merchantmen and travelers met to share
their notions of an evening.

But the host had left his mantle to another man
who carried on in his stead and assigned the
guests to the rooms of thought in the Inn. He
was John H. Finley, a man with a heart that the
years could not touch, and a mind that knew both
old and new wisdoms.

And what of the wares? There was the distaff
and shuttle of Abba Hillel Silver, who contended
that men supplemented the deficiencies of human
life with the arts, with sports, with play, holding
that the creative use of free time was one of the
great pillars that upheld the nation's temple of
Government. There was the man who set up the
scaffolding of the marketplace, Thomas E. Rivers.
There was the purple and fine linen trappings
of the booth of six great teachers, Ernest M. Best,
Daniel L. March, Leonard Carmichael, William
Mather Lewis, Paul D. Moody and Hugh P.
Baker, who thought that leisure was the time men
had to serve the community, that play was the
revitalizing thing that gave men strength, ability
and faith, that extracted a new alchemy from
friendship. There was the solidly decked counter
of Paul V. McNutt with its wares of recreation
come-of-age. There was play and happiness, the
branch of aloe that Frank Kingdon made to blos-
som. There was Ralph L. Lee selling the con-
vincing theme that in the freedom of compulsion
and the liberty to indulge natural desires, lay the
backbone of recreation, while Henry W. Holmes
leant across the years and evoked the flavor, the
thrill, the humor and the glory of play in tribute
to the spirit of Joseph Lee.

The warp and woof of every ware in the mar-
ketplace was a national way of life, and the dis-
cussion leaders laid out a many-sided fabric for
the buyers. There was Tarn Deering's stress on

561

562

THE TWENTY -FOURTH RECREATION CONGRESS

JOSEPH LEE

He was host, in spirit, at the
Inn which fed the travelers

the qualities that go to make up leaders; V. K.
Brown, pioneering man, who contended that rec-
reation must be experienced in order to savor its
reality ; Otto T. Mallery, who has tasted play and
known its bounty; Charles English, who believed
that men should build abilities to discriminate,
judge and set standards both for themselves and
their community; William G. Vinal, knowing
some wise things about natural laws and forces ;
A. D. Zanzig, who had caught some native rhythm,
some beat of men's hearts ; George H jelte, giving
sound counsel in the protection of a national way
of living; Harry Overstreet setting new bounds
and horizons ; Ethel Bowers, wise and tried in her
skills; Eva W. White, who offered sage counsel
in the training of leaders ; and there were the tem-
pered and witty adages of Franklin Dunham.

And lastly there was a man who stood back
while others took the kudos and hurrahs, one
Howard Braucher, who thought that buildings
might crumble and disappear, but Socrates, Aris-
totle, Plato, the words of the Sermon on the
Mount and the Man who wrote the Sermon,
would never be forgotten; Howard Braucher,
who would rather have helped free a person like
Joseph Lee to live and work and play as he did
than to have built all the buildings of the world.

The sun set and the shadows gathered, and the
bright wares were folded and put away, and the
banners struck. The travelers journeyed home
with full hearts. Many of them felt the assurance
that there was growing up a new social conscious-
ness in their country, a new knowledge and pride
in its native crafts and music, its legends and
dances; a new belief in the right of every man to
dignity of living; a new responsibility for a form
of Government that lays down the pursuit of
happiness as one of its planks. One traveler had
the feeling that in that overflowing marketplace,
perhaps only one kind of merchandise had failed
to be laid openly enough on the counter, the
primary and major motive of play — joy, that
essence golden and unassailable, of the wares
called Play.

JOHN H. FINLEY

He "assigned the guests to the
rooms of thought at the Inn"

"One cannot catch in cold type the real meaning
or even the essence of the Boston Recreation Con-
gress. . . . One must actually attend a Congress to
feel the power of the recreation movement. This
was true of the Twenty-Fourth National Recrea-
tion Congress in Boston. This meeting in the
home of Joseph Lee was especially blessed. His
memory and his spirit seemed to hover about us
throughout the week." — T. E. Rivers, Secretary,
Recreation Congress Committee.

Education Moves Out —

Abandoned school buildings may
be valuable recreational assets

Recreation Moves In

By THOMAS W. LANTZ

Superintendent of Public Recreation
Reading, Pennsylvania

THE UTT^r; red school house will soon be a.
thing of the past. School enrollments are on
the decrease, but the urban school- built in the
late nineties and now abandoned by school dis-
tricts, still has possibilities. The heating plant
might be inadequate, the building an architectural
monstrosity, nevertheless, eight rooms in an out-
moded school building can be made useful for
recreation purposes.

This has been successfully demonstrated in
Reading, Pennsylvania, where a tremendous
building program on the part of the Reading
School District over the past ten years, aided by
the allocation of PWA funds, has resulted in the
abandonment of several frade school buildings
for the large consolidated unit.

An Interracial Committee of the Council of
Social Agencies, of which the superintendent of
recreation is a member, was the instrument for
acquiring the use of the first abandoned school
building. For a period of one year the Interracial
Committee gathered facts from the Bureau of
Census on the number of Negroes in each ward
of the city, studied the needs and objectives of an
Interracial Center, and figured costs to submit
! later on when the Board of Education/Board of
i Recreation and City Council were approached.

Finally, the Interracial Committee ap-
pealed to the Board of Education for the
use of an unused grade school building
with the understanding that the building
would be turned over to the Board of
Recreation to administer and finance. The
committee, composed of Negroes and
white citizens, was immediately granted
the use of the old building.
The Interracial Committee had already secured
the cooperation of the Board of Recreation in the
financing of the new project, and the Board had
included an item in the recreation budget. Both
the Board of Recreation and the Interracial Com-
mittee appeared before City Council at budget
meetings and the request for money to finance the
leadership, supplies, coal and light, was granted
without question.

Today, a nineteenth century grade school is be-
ing used for a twentieth century recreation pro-
gram. Eight spacious rooms formerly used for
readin', writin' and 'rithmetic are the recreation
rooms of the children and adults. The first floor
of the old school lends itself admirably for a com-
bination library and office, a table tennis room, a
fully equipped boxing room and a quiet game room.
On the second floor there are an arts and craft
room, a space for sewing and home economics, a
combination room used for music, dramatics,
clubs, and an active game room. Shower baths
have been installed in the basement.

A Craft Shop in One School
Now that the precedent has been set by the
Board of Education, and because of the success-
ful operation of the Interracial Center, other
(Continued on page 587)

563

Robert Marshall

ROBERT MARSHALL,
Chief of the Divi-
sion of Recreation
and Lands, United States
Forest Service, died sud-
denly on Saturday, No-
vember n, 1939, while
traveling from Washing-
ton to New York City.

"Bob" Marshall, as he
was known to everyone,
was born on January 2,
1901. He was graduated
from the College of For-
estry, Syracuse Univer-
sity, in 1924, took gradu-
ate work at Harvard
Forest School, and re-
ceived a Ph.D. from
Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity in 1930 in the study
of plant physiology.

Bob entered the Forest
Service on June 19, 1925,

as Junior Forester at the Northern Rocky Moun-
tain Experiment Station, and was promoted to
Assistant Silviculturist in August 1927. In 1928,
after a leave of absence on other scientific work,
he resigned from the Forest Service to become
Director of Forestry, United States Indian Ser-
vice, Washington, D. C., a position which he held
until May 1937, when he returned to the Forest
Service as Chief of the Division of Recreation and
Lands. He was a Senior Member of the Society
of American Foresters, Explorers Club and Wil-
derness Society.

While in the Indian Service, he was instru-
mental in obtaining a higher degree of participa-
tion by the Indians, in the management of their
forest and range resources. He was a leading
factor in the establishment of approximately
4,829,000 acres of Indian reservation land as
roadless and wild areas.

As Chief of the Division of Recreation and
Lands, his leadership was particularly effective in
crystallizing the Forest Service's recreation poli-
cies as a whole, and in emphasizing the develop-
ment of facilities for those in the lower-income
groups and the preservation of wilderness areas.

564

He was thoroughly con-
vinced that for many peo-
ple the forests constitute
the most precious en-
vironment for recreation.
During the last two years,
largely through his influ-
ence, twelve organization
camps were constructed,
to be operated in cooper-
ation with civic and other
organizations which often
defray part or all of the
vacation expenses of
groups that otherwise
could not afford such
camping experiences.

Bob Marshall's favor-
ite recreation was to walk
and camp in the wilder-
ness areas and in remote
places. He spent over a
year north of the Arctic
Circle in Wiseman,

Alaska, and then wrote "Arctic Village," a des-
cription of the life there which received national
attention. In 1938 and 1939 he returned to Alaska
for his vacations, spending his time exploring the
wilderness and making notable contributions to
the maps of that area. His adventures on these
trips are recorded in two pamphlets, "Doonerak
or Bust," 1938, and "North Doonerak, Amawk
and Apoon," 1939. He was a walker of renown
and considered a forty-mile hike over rough
mountain trails as a day's pleasure. He once
walked seventy miles in twenty-four hours in
order to make suitable connections for a trip.

Bob Marshall's death is an irreparable loss to
the cause of conservation and forest recreation
since it cuts short his invaluable service in the in-
terest of the contribution of the forests to the
welfare of the people as a whole, rather than of
their exploitation and enjoyment by a few. His
life was largely devoted to the enthusiastic and
fearless furtherance of those interests, and the
results of his thought and action will have a last-
ing effect.

(Continued on page 588)

Recreational Music

I AM STRONGLY in favor of
musical toys, particularly
when they contain some
of the fundamentals of actual
instruments. A toy drum
easily leads to a real one. A
small xylophone or set of
bells is the logical forerun-
ner of a piano, and a toy
trumpet, even when limited in range and a bit un-
certain of pitch, can act as a stimulus to more sig-
nificant wind exercises of the future.

Is it a sign of the times that our toyshops are
filled with imitations of the whole machinery of
death by violence — rifles, machine guns, cannon,
bombs, torpedoes, pistols, helmets, uniforms, and
toy soldiers? The gangster and the murderer,
legal or illegal, seem to be brought consistently to
the attention of the young generation through
their playthings. Outside the toy arsenal that
forms so large a percentage of the current nurs-
ery equipment there is a Valhalla containing four
deities — Charlie McCarthy, Mickey Mouse, Don-
ald Duck, and Snow White — a wooden dummy
and three series of drawings.

Musical toys can be found if you look for them,
but it is not easy to find them. There are two
kinds — those that require no skill whatever, be-
yond perhaps the turning of a crank, and those
that encourage whatever musical gift a child may
have and at least some slight initiative and con-
trol for performance. The market is sadly lack-
ing in toys that produce really musical effects,
playing in tune and with a pleasing quality of
tone, perhaps even with some degree of permanent
stability. There should be miniature pianos,
trumpets, saxophones, organs, and other instru-
ments that would create enough interest and per-
mit a good enough performance to lead directly
to the real thing.

To a certain extent this is being accomplished
by the manufacturers of musical instruments.
There is a small reed organ of decidedly musical
quality, already very popular with children. The
tiny "butterfly" piano, with its double wings and
short keyboard, goes far beyond the tinkling toy
pianos of the past.

Adults and children alike should enjoy playing
j a "recorder," similar to the ancient instrument of

By SIGMUND SPAETH

Through the courtesy of Dr. Spaeth,
famous "Tune Detective," it has been
made possible for us to reprint this
chapter from his new book, Music foe
Fun, published by Whittlesey House,
McGraw-Hill Publishing Co., New York.

the same name. It is made of
wood, with holes pierced like
those of a flute, but played
from the end, and its tone is
excellent, with an accurately
pitched scale of two octaves.

Primitive Wind Instruments

The ordinary tin flutes and

pipes will always be popular, regardless of their
musical effect, and a good deal can actually be
accomplished even with these primitive instru-
ments. There is much to be said also for the
ocarina, or "sweet potato," which now comes in
four sizes, making a complete quartet possible.
(It was used in that way by four cowboys in-
terpreting the song, I'm bidin' my time, in Gersh-
win's operetta, Girl Crazy.} The ocarina can be
played quite musically, and is a popular member
of the hillbilly orchestra, but it is primarily a most
practical and nondisturbing toy.

Also heard in professional groups of the hill-
billy type is the trombone flute, which consists of
a double sliding tube and raises or lowers its pitch
by simply extending or contracting the total length.
Accuracy is difficult, and the quality is much the
same as a rather hollow whistle, but it is lots of
fun for young and old. The Hoosier Hot Shots,
popular dispensers of rural music on programs of
Uncle Ezra's National Barn Dance, make good
use of the trombone flute, as well as of a wash-
board for rhythm (produced by thimbles on the
fingers), a cowbell and several different auto
horns.

The principle of guessing at pitch and sliding
to and from a tone (employed by a number of
singers, both amateur and professional) is illus-
trated by some percussion instruments, as well as
such primitive pipes as the trombone flute. Chief
among them is the Flexotone, a piece of flexible
steel fastened to a handle and set in vibration by
hammers attached to both sides. The player shakes
the Flexotone to produce a musical sound, raising
the pitch by pressing on the steel with his thumb
and lowering it by relieving the pressure. Small
Flexotones are used chiefly as rattles, but the larger
ones produce a really lovely, ethereal tone, and
used to be common in dance bands.

565

566

RECREATIONAL MUSIC

Reviving Old Saws

Closely related to the Flexotone is the musical
saw, which likewise has its pitch varied by the
bending of the steel. It is usually held by cross-
ing the knees over the handle, with one hand
guiding the small end while the other starts the
tone with a bow or a hammer. The beauty of the
saw-music is in the changes of pitch after vibra-
tion has begun, giving the effect of pure air waves
in musical motion. An ordinary crosscut saw can
be used, although it is now possible to buy saws
specially made for music. It takes a professional
to perform on them really well, but the adult
amateur can get plenty of fun in trying.

Music in the Air

A quality of tone somewhat similar to that of
the musical saw and the Flexotone is produced
by the Theremin, named for its inventor and still
something of a mystery to the American public.
Theremin, a Russian who came to this country
some years ago, simply harnessed the squeal of
radio and made it possible for people to draw
tunes out of the air by shaking their hands close
to an upright antenna. The closer the fingers, the
higher was the resulting tone. Volume was con-
trolled by passing the left hand over .a coiled
antenna below. It is, of course, impossible to play
more than a single line of melody on the Theremin,
and accuracy of pitch and rapidity of execution
still present problems for all but the leading experts.

No Talent Required

The most encouraging thing about actual toys
of a musical nature is
that so many of them are
made for children too
young to do any real
playing but unquestion-
ably sensitive to rhythm,
melody, and harmony.
There is a great variety
of music boxes today,
requiring nothing more
than the turning of a
handle or even rolling
along the floor, but pro-
ducing something that
has a definite musical ap-

peal. In most cases the
response of the ear is en-
couraged by some color-
ful decoration, often en-

"Some years ago that distinguished educator,
Peter Dykema, head of the music department of
Columbia University's Teachers College, ap-
peared at a luncheon of the New York Kiwanis
Club. He came armed with a great variety of
musical toys — drums, rattles, horns, cuckoos —
and he distributed them among the Kiwanians
before beginning his talk. No sooner did the
dignified businessmen have the toys in their
hands than they one and all set up a terrific
din. Dr. Dykema watched them blandly as he
let the noise go on for a few minutes. Then
he raised his hand for silence. The next
time your youngsters make a noise like that,1
he said quietly, 'remember how you reacted to
the same temptation.' In a short time he had
organized the meeting into an excellent rhythm
band, and with one good musician at the piano
they were able to play their new game as cred-
itably as their own children might have done."

listing the cooperation of the familiar characters
of the nursery, right down to Mickey Mouse,
Donald Duck, and Snow White.

Why should not musical instruments appeal to
the eye as well as the ear? Part of the fascina-
tion of a trap drummer unquestionably lies in the
variety and color of his gorgeous equipment, and
bagpipers have a big advantage over ordinary pic-
colo-players. The instruments used by Shan-kar
and other Oriental dancers always create a pic-
torial effect which the Occidental symphony or-
chestra completely lacks. Our toymakers are wi«e
in their combinations of music and color and
human interest.

Thus even the smallest toddler can pull or push
a roller along the floor, listening to the musical
pattern that emerges from it and at the same time
watching a kaleidoscope of Disney characters or
other colorful decorations. There are several
varieties of musical tops which hum a pleasing
harmony as they spin. There is a splendid replica
of a pipe organ, producing five different chords of
fairly good quality at the mere turn of a handle.
A doll can be rocked in a cradle that plays
Rock-a-bye, Baby automatically, and a rocking-
chair produces similar music when either a child
or a doll sits in it. Musical vehicles for pulling
along the floor include a trailer that plays Jack
and Jill, and a Donald Duck, perched over a seven-
keyed xylophone, which he plays mechanically
from the ends to the middle and back again as he
merrily rolls along.

Music Through Perforations
Perhaps the most elaborate of the music boxes
is the Melody Player,
whose crank handle
causes perforated rolls to
revolve, producing reedy
but charming pieces, of
considerable variety. A
roll of The Star-Spangled
Banner comes with each
instrument, and extra
rolls can be purchased at
very reasonable prices,
the repertoire including
such favorites as
America, Dixie, Yankee
Doodle, Home, Sweet
Home, Auld Lang Syne,
Silent Night, and Carry
Me Back to Old Vir-
ginny. Here, by the way,

RECREATIONAL MUSIC

567

is the substitute for the
phonograph or personal
performance by parents in
their children's earliest
days, with twenty-four
world-famous melodies
quite adequately played
with no effort at all, be-
yond the turning of a
crank.

Music boxes and toys
that wind .up and go

"In developing the Art, man first handled
the materials of natural things about him,
experimented with the nature of sound, made
his own instruments and improved them, and
through these experiences grew in musical
power and appreciation. The child too will
grow musically if he is given the opportun-
ity to experiment with elemental things — to
explore, investigate, build, discard, and build
again; to use the product of his handi-
work, to sing and dance, make poetry, make
instruments and improve upon them; to wield
materials that are within his own ken." — Satis
N. Coleman in Creative Music in the Home.

develop their skill and a
large repertoire by sim-
ply drumming with phono-
graph records or the radio.
It is an absorbing game,
though not exactly a quiet
one.

through motions, besides

producing music, are also varied and practical.
There is a mechanical drummer who should be an
inspiration to any rhythm-minded child. There is
an Aero Swing that plays the bugle notes, and a
merry-go-round with a distinct pattern of primi-
tive melody.

Christmas trees can be had that revolve and
play Silent Night simultaneously. A musical lamp
performs similarly to the tune of Rock-a-bye,
Baby. Swiss music boxes are hidden in miniature
pianos which need only to be wound up. There is
a gaily decorated hurdy-gurdy topped by a danc-
ing monkey; a village with moving windmill and
animals, playing Lightly Row; and a "television
set" which turns out to be a series of Jack and
Jill pictures accompanied by their own traditional
music.

One type of toy piano controls moving figures
.(Little Bo-peep and Mickey Mouse) above the
keyboard, which covers an octave and is played
by hand. A set of musical blocks produces a va-
riety of tones when individually squeezed. But
my own favorite remains a kazoo running into a
board on which the loose- jointed figure of a tap
dancer can be made to move rhythmically while
one hums any good, lively tune.

When it comes to musical toys that can really
be played, percussion leads the way and proves
most satisfactory in the long run. Toy drums are
almost as good as the real thing, and, if they break
more easily, that may turn out to be no great
hardship. They have their pictorial side, too,
which compensates for any possible lack of aes-
thetic tone quality. A drum or a rattle is the quick-
est and easiest reminder of our savage background,
and the appeal of rhythmic noise is by no means
limited to the very young. I have seen, at night
clubs, otherwise dignified men whose greatest
treat was to be allowed to play the drums with the
orchestra. Incidentally, youthful drummers can

Bells, Bells, Bells

All the variations of
bells and the xylophone
appear in toyland, as well
as in professional and

amateur music. Generally they are dressed up to
look impressive, sometimes with imitation ampli-
fiers of the marimba and vibraphone type, but
they generally play in tune and the quality of tone
is not bad at all.

The Japanese manufacture a very cheap set of
bells for children, but the American sets are
\vorth the difference in price because they are
supplied with little music books containing several
tunes that can be played by the numbers corre-
sponding to the bar bells. These bells have a
definite educational significance, in addition to
their practical value as toys. Arthur S. Garbett,
who directs and prepares the splendid Standard
School Broadcasts in California, under sponsor-
ship of the Rockefeller Foundation, has experi-
mented successfully with simple sets of bells in the
classroom and in the nursery, and believes they
are the logical foundation of creative as well as
interpretive work in music.

Toy pianos in general are not very satisfactory,
and the various string and wind instruments have
not as yet lent themselves to successful imitation.
There are tin trumpets, saxophones, and trom-
bones which look interesting and produce a num-
ber of tones with fair accuracy of pitch; but the
quality of tone is not particularly musical and
their life is likely to be limited, as the reeds give
out and the tubes become bent.

Homemade Musical Toys
If a household cannot afford the better type of
musical toys, it is perhaps wiser to attempt home
manufacture, and this in itself makes a wonder-
ful game. In place of bells, one can always use
glasses of water, partly filled, playing upon them
with teaspoons, knives, or forks, or, perhaps more
safely, with a lightly tapping pencil. The pitch of
each glass varies even when it is empty, and the
one with the lowest tone should be selected for

568

the bottom of the scale. The higher notes are
achieved by simply pouring in enough water for
each desired pitch. This may be considerable
trouble, but it is worth it. With any luck, you
should get at least an octave, perhaps with the
half-tone steps of the chromatic scale, and this is
about as much of a setup as can conveniently be
handled by one person with two sticks.

Wine glasses generally give better tones than
tumblers, but be careful not to hit them too hard.
A thin glass will give out a lovely, light tone when
the rim is rubbed with wet ringers. This was the
principle of the old-fashioned "musical glasses"
mentioned by Oliver Goldsmith, for which Handel
once composed some special music.

How many people know that the common or
laundry pin is musical? If you hammer a row of
pins into a board, with most of their length pro-
truding, each one will give out a different musical
tone when touched by the point of another pin.
The shortest pins will sound the highest notes,
and the longer ones will be lower in pitch. A
complete scale can be worked out with a little
patience and a good ear, or the series can be made
to play a simple tune in the order of the pins, so
that you merely run down the line without worry-
ing about the order of the notes.

This, by the way, is the principle of many
music boxes, with a central pin merely revolving
and striking different metal pieces in turn. A pin- %
wheel organ can be made by setting pins in a circle
on a board, tuned so that one round produces a
complete melody. Then a revolving disk is set in
the middle, with a pin protruding just far enough
to strike each pin in the circle as the disk is
whirled around. If you can make the disk revolve
by means of a paper pin-wheel above, set in
motion by blowing, you have a fine specimen of
homemade, mechanical organ.

A drum, of course, can be made of any sort
of tin can or wooden box. Down in Trinidad,
where the natives make up songs about visitors
on the spur of the moment, big oil cans are popu-
lar as the basis of the rumba rhythms. Gourds of
all kinds make splendid percussion instruments,
as is demonstrated in the typical Cuban, Mexican,
and Hawaiian music.

Bones, Wood, and Cans

The clappers of minstrelsy's end men were
originally actual bones, which explains why the
interlocutor invariably called one of his wing
comedians "Mr. Bones," while the other was "Mr.

Tambo," obviously armed with * a tambourine.
Sticks of hard wood, rattled together make a good
substitute for the Spanish castanets, and there are
those who can get complicated rhythmic effects
from a pair of tablespoons. Practical clappers, a
variation of the Flexotone principle, can be
bought cheap or can be made at home by attach-
ing drops of lead to pieces of wood by flexible
strips of metal, like the supports of an old-fash-
ioned corset.

Boys of a past generation used to take the round
top of a tin can, pierce two holes in.it, and run a
double string through them. After a good twist-
ing, the tin disk could be made to revolve rapidly
in two directions, by simply pulling on the strings
with both hands and then relaxing them. A soft
hum, like that of a musical top, was the result,
kinder to adult ears than the insistent beating that
any metal surface seems inevitably to invite.

Children can make their own xylophones out of
wooden slabs knocked out of an ordinary soap-
box. By whittling the pieces, they will arrive at
definite pitch, the smaller and thinner pieces giv-
ing out the higher tones. Musical quality is nat-
urally attained only with careful workmanship
and specially selected wood, skillfully set over a
frame permitting freedom of vibration.

Musical Bottles and Boxes
Another musical-comedy device seen in vaude-
ville and primitive shows is a "bottle organ," made
of glass bottles of various sizes — hence, producing
a variety of pitch — perhaps with a metal can or
two for the lowest notes. They are strung on a
frame, like the chimes of a symphony orchestra,
and produce at least an amusing effect of limited
melody. The bottle organ is obviously the poor
relation or country cousin of the musical glasses.
Homemade banjos and other stringed instru-
ments are good fun and sometimes not at all bad
musically. A cigar box fitted with a neck of solid
wood has been the traditional basis of such music.
The strings can be of wire or gut, and even rub-
ber bands have been known to serve in a modest
way. The chief problem is to keep them in tune
for an adequate length of time, and this can be
accomplished by carefully whittled pegs. Bobby
Edwards used to accompany his original songs in
Greenwich Village with a homemade, cigar-box
ukulele, and it sounded fine.

Wind instruments of a sort also can be made at
home. Primitive musicians used conch shells and
the horns of cattle for blowing signals, although

RECREATIONAL MUSIC

569

they must have been of indefinite pitch. (Sieg-
fried's horn, in the opera, would be rather helpless
without the cooperation of the skilled horn player
in the orchestra.)

Youngsters living in the country generally
know how to secure a piercing blast of sound from
blades of grass held between the thumb muscles
of the two hands. This trick contains the basic
principle of single and double reeds, whose tone
is due to the vibration of cane surfaces, either by
direct contact with the breath, in a mouthpiece, or
clashing together in pairs, as in the oboe.

A more musical tone can be secured by cutting
a piece of cane or some other tubular wood, hol-
lowing it out, piercing it with one or more holes,
stopping one end, and perhaps inserting a cane
mouthpiece at the other. The immediate result is
a primitive whistle, but the whistle can be made
into an actual flute or basic clarinet by careful
workmanship in placing the holes and figuring out
the best length of tube.

Many kindergartens, schools, and camps now
make a feature of homemade musical instruments,
arguing that children will be the more inclined to
play upon the pipes, banjos, or percussion devices
that they have made themselves.

Finally, there is the Pan-pipe of mythology,
which can become a modern reality if one has the
patience to cut a series of whistles of different
lengths, building a scale from the longest to the
shortest, and binding or gluing them together in
the order of pitch. (It should be clear by this time
that small surfaces and short tubes or strings
produce higher tones than do large or long ones.
There we have in a nutshell the principles of pitch.
The interval of an octave above any given note
represents a vibrating surface or column of air
exactly half the size of that which produced the
original note. Thus a piccolo plays an exact octave
above the regular flute, and is exactly half its
length. A violin string is stopped exactly halfway
I to produce the tone an octave above that of the
open string.)

The boy who puts together several pipes, in the
manner of the great god Pan, is on his way to the
building of an actual pipe organ. In fact, he could
easily make some actual organ pipes of wood, if
he were a good carpenter and had some instruction
from an expert. We used to buy at candy stores
the graduated series of Pan-pipes, made out of
licorice, and sometimes we could play on them
before letting them melt in our mouths.

Aside from the fun of making your own musi-
cal toys, where the process is really more impor-
tant than the result, there are only a few points
worth considering in the choice of things that play
and can be played with. Of all the category of
music boxes and mechanical music producers it is
necessary only to ask how early they can be in-
troduced into the life of a child. As long as their
music is not downright horrible, it will serve. Cer-
tainly, it is better at any time than idol worship
or war propaganda. For children who have little
talent and less power of application, the mechani-
cal music-maker is a godsend and can be used
right up to maturity, from a Mickey Mouse roller
through all the music boxes that require no more
than winding or cranking, to the final ideal of the
radio, the phonograph, and the electric player
piano, always with the assumption of a gradually
developing taste that will eventually select by
preference the records and the programs that rep-
resent music of a permanent value.
(Continued on page 588)

"The boy who puts together several pipes in
the manner of the great god Pan is on his
way to the building of an actual pipe organ"

Courtesy Work Projects Administration, New York City

IN' A MUNICIPALITY where
ninety per cent of the
children are enrolled in
the public schools it is far
easier to run the local edu-
cational system than it would
be in a city where only fifty
per cent of the children at-
tend public schools. The dif-
ficulty in the latter situation
is that half the people, prob-
ably the more acquisitive half,
regard public schools as a "hand-out" to the poor.
As every educator knows, such a condition is ex-
tremely difficult. Nobody is more solicitous con-
cerning public funds than the person who feels
that he and his get nothing personally out of the
expenditure !

A parallel is found in public recreation. If the
program applies only to the underprivileged, the
task of obtaining necessary financial support is
fraught with difficulties that can be decidedly de-
creased when it is so planned as to offer oppor-
tunities to those in higher income brackets.

A shining example is the outdoor skating pro-
gram provided in the city of Newton, Massachu-
setts, under the plan worked out by Dean Ernest
Hermann of Sargent College of Physical Educa-
tion, a department of Boston University. Mr.
Hermann, when head of the Newton playgrounds,
provided for good skating on forty acres of ice.
The three areas are well cared
for by clearing away the snow,
smoothing the ice with a plane
to renew the sur-
face, and mending
cracks by filling
them with water in
freezing weather.
At night the areas
are lighted. At all
times order is main-
tained by good ad-
ministration, and a
checking system as-
sures skaters of safe
keeping for street
shoes and wraps.

570

By WILLIAM S. PACKER

Winchester, Massachusetts

A member of a park commission main-
taining a recreation program points out
the fact that there is greater financial
security for such a program when tax
funds are expended in a way which makes
it possible for every family in the com-
munity, regardless of social or financial
status, to enjoy the benefits of the outlay.

For example, there are winter sports.
Some people enjoy skating and skiing
but others prefer less active forms!

In a normal winter there
is public skating in Newton
for from fifty to sixty days.
So general is the patronage
that thousands of skaters
may be counted on the ice
in the space of twenty- four
hours. Hundreds of well-to-
do citizens to whom the play-
grounds mean nothing at
other seasons of the year look
forward eagerly to the win-
ter skating. There is no doubt that the adequate
support given to the Newton playgrounds has as
one of its strongest bases the enthusiasm of skat-
ers personally grateful for what the frozen sur-
faces mean to them.

In the town of Winchester, Massachusetts, ten-
nis has been developed on a quality as well as a
quantity basis, there being more tennis dubs and
more good players in Winchester than anywhere
around. During the late winter and early spring,
Saturday tennis classes for boys and girls are
conducted in the gymnasium under the guidance
of one of the playground commissioners. The
chief instructor is Miss Helen Boehm, the lead-
ing woman tennis professional in the East, who
teaches the tennis group at the Lake Placid Club.
Year after year, dozens of youngsters with ex-
cellent technique are developed in the classes. In
the New England ranking for 1938, twenty rat-
ings were given in the older
and younger age groups for
girls. Nine of these places were
filled by Winchester
girls from the pub-
lic schools and the
public courts. On
the boys' side, three
of the six singles
players of the Har-
vard freshman ten-
nis team in 1939
were Winchester
boys.

When the town

(Continued on
page 588)

Courtesy Department of Public Recreation, Reading, Pa.

I62O Pilgrim Activities 1939

L5T SUMMER an interesting
experiment was tried at
the Nature Guide School
at Pine Tree Camp, the na-
tional Girl Scout training
school on Long Pond approxi-
mately nine miles from Plym-
outh Rock. Arrangements were
made at the Harlow House in
Plymouth for Miss Rose
Briggs and other members of
her staff to teach ten of the
Nature Guiders the complete
process of curing and spinning
flax, carding wool, dyeing, and cooking in a brick
oven after the manner of the Pilgrims. Although
each leader will undoubtedly make a different use
of what she learned, the group enjoyed the experi-
ence immensely. The four meetings demonstrated
that the best education is recreation ; that the most
complete experiences go back to mother earth and
the simple products therefrom, and the resulting
units of activity which evolve out of them. In
other wrords, the best nature recreation includes
many steps of culture.

Our Pilgrim Traditions

Many fine traditions have come down through
a long line of ancestry that goes back to the
• Pilgrims and their qualities of strength and
honesty. Reviving Pilgrim activities develops
a proud tie between generations. After spin-
ning or weaving one can look another in the
eye with pride and satisfaction. The essence
of the experiences at the school was to be
found in the outgrowths. Because of her en-
thusiasm, one 1939 Pilgrim maid was be-
queathed her grandmother's spinning wheel.
Another leader was stimulated to write a Pil-
grim play for use in her Sunday school class.
A third found satisfaction
in preparing an illustrated
lecture on the geographical
setting of the Pilgrims.

There are still to be found
earth, green plants, mois-
ture, sunshine, simple prod-

By WILLIAM G. VINAL

Director

Nature Guide School
Massachusetts State College

nets, friends, and joy in
activity.

The pictures and the descriptions of
them which are presented through the
courtesy of Dr. Vinal tell their own
story and indicate the wealth of ma-
terial acquired by Girl Scout leaders
at the Nature Guide School at PineTree
Camp by a return to the crafts and
the customs of our Pilgrim ancestors.

"All these put their trust in their
hands; and each becometh wise in his
own work. Without these shall not a
city be inhabited and men shall not
sojourn nor walk up and down there-
in."— From Ecclesiasticus 38:30-32.

Listening to Pilgrim

Stories

Reviving Pilgrim activities
is not all doing with the
hands. While the brick oven
was being heated at "Ye Old
Harlow House" for the pot-
ful of beans, Pilgrim maid-
ens gained satisfaction in
wholesome fireside neigh-
borliness. Perhaps the most
popular dish prepared was pears baked in the
hot ashes of the fireplace. The pears were
washed, pricked, and placed in a creeper. To
one cup of sugar were added one cup of water
and sprigs of pungent lemon balm from the
Harlow House herb garden. For rye and "In-
jun" bread the ingredients were mixed in a
nappy, and the kettle was then lined with red
oak leaves, shiny side up. After the mixture
was poured it was covered with oak leaves,
shiny side down.

The Indians taught the Pilgrims how to
make succotash, the Indian name for which
was Mishkutotash. According to the recipe of
Mrs. Barnabas Churchill given out at the
Sparrow House, it included not only beans
and corn, but turnips, potatoes, salt pork,
corned beef, and chicken. These later ingredi-
ents must have been added by the white man.
The savory liquors from the meats make the
mixture most palatable.

What does being re-created mean? Brick
oven skills, social beings, or mental recreation ?
The principles of self-doing, creative life en-
vironment, and esthetic folklore are deeply
rooted. The interest in growing flax, the feel
of making threads under the
guidance of the wheel by
mind and hand; the atmos-
phere of beauty created by
weaving — all these experi-
ences represent a new-old
adventure.

571

572

PILGRIM ACTIVITIES 1939

Ollie Takes Her Churn

"Then after agriculture, the art of kings, take the
next head of human arts, weaving, the art of
queens." — From The Mystery of Life, by Ruskin.

Our experiment in Pilgrim activities was not so much
an attempt to turn out skilled craftsmen as it was to
provide the beginning of an interest that would widen and
grow with experience. Such intangible results are diffi-
cult to measure, but they must be in terms of joy, lasting
satisfaction, attitudes, and appreciation.

The assumption that opportunity lies beyond the rain-
bow is false. This student leader has an awareness of
belonging to the group, has the satisfaction of being at
home in the universe, and appreciates the opportunity of
sharing the simple activities of the Pilgrims. She will
return to her Cleveland children with the assurance of a
new skill for an enriched curriculum, improved guidance,
and renewed faith in the development of initiative and
leadership, all looking toward a fuller life.

"Billie" Spins Outside Her Cabin Door

How Good Are You at the Old Art of Carding?

Leisure time or vacation need no longer be a vacancy
with this naturalist. Overhead is a blue August sky; in
the background are the brilliant hollyhocks. Can you
guess what thoughts come to one while spinning? There
is a fascination in the rhythm of the spinning wheel, in
going back to the simple life and forward to the finer
things, as did the Pilgrims, with courage and ability to do
good work. This answers a deep need. Without outlets for
this courage, ability, and satisfaction we are indeed poor.

Man power is measured in human values. Man is a
creator, a social being. Man has personality ; he seeks
satisfactions in expression, and he lives in unity.

The complete process involved in the carding of wool
or spinning of flax and in the making of succotash meets
these human values.

We do not want to lose what we have gained since
Pilgrim days. Nor do we wish to lose sight of Pilgrim
virtues.

Trends in Public Recreation

THERE ARE several well-de-
fined trends in recreation to
which some consideration
might be given. We might dis-
cuss the increasing willingness
of educational authorities

As they are seen from

the viewpoint of the

public schools

to plan school facilities in
terms of leisure time needs,

and their growing disposition to permit the use of
these facilities for recreation purposes. We might
discuss the tendency of art, music, homemaking,
vocational and physical education teachers to stress
the enduring leisure-time aspects of their respective
offerings. We might even discuss the beginning
use of camps as an additional facility of the school.

But these movements and others all put to-
gether do not constitute the fundamental trend
that is slowly making its way into the thinking of
educational leadership. These movements within
the framework of organized education merely re-
flect the basic trend. They represent the gropings
of the educational profession toward realization
of the deep and fundamental needs they are
obligated to satisfy. Perhaps we can arrive at an
understanding of the message I want to bring to
you by reference to certain recent legislation that
is of significance both to schoolmen and to rec-
reation leaders.

On September 20, last, the California Com-
munity Recreation Enabling Act became effective.
This act authorizes any city, county or school dis-
trict within the state, either singly or jointly, to
organize recreation and (I quote) to "acquire,
improve, maintain and operate recreation centers
within or without the territorial limits of the
public authority."

I cite this act because of the tremendous poten-
tial implications it carries for
the several million adults and
children of California. This
act illustrates, in perfected
form, the type of enabling
legislation now on the statute
books in a significant num-
ber of states. But what does
it mean? That question now
challenges municipal and
school authorities in Cali-
fornia and other states. More

By HERIOT CLIFTON HUTCHINS

Dr. Hutchins, Assistant Secretary, the
Educational Policies Commission, gave
this address before the Society of Rec-
reation Workers of America on Octo-
ber the ninth. In his introductory re-
marks Dr. Hutchins said: "I approach
this task as one without actual experi-
ence in recreation leadership but as a
worker in the field of public educa-
tion who has a deep and abiding con-
cern for the functional relationships be-
tween your field of service and mine."

appropriately perhaps, our ques-
tion might be stated — What can
such enabling legislation mean
to the growing generation?
It would seem to me that the
authorities charged with or-
ganizing community recrea-
tion would need to find the

answers to two fundamental questions if they are
to render the type of leisure time service which
any community has a right to expect. First —
What should recreation do to the individual ? You
will note that I said — What should recreation do
to the individual ? Second — How can we bring
about this change within the individual ?

Before attempting to answer these questions,
let me point out that when we speak of bringing
about changes in people or in ways of living we
must necessarily think in terms of a generation of
time; furthermore we must focus our thinking
and action on young children primarily, following
them and succeeding generations of young chil-
dren all the way through their lives.

In response to the first of these questions my
answer would be just this : That recreation should
enable the individual to get what we now call
leisure-time values out of whatever he may do.
In other words, recreation should engender a phi-
losophy, or a point of view, which is so much a
part of a person's habitual ways of thinking and
acting that he captures recreative values, in a
quiet natural manner, from his work as well as
his play.

The best example of this that I know of is the
man who "loves" his job — the person who can see
a challenge to reach beyond the immediate task
and find those values which we call re-creative.
It is more than mere variety
of assignment or the financial
motive that gives such a per-
son this enthusiasm and zest
for work. It is the point of
view with which he ap-
proaches the task set before
him.

I maintain that this man
gets just as much pure rec-
reation out of the job that he
loves to do as he could get

573

574

TRENDS IN PUBLIC RECREATION

from any program of leisure time activities that
you could map out for him. I maintain further
that this point of view — this attitude — this state
of mind can be learned and learned by the very
same methods that anything else is learned. The
person who loves his job because he gets from it
certain spiritual as well as material values need
not be the exception. Any normal child under
the right sort of guidance can achieve the recrea-
tion point of view to such a degree that it be-
comes a rule of his life, if he is educated in that
direction from early childhood.

Not by any stretch of the imagination would I
want you to infer that what I say denies the need
for exercise or for diversion. An individual can-
not possibly gain all that life can give from work
alone, nor from the wages he gets for that work.
I do say, however, that the recreation point of
view is quite as much needed in order to get the
full benefits of exercise or to enjoy a diversion as
it is needed in order to get real leisure-time values
out of work. We have set up programs of activi-
ties designed to give diversion and exercise, but
these programs have sometimes failed to take into
account the state of mind of the individual in ap-
proaching his exercise or amusement.

Unwillingly we have compartmentalized our
activities to such a degree that we say this is work,
this is learning, this is recreation. All that we
mean when we say "this is recreation" is that here
is the time when we can enjoy ourselves.

I would ask, then, is there any law of nature or
of man that prevents us from enjoying our work
and our learning. Isn't learning very often real
work? Isn't the difference entirely in the state of
mind with which we approach our tasks ?

The vital aspect of personality development is
what the psychologists like to call "achieving in-
dividuality" or "personal integration." This in-
volves learning self-reliance, developing a philoso-
phy of life and the establishment of personal
values. Recreation now contributes to these ends.
But if we as educational and recreational workers
can help the child to gain this recreation point of
view, if we can engender within him those habits
of thinking which permit him to realize re-creative
values from whatever he may be doing — then we
will have made a significant contribution to one
of the most difficult of educational problems,
namely, the fullest development of personality.

And now, my answer to the second question —
How can we bring about this change? How can

we develop this point of view in the individual —
taking him as we find him ?

Manifestly this is an educational problem. It
is not a school problem alone, but it is one which
the school must help to solve and in a manner
quite different from that in which public school
authorities now approach recreation. It is not a
problem for recreation or park people to tackle
alone either, but they must play a large part,
using again a somewhat different emphasis from
that which now characterizes their efforts. Par-
ents too can make a significant contribution to
this educational task, and they will need to learn
how to help largely through the efforts of the
other two agencies.

This educational problem is one upon which the
attack must be made at all age levels simultan-
eously. When we desire to change the habits of a
people, the first steps are most logically taken with
young children, so that the change comes to affect
the whole population as succeeding generations of
young children grow up. But an unsupported at-
tack at this level is not enough. Adult conser-
vatism is usually more than strong enough to
overcome changes introduced at the childhood
level, unless these adults can be educated to the
change along with children. We must make our
major attack, therefore, at the early childhood
level, and follow it up with our approach to youth
and adults.

In planning the strategy, the matter of per-
sonnel looms up most prominently. Our first task
is to find leaders for play centers, playgrounds
and community centers, and teachers of pre-
school, elementary school and adult education
groups particularly, who themselves have the
point of view of which I have been speaking.
Some teachers colleges are making a start in this
direction by helping prospective teachers round
out their personal development through emphasis
on personal recreation. The recreation profession
is likewise giving greater consideration to leaders
who have this recreation point of view, rather
than to those who are activity-minded. Some of
the more progressive schools are doing an excel-
lent job of educating parents to the important part
they play in the pre-school education of the child.

This matter of personnel seems to me to be of
primary significance because of the fact that chil-.
dren literally take over, in a ready-made fashion,
so many of their attitudes and habits of thinking
from the few persons with whom they are inti-

TRENDS IN PUBLIC RECREATION

575

mately in contact. Personnel, then, is our first
problem.

The second problem is that of setting up a pro-
gram through which the recreation point of view
can be established. In this effort we have an im-
portant psychological factor in our favor. By this
I mean the urge to creative expression which is
present in every child in some degree. This urge
to express oneself, to engage in creative activity,
seems to be a natural characteristic of the human
organism. All we need to do is to provide the
opportunity for this factor to operate.

In a few places this opportunity is now being
provided to children. In some cities there are
organized play centers for

give the child of less than five years of age the
recreation point of view, as such, these experi-
ences with nursery schools and play centers have
at least shown us that the foundation can be ef-
fectively laid by helping the child develop a sense
of values.

Another factor worth mentioning in this con-
nection is that nursery schools and play centers
devote a lot of emphasis to education of parents.
Through repeated consultation and observation
parents learn what their children are doing and
what results are becoming apparent.

A second type of program identified with

schools which tends to nurture the very values

that we are seeking is the ac-

pre-school children estab-

The urge to creative expression is
present in every child to some degree

tivity movement, generally

lished for the purpose of giving these youngsters
a chance to play and to learn how to get along
with other children under the most desirable cir-
cumstances. A few school systems have estab-
lished nursery schools for children 2-5 years of
age, with much the same purposes in view. The
child becomes accustomed to simple habits of
work and play, with the play motive dominant.
He gets the rough edges of his egotism smoothed
down through the discipline imposed by his con-
temporaries. He learns about growing things —
Jets, trees, flowers — and the many other facets of
lis natural environment.

These experiences give the child a sense of
values. They permit him to see his own place in
the scheme of things. While we cannot perhaps

identified as "progressive education." If we can dis-
count the extremists in progressive education and
look at their concept of learning through experi-
ences, we find a program which resembles very
closely what the recreation people have long been
doing. I mean simply the informal, guided activi-
ties, directed toward well-defined ends, as opposed
to the traditional curriculum found in so many
public schools. These informal guided activities,
whether carried on in progressive schools or in the
more forward-looking traditional schools, are help-
ing to give children and youth that realization of
the re-creative values in work, play and learning
which we so greatly desire.

And again at the adult level, we find the urge
(Continued on page 589)

Cross-Country Running in County Parks

THE STAGING of a National
Interscholastic Cross
Country Meet at Warin-
anco Park, Roselle and Eliza-
beth, New Jersey, on Thanksgiving Day morning,
November 23, 1939, climaxed the increasing popu-
larity of areas in the Union County Park system
for this scholastic sport.

For a number of years the Park Commission
has encouraged the use of the park for cross-
country running. About four years ago it was
decided that the cross-country layout could be
greatly improved, and the Commission, in cooper-
ation with local high school track coaches, laid out
a course which followed, for two and one-half
miles, footpaths, a service road and lawn areas.
In the planning, advantage was taken of slopes
and straightaways.

The course is marked by a line laid down with
a dry lime marker. As further direction for the
runners red and white flags are used. Runners
keep to the right of the red flags on the way out
and to the left of the white flags on the home
stretch.

Although the flags are posted only for special
cross-country meets, the white line, which is re-
newed when necessary, permits runners to prac-
tice over the actual championship course from the
first week in October until the close of the cross-
country season.

576

By R S. MATHEWSON

Superintendent of Recreation
Union County, N. J., Park Commission

Two features of the Wa-
rinanco Park course have
proved especially popular :
first, the fact that almost the
entire race may be viewed from the top deck of
the stadium at the northwest end of the park ; the
provision made for a system of chutes to handle
the finish of each race with no danger of mistakes
as to order in which competitors finish, after each
runner completes a lap around the quarter-mile
running track.

Anyone familiar with the scoring system used
in cross-country running realizes how important it
is to keep the the runners in line, in the order
they finished, until all have been properly listed;
and, at the same time, the difficulty of keeping
such a record in a meet in which two hundred
runners may compete can be readily appreciated.

Besides the National Meet held at Warinanco
Park this year with 190 entries, a New Jersey
State Interscholastic Meet with close to 250 en-
tries, two Union County events, and nearly
twenty dual school meets were held over this
course. Runners from two local public and one
parochial high school visited the course almost
daily for practice running.

In two other county parks cross-country run-
ning was also sponsored by cooperating with the
local school authorities.

(Continued on page 590)

WORLD AT PLAY

Courses in
Puppetry

The Hamburg- Pup-
pet Guild, 92 Haw-
kins Avenue, Ham-
burg, New York, is

conducting a Traveling Puppet Course devised
for teachers, social workers, and recreation
leaders. The course covers not only workshop
technique, the making and operating of marion-
ettes, but the method by which puppetry may
be fitted into the recreation leader's field.
Practical experience is offered in the rudiments
of puppet play production. Among the courses
offered the most comprehensive is one lasting
a week with from two to three hour periods.
Shorter courses, however, are offered. Further
information may be secured from Miss Siloma
Andrew of the Hamburg Puppet Guild.

emphasis will be placed on cultural craft work
and social activities, without curtailing the
physical program. There will be music appre-
ciation concerts, dramatic clubs, community
singing, glee clubs, modern and old-time danc-
ing, and hobby clubs. Instruction in sewing,
handicraft, sketching, woodcraft, metalcraft,
model airplane and boat construction, swim-
ming, diving, life saving, and tap dancing will
be included as well.

New York's Amateur
Photo Contest

Detroit's Winter
Activities

With a more conven-
ient spacing of

centers and the use

of elementary schools

as recreation centers, Detroit, Michigan, is in-
augurating a broad fall and winter recreation
program. The city has been divi'ded into one-
mile circles with a
center in the middle •%
of each, so that no
one will need to
travel more than half
a mile to a center.
Seven department-
owned centers will
be augmented by six-
teen intermediate
and thirty-two ele-
mentary - school
centers; additional
classes will be con-
ducted in five libra-
ries, twenty -three
church houses, five
settlement houses,
three orphanages, two
hospitals, and three
miscellaneous insti-
tutions. In these
ninety - six centers,

Four hundred and
seventy-three photo-
graphs were submit-
ted in the amateur

photo contest sponsored by the Department of
Parks of New York City. The entrants were
divided into three age groups as follows : (a)
children up to fourteen years of age; (b)
children between fifteen and eighteen years of
age ; and (c) those over eighteen years old.
Each competitor was permitted to submit as
many pictures as he desired provided all the
photographs were taken during 1939 and de-
picted youth or age in the parks, pools,

New York City

577

578

WORLD AT PLAY

beaches, or playgrounds under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Parks. All the photo-
graphs submitted were on display at the
American Museum of Natural History in con-
nection with the department's handcraft ex-
hibit held in November. The photograph
shown here under the caption "Time Out for
Repairs" won first place in the "c" group.

Model Aircraft Building— Recreation depart-
ments are increasingly taking steps not only
to promote interest in aviation, but to dis-
seminate scientific knowledge and teach the
principles of aeronautics. The Department of
Public Instruction at South Bend, Indiana, in
its last annual report tells of the organization
of an Aero Club which has been building
model planes in order to study their per-
formance in flight. Included in the program of
the club is a course in flying instruction, and
in the theory of flight and engine combustion.

The Playground Commission of Aurora,
Illinois, has established a Ground Aviation
School which has a plane and six engines and
all the necessary equipment. When the course
opened, 225 had enrolled, and a great deal of
interest is being developed in the school.

The Fifth Annual Camp Pow-Wow— The
fifth annual Camp Pow-Wow will be held at
the Hotel Pennsylvania, New York City, Feb-
ruary 14, 15, and 1 6, 1940. As in the past, the
1940 Pow-Wow will serve as a means of giv-
ing practical information to camp directors and
camp leaders. It will have no set formula for
method or topic, and the program will be based
on the requests and suggestions of the mem-
bers. Recreation workers are invited to send
practical suggestions to Mr. L. Noel Booth,
Executive Director, The Camp Pow-Wow, in
care of Camping World, n East 44th Street,
New York City.

Ohio P. T. A. Congress— The 34th Annual
Ohio Congress of Parent Teachers went into ses-
sion in October in the city of Columbus, Ohio,
with a series of activities, meetings, and discus-
sions. This Congress featured a panel on "Modern
Youth versus Old-Fashioned Parents" (par-
ticipated in by four senior high school girls
of the city), displays of P.T.A. scrapbooks,
and play sessions, in addition to serious dis-
cussions of P.T.A. problems.

Hershey, Pennsylvania, as a Recreation
Area — Hershey, Pennsylvania, the home of
Hershey chocolate and cocoa products, is now
a year-round public resort and recreation
center as well as a "chocolate town." Hershey
Park of 1,000 acres contains the largest private
zoo in the United States, according to the
October 2Oth issue of "Travel and Recreation"
issued by the United States Travel Bureau,
and includes the Hershey museum, a series of
outdoor swimming pools, picnic grounds, and
a sports arena seating 7,200 for hockey games,
ice carnivals, roller skating, circuses, basket-
ball, and other sports. From November to
March hockey games draw an average of
7,000 persons nightly, and many thousands at-
tend the frequent ice carnivals, shows, rodeos,
and college football games. Horseback riding
is also a favorite sport. Hershey has four
excellent golf courses and its rose garden,
opened in 1937, has more than 20,000 plants of
over 400 varieties.

Juvenile Collectors — An exhibit of scientific
collections was arranged by the Recreation
Building on Treasure Island at the San Fran-
cisco World's Fair so that children who
collect specimens might have an opportunity
to display them. Small exhibits prepared by
boys or girls with genuine interest in the sub-
ject were just as acceptable as elaborate ones.
The four types exhibited were: miniature
gardens ; leaf prints and flower collections ;
rocks, minerals, and shell collections ; collec-
tions of insects, reptiles, and rodents. From
The Junior Naturalist, San Francisco Recrea-
tion Department.

Courses in Dramatics, Music and Folk Danc-
ing Announced — From 7 130 until 9 130 on Mon-
day and Thursday evenings during the month
of February, 1940, courses in dramatics, music,
and folk dancing will be given at the Man-
hattan Girl Scouts' headquarters, 670 Lexing-
ton Avenue, New York City, under the spon-
sorship of Girl Scouts, Inc., Region 2, the
National Board of the Y.W.C.A., and the
Girls' Friendly Society of the U.S.A. Mr. A.
D. Zanzig of the National Recreation Associa-
tion will be associated with the group. Drama-
tics will include impromptu dramatics, play
making, pantomime, dramatized ballads, choral

WORLD AT PLAY

579

speech, radio technique, the approach to the
formal play, and selection of material. In the
music course topics will cover fundamentals
of song leading, the learning of a number of
songs for various group occasions, the use of
source material, the informal approach to part '
singing, the correlation of music with drama-
tics, and introduction to music appreciation.
The folk dancing course will offer singing and
play party games, folk dances from many
nations, and practice in their direction. Sub-
jects will be presented informally, and stu-
dents will have opportunity for practical
experience in each field.

Safe Riding — A bicycle safety campaign in
Norwich, Connecticut, last summer won the
active support of city police, Boy Scout
leaders, newspapers, and officials of the Lions
Clubs which sponsored the drive. More than
250 applications for registration were received,
and inspections were conducted at all city
playgrounds. Each boy received printed in-
structions telling him how to keep his bike
in a safe condition by regular attention. Regis-
tration included a full description of the
bicycle and owner, and a pledge to observe all
safety rules. From The Lion.

The Fee Question at Public Parks — Should
officials charge fees for the use of conveniences
furnished to the public in park recreational areas?
Some feel that privileges should be partially
paid by those using the parks ; these funds
should then be used for improvements. Others
feel that conveniences should be free, that the
expense of their administration should be
borne by the taxpayers. The National Park
Service recently completed a nation-wide sur-
vey which reveals that the income from fees
and charges represents only nine per cent of
the total funds available for park expenditures.
In some instances, charges are regarded as a
necessary means of control of certain facilities
and services. Many park administrators hold
that these areas should be without charge with
the possible exception of fees for accommoda-
tion and facilities such as dressing rooms at
bathing beaches.

The Community Players of Houston — A new
venture in Houston, Texas, last summer was

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a series of six plays presented during a six
weeks' period by the Community Players in
the air-conditioned lounge of the Lamar Hotel.
The lounge, the use of which was given by the
hotel, can accommodate a hundred spectators.
Miss Margo Jones, director of the Community
Players for the past few years, was in charge.
A large part of the audience was made up of
hotel guests who paid an admission charge of
one dollar. A similar project will be under-
taken during the coming year in addition to the
regular performances given by the group at
the Recreation Department's playhouse.

A New Periodical — The New York City
Civil Service Commission announces the pub-
lication of a new periodical, the Public Person-
nel Quarterly, which will contain original
articles concerned with practical phases of
public personnel administration and will also
present digests of significant books, mono-
graphs, and journal and magazine articles.
Further information may be secured from
Norman J. Powell, Civil Service Commission,
299 Broadway, New York City.

580

Recreational Travel in the United States —
Tourist travel to all the units of the Federal
park system in the travel year ended Septem-
ber 30, 1939, amounted to fifteen and a half
million persons, according to the October 2Oth
issue of "Travel and Recreation/' issued by
the United States Travel Bureau. Travel to
the 25 national parks accounted for 6,804,216
of the traveling total, an increase of nearly a
quarter of a million persons, or 3^/2 per cent
over the 1938 figures. Travel to the 63 na-
tional monuments of the system which made
a report also increased from 2,313,630 in 1938
to 2,566,452 in 1939, while it declined to
national historical parks, battlefield sites, na-
tional military parks, and miscellaneous areas.
Travel to the Boulder Dam national recrea-
tional area in Nevada and Arizona increased
from 564,800 to 611,895.

The East has only three of the nation's
twenty-five great scenic national parks —
Acadia in Maine, Shenandoah in Virginia,
and the Great Smokies in North Carolina and
Tennessee. Nevertheless the East led the
West in national park and monument travel

in 1939. Travel totals show 8,701,759 visitors
to 44 parks, monuments, historic sites and
other units in the East, as against 6,752,608 to
75 western areas.

Intramurals — To correlate the work of the
Physical Education and the Recreation De-
partments, and to give an opportunity to many
children to enjoy class or team competition in
sports and games, an intramural program is
planned for thirty-five schools in one city. Mass
participation, interesting the timid children and
the ones not skillful enough to be selected on the
various school, class or neighborhood teams,
are some of the main objectives.

Cultural Centers for Rural England — The
School Government Chronicle and Education
Review, London, England, commenting edi-
torially on the development of cultural centers
in rural areas, says : "The suggestion that the
senior school in rural areas should become a
cultural center for the countryside was ad-
vanced by Mr. Kenneth Lindsay when he
said: 'Today we must begin to think not only

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FOR YOUR ARTS AND CRAFTS PROGRAM

581

in terms of the village with its school, church,
and "pub," but also in terms of new local areas
represented by groups of villages. But there
must be living contacts between the country-
man and the area school. We must reinterpret
local conditions without sacrificing local loyal-
ties. The coming of the senior school in the
countryside, with adequate gardens, work-
shops, and domestic science rooms, is creating
a new rural unit. In some counties it has al-
ready become the cultural center for a new
area of the countryside. Properly conceived
and staffed, its effect is to retain the best of
the past and help rebuild Merrie England.' "

Michigan's New Recreation Area — South-
eastern Michigan, through the development of
the Huron-Clinton Parkway Project, will have
one of the largest recreation systems in the
world when the project becomes a reality, ac-
cording to the Ann Arbor News. Skirted by a
scenic parkway, following the Huron and
Clinton Rivers for eighty miles, the recreation
area will compose approximately 40,000 acres
of park land. Bathing beaches and youth
hostels, superhighways and bridle paths, public
picnic grounds and private cottages, nature
museums and wild life sanctuaries will all be
included in this recreation system. A number
of cities are now beginning to take the neces-
sary steps to prevent pollution in the Huron
River, and in addition a number of cities have
acquired river front park sites.

Recreation Facilities in Tennessee — In the
brief period of five years, thousands of acres
of land unsuitable for agriculture have been
purchased and developed for recreational use.
The mountains, rivers, forests, valleys, climate,
and scenery that have been Tennessee's for
many years are now appearing in a new light ;
they are being made to serve better the people
of Tennessee. Until recent years little thought
had been given to the immense resources that
were lying dormant in Tennessee. — From
statement by Tennessee State Planning Com-
mission.

Child Labor Day— 1940— Child Labor Day
will be observed on January 27-29, 1940. The
National Child Labor Committee urges that
there be no relaxation of effort to rally public
sentiment against the exploitation of children.

For Your
Arts and Crafts Program

BECAUSE of the keen interest in handcraft as a
part of the recreation program we are listing
some of the free and inexpensive material now
available.

A Guide in Arts and Crafts

An opportunity to secure an exceedingly prac-
tical and helpful mimeographed booklet of almost
a hundred pages has been made possible through
the courtesy of Recreation Project, Work Proj-
ects Administration for the City of New York.
This booklet, A Guide in Arts and Crafts, pre-
pared by Marguerite Ickis, author of Nature in
Recreation, is profusely illustrated and contains
three sections. The first deals with Tools for the
Craft Room and here Miss Ickis suggests the
absolutely essential tools for groups of sixteen
and the crafts which may be undertaken with
these tools. In Section II she discusses Intro-
ductory Crafts — Low Cost Articles, and in Sec-
tion III, Advanced Craft Projects. Many dia-
grams and illustrations are used.

As long as the supply lasts individuals con-
nected with recreational groups may secure a copy
free on request by writing the Recreation Project
of WPA at 107 Washington Street, New York
City. In requesting copies it is important for in-
dividuals to specify their connection with recrea-
tional agencies.

Inexpensive Bulletins

The following inexpensive bulletins are available
from the National Recreation Association :

Arts and Crafts Book List $.10

Arts and Crafts Material 15

Clay Modeling 10

Craft Projects That Can Be Made with Inexpensive

and Discarded Materials 15

Cylinder Weaving 05

Directions for Making an Etched German Silver

Bracelet 10

A Folding Table for Table Tennis with Directions

for Construction 10

Fun-to-Make Favors 15

How to Make and Play a Shepherd Pipe 35

How to Make Marionettes 20

An Indian Bonnet 15

Inexpensive Puppets 10

Make Your Own Christmas Tree Ornaments 10

Manufacturers and Distributors of Craft Supplies

and Equipment (Partial Listing) 10

An Outline Guide in Arts and Crafts Activities at

Different Age Levels 10

Shadow Puppets — Their Construction, Operation

and Stage 10

Weaving with Simple Equipment 05

582

THE DOVER COMMUNITY SCHOOL

The Committee states that while the child
labor provisions of the Federal Wages and Hours
Act are excellent, they apply only to industries
shipping- goods across state lines and they can-
not reach more than a small fraction of the
children who were at work before the act went
into effect. It is estimated that fully 500,000
child workers under sixteen years of age are
still at work in intrastate industries and in in-
dustrialized agriculture.

Suggested programs for the observance of
Child Labor Day may be secured from the
National Child Labor Committee, 419 Fourth
Avenue, New York City. The Committee will
be glad to assist any group in planning a Child
Labor program.

A Play Center Restored — Through the co-
operation of the Hermes Club, which raised
the necessary funds by sponsoring a theater
attraction last winter, the McLaren Play-
ground in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was
put into operation again last summer. Mem-
bers of the club and the executive of the
Playground and Recreation Commission, J. J.
Syme, took part in the ceremonies held at the
reopening of the ground.

Nevada City Initiates a Recreation Program
— Nevada City, California, is a community of
about 3,000 people whose chief occupation is
mining. In April of this year a coordinating
council was organized to take action regarding
the juvenile delinquency problem which was
becoming urgent. It was suggested that a
recreation program be organized for the sum-
mer, and steps were taken immediately to do
this. A full-time director was appointed who
had at his disposal for the program a swim-
ming pool, a Softball diamond, a tennis court,
and a community center. Among the program
activities which he conducted were a weekly
bonfire, a twilight softball league, swimming
meets and swimming instruction, tourna-
ments, boys' clubs, handicraft, nature study,
social dancing, and dance instruction.

Film Strips Available — The Extension Serv-
ice of the United States Department of Agri-
culture, Washington, D. C., announces the
availability of 325 series of film strips on such
subjects as soil conservation, farm forestry,

home economics, adult and junior extension
work, and rural electrification. The prices for
these film strips until June 30, 1940 will range
from 50 to 70 cents each. Lecture notes are
provided for each strip except for those which
are self-explanatory. Further information may
be secured from the Department of Agri-
culture.

The Dover Community School

(Continued from page 539)

with the social and recreational activities of the
social room.

Other Facilities

In the high school building are provided the
shops and laboratories for carpentry, auto-me-
chanics, agriculture, and home economics. Here
adults may expand their hobbies or secure solu-
tions for many of their economic problems. A
visual education room makes provision for the
movies. A large library has been planned for
community as well as pupil use. The broadcasting
of school and community affairs to any of the
networks has been planned, and this community
school feels that it will serve an additional func-
tion as it broadcasts the public relations' work of
the various departments of the state government.
The girls' gymnasium included in this building
has already been used for exhibits and is available
for the use of women as well as the girls of the
school.

In the elementary school building classrooms
have been arranged with library alcoves and ac-
tivity spaces. A large game and special activities
room, with a platform, has also been included it
this building.

The site lies adjacent to St. Jones' River. Dowr
among the trees along the river an open-air thea-
ter has been planned. Flower gardens and a fish
hatchery will offer enrichment to the curriculum
as well as opportunity for hobbies. Tennis courts
and an athletic field provide for organized play
and a large area to the east of the elementary
school has been especially reserved for play pur-
poses for the elementary school.

Dover's investment in this community school
was approximately $250,000. A PWA grant of
$200,000 supplemented this amount. Under the
leadership of Superintendent E. Hall Downes,

RECREATION AND THE NATIONAL MORALE

583

President Howard E. Lynch, Jr., and the other
members of the Board of Education, Dover's
community school may be expected to contribute
significantly to fine democratic living.

Recreation and the National Morale

(Continued from page 546)

Recreational facilities and opportunities for so-
cial recreation are the outstanding need of rural
America. Good roads, the automobile, rural elec-
trification and the radio have done much to break
down the physical isolation of rural populations.
Social isolation is still the normal rather than the
exceptional situation for most communities.

Development of programs for the use of the
rural and consolidated schools as community cen-
ters are therefore of prime importance, and should
be in a prominent place on any Federal or State
program.

Although the Federal Security Agency itself
does not have primary responsibility for recrea-
tion activities in the Federal Government, all of
the units of the Agency have a real stake in the
pattern of a national recreation program, both
historically in terms of work done and in the
future in terms of interest and possibilities for
help. The NYA and the CCC have already played
a large part in improving and extending our na-
tional parks and forests. The office of Educa-
tion and the Public Health Service have helped in
furnishing educational material to leisure time
classes. The program administered by the Social
Security Board gives increasing testimony for the
need for more constructive attention to recreation
programs for those groups of our population
which it serves, especially the old people and the
handicapped. Cooperation between welfare agen-
cies and recreational agencies on the State and
local levels offers a fine field for joint planning.

The provision of opportunity for the creative
use of leisure time is certainly a matter of public
interest and concern. The Federal, State and local
administrations have rightfully assumed some re-
sponsibility for the provision of recreational op-
portunities. Recreation is of as much public con-
cern as education. The Federal Government has
its sphere of responsibility. . In providing assist-
ance for equalizing opportunity in setting aside
park areas, it performs functions which cannot be
borne by other levels of government. The prob-
lem created by the increase of leisure time, how-
ever, is great enough so that the Government
should not attempt to solve the problem alone.

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Also 2,613 Professional Schools of Aero-
nautics, Agriculture, Architecture, Commerce,
Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Forestry,
Journalism, Law, Library Science, Medicine,
Nursing, Osteopathy, Optometry, Pharmacy,
Social Work, Theology, and Schools of
Technology.

567 Universities Around the World

Full page color State Maps in

Educational Atlas

Price $4.75

Address the Editor
Dr. H. W. HURT

404 Riverside Drive New York City

584

A "TONIC" FOR THE CRAFT SHOP

CHARACTER
AND CITIZENSHIP

brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing — or
not doing —

To lay the foundation for good citizenship

To build good character

To develop personality

To solve community problems

To safeguard democratic institutions

To improve family life

To promote recreation and good health

To encourage cooperative activities

The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Educa-
tion for Character and Citizenship. It is
of particular value to:

School and Church Leaders

Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and

Directors

Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation

Dr. Francis L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue of your magazine, CHARACTER and
CITIZENSHIP, came to my desk this week. I
carried it home and pleasantly, I believe profit-
ably, too, spent an evening reading the entire
contents.

"Permit me to express my appreciation of the
increasing value of this unique periodical. I could
ardently wish that every school library possess
one or more subscriptions. It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance teachers might well utilize
the magazine as reference material for students.

"The overview which your periodical gives to
the work of the various social agencies and the
emphasis afforded to the desirable coordination
of school and community social agencies consti-
tute a superior service. More power to your
efforts!"

Send your order to

Character and Citizenship

5732 HARPER AVENUE

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Please record my name as a sub-
scriber to CHARACTER AND CITIZEN-
SHIP as checked below.

One year subscription at $2.00

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY ... STATE

Nat. Rec.

There is enough work for everyone to do and nc
reason why Government agencies, semi-public
agencies, and private agencies cannot cooperate
through sensible community organization methods
to meet the problem.

The morale, spirit and happiness of all people
is a matter of great moment to our Nation. Pub-
lic federal administrators believe and work with
local officials in keeping the play of children and
the leisure of our people in harmony with the
democratic ideal. We also believe that adequate
programs of play and recreation can do much in
themselves to strengthen and to advance the
American Nation. We need to handle all our
problems with courageous wisdom to the end that
Democracy will survive, and it will, if the people
of our country can participate in and enjoy the
fruits of a democratic way of life. Recreation can
do its share in making this possible.

A "Tonic" for the Craft Shop

(Continued from page 548)

heavy carpet warp. This makes a shaggy tuft, and
when the tufts are sewed onto the canvas one inch
apart, the final effect produces an attractive
"furry" rug. The chenille may be purchased in
a variety of colors.

A new phase of woodcraft just being intro-
duced is the designing on wooden plates, trays,
cups and saucers and the like by wood burning.
Then the lines of the design are painted and the
article finally shellaced. This craft is much in
favor and makes it possible to own dishes dis-
tinctly your own.

With the advent of spring, children's crafts will
turn again to kites and bird houses. Just now
puppets and marionettes made of papier-mache
are the main attraction. Every other Saturday the
youngsters enrolled in these classes entertain with
a free puppet show at the public library. Other
favorite children's crafts are dog baskets, doll
beds and fruit baskets made from raffia and reed ;
finger painting ; and original poster designs.

Metal tapping, too, is a craft that fills many
requirements for children. The projects are prac-
tical and economical and the process so simple that
it can be mastered by any boy or girl. The young-
sters enrolled in our craft classes have made:
plaques, book ends, shields, letter holders, broon?
holders, tie racks, door stops, wall shelves, maga- .
zine stands and hostess trays.

Another project which we introduced for chil-|

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

585

clren but v.'hich adults have found contagious is
the making of wooden soled shoes. The soles are
cut from white bass wood sawed out the shape of
your foot. The tops are made of two strips of
2.y-zff webbing with rust proof fasteners. The
soles are carved or painted, or both, and the strap
decorated with modern or Mexican designs.
Others are made with calf skin uppers which are
tooled, painted or decorated with cutout work.

New ideas to tone up your craft shop are un-
limited. These are but a few suggestions which
may be old to you. But we believe that most of
the honorable and ancient old crafts, which are
lately experiencing a renascence in interest, are
here to stay, if we but offer them to the com-
munity in interesting and attractive ways.

Magazines and Pamphlets

} Recently Received Containing Articles }
\ of Interest to the Recreation Worker '

Ultra Modern Recreation in a
Small Community

(Continued from page 552)

Swimming Pools

Two new swimming pools have just been com-
pleted. These two pools, one for the Mexicans
and one for the Negroes, have been constructed
exactly alike and placed in appropriate locations
to serve their respective purposes. The pools, 40'
by 60' and sloping to a 9 foot depth, are lighted
for night use, and each is surrounded by a cyclone
fence. Each pool has a bathhouse with open air
dressing rooms. In the bathhouse proper there is
ample storage space besides the ticket office and
basket room. Each dressing room is equipped
with dressing booths, showers, and a rest room.
Negro and Mexican employees will be used at the
respective pools which will be under the super-
vision of the Recreation Department.

Seguin moves forward in her conviction that
year-round recreation in the small town is not
only practicable, but is fast becoming a necessary
part of any progressive community.

Recreation for Children in a Democracy

(Continued from page 556)

Corps, Public Works Administration, the Farm
Security Administration, and the United States
Housing Authority.

Few people really comprehend the full effect of
these programs on the leisure and recreation of
the population. Even the one fact that children
under the age of 16 participated in 9,263,506
hours of play and recreational activities super-
vised by WPA leaders during one week in Febru-
ary 1939 fails to register all of its ramifications.

MAGAZINES

Character and Citizenship, October 1939

"A Guide to Vocational Reading" edited by Tracy
W. Redding. A list of books covering important
occupations, their background, techniques and
leaders.

Child Study, Fall 1939

"Books of the Year for Children"
A list selected by the Children's Book Committee
of -the Child Study Association and arranged on
an age grouping.

Health and Physical Education, October 1939

"Physical Education in Poland" by Howard W. Stepp
"Dance as a Coeducational Activity" by Anne Schley

Duggan, Ph.D.

"Educational Dancing" by Louis H. Chalif
"Progressive Games of Soccer Variety" by Helen
Manley

Journal of Adult Education, October 1939

"A Discussion Group — Average Age 75" by George
Lawton

Scholastic Coach, October 1939

"Sound Equipment for Field and Gym" by O. V.

Swisher
"Seven-Team League Master Schedule" by W. B.

Marquard. Factual outline of the construction of

a round-robin schedule for a seven-team league to

assure maximum participation.

National Municipal Review, September 1939

"Low-Rent Housing Builds on Sound Money" by
Leon H. Keyserling

Beach and Pool, September 1939

"How to Prepare a Pool Appraisal" by C. M. Roos,
Engineer, Supt. of the Cairo (Illinois) Water
Company

PAMPHLETS

Through the Arnold Arboretum

Published by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard
University

Hikes in Berks — American Guide Series

Compiled by the Berks County Unit, Federal Writ-
ers' Project of the Works Progress Administra-
tion for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

1938 Yearbook, Park and Recreation Progress, United
States Department of the Interior, National Park
Service

Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.,
price $.35

1939 Playground Manual

City of Toledo, Department of Public Welfare,
Division of Recreation

Recreation Round Table, June 1939

Division of Recreation, WPA, Los Angeles, Cali-
fornia

Educational Policies for Rural America, July 1939

Educational Policies Commission, 1201 Sixteenth
Street N.W., Washington, D. C.

Legislation Affecting Community Recreation in California

Compiled by Works Progress Administration North-
ern California, October 1, 1938

586

RECREATION FOR CHILDREN IN A DEMOCRACY

Sck

oa

HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor

C. R. VAN NICE, Managing Editor

Subscription
Price

A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY

in which

Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly, Financing Activities, and Social
Functions make democratic settings and life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO.

1515 LANE STREET

TOPEKA, KANSAS

Two general questions seem to puzzle many peo-
ple. The first is one of great uncertainty about the
future — How can we do the job we are supposed
to do without some federal assistance ? The other
feeling is one of great perplexity— Why must we
local residents be subject to the ups and downs
and arounds of "Washington?" Of one thing we
can be sure. Uncertain and perplexed feelings
must be faced and dealt with squarely and real-
istically. The answers cannot come from opti-
mism or pessimism or by a simple yes or no. Part
of our difficulty lies in the fact that but a handful
of people have given much detailed thought to
exactly what a national recreation program for
children in a democracy involves.

Questions Before the Conference
The questions which will confront members of
the Conference on Children in a Democracy arise
from facts such as these, from the interpretation
of these facts, and from the desire on the part of
our nation to develop a play and recreation pro-
gram as an integral part of the democratic way of
life. Stated as simply as possible, the questions
are somewhat as follows :

1. What do we need to do to make play and
recreation opportunities available to all children
and their families? This includes Pat who lives
in Burnett County, Wisconsin, Jerry who lives in
Americus, Georgia, and Mike who shells pecans
in Texas.

2. What responsibility does our local govern-
ment, our state government and our national gov-
ernment have in this field ? Are the County Com-
missioners right when they say that play is fine
for city children, but rural children don't need it?
Can the Mayor close the schools and the play-
grounds just by declaring that there are no funds
for them ?

3. What can the private agencies do and how
can everyone help them do it?

4. What can be done to help children develop
discrimination in their choice of movies; books,
magazines and radio programs. Are Orphan
Annie and Fred Allen the only alternatives ?

5- What needs to be done to improve the quality
of recreation and play leaders? Should we be
content with the fact that because Mr. Bond is a
fine healthy chap and knows how to play football

AN ANNUAL WINTER FROLIC

587

he is just the man to be playground director? Can
we expect to employ leaders with college educa-
tion and experience in recreation and group work
for fifty or seventy-five dollars a month? It is
questions such as these that come before the Con-
ference on Children in a Democracy.

Education Moves Out— Recreation
Moves In

(Continued from page 563)

abandoned grade school buildings are being used
to advantage. The National Youth Administra-
tion was urged by the Board of Recreation to
open a craft shop in an unused school building
for the purpose of making recreation equipment
to be used by the Board. In this case the National
Youth Administration appealed directly to the
Board of Education for permission to use the
building, and the appeal was granted on the basis
that the National Youth Administration would
pay an annual rental fee of one dollar and the
necessary coal and light bills.

This outmoded school plant is now the scene
of buzzing machinery with unemployed youth
making handicraft and table tennis tables, game
tables and stools, bicycle racks, bulletin boards and
box hockey boxes, paddle and table tennis pad-
dles and many other utilitarian articles. Lumber
and hardware is supplied by the Board of Recre-
ation, and the articles are used on the playgrounds
and in the recreation centers.

Sharing Facilities

In another grade school building where only
five rooms are used for school purposes, the re-
maining three rooms are open five nights a week
for recreational activities. In this particular
neighborhood school building there has been a de-
crease in the school enrollment, consequently, not
all rooms are in use during the day. The neigh-
borhood Parents' Playground Association visual-
ized the need for a center useful at night, and
urged the Board of Education to open the place.
The Board of Education supplies the light, heat
and janitor service, while the Board of Recreation
provides the supplies and the WPA Recreation
Project sends their workers. The center is under
the direct supervision of the Board of Recreation.

These abandoned school buildings are not, of
course, the only centers in Reading. Many years
ago, the Board of Recreation and the Board of
Education worked cooperatively for the wider use
of new school buildings. The old type school
(Continued on page 588)

An Annual Winter Frolic

ST. Louis COUNTY, Minnesota, is a winter sports
empire with all its implications. Citizens of
this winter country gather each year to enjoy the
county-wide celebration where they meet all
friends and enjoy winter activities to their fullest
as well as coming into contact with their city's
winter sports friends. The activities in connec-
tion with this frolic in the beginning centered
around broomball games, speed skating, hockey
games, and the queen coronation pageant. Later
outdoor activities, competitive events and novelty
features were worked into the schedule for the
frolic. In 1937 an important innovation was made.
A county-wide winter sports convention was held.
A year later, 1938, the second annual convention
was attended by 150 delegates representing twenty
regions of St. Louis County. This convention was
formed into a Greater Rural St. Louis County
Winter Sports Association which now sponsors
local, regional and county-wide winter sports
programs.

One hundred and fourteen rural communities,
each with a winter sports committee, selects three
delegates (one man, one woman, and one school
worker) who are members of the regional board
and delegates to the annual convention. Twenty
regional winter sports planning boards each ap-
point two delegates to the county-wide planning
board. The emphasis at the local, regional, and
county-wide frolic especially is on mass activity
and participation by all, as contrasted to limited
participation by a highly specialized few. Spon-
taneous activity is encouraged and much to be de-
sired. New novelty events and informal activity
are introduced each year. Wood chopping con-
test, wood sawing contest, wooden horse competi-
tion, German band contest, parades, queen corona-
tion pageant, and the rural community stunt pro-
gram on the ice are a few of the many introduced.

To give color to the frolic a parade with torch
lights and banners, as well as frolic caps, kerchiefs,
arm bands and other insignia, was held preceding
the coronation pageant ceremonies.

As an important part of the development of the
rural frolic program, the series of numerous meet-
ings held in the many communities of the county
plays a vital part. In keeping with the plan that
recreational activity must be educational to be of
lasting value, the holding of these meetings is
encouraged. From Winter Sports Yearbook, Lei-
sure Education Department, St. Louis County
Rural Schools.

588

IN DEFENSE OF COURTING!

In Defense of Courting!

CONSIDER the right of young people for a place
to court. Where homes are large there is no
problem, but where homes or apartments are
small and crowded and lacking in facilities for
the entertainment of friends, there must be other
provision for a place to court.

The young lovers of Union County, New Jer-
sey, have a friend in Chief Lyman L. Parks of
the Union County Park Police, who has an-
nounced that parking at night in the County park
system is permitted and protected. "It seems,"
says Chief Parks, "that the only place left for
courting is in a car, and, since courting is a nat-
ural prelude to marriage, night parking is per-
mitted in the Union County park system."

Three police cars patrol the parks and officers
see to it that couples who park are protected.
Chief Parks insists that two rules be observed.
One is that car lights must be left on. The other
is that cars can be parked only where parking is
permitted in the daytime. The curfew hour is
1 1 :oo P. M.

In "Wither Honolulu?" Lewis Mumford has
expressed some of his opinions along this line.
'The courtship of boys and girls in the city's
streets, or in drab places on the outskirts where
they may take refuge for greater privacy, is one
of the most pitiable spectacles that the modern
city furnishes. . . . One of the best uses to which
any park may be put is obviously to serve as a
harmonious meeting place for young lovers. . . .
(What are needed are) public gardens and
promenades that lovers will take to naturally, in
preference to the sordid quarters that dishonor
their every emotion. Without any ostentatious
declaration of purpose, the placing and planting
of neighborhood promenades may well make a
positive contribution to the biological wellbeing
of the community, through their direct effect upon
the moods and feelings of the young."

Education Moves Out— Recreation Moves In

(Continued from page 587)

building fills a need in sections of the city where
new school buildings do not exist. In fact, many
of the newer school buildings are planned for
after school and evening recreation activities.
This was done in consultation with the Superin-
tendent of Public Recreation.

Education has moved out and recreation has
moved in because the people want to take advan-
tage of every facility owned by them.

Robert Marshall

(Continued from page 564)

Secretary of Agriculture, Henry A. Wallace,
has announced that his department plans to name
a forest recreation area for Bob Marshall in com-
memoration of his contribution to the mainte-
nance of forest recreation values in our national
life.

Recreational Music

(Continued from page 569)
Toys Test Musical Talent

Musical ability and initiative can be discovered
very early in the life of a child by exposing it to a
few toys that permit a certain amount of personal
performance and at least a choice between related
notes and mere noise. If the child likes to pick out
a tune or a harmony on bells or a primitive xylo-
phone or piano, or if it begins to take an interest
in the effects of closing certain holes in a pipe,
there is immediate evidence of talent, and this can
be encouraged and developed as far as the parents
desire, long before a music teacher is even faintly
considered and without any suggestion of turning
a pleasant game into an exacting task.

Somewhere in the life of every child there is a
danger point which must be successfully passed
by tactful parents and teachers. Why do so many
things that are the games of childhood become the
drudgeries of adult life? Why does the little girl
who loved to play at cooking and washing dishes
and mending dresses so often grow into a woman
who hates all those duties in her home? How can
a boy who was once a good amateur carpenter
resent the thought of doing the same sort of
manual work for a living, or at least contributing
such odd jobs to the upkeep of his own house?
Why, above all else, do so many people who played
with music in their childhood lose their zest amid
the formulas of "practice" and "lessons" and
"exercises," and end by being bored by all except
the most brilliant performances, or possibly re-
gretful that they themselves could not stand the
drudgery that was demanded of them? Perhaps
our adults, as well as our children, are badly in
need of a trip to Musical Toyland.

Strengthen Your Financial Base!

(Continued from page 570)

tournments are held, all the best players in the
municipality enter. Social distinctions and bank
accounts are forgotten for a time, and everybody
has fun.

YOU ASKED FOR IT!

589

Of course all park and recreation bodies would
like to have larger appropriations, but the Board
in Winchester is inclined to believe that the town
provides decently, all things considered. The
Board is also of the opinion that if tennis did not
make so general an appeal all up and down the
economic scale, it would be much more difficult to
obtain the money required for some other activi-
ties important for those in straightened circum-
stances. Because of the high grade of the tennis
the entire public recreation system finds favor in
the eyes of the rich, which means that many dis-
agreeable financial battles need not be fought.

Recently softball teams of men who look pros-
perous have begun to appear. The playground
commissioners are glad to welcome them. This
sport is becoming classless as sport should be, and
the budget foundation is further strengthened.
There is nothing like spreading tax money about
so that the benefit from the outlay is felt by every
family in the community. Public recreation is
more secure when it is broad.

Last spring, another extension was made with
twilight field hockey for women and girls. This
excellent team game is taught and played in the
high school both interscholastically and intra-
murally. The limitation is the lack of .carry-over.
In after years few women about Boston play it
except physical education teachers and society
girls. The season is in the fall.

Young business women and matrons have found
small opportunity for keeping up the game. The
remedy is spring field hockey after daylight sav-
ing begins, the season running from the first of
May to the middle of June. Here again the play-
ground commissioners find an opportunity to ex-
tend benefits to groups who have been rather left
out. The financial base of recreation is made
stronger.

These illustrations may be helpful to board
members in other communities where there is ap-
prehension that a wave of parsimony may wreck
the system of public recreation. Every citizen who
receives a personal dividend in fun looks with
greater favor on good times to be had by all.

Trends in Public Recreation

(Continued from page 575)

I to creative expression still active. Interestingly
j enough one of the most effective ways of satisfy-
ing this urge in adults is through activities which
involve giving service to others. Here, then, is
another tool that lies ready to our hand. Giving
(Continued on page 590)

You Asked for It!

Question. What can be done to help mothers
provide play activities which will aid in keeping
children from playing in the streets?

Answer. In Baltimore an attempt has been
made through the setting up of the Mothers' In-
stitute to meet the urgent need to keep little chil-
dren safe and happy on the sidewalks and lawns
near their homes. More and more, through the
playground extension work of the traveling gypsy
storyteller, it has been found that children of eight
and younger are not permitted by parents to cross
streets or go beyond certain designated corners or
alleys near their homes. The playing areas left to
these children are, therefore, either the sidewalk
or the street. Through this restriction, danger is
reduced but it is by no means eliminated. The
hazard of running into the street to retrieve balls
still remains and it was thought that new street
play habits and interests could eliminate this ever
present danger.

The Playground Athletic League visualized
groups of interested mothers all over the city,
armed with a practical kit of songs, stories and
games, together with the will to carry through a
safe play program for the children in their neigh-
borhoods. Invitations were sent to the Child
Study Association, Federation of Women's Clubs,
the Girl Scouts, the Baltimore Safety Council,
Women's Civic League, Parent-Teacher groups
and through the press. The Institute was launched
under the slogan, "Safe on Sidewalk," an S.O.S.
for children's safe sidewalk games.

Stunts, relays, races, singing games, finger
plays, stories and story-plays, kindergarten games,
folk dances, and suggestions for dramatic play
were included in the course. One "property,"
however, was missing from the kit ;. this was the
ball. Activities woven about the rope, the hop-
scotch heel, bean-bag or jackstones were numer-
ous, but the ball was taboo.

The informality of the Institute encouraged
free discussion of some very real play problems.
For instance, during the period given to Dramatic
Play, one grandmother aroused keen interest when
she told how her grandson, aged five, liked to play
"school" with the neighborhood children, always
giving himself the role of "teacher." The chil-
dren, however, invariably ran home crying be-
cause of the severe corporal punishment meted
out for some trivial or imagined offense. Follow-
ing a general discussion of some possible under-

590

lying reasons for such behavior, the class sug-
gested that the cure be a set of tricks to be pulled
from the grandmother's "play kit" at the pro-
pitious moment. Her tricks might be: "that the
clock on the kitchen wall said, 'Recess Time' or
Time for Rehearsal of the School Play' " and
"that the bean-bag was ready for a game of 'Num-
ber Toss,'" or "that 'The Three Billy Goats
Gruff' would make a fine story to play."

The Mothers' Institute has been conducted in
the spring for the past two years and the response
has been city-wide, with parents coming from
practically every section. Marguerite S. Burdick,
District Supervisor, Playground Athletic League,
Baltimore, Maryland.

Trends in Public Recreation

(Continued from page 589)

service to others through committee work, through
making things for other people and through a
myriad of activities motivated by altruism, offers
a guide to program planners in recreation and
adult education. Again we find re-creative values
fostered both by work experiences and by learn-
ing experiences.

Perhaps these verbal sketches will help you to
see what is meant when I say that the task of
building this recreation point of view in people of
all ages is an educational task. You can see as
well that it is not a task for recreation leaders to
carry alone nor for school authorities to carry
alone, nor for parents to carry alone. It is a task
in which all must cooperate, each giving the high-
est type of service possible — each institution even
changing the direction of its traditional approach
in the interest of attaining an even more funda-
mental objective than the one which has long
been dominant.

With the objective before us and some possible
approaches to that objective briefly outlined, the
most important remaining problem is that of ad-
ministrative coordination of all agencies concerned.
No matter how many agencies are trying to give
a person the recreation point of view, their ap-
proach, to be effective, must be a unified approach.
The fundamental change that we want to bring
about in each individual is but a single unitary
goal. We want to develop an attitude, and fix that
attitude so strongly that it will affect his whole
life.

This is an educational task. And no matter by
what agency of government the task is under-
taken, the approach must be made through the use
of the best educational techniques that can be

devised. This requires, in my opinion, the closest
possible type of coordination between educational
and recreational authorities.

As a specific proposal to this end — and one with
which I am in complete accord — permit me to
quote a paragraph from a recent publication of
the Educational Policies Commission entitled
Social Services and the Schools. I quote :

"The Educational Policies Commission foresees
the ultimate unification of all public educational
activities in communities or areas of appropriate
size under the leadership of a public education
authority. Patterned after the best recreation
boards and boards of education which it super-
sedes, this authority will be charged with the ad-
ministration of a community educational program.
Its powers will be derived from the state by virtue
of existing state responsibility for public educa-
tion. Its functions will include the provision of a
broad educational and leisure-time program for
persons of all ages."

The important factors in that recommendation
are, first, that education and recreation would be
coordinate services rendered by a single authority,
and, second, that this is a step for the future — for
us to work toward over a period of a generation.
At no point does it suggest that boards of educa-
tion, as constituted today, should "take over"
public recreation. Indeed, as public recreation at-
tains its full stature in the years to come, any loss
of identity of one within the other will become
literally impossible.

This proposal represents to me the logical con-
clusion to current trends in the relationships of
recreation and the public schools.

Cross-Country Running in County Parks

(Confirmed from page 576)

The Physical Education Departments of the
high schools of Union County, and especially
those in the city of Elizabeth, by fostering this
sport among the students have been the major
factor in having the courses in the park system
used so extensively.

Conclusions drawn from the experience of the
Union County Park Commission would indicate
that cross-country running is a sport which shouk
be promoted by all county park departments. Th(
cost of upkeep for such a course is small, partici
pation in this sport is increasing, and count}
parks, which are usually of the larger type o
park area, lend themselves most readily to the en
couragement of this activity.

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

Short -Time Camps

By Ella Gardner. Miscellaneous Publication No. 346.
U. S. Department of Agriculture. Government Print-
ing Office, Washington, D. C. $.15.

THOUGH designed primarily as a manual for 4-H
• leaders, this practical booklet of eighty-nine pages will
be of interest to camp directors and counselors at camps
of all kinds. It discusses such problems as standards for
facilities and their use, physical equipment, sanitation,
safety, food planning and service, business management,
and camp organization and conduct. Much emphasis is
laid on the subject of the camp program, and many
practical suggestions are offered for the various activities
entering into the program.

The Singin' Gatherin'

By Jean Thomas and Joseph A. Leeder. Silver Burdett
Company, New York. Complete edition, $2.00. Student's
edition, $.60.

THERE HAVE BEEN many collections of song ballads and
' ditties from the Southern Appalachians, but in
this volume there are a number which have not appeared
in other books. They have been grouped according to the
occasion in which they would naturally be sung, and so
there are work songs, play-game songs, and hymn tunes.
Melodies with piano accompaniment, descriptive notes,
dance directions, illustrations, and the complete text of
"The Singin' Gatherin' " festival are all included. The
complete edition of The Singin' Gatherin' book is bound
in a reproduction of homespun linsey-woolsey, with letter-
ing which looks as though it had been written with a
goose quill pen dipped in homemade elderberry ink. The
student's edition, though not bound in cloth, is in a
"lasty" binding of paper.

Book Quotation Crostics and
Other Puzzles

By Alice Neptune Gale. The H. W. Wilson Company,

New York. $1.35.

I N AN EFFORT to learn whether her puzzles would meet

with popular approval, Mrs. Gale tried them out with

pupils in the Norwood, Ohio, High School. They were

so successful that this volume of Book Crostics is the

result. There are forty crostics, as well as a half dozen

other question-and-answer games. The correct answers

j are included. The Wilson Company has also printed

separate copies of the crostics put up in lots of ten for

15 cents, with a minimum order of three lots.

Intramural Sports

By Elmer D. Mitchell. A. S. Barnes & Company, New
York City. $2.00.

I NTRAMURAL SPORTS, which provide opportunities aside
from, as well as developing material for, varsity com-
tition, have gained a strong foothold in schools and

colleges in recent years. This revised edition of the
standard work on intramural athletics discusses the or-
ganization and relations of the department, rules, scoring,
problems, program, and awards. There are numerous
tables and diagrams of suggested plans of organization
taken from actual experience as well as a comprehensive
bibliography on the subject.

Time Off and On

By Abbie Graham. The Womans Press, New York. $1.00.
X-NUR RECOMMENDATION is that recreation workers, club
^-^ leaders, teachers, and all others who live in a mad
rush — and that includes practically everyone ! — take
enough time off to read this delightful book of random
thoughts on seasons. It is a good book to read if you
find yourself growing too serious. It is excellent for the
"blues," and it is equally effective when you are feeling
"on top of the world."

Table Games

By Ray J. Marran. A. S. Barnes & Company, New York

City. $1.50.

QELIEVING that children can have just as much fun in
^ making table games as in playing them, the author
describes over fifty original games in detail, telling how
each board is made and how each game is played. There
are spinning arrow, spinning top, and numbered cube
games, checkerboard games, finger snip games, and games
with tiddledy-winks — all illustrated with line drawings.
Any child can copy the diagrams for the layouts by draw-
ing straight lines along an ordinary ruler or curved lines
and circles with the aid of a drawing compass.

Rustic Construction

By W. Ben. Hunt. Bruce Publishing Company, Mil-
waukee. $.50.

A s THE AUTHOR points out in his preface, the boy or
** man who likes to work with tools and wood can
duplicate the articles made by our hardy pioneer fore-
fathers who built their houses, furniture, fences, and
gates from material which they wrested from field and
forest. Mr. Hunt tells how to make slab furniture, in-
terior fixtures, and equipment such as shelves, candle-
sticks, and lamps, fences and gates, arbors, bridges, road
signs, and birdhouses. The booklet is illustrated through-
out with diagrams and plans.

The Dartmouth Book of Winter Sports

Edited by Harold Putnam. A. S. Barnes and Company,

New York. $3.00.
I F YOU have read this book, you will understand the

enthusiasm of Dartmouth graduates and under-
graduates for the Dartmouth Outing Club and its pro-
gram. The book, the individual chapters of which have
been prepared by members of the Club, describes the

591

592

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

methods which have won for Dartmouth a place of
leadership in the winter sports field. It traces the de-
velopment of skiing and skating in America and presents
detailed instructions in these sports together with infor-
mation in winter camping, mountaineering, and snow
sculpture. Following sections on skiing and skating, the
third section describes the famous winter carnival and
its organization and tells of jaunts through foreign lands
by Dartmouth's skiers.

Skating.

By Harold Putnam and Dwight Parkinson. A. S.
Barnes and Company, New York. $1.00.
This book, one of the latest in the practical series of the
Barnes Dollar Sports Library, is a section of The Dart-
mouth Book of Winter Sports (reviewed in this issue of
Recreation}, published separately for those interested
only in skating. It contains easy-to-follow information on
equipment, simple techniques of plain skating, and in-
structions in speed and figure skating. It is illustrated
with photographs and line drawings.

Skiing.

By Walter Prager. A. S. Barnes and Company,

New York. $1.00.

This new member of the Barnes Dollar Sports Library
family, like its companion piece Skating, is a section of
The Dartmouth Book of Winter Sports. It is a practical
handbook for the beginner and also Contains advanced
techniques for the more experienced skier.

Floodlighting Plans for Sports and Recreation.

Illuminating Engineering Laboratory, General Elec-
tric Company, Schenectady, New York. Free.
Officials charged with the responsibility of developing
sports areas will be interested in securing a copy of this
practical booklet of plans and information on lighting
sports areas. Included in it are lighting plans for swim--
ming pools, tennis courts, badminton, baseball, Softball,
bowling greens, football, croquet courts, lawn recreations,
shuffieboard, and other areas.

An Introduction to Decorative Woodwork.

By Herbert H. Grimwood and Frederick Goodyear.

The Manual Arts Press, Peoria, Illinois. $6.00.
The amateur woodcarver is often confused by the
"mystery of art" surrounding design. As a guide to the
beginner, in school handicraft, particularly, two experts
present in this book the principles of woodcraft decora-
tion in simple and concrete form. With the modern
functional ideal in mind, they explain approach, propor-
tion and shaping, association of woods, use of color, as
well as the selection and handling of tools. Over 150
photographs of finished articles and line drawings il-
lustrate the book. The final chapter is a discussion of
future trends in woodcarving, in reference to the goals
of craft educators.

Weather.

By Gayle Pickwell, Ph.D. Whittlesey House, Mc-
Graw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York. $3.00.
Here is a book which cannot fail to interest the nature
hobbyist. Dr. Pickwell has unfolded the story of weather
in vivid words and pictures without the use of scientific
terms to confuse the average reader. The wind, sun,
rain, hail, snow, and ice all have a share with the oceans,
mountains, deserts, and lakes in telling the story of
Weather. Not even plans for making the instruments
necessary to be an amateur weather man have been
omitted. An interesting chapter on "What Man Does
About the Weather" has to do with folklore weather
prediction and presents rules for amateur weather
prediction.

Sing Your Way to Better Speech.

By Gertrude Walsh. E. P. Dutton and Co., New

York. $2.50.

This book is full of fun and good tunes, and yet it
looks as though even the most tongue-tied, gutteral,
blatty or just inane of speech would gain through it a
clarity, agility and winsome rhythm and inflection in
speaking that would greatly increase his value as a per-
son, for himself as well as for other people, and also as
a worker in whatever field. All the most effective kinds
of drills that make for better speaking are here given in
clever and often very enjoyable jingles set to familiar
tunes. Our first impression was of concern for the good
tunes. Are they not spoiled in our memories by being
associated with these jingles? But there is a very en-
gaging mentality in these jingles, and delightful allitera-
tions and assonance to make any poet envious of such a
chance for pleasure. There is often also jolly good sense.
So the tunes seem to welcome their strange companions
as though they were not strange but already very good
friends, even if only temporarily together, each with
its tongue in its cheek while the singer is working his to
a fare-you-well. — A. D. Zansig.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President

JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President

ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer

HOWARD S. BRAUCITER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.

F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.

MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.

MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.

MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.

HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.

MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.

F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.

HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.

JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.

ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L. I., N. Y.

ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.

AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.

MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.

MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.

MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City, Ind.

MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.

MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.

GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.

H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.

MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.

ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.

SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.

J. H. McCuRDY, SpringfieM, Mass.

OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.

WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.

CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.

MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.

MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.

J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.

FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.

JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.

STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

i

Recreation and Crime Prevention

F COURSE it is not possible to prove in any exact and definite way
that the provision of playgrounds and recreation centers causes a
decrease in delinquency.

Many careful judges, probation officers, chiefs of police, policemen on
the beat, give it as their opinion that the establishment of playgrounds has
been followed by a decrease in delinquency. This, however, is an expres-
sion of opinion.

Many storekeepers, fruit peddlers, fathers and mothers in the home,
have said that their problems with reference to children have been les-
sened when playgrounds have been established. This, too, is a matter of
opinion rather than of scientific proof.

It is perfectly clear that any normal father or mother or school principal
interested in boys and girls, knowing how active youngsters must be, would
plan to provide space and leadership for normal play activity and would
expect disaster if no such provision were made. This is just a matter of
ordinary common sense.

Of course you cannot prove that a straight line is the shortest distance
between two points. You can cite instances where the longest way around
is the shortest way home. Yet in general we still recognize that a straight
line is the shortest distance between two points.

Even though you cannot prove mathematically that playgrounds reduce
delinquency, yet always the men and women who care most for children
will want to provide good, decent playgrounds with leadership because they
know the nature of boys and girls and that you cannot keep boys and girls
still or not provide the kind of environment they require without disaster.

Of course the real reason for playgrounds and recreation is not pre-
venting crime, disease, vice. Nearly everyone recognizes now that it is
important to live at least a little before you die.

Fishes do better in water and birds are not quite normal when they do
not have plenty of air in which to fly, and children are that kind of animal
which must have a place and opportunity for play.

FEBRUARY, 19^0 <^

593

February

Portland's golf course in winter will be
converted into a lively sports center
when the Park Commission erects a
toboggan slide and provides a skat-
ing pond. The rolling terrain
makes skiing possible.

Courtesy Portland, Maine, Municipal Activities, 1038

594

And Now It's Winter Sports Time Again!

"So let it snow, let it blow! Let it be cold and crisp! Six months of winter
with its three feet of snow hold no terror for us now. It means lots of fun,
exercise and recreation. No longer do we Americans have to take our recre-
ation 'sitting down' — unless it be while skating on the ice or skiing on the
snow!" This year, as for the past few years, skiing has been very much to the
fore, so in the articles presented here emphasis is laid on this challenging sport.

The Growth of Winter Sports

By MILO R CHRISTIANSEN

IN TAKING STOCK of existing and potential win-
ter sports facilities, attention must be focused
on the work of the National Park Service, the
United States Forest Service, the Civilian Conser-
vation Corps, and other federal agencies. In the
western sections of the United States, many of
the most desirable places for outdoor activity are
on federal land. In many places, too, otherwise
suitable areas are inaccessible or too far removed
from the using public.

Thus a more careful j^ p|ate g|ass fronted

ski run, Hyde State Park,

study had to be made to determine which of the
desirable areas would be used, if developed.

Probably the two most popular forms of win-
ter sports are skiing and skating. Both have be-
come exceedingly popular within the last six or
seven years. Organized skiing as a sport in this
country is about fifty years old, but it never had
general popular appeal until about six or seven
years ago. It was limited naturally on the one
hand by terrain and climate; and it was limited
also by an indifferent public. Previously jumping
and tournament events were the newsreel camera-
men's delight, but the breath-taking nature of
jumping left John Public with the impression that

skis were dangerous im-

lodge at the base of the plements. There were

near Santa Fe, New Mexico

Courtesy National Park Service

595

THE GROWTH OF WINTER SPORTS

numerous skiers in the mountains of New Eng-
land, the hilly regions of the North Middlewest,
and the high snow fields of the West. But the
beginning of the new ski era in this country can
be set at about 1931-32, the year of the winter
Olympics at Lake Placid, New York. In the fol-
lowing years skiing and other winter sports won
thousands of converts. These new converts de-
manded and got increased sports facilities. Many
summer hotels in the mountains began to stay
open throughout the winter. Winter inns and
hotels were constructed. Snow train and snow
plane services were started.

The number of ski addicts in the United States
is unknown, but those numbers can be imagined
from the fact that in Seattle alone there are re-
ported to be between twenty and thirty thousand.
Many of our skiers may be only "meadow ski-
ing," or you may see them
at some more hazardous
place, poised to leap off a
bank or short slope. If
there are hills within easy
distance, these skiers may
spend a weekend in the
country, stopping in a
farmhouse, tourist home,
or cabin. If they have bet-
ter than average economic
resources, they may go to
more remote and expen-
sive winter resorts: From

the East, to Lake Placid and the inns of the Adir-
ondacks, Berkshires, and White Mountains ; from
the Middle West, to the Rockies; and from the
West coast, to Mount Rainier, Lassen, and Yo-
semite National Parks. There are ski or winter
sports clubs in almost every western college and
in many cities and towns. Many employers and
employes vacation in winter instead of in summer.
You will find stenographers, clerks, lawyers, busi-
nessmen and housewives "bitten by the bug." For
many years, New York State's Bear Mountain
Park, one of the most popular public areas in the
East, has provided facilities and equipment for
thousands of winter sports addicts.

Until the last few years there have been more
skaters than skiers. Skating, in a sense, is like
swimming or riding a bicycle; once you acquire
the technique, you never forget it. On the frozen
ponds and rivers of New England; on the lakes
and bays of the north Midwestern states, or
wherever there is a body of ice large enough to

We are presenting extracts from an arti-
cle appearing in the January 1940 issue
of the Quarterly published in Santa Fe,
New Mexico, by Region III of the National
Park Service. Mr. Christiansen, who has
had experience in conducting recreation
programs in New York, Minnesota, and
other large centers, is now Supervisor of
the Recreational Area Planning Division of
Region III of the National Park Service
embracing the states of Arizona, Arkansas,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and the south-
ern parts of Colorado, Nevada and Utah.

turn around on, rural boys and girls have felt the
joy of gliding along, with winter winds a-blow-
ing. In some cities, youths have used garden hose
to flood vacant lots and fields, and then waited for
freezing weather. Cities like Minneapolis, St.
Paul, Milwaukee, and Newton, Massachusetts,
have for many years done much to provide skat-
ing rinks in their parks and on the playgrounds.
Skating and ski tournaments and contests have
played an integral part in numerous winter sports
carnivals conducted through the Midwest during
the past twenty years.

Many Americans have never seen an ice rink,
nor owned a pair of ice skates. They may have
heard Grandad, who was reared "back east," or "up
north," tell of the fun he had as a boy; of some
of his adventures on "rubber," or thin ice. But
times have changed since Grandpa's heyday.
Mechanical refrigeration,
the movies, and the much-
publicized ice shows have
made the entire country
skating conscious. New
contrivances have made
skating rinks possible in
any climate at any time of
the year. Ice hockey, which
has been called the fastest
game in the world, has also
done considerable to stim-
ulate interest in skating.
It is estimated that about

17,000 pairs of rocker, or figure skates, were sold
in this country in 1938, in addition to about a
quarter of a million tube skates.

Thousands of persons neither skate nor ski yet
derive enjoyment from tobogganing, coasting,
snowshoeing, ice boating, or possibly hiking in
the snow. The most significant fact is that the
individual derives a certain satisfaction from
whatever he or she does. This effort, in many
cases, is for exercise, but generally it is for good
wholesome fun. Those who plan winter sports
facilities for this new group of recreationists must
recognize that everyone does not like to do the
same thing. A variety of winter sports, recreation
opportunities and facilities multiplies the indi-
vidual's interest and participation.

The Southwest has shown increased interest in
winter sports activity. Winter sports clubs and
other forms of group organizations have sprung
up in many communities. Membership in these
groups is usually open to the public, upon pay-

THE GROWTH OF WINTER SPORTS

597

ment of a small fee. Meetings are held to
promote interest in development of new
facilities, raising funds for ski tows, mak-
ing areas more accessible by improving
and keeping roads cleared of snow, or
organizing contests and tournaments. Oc-
casional parties and other social events
are planned. In the Santa Fe of four
years ago there was no winter sports
club; there were no skiing or coasting
facilities except on a very small scale. At-
tempts had been made periodically to con-
struct a skating rink. A handful of ski
enthusiasts organized a winter sports club.
Interest spread. The National Park Ser-
vice and the State Park Board developed
a ski run and ski field in Hyde State Park,
seven miles from Santa Fe, in the Sangre
de Cristo Mountains. The work was done
by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Use
became so extensive that the field was
extended. The CCC now is completing a
plate glass fronted lodge, facing the ski
area. The lodge has three lounges, each
with fireplace. There are toilets, lockers,
a lunch room, and a combination room
that can be used for first aid and for ski-
waxing. There is a flagstone terrace immediately
in front of the building, with seating accommoda-
tions for 200 people. This terrace is enclosed by a
guardrail, at the base of the ski run. The lodge
will be for year-round use.

A permanent ski tow also is being installed.
The Winter Sports Club contributed approxi-
mately $1,300 to the State Park Board toward the
purchase and installation of this equipment. The
tow, like all other facilities in the park, is for
general public use.

Only sixty miles away, in Albuquerque, is an-
other enthusiastic winter sports organization. Ex-
cellent skiing facilities have been developed by
the United States Forest Service in the nearby
Sandia Mountains. The Forest Service also has
developed winter sports facilities in other New
Mexico areas, such as near Taos, Ruidoso, and
Las Vegas ; and near Flagstaff, Arizona. Less
than 300 miles south of Flagstaff, and only six
hours away by automobile, are hundreds of sea-
sonal residents and tourists who spend the winter
"summering" near Tucson and Phoenix where
oranges and grapefruit are being harvested. This
short distance between the irrigated desert coun-
try, with its citrus fruits, and the snow covered

Courtesy U. S. Forest Service

mountain area with its winter sports, provides an
interesting contrast to Southwest life.

The idea of snow sports in California comes to
many recreation enthusiasts with a bit of surprise.
This "Sunshine State" does not, in one's imagina-
tion, lend itself to such developments as ski huts,
snow trains, and an American St. Moritz. But
there are snow covered mountain ranges over a mile
high in both Northern and Southern California,
and many winter sports areas have been developed.

Skiing in the Rockies

By RAYMOND E. PHILLIPS

Regional Recreation Planner

Rocky Mountain Region

U. S. Forest Service

SKUNG DOWN the slopes of the Rockies has
taken its place as one of the major attractions
to recreationists. No longer are these great moun-
tains to be viewed and enjoyed only by summer
visitors, campers, and sportsmen, for now "King
Winter" has found a medium by which he too can

598

SKIING IN THE ROCKIES

lure many thousands to the peaks and slopes after
they have taken on a mantle of white.

Ski courses, ski trails, ski runs and all the at-
tendant developments and facilities have had
mushroom growth in the past three years, and the
peak is not yet in sight, for new converts, enthu-
siasts or by whatever name one chooses to corre-
late this type of user, are being made every week
of the five month or more winter sports season.

Three years ago one could count the winter rec-
reation centers of this vicinity on the fingers of
one hand ; today these areas are available at sites
only influenced by slope, texture of snow and ac-
cessibility. Railroads have found it a profitable
business to run ski trains to more distant points.
And surely no one will deny the boom this activity
has been to clothiers and sports equipment
establishments.

All of the important ski areas in the Rocky
Mountain Region are in national forests, and con-
siderable work has been done by the Forest Ser-
vice in planning out, improving and assisting in
the organization of ski patrols who have the re-
sponsibility of keeping order and rendering first
aid when necessary on the areas. Shelters, sani-
tary facilities, ski tows have been installed as
rapidly as opportunity and finances permit.
Weekly reports of snow conditions on the several
ski areas are sent to Denver by local forest rang-
ers, there assembled and presented as public in-
formation by radio and newspapers. The public is
thus informed of the amount and character of the
snow, and of temperature, wind, and road
conditions.

While everything possible is being done by pub-
lic agencies to provide recreational outlets for the
public, they, in turn, have not always contributed
their proportional share in assisting the orderly
maintenance of facilities. This is no new prob-
lem, but one in which every user can contribute
by practicing consideration for his fellow in sport.
In respect to scarring of public property there is
one good factor in favor of the winter sports, and
that is the heavier clothing and mittens makes
carving of initials practically negligible.

Skiing and other winter
sports add much to the well-
being of our people, for en-
vironment, fresh air and stimu-
lating exertion rebuild the in-
dividual in one of the most
normal and satisfactory ways
yet evolved. Skiing down the

slopes of the Continental Divide contributes its
share to the rehabilitation of American citizens
and furnishes an experience to be repeated as
often as opportunity permits and to be long

remembered.

Ski Patrols

By JESSIE SCHOFIELD

Superintendent of Public Recreation
Salt Lake City, Utah

W

Miss Schofield tells of the activities
of the Ski Patrols who, through rescue
caches and with toboggans equipped
with first aid supplies, are constantly
on the alert to protect the thousands
of winter sports enthusiasts who each
day hie to the mountains for their fun.

HEN THE; "Ski Heils" are heard floating down
Utah's ski slopes this winter, and the moun-
tians are filled with enthusiasts gliding over pow-
dery slopes on two slats of wood, skiers will be
happy in the knowledge that the Salt Lake Ski
Patrol will be active once again. Organized last
year with members of various ski clubs, the
Patrol is affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Di-
vision and the National Ski Patrol.

The National Ski Patrol is an organization of
skiers, for skiers. It does not mean the policing
of hills or of winter sport enthusiasts in their
ever increasing numbers ; nor does it mean a band
of grim, silent stretcher bearers waiting for some-
one to be hurt. It isn't a badge whose pink-
faced wearer prophesies dire misfortune to non-
stemmers.

It is a national organization of skiers, headed
by a national committee of skiers, all of whom are
thoroughly trained in first aid, picked for their
ability as skiers, as competent men in an emer-
gency, and thoroughly imbued with the desire to
advance skiing in safety. These men are Na-
tional Ski Patrolmen — the men one meets on the
ski slopes whose advice can be trusted, whether
on the danger of snowslides or prevention of
sunburn.

Competitive skiers for some time have been
well taken care of. Organized ski meets have
safety units but little has been done for the aver-
age skier — for you and me — for the great mass
of enthusiasts who have given
rise to the increased interest
in winter sports throughout
the country and for whom
recreational skiing has come
into being.

Ski Patrols are well known
(Continued on page 638)

What About the Bulletin Board?

A BULLETIN board
adds materially
to the efficiency
of the modern phy-
sical education de-
partment. A well-kept
and timely bulletin
board is a medium
for interesting stu-
dents, for attracting
and keeping their at-
tention. Used con-
structively, it is a
positive aid to teach-
ing. The following
outline presents sug-
gestions for its general appear-
ance, content, and construction.

General Appearance —

Mechanical Details of

Arrangement

The bulletin board should be attractive enough
to hold the attention.

It should not have too much on it. Many ideas
at once are not grasped.

The material should be arranged according to
some definite plan. The bulletin board should not
contain just a number of unrelated articles; it
should be treated as a unit.

While the bulletin board serves a utilitarian pur-
pose, a definite effort should be made to keep it
artistic.

Not too many colors should be used at once;
those selected should harmonize.

Keep a balance of emphasis.

The margin at the bottom of the board should
be larger than that at the top. Equal margins re-
sult in a top-heavy feeling.

All lettering or printing
should be large enough so that
its message can be read easily.
Lettering should be correct,
simple and neat.

By AlLEENE LOCKHART

Mary Hardin-Baylor College

Belton, Texas

Content

An exhibit of sketches rep-
resenting the different activi-

This article has been reprinted from
"Service Bulletin," periodical publica-
tion of the National Section on Wom-
en's Athletics, November 1939. Al-
though the suggestions have been pre-
pared primarily for the use of physi-
cal directors, they will be equally
helpful to recreation workers for use
in the construction of bulletin boards
at recreation centers and playgrounds.

ties included in the
physical education
program makes an
attractive bulletin
board. This is one
way of broadening
students' recreational
interests and stimu-
lating interest in the
intramural program.
An attractive board
can be centered
around a single ac-
tivity, for example,
folk dancing. The
costumes of various
dances make a colorful display.
A paper doll collection may
show national and historic cos-
tumes. Paper dolls dressed to
represent the various countries
are unusual; students enjoy
making these for the bulletin board.

Action stick figures may be drawn to illustrate
points of sport technique. Stick figures may also
be used to show dance design.

Miniature fields correctly marked off attract at-
tention. For example, a small soccer field can be
lined off on green blotter paper; adhesive tape
makes good lines. Different colored thumb tacks
may be used to represent the two teams. The
teams are then correctly lined up for a given play,
e. g. the corner kick. A brief typed explanation is
| used to point out points of technique. The forma-
r tions and explanations can be changed from day
* to day. Miniature fields posted on the bulletin
i board may also be used for other sports in this
_ same manner at the appropriate times.

The opportunities provided
by occasional events and holi-
days should not be overlooked.
For example, the visit of
Helen Wills to a city presents
an opportunity for a bulletin
board on tennis. When other
school departments are stress-
ing internationalism, the phy-
sical education bulletin board

599

600

WHAT ABOUT THE BULLETIN BOARD?

might illustrate "Sports in Other Lands," "Folk
Dances Around the World," or similar themes.
A series of posters and articles might represent
"Sports and Dances of England," "Sports and
Dances of the Scandinavian Countries."

A series of brief articles on "Who's Who in the
Sports World" acquaints its readers with the out-
standing personalities in the various sports. A
"Who's Who in Physical Education" can be used
if the students are sufficiently advanced for this.

An attractive bulletin board can be made in the
following way. The entire board is covered with
black construction paper. A design, e. g. a dance
figure, is drawn on the paper in white. Material
on some phase of rhythms is then posted on the
board, the dance figure serving merely as an in-
teresting background. A board devoted to sports
could be made in a similar manner by using a
sports figure on a colored background.

Hints

Change the material on the bulletin board often.

Use the artistic ability of the students. They
have a great deal of interest in something which
is actually to be used.

The time and trouble that it takes to make a
sort of budget or schedule for bulletin boards is
well repaid. Such forethought makes possible a
series of bulletin boards which are informative
because of their continuity. The boards are
changed more regularly if a definite plan has been
made.

Sports should be given prominence in season ;
timeliness means a great deal.

Use student suggestions. If there is a poster
committee in each class, a fair distribution of the
work and benefits derived from working on the
bulletin board will result. Different classes can be
responsible for the board for different weeks.
Competition between classes adds to the interest
when students are in charge but this stimulation is
not usually necessary.

If the bulletin board is cleared for a day before
it is arranged again, interest in it is heightened.
If it is arranged while the majority of students
are away, interest is keener.

A question such as "Have you read this?" or
"Have you seen this ?" above an article or picture
focusses attention on it.

Construction

Three ply wood covered with neutral colored
blotter paper makes an inexpensive board and one

that will not warp. The blotter paper can be
changed thereby changing the color of the bulletin
board.

Other boards can be made of celotex and bea-
verboard.

A cork base board is excellent but more
expensive.

Burlap weighted at the top and bottom with a
one inch board can be hung like an unrolled scroll.
Material has to be pinned to the burlap. Such a
bulletin board can be made very artistic.

A very useful board can be made by glueing
two thicknesses of heavy corrugated cardboard
together. The ribs of one piece should run hori-
zontally while those of the other run vertically;
this produces a stronger board. After these pieces
have been glued, the front of the board is cov-
ered with blotter paper and the edges are bound
with paper, gummed tape or oilcloth.

If an old picture frame of the proper size is
available, another bulletin board can be improvised.
Sometimes these frames can be obtained at a
nominal sum from a second hand dealer. A back-
ing of beaverboard, pine board, or cardboard (as
suggested above) is inserted into the frame. The
frame when polished and hung makes an attrac-
tive bulletin board.

An inexpensive board can be made of mason-
ite. A half-inch thickness is recommended. Its
appearance is improved if the masonite is framed
or if its edges are bound.

A wood-backed cork linoleum bulletin board
makes a more permanent piece of equipment. Its
initial cost however is more.

A useful size for the bulletin board is three by
five feet.

A smaller one should be in each game room.
Perhaps movable boards are the most desirable
for a physical education department.

A recreation worker writes : "Every park, play-
ground and other type of recreation center should
have a bulletin board, and this board must reach
the audience for which it is prepared if it is to
have any value. The location of the board is im-
portant. It should be at the center of the traffic
flow or activities of the group to which it is
addressed. It should be timely, advertising pres-
ent and coming events, and it must be kept up
to date. Another factor, that of interest, is in
reality a combination of timeliness along with a
review of past events to which has been added
showmanship and color."

'

Turn Conventions Inside Out!

EAP YEAR happens only once in four
years, and it's a grand occasion
for a unique party in which
everything is topsy turvy. It might be
planned for any day of any month,
but the twenty-ninth of February is
especially appropriate, since that's the
date responsible for Leap Year and
its customs.

Once more Leap Year is with
us! Many time-honored con-
ventions will be cast aside
and old customs turned topsy
turvy. Make the most of it
when you plan a party!

By MARION E. GODSHALL

National Recreation Association

Invitations That Are Different

Sending out invitations is a more complicated
matter than for the usual party. Give each girl a
verbal invitation and ask her to name the man she
would like to escort. Then send out written invi-
tations to the girls and to the men they have
chosen. The men's invitation might read like this :

To turn conventions inside out is Leap Year's one

command
For at this time young ladies all may ask the boy

friend's hand.
When everything is turned about and backwards on

this date,
Come celebrate one night with us in topsy turvy

state.

It is the girl's prerogative to take a man that night,
So you must wait at home until your escort comes

in sight.

By changing the last line, the rest of the verse
is appropriate for the girls, too. Their last line
would say :

"So call for him when you start out if you
would do it right."

By using this method of inviting the guests, a
man won't know who his escort is until the girl
rings his door bell.

The verse could be written on a white card,
backwards or upside down if you choose, and il-
lustrated by a stick figure girl proposing to a stick
figure man.

Decorations, Too, Are Topsy Turvy
The party decorations are left up to your in-
genuity. Chairs may be turned facing the wall
and pictures may be hung backwards, but other
effects are less obvious and at the same time fun-
nier. Imagine a guest's surprise when he dis-
covers that the supposed bowl of flowers on a
table is a small saucepan containing artistically
arranged parsley! String lines of pots and pans

under the game, Topsy

and kitchen uten-
sils in conspicuous
places. The dustpan
and brush will make
a fetching decora-
tion for the man-
tel. More sugges-
tions for ludicrous
effects are included
Turvy Hunt.

Some of the men undoubtedly will really get
into the swing of the party before it starts. They
and their slightly disgruntled "escorts" will ar-
rive a bit late, the girls relating that they waited
fifteen minutes while the gentlemen of their choice
finished dressing ! Remind them that turn about's
fair play !

Then the girls go to their dressing room and
find only a man's brush and comb on the dresser
and a small mirror hung over it. These instruc-
tions are prominently displayed :

Be very polite to the gentlemen

Get chairs for them

See that they do not sit in draughts

Fan them frequently

In every way show them deference and care

The men, on the other hand, have found a room
with a dressing table and several mirrors. On the
table are powder puffs, cosmetics, beauty aids,
brushes, combs, and other toilet articles. These
are their rules for the evening :

Do not go to any trouble for any lady present
Sit on any chair you see a girl planning to take
Ask your partner to bring you a glass of water
Ask her to pick up your handkerchief
Give her every possible opportunity to wait on you

The Party Is On

After leaving the dressing rooms, everyone
joins in the first game, a pencil and paper game

601

602

TURN CONVENTIONS INSIDE OUT!

which newcomers can enter as they arrive. Place
enough pencils and paper on a table and tell the
girls that they must get pencils and paper for
themselves and for their escorts, in accordance
with the rules for the evening.

Look and See. If possible, it would be a good'
idea to incorporate the items mentioned in this
game in the decorative scheme. The guests may
work in couples ; in this case the girls would hunt
for the articles while the men sit back in comfort,
giving directions and writing out answers. The
only rule is that the searchers must not give away
the location of the articles (all in plain sight) ;
instead, as the girls discover them, they tell their
partners, who write down the answers. These are
the items which the amateur sleuths are to detect :

Hidden tears : onion

Her first beau : hair ribbon

A drive through the wood: a nail partially driven

into a small block of wood
The flower of the family : flour
A broken heart : broken candy heart
A worn traveler : an old shoe
An ancient water carrier : a broken pitcher
My own native land : box of dirt
Light of other days : candle
Swimming match : match in pan of water
Four seasons : salt, pepper, mustard, cinnamon
Ruins of China: broken dish

The party theme makes it appropriate to give
the prizes intended for women to men, and vice
versa. At the end of the party, in a grand barter
session, the prize winners trade back and forth in
order to get the articles they want.

Partner Finders. It should be as obvious as pos-
sible that the girls are the "hunters" for the eve-
ning, so partner finders are all important. The
guests might match torn hearts, old sayings, or
famous lovers, but the girls must always look for
their partners while the men remain seated.

Verses may be used for matching partners.
Give red hearts to the men and white to the girls.
On each red heart is written a letter of the alpha-
bet, and on the white a corresponding verse, such
as one of the following :

Don't wait for him, go while 'tis day, go search him out :
he has an A.

A B with pretty waving hair is buzzing for you every-
where.

His smiling eyes your charm will be. His heart contains
the letter C.

If he is homely don't blame me. I've marked his heart
with letter D.

He's nothing to brag of as you will see. I've tagged him

with the letter E.
He is not foolish ; he has some sense left. He holds a

heart with letter F.

He may frighten you as he did me ; his homely majesty

I've marked with G.
Xow, my young girl, don't pass him by, he's a fine young

man with the letter I.

To the pretty boy please don't say nay, he's looking for
the letter J.

Go find his lordship, homage pay, he has a heart marked
with a K.*

Spinning for partners is another method. Write
the names of the men on the outer edge of a card-
board circle, and place an arrow on a pin in the
center. Each girl spins the arrow and claims her
partner by the name at which the arrow stops. If
the man has already been claimed, she spins again.

If the girls are to go fishing for a partner, cut
out celluloid hearts and punch a small hole in each
one. Each heart bears the name of a man on the
under side. The girls fish with rod, line, and pin
hook for these hearts as they float on the sur-
face of the water in a tub. The heart contains the
name of their partner for the next game.

The Games

Now for the games.

Beauty Contest. Provide cream, face powder,
powder puff, rouge, lipstick, and eyebrow pencils
on a central table. Keep two couples out of the
contest to act as judges. Allow ten minutes for
each man to make up his partner as he thinks it
should be done.

I'll Marry You If You Can. . . Give each person a
numbered slip bearing the name of some occupa-
tion. A number is called, and the person holding it
stands up. If it is a man, the girls chorus "I'll
marry you if you can. . ." and the man completes
the sentence according to the occupation written
on his paper, ". . . Mix bread." He demonstrates
for the approval of the group whether or not he can
mix bread by pantomime actions. When a girl is
called, the men repeat the key words, and the girl
shows in pantomime how well she can do some-
thing, such as mow the lawn. Men might be
called upon to wash clothes, iron, embroider, knit,
sweep, cook. Ask the ladies to tie a necktie, make
a furnace fire, repair a radio, saw wood.

Bulletin Leap Year Parties by Ruth Trappe and Alice Hunter
HafFey. Washington Bureau, Washington, D. C.

TURN CONVENTIONS INSIDE OUT!

603

My Sweetheart. Seat all
of the guests but one girl in
a circle. The extra player
goes to a man and kneels
before him saying, "I love
you." The man thus ad-
dressed must stroke the
head of the kneeling girl
and say, "My sweetheart,"
without smiling or laugh-
ing. If the humor in the
situation is too much for
him, the two must change places, and the man
must find a girl to tell of his love. If he does
not smile, however, the kneeler may repeat the
statement twice, requiring an answer and a pat on
the head each time. Then he must try elsewhere.
A bit of dramatic supplication and a love-lorn
expression will usually bring a smile, especially
when the others in the circle are convulsed with
laughter.

Hide in Sight. Instead of finding a place to hide
about the house, the players sit quietly in their
chairs and mentally hide anywhere in the room.
The person who is It selects a place to hide — in
the flowerpot on the table, for example — and by
questions which can be answered .by "Yes" or
"No," the others try to discover where he is hid-
ing. The one who guesses correctly becomes It,
and the game continues.

Topsy Turvy Blind Man's Buff. Every player ex-
cept one is blindfolded. The job of that player is
to stay out of the way of the blindfolded players
who wander about the room, challenging any-
one they touch. They say, "Blindfolded?" and
if the player replies in the affirmative, he is freed.
If the extra player is caught and challenged, he is
blindfolded in place of the one who caught him.

Black Art. By the end of the last game, the play-
ers will be used to being in the dark. Give each of
them a pencil, paper, and support on which to
write. Turn out the lights, and ask them to draw
a seated stick figure man. After the artists have
lifted their pencils, have them draw the figure of
a girl proposing to the man. When they have
lifted the pencils the second time, ask them to add
a blue bird for happiness, a good luck sign, and
what the man said. If you don't think this is a
topsy turvy game, just look at the "artistic"
endeavors !

What's Wrong With This Picture? It wouldn't
be a topsy turvy party without a pointless game.

Each player receives a clean
sheet of paper and writes
on it all the things that are
wrong in the picture dis-
played before him. After
the guests have written
down all of the errors, tell
them the truth. Noth-
ing is wrong with the
picture at all !

Topsy Turvy Hunt.
On another piece of
paper the guests write down any topsy turvy thing
about the room. These things, of course, are really
part of the decorations. The hunting could be done
in couples as in "Look and See," after each girl
has selected a new partner. The searchers might
find a tape measure tying back a window curtain,
a cook book among the books on a shelf, a scrap
basket holding a plant, a rubber bathroom mat for
a rug, candlesticks for bookends, a tea towel for
a table runner.

Leap Year Message. Each girl finds a new part-
ner, and two couples volunteer to act as judges.
Every twosome receives a white envelope contain-
ing a pair of small scissors and six magazine ads.
With this equipment, each couple forms a love
letter or telegram, using only such words as can
be cut from the advertisement. No mutilation of
words is allowed. The chosen words are pasted
on the envelope after paste pots have been dis-
tributed, and the judges have the last say.

Proposal Relay. Of course the girls must have
a chance to propose during Leap Year. The girls
and men each form separate lines, side by side,
facing two sheets of paper at the other end of the
room. The leader of each team runs up to his or
her sheet of paper. The girl writes down the first
word of a proposal, and the man writes down the
first word of a sentence which is to be an ac-
ceptance. The second player adds another word
to his or her sentence. The last player in each
line completes the sentence by adding one word,
and the first team finished is the winner.

Sir Walter Raleigh Race. Again the girls select
new partners. The men line up behind a starting
line or in two teams if the group is large. At the
starting signal, each lady places two pieces of
cardboard on the ground where she expects her
partner to step. At each step forward, she re-
moves the rear cardboard and places it in front
of him. In this manner, the man advances to the

604

TURN CONVENTIONS INSIDE OUT!

goal line. The first man or first line finished is the
winner. The cardboard pieces should be about
10x12 and the man is not allowed to step off
them.

Elopement Relay. Two rows of couples are
formed. Each line has an umbrella and a suitcase
in which are a loose coat and a woman's hat. At
the word "Go," the head girls put up the um-
brella, pick up the suitcase, and, sheltering them-
selves and their partners, run to the other end of
the room. The girls close the umbrella, open the
suitcase, and help the men into the hats and coats.
Then they help them take off these garments, re-
place them in the suitcase and pick up the closed
umbrella and suitcase. They return to touch off
the second couples. The first row finished is the
winner.

Stealing a Heart. This is a relay race, and the
first person in each line receives a clothespin and
a small heart cut out of heavy red paper. He
balances the "stolen heart" on the top of the
clothespin, as he runs to the goal line — but he
must run backwards. If he drops the heart, he
must stop, pick it up, and replace it on the clothes-
pin before he can continue. When he reaches the
goal, he takes the heart off the clothespin and runs
back to give it to the second person in line. The
team to finish first will be elated — until they learn
that because this is a topsy turvy party, the ones
who finish last are the winners !

Matrimonial Qualifications. Announce that the
girls will take no chances in this open season to
snare the elusive male. They want to pick a good
husband, so the men at the party must go through
a qualifications test. Give every man a needle,
thread, and a small patch. He must take off his
coat, thread the needle, and sew the patch to his
coat sleeve with at least ten stitches. The women
j udge the man with the "best qualifications." After
the decision has been made, the men must have a
chance to criticize, too. Give each girl a block of
wood, a nail, and a hammer. She is to hammer the
nail straight through the block of wood, and this
time the men judge.

Whirling Dervish. The couple winning the last
game must demonstrate their qualifications more
fully by testing their "stability." The man receives
an ordinary clothes hanger, which he holds in his
left hand. He crosses his arms with his left arm
over his right. He grasps his left ear with his
right hand. Holding the hanger by one end, he
places the other end on the floor. The girl re-

ceives a clothes hanger and makes the same prepa-
rations. At the signal, the players whirl the hang-
ers around fifteen times, not allowing the one end
to leave the floor. They then stand erect, walk
rapidly toward each other and shake hands. If
they succeed in getting together immediately, it
will be amazing.

A Matter of Balance. Ask for a volunteer to
take this test. Place a handkerchief on the floor,
standing in as much of a cone shape as possible.
A pie tin is placed on the head of the player, rim
facing down, and an orange is balanced on the tin.
The demonstrator then gets down on his knees,
picks up the handkerchief with his teeth and bal-
ances the orange on the pie tin at the same time.

Name It. During Leap Year especially, every-
one should be able to classify hearts at a glance.
Let your guests try it in this "before refresh-
ments" pencil and paper game. Ask them to name
the different kinds of hearts displayed on a table :
Heart cut from sandpaper: tough heart
Cardboard heart covered with cotton batting: soft heart
Heart cut from red flannel : warm heart
Heart cut from metal : hard heart
Tissue paper heart with feather pasted down on it : light

heart

Huge paper heart : big heart
Blue cardboard heart : sad heart
Candy heart: sweetheart

Leap Year Auction Sale. Cover the men one by
one with a large sheet thrown over their head and
covering their feet. Bring them in one at a time
to be sold as partners for refreshments. Each
girl has been given a quantity of little paper
hearts before the auction and she bids as high
as she cares for a covered figure.

A novel way to serve refreshments is to pack
enough for two in a small box. Wrap each article
in waxed paper and tie the box with red ribbon.
Let each set of partners sit together and eat the
refreshments picnic fashion. Each box might
contain two minced ham sandwiches, two cheese
sandwiches, four small sweet pickles, bananas,
fancy cakes, and some salted peanuts and mints.
If ice cream is served, insist that the partners eat
with spoons tied together with a string nine inches
long.

Then, after bartering unwelcome prizes, the
guests will be ready to leave. And probably, al-
though both men and girls enjoyed gathering to
"celebrate one night in topsy turvy state," each
one will be glad to get back to his or her normal
role!

A Lasting S

prmg

You WOULD expect an April
festival to celebrate the
Spring. Even in the crowded
sections of a city there are signs,
in backyards and alleys if no-
where else, of fresh, expanding
life new as anything can be, yet
as old as the first sun. There it
is, blooming again and brightly and generously as
ever. And it stirs in us also, even in the oldest of
us, and has blossomed in song, dance, poetry,
play-acting and in as varied a creation of shapes
and colors on canvas and in wood, clay, textiles
and other materials as nature herself has brought
into being. We feel close kinship to her in the
Springtime, as though this life in nature and in
ourselves were one. That such signs of fresh,
expanding vitality in us are not confined to the
Springtime, but are seasonable at all times of the
year, only practices and deepens the more this
feeling of kinship.

It is quite appropriate, therefore, that when a
large group of workers from Boston's settlements
were gathered recently to consider having a Spring
festival, they decided to celebrate these year-round
blossomings of human nature as well as the
Springtime blooms of nature. The group in-
cluded specialists in music, folk dancing, drama
and crafts as well as more general workers. Three
purposes were stated. One, to give opportunity
to participants in these activities to 'find keener
enjoyment and fuller social meaning in them by
bringing them into a significant festival ; that is,
primarily, to enjoy still more what they are al-
ready doing. Secondly, to have the festival so
designed as to serve as an incentive for carrying
on the beloved activities with a more ardent care
for doing them very well, and for entering into
additional or more substantial and rewarding
songs, dances and craft or
dramatic activities than might
otherwise be done. Thirdly,
to attract more people into
such activities. There is
special interest in attracting
more adolescents into the set-
tlement program.

In each Spring of the pre-
ceding five years the settle-

Some suggestions for an
April or May Festival

By A. D. ZANZIG

National Recreation Association

At the risk of seeming premature, as Feb-
ruary's snows fall and its winds howl, we
are publishing the outline of the Spring
Festival which is being planned for pre-
sentation by twenty-six settlement houses
of Boston. It is our hope that its publi-
cation at this early date will make it pos-
sible for other organizations which maybe
planning similar events to profit by the
suggestions offered by the Boston group.

ments had had a gratifying song
festival, and the music special-
ists themselves who had been in
charge of these festivals wanted
ihese broader purposes because
of the opportunities they give to
enrich the musical interest by
integrating it more fully into
the whole program of settlement activities. They
also wanted more of the festive spirit through
having the audience participate also.

During the two morning hours of the meeting
we had tried out two other ideas for the festival.
One was the giving of a musical play or operetta
which would call for the various kinds of activi-
ties. Another was a typical Spring festival em-
phasizing the Springtime customs of the various
national groups represented in the settlements.
But the idea of having a setting like that of a fair
within which all could take part in celebrating the
everlasting Spring of human creativeness won the
most adherents. A list of the various activity
groups in each of the twenty-six settlements had
been mimeographed and distributed, and long lists
of suggestions by individuals at the meeting, of
songs, dances and other features suited to such a
festival, were written down by the secretary of
the gathering.

A smaller number of the group met again in the
afternoon to deal somewhat more thoroughly with
the idea and suggestions, and a still smaller num-
ber of specialists including one skilled in pub-
licity, meeting in the evening, by midnight fin-
ished working out the following program, still
tentative in some of its detail :

The Program

Upon entering Jordan Hall for the festival at
about three o'clock on Sunday, April 14, the peo-
ple attending will be greeted
in the lobby by some strolling
singers and players. Invited
to go to the large stage bor-
dered with Spring greenery
and flowers, they will find
there a colorful exhibit of
several crafts and painting
and sculpture. Flower girls
will be there also and per-

605

606

A LASTING SPRING

haps a Gypsy fortune teller, balloon man and
other romantic characters including additional, or
else the same, strolling or seated singers and play-
ers. As the visitors move past the exhibit and go
to their seats, they will find in each one a printed
program of Spring-colored pages containing the
words of many songs which have been learned
during the preceding three months by groups of
parents and other adults from the settlement
neighborhoods as well as by the children. It will
also contain in simple language a statement of the
happy purpose of the affair and an invitation to
join in. The combined chorus of several hundred
children and older girls — a completely treble
chorus for the sake of unity and balance — will be
seated in the front and center of the hall, the rest
of the audience around, back and above them.

At about three-thirty a group of bell-ringers
using scale-tuned Swiss hand bells, will play at
the back of the hall a fine gay tune that will have
the effect of a fanfare. Then will follow a pro-
cession of the craftsmen and artworkers, each
bearing additional products of their skills, while
the whole audience sings the Beethoven Ode to
Joy,1 the words as well as the music of which are
just right for the essential meaning of the whole
affair. Here they are :

Hail thee, Joy !

All hail, divinest Daughter of Elysium !

We approach thy light so cheering,

To thy altar now we come.

Thou hast pow'r to bind together

What the world would rend apart,

And where'er thy light wings flutter.

Love and peace are in the heart.

Joy, 'tis Joy from heav'n descended,
Turns unseen the wheel of life,
Joy by love and hope attended,
Leading hearts from worldly strife :
Draws the stream from hidden sources,
Stirs the seed in earth confined,
Rolls the stars along their courses,
Moves the hearts of all mankind.
An orchestra of players from two music school
settlements will accompany this singing.

While the craftsmen and artworkers are set-
ting up the additional products in the booths and
preparing to work at their respective arts and
crafts in them, the audience will sing Come to the
Fair.- Then will come a succession of special
groups and individuals in simple costume to the
fair, the first group dancing down the aisles and
up to the stage to the general singing of the
Cornish May Song? The second half of this sim-

ple dance, with its round figure, is not done until
after the stage is reached. Each of the dozen or
sixteen dancers in this group will carry a sprig of
green or of flowers. In the village of Helston in
Cornwall, England, from which this dance and
song come, each May eighth is Furry Day (Fair
Day, the "furry" coming from the Latin feria as
"fair" has come.) Young people go before the
dawn into the outskirts of the village to gather
greenery and flowers, and return singing. They
then dance as our Boston young people will do,
but down the village street, the dance being known
as the Helston Furry Day Processional. They go
into each house along the way to bring the be-
nign influence into every household.

To our fair will then come strolling briskly a
group of the city's many Italian- Americans, one
or two of them with be-ribboned guitars, as we
all sing the Italian song, The Serenaders* The
song done, they will dance an especially gay
Tarentella to instrumental music.

Each of these dancing groups will stay at the
fair to enjoy the exhibits and good company, so
that when a forlornly dressed young soldier comes
along with a fife and drum, a young woman
among the dancers who, we hope, has known him
a long time takes advantage of leap year as she
addresses him in the song O Soldier, Soldier, which
appears on the opposite page. She sings her part
and he sings his answer, which a man must be-
lieve is intended not to deceive but to put the girl
off her question. The audience sings the phrases
telling what happens after each of his answers.
When she discovers that he already has a wife,
she may be angry or just shocked and embarrassed
and she may make him give back every bit of
clothing she gave him.

Now a trio or quartet of Negroes among the
craftsmen will sing one of their work songs or a
spiritual as they continue working. Then a small
chorus gathered in the wings will sing the gay old
four or six part round Summer Is A-Coming In,6
as a company of children come tripping in to its
dancing rhythm and while some break into a sing-
ing game, a few others who have brought the re-
quired instruments accompany them in a rhythm
band along with the piano. That done, a group

i In Songs for Informal Singing, Set I, published by National

Recreation Association. lOc.
•± Published only separately by Boosey and Co., N. Y. SOc.i Get

it in the key of G.
'•'• S .me as for 1.
4 In Folk Songs and Ballads, Set III. E. C. Schirnier Music

Co., Boston. 20c postpaid.
3 In Folk Sengs and Ballads, Set I. E. C. Schirmer Music Co.,

Boston. 20c postpaid.

A LASTING SPRING

607

of adolescent boys will come with the re-
quired equipment for a brief spell of
good tumbling. Following their acrobatics,
one of the craft workers or other persons
at the fair will start playing on his or her
guitar, preferably his, and sing one of the
loveliest of all the American folk ballads,
The Two Sisters,6 The Nightingale,7 At
the Foot of Yonders Mountain,8 or Pretty
Sally,8 or Stephen Foster's Jeannie, With
the Light Brotvn Hair.9 If there is time,
the amusing Deaf Woman's Courtship *
sung and acted out, the woman being a
weaver at the fair, could be enjoyed very
much also.

Now a marionette theater will be rolled
into the scene and a suitable short play
given, after which a family group that
have been at work in one of the booths
will sing as they continue their craft of
decorating their shepherd pipes, their song
being Believe Me, If All Those Endear-
ing Young Charms to be sung in four
parts, the second verse being joined in by
the whole audience with a small group of
sopranos singing a lovely descant 10 to it
in the balcony.

This lovely bit of music will be our cue for
having about a half hour of general and special
group singing commencing with the gay Morning
Comes Early? sung also as a two-part Canon (like
a round, the second part commencing as the first
part reaches the word "early" in the second
measure) and the beautiful Springtime Lark in
the Morn? sung in two parts. For contrast and
as token of the closing moments of the festival,
Sweet and Low9 will be sung by everyone, and
then without announcement we will hear from
the family group again, this time playing on their
shepherd pipes the children's Prayer from Hansel
and Gretel.11 When they have reached the end
of the fourth phrase they will stop while the
pianist will modulate from that chord to the
dominant, taking two measures within which to
do so and to hold the dominant chord for at least

O Soldier, Soldier

Appalachian

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D.C.

6 More Songs of the Hill-Folk, J. J. Niles. G. Schirmer, N. Y.

SOc.
1 Lonesome Tunes Wyman and Brockway. H. W. Gray Co., 159

East 48th St., New York. $2.00.

8 Music Highways and Byways, Silver Burdett Co., N. Y. $1.98.

9 Golden Gate Song and Chorus Book, C. C. Birchard and Co.,

Boston. 25c. In many other books also.

10 In Songs for Informal Singing, Set III. National Recreation

Association. lOc.

11 In edition of the opera arranged for children. C. C. Birchard

and Co., Boston. $1.50. Also obtainable separately at music
stores.

ve- ry, ve - ry best, And the sol - dier put it

2. "O soldier, soldier, won't you marry me

With your musket, fife and drum?"
"Oh, no. sweet maid, I cannot marry thee,
For I have no hat to put on."
Then up she went to her grandfather's chest,
And got him a hat of the very, very best,
She got him a hat of the very, very best,
And the soldier put it on.

3. "O soldier, soldier, 'won't you marry me

With your musket, fife and drum?"
"Oh, no, sweet maid, I cannot marry thee,
For I have no gloves to put on."
Then up she went to her grandfather's chest,
And got him some gloves of the very, very best,
She got him some gloves of the very, very best.
And the soldier put them on.

4. "O soldier, soldier, won't you marry me

With your musket, fife and drum?"
"Oh, no, sweet maid, I cannot marry thee,
For I have no boots to put on."
Then up she went to her grandfather's chest,
And got him some boots of the very, very best,
She got him some boots of the very, very best.
And the soldier put them on.

5. "O soldier, soldier, won't you marry me

With your musket, fife and drum ?"
"Oh, no, sweet maid, I cannot marry thee,
For I have a wife of my own."

The above song is from Dramatised Ballads by Tobitt and White.
Used by courtesy of E. P. Dutton & Co., New York.

608

A LASTING SPRING

two of the eight beats, while the leader will then
beckon the combined chorus of children to sing
the whole song, from the beginning, in two parts
accompanied by the orchestra and the pipes.

Now everyone will sing with the orchestra the
fine, big Alleluia 5 with its perfect expression of
the high enthusiasm of "Mother Earth," and ap-
parently of sun, moon and stars also, in the
Spring. The soprano group in the balcony will
sing a descant 12 to the second and fourth stanzas.
Finally, as the craftsmen and other special per-
formers walk up the aisles in a recessional we will
all sing America, the Beautiful, again with a
descant for its second and fourth stanzas.

Organization

A general Festival Committee has been formed,
comprised of the specialists and a representative
of each of the settlements. Within this group are
a small executive committee and subcommittees
on music, crafts, staging and lighting, costuming,
personnel and publicity.

The personnel committee or manager has the
task of seeing to it that each special group of par-
ticipants and each individual in it are properly
provided with a place to obtain and put on cos-
tumes, with seating before performing and with
clear instructions as to when and where they enter
the scene, what they do while in it, and when and
how each individual will leave it. As each special
group finishes its performance it will remain at
the fair, as previously said about the first group
of dancers. But as the number at the fair grows
as large as an attractive stage arrangement will
permit, some will have to return to their seats,
doing so as casually and unobtrusively as possible.
Since the variety of costumes adds to the pleasure
of the scene, at no time after any kind of group
costume appears should it disappear entirely. For
example, if at the entrance of the children a cer-
tain number of the preceding performers should
leave, let it be decided and known beforehand
which members, not all, of the Cornish and Ital-
ian groups will do so at that time. It will be nec-
essary to make a chart beforehand of the stage
and of the seats in the hall that are to be re-
served for participants, and to mark on it the seat-
ing of all special participants, including those who
are only to sing in the chorus, and the route of
entrance into the scene which each stage-perform-
ing group or individual is to take. These routes
should be interestingly varied. This well planned,

12 This descant may tie had without cost by applying to the writer
of this article.

a typed set of directions for each group or in-
dividual performer should be given to the person
responsible for that group or individual.

The Music Committee will need to arrange at
once for opportunities to help the singing groups
of children and of adults at each settlement to
learn the songs. That will call also for a mimeo-
graphing of the songs — at least the words of them
— and the provision of piano accompaniments of
them for leaders that can use accompaniments.
The songs could be learned without accompani-
ments, if that were necessary.

Further Possibilities

Some of the leaders are wishing that a small
chorus be formed by themselves, borrowing a few
men singers from other fields in the settlements
to join in singing some suitable four-part music
in the festival. A similar chorus might be formed
of young people from the settlement clubs or
neighborhoods. But we think that the whole fes-
tival program starting with the Ode to Joy should
not take more than ninety minutes. It has so
much variety, however, that it might be five or
ten minutes longer to provide opportunity for such
a chorus at some good point along the way.

Where Swiss hand-bells are not available a
good duo, trio or quartet of brass instruments
might very suitably give the opening fanfare. The
songs, dances and other features of this festival
could all be changed without lessening the pleas-
ure and value of it. We would like to know of
similar festivals in other communities. They could
serve very well the purposes of a demonstration
of the whole program of recreational activities in
a community or in a single center or neighbor-
hood.

For additional material regarding spring cele-
brations appearing in this magazine we refer our
readers to another article by Mr. Zanzig entitled
"Heigh-Ho for a Merry Spring !" which was pub-
lished originally in RECREATION and later re-
printed. Reprints of the article may be secured
from the National Recreation Association at fif-
teen cents each. The April 1939 issue of RECRE-
ATION contains, under the title "May Day Cele-
brations," not only suggestions for festivities for
this gala day but also references to source ma-
terial on music, drama, dancing, and other activi-
ties which would be exceedingly helpful to indi-
viduals or groups planning spring festivals of
any type.

Trends in Public Recreation

A A PEOPLE we can be proud
of the fact that our citi-
zens have had the vision to develop recrea-
tion systems — north, east, south and west in this
country — which are unequalled in the world.

During the last generation the leisure time
movement has grown to include playgrounds, com-
munity centers, lecture courses, forums, and all
the values included in so-called Adult Education.
All ages and both sexes are served, and by pro-
grams that sweep from physical activities to hand-
craft. music, dramatics, socials. Furthermore,
cities, towns and rural areas receive appropria-
tions from tax funds. All this — to say nothing of
the opening up of the great out of doors by
virtue of our National Park Service, maintained
by public appropriations.

Many private agencies have their following but
it is to national and local public recreation sys-
tems that we look for the most comprehensive
listing of opportunities. Public agencies, however,
will serve efficiently only in so far as they are
manned by a high grade of personnel. There-
fore, before this professional group of recreation
workers a few thoughts as to personnel will be
in point.

If one refers to Webster's Dictionary, the defi-
nition of the word "profession" will be found to
be "A calling or vocation, especially one that re-
quires a learned education." Note the word
"learned" which modifies the word "education."
Further, the dictionary states that the word "pro-
fession" is not applied to an occupation that is
merely mechanical.

So, if recreation workers are banded together
in a body which is called professional, it is essen-
tial that the membership be true to its assumption
by being made up of those who are not only skilled
in the practices involved but have a body of
knowledge which enables them to give reasons
why they do thus and so, and
which makes it possible for
those who are admitted to play
their part in the intertwined
relationships that exist among
all professional groups, as well
as to be able to win the accep-
tance of the community.

By EVA WHITING WHITE

At a meeting of the Society of Rec-
reation Workers of America held in
connection with the National Recre-
ation Congress in Boston, Mrs. White,
who is headworker at Elizabeth Pea-
body House, Boston, spoke on trends
in public recreation from the point
of view of the social worker.

In other words, a profession
demands both intellectual
power and technical ability. It is not enough to
be steeped in the philosophy of one's calling.
Principles must be applied, tested, varied by ex-
perience. Neither is it enough to be able to act
without knowing the significance of the goals to-
ward which action should tend.

Now participation in the demands of the leisure
life is in the sphere of the humanities. This is
important because human beings cannot be treated
like cogs in a machine without causing them to
react negatively. Their needs and desires present
an infinite variety which must be met with sub-
tlety and insight.

Certain dangers assail most professions — dan-
gers which, it would seem, can be guarded against
since the professionalizing of recreation is in its
foundation stage.

First as to technique: Great intelligence needs
to be used to overcome the stumbling block of
technique. There are teachers so bound by peda-
gogy that they are ineffective; social workers so
involved in the steps of procedure that they lose
sight of human nature.

Second comes the matter of language, phrase-
ology, which can be either a help or a barrier in
welding people to a cause. There can be no doubt
but that phrases used by social workers — cold and
uninterpretative as they often are — have led to
many a misunderstanding on the part of the pub-
lic, the very public from whom support is either
won or lost. Metallic language may get to the
press and newspapers will be shunted off. It will
take a great deal of clever publicity to overcome
handicaps so created.

Take the phrase "case work." What does it
mean? The constant repetition of such a term
tends to build a fence between those who are
endeavoring to meet the desires of men and
women, boys and girls and the
community that instinctively
demands to be told what is
being done in sympathetic,
human writing and speaking.
It is well, therefore, to with-
stand the attempt to be im-
pressive by using cumbersome

609

610

TRENDS IN PUBLIC RECREATION

or convenient rubber stamp terms. Those rubber
stamp terms throw many-sided efforts into a kind
of hash. One would think on reading some of the
current material that surgical operations should
be performed on the normal affiliations of folks.

It can be stated with some assurance that the
moment the public senses too great a formalizing
of effort in the leisure time field, the public will
move away. In the field of pathology people must
get assistance so it is accepted on whatever terms.
With normal life the situation is quite different.
Then all ages accept or refuse most independently.

Point three : Care should be taken to see that
pathological conditions in

phasized as a justification for recreation. For
some reason it seems to be easier to talk or to
write about difficulties to be overcome than to
present the infinite challenge of furthering the
higher qualities. Instead of bringing out what
recreation prevents people from doing, what it
enables people to achieve should be its basic asset.
Of course directors of public systems and their
staff workers should develop an understanding of
how to study communities. They should be fa-
miliar with racial characteristics and customs, with
political organizations, with measures for better-
ing environmental conditions, with the factors in
industry, with the bear-

society are not over-em-

"Their needs and desires present an infinite vari-
ety which must be met with subtlety and insight"

(Continued on- page 638)

Crowd* in Lowell

Cnnrtcsv Massachusetts WPA

Planning for the Future

A«J INCREASINGLY large
number of people are
becoming interested
either as spectators or con-
testants in some form of out-
door recreation. To fulfill the
growing demand for the fa-
cilities necessary for the pur-
suit of outdoor recreations,
new recreational areas are be-
ing developed continually.
Some of these are commercial projects and many of
them are public projects fostered by municipalities.

A second way of meeting this ever increasing
demand for additional facilities is to make the
facilities available for longer periods of time
through the use of light. This method is gaining
increasing favor, a fact which is evidenced by a
report that there are at the present time approxi-
mately 2,000 lighted recreational areas in the
United States.

If plans for recreational areas are made with
the thought in mind of lighting . them at some
future date, proper precautions can be taken so
that they will be readily adaptable to flood lighting.
If this possibility is not kept in mind it may be
found that lighting will be expensive and even
then not particularly satisfactory.

This is especially true in areas where two or
three sports are played on the same plot of
ground. For instance, if a baseball field, football
field, and a softball field are all laid out on the
same plot with an eye to the future, they can each
be well lighted from the same set of lights and with
no further adjustments or readjustments. How-
ever, if no thought is given to the future it is usu-
ally found that more lights and continuous read-
justment, resulting in a more expensive job, are
required and that one sport or another must suffer.

In order to demonstrate how to properly lay
out a recreational area with the thought in mind
of lighting at some future date, several of the
more common combinations are shown in diagram
form and discussed briefly.

General Municipal Athletic Field for

Baseball, Football and Softball
In the layout shown in Figure i, page 613, it
can be seen that the same floodlight locations are

By GLENN G. BOBST

General Electric Company

The primary purpose of this article
is to point out to officials promot-
ing or planning recreational areas
how they can, through proper plan-
ning, readily adapt their facilities
for lighting at such time as growing
demands warrant such action.

used regardless of which sport
is to be played. In any case the
resulting lighting job will be
satisfactory for the sport
which is being played. Base-
ball, being a much faster game
than softball and involving a
larger playing area, will re-
quire a greater quantity of
light. Football and softball re-
quirements are adequately sat-
isfied by baseball lighting. When softball is to be
played on the same area, some of the lights which
are used for baseball can be turned off. The
change from one to the other involves only a
means of electrical control which can be made not
only convenient but also inexpensive.

If the fields were laid out in a different relation
to each other than that shown in Figure I, the
same poles would not serve for all three applica-
tions and much additional equipment would be
required to accomplish the same result. The tabu-
lated recommendations at the end of this article
indicate how many floodlights should be used for
each type of sport and other basic information.

Successful play under floodlights demands a
high level of illumination so distributed that the
field itself and the ball, as it travels through the
air, can be seen clearly from all positions. Great
care must be taken that objectionable glare does
not rob the players of their skill and spectators of
their pleasure. The selection of proper equipment,
the installation of that equipment in the correct
locations, and the observance of recommended
mounting heights all contribute toward giving
both the spectator and the player the maximum of
visibility and enjoyment. The information con-
tained in this tabulation is based on experience
gained through many installations and if followed
should result in a well lighted field.

Because of the relatively few burning hours per
season, it is usually economical to operate lamps
at about 10% over their rated voltage. This in-
creases the light output of the lamp about 3S%
with an increased power consumption of only
about 16%. The lamp life is reduced to approxi-
mately 2°% °f normal but on the average should
he sufficient for at least one or more seasons
of operation. The economy of over voltage opera-

611

612

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

tion is based on the hours used per year of the
system. It is generally found that when a system
is to be in use from 50 hours to 200 hours a year
it is economical to operate the system at 10% over
voltage, and from 200 to 500 hours at $%. From
500 on up the lamps should be operated at rated
voltage.

On sports lighting applications either open or
enclosed floodlights may be used. The enclosed
type is recommended to prevent lamp breakage
from rain. The only alternative to the use of door
glasses is the use of hard glass lamps to avoid
lamp breakage. Door glasses not only protect the
lamps but also prevent accumulations of dust and
dirt on the lamps and reflectors.

General Municipal Athletic Field for
Football and Softball

In recreational areas where space is at a pre-
mium, it is sometimes found to be advantageous
to locate the Softball fields directly on the football
field. This is shown in Figure 2. Two softball
fields can be easily accommodated on one football
field and the same lights used for either sport with
the exception of locations 9 and 10 which are not
needed for playing football. The relation of the
softball diamonds to the football field is the im-
portant thing to be considered, as proper location
permits the satisfactory use of the same lights for
either sport.

If softball is played only on diamond A, loca-
tions i, 2, 5, 6 and 9 will be the only ones used.
Likewise, if played only on diamond B, locations
3, 4, 7, 8 and 10 will be used.

General Municipal Athletic Field for

Softball and Six-Man Football
Once again the same general layout is followed.
(See Figure 3.) The main purpose of showing
this plan is to indicate where the floodlights should
be placed when this particular combination is
used and the relation of the diamond to the foot-
ball field. When either softball or football are
being played in this combination all of the lights
are used.

College, School or Municipal Stadiums for
Football, Track and Field Events

In stadiums the floodlights are generally
mounted back of the seating facilities. The num-
ber of floodlights used varies depending on the
class of football played. Floodlights are placed
in locations as indicated in the layout in Figure

4 and the number varies from a minimum of
twelve in each position up to twenty. If the area
in the stadium is to be used for track or field
events, it is generally found necessary to readjust
as many floodlights as are needed for the events
to be run off. It is obvious that control of the
projected light (the photometric characteristics of
the floodlights) is of vital importance particularly
where the poles or towers are behind the seating
facilities.

Municipal Park Tennis Courts

A little planning at the time of laying out
tennis courts generally results in the ability to
light twice as many courts with the same amount
of light and expense. If the courts are made up
in blocks of two with a space between each block,
•as in Figure 5, floodlights placed as indicated will
light both courts very satisfactorily. The same
number of floodlights and poles would be re-
quired to light a single court but is not sufficient
for three courts. By dividing the courts up into
groups of two each, it is not necessary to illumi-
nate three or four in order to play on one and the
center courts of a group of three, four or more
do not suffer by contrast with those nearer the
floodlight poles. The number of lighted tennis
courts is increasing rapidly and the playing of
this sport after dark is finding public favor.

Municipal Swimming Pools (Outdoor)

The lighting plan indicated in Figure 6 is in-
cluded because of the constant trend toward larger
and larger pools. The conventional pools running
up to 60-70 feet wide can be lighted by modern
underwater methods very nicely from outside
edges. However, with the modern trend toward
pools 100 feet to 200 feet wide, the distances
involved are too great to span the area from one
side to the other even with the largest of lamps
and the most efficient projecting equipment. In
pools of this type it is recommended that an
island such as that indicated in the diagram be
installed in the pool. By locating light niches in
the island complete coverage can be obtained.
The island also has an additional safety feature
which cannot be overlooked. It affords a resting
place or a haven for inexperienced swimmers who
get halfway across the pool and become ex-
hausted. With a pool 100 feet or more wide, a
person in the middle underwater is not readily
discernible because of the failure of sidewall

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

613

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614

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

lights to maintain an adequate level across the
pool. The island would afford an excellent place
for a lifeguard station to forestall such a condi-
tion. It must be remembered that the attractive-
ness of a pool illuminated by underwater flood-
lights and the safety afforded are the chief claims
of success of this method of illumination.

Miscellaneous Minor Sports
The composite chart represented in Figure 7 is
included to indicate how some of the games which

are popular with the unskilled can be lighted.
These games are easier to light as they do not re-
quire as much illumination as the games involv-
ing a high degree of skill. These types of recrea-
tion are the ones most popular with the general
public because they can actually participate in
them with a great amount of enjoyment. To en-
courage the average man to be a contestant and
benefit by such participation, the lighting of these
minor sports should be kept in mind when a
lighting program is inaugurated.

ICE HOCKEY

|-*-20 FT. ->j

BADMINTON COURT

BASKETBALL COURT

BOXING RING

en >_

* SKATING POND

120 FT.

-20

n

I o

n. n' I

'XI

BrS

BOWLING GREEN

MODERN CROQUET GROUND

HORSE SHOE PITCHING

SKI JUMP

o i
o

CO

\

/ ll
\sl

Nl

-5FT-

SKI SLOPE

SHUFFLEBOARD

PING PONG

FIG-7

Courtesy Laboratory and Lighting Sales Division, General Electric Company

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
TABLE OF RECOMMENDATIONS

615

This table of recommendations is made up
based on data collected over a period of years and
if followed will result in a satisfactory lighting
application. Local conditions, preferences as well

as practices may, of course, vary the levels of

lighting and to some extent the methods of

application but they should be adhered to as
closely as possible.

Sport

Fig.

No. of
Locations

Mounting
Height

No. of Load
Floodlights Type of Floodlight R.V.*

Kw.

o.v.**

Baseball

1

8

60-70'

100-1500 W.^

150

174.0

Softball

1

4

60-70'

60-1500 W.

90

104.0

Football

1

8

60-70'

100-1500 W.

150

174.0

Football

2

8

50'

52-1500 W.

Both open or enclosed

78

90.5

Softball (2 diamonds)

2

10

SO'

40-1500 W.

Alzak finished alumi-
num floodlights should

60

69.6

(1 diamond)

2

5

50'

20-1500 W.

be used. These are

30

34.8

Softball

3

8

50'

32-1500 W.

available in both polish-

48

55.7

*" ed and etched reflectors.

6 Man Football

3

8

40'

40-1500 W.

Most open floodlights

60

69.6

Football

4

6

100-130'

84-120-1500 W.

can be connected into

126

146.0

Track

4

6

100-130'

Readjust as

enclosed units by the
addition of* a door glass

180

209.0

Field Events

4

4 (Ends)

100-130'

many
as needed.

and retaining ring.

Tennis Courts

5

4 (2 Courts)

30-35'

8-1500 W.

12

13.9

Tennis Courts

5

6 (4 Courts)

30-35'

16-1500 W. ,

24

27.9

Swimming Pool

6

The relative

spacing and location of lighting niches shown on Fig. 6

should

be main-

tained irrespective of

size of pool. Underwater equipment rated 1000 and

1500 W.

should be used for this

application. From 2 to 3 watts per square foot

of pool

('bottom

surface) are

recommended.

Badminton

7

2

30'

4-1000 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

4

4.6

or Porcelain Enamel

Basketball

7

4

30'

8-1500 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

12

13.9

Boxing Ring

7

4

18'

8-1000 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

8

9.28

Bowling Green

7

12

25' •

12-1500 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

18

20.9

or Porcelain Enamel

Croquet Court

7

4

20'

4-1000 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

4

4.6

or Porcelain Enamel

Horseshoe

7

2

20'

2- 750 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

1.5

1.7

or Porcelain Enamel

Ice Hockey

7

8

35'

12-1500 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

18

20.9

Shuffleboard

7

1

20'

2- 200 W. Handy Type

.4

Skating Pond

7

} Spacing and

location of floodlights should be adhered to as closely as possible. The

Ski Slope

7

watts per square foot

recommended are : skating pond .5 watts, ski slope

.1 watt.

Ski Jump

7

6

30'

6-1500 W. Etched Alzak Aluminum

9

10.4

Ping-Pong

7

1

15'

1- 200 W. Handy Type

.2

...

*R.V. — Rated voltage
**O.V.— Over voltage 10%

What They Say About Recreation

" I x LEISURE we repair and rebuild our energies
I of body and soul. We expand to the release
that comes from the excitement of sport,
the concentration and enlargement of devotion to
a hobby, the joy of following the adventures,
comic or tragic, of the heroes of drama and fic-
tion. We emotionally respond to great painting
and thrill to great music. The time of leisure is
the time of recreation, and re-creation means the
rebuilding of the wasted fibres of brain and body
and heart." — From Hours Off by Daniel A. Lord.

"Perhaps in the soul-satisfying beauties of our
national parks and other sacred regions we shall
find that we can regain something of that poise of
outlook and courage in action which contact with
unspoiled Nature may confer on human beings,
and so ensure a continuance of our civilization on
the lands which were so lately conquered by our
ancestors." — Harlean James in Romance of the
National Parks.

"A dominant note in the ever-expanding proc-
esses of education in the future will be happiness.
To this end more liberal space for play and rec-
reation will be provided for children, youth and
adults. The entire community will participate in
the development and enjoyment of school gar-
dens. Pageants and outdoor theater activities will
be a part of the program both day and evening.
Swimming pools, sun rooms, attractive auditori-
ums, healthful gymnasiums and other like facili-
ties will be found in these newer schools. Educa-
tional trips, more extensive travel, visits to cul-
tural centers, attendance at large scale exhibits,
will be enjoyed." — From Expanding Functions of
Education for Pennsylvania, "Public Education
Bulletin," April 1938.

"Leisure means opportunity to rediscover na-
ture. We are living in a society which becomes
more and more artificial. Machines are gradually
pulling us away from nature. Yet, in this great
nation we have for every man, woman and child
one and seven-tenths acres of free public land in
the form of parks and waters. We need to spend
more time in these parks and learn about birds,
trees, and flowers." — Eduard C. Lindeman.

616

"We in the United States are amazingly rich in
the elements from which to weave a culture. We
have the best of man's past on which to draw,
brought to us by our native folk and by folk from
all parts of the world. In binding these elements
into a national fabric of beauty and strength, let
us keep the original fibers so intact that the fine-
ness of each will show in the complete handi-
work."— Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"There are some things one never forgets. One
is the sight of trees at their best — the primeval
grandeur of a great forest tract. Trees in all their
grace and beauty and majesty, forest giants that
have seen the generations come and go, climbing
higher and higher into the upper air. There is a
fascinating feeling of awe in an ancient wood. Its
silence and tranquility does something to the
spirit. One does not understand it, but here is
something great and august and permanent."

"It is not how many activities, or how many
people, or how extensive the program, or how
much money is spent on it, but how well it is
being done, how permanent it is, how well it is
received by the people and what is happening to
our community as a result of our coordinated
effort." — Alonso G. Grace, Commissioner of
Education, Connecticut.

"If our powers are to be effectively applied in
sustaining the forms and achieving the ends of
popular government, the humane spirit must be
cherished and quickened, and ever brought to
bear as a dynamic element in the enrichment of
life. Knowledge is not enough. Science is not
enough. Both may be employed to kill as well as
to heal. Accumulated facts, though high as moun-
tains, give us no instruction in human values and
the choices of application. It is the humane spirit
that points the way to the good life." — Charles A.
Beard in Education for Democracy.

"Is it not remarkable that the only distinctive
American music has come from the Negro folk
songs, the ballads of the Mountaineers, and the
songs of the Western cowboys — from the work
songs of the common people" — Dwight Sanderson.

Institutes as Valuable In-Service Training

SOME YEARS AGO billboards
carried an illustration
showing a satisfied look-
ing gentleman puffing a cigarette
and declaring, "I'd walk a mile
for a Camel."

A picture that probably will
never be displayed along the
highways is that of a Methodist
clergyman in Texas who was
prepared to do and did an even
more significant thing. For a month he drove
forty-seven miles a day to attend a National Rec-
reation Association institute at Fort Worth. Be-
sides his arduous work as a pastor in the town of
Chelsea, Rev. C. Clyde Hoggard is district director
of work for young people. That perhaps accounts
for the special interest he has in recreation.

Interviewed by a local newspaper, Mr. Hog-
gard said, "I believe the recreation approach is
vital to the whole church program and I'm learn-
ing lots of new things from the institute. ... I
enrolled because I was anxious personally to con-
tact these particular leaders for their point of
view and to acquire new skills. I think their lead-
ership is excellent."

Though the great majority of the nearly 10,000
men and women who have attended such insti-
tutes have not been obliged to drive forty-seven
miles a day, some have traveled even farther.
For example, a recent course in North Carolina,
after thorough publicizing, drew from through-
out the state. It might be thought that to carry
out a regular job
and in addition at-
tended an institute
several hours a day
would prove too
great a physical
strain. On the con-
trary, however, the
"students" have
proved quite equal
to the challenge. So
much so, that in
ten of the forty
cities where since
September 1935
the institutes have

By WEAVER W. PANGBURN

National Recreation Association

been held, a second and ad-
vanced or different course has
been conducted.

Since the fall of 1935
the National Recreation
Association has conduct-
ed recreation training in-
stitutes in forty cities

CITIES WHERE INSTITUTES HAVE BEEN HELD

Atlanta, Sa.

"Indianapolis, Ind.

Rochester, N. Y.

Baltimore, Md.

"Kansas City, Mo.

Sacramento, Cal.

Berkeley, Cal.

Knoxville, Ten n.

St. Louis, Mo.

Birmingham, Ala.

*Los Angeles, Cal.

St. Paul, Minn.

*Boston, Mass.

Louisville, Ky.

Salt Lake City and

Buffalo, N.Y.

Milwaukee, Wis.

Provo, Utah

Chicago, III.

Minneapolis, Minn.

"San Antonio, Texas

"Cincinnati, Ohio

Newark, N.J.

San Francisco, Cal.

"Cleveland, Ohio

New Orleans, La.

Springfield, Mass.

Denver, Colo.

New York, N.Y.

Syracuse, N. Y.

Detroit, Mich.

"Philadelphia, Pa.

Tampa, Fla.

Durham, N.C.

"Pittsburgh, Pa.

Tulsa, Okla.

Fort Worth, Texas

"Providence, R. 1.

Worcester, Mass.

Houston, Texas

Roanoke, Va.

* City having first

and second year institute.

Nature of the Institutes

What, in brief, is the pur-
pose of these institutes? Who
sponsors them? How are they
financed? Who may attend?
What is the subject matter?
Looking, for example, at the
attractive announcement of the Birmingham
course which is going on as this is written, it is
seen that the institute's aim is many-sided. That
announcement reads as follows :

"Its purpose is to bring to the organization of leisure
new inspiration and a new interpretation of objectives;
to establish high standards of excellence in recreation ; to
bring a fresh point of view to paid and volunteer work-
ers and to help them increase their skill in conducting
activities ; to give to board members and civic leaders a
new understanding of the significance of the present op-
portunity offered in the leisure time field in relation to
home, church, school, industry, and public and private
recreational agencies; to encourage effective cooperative
planning and action, and to harness the potential skills
of leaders in the interests of peaceful and democratic
living."

While the National Recreation Association pro-
vides the faculty for the institutes, the sponsor-
ship is in the hands of local agencies. In Birming-
ham these are Jefferson County Coordinating
Council of Social Forces, Birmingham Park and
Recreation Board, Community Chest, Negro Ad-
visory Board of Community Chest with the co-
operation of Bir-
mingham-Southern
College, Howard
College, and Miles
Memorial College.
In other cities more
or fewer agencies
have accepted re-
sponsibility. Among
them are : service
clubs, councils of
social agencies,
Christian associa-
tions, and Federal
agencies including
the Works Progress

617

618

INSTITUTES AS VALUABLE IN-SERVICE TRAINING

Photo by Lambert Martin, IVorld-Ncws Photographer, Koanokc, Va

Administration and the National Youth Adminis-
tration. Even individuals have come forward as
co-sponsors.

For the financing of the courses these sponsors
combine to underwrite a given amount which rep-
resents a portion of the cost of the institute. They
are reimbursed from the fees of the students. So
far the highest fee for the entire course has been
$15, obviously a very moderate sum. Charges for
individual subjects or
combinations of subjects
are fixed in accordance
with a scale appropriate
to the charge for the en-
tire course.

Admission to the in-
stitutes is open to "all
persons interested in rec-
reation leadership or in
the subject announced,"
as the Birmingham pros-
pectus states. Profes-
sional leaders from pub-
lic and semi -public rec-

In the drama courses
instruction is given
in the techniques of
producing a play

Students taking the
music courses at an
institute play on the
pipes they have made

reation agencies, mem-
bers of Parent-Teacher
Associations, teachers,
program chairmen of
clubs, clergymen, church
school teachers, adult ed-
ucation and physical edu-
cation directors, workers
in institutions, volunteers
from many types of
agencies, and case work-
ers among many others
are eligible. Usually a

committee on admissions passes on their quali-
fications.

The subject matter depends upon the wishes of
the sponsoring and participating agencies. In Bir-
mingham 'classes in arts and crafts, music, and
social recreation, each subject presented in thirty
class hours, are offered. In other cities the com-
bination of three major courses has included
drama and nature study.

(Continued on page 639)

Introducing the Snow Artist!

THE SNOWMAN in the front yard has under-
gone considerable change in the last few years.
His unwieldly, proportionless figure has be-
come svelte and sculptured ; he has been outfitted
with armatures to prevent him from toppling
over; he has even been dressed up in natural
color. He has been crowded almost out of the
yard, however, by a host of seals, dogs, cats, ele-
phants, alligators, prominent personages, build-
ings, and comic strip characters executed in ice.
All this has occurred as a result of widespread in-
terest in the art of snow modeling. Children en-
joy it; in addition, they learn about color, design,
and manipulation. Snow modeling and the art of
sculpture seem on entirely different planes, but the
modeler learns the principles by which the sculp-
tor works. Crude self-expression thus can be
turned into real creative activity.

The Snow Artist Makes a Statue

One method of snow modeling is to pack snow
into a large pile and freeze it. The figure is carved
or chipped out with a hatchet. The evident defect
in this method is the problem of weight distribu-
tion. Since the statue must support its own weight,
the variety of subjects which can be modeled ac-
cording to this plan is limited.

The second method employs slush (made by
filling a pail of water with snow) and armatures
of boards and wire to support legs and arms for
better weight distribution. Since the modeler
shapes the form on a frame, this method is simi-
lar to that of the clay sculptor. Slush is similar
to plaster of paris or clay in its pliability, but
slush can be chipped, carved, and smoothed even
after it is frozen.

The sculptor first chooses his subject and draws
a picture of the proposed statue. (At Dartmouth
College modelers reproduce their subjects in clay

to make sure of correct placing of armatures and
proper distribution of weight.) By drawing lines
on the picture, measurements are taken for con-
structing the model in proportionate size. The
beginner should be cautioned against selecting a
subject which requires an intricate armature of
boards, sticks, and wire. Buildings, reclining fig-
ures or figures which can be erected around sturdy
supports are practical. Experienced modelers re-
late that it is easier to make life size statues than
small ones.

After deciding upon a model and cutting the
armatures, the sculptor selects his tools. He must
have the armatures ready to put together and wire
or nails to fasten them. He must have a large
bucket and a sprinkling can or a hose in order to
make slush. He must have a dipper to remove the
slush from the bucket to the framework, a shovel
to make a platform for the model, and a paddle,
trowel, knife, hatchet, and wood rasp (for hair
effects) to shape the snow into the desired form.
If he wants to give color to his work of art, he
also will need Kalsomine and a two-inch brush
to apply it.

The first step in the actual modeling is making
a bank of snow two or three feet high. The model
will be erected upon this platform. The place
where the statue is built is of great importance.
If possible it should be displayed against a dark
surface or building so it will show up to greater
advantage.

The boards chosen for the legs should be cut a
foot longer than the actual measurments so they
can be sunk into the base as extra support for the
model. The sculptor piles slush or snow about the
leg boards and then pours water over the entire
structure so it will freeze and become solid.

The rest of the framework is erected and wired
or nailed together. A large box can be placed in

619

620

INTRODUCING THE SNOW ARTIST!

the center of the body of the figure as a part of the arma-
ture. This will lessen the gross weight of the finished model
and will decrease the possibility of its toppling over.

Now the actual modeling begins. The constructor applies
the slush to the armature, building and shaping with paddle
or trowel as he goes. Even after the slush has frozen he can
change the figure by chipping it with a hatchet. He will be
able to experiment, for if the weather stays cold he can con-
tinue remodeling over a period of several days.

He views the statue from all sides to assure correct pro-
portion. When it is satisfactory, he may decide that outlining
is necessary. In this case, oil paint can be applied with a
brush. Kalsomine, in a pasty consistency, is used to color
the model. The water freezes, leaving the color in the ice.
For some models at Dartmouth ice cakes have been dyed to
use as a colorful background or for the base of a panel in
relief.

After the finished statue is sprayed on a cold night it looks
like a carving in ice — and it won't melt easily.

If the modeler wants to display his work at night, lighting
by small spotlights is very effective. Care must be taken in
placing the lights to achieve the best possible effects; the
placing depends on the size and shape of the model. The
strength of the lights is governed by the size of the subject.

Contests in Snow Modeling

When carrying on a community snow modeling contest, it
is well to limit the age of the participants or to arrange for
various age divisions. The contestants should be encouraged
to attempt models other than snowmen. Modeling in indi-
vidual front yards is preferable to modeling in a central park
because of the difficulties with transportation of materials
and the expense involved in the spring clean up. Moreover,
the models don't show up as well as when they are displayed
individually. It is wise to set a deadline for the construction
work and to ask that the contestants submit pictures of their
models as they finish them. When all the pictures are in, the
judges make their selections.

Minneapolis has held snow modeling contests for a number
of years, using two methods. A city-wide contest has been
held at a centrally located park. The disadvantage lies in the
tremendous amount of necessary hauling of materials and
equipment to one area. When the models melt in the spring,
all the boards, sticks, and wires must be cleared away by the
city. The second type of contest tried out was on the basis
of districts. The children modeled at neighborhood parks,
and a final contest among district winners determined the
city snow modeling champion. Inexpensive medals and cups
were given as awards. The Recreation Department suggests
that groups as well as individuals should be encouraged to
enter the contest. (Continued on page 640)

NOTE: The two cuts reproduced here are used by courtesy of the
Union County, New Jersey, Park Commission.

0olf and Country Clubs
for Winter Sports

By CHESTER C CONANT

A REVELATION to the increasing number of ardent winter
sports enthusiasts in Massachusetts is the fact that
slowly but surely golf and country clubs of the state
are opening their grounds for winter use to their members
and, in some instances, to the public at large. This awaken-
ing is credited to the tremendous popularity of winter sports
throughout the country and to the fact that the more active
clubs realize that their grounds provide ideal opportunities
for winter activities.

The golfer who has himself been affected by the winter
sports "bug" is quick to realize that his favorite fourteen
hole which drops almost a mile to the green would make a
fine location for a mile-a-minute toboggan chute; or that
tough, uphill third with its smooth, even fairway would be a
much better practice slope for skiing than Si Brown's rock-
ribbed pasture. Directors are discovering that a well or-
ganized winter program promotes interest and fellowship
within the club, which does not detract a bit from member-
ship for the following year. A winter sports program also
solves the ever-present problem of keeping the head greens-
keeper and his aides busy during what was formerly the
off season.

A Few Conclusions

That interest in a year-round program for golf courses is
on an upward trend has been brought out by the results of a
questionnaire sent out by the writer to many of the golf
organizations throughout the state. Pertinent conclusions
obtained from a study of the returns might well be :

That nearly half of the clubs encourage winter sports on
their courses.

That skiing, skating, and winter golf are the most popular
activities, with ski jumping, tobogganing, and carnivals sec-
ond in importance.

That an average of twenty per cent of the memberships
of the various clubs use the facilities.

That the greater majority of the clubs were not located
near the private or state winter sports development.

Most of the clubs heard from were open to the public for
recreational purposes during the winter months and claimed
a suitable topography for nearly all of the various winter
sports.

621

GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUBS FOR WINTER SPORTS

622

The question, "Do you believe that a winter
sports program is becoming increasingly im-
portant in the year-round schedule of golf and
country clubs ?" was answered unanimously in the
affirmative.

Weather Conditions

The prime requisite in considering and promot-
ing a winter sports program of any kind is a
definite idea of the type of weather to expect. It
would be folly to construct a permanent and ex-
pensive ski jump or downhill trail in a section
where the average snowfall is less than thirty
inches and the average winter temperature over
thirty-five degrees. From a brochure by E. J.
Domina. "Snowfall Survey for Massachusetts,"
written for the Massachusetts State Planning
Board from data secured from the United States
Weather Bureau in Boston, there is sufficient evi-
dence to establish sound general conclusions war-
ranting investment in winter sports facilities and
promotion in ninety per cent of the state of Mas-
sachusetts. It will perhaps be surprising for old
timers who claim that our winters today are mild
compared to those of past seasons to learn that
the average snowfall statistics and the mean tem-
perature data collected from 1926-1936 at stations
in a number of cities throughout the state vary by
less than ten per cent from data which had been
collected at six of these stations over a period of
forty years. Inasmuch as these stations cover an
area representative of the greater part of the
state, the amount of snowfall and mean tempera-
ture for each section may be reliably interpreted
by means of maps and graphs.

From statistics available there seems to be jus-
tification for the development of all winter sports
activities in all sections of the state west of Bos-
ton over a long period of years. This statement
does not mean, however, that a lighter program
is not justified in the southeastern part of the
state, but that the reliability of good conditions is
uncertain. Thus a short-time or simplified pro-
gram in relation to existing conditions might
prove more favorable.

Financing

Very important in carrying out an organized
winter sports program is the problem of finances,
since on this may hinge either the development of
a better group of facilities or the closing of the
club to all winter sports activities as a result of
financial reverses.

It has seemed advisable for most of the private
clubs to charge a certain fee for the season, show-
ing preference to year-round members over non-
members.

The following program card was devised by the
Weston Golf Club, a leader in the winter sports
field:

"The rates for membership in winter sports are
as follows :

Family membership $20.00

Husband and wife 10.00

Individual 7.50

Junior 5.00

"The usual rebates to members in the event of
there being less than fifty days of skating and
coasting combined will be in effect. The complete
list of rebates is posted in the club office.

"Membership cards for winter sports are avail-
able to non-members of the club who have been
approved by this committee. Rates for such mem-
bers are fifty per cent higher than for club
members.

"The charge for guests is seventy-five cents
per day.

"Your cooperation is asked in signing all guests
either with the attendant or at the club office or
in the book provided for this purpose at the pond.

"Arrangements will be made with a profes-
sional ski instructor for beginners and experienced
skiers if a sufficient number are interested. Infor-
mation about classes will be mailed.

"Please list on the enclosed post card the mem-
bers of your family who may wish to take ski
lessons. Names of those who are not members of
the club but who would like to take these may
be given to the chairman.

"The rink will be used most of the time for in-
formal hockey. Occasional reservations will be
made for games. Will those interested in forming
a club team communicate with Mr. Alexander
Winsor? A junior team will be organized during
vacation.

"Meadowbrook School will have the use of the
pond Mondays through Thursdays until four
o'clock except during holidays. As in past years,
winter sports members may use the pond during
these hours if conflicting in no way with the school.

"The Winter Carnival will be Friday, Decem-
ber 30th, weather permitting.

"Our committee welcomes suggestions."

Facilities

The problem of facilities, natural and artificial,
holds an important place.

GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUBS FOR WINTER SPORTS

623

Since skiing is our most popular winter sport,
we are first concerned with that activity. Its
prime prerequisite is a wide open slope, with a
grade of fifteen per cent or more. Golf courses
are happily adapted to this activity because of
their rugged topography and the smoothness of
their fairways, conditions which make it possible
to ski on as little as four inches of snow. (Some
ski instructors have intimated that all that is
needed to ski on golf terrain is a good heavy
frost.) Welcome additions to those who are un-
able to find the time to ski during the day time
the floodlights on the slopes. This factor works
out particularly well on municipal courses where
there are apt to be large crowds on hand during
the evening sessions.

Ski Safety

A necessary precaution that must be taken is
the reservation of open slopes for skiing only.
An article from the Springfield Republican calls
attention to the danger of permitting skis and to-
boggans on the same slopes, and the importance
of park department supervision or a division of
the area with separate zones for each type of
winter sport.

Hockey and Curling

Throughout the country, ice skating and hockey
are giving its chief competitor, skiing, a real run
for being the most popular of our winter sports.
Since the weather conditions in Massachusetts
are favorable for the pursuit of this activity from
December through March, it should be of prime
importance in the winter programs of golf and
country clubs. While many of our courses pos-
sess natural water hazards, which may very con-
veniently be converted into skating rinks during
the winter, it has been found practical to flood
tennis courts or level fairways to provide areas
for ice skating. Curling, a fine sport somewhat simi-
lar to that of bowling, should be encouraged and
instituted for those who have passed the summer
of their lives yet who wish to enjoy an afternoon
of brisk, invigorating exercise.

Tobogganing

Tobogganing and ski jump-
ing are winter recreations of
the thrill type and require arti-
ficial facilities and considerable
upkeep. Most tobogganing is
done in chutes which are con-

The material presented in this arti-
cle has been taken from a term paper
submitted by Mr. Conant in a Special
Problems Course in the Department
of Physical Education for Men, Massa-
chusetts State College, June 1939.

structed so as to follow the contour of the hills
upon which they are laid. Some slides have highly
elevated trestles to gain their start, especially
where the topography is fairly level. Such a one
is found on the Northfield Golf Course, North-
field, Massachusetts.

The following is a short description of the lo-
cation and design of toboggan chutes from a paper
by Samuel P. Snow as published in the American
School and University :

"The toboggan slide often provides the incen-
tive which draws from the fireside those who lack
the enthusiasm necessary to participate in more
active sports.

"The first thing to look for in laying out any
sort of toboggan facility is a gently sloping hill
having a maximum gradient of not more than
forty per cent at its brow. Secondly, this hill
should preferably face to the north or the north-
east so that the ice in the chute will melt as little
as possible.

"The third requirement is at least a four inch
snowfall for the outrun of the chute. If there are
not four inches of snow on the ground at all times
there must be at least enough snowfall to main-
tain a course forty yards wide and four inches
deep at the end of the chute.

"The entire slide should be built straight. Al-
though topography tends to govern the location of
a chute, curves even though carefully designed by
an engineer make it possible for the toboggan to
go over the sides through carelessness or reck-
lessness.

"The chute should follow the natural contour
of the ground, including a few secondary places
to add variety and speed, thereby avoiding ugly
scaffolding and an accompanying increase in con-
struction costs. Some designers advocate building
a sudden drop or two on a toboggan chute, but
this is thought by the writer to be a poor policy.
The chute in general should be clear of trees and
other obstructions to prevent serious accidents in
case the toboggan should overturn.''

Ski Jumps

Unless the location is naturally situated and
unless the golf club desires to
go into the venture for profit,
no ski jump should exceed
thirty meters in size. Although
there is no definite limit or
size that might be said to be
(Continued on page 642)

It is not too much to hope that a
Shelf Show may, some day, become a
community's permanent art exhibit

PEOPLE USING their leisure hours in arts and
handicrafts work need conditions favorable
for increasing skills and knowledge; they
need appreciation and encouragement. It is not
always enough stimulus to continued effort for
them to display their work even once a year. More
frequent displays will not only arouse the com-
petitive "spurt," but they will encourage a steady
effort to excel in skills, as well as supplying
greater satisfactions to the artisans and the local
citizens.

A Shelf Show is one means of displaying the
handiwork of a select group of eight to twelve
persons. The entire exhibit should be composed
of an arrangement of shelves with one shelf as-
signed to each individual exhibiting.

The purposes of a Shelf Show are many. It
provides a constant display of selected arts and
crafts articles, stimulating the interest of partici-
pants and observers. It encourages fine workman-
ship, promotes originality and creative skills, and
gives recognition to advanced students in the field.

The Shelf Show may be set up in a town of
5,000 or more population. Such an activity is an
excellent means of reaching persons in the com-
munity who are not directly served by the recrea-
tion centers and its leaders. Of course, the recrea-
tion supervisor and leaders, in cooperation with
the city council, should initiate the exhibit, work-
ing with a local art club, other organized clubs,
or a group of interested persons.

The first step is to inform the "key" persons of
the town — whether potential exhibitors or onlook-
ers—of the purpose of the Shelf Show. Next, the
leaders must find a group which is willing to
sponsor the show.

In arranging for the pre-
liminary exhibit (from which
the best craftsmen are chosen
for the Shelf Show), they
must select a centrally lo-
cated spot: the town library,
a store window, community
club room, or recreation cen-

Miss Sherburn, who has had a number of
years of experience as art and music in-
structor in the Emergency Adult Educa-
tion Project and as specialized super-
visor of Arts and Crafts for WPA Rec-
reation Projects at Hastings, Nebraska,
is now specialized supervisor of the
state-wide crafts project in Nebraska.

By CORA SHERBURN

Lincoln, Nebraska

ter. The preliminary display may be a Shelf Show
contest, or a city-wide exhibit. The award basis
for the contest would be admittance to the Shelf
Show proper.

The next step is the construction of the shelves,
which may be of varying depth and height. They
should, however, accommodate at least twelve
articles, with background space and attached rods
for hanging textiles. They may be modernistic
cabinets, or set-back shelves in a group. Ivory or
French gray paint is generally preferred as a neu-
tral background for varied shapes, colors, and
textures. Often the shadows cast by the articles
add much to the display.

All through the preparation, publicity should be
circulated concerning the project. The leaders
must arrange for posters and news stories, prepare
a group of rules and qualifications and suitable
legends to explain the exhibits, as well as compile
a list of probable exhibitors who should receive
invitations to enter the Shelf Show preliminaries.
Possible channels for publicity are: newspaper
stories ; folders or invitations announcing each
new group of Shelf Show exhibitors; lessons,
lectures, and illustrative material at the recreation
center, which will aid in increasing knowledge and
interest in various elements of the show.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, the criteria by which the
craftsmen were judged were : native Nebraska
craft media; Nebraska design motifs; originality
in model, design, and sketch (this eliminated copy
and pattern work) ; excellence of workmanship,
design, usefulness, beauty, and application of idea
to the art subject. The judging can be done by a
selection committee. The members of this com-
mittee should have a thorough
knowledge of arts and crafts,
and skill in encouraging ex-
hibitors to greater effort.

After the final selections
have been made for the first
Shelf Show, there should be
other contests at stated in-
(Continued on page 643)

624

Child Development Through Play and Recreation

"Play is the natural impulse of the child. It is the center of all interests and
activities to which other interests, even eating and sleeping, are often subordi-
nate. When we speak of play, therefore, as a need of children, we speak about
that which to them is most important and most necessary, if they are to develop as
normal, healthy individuals." This is the opening paragraph of a report from the
White House Conference on Children in a Democracy which all friends of rec-
reation will be interested in seeing. It is possible here to present only a resume.

IN WASHINGTON, January eighteenth to twenti-
eth, public spirited citizens from all parts of
the country gathered to hear and discuss re-
ports on various phases of child welfare. An
earlier preliminary conference had been held on
April twenty-sixth, 1939. At one of the section
meetings a report on child development through
play and recreation was discussed by the dele-
gates present who had been invited to attend this
particular session, and a few changes were sug-
gested. At the main session of the Conference a
brief summary of this report was presented.

The Importance of Play

The report itself emphasized the importance of
play in the life of the child. "Recreation for chil-
dren in a democracy should reflect in its program,
organization, and operations those values which
are implicit in the democratic way of life. This
means, among other things, a program that
emerges from the life of the people; a leadership
that represents and releases the deepest needs and
interests of persons ; a relationship with people in
the community that involves them in responsible
participation, both in planning and in manage-
ment; a form of administration that is democra-
tic, not autocratic; a method that utilizes group
experience and group channels in the total
process."

Such an interpretation of recreation must rec-
ognize the importance of the family unit and of
facilities and services designed to meet the lei-
sure time needs of whole families. It must realize
the universality of the need for recreation and
the requirements of people of low as well as high
income, o i all ages, of both sexes, of all sections
of the country, of occupational groups, and of
racial and ethnic backgrounds.

The Play and Recreation Needs of Children

The Conference recorded its recognition of the
significance of leisure. Paralleling the importance
of housing, health, and formal education are the
uses of free time. These include not only the per-
sonal and social values of play and recreation but
also the far reaching individual and group out-
comes of informal education programs for chil-
dren and youth in our democracy.

"All children and youth need experience through
which their elemental desire for friendship, rec-
ognition, adventure, creative expression, and
group acceptance can be realized. Normal family
life contributes much toward meeting these basic
emotional needs. Voluntary participation in in-
formal education and recreation under favorable
conditions also contributes greatly toward this
same result. They help to meet certain develop-
mental needs, the need of congenial companion-
ship with both sexes, the need for emotional de-
velopment and a healthy independence, as well as
other needs that arise at different stages in the
individual's passage toward maturity. They fur-
nish, finally, an important means whereby the
child can express his functional need for the de-
velopment of motor, manual, and artistic skills,
for contact with nature, for creative contempla-
tion, for non vocational learning, for the socializ-
ing experience of group life, and for responsible
participation in community life."

If these important needs are to be met, certain
basic instruments are necessary.

The Committee lists among these requirements
time for play ; places in which children can move
freely and safely; play areas and play materials
which they can use by themselves ; and opportuni-
ties for self-expression and spontaneous play.

625

626

CHILD DEVELOPMENT THROUGH PLAY AND RECREATION

In spite of the progress which has been made in
the multiplication of facilities, in the enactment of
enabling legislation, in the enrichment of the rec-
reation program, and in the training of leaders,
there are still many unmet needs and there are
groups of children who have fewer than average
opportunities for participation in a recreation pro-
gram. The Committee cites the needs still exist-
ing among children of families of low income
groups; the lack of adequate facilities and lead-
ership for Negro children especially in the south-
ern states ; the failure to provide more effectively
for children in rural areas particularly in non-
farm rural areas, in migratory families, and in
families living in depressed rural communities.
Children in slum areas in large cities are suffer-
ing from lack of playground and park areas.

The Committee also points to the needs of chil-
dren in certain age groups — of the pre-school
child for whom programs are the exception rather
than the rule ; of young people leaving school for
whom social contacts and recreation are essential ;
of girls who do not yet have recreational advan-
tages comparable with those accorded boys; and
of children with special problems whose needs
call for an expanded and concerted effort and
planning among welfare and educational and rec-
reational agencies. "The needs of these groups
constitute a challenge to our democracy. Play is
as vital to the child's developing personality as
food is to his growing body. Children are chil-
dren but once. Their time is play time."

Recreation for All

Communities desiring to give specific attention
to existing inequalities of play and recreational
opportunities for children are urged in the Com-
mittee's report to take stock of their own situa-
tions and to give consideration to careful plan-
ning along a number of lines.

Playground areas of primary schools and the
buildings and grounds of
secondary and consolidated
schools should be open and
under supervision for com-
munity use after school
hours, at week-ends, on
holidays, in summer and
winter.

Legislative action should
be sought by agencies of all
kinds which will make pos-
sible cooperative action be-

"Play and recreation in and of themselves
have values for the individual. To empha-
size recreation as a means of reducing or
preventing juvenile delinquency, of devel-
oping character and citizenship, or achiev-
ing some other worthy end, is to slur over
its essential character, its developmental
and creative role as play, fun, relaxation,
release, joy. Play and recreation are part of
the soil in which personality grows. Their cen-
tral significance lies in the fact that it is dur-
ing leisure one is most free to be himself."

tween school and recreation agencies. Joint plan-
ning groups in which city and county agencies
participate might well be set up, in the opinion of
the Committee, to help provide for children out-
side city limits and in adjacent rural areas and to
give consideration to long-range planning.

All recreation programs for children should in-
corporate in their programs the active use of
libraries, museums, health agencies, schools, parks,
art schools and galleries, and social recreation fa-
cilities in the furtherance of a total community
recreation program.

Children should have access to book collections
so essential to the fostering of good reading
habits and the exploration of individual interest
and hobbies. "All recreation agencies will enrich
their programs by establishing close associations
with public libraries."

Municipal and county parks and forest agen-
cies, in collaboration with similar national and
state agencies, should provide park and camping
areas especially for low-income and minority
groups.

Housing development should be encouraged to
enter into cooperative agreement with local com-
munities so that established standards of recrea-
tion facilities will become effective for housing
residents and the entire neighborhood. Methods
of providing garden plots for people living in
crowded areas should be explored.

Recreational activities should be planned and
carried out to meet the physical and psychological
needs of children of all age groups.

It is further suggested that special emphasis be
given to public education in the value and im-
portance of leisure time through farm journals,
the press, and radio; to parent education in the
fields of mental hygiene and the play needs of
children at various age levels ; to school recreation
programs and their extension to recent gradu-
ates ; and to general training in the principles and
programs of recreation for
all rural workers in child
welfare, teachers, extension
workers, ministers, health
officials, volunteers, librari-
ans, and social service work-
ers. Civic orchestras, peo-
ple's theaters, and art mu-
seums should be organized
and maintained for the en-
joyment of all.

CHILD DEI'ELOPMENT THROUGH PLAY AND RECREATION

627

Education in the Selection
of Leisure Pursuits

In the opinion of the Com-
mittee, public and private
leisure-time agencies would
profit by reconsidering their
attitude toward various kinds
of commercial recreation,
adopting a positive approach
in which a sustained effort
should be made to assist all consumers in their
choice of play and leisure activities.

The Committee further stresses the value of a
leisure-time information service directed to fami-
lies, which would cover the following fields :

Current motion pictures, radio programs, maga-
zines, books, periodicals, lectures, concerts, plays,
and exhibits.

Standards for selecting toys for children and
information on inexpensive game equipment for
home use.

Places of interest to visit ; low-cost vacation
places for week-ends and holidays; interesting
drives and excursions, picnic spots, trails, nature
museums, and sports areas.

Location and programs of community centers,
sports areas, nursery schools, children!s play cen-
ters, parent education classes, workshops, com-
munity festivals and play days, settlement houses,
and educational and recreation centers.

Formation of groups for listening to radio pro-
grams and discussing movies ; formation of com-
mittees of parents to advise with operators of
commercial amusements.

The directing of children and parents to public
libraries and inexpensive juvenile book depart-
ments ; encouraging the public library to establish
browsing libraries in recreation centers; and the
creation of toy lending libraries.

Formation of and leadership assistance to vol-
unteer groups who undertake some responsibility
in supplying information to the central service. •

Qualified Leadership

"The key to a successful play and recreation
program is leadership," states the report. "The
leadership of volunteer play and recreation groups
requires persons of rich background and experi-
ence sensitive to individual as well as group needs
and proficient in several recreation skills." Ac-
cordingly, the maintenance of standards which
have been established is of primary importance. The
Committee urges that preparation for all leaders

"Recreational activities should be de-
signed to stimulate cooperative en-
deavor, to give immediate satisfying ex-
periences, to utilize local resources, and
to build interests which can be enjoyed
further in later years, such as music,
drama, art, discussion and reading, as
well as active games and sports. They
should offer many opportunities for boys
and girls to work and play together."

in community play and rec-
reation "should be generally
comparable in amount and
thoroughness to that required
for the profession most
closely related to it — namely,
public education."

As rapidly as possible, rec-
reation positions paid by pub-

lic funds should be placed
under a merit system. Training for recreation
workers and in-service training should be en-
couraged.

Planning for the Play and Recreation
Needs of Children

"Recreation requires planning on a national,
regional, state, and community basis, and such
planning to be effective calls for the collaboration
of public, private, non-profit, and commercial
agencies." While urging the recognition of the
development of recreation and the constructive
use of leisure time as a public responsibility on a
par with responsibility for education and health,
the Committee acknowledges the contribution
made by voluntary associations and organizations
and their continued functioning. "Groups of citi-
zens also acting through private agencies should
assume a part of this responsibility, because of
the historic role of private agencies in experimen-
tation and the development of standards, and in
order to provide a continuous channel for the
voluntary participation characteristic of a demo-
cratic society."

The distinctions between public and private
agencies in the field of recreation are becoming
less important, the report further points out. "Of
greater concern is the provision of opportunities
for the entire population and cooperative intelli-
gent planning for them. The particular importance
of private agencies lies in the fact that they pro-
vide a medium through which groups of citizens
through voluntary effort can identify, interpret,
and seek to meet some specialized community
need. Particularly is this the case in relation to
areas of activity which are resisted or as yet are
unrecognized by the larger community. Private
agencies also play a vital role because they have
emphasized responsibility and participation on the
part of volunteers, have provided joint policy and
program planning on a continuous basis, and have
brought volunteer and professional leaders into
(Continued on page 643)

A Ten -Year Park Program

As A RESULT of the 1938
election, and in ac-
cordance with in-
structions of the City
Council, the Planning
Commission of Portland,
Oregon, was authorized to
review the findings of a
park report prepared in
1936. It was also author-
ized to work with the Fed-
erated Community Clubs

in studying the program. The Federated Com-
munity Clubs had sponsored a referendum on the
charter amendment authorizing a .4 mill tax levy
for park purposes, designed to yield approxi-
mately $100,000 a year for ten years.

On May 3rd the Federated Community Clubs
presented its report to the Planning Commission.
This was followed by a series of hearings at
which the various zone chairmen working under
this central committee were heard. Then followed
a thorough field inspection on the part of the
members of the Parks Committee of the Planning
Commission and a careful study of land values,
population distribution, present land usage and
other factors affecting the various sites by the
staff of the Planning Commission.

After a check of the report of the Community
Clubs, the City Planning Commission's Parks
Committee presented its finding to the Community
Clubs group for re-study in the light of obtaining
certain refinements in the plan in order to secure
an even spread of recreational areas in the city-
wide plan and in order to secure the most eco-
nomical plan by avoiding any duplication of ser-
vice. This process of re-planning the plan in-
volved a series of nine meetings with the Com-
munity Clubs Committee on Parks.

Principles Involved in the City-Wide Plan

i. The elementary school grounds and existing
park playgrounds should form the backbone of
the recreational system for children of elementary
age. It anticipates the coordination of all school
grounds and park playgrounds in a unified sys-
tem. This will make it possible to obtain an eco-
nomical spread of service throughout the city with

628

The City Planning Commission of Portland,
Oregon, has issued a recommended ten-year
park program proposed under authority of
charter amendment and approved by refer-
endum vote November 3, 1938. The methods
of procedure, the principles involved in the
selection of sites, and the policy of finan-
cial disbursements are of interest to execu-
tives and officials concerned with the plan-
ning of programs. Further information in
regard to the plan may be secured from
Charles McKinley, City Planning Commission.

savings of many thousands
of dollars in acquisition of ;
land.

2. The plans would em-
brace the entire urban area
and provide units of suit-
able location and size for
all age groups.

3. Neighborhood parks
as well as playgrounds for
children should be located
in connection with the ele-
mentary schools in order to have in addition to
basic playground facilities other features for all
age groups within half a mile. The school house
can thus be used as a community house without
expensive duplication of buildings.

4. In addition to the primary playground sys-
tem there is need for additional playgrounds to
supplement the primary playgrounds, particularly
in areas of dense population. These are especially
valuable in summer months and will have a basic
service radius of a quarter mile.

Playfields serving youth of high school age and
adults are based on a one-mile service area. These
provide space for the various sports. The basis
for a system of playfields is the high school plant.
However, extra playfields on special sites are
sometimes needed to provide extra service. By
judicious arrangement in the city-wide plant a
complete service for all age groups can be ob-
tained. In this plan certain sites will be single
duty (playground) ; double duty (playground-
neighborhood park) or triple duty (playground-
playfield-neighborhood park).

The income from the .4 mill tax levy, approxi-
mately $100,000 each year for ten years, is to be
spent primarily for the acquisition of sites. This
includes the purchase of new sites, the extension
of school sites, and other features. This phase of
policy represents some departure from the original
plan that was made in 1936.

A complete list of the proposed new sites with
descriptions and location is given. The document
contains maps indicating the location of the exist-
ing and proposed sites.

(Continued on page 644)

Square Dancing Is Fun, But--

Some very practical advice
for those seeking the best
possible way to get a maxi-
mum of enjoyment from the
old-time square dances so
popular in earlier days

Teach an Eas One First!

By HOMER F. DAVIS

George Williams College
Chicago, Illinois

AY PARTY" games are neither barn dances
nor square dances. Highly enjoyable as
they are, they are not the type of dance that
was danced throughout America when this coun-
try was in the process of settling down.

After you have danced the simple circle-type
dances, you may feel the desire to enter the field
of real old-time square dancing. If it is a new
experience for you, you will be carried away with
the pure fun of doing the various figures. Every-
one, from nine years up, likes square dancing —
provided the dances are properly taught. Young
people take readily to this form of dance when
they have been carefully instructed. Square danc-
ing is an activity that can be used frequently in
planning recreation for them. As a mixer it is
ideal. It serves to break down the reserve so
often present in the modern "social" dances, and
tends to eliminate "wall flowers/' If there is an
excess number of girls, they can dance together
and enjoy the unusual experience of learning the
girls' and the boys' parts.

Probably the best way to become experienced
in calling square dances is to attend square dances
until you become familiar with the calls and know
how to teach the various movements. If no such
opportunity presents itself in your community,
you will find a great deal of help in the literature
on square dancing. For a start. Kit T of the
Handy II series, which costs twenty-five cents
and is published by the Cooperative Recreation
Service, Delaware, Ohio, will be helpful. You
may be able to find reference material on your
library's shelves, or you may be fortunate enough
to discover an "old-timer" who can be of assist-
ance to you.

Start with a small group and teach the dances
thoroughly. If you can get about eight persons,
or at the most sixteen, who will agree to meet for

two or three nights, you all can learn enough for
safe teaching of larger groups. The process grows
on itself, for each learner in turn becomes a
teacher.

I recall that I was not particularly fond of
square dancing when a boy on the farm, because
I rarely understood the caller and seldom knew
what to do when I did understand him. There
were no teachers, as we understand teaching. One
learned by experience, and when we continually
became confused, much to the disgust of the older
people, we gradually gave up square dancing. For
this reason, every call should be given loudly and
clearly. Avoid fancy language and jingles until
your group is well enough along to appreciate the
little "nonsense" that creeps into the various calls
and adds color to the calling. But above all, be
sure your group knows what each call means and
can execute the figure promptly. Otherwise the
dancers will become confused, and, if they do
manage to complete the figure, they will not be
ready for the next one at the proper time.

The art of imitation must be used in teaching
the square. Take the dance apart, bit by bit, and
have the group walk through the parts until they
know them each by name, and they will gain the
thrill that comes with doing the dances correctly
in the proper time. You must be careful not to
keep the dancers so long on drill that they become
tired and disinterested, but at the same time you
should avoid leaving a dance too soon. It is an-
noying to the dancers to spend time learning a
dance, only to have the instructor switch to some-
thing else just as they would enjoy practicing
what they have learned.

Once again, I advise you to teach each figure
so that the dancers will understand it thoroughly
and can go through it quickly and correctly when
the call is given. Some of the more difficult figures

629

630

SQUARE DANCING IS FUN, BUT -TEACH AN EASY ONE FIRST!

can be omitted until your group can do the easier
dances fairly well. If they enjoy the easier ones
they will probably ask for the more difficult ones
as they progress. A good practice is to repeat the
dances you have taught, adding one new one
each time.

"Allemande left" is a figure that seems to bother
the beginner, yet 1 have taught a large group to
do this figure in a short time. It is really simple
to execute, but it can be quite confusing, and no
one can do what he does not understand. There-
fore, take five or ten minutes at the start of the
dance to have the group walk through the move-
ment until everyone has a good understanding of
it and can move into it quickly when "allemande
left" is called. This is a call which is used so
much, particularly in the middle west, that it
should be learned so well that it becomes an auto-
matic movement. Then, of course, your dancers
must learn the grand march, or "grand right and
left." This should not be hard, especially if the
group has been dancing the circle dances where
the figure is used often.

A few minutes' instruction in the proper way
to swing will be helpful. There are two ways to
swing, and the chances are that if your dancers
are left to themselves they will use both ways —
some swinging on the inner foot as a pivot, and
some using both feet to take quick little steps as
they move around in a small circle. In teaching
the first method, I instruct the girls to bend
slightly backward and to keep the inner foot as
still as possible, using it as a pivot. This will add
grace and ease to the swing. It should be freely
executed, with no hopping or stiffness. But do
not worry if the swinging is a little "hoppy" at
first. As the dancers gain more experience, many
of the rough spots will automatically disappear. I
find that two or three complete turns are enough
in the swings of the average dance, although in
some communities they swing and swing.

Later on "right and left through," "do-si-do"
(really a beautiful figure), and other calls can be
learned, but avoid attempting these figures at the
beginning.

Bear in mind that many of the squares can be
modified to fit the experience of
the group. A swing may be
eliminated here, a "circle four"
there and so on. With further
experience your group will ex-
pect these more difficult figures,
and will have built up adequate

"Try this easy square dance first,"
is Mr. Davis' advice. "Your group
will love it. If you are a begin-
ner or an advanced square dancer,
one who knows his 'do-si-dos,'
you will find it a lot of fun."

preparation. The first square you try should be
an easy one. I know of no easier yet no more
popular square than "Bow a little, jig a little,
swing a little," which has been a favorite wher-
ever I have used it. It involves no difficult figure
and includes "allemande left" and "grand right
and left." Its ease of execution and the enjoy-
ment derived from it will give the dancers con-
fidence and make them ask for more.
Here are the calls :

Introduction and Chorus

1. All eight balance and all eight swing.

2. Allemande left, right hand to your partner,
and a grand right and left.

3. Meet your honey and promenade eight till you
come straight.

Change Call

4. First couple balance and first couple swing.

5. First gent lead out to the right of the ring.

6. Now bow a little, jig a little, swing a little.

7. On to the next.

8. Now bow a little, jig a little, swing a little.

9. On to the next.

10. Now bow a little, jig a little, swing a little.

1 1 . Home you go and everybody swing.

Then (2) and (3) are called, after which the
second couple balances and swings and the second
gent goes around in the ring in the same manner
as the first gent did. After all the men have gone
around, it is the ladies' turn, beginning with the
first lady. The dance is ended with the chorus call.

Explanation of the calls :

1 i ) Partners back away from each other a step
or two and bow, after which they swing for two
or three complete turns in place.

(2) Each gentleman turns to the lady on his
left, takes her left hand in his left hand, and turns
her completely around in place, counter-clockwise,
so that he comes back face to face with his own
partner, who meanwhile has been turned by the
gentleman on her right. He then takes his part-
ner's right hand in his right hand, passes her, gives
the next lady his left hand, the next his right, and
so on, until he meets his own partner half way

around the ring.

One way to help the men
with this call is to interpret it
to them as "all the men left."
In spite of this, some will stick
out the right hand and get all
('Continued on page 646)

"Places of Children's Joy"

A; A GREEK I feel I can speak
freely of a subject near
to my heart — training for
physical fitness via children's
playgrounds in my native land.
The ancient "glory that was
Greece" has lived through the
ages in the minds of the world
as a three-fold symbol of civi-
lization representing highly developed forms of
government, art and sports. Words such as
"Olympic" and "Marathon" had their origin in
Greece. Perfect physical development was an
ideal in those days. The word "Spartan," which
refers to the heroic mothers of Sparta in ancient
Greece, still stands for the epitome of physical
endurance. We Greeks indeed have a heritage of
physical fitness.

In order to understand what has happened to
that heritage it is necessary to know what has been
occurring in Greece and the Near Eastern coun-
tries during the last five hundred years, and more
particularly during the years since the beginning
of this century. Ottoman supremacy swept over
the Near East conquering as it went and subju-
gating as it stayed. All the countries of the
Eastern Mediterranean, from the Balkans to
Egypt, became subject to Islam, and under
that rule native civilizations became atrophied.
Then revolts began, and one by one the countries
fought for independence and won. Greece gained
her independence in 1830 and since then has been
struggling to gain something of her former
strength. It was an uphill struggle, for she was
very poor and had to start
from the beginning to or-
ganize educational, social
and economic life for her
people. Early in this cen-
tury matters were compli-
cated by inter-Balkan
strife over boundaries.
Then came the World
War, which persisted long
after 1918 in the Greco-
Turkish conflict, which
was not ended until 1922
with the sacking of
Smyrna.

By DEMITRIOS LEZOS

"It is heart-warming indeed to

hear our refugee mothers refer

to the playgrounds as 'places

of children's joy.' "

The author, a refugee from Turkey, has worked
for the welfare of Greek children since 1922
when, a student at Roberts College, he was em-
ployed by the Near East Relief to help convoy
22,000 children from American orphanages in
the war-torn interior of Asia Minor to places
of safety, following the close of tfie Greco-
Turkish War. A great believer in the vital part
play has in promoting health and happiness,
Mr. Lezos has worked tirelessly to establish
playgrounds and to persuade a government
preoccupied with caring for a million and a
half refugees to include in its educational pro-
gram provision for playgrounds. He is now
serving as director of the first playground set
up in Athens by the Near East Foundation.

At that time the Near East-
ern countries presented a pic-
ture unparalleled in the world's
history. They were a seething
mass of shifting peoples. Nearly
everyone was a refugee. Greece,
with a population of five mil-
lions, opened her doors to re-
ceive 1,500,000 of the fleeing
hordes. It was a tremendous undertaking to ac-
cept and assimilate into the national life of the
country a group of poverty-stricken people num-
bering one-fourth of her normal population. With-
out outside aid such as was given by the Refugee
Settlement Commission and various charitable or-
ganizations, it never could have been done.

Foremost among these organizations was the
American Near East Relief, later becoming the
Near East Foundation, which cared for the refu-
gees in Greece and seven other Near Eastern
countries and set up orphanages in Greece for
17,000 of its huge family of 132,000 orphan chil-
dren. Later, when the orphanages were liquidated
and the children were outplaced into industry or
home life, the Americans turned their energies to
working with the refugee people in their desper-
ate endeavor to make a living in a new environ-
ment and to aid the governments, through demon-
stration projects, to improve the health and social
and economic status of the people. This is being
done through more than thirty projects in hygiene,
agriculture, sanitation, malaria control, child and
home welfare, youth training, village culture and
recreation, which have greatly aided these people.

Physical education has
been of paramount impor-
tance in the programs of
both the Near East Relief
and the Near East Foun-
dation. The first play-
grounds seen in modern
Greece were those in the
compounds of the Ameri-
can orphanages. I recall
those children, literally
thousands of them, strong
and joyous in their or-
ganized play. It was not
long, once they had recov-

631

632

"PLACES OF CHILDREN'S JOY"

ered from the long trek from Asia Minor, before
they were the healthiest children in all Greece.

The government viewed these playgrounds with
interest. In the minds of many officials there was
undoubtedly the wish that some of the money
which had to be used too sparingly in the practi-
cal jobs of settling the refugees and building up
the economic and educational life of the country
could be diverted to the health-promoting, joy-
provoking work of recreation.

When a demonstration in tuberculosis control
was started in the city of Athens ten years ago, a
playground was attached to and made part of that
demonstration. Eighteen acres of land at the foot
of Mt. Hymettus and facing the Acropolis were
contributed by the government. The property was
adjacent to the great Kessariani refugee camp
where 45,000 persons were living in the utmost
squalor in a community of tents, shacks and con-
verted barracks. The plight of the children was
particularly pitiful. They were in rags. Natur-
ally, with parents working from dawn till dark
to earn a few pennies for food, they were ne-
glected. There was no place for them to play
except in the muddy alleys between the shacks
where sanitation conditions were unspeakable.

The equipment of the playground was made
possible through the generosity of an American,
A. A. Hyde of Kansas City, Kansas, and it was
opened with impressive ceremonies. The children
streamed in, thousands of them, enchanted with
their first sight of the swings, slides, giant strides,
traveling rings, sand boxes and all the other para-
phernalia. The older girls and boys were equally
delighted with the playfields for soccer, volley-
ball, basketball, paddle tennis and deck tennis.
The showers fascinated everybody, parents in-
cluded, and as the program, which included not
only the calisthenics and games, but dances,
drama, music, lectures, movies and handcrafts,
continued, the playground become a true com-
munity center for the entire neighborhood.

On the playing fields young athletes prepare
for the modern Balkan Olympics, and they are
fast winning a place for Greece that is reminiscent
of ancient times. Working boys and girls from
the centers established by the Near East Founda-
tion come there for the re-
laxation necessary to offset
their long hours in factories
and shops.

It has been my good for-
tune to be attached to this

epoch-making project since its inception and to
have been trained for the work under the able
leadership of its former director, A. Asthalter of
Scarsdale, N. Y., formerly American indoor ten-
nis champion. Under his tutelage I received my
first instruction in modern methods of physical
instruction.

There are a few activities connected with our
work in Athens that I would like to mention par-
ticularly. One is a kindergarten for 250 of our
tiniest children, which the children love and which
is also a great boon to the mothers who must go
out to work all day and who are comforted by
the security of their little ones. Our summer
camps for some 3,000 working boys and girls,
by the sea not far from Old Phaleron, has saved
many a work-weary and lonely young person
from ill health and unhappiness. Last year, for
the first time, we gathered up eighty-five of our
smallest and poorest children and took them away
for a few weeks from the pitiless dust and heat
of Athens to the cool, clean breezes of the sea.
These children were not big enough to go into the
camps for the older boys and girls and we had no
equipment to care for them, nor any funds at all
for the experiment. It was only the desperate
need of the children that made us attempt it. When
they saw what we were trying to do, the older
camps lent us a little equipment, and friends came
forward with small sums of money, so that we
got through the experience without mishap. And
our reward was in the glowing health and high
spirits of those little tots when we finally got them
back to Athens. If we can possibly raise the
money we hope to give this privilege next sum-
mer to 150 of our neediest children.

The initial endeavor on the part of our Ameri-
can friends is bearing fruit. There are now twelve
municipal playgrounds in Athens patterned after
the original one in Kessariani, and others are in
prospect. The summer camps have proved so
beneficial to the young workers that employers
are now helping financially so that more boys and
girls may enjoy the privilege.

Last year Mr. Lezos spent six months
traveling about this country observ-
ing American playgrounds and familiar-
izing himself with American methods of
organizing and administering recreation.

In June, after his return to Athens, Mr. Lezos
wrote the National Recreation Association that
plans were under way for a
playground exhibition in
which 2500 girls and boys
would take part in a pro-
gram of gymnastics, games
and national dances.

Oi . Six BIRD feeding sta-
Feedmg Stations . ' .
f _,. , tions, each measuring
for Birds . , .
about eight feet square,

have been installed in

Watchung Reservation of the Union County
(N.J.) Park Commission. The feeding stations,
constructed in the form of a small coop, are about
eighteen inches high and have a peaked roof with
a three to five inch overhang to keep rain and
snow off the food supplies. The roof is con-
structed so that grain may be poured into a hop-
per which supplies the feeding pans by gravity.
In addition to the grain various kinds of greens
donated by local stores are scattered near the feed-
ing stations. Volunteer help through Boy and
Girl Scout troops, 4-H Clubs, and garden and
nature clubs simplify winter feeding. In the
December 8 issue of Our Parks an appeal is made
for anyone wishing to assist by donating and dis-
tributing foods for birds and animals to get in
touch with the Park Commission's office.

Ice Skating Rinks
for Detroit

THE DETROIT, Michi-
gan, Department of

Recreation will con-
struct seventy large

ice skating rinks this winter on its own and school
property, eliminating small rinks on private prop-
erty. The rinks will be approximately 150 by 300
feet and will be situated in the center of one-mile
areas.

For the Children
of Lancaster

THE BOARD of Edu-
cation in Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, deter-
mined recently to dis-
cover how the social agencies affect the boys and
girls of the community. In order to secure sta-
tistics for the executives and board members of
the character building agencies of the Welfare
Federation, they distributed check cards to all of
the school children. The total number of cards
turned in was 6,391. The use of playgrounds was
checked on 4,546; 2,206 showed daily use, 1,392
twice a week, and 930 once a week. Of 5,537
cards (excluding the returns from the 854 pa-
rochial school children), 4,833 denoted Sunday
School attendance. The weekly attendance out of

this total was 4,103 a fact which has a great sig-
nificance and many implications as to the character
of family life in Lancaster.

Taxidermy Club
for Boys

IN THE fall of 1937,
according to the an-
nual report issued by
the South Bend, In-
diana, Department of Public Recreation, a num-
ber of boys requested the organization of a
taxidermy club whose purpose would be to interest
boys in the various phases of animal life. Since
that time the club has grown from eight to thirty
members. Nature study hikes are conducted, and
different types of insects and animals are cap-
tured and brought to the center where the mem-
bers, who are quite skilled, mount them.

Day Camping Grows
in Popularity

DAY CAMPING is a
form of recreation

that lends itself to ex-
isting circumstances,

and, from reports, promises to grow more rapidly
in the future. Seven hundred and forty-one let-
ters were sent over the United States inquiring
into day camping projects, and replies disclosed
that eighty-one cities have one or several day
camps operated by various organizations, as com-
pared to forty-one cities with no such plans. The
Girl Scouts report that they have 435 day camps
throughout the country with an attendance of
42,577 Scouts and 6,511 non-Scouts, making a
total of 49,088 girls at their camps. From Pro-
ceedings of the Sixth Annual Outdoor Recreation
Conference.

Only Grandmothers
May Join!

AT THE Willowwood
Community House in
Birmingham, Ala-
bama, there is a Do-

As-You-Please Club which in its brief existence
has recruited twenty- four grandmothers — and
being a grandmother is the only requirement for
membership. Here grandmothers chat, crochet,
knit, play cards and other games, sing, or do any-
thing they wish whenever they wish.

Why not more clubs of this kind in our muni-
cipal recreation systems?

633

634

WORLD AT PLAY

Gardening

School -Community -Home

• The newest publication of the
National Recreation Association
is devoted to the subject of gar-
dening. It discusses gardening
in schools and by community
organizations other than the
schools, demonstration, group
and tract gardens for children,
and children's home gardens;
gardening indoors, adult gar-
dens, and elementary garden
practice. A number of sample
programs are given, and sources
• of help are listed. The booklet is
attractively illustrated.

Price $.50

NATIONAL RECREATION
ASSOCIATION

315 Fourth Avenue New York City

A Play Writing Contest - - The Religious
Drama Council of the Greater New York Federa-
tion of Churches announces its annual play writ-
ing contest which began December 15, 1939 and
will close April 15, 1940. The plays submitted
must be one-act plays not exceeding one hour's
playing time. The plays must be especially de-
signed for church production by children, young
people, or adults. They may be Biblical, historical
(based on the lives of the saints or heroes), or
modern plays, but "they must give expression to
Christian conviction and faith in the face of
modern problems." Suggested themes for topics
are "The Spirit of Christ in the World Today,"
"Peace," "Christian Unity," and "Christianity and
Democracy." Further information may be se-
cured from the Play Writing Contest Committee,
Religious Drama Council of the Greater New
York Federation of Churches, 71 West 23rd
Street, New York City.

Hobby Classes in Colleges -Dr. Samuel N.
Stevens, dean of University College at North-
western University, has recommended that courses
in the selection and pursuit of hobbies be made a

part of the nation's college curricula. "A hobby
may keep a man broke," he said, "but it will also
keep him mentally alive. It drains off dammed up
energies which could not be released in the busi-
ness world, stimulates him socially by contact with
other enthusiasts, and increases his mental alert-
ness as more and more fields of knowledge are
involved." Dr. Stevens, whose own hobby is
reading photostatic copies of old Greek and Latin
manuscripts, made his recommendations after
making a survey of the recreational interests of
1,500 university students. The study disclosed
that 633, or nearly half, have no hobbies.

A Community Center Assured for Centralia
—On November 14, 1939, a $40,000 bond issue for
a community center in Centralia, Illinois, was
passed with the majority of five to one. The bond
issue augments a WPA allocation of $55,000 in
labor and materials for construction.

Libraries That Travel About — By an ingen-
ious system North Carolina is providing books for
many people in the state. The North Carolina
Library Commission started a demonstration
"bookmobile" — library on wheels — in July, 1936.
Since then this Ford truck, with a special unit
built to carry books on outside shelving, has
traveled 40,000 miles in twenty-six counties. It
shares the work with twenty-eight other book-
mobiles, some of them renovated school buses,
which cover the roads of North Carolina. The
present problem is providing enough books, al-
though each bookmobile carries several hundred
books on the shelves, with extra books stored in-
side to answer special requests and to refill the
shelves. Regular trips, announced in advance, are
scheduled, and the units stop at country stores,
cross roads filling stations, homes, schools, and
libraries to distribute the free books to eager bor-
rowers. Often collections of books are left so
farmers may exchange with each other until every
one has read them, and each trip of the book-
mobile brings a fresh supply. In a state with a
predominance of rural people, the most economi-
cal and satisfactory plan for library service is by
means of bookmobiles and county stations. The
cost of operation, twenty dollars a month for each
unit, is met through the appropriation for county
library service. From Popular Government.

Will We Go for "Go"?— Go, the oldest in-
tellectual game in the world and the favorite pas-

WORLD AT PLAY

635

time of the Japanese, may become a popular
American game, according to chess experts who
attended the demonstration and general playing
period at the Japan Institute in New York City.
This recent exhibition attracted more than a hun-
dred American devotes of this intricate, 4,000-
year-old game. Go is played on a large board,
eighteen blocks square, with black and white
counters.

Hiking in Union County, New Jersey — The
Union County Hiking Club, sponsored by the
Union County, New Jersey, Park Commission,
has scheduled a series of hikes from early Octo-
ber until the middle of December. The objective
of the first hike on October 3rd was a broad
plateau almost 1.400 feet high in Bergen County.
The hike involved nine miles of walking, for the
most part on a mountain top along picturesque
winding paths linking abandoned farms. Trans-
portation was provided for hikers without cars, all
of whom brought their lunches. Residents of
Union County may secure advance notices of each
hike on request from the Park Commission.

Favorite Italian Pastime — Bocce is a Roman
game which was played long before the time of
Nero, who had terraces built especially for this
game. Today, the older Italian residents of Phila-
delphia still name bocce as their favorite sport,
and they sometimes play from early morning until
dusk. There are two to four men on a bocce team,
and the rival leaders pick sides by throwing fin-
gers. They often use a belt to measure balls near
the object ball. In one section of Philadelphia,
Italian interest in bocce is so high that players
have formed an Italian bocce club.

A Camp in a National Forest — Camp Oua-
chita, Arkansas, in the national forest of that
name, is forty-two miles west of Little Rock in
the Perry County section of the Ozark foothills.
The camp overlooks the pine clad banks of man-
made Lake Sylvia of twenty-two acres, created
from the dammed up waters of a mountain
stream. The Great Hall for recreation and din-
ing service, with its cypress beamed roof and large
natural field stone fireplaces, has proved an ideal
center for leadership training in social recreation,
folk dancing, and other activities. Twenty-four
permanent screened cabins of field stone and
cypress construction, together with four shower
houses, unit shelter houses, ice house, hospital

As Originally

Developed by . . .
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN

Director of Physical
Education and Varsity

Basketball Coach

University of Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Fills a need in every school . . . Goal-Hi is a new year-
'round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages . . . May be played by entire gym classes or play-
ground groups . . . Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen . . .
Same single piece of eguipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground . . . Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game to regular basketball
... It costs little to play Goal-Hi.

WRITE FOR CATALOG
(Manufactured Under Exclusive License Agreement)

FRED MEDART MANUFACTURING CO.

3524 DeKalb Street »»»»„» St. Louis. Mo.
Authorized Sales Representative in Your Locality

unit, and a caretaker's lodge, are located on a
thirty acre tract in the forest. The camp has been
used during the past season for leadership train-
ing by a number of groups, including the Recre-
ation Section, Division of Professional and Ser-
vice Projects, WPA of Arkansas, and the Girl
Scouts, Inc., Dixie Region. There were summer
ramping periods for 172 Girl Scouts, and during
the last three weeks of August a cooperative camp
\vas operated for seventy-five less privileged girls,
sponsored by the Little Rock Council of Social
Agencies. The program consisted of waterfront
activities, hiking, outdoor cooking, horseback rid-
ing, handcraft, folk dancing, dramatics, and
nature study.

Safety Convention to Be Held — The Greater
Xc\v York Safety Convention and Exhibition will
be held at the Hotel Pennsylvania and Governor
Clinton Hotel, New York City, on April 16, 17
and 18, 1940. This will be the eleventh annual
convention held by the Greater New York Safety
Council. Last year there were forty-eight sessions

636

CHARLES NAGEL

Charles Nagel

Copyright by Harris Eu'ing

CHARLES NAGEL, Secretary of Commerce and
Labor in President Taft's cabinet, died in St.
Louis, Missouri, on January 5th.

Charles Nagel was one of the pioneers in the
playground and recreation movement, serving for
many years as an honorary member of the Na-
tional Recreation Association. He helped in rais-
ing funds for its work. Charles Nagel and Joseph
Lee had been friends for years.

Mr. Nagel was often called the father of the
Chamber of Commerce of the United States, be-
cause an address which he delivered at Boston in
1912 had much to do with the establishment of
that organization.

The national recreation movement through the
years has been fortunate in having the active sup-
port of so many leaders of the type of Charles
Nagel.

with 200 speakers and presiding officers, a regis-
tration of over 5,000 and an attendance of more
than 11,000. Each year the convention has grown
in participation and attendance. Further informa-
tion may be secured from the Council at 60 East
42nd Street, New York City.

The Root Memorial Hall— The Boys' Club
of Wilmington, Delaware, is the possessor of a
building to be used for summer and winter ac-
tivities which will be known as the Root Memorial
Hall, dedicated to C. B. Root, late superintend-
ent of the Boys' Club of Wilmington. The build-
ing, located at the boys' camp, has two large fire-
places, one in each of the rooms. The assembly
room, 48' by 28', is the largest part of the build-
ing. Adjoining it is the reading room occupying
a space 19' by 20'. The stone for both fireplaces
was taken from the old White Horse Tavern near
Philadelphia and built into a replica of the famous
tavern's fireplace. The hearthstone in front of
the assembly room fireplace is more than two
hundred years old. Fronting the building is a
long covered terrace 12' by 32' with flagstone
flooring. About fifty yards north of the clubhouse
is a concrete pool 35' by 90'. The building pro-
vides facilities for overnight camping.

Mr. Root was at one time a member of the staff
of the National Recreation Association.

An Archery Round-Up — On December 9, the
New York Archers with headquarters at 254
Seaman Avenue, New York City, held an Archery
Round-up, designed to acquaint people "with what
the sport is all about, just what made Robin Hood
so famous, and just what archery has that fasci-
nates over 500,000 archers in this country." Color-
ful archery demonstrations were put on at the
indoor archery range and technical instruction was
given on how to shoot correctly.

The Safety Education Association — The or-
ganization of an association to be known as the
Safety Education Association has been announced.
Miss H. Louise Cottrell is President, and Howard
G. Dan ford of 20 Washington Square North,
New York City, is Secretary-Treasurer. The as-
sociation will hold its first annual conference on
safety education at St. Louis on February 28th.
Further information may be secured from Mr.
Danford.

A Silver Anniversary — On January 22, 1940,
Kiwanis International celebrated at Detroit its
twenty-fifth anniversary, commemorating a quar-
ter of century of service to community, state, and
nation. The service activities of Kiwanis Inter-
national are many and varied. Not the least of

WORLD AT PLAY

637

these are the achievements of the organization
along recreational lines. At the present time 1,881
Kiwanis clubs are engaged in playground, recrea-
tion, and athletic activities.

A booklet entitled "Kiwanis Helps in Print"
issued by Kiwanis International, 520 North Michi-
gan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, tells of the litera-
ture available.

Golf Course Becomes Winter Sports Center
—Portland, Maine, has a beautiful i8-hole golf
course which serves the city the year round
through the action of the Park Commission in
converting this i33~acre property into a winter
sports center. The Commission has taken advan-
tage of the fact that the topography of the land
makes it usable for skiing, coasting, snowshoeing,
and tobogganing. What is a golf water hazard
adjoining the seventh fairway has been trans-
formed into a very satisfactory winter skating
area. The tower toboggan chute provided by the
Commission, which is shown in the reproduction
of the photograph on page 594, is a two-lane chute
with steel frame bents. The chute is 100 feet long
from the tower take-off. The chute proper and
the "run-off," which has been made to conform
with the shape of the slide trough, extend far
enough to give approximately a 3OO-yard tobog-
gan run. The slide is erected at the tenth tee at
the end of the golfing season and is dismantled
in late March.

All winter sports facilities are free to the pub-
lic, and the Riverside golf course is a Mecca for
thousands of participants when weather condi-
tions permit of winter sports.

Winter Sports in New York City — The De-
partment of Parks, New York City, announces an
extensive program of winter sports activities, in-
cluding carnivals, skiing, ice skating and coasting.
In addition to twenty-one lakes used for ice skat-
ing in the larger parks, 127 wading pools and
twenty-two other suitable surfaces in various play-
grounds will be flooded. Fifteen tennis courts will
be sprayed. Thirty hills have been set aside in the
parks of the five boroughs for coasting and thir-
teen locations have been designated for skiing.
As a climax to the borough carnivals a monster
winter sports carnival was scheduled to be held
on Sunday, January 14, in Central Park. Last
winter 3,000 competed in a novel contest in snow
sculpture and snow architecture at the carnival.

in Praise -Winning Use All Over the World

T OUDEN playground equipment is honor-
-L< built from only highest grade materials
by master craftsmen; it is designed by experi-
enced engineers who know what playground
equipment must be; it is backed by the 72-
year-old reputation for quality manufactur-
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Corporation. And yet — it costs the least be-
cause it outwears ordinary equipment by far.

See Our
EXHIBIT at the
N.E.A. CON-
VEN T I O N

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I. E. PORTER

OTTAWA

CORPORATION
ILLINOIS

Manufacturers of the famous "Louden," "Chicago" and "Spalding"
lines of playground, gymnasium and swimming pool equipment

A Winter Carnival — The sports events of
the annual Winter Carnival at St. Paul, Minne-
sota, held in January centered about a toboggan
slide, believed to be the longest and fastest in
North America, and a ski slide modeled after that
of the 1936 Olympics in Germany. An important
feature of the festival was a gigantic ice palace
constructed of 20,000 huge blocks of ice contain-
ing colored lights. There were masked balls, fire-
works displays, a horse show, and a parade of
30,000 marchers and seventy-five drum corps and
bands. St. Paul presented its first Carnival in
1886. — U. S. Travel Bureau Official Bulletin,
December 25, 1939.

Leopold Stokowski's All-American Youth
Orchestra — National Youth Administration of-
fices are receiving applications for positions in
Leopold Stokowski's All-American Youth Orches-
tra of 109 pieces. This musical organization, rep-
resenting the whole of the United States, is being
organized to carry a message of good will to the
Latin American countries. General requirements
are that the players be within the age range of

638

SKI PATROLS

about 1 6 to 25. While previous orchestral experi-
ence is not required, such experience is valuable.
Great ability and good technique are essential. The
orchestra will play modern as well as classical
music.

Preliminary auditions under NYA auspices will
be held from January 15 to March 15. Local
committees of qualified musicians will do the pre-
liminary judging. Regional auditions will be con-
ducted by agents of Mr. Stokowski. The famous
conductor will hold his final auditions in April.
He will be entirely responsible for all arrange-
ments incident to the tour itself, a good will trip
through Latin American countries this summer
and fall.

Seguin Establishes a Recreation System —

Seguin, Texas, has a population of 7,112 people
within the city limits and 1,259 outside the city
limits, 21.7 per cent of the total population
being Mexicans and 20.5 per cent colored citi-
zens. The majority of the white people are of
German extraction.

The movement to establish a year-round
recreation system was started in 1936 when
the citizens realized the need for a recreation
center and a golf course. On April I, 1938
a year-round recreation executive was put in
charge of the program. In addition to the
playgrounds and other play areas, he is in
charge of the parks and all activities conducted
in them and is directly responsible to the City
Council. The department devoted to recrea-
tion spent about $6,000 during the first year
of operation and will have about $8,000 at its
disposal for the second year. Part of the funds
are received from fees ; the remainder from the
city-owned utilities fund.

Ski Patrols

(Continued from page 598)

in Europe but were started in the United States
only four years ago by various ski clubs in New
England. In 1938, Roger Langley, President of
the National Ski Association of America, ap-
pointed Mr. Charles M. Dole as Chairman of the
National Ski Patrol Committee to form a nation-
wide organization to be known as the National
Ski Patrol. All local patrols then in existence and
those formed since have become units of the
National group.

The objectives of the National Ski Patrol are:
to prevent accidents and injuries; to work for
safety in skiing; to develop a common sense at-
titude of the skiing public toward the risk of
skiing; and to teach that skiing is no more dan-
gerous than any other sport if one stays within
his capabilities. Since secondary accident preven-
tion is first aid, all Ski Patrolmen must complete
the standard twenty hour first aid course given
through the courtesy and cooperation of the
American Red Cross. He must be acquainted
with modern techniques applicable to winter con-
ditions, for frequently serious ski accidents occur
far from shelter, medical aid and plowed auto
roads.

A Ski Patrolman is not a policeman on skis.
Rather he is a friend of the skier, giving his time
on and off the ski slopes to make skiing safer and
better for all skiers. He is not expected to give
up his own recreational skiing, but with his ap-
pointment as a Ski Patrolman he does assume a
responsibility to the skiing public. Therefore he
must be a picked man over eighteen years of age,
intelligent, dependable, tactful, trained in first aid
and rescue work, a good skier, familiar with the
ski terrain and rescue facilities.

Through the cooperation of the Forest Service
and CCC, the Salt Lake City Patrol has placed
ten rescue caches at vantage points on ski trails
near Salt Lake. These rescue caches, (nick-
named "birdhouses" by skiers) were designed by
G. M. O'Neill, Chairman for the Rocky Moun-
tain Division of the National Ski Patrol. Each
cache consists of a stout pole erected on a spot
chosen for its emergency rescue advantages. Atop
the pole is a roof to shed rain and snow. A fully
equipped toboggan is fastened upright to the pole.
A first aid kit is fitted in the front of the tobog-
gan, and pads, blankets or newspapers are fast-
ened to the back. Wood for splints are included
in the equipment. A canvas, tied down over the
ends, protects all from weather and rodents.
Ample rope is provided at each cache to facilitate
handling of the toboggan on its mercy errands on
steep side hills. Rope is also provided to fasten
the injured skier to the toboggan and to tie on the
injured one's skis and poles.

Trends in Public Recreation

(Continued from page 610)

ing that recreation has on other fields of effort.
They should know the best ways of launching

MacMurray

T

INSTITUTES AS VALUABLE IN-SERVICE TRAIN

639

activities and of carrying them on and how to
test the values in programs offered. Questions of
finance, recording, interpretation must be grasped.

Finally, the recreation worker is working with
forces which are in many an instance the deciding
forces of the individual life as they develop grow-
ing interests and develop points of view and at-
titudes that have everything to do with associative
living.

In leisure men have the chance to offset daily
compulsions. Since this is so, spontaneity must be
the characteristic of the recreation field. If rec-
reation becomes too hidebound or too intricately
elaborate, many of its values will be lost. There-
fore, the art of widening and intensifying rela-
tionships and the freedom of individual action
should be zealously guarded.

Institutes as Valuable In-Service
Training

(Continued from page 618)

Of interest to some participants is the question
of credits given by nearby colleges and universi-
ties. Such credit is frequently available. For ex-
ample, the successful completion of the course in
Birmingham will qualify individuals • for credits
from Birmingham-Southern College, Howard
College, Miles Memorial College for Negros, and
Payne University.

The Association's institute staff includes the fol-
lowing highly trained and widely experienced
persons :

For music, Augustus D. Zanzig and Siebolt H.
Frieswyk

For social recreation, Ethel M. Bowers

For arts and crafts, Frank A. Staples

For drama, Jack Stuart Knapp

For nature recreation, Reynold E. Carlson

Institutes Have Lasting Value

Not only are the institutes an excellent type of
in-service training conducted at slight cost to the
participating agencies, since the students pay the
fees, but they are first-rate instruments of public
education for recreation. They create new friends
for community recreation and they cement the in-
terest of old ones. The attendant publicity pro-
duces values beyond securing adequate enrollments.
The Birmingham course was preceded by an ex-
i tensive educational campaign which included win-

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640

INTRODUCING THE SNOW ARTIST!

dow displays, news articles, editorials, Sunday
newspaper features, daily radio announcements,
and a speakers' corps that reached every organiza-
tion in the city and county. This interpretative
program aroused cooperation and created an un-
derstanding of the recreation program at large as
well as securing registrations.

Of the numerous testimonials received by the
National Recreation Association on the value of
the institutes, requests for a second course are
perhaps the most eloquent. However, there have
been many other enthusiastic letters of commen-
dation. A few samples are to be seen in the fol-
lowing quotations :

"In my estimation, it was the best recreation
faculty I have every seen together."

Community Chest Executive
"Our sincere appreciation for the splendid train-
ing institute."

Asst. Secretary, Council of Social Agencies
"We were so much impressed that we feel that
the city will welcome an opportunity for an ad-
vanced course." Business man

"The people of this city will enjoy a greatly en-
riched and more abundant life in the future because
of the recreation institute."

Director of Religious Education
"If the institute were to come back next month,
the same people and more would enroll."

WPA Executive

"The eagerness with which our workers are
plunging in now to apply some of the new in-
spiration and new techniques which they achieved
through the sessions testifies to the stimulating
value of the school."
Superintendent of Recreation vn a Park System

"The assistant priests who are in charge of social
and dramatic clubs are enthusiastic about the re-
sults obtained with the new methods and knowl-
edge of games. The sisters in the parochial schools
secured many ideas to 'be applied during recreation
periods."

Diocesan Director of Catholic Charities

"Those who took the courses were more en-
thusiastic over them than any courses I have seen
offered in any school in our state."

Consultant in Physical Education

"Our staff members are high in their praise not
only of the subject matter contained in the courses,
but particularly of the kindness, interest and skills
shown by all members of the faculty."

Chairman of a City Chapter of
American Red Cross

The next institute will be held at Denver Feb-
ruary 5th-March ist under the sponsorship of the
Council of Social Agencies. This is the second

course in Denver, the first one having been held
in January 1938.

Further information regarding the institute
program may be secured from the National Rec-
reation Association, 315 Fourth Avenue, New
York City.

Introducing the Snow Artist!

(Continued from page 620)

Duluth, Minnesota, awards prizes each winter
in its snow modeling contest in the following
classifications : snow statues, snow houses or huts,
and original figures. The Board of Education sets
a date by which time all models must be com-
pleted. The judges are ready to consider a model
as soon as it is finished. In the event of bad
weather conditions, the competing sculptors take
pictures of the models they have made in their
front yards and submit them to the judges.

A large model of Will Rogers (twenty-three
feet high and weighing about 100 tons) was con-
structed in Hibbing, Minnesota, in 1937 and it
received national publicity. The model started
great interest in snow sculpture in Hibbing and
resulted in hundreds of models from cats to
battleships.

Other Winter Pastimes

Ice painting is another interesting wintertime
occupation. Remove the glass from a window or
picture frame and pack the frame in snow after
placing it flat on the ground. To produce an icy
surface, pour water over the frame and let it
freeze overnight. With a thick paste made of
kalsomine, any desired landscape can be painted
on the ice. Exposure in a warm room will blend
the colors of the portrait, after which it may be
allowed to freeze again.

The technique for making art windows ("stained
glass" windows) is slightly different. Roll putty
or art clay into a long string one-quarter-inch
thick and outline a scene on a pane of glass, plac-
ing the clay tightly against the glass along the
division of colors. A colored design or drawing
can be placed under the glass for copy work.
Water colored with Easter egg dyes is run
through the canals formed by the clay dykes and
allowed to freeze. Stained glass windows have
been used effectively in buildings modeled in snow.

From St. Louis County, Minnesota, comes a
suggestion for "the Queen's Jewel," an arrange-

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

641

Chicago's Fifth Annual
Recreation Conference

ON NOVEMBER 8, 1939, the Chicago, Illinois,
Recreation Commission held its fifth annual
city-wide Recreation Conference. The meetings
attracted an attendance of approximately 3,000
people, over 1,500 of whom were officially regis-
tered, and there were a number of delegates from
adjacent cities. The Conference opened with a
discussion meeting addressed by Dr Jay B. Nash,
Professor of Education at New York University,
who also spoke at the opening general session in
the afternoon when he discussed the subject, "Is
America Ready for Leisure?"

At 2 :3O the Conference broke up into six group
meetings on special subjects — "Amateur Hour
for Community Singers" ; "Youth Quizzes Recre-
ation Experts"; "Curbstone Session on Com-
munity Problems" ; "Club Women Interpret Rec-
reation" ; "Industrial Recreation Round Table" ;
and "Outdoor and Nature Recreation."

Under the chairmanship of Dr. Arthur J. Todd,
Chairman of the Department of Sociology at
Northwestern University, a panel discussed "Co-
ordination and Planning of Recreation in Chicago."

The Conference closed with two dinner meet-
ings, one for young people who joined the larger
group to hear the speakers of the evening. Dr.
Charles W. Gilkey, Dean of the University of
Chicago Chapel, served as toastmaster. Dr. May-
nard Hutchins, President of the University of
Chicago, introduced Dr. Eduard C. Lindeman
whose subject was "Recreation — a Positive Force
in a Democracy." Almost 1,500 people attended
the closing banquet.

ment of colored chunks of ice frozen into place.
This is the procedure : mix water and dye in old
wash tubs, tin containers, or oil barrels split
lengthwise to form two tubs. Build the colored
ice in layers to get an even distribution of color.
Remove the ice from the tub by knocking it out
or by pouring hot water on the bottom and sides.
Break it into various sized chunks to get as many
reflecting surfaces as possible. Build a pile of
snow and set in the broken pieces of colored ice
so closely that no snow can be seen. Cement into
place with slush. By throwing a spotlight on it,
the Queen's Jewel will stand out as a colorful
part of the decorations.

Magazines and Pamphlets

Recently Received Containing Articles \

of Interest to the Recreation Worker (

MAGAZINES

Beach and Pool, November 1939

"Swimming Pool Construction and Operation" by

David McCary
"Minimum Swimming Pool Standards" by courtesy

Texas State Department of Health
Twenty-first Annual Convention of Amusement

Parks, Pools and Beaches
Fifth Annual Aquatic Forum by courtesy City of

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Parks and Recreation, November 1939

"Protection and Improvement of Park Scenic Values"

by Herbert M. Blanche
"A Camp for Underprivileged Children" by Walter

L. Wirth

"How Shall We Play?" by L. H. Weir
"Human Needs." A Panel-discussion of Public and

Private Recreation

School and Society, November 11, 1939

"The American College in a War-Torn World" by
Dixon Ryan Fox

The Library Journal, November 15, 1939

"Libraries in the Contemporary Crisis" by Archi-
bald MacLeish
The Nation's Schools, November 1939

"Does Vandalism Begin at School?" by Ruth L.

Bills
Journal of Adult Education, October 1939

"Let Us Get Back to Art" by Ernst Jonson
"Greenbelt" by Linden S. Dodson
The Epworth Highroad, September 1939

"Games That Go Places" by Elizabeth A. Cavanna
Business Digest, November 1939

"Create Something"
Childhood Education, September 1939
Editorials — Festivals
"Festival Making — A Means of Growth" by Ruth

Bristol

"A Festival of Lights" by Josephine Bowden
"How a Community Festival Contributes to Demo-
cratic Living" by Lelia E. Weinberg
"Festivals in a Mountain Community" by Marie

Campbell
Minnesota Municipalities, October 1939

"Prescriptions for Hallowe'en Hoodlums"

PAMPHLETS

Age and Organic Efficiency by J. H. McCurdy, M.D. and
Leonard A. Larson, Ph.D. Reprinted from The Mili-
tary Surgeon, Vol. 85, No. 2, August, 1939
Educational Opportunities of Greater Boston for Work-
ing Men and Women— Catalog No. 17—1939-1940
Compiled by the Prospect Union Educational Ex-
change, Cambridge, Massachusetts, price $.50
Juvenile Delinquency

Reprint from Youth Leaders Digest, Peekskill, N.Y.,

price $.25

Hospital Schools in the United States by Clele Lee
Matheison
Superintendent of Documents, Washington. D. C.,

price $.15
National Parks Bulletin, November 1939

"Influence of Science Upon Appreciation of Nature"
by John C. Merriam

642

GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUBS FOR WINTER SPORTS

Courage, Teacher

There are brave men today who are working steadily for the progress of civilization, even though
half the world's armies are trying to destroy each other. There are men of courage and wisdom and
skill whose achievements put to shame the futile destruction of Mars. These peaceable and progres-
sive heroes can divert the minds of today's children from the horrors of the time, can inspire
today's youth to noble deeds. It is men of this calibre who are right now on their way to make
the conquest of the South Pole complete.

Ten-twenty-thirty years from now the text books of the nation's schools will devote pages to the
discoveries of the present Byrd expedition. School children then will thrill to the conquest of the
South Pole as school children yesterday thrilled to the conquest of the West.

Today's school children need not be deprived of this thrilling chapter, for JUNIOR ARTS AND
ACTIVITIES will bring to teachers the story of this expedition as it is taking place. This story
will be presented in the popular and unique JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES manner — with
full page illustrations, information, projects, regular study correlations. It will be presented along
with the following popular features:

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Pictorial Maps
Health & Safety
Dioramas, Posters
Foreign Countries

Industries

History

Geography

Seat-work

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Creative Art
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Social Studies
Construction Work
Book Reviews

It will be presented at the regular JUNIOR ARTS
AND ACTIVITIES price:

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JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES
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Please enter my subscription to JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES

for one year (10 issues), to start with the issue.

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NAME

ADDRESS

Youth Leaders' Handbook

National Council of Catholic Women, 1312 Massa-
chusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C.
Woodland Trail Walks with the HTB — Booklet No. 8
October 1939 through March 1940
Hiking Trips Bureau, Ho-ho-kus, New Jersey, price

$.10
Local Community Fact Book 1938

Chicago Recreation Commission, 160 North LaSalle
Street, Chicago, Illinois

Golf and Country Clubs for
Winter Sports

(Continued from page 623)

the best, the writer believes that a jump ranging
from fifteen to twenty meters would work out
very well. On a jump of this size the oldsters
could enjoy the supreme thrill of flying through
the air without flirting too much with possible
broken limbs. We have watched children as
young as seven years of age go over jumps of this
size with little or no concern. Ski jumps have
their place on golf courses as it is fine training for
the youngsters and an occasional thrill for those
oldsters who have nerve enough to try it.

Winter Carnivals
Golf courses or country clubs are excellent

places for the holding of winter carnivals. Wide
open fairways provide plenty of room for skiing,
skijoring, tobogganing; water hazards provide an
ice surface for skating and hockey; and the big,
warm reception room in the clubhouse is the nat-
ural scene for the ski-boot dance, the end of a
perfect day!

In a Word

As a result of the study made the following
conclusions will be of interest to golf clubs con-
sidering the use of their facilities as a winter
sports center:

There is seemingly adequate snowfall and a low
enough mean temperature in ninety per cent of
the state to carry out a full winter sports
program.

Ninety per cent of the golf clubs in Massachu-
setts were heartily in favor of a winter sports
program, and more than half of these clubs were
willing to open their courses for public use.

Those golf and country clubs now running a
winter sports program have been successful in
their undertaking and consider the winter pro-
gram an important part of their year-round
activities.

RECREATION NOTES AND NEWS

643

A Shelf Show for Community
Craftsmen

(Continued from page 624)

tervals, perhaps each four or six months, to allow
other craftsman an opportunity to qualify for a
shelf. Anyone being awarded a shelf will display
his work for a period of two or three months, re-
placing the article with another as often as he
wishes, subject to the approval of the judges. This
ruling provides a constantly changing group of
handiwork, and therefore a more interesting
display.

The recreation leaders should not allow their
enthusiasm to run away with them; they should
not undertake the project unless the sponsoring
clubs and judges are eager to carry it through.
At all times they must see to it that the shelves
are maintained in faultless arrangement and neat-
ness. They must also remember that although the
exhibit is open to artists in any field of arts and
crafts, it must represent the best work of the
arts and crafts students of the community. They
must strive to uphold this standard.

The artists and towns people both will benefit
from the exhibit. The craftsmen will constantly
strive to improve their skills and the observers
will enjoy and grow to appreciate craftwork.
From these humble beginnings, it is even possible
that a permanent art center may develop in a
community where the citizens have been made
newly aware of the beauty and fine skill native to
arts and crafts.

Child Development Through
Play and Recreation

(Continued from page 627)

creative association. Private agencies also con-
tribute discriminating social thinking and leader-
ship through analysis, evaluation, and interpreta-
tion. They are experimenting both in new areas
of need and in new methods of work. They often
consciously prepare the community for larger
public effort and the transfer of services from
private to public auspices. . . .

"Cognizance must also be taken of the vast in-
crease in, and growing importance of, commercial
recreation. This is not limited to entertainment
and cultural opportunities, such as are provided
by radio, motion pictures, and the theater. It in-
cludes also many opportunities for sports and
active recreation. Commercial recreation is avail-
able only to those who can afford to pay for it,
(Continued on page 644)

Recreation Notes and News

VK. BROWN, Chief of the Recreation Division
• of the Chicago Park District, was elected
president of the American Institute of Park Ex-
ecutives at their fortieth annual convention held
in Philadelphia. For some time he had edited the
Recreation Section of the Institute's magazine,
Parks and Recreation. Mr. Brown is the retiring
president of the Society of Recreation Workers
of America and is the first recreation executive to
head the Institute. His election followed a long
term on the Executive Committee as one of the
Institute's directors.

Other officers elected were Walter L. Wirth,
Superintendent of Parks, New Haven, Connecti-
cut, vice-president, and Edward H. Bean, Di-
rector of the Chicago Zoological Garden, treas-
urer. Mr. Bean begins his ninth term as treasurer.
R. S. Marshall, Superintendent of Parks and Rec-
reation, Birmingham, Alabama, and C. A. Bossen,
General Superintendent of Parks, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, are the two new directors, each to
serve for three years.

H. S. CALLOWHIIX, who for a number of years
has been Executive Director of the Playground
Athletic League of Baltimore, Maryland, will
serve as Director of the Department of Public
Recreation, brought into being when the voters of
Baltimore approved a charter amendment creat-
ing a Department of Public Recreation and out-
lining its duties and powers. The new department
went into effect on January i, 1940. Meanwhile
$10,000 has been provided with which the depart-
ment will work in establishing a transition from
the present private auspices to public control. A
full appropriation will be voted the beginning of
1940. ....

Last September Winthrop Rockefeller, son of
John D. Rockefeller, announced a new organiza-
tion to be known as "Air Youth of America,"
whose objective it is to assist the thousands of
young people already participating in junior air-
craft activity. The board has selected as its tech-
nical adviser to aid in preparing the program
Arthur J. Vhay, for the past four years head of
the model aircraft program developed by the De-
troit Department of Recreation. Mr. Vhay has
been a member of the staff of the department for
fifteen years. Under his direction 2,000 boys have
been meeting each week for instruction in build-
ing elementary airplane models and for assistance
in advanced work.

644

A TEN-YEAR PARK PROGRAM

L DI BENEDETTO, Sr., who for many years has
been Superintendent of Playgrounds in New
Orleans, Louisiana, in January was elected Presi-
dent of the Amateur Athletic Union.

Child Development Through Play and Recreation

(Continued from page 643)

but it is influenced both in quality and quantity by
the character and amount of the demand. Educa-
tional agencies can play a role in promoting intel-
ligent choice and appreciation of these forms of

recreation."

The Committee urges parents and citizens who
desire to see their community operate a broad
program of community recreation to support and
encourage the organization of community plan-
ning groups, believing that these will tend to
minimize friction, waste, and duplication, and to
develop new channels of operation.

"Within any community, state, or region, op-
portunity for leisure-time activities must be plan-
ned. If it grows haphazardly, with school, parks,
and private agencies each acting independently, the
program may be wasteful and retarded. Planning,
on the other hand, may lead to coordination of
services and facilities. It also helps to bring about
public recognition of the fact that recreation for
young and old requires equipment and trained
personnel."

The report stresses the recognized responsibility
of government for providing recreation facilities
and services and urges that municipalities having
no public recreation agency investigate the means
by which local recreation commissions may be
formed. It recommends that approaches to inter-
community and state-wide cooperation and plan-
ning be made through recreation committees of
state planning boards, inter-departmental commit-
tees of state bureaus, and departments or special
committees appointed to study the desirability and
methods of creating state recreation bodies.

In the opinion of the Committee, public recrea-
tion programs could be strengthened by the es-
tablishment of state recreation bodies to facilitate
planning and cooperation among the various de-
partments of the state government and the coun-
ties and cities within the state and the recreation
services available to states and localities from
departments of the Federal government.

The Committee calls attention to the work
which the Federal government has done since
1933 in improving old recreation areas, building

new units, and setting aside new areas. More than
one billion dollars, according to the report, has
been spent by the Works Projects Administration
on recreation projects requested by state and
local park, forest, education, public works, wel-
fare, and recreation departments. Other Federal
agencies performing some types of recreational
functions include the National Park Service, For-
est Service, National Youth Administration,
Civilian Conservation Corps, Public Works Ad-
ministration, Extension Service of the Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Farm Security Administra-
tion, Bureau of Biological Survey, Office of
Education, and Public Health Service.

To meet the need for joint action on the part
of Federal agencies and bureaus, the Committee
urges careful consideration be given to the setting
up of a Federal bureau of recreation.

The final recommendation of the Committee has
to do with the creation of a national commission
to study the country's leisure resources and needs
as a nation and make recommendations concern-
ing the development of recreation programs with
particular regard to the needs of children and
youth for play and recreation. A later national
conference on leisure in a democracy is suggested
by the Committee as the occasion for the national
commission to present a report of its findings and
recommendations to the American people.

A Ten-Year Park Program

(Continued from page 628)

The City Planning Commission recommends
that a suitable plan for early acquisition be de-
vised in accordance with the opinion of the City
Attorney in order that all recreational areas rec-
ommended in the ten year program be appropri-
ately earmarked in the beginning. Some of the
most needed sites can be paid for in the first few
years of the program. Time payments can be ar-
ranged for other sites. Owners of property needed
for public use will have positive knowledge as to
whether or not their property will be taken. The
city can thus act more systematically if the entire
program can be established in the beginning and
all the sites reserved for public park use. It is
recommended that transfer of title be arranged
for in the beginning so that the city will not have to
reimburse the private owners for taxes on all ear-
marked sites until final payment is completed.
This will prevent continual study and revision of

the city-wide plan.

(Continued on page 646)

HUGH McK. LANDON HONORED

645

Ferdinand A. Silcox

THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the passing of Ferdi-
nand A. Silcox, Chief of the United State'
Forest Service, so soon after the death of his
associate, Robert Marshall, comes as a double
shock to all friends of recreation. Chief Forester
since 1933, Mr. Silcox has done much to impress
upon the American people the concept of ''The
People's Forest." Over 165 million acres of for-
est land came under his direct administration —
land that was to be used for "the greatest good
to the greatest number of people." His was a
rare combination of understandings. He knew
forestry, for after graduating from the Yale
School of Forestry in 1905 he started his career
as a forest ranger. He served in that capacity
until the World War claimed his services. Yet he
knew more than forest management and trees. He
knew people. As industrial relations director for
the printing industry in the interim between the
end of the War and his appointment as Chief of
the Forest Service, he sensed the yearnings of the
human heart and the constant struggle in men's
souls for a more enriching and satisfying life.
He felt the pulse of humanity and he knew his
job. Thus fortified he was eminently qualified to
serve in the high office he held during the past
seven years.

Under his leadership, inspired by his splendid
social vision, the Forest Service has recognized
recreation as one of the multiple uses of the for-
est. Literally hundreds of forest camps have been
constructed in various forests throughout the
United States. These camps provide facilities for
tent camping, picnicking, bathing, swimming, hik-
ing, and opportunities for close contact with
nature. In sections of the forest where weather
conditions are ideal, winter sports areas have been
set aside for those interested in skiing, tobogan-
ning, skating, and other types of winter sports.
Thousands of miles of roads have been con-
structed through the forests and people can enjoy
the scenic beauty that abounds.

Surely Ferdinand Silcox has made a valuable
contribution to the people of America, and it is
comforting to know that his philosophy of recrea-
tion will continue because it has been rooted as
deep as the primeval giants of the forests that
he loved.

Hugh McK. Landon Honored

MR. HUGH McK. LANDON, a member of the
Board of Directors of the National Recrea-
tion Association, has been honored for distin-
guished citizenship by election to the order of the
Staff of Honor in Indianapolis, his home city.

The order was created a year ago by represent-
atives of civic organizations for the purpose of
recognizing outstanding service to Indianapolis
apart from business or professional achievements.
To be considered for the honor the individual
must have lived in Indianapolis at least ten years
as a private citizen, he must have reached his 7oth
year, and he must have served the city over and
above the requirements of good citizenship out-
side and beyond his own chosen business, pro-
fession or calling. Each recipient receives a gold
medal symbolic of distinguished civic, social or
philanthropic services to the city and its people
and a citation on parchment outlining the services
for which the award is made.

In addition to serving on the National Recrea-
tion Association's Board of Directors, Mr. Landon
is one of the founders and for many years has
been one of the directors of the Community Fund
of Indianapolis. He has had a special interest in
child welfare, including service to the local Boys'
Club. For eighteen years he has been chairman of
the James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association ;
he is also a member of the joint committee for ad-
ministering the Riley Hospital for Children and
chairman of its research committee. During the
World War he was chairman for Indiana of the
War Camp Community Service which directed
recreation activities for men in training.

646

SQUARE DANCING IS FUN, BUT --TEACH AN EASY ONE FIRST!

A Ten-Year Park Program

(Continued from page 644)

While most of the funds are to be spent for
acquisition of sites, a small part will be necessary
for grading and general clean-up of acquired sites.
It is recommended that little or no money be spent
for these improvement purposes at the beginning
of the program or until such time as the Council
may be reasonably certain that the more important
acquisition can be made and that minimum grad-
ing, etc., can be done within the financial limits of
the -program.

It is recommended that landscape plans be pre-
pared in the near future for all sites in order to
achieve a good general designed economy and
systematic use of recreation areas.

Square Dancing Is Fun

(Continued from page 630)

mixed up the first time or two, but they will soon
get it right. Practice this figure until they do. It
is useless to go ahead with the other calls until all
in the set move into this call promptly, if you wish
to maintain the interest which demands under-
standing and improvement.

(3) As partners meet with right hands, the
gentleman turns the lady so she is facing in the
same direction as he; then they cross hands and
arms in skating position, and promenade back to
place counter-clockwise — the way the man was
moving when he met his partner. Remember the
lady is always on the gentleman's right, from the
beginning of the dance until the end.

(4) First couple balances and swings.

(5) The gentleman leaves his lady standing in
her original position, while he goes alone to the
next couple on his right, the "second couple."

(6) Standing before the lady of the second
couple, he bows, does a little jig (everybody likes
this), and swings the lady.

(7) He passes to the next couple.

On (8), (9), (10), he repeats the previous
figures. On (n) he goes back to his original
partner, and everybody swings. Then the chorus
call is given and the second gentleman has a
chance to show what he can do.

Not much time is allowed for the "bow, jig, and
swing." Call it at about the average speaking
speed. For music, a lively reel ("Turkey in the
Straw" or similar tune) will do.

Try this easy square dance first. Your group
will love it. If you are a beginner or an advanced
square dancer, one who knows his "do-si-dos,"
you will find it a lot of fun.

The 1939

College Blue Book

Since 1923

The Standard Reference Work
of Higher Education

700 Pages — Increase of Over 100

It brings to you for instant ref-
erence the basic facts, ratings,
entrance, fees, resources

Used constantly by College and School of-
ficials, by Guidance Committees and by Lead-
ing Libraries.

Covers 652 Colleges and Universities
563 Junior and 119 Negro Colleges

Also 2,613 Professional Schools of Aero-
nautics, Agriculture, Architecture, Commerce,
Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Forestry,
Journalism, Law, Library Science, Medicine,
Nursing, Osteopathy, Optometry, Pharmacy,
Social Work, Theology, and Schools of
Technology.

567 Universities Around the World

Full page color State Maps in

Educational Atlas

Price $4.75
•

Address the Editor
Dr. H. W. HURT

404 Riverside Drive New York City

New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

M1

A Bibliography of Nature-Study

By Eva L. Gordon. Comstock Publishing Company, Inc.,
Ithaca, New York. $.25.

GIVING PREFERENCE to "well-written, well-illustrated
books," the compiler of this forty-five-page bibliog-
raphy divided nature study into several divisions, listing
separate groups of books under Nature Study in General,
Animal Life, Plant Life, and Earth and Sky. Each book
receives a brief account of its content, with a notation on
the age group to which the book would have its greatest
appeal. It was reprinted from Anna Botsford Comstock's
Handbook of Nature-Study.

Yours for a Song

Compiled by Janet E. Tobitt. Janet E. Tobitt, 430 West
119th Street, New York. $.25.

Liss TOBITT, who was mainly responsible for the ex-
cellent collection entitled Sing Together of songs
chosen especially for use by the Girl Scouts, has com-
piled this book also, of fifty-seven songs and rounds.
The vitality and interest of the collection is in keeping
with the brightness and wit of its title. It will be found
useful by everyone interested in informal singing by
groups or individuals. — A. D. Zanslg.

Rehearsal for Safety

By Fanny Venable Cannon. E. P. Button & Co., New

York. $1.00.

A BOOK OF EIGHT worthwhile little safety plays for ele-
** mentary and junior high school based upon recom-
mendations of the National Safety Council and leading
courses of study in safety education. Easily produced.
Casting and settings will depend on the available ma-
terial. This book fills an urgent need on the part of
teachers and others for dramatizations of a wide variety
of safety hazards.

Special Events in the
Physical Education Program

National Section on Women's Athletics. American As-
sociation for Health, Physical Education, and Recrea-
tion, 1201 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D. C.
$.50.

SAMPLE PROGRAMS for assemblies, demonstrations, and
other feature events are given in this booklet, which
also presents some general considerations in the adminis-
tration of these events. Recreation workers as well as
physical educators will find this booklet helpful.

Wrestling

By E. C. Gallagher. A. S. Barnes and Company, New
York. $1.00.

IN THIS BOOK a championship coach shows the techniques
and fundamentals of the time-honored sport of wrestl-
ing. Pictures of individual holds are given with explana-
tory descriptions so that the reader may follow graphi-
cally the t>est methods to apply to different holds.

Dorothy Gordon's
Treasure Bag of Game Songs

E. P. Button and Co., New York City. $1.50.

A COLLECTION of twenty-two singing games chosen by
radio's popular "Song and Story Lady." From all
parts of America and from ..England, Bavaria, Denmark,
France, Germany, Scotland, Belgium and Iceland they
come, several of them not yet generally familiar. The
book is merrily and copiously illustrated, the musical ar-
rangements fairly adequate though simple enough for the
veriest tyro of a pianist, and the directions for each game
very clear and detailed.

Color Mosaic Windows

By John T. Morgan. Kit 51. Cooperative Recreation

Service, Delaware, Ohio. $.25.

THIS BOOKLET presents a simple and inexpensive method
I of making translucent paper windows in mosaic-pat-
tern glass design. The author explains the process from
creative group discussion and small scale color sketches
to painting the windows and sealing them between glass
in the window frame. There are numerous illustrations
of simulated stained glass windows and interpretations
of their meaning.

Finding New Subjects for Your Camera

By Jacob Deschin. Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, Inc., New York. $2.50.

HERE ARE NEW IDEAS for pictures, new angles for photo-
graphing, and new techniques of lighting, posing, and
arranging. Mr. Deschin, author of a number of books on
photography, shows how skill can be acquired, discusses
the innumerable possibilities for good pictures, and de-
scribes new photographing methods and trick effects.

Low -Cost Crafts for Everyone

By H. Atwood Reynolds. Greenberg Publishers, New
York City. $2.50.

TEACHERS OR LEADERS who have to work with inexpen-
sive craft materials or the odds and ends of materials
which are about them, will be interested in learning of
this publication which includes directions for the making
of a large number of handcraft projects. It is stated
that none of the projects described should cost more than
twenty-five cents, some of them much less, or nothing at
all. Many of the articles are attractive and serviceable.
The book should be of practical help in planning a craft
program.

Constructional Activities of
Adult Males

By W. Virgil Nestrick, Ph. D. Bureau of Publications,
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York.
$1.60.

HERE is A STUDY of factors contributing to the individ-
ual's desire or lack of desire to participate in leisure
activity involving the use of tools and hands. Data were

647

648

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

collected through the use of the standardized interview
from a group of men selected at random on Long Island.
Among the conclusions is one which will be of special
interest to recreation workers. A definite non-chance re-
lationship was found to exist between participation in
constructional activities in childhood (ages six to eigh-
teen) and participation in constructional activities either
as hobbies or as favorite leisure-time activities in adult
life. A very small percentage of men who did not par-
ticipate in some type of constructional activities between
the ages of six and eighteen participated in these activities
in adult life. On the other hand, approximately one-half
of the men who enjoyed handcraft in their youth par-
ticipated in such activities in adult life.

Walking, Camping and Nature Clubs of America, 1939.
Edited by William Hoeferlin. Published by Walking
News, 556 Fairview Street, Brooklyn, New York.
$.10.

A list of some of America's hiking1 clubs. Names are
given wherever possible of club officials. The clubs are
grouped according to geographical locations.

Wild Country.

By F. Fraser Darling. Cambridge : At the Univers-
ity Press. The Macmillan Company, New York.
$2.75.

Here is a scrapbook of anecdotes, observations, and
photographs collected by Dr. Darling during many
months spent on the desolate, wind swept islands off
northern Scotland. The volume is filled with challeng-
ing ideas on the characteristics and habits of familiar and
less familiar birds and animals. Wild Country, with its
informal descriptions, beautiful photography, and fine
bookmaking, is a volume about which nature lovers will
want to know.

Facilities for the Use of Workers'
Leisure During Holidays.

P. S. King & Son, Ltd. London, England. $.75.
This subject was discussed by the Committee on Rec-
reation in the Governing Body of the International La-
bour Office in 1937. Augmenting their information with
additional data, the International Labour Office pub-
lished an international report on workers' leisure time
facilities. The booklet is divided into three parts: the
report submitted to the Committee, the text of the reso-
lution adopted by the Committee, and the minutes of the
Governing Body's discussions. The report is available
from the Washington Branch of the International Labour
Office.

Education for Democracy.

Bureau of Publications, Teachers College, Columbia
University, New York. $2.50.

The addresses of men and women from a number of
countries have been brought together in this volume of
the Proceedings of the Congress on Education for De-
mocracy held at Teachers College, Columbia University,
August 15-17, 1939. The Congress was planned to meet
the need for an organized and continuing movement
which would be nation-wide and would involve the na-
tional groups that now exert or should be encouraged to
exert great influence on public education. Laymen and
educators were brought into closer contacts through this
conference which sought to lay before the public a num-
ber of the fundamental problems of education, particu-
larly as they concern the welfare of the community, in
order that educators and laymen together might help
work out solutions that are sound and under existing
conditions practicable. The heart of the Congress was
the sixteen seminars, composed of approximately an
equal number of lay and professional delegates, who in
small groups discussed critical problems which they
themselves and their colleagues had proposed beforehand.

The findings from the seminars were presented in a meet-
ing of all the seminar delegates. These seminars were
felt to be highly profitable.

Principles of Child Care in Institutions.

Edited by Esther McClain and Jessie Charters.
Division of Public Assistance, State Department of
Public Welfare, 1207 State Office Building, Colum-
bus, Ohio. $1.25.

This handbook for staff study and discussion takes up
the many problems which superintendents of children's
institutions and their staffs face every day. Each of the
thirty1 chapters has been prepared by the superintendent
of an Ohio institution or by some official associated with
the work of these institutions. A number of chapters
relate to the play life of the child, notably, "The Child
and His Play," "The Child and Aesthetic Experience,"
and "The Child and the Movies." The booklet should be
of very practical help to officials of children's institutions
everywhere.

Adventuring for Senior Scouts.

Boy Scouts of America, New York. $1.00.
There is a wealth of material in this book of program
activities which will be helpful to all groups working
with boys. For those who would go adventuring in the
out of doors, there are numberless practical suggestions
for trips and activities of many kinds.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-Presidcnt
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCITER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
JOHN H. FINLEY, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L. I., N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City, Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa.
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHN G. WINANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

iq ^o

Forward into Forty!

THE mission of the Boys' Club is to get as
many boys as possible off the street and
away from sinister influences, to provide
opportunities for clean and wholesome play,
to teach young Americans the thrill of doing
something constructive because they like to
do it, to offer an example of upright living
through sympathetic and experienced leader-
ship, to recognize the existence of the gang as
a nucleus which contains the grass roots of
democracy, and to help those roots to grow
and blossom into the full fruit of American
citizenship.

The automobile, the radio, the movies, elec-
tric power, even the tremendous onset of the
higher-education movement, can never make
unnecessary such basic qualities as courtesy,
sincerity, courage, tolerance, understanding
and friendship.

And in like measure, however much we
study, and research, and survey, and evaluate
the problems of youth, the essential need for
simplicity, candor and friendliness will for-
ever remain.

A Boys' Club is a place, a building contain-
ing recreation equipment attractive to boys,
not a program only, not a creed, not a slogan,
not a political prophecy, but a place, let us
hope, always open, always hospitable, always
a ready refuge for a boy in need.

It is for those who need it most ; none is too
ragged, none too impolite, none too rough,
none too underprivileged to be refused its
friendliness. We are imbued with a confi-
dence born of many a shining experience, a
confidence which persists even when many of
our fellow men doubt and other organizations
reject; a confidence that underneath even a
forbidding exterior lie latent abilities and
hidden qualities of manliness, honor, in-
tegrity and good citizenship.

The Boys' Club makes no use of the oppor-
tunity for regimentation. It resists the temp-
tation to enlist boys of immature age in semi-
military legions as is done in Europe. It seeks
to preserve and not destroy the independence

and freedom of every one of its members.
Boys' Clubs of America takes pride when
referred to as the largest body of non-uni-
formed boys in the world.

Most unique and most irreplaceable of all
the distinctive attributes of a Boys' Club is
that it is a club — to be joined, to be a mem-
ber of, to be defended, to be loyal to; it repre-
sents a group of people of one's own choosing,
and has that aspect of proprietary interest
impossible elsewhere. In this conception of
a Boys' Club resides an outstanding reason
why public or political control of a Boys'
Club can never replace private sponsorship.

It is not a case work agency but it can
recognize the need for sympathetic and skill-
ful treatment of individual needs and make
an appropriate referral. Neither in Clubs
nor out can boys be coddled, or threatened or
marshaled into citizenship. Our oldest and
wisest Boys Club leaders are using the Club
not as a place for play alone but as prepara-
tion for a life service. The Boys' Club is no
place for a leader of so little faith in Ameri-
can boyhood as to desire only to administer
to them the anodyne of amusement. He is as
much concerned with what boys can do for
the Club and for the community as with what
he can do for the boys.

There is much discussion nowadays about
group work and its possibilities, as though it
were a new idea. The classification of cer-

tain types of workers dealing with groups of
people into a descriptive category may be new
but the idea of developing boys' characters
through gangs, or clubs, or just plain groups
is as old as Boys' Clubs and that means nearly
three-quarters of a century. Every Boys'
Club has so-called groups through which it
works. The annual report of the National
Organization for 1939 records the existence
of more than 3,000 group clubs in active oper-
ation. It is no new discovery that qualities
of tolerance and mutual help and the eleva-
tion and stimulation of standards of citizen-
ship can be developed by the group process
when both the mass and individual approaches
have failed. Boys' Club men have continu-
ously demonstrated the value of the group
type of activity.

Hence we insist — I am persuaded to an ex-
tent greater than any of our contemporaries —
on the presence in our leaders of the natural,
innate qualities of friendliness, understanding
and confidence. We are not foolish enough to
assert that the natural qualities of leadership
are all that are needed but we do say that
without them education is futile. We need the
help of all that education can give us; we
invite the colleges to send us their best men,
but as is clearly stated in our booklet, "Lead-
ership," we do not want college men, how-
ever many degrees they possess, unless the
basic qualities therein described are present.

In the meantime we shall continue to rely
on many a Boys' Club graduate for leader-
ship ; we shall provide training courses for as
many as will avail themselves, and shall in-
sist on the recognition of Boys' Club service
as a career. It is with pride that we point out
that five of the last six appointments for newly
organized Boys' Clubs were men tried and
not found wanting in the actual management
of Boys' Club. No false notions of the inher-
ent value of education without experience
will swerve us from a purpose, possibly
unique, at any rate essential, of (1) recruiting
and promoting such natural leaders from our
Clubs as show a propensity for growth and a
hospitality for education and training and, (2)
restricting the intake from our colleges to
those who have demonstrated the inherent
qualities we seek, those of wisdom with peo-

ple, friendliness, personal integrity, a sense
of humor and that indefinable quality of being
a "regular guy" with a personality that draws
boys to him as a natural leader.

Although recent claims have been made
that it is not wholly living up to its ideals, the
public school in America has been a main
reliance in the production of citizenship. But
it has and must have an element of discipline
about it. Who is so idealistic as to believe that
we can arrive at a condition where the formal
educational and recreational processes are
synchronous? For this reason, for example,
our handicraft activity takes a voluntary form
of vocational exploration and concerns itself
with recreation and helpful guidance for
future usefulness rather than content itself
with mere vocational education such as some
schools provide. The strong point in the Boys'
Club is that it presents an alternative to
school, relief from discipline (at least super-
imposed discipline), a change to something
we do because we want to. We go to the Club,
we don't stay after school in it. We may ex-
pect great things from the extracurricular ac-
tivities of our school; not for a long time to
come will there be too many recreation op-
portunities, but we shall not relinquish to the
school the function of the separately organized
Club building.

Here are our New Year's resolutions, then :
With pride in the unchanging validity of our
own traditions, with minds open to all the
light of knowledge we can acquire, with a
consciousness of our own independence of
thought and action, with no hesitation or genu-
flection in the face of specious or temporary
philosophies which run counter to our own.
with tolerance and cooperation towards all
our fellow workers in our own and allied
fields; with a clear vision of the central fact
that it is the needy boy himself who claims
our devotion and not the mechanism we de-
vise for serving him — with a sure knowledge
that here is a cause than which none is more
noble, let us go forward into 1940 to achieve
greater tasks than we have ever achieved
before.

SANFORD BATES

From The Keystone, January, 1940, published
by The Boys' Clubs of America.

MARCH 1940

By

G. M. GLOSS

Louisiana State University

With all the progress
which has been made in
the recreation field,
much still remains to
be done, studies show

Research in Recreation

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH in recreation is a rela-
tively new development, and for this reason
many difficulties face the research workers.
Interpretations of various terms differ greatly.
Many personal and social effects are so intangible
that it is impossible to measure them. Moreover,
certain activities which are not socially acceptable,
such as gambling and drinking, are not included
in check lists of actual or desired participation
because they conflict with traditional mores. This
confusion permits only a few generalizations to
be made with any degree of accuracy. There is,
however, an increasing need of research in this
field in order to prevent mistakes, clarify objec-
tives, formulate programs, study effects of various
types of leadership, and discover the efficiency of
different forms of program organization or lead-
ership training curricula.

Although man has always in one way or an-
other sought recreation, his acceptance of ade-
quate planning for socially valuable use of leisure
time has failed in previous
civilizations. It would seem
that contemporary civiliza-
tion has reached about the
same point in its cycle as
other civilizations faced with
the problem of leisure.
Power has been released to
give man freedom, but we
have neglected to utilize the

This article is a resume of a chapter com-
piled by Mr. Gloss for the Encyclopedia of
Educational Research which is to be edited
by Dr. Walter Monroe of the University of
Illinois. In preparing the material the
author consulted many Masters' theses and
Doctorate studies, and a large number of
books, magazine articles, reports, surveys,
yearbooks, bulletins, mimeographed state-
ments and similar sources of information.

resulting leisure time to further man's betterment,
Much of our present neglect in recognizing rec-
reation as an institution of society is due to the
fact that it has been traditionally associated with
idleness and has not been regarded as a possi-
bility for a creative approach to the perpetuation
of valuable social ideals.

In America the first stage of development in
public recreation stressed largely the play life of
children. Since the World War, however, the
promotion of adult education for returned service
men and increased appreciation of the leisure-
time needs of all adults have given adult recrea-
tion a place in the good life. Much of the de-
velopment in the seventies and eighties was in the
field of college athletics, but after the World War
interest in many recreational activities expanded
the leisure-time program. Recently interest in in-
dividual and dual sports has become evident. A
large increase in recreational facilities has come
through the activity of governmental agencies.

Recreation within the
home, studies have shown,
occupies the greatest amount
of time, with reading, the
radio, visiting, and conver-
sation using the largest
share. Attending movies,
automobile riding, watching
athletic spectacles, and other
passive, non-creative activi-

651

652

RESEARCH IN RECREATION

ties retain their popularity. The corner drug store
and roadside dance places are still rendezvous for
youth. Much remains to be done in rural districts
for the recreation of the farmer and his family.

Commercial recreation as a whole is interested
in money making. It offers, regardless of quality,
amusement for every purse and class of people,
and hence exerts a powerful influence upon a
large group. Most commercial recreation fails to
meet the deeper cultural needs of a people im-
poverished by a machine civilization. Most of it
is passive, vicarious, and non-creative.

Recreation, it would seem, should to a greater
degree be taken over as a public responsibility
without, however, permitting governmental cen-
tralization of authority. To prevent such central-
ized control, many fe'el that the community itself
should form councils to solve common problems
such as the use of leisure time. There is need,
these people believe, for a relating of all social,
character-building, educational, commercial, and
vocational interests so that there can be some com-
monly understood goals within the community
itself and the organization of a program by the
local community.

At the present time the organization and ad-
ministration of community recreation is still a
controversial issue, though the belief in the sup-
port of recreation through tax funds as a desir-
able method of financing the program is meeting
with more general acceptance.

Our economic structure is profoundly affected
by the way in which people use their spare time.
Their demands will influence the direction in
which many manufacturing developments will go.
In turn, many of those who work for a living are
dependent upon their income for the quality of
their leisure-time activities. Higher salaries, how-
ever, do not necessarily make for better standards
in the choice of recreation. For the population at
lr'-rge, greater income may further the imitation of
the activities engaged in by the wealthier class,
such as riding in automobiles, traveling, watching
spectacles, joining organizations, and indiscrimi-
nately purchasing non-essential equipment.

This points to the need for a more extensive
program of public education. At present our
schools are not meeting their full responsibility
for educating for the wise use of leisure. Many
physical education programs on the high school
and college level are still concentrating on gym-
nastics and team sports in spite of the desire on
the part of the students for individual and dual

sports which can be used now and in later life.
Extracurricular activities are in many instances
slighted, and those subjects which could be used
for hobby interests, such as English, music, arts
and crafts, are taught by such formalized methods
that students fail to enjoy them in school and
dislike them afterward. Instead of stimulating
pupils to creative and enjoyable activities, there
are widely practiced forms of program activity
which restrain and inhibit, thus destroying inter-
ests which might continue to exist outside of the
school situation. Most students after graduation
are without excellent skill in individual or dual
sports and have no discriminating appreciation of
the arts, literature, or handcraft. Co-recreation,
though widely publicized, has not been accepted
by the high school or college administrators as a
whole.

Beyond the task of the schools, the acceptance,
promotion, and maintenance of an adequate pro-
gram necessitate provision for out-of-school rec-
reation through education for preschool age chil-
dren, and for unemployed and employed youth
and adults. To achieve this there must be leaders
of a social engineering type to educate and guide
this type of program. At the present time leader-
ship training in this field is not given an adequate
amount of attention in higher education, and sal-
aries are too low for workers. This means that
not only does it attract too few superior people
but the few adequately trained individuals who
are in the field frequently leave for higher salaries
in other fields of work. The training program in
the traditional university consists chiefly of lec-
tures and of theory rather than of actual experi-
ences evaluated in terms of a consistent philosophy.

There is inadequate understanding of the effect,
upon both the individual and the social order, of
participation in leisure-time activities. Personal-
ity growth and development, according to some
of the studies which have been made, depend to a
great degree upon the type of recreational oppor-
tunities for the infant, child, youth, and adult.
Even such intangible factors as a feeling of se-
curity, acceptance of responsibility, integrity, per-
sonality development, and social attitudes are
often dependent upon the quality of experience
gained in play life.

America as a new country has not yet found
for itself a cultural outlook. Prestige is still given
largely to the securing of wealth and to display
rather than to creative ability and appreciation
which have only too often become either the

RESEARCH IN RECREATION

653

pursuit of a few in the
leisure class or escape for
malad j listed individuals.

Many physical activities have become social-
ized in recent years. Most encouraging, too,
is the fact that people are turning increas-
ingly to more creative uses of leisure time.

Coitrtesv WPA

Among many the arts still

carry the stigma of ef-

(Coutinucd on pay? 696)

Courtesy

A Folly Party

"Who are a little wise
the best fools be"

for April First

As THE FIRST thrill of any party is that which
comes with the receipt of the invitation, this
advance messenger should be dressed with
elaborate care. If possible, it should carry a hid-
den suggestion to keep the recipient guessing.

Cut April Fool dunce caps, four inches tall,
from white art paper, and top them with red
pompoms sketched on with red ink. They carry
this verse, written in red ink, to the guests :
"Where ignorance is bliss

"Tis folly to be wise,"

So come out to our party

In some April Foolish guise.

We'll be goofy and giggly,

And never sedate;

On April the First,

Please arrive about eight.

When the guests arrive at the appointed time,
they find the house entirely dark with the excep-
tion of a small light on the front porch.. Tacked
on the front door underneath the light is a notice
which reads, "Have been suddenly called out of
the city. For further information inquire at back
door."

As the guests wander around through the side
yard they are confronted with such signs as "De-
tour," "Drive slowly," "Danger," "School Zone,"
"Bridge under construction," "Proceed at own
risk." At each one of these signs some simple
device has been rigged up to fool the guests and
make them think worse dangers are ahead. For
example, above one sign wet sponges on strings
have been suspended from
the limbs of a tree at just the
right height to dab a guest in
the face as he leans forward
to read the sign. At another,
fine wire springs have been
unwound and scattered about
on the ground. When some-
one stumbles upon a wire it
curls up around the unsus-

654

April Fool's Day, or All Fools' Day, is
a day dear to children by reason of the
sanction it gives them to indulge in all
sorts of mischievous and harmless pranks.
Its origin, although unknown, is at least
as old as "Poor Robin's Almanac," dating
from the 1 600's. In English-speaking coun-
tries the victim of a joke is called an
"April Fool"; in Scotland he Is a "Gowk,"
and in France he is known as a "Fish."

By

LOIE E. BRANDOM

St. Joseph, Missouri

pecting victim's ankles. At another place the guest
unwittingly rubs against a taut cord which starts
a set of bells ringing.

When the back door is finally reached, a little
figure dressed as a court jester, or "April Fool,"
opens it ceremoniously. He declares that "His
Majesties were only foolin' and won't the guests
please come into the castle?" This mixing of the
ancient and modern is very effective, if carried
out properly.

Inside, the house is a riot of all the colors of
the rainbow. The scene resembles the main hall
of an ancient castle, for on a raised dais at one
end of the room are seated the "King and Queen
of Folly Land." Around them stand several pages,
who later mingle with the guests, all of whom are
in gala attire. The King and Queen preside over
the festivities and announce the first games and
contests much as they were announced at medieval
tournaments, with the exception that all formality
is soon dropped in the interests of a general good
time.

The first contest happens to be a Carnival Relay
Race. The guests are divided into teams of equal
size and stationed behind the starting tape, and a
goal line is marked with chalk across the opposite
end of the room. The leader of each team is
handed a fly swatter and an inflated rubber bal-
loon. At the signal the leaders place their balloons
on the floor and start for the goal line, propelling
the balloons with the fly
swatters. This requires self-
control, for if a balloon bursts,
the owner must return to the
starting tape, blow up an-
other balloon and tie it se-
curely before starting again
in the race. As number one
of each team crosses the goal
(Continued on page 696)

We Play Cards at Our Recreation Center

>ARD PLAYING as a rec-

reational activity in

public recreation cen-
ters appears to have in-
creased tremendously in recent years. No doubt
this is due to at least two great influences : partly
to the widespread publicity given the game of
bridge and its various "systems" through the
mediums of radio, publications and lectures, and
partly to greater patronage of public recreation
areas by adults. As requests for opportunities to
play cards become greater, more and more recre-
ation department executives who have considered
card playing "out" as a recreational activity won-
der if they should not modify their attitude in the
light of this apparent new demand.

So the questions arise : How can this activity
be administered so it will not offend those attend-
ing the recreation centers and who still carry a
prejudice against card playing? What can be done
to guide the play of participants into constructive
channels and avoid the practice of gambling?
Toward the solution of these problems the Los
Angeles Department of Playground and Recrea-
tion has evolved practices over a period of years
which appear to give the desired control and yet
offer a degree of freedom comparable to that of
any other well-established recreation activity. The
succeeding paragraphs tell the methods and tech-
niques used under varying situations, and may be
suggestive of ways of handling problems attend-
ant upon card playing in other localities. They are
by no means to be accepted as being the only solu-
tions, nor even as being completely satisfactory in
every instance of their application ; but it can be
said that these practices,
coupled with wise direc-
tional supervision, have
been helpful and have
made it possible to accord
a place to card playing in
the public recreation pro-
gram of Los Angeles.

By Louis A. ORSATTI

Department of Playground and Recreation
Los Angeles, California

Three Types of Card
Playing Groups

Requests to play cards
come from three different
classes of individuals :

Mr. Orsatti, who is Senior Recreation Director
in Charge of Boys' and Special Activities,
describes the methods used in varying situa-
tions to prevent bad practices in connection
with card playing. "These methods may be sug-
gestive to other localities in handling their
problems," says Mr. Orsatti. "They are by no
means to be accepted as the only solutions en-
tirely satisfactory in every instance of their
application. It can be said, however, that
these practices, coupled with wise directional
supervision, have been helpful and have made
it possible to accord a place to card playing in
the public recreation program of Los Angeles."

(A) Organizations that
wish occasional use of fa-
cilities for a • card party.
Sometimes these are Parent-
Teacher groups, church groups, fraternal organi-
zations, or even private groups. Those classified
as civic organizations, whose parties are open to
the general public, are granted a free permit upon
application at the Central Office. Closed or private
organizations (in which the membership is limited)
are charged a fee of three dollars for the first
two hours and one dollar per hour thereafter.
This occasional card party requires but nominal
supervision by the recreation director since the
group already has a leader to whom the permit
is issued. Refusal to obey Department regula-
tions is reported by the director, and future re-
quests for use of facilities may be denied. Such
groups are allowed to charge an admission fee
provided proceeds are used to pay the expenses of
the party or for a public benefit.

Nothing further need be said regarding such
card playing organizations since they have not
been a particularly vexing problem and their pro-
gram is a simple one to administer.

(B) Many people wish to play cards regularly,
once or twice each week, for a two or three hour
period in the evening, or perhaps in the afternoon.
Since these are recurrent groups with which the
director has a continued relation, the problems
are different and more numerous than with or-
ganizations granted a permit to play cards only
occasionally.

(c) Finally, there are those men, many elderly,
who are unemployed or retired, who want to meet
others on a very informal,
social basis and to play in-
formally at cards at any
time during the day. It is
this class which demands
the most careful control
and supervision.

Let us consider separately
the problems dealing with
classes (B) and (c), be-
cause each is handled a little
differently, and the facili-
ties provided are of a dif-
ferent kind for each group.

655

656

WE PLAY CARDS AT OUR RECREATION CENTER

Card players and members
of the chess and checkers
clubs have their own room
at Exposition Playground.
Combined with the horse-
shoe courts, the area repre-
sents a complete men's unit.

ments or programs).
They then become the
property of the depart-
ment and are stored at
the local center. No re-
striction may be placed
upon membership by
these groups ; the activity
is open to the public and
anyone may take part
insofar as the facilities
permit.

Smoking usually ac-
companies card playing
and is permitted ; ash
trays are provided.

Facilities for the Weekly Recurrent Players

Card players who meet for a limited period of
play each week are adults, each group numbering
from twenty to two hundred or more. They are
accorded the use of indoor facilities, consisting of
a room of the community clubhouse, or in some
instances, the main hall. These meetings are held
at a time when children are least likely to be en-
gaging in indoor activities — either when the latter
are in school or at night. If children are about,
their attention is diverted away from the card
players. Bridge, Five Hundred and Whist seem
to be the games most popular.

Meeting indoors as described sometimes re-
quires considerable work setting up and later re-
moving the bridge tables and chairs. The group
itself undertakes this responsibility. A limited
number of bridge tables are furnished by the de-
partment but their use is not confined to card
playing alone. Where the demand becomes so
great as to exceed the table facilities supplied, the
players must furnish additional tables. These
tables are sometimes purchased from funds raised
through activities of the players (by dues, assess-

Control Measures

Being a fairly compact group consisting of ap-
proximately the same persons each meeting,
supervision by the recreation director can be ap-
plied quite effectively. Responsibility for the
proper conduct of the activity is placed upon the
group itself by requiring the players to elect a
floor committee which shall see that members be-
have in accordance with Department regulations.
This committee in turn is held to account by the
recreation director.

As much freedom as possible is granted, but
two policies are enforced. There may be no play-
ing for money, and all receipts must be handled by
a committee consisting of the director and several
others chosen by the players. An account is kept
of funds taken in and expended and the director
has access to the books. Patrons are permitted to
contribute toward a "kitty" with which prizes are
purchased and awarded to the winners. They may
also assess themselves toward building a fund
from which refreshments, cards, and card tables,
may be purchased. Cash prizes may not be
awarded, though merchandise certificates which

WE PLAY CARDS AT OUR RECREATION CENTER

657

can be exchanged for anything the holder may
desire up to the value of the certificate are often
used. Policies relating to gambling and handling
of funds apply to all card groups.

As might be expected, gambling can become a
serious problem and sometimes considerable edu-
cation is necessary to convince all players that
playing cards for recreation alone is sufficient.
Constant vigilance and alertness on the part of
the floor committee are essential. Recreation di-
rectors forming new card groups must be espe-
cially aware of this problem and must expect to
have to cope with it during the early stages of
organization.

Wise recreation leaders will operate through
the floor committee and appeal to or instruct the
whole group as a last resort, and only after the
committee fails to function. Continued violation
of the regulations results in disbandment of the
card group, but this action is a very last move
when all other efforts fail. Over a period of
several years, during which dozens of card groups
have operated, only once was a card club dis-
banded because of refusal to cooperate. Revok-

ing use of facilities is done upon recommendation
of the director and approval of the Superintendent.

Facilities Provided for Daily Card Players
Many playgrounds have become gathering
places for middle aged and elderly men. They
frequently express a desire to play cards as well
as checkers, chess, croquet, roque and horseshoes.
Indeed, it is advisable to provide facilities for
such play ; otherwise the idle men will find less
constructive things to do. They may resort to
surreptitious gambling or may disturb the care-
takers or gardeners and be in the way of younger
patrons.

After a cautious experiment at one playground,
the practice now is to allocate an area somewhat
remote or secluded from the center of activities
and known as the "men's area." Facilities pro-
vided include horseshoe courts, roque court, picnic
tables for chess and checker players, and special
tables for card players. The tables are sometimes
covered by a pergola. Frequently a small one-
room field house is provided, with floor space to
accommodate thirty to fifty men. Such a structure

658

WE PLAY CARDS AT OUR RECREATION CENTER

is designed with windows completely around it.
Care and upkeep of these special facilities are
usually made a responsibility of the men using
them. Roque courts need careful attention, horse-
shoe courts must be kept in good condition, and
the card playing areas or buildings require much
more janitorial service than is ordinarily neces-
sary since they are in constant use. For the most
part, the men prefer to attend to the facilities
themselves and relieve the regular caretaker. The
Recreation Department has designed special heavy
duty card tables for these "men's rreas."

Locating such facilities remote from children's
areas, and where this is not possible, surrounding
the area with shrubs and landscaping so as to
give it an appearance set apart, sets at rest the
fears of parents that their children might become
involved in activities which may be frowned upon
at home. It also gives the players a feeling of
privacy and freedom from annoyances they might
otherwise have. In a few instances it has been
possible to set aside and equip for card playing
one room of the large recreation building which
is cared for just as the field house described
above. Where this is the case, the card room has
a special entrance used by the players, thus per-
mitting the game room to be segregated from the
rest of the building.

Control by Charter Method
Administration of a continuous daily program
of card playing such as goes on at a "men's area"
requires more care and thought than does the
weekly recurrent group activity conducted indoors
for two or three hours each period. Hence the
Los Angeles Recreation Department is gradually
bringing these "daily meeting" groups under
charter control. By this is meant the men or-
ganize as a club with elected officers and adoption
of a constitution and by-laws. They must apply
to the local recreation director for an "Applica-
tion for Playground Club Charter." After this is
properly filled out, the application, constitution
and by-laws are given to the director for approval.
The director frequently advises and assists in
drawing up the club papers. Next these are sent
to the Central Office for final approval and filing
and the new group is mailed a charter, good for
one year, but revokable at any time at the discre-
tion of the Department. All charters expire auto-
matically at the end of each year and new applica-
tions must then be made. After a club is once
issued a charter, it is unnecessary to submit a

constitution and by-laws again, but revisions made
since previous issuance of charter must be
submitted.

The "Application for Charters and Charter
Renewal" form consists of three sheets. One lists
the conditions under which the Recreation De-
partment issues the charter, and the others, dupli-
cates, request certain information. One duplicate
is filed at the Central Office and the other be-
comes part of the local recreation director's file.

Following are the instructions to clubs and the
conditions under which a charter is issued :

JANUARY 1940

APPLICATION FOR CHARTERS AND
CHARTER RENEWALS

(Director: Club Leader to keep this sheet)
All existing charters issued by the Department of Play-
ground and Recreation are declared void as of February
28, 1940, by order of the Playground and Recreation
Commission. Playground clubs desiring charters and
renewal of charters may obtain them by submitting to
the local playground director the application form at-
tached. Such application signifies that club members
thoroughly understand that charters are issued subject
strictly to the following department requirements :

(a) Charters issued to the various groups will auto-
matically be cancelled at the end of each calendar year
and their renewal will be subject to application through
the playground director in each case.

(b) By issuance of the charter, or renewal thereof, it is
understood that the club is under the supervision and
direction of the Playground and Recreation Department
through the recreation director.

(c) The time when meetings are held and playground
facilities upon which club activities are conducted, are
subject to the decision of the director. In the interests
of the general program the director may change either
time or facilities at his discretion.

(d) Charter groups may maintain only one affiliation,
namely, that with the Playground and Recreation De-
partment. Other affiliations will be considered cause for
cancellation of charter.

(e) Charters will be issued only to recreation groups,
i.e., playground groups organized for the purpose of con-
ducting recreation activities.

(f) Membership in chartered clubs must be open to
the general public without restriction.

(g) Charters will be issued only to non-profit groups,
i.e., groups which conduct activities which conduce to the
pecuniary advantage of no one.

The application itself consists of the following:
APPLICATION FOR PLAYGROUND CLUB
CHARTER OR RENEWAL

1. Name of Club

2. Adult or Junior

3. Activity of Club

4. Playground

5. Club President

(Continued on page 697)

Courtesy Camp Fire Girls, San Francisco

u it'MP IN THE AIR and come right down, swing
^J your honey 'round and 'round!" And the
Camp Fire Girls whirl in circles as old-time
riddles scrape out the melody of a rollicking square
dance. Gala pioneer parties are being held by the
Camp Fire Girls throughout the land as a means
of finding out what a grand time their ancestors
used to have. The girls have gone Americana in
a big way, learning all they can about how their
forefathers lived, what they ate, how they dressed
and what they believed in.

Nothing is more fun than dressing up, and the
Camp Fire Girls got a great kick out of searching
through musty old trunks in the family attic for
authentic pioneer clothes to wear to their old-
fashioned parties. Costumes played an important
part in these events, and a wide variety of former
fashions from many different periods and differ-
ent parts of the country were represented. Some
girls came in the swishing taffeta worn by the
Governor's lady, and others reproduced the sheer
simplicity of Shaker garb. The result was a fas-

By NANCY WALKER

Camp Fire Girls, Inc.

Camp Fire Girls all over the country this
year are hunting through attics searching
for authentic period clothing to wear to
pioneer parties at which the customs of
their ancestors are being revived and old
time fashions popularized. Much informa-
tion is being gathered on American lore.

cinating, if sometimes confusing medley of fash-
ions taken from diverse times, places and histori-
cal personalities in the vast American scene.

One little girl almost burst with pride when she
was allowed to appear in her great-grandmother's
full skirted wedding dress of purple taffeta with
a tiny braided gold belt and gold lace around the
neck. Clever little lace hats were made from
doilies, which the girls decorated with flowers on
the top and velvet ribbons to tie in a bewitching
bow under their chins. Girls in Columbus, Ohio,
were permitted to model dresses loaned by the
State Museum at a historical fashion show.

The good old American bonnet, not the beruf-
fled type but the modest style which the practical
pioneer woman wore, was revived by the Camp
Fire Girls, who made their own little bonnets
with capes attached. Some were of oil silk, grand
on rainy days to keep hair dry and the rain from
trickling down one's neck, and others were of
blue and white check gingham, attractive as sun
bonnets.

At an old-time party given in Michigan, guests
came dressed as Louisa May Alcott, Kate Douglas
Wiggin, Mary Lincoln, and even George Wash-
ington. The girls soon found that although hoop
skirts are loaded with glamour, they have their
drawbacks. In Harper's Bazaar for 1859 a Camp
Fire Girl discovered an ad for a new kind of
steel hoop skirt which would overcome many dif-
ficulties for ladies sitting in church, such as "large
occupancy of space" and "too frequent inelegant
displacement of their attire."

659

660

CAMP FIRE GIRLS TURN BACK THE CLOCK

Dressing for the costume parties gave the girls
a much clearer idea of how their ancestors felt
about life. As Mother fastened the tight stays
around her daughter's waistline, every little Camp
Fire Girl could readily see how a Colonial maid-
en's demeanor would naturally be dignified and
prim. And everyone of them reported that in fine
lace ruffles and dainty curls she couldn't imagine
doing much else but dancing a minuet and mak-
ing eyes at beaux !

This peppy message written on cards shaped
liked covered wagons invited guests to the fes-
tivities :

Dress up in the silks and satins and curls
That were all the style when our Grandmas were girls
Come with your fans and long lacy mitts
But leave home the lady who only knits
For I'm sure you'll agree when the evening is done
That Grandmother's work was tempered with fun.
We'll sing the old songs, dance a measure or two
And do the same things our forebears would do.

Out in California at a 49'ers' party, even the
Dads donned blue jeans, broad-brimmed hats, red
neckerchiefs, and false walrus mustaches to join
their daughters in merrymaking. Fathers, moth-
ers, Camp Fire Girls and their boy guests all
competed for prizes for the best costumes, judged
by the oldest living resident of the town. With
more enthusiasm than skill, young and old then
pranced through the figures of Shoo Fly, Turkey
in the Straw and the Virginia Reel. Favorite bal-
lads such as "The Man on the Flying Trapeze,"
"The Quilting Party," "The Bird on Nellie's
Hat," and "Waiting at the Church" were warbled
with gusto.

At an Americana Social for five hundred people,
the program was climaxed by a show of tableaux
dramatizing local history. The games at another
party included "Professor Americana," a quiz
contest about early America. The ice was
thoroughly thawed out at one gathering when a
slip of paper bearing the name of a famous early
American was pinned on the back of each guest,
who had to guess by questioning the rest of the
group whether she was labeled Miles Standish,
Paul Revere, or Pocahontas.

Old-fashioned games were unearthed for the
Camp Fire parties. More than a hundred years
old is "The Elements," brought to life again by
the girls. The players sit in a circle, and the leader
throws a ball to someone in the circle, calling out
either Earth, Air, or Water. The catcher must
name an animal proper to the element that has
been mentioned. (If the element is air, the an-

swer could be eagle, vulture, sparrow, or what
you will.) If the catcher makes an error or fails
to reply, he is out of the game and the leader
throws the ball again. Otherwise the catcher takes
the leader's place.

"Musical Romance" is an entertaining game in-
troduced at an Americana party in Texas. Each
person was given a pencil and sheet of paper to
be numbered from one to fourteen, and it .was
explained that the titles of the songs to be played
were the answers to the fourteen questions. Then
the first question was asked, after which a few
measures of a song were played, and the guests
were asked to write down the answer, which was
the song's title.

The questions and musical answers were :

1. Who was the bride? Sweet Adeline.

2. What was the hero's name? Ben Bolt.

3. Where was the bride born ? Old Kentucky Home.

4. Where did they meet ? Aunt Dinah's Quilting Party.

5. What did he give her? Roses of Picardy.

6. What song did she ask him to sing? Love's Old

Sweet Song.

7. Who was a bridesmaid? Jeanie With the Light

Brown Hair.

8. Where were they married ? Church in the Wildwood.

9. Where did they go on the wedding trip ? Dixie.

10. How did they go? Sailing.

11. Whom did they think of while they were gone? Old

Folks at Home.

12. Who met them when they returned? Old Black Joe.

13. Where did they live after the honeymoon? Little

Gray Home in the West.

14. What did they then decide? Let the Rest of the

World Go By.

When the news leaked out that the uncle of a
Camp Fire Girl in Denver, Colorado, was a pro-
fessional caller of square dances, her friends de-
cided to give a barn dance. The boys wore over-
alls and the girls came in old-fashioned calico
dresses. All hands capered through the dances of
yesteryear until the musicians begged for a
breathing space. Then came the relay races, the
most riotous one being a suitcase race for boys
only. In each suitcase was an old-fashioned man's
nightshirt, a scarf and large hat. The girls almost
rolled on the floor with laughter at the ludicrous
sight of their escorts dashing madly across the
room in these outfits. It took a spelling bee to
calm everyone down for the refreshments.

In Oregon the Camp Fire Girls chose to fete
their mothers at a combination Valentine and
Americana party for which they themselves pre-
pared the invitations, decorations, games and re-
freshments. Each mother was summoned to the
affair by an old-fashioned girl paper doll dressed

CAMP FIRE GIRLS TURN BACK THE CLOCK

661

in a pasted-on cotton dress. Upon arrival the
mothers were given bibs with their names on
them. Old-time games such as "London Bridge,"
"Pin the Tail on the Donkey," and "Hard
Hearted" were played, with mothers teamed
against daughters. The latter game is played by
throwing darts at paper hearts hung on the wall,
and the heart having the least number of dart
pricks is the "hard-hearted." The girls brought
their afternoon's entertainment to a climax by
presenting an "Old Family Album" skit. Cake
and punch were served on a red and white table
around a centerpiece of pussy willows hung with
red candy hearts. The mothers surprised and
tickled the young hostesses by bringing along
their own baby pictures for display at the party.

An old-fashioned school party proved to be a
huge success in Michigan. Each girl, swinging a
lunch basket over her arm, escorted her grand-
mother to an old-style school session, where they
had a wonderful time swapping stories about old
and new school customs, recipes, games, and fash-
ions. The girls couldn't understand why the foot-
warmer for church and the hand-warmer for
one's muff aren't still popular today! They were
summoned to "school" by the clang of a hand-
bell actually used at a little red schoolhouse sixty
years ago.

Instead of a corn husk or
quilting bee, Detroit

Camp Fire Girls enjoy-
ed a soap-making party
highly approved by the
mothers who received
the results of the after-
noon's fun. A few ar-
tistic souls hoarded their
soap for future sculp-
tures.

Heirlooms were the
main attraction at many
gay parties, and the
older people were proud
and delighted to show
their treasured relics
of the past. Pleased at
the youngsters' interest
in antiques, many an
old-timer expressed his
appreciation for a
chance to resurrect the
past. In Eureka, Cali-
fornia, mothers became

Camp Fire Girls of
with their mothers,

so interested that the girls had no trouble at all in
collecting lovely old things for their exhibit at an
Heirloom Tea. The Minneapolis Camp Fire Girls
assembled a very interesting collection of candle
snuffers, early American furniture and glass. The
Americana Fair given by Oshkosh girls featured
choice pieces from the collections of many Osh-
kosh settlers and old families.

When it came time for "the eats" at these
Americana parties, historic dishes were recreated
and old family recipes dug up. It's the refresh-
ments by which the success of a party is so often
judged, and the appetizing Americana dainties
served by the Camp Fire Girls will long be
remembered.

Four generations cooperated in the case of the
cookies made for a party by a little Kansas girl
from a secret recipe belonging to her great-grand-
mother. Mother supervised the actual cooking of
these delicacies, Grandmother made the icing, and
Great-grandmother herself was present to cut
them.

Cakes played an important part in the lives of
our American ancestors, the Camp Fire Girls
found out during the course of their culinary re-
search, so they set to work to make some monu-
ments in sugar and spice, heeding the advice of
William Alcott who thus ad-
monished young housekeep-
ers in 1838 : "Away then

Ponca City, Oklahoma,
turn back the clock

Courtesy Camp Fire Girls, Inc.

to the dignity of your
duties. You minister
not to the wants of a
few bodies but to the
wants of immortal
souls. You have char-
acters at your disposal,
not mere pots and
pans." Among the lus-
cious cakes revived by
the girls for their feasts
were the Monticello
sponge cake, Thomas
Jefferson's favorite
which calls for a dozen
eggs; Robert Lee jelly
cake; pecan cake, a fa-
vorite in Virginia where
pecans and other prod-
ucts were grown on
plantations ; the Nun's
Cake, probably the first
(Continued on page 698)

"'All the
World's a
Barber Shop

By SIGMUND SPAETH

The Bar Flies, Winners at Tulsa

BARRER SHOP HARMONY has once more become
a national institution, and in a Big Way. The
habit of singing close harmony in masculine
groups, supposedly limited
to four voices, but actually
running anywhere from two
or three to a whole mob,
dates back to the gay nine-
ties and earlier.

But today America is
actually beginning to take
its close harmony seriously.
There is now a national
Society for the Preservation
and Encouragement of Bar-
ber Shop Quartet Singing

in America. Its initials, SPEBSQSA, have the
distinction of being practically unpronounceable,
and its ring-leader and hardest worker, O. C. Cash,
of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is satisfied with the title of
Third Assistant Vice-President. Its membership
includes the governors of several states, Bing
Crosby and other movie stars, President-maker
Jim Farley, and other prominent names.

The Society held its first national barber shop
quartet contest in Tulsa this year, and the cham-
pionship was won by the Bar Flies from Bartles-
ville, pictured above, who both look and sing the
part. Runners-up were the Flat Foot Four, picked
from the Police Department of Oklahoma City.
(Incidentally, the new edition of Barber Shop
Ballads will contain their own particular interpre-
tation of Shine, as sung to the author on his ar-
rival in the oil fields of the Southwest.)

Park Commissioner Robert Moses hopes to
bring the national contest to New York next year.
For five years he has been holding successful con-
tests in the metropolitan area, with the finals gen-
erally taking place on the Mall in Central Park.
The most recent of these contests was won by the
St. Mary's Horseshoers, with a special event for

662

This article is reprinted through the courtesy
of the Fall, 1939, issue of The Key-Note.
It will be of interest to recreation workers
to know that Dr. Spaeth's "Barber Shop Bal-
lads" will soon be republished by Prentice
Hall, Inc., New York, in a greatly enlarged
edition with many new arrangements. "Music
for Fun" (Whittlesey House, McGraw-Hill
Book Company, New York) contains much
material which should be helpful to recrea-
tion leaders. There might also be mention-
ed "Read 'Em and Weep" (Halcyon House).

Gibson Girl Trios, won by the Gay Nineties Group
from -Harlem.

New York's glorifications of the musical barber
shop go in heavily for peri-
od costumes, generally pre-
ceding the actual contest
with a parade of the sing-
ers, often drawn in old-
fashioned vehicles. The win-
ning Horseshoers lived up
to tradition, presenting a
picture of four colorful vil-
lage dandies and carrying
their gilt horseshoes with
them, ready for any kind
of competition. The lusty-
lunged Four Rubes exhibited a consistent check-
(Contimtcd on page 699)

These lusty lunged "Rubes" were the
New York winners at the Tulsa contest

Tri-City Quartet-

W ide World
-New York Winners

Song Along the Wabash

Mis. HAWKINS has a good con-
tralto voice. That's why she
rises early two mornings a month at five
o'clock instead of six. She cooks a hearty break-
fast for her husband, three children' and the hired
man, packs the children's lunch and starts them
toward school, finishes her housework, gathers the
eggs and puts the milk through the separator, and
by nine o'clock is burning up an Indiana road in
her car.

At ten she is singing vigorously in a small audi-
torium at the county seat, with thirty-nine other
farm and village housewives, rehearsing for their
next public concert. She
sings for one hour, sits in
at a round-table discussion
for thirty minutes more,
then rushes home to get
noon dinner for husband
and hired man.

Eighty- four of Indiana's
ninety-two counties have
singing groups like this one.
These farm women sing be-
cause they like to sing. They
pay their own way. They
select their own songs. They
hire their own directors,

picking them by secret ballot and paying them
from $i to $3 for each rehearsal. The women
sing well, with vigor and enthusiasm, and their
repertoire ranges from Bach and Brahms to Irish
folk songs, hymns, and Negro spirituals. Once
each year 2000 of them put on choir robes and
gather in one place for a musical binge ; groups of
them have sung in New York, Washington and
Baltimore.

The reason Mrs. Hawkins rises early and drives
fast on rehearsal mornings is that she doesn't
want to pay a fine. The privilege of attending
each rehearsal costs her five cents, and she must
add one cent for every minute she is late. If she
misses a meeting entirely she must fork over
twenty-five cents, and for three absences she is
dropped from membership.

"That's only fair," she insists. "If I'm too busy
to do my part, or not enough interested, I'm cer-
tainly not helping the others. If I'm so sick that
I can't get to rehearsals it means that my voice

By KARL DETZER

This inspiring story of the enrichment of
rural life in Indiana through song is typi-
cal of the way in which millions of peo-
ple in small towns and in the open country
may find life, and find it more abundantly,
through recreation. With little money and
less organization, rural America is learn-
ing to live. During the past ten years,
through the services of the National Recre-
ation Association, more than 51,000 rural
leaders in forty-six states have been train-
ed in institutes to give leadership to their
neighbors in music, drama, nature, games
and other life-enriching forms of recreation.

is in no shape to sing, and I ought
to get out."

Organizer of this chorus is thirty-two year old
Albert Stewart, an Indiana boy who sang his way
through Purdue University, remained after grad-
uation to direct singing in a school which never
had a music department. Farm women in Tippe-
canoe County heard his Purdue choir on the radio
five years ago and asked him to form a chorus for
them. He did. Other counties copied the idea.
Now nearly 2400 Hoosier country women belong
to these Home Economics Choruses, and 300
others are waiting to be accepted. Indeed, the
idea has spread beyond the
state, and women in Ken-
tucky, Ohio, Washington,
Massachusetts, North Caro-
lina and South Dakota have
founded similar clubs.

The singing housewives
supplement their trifling
dues by selling cakes, jelly,
candy, fancy work and
quilts. One county chorus
holds a sale each month,
making about $50. Another
group, by sales and con-
certs, raised $2000 in six-
teen weeks last summer to pay their way to New
York. They descended forty strong on the
World's Fair, sang for an hour in the Court of
Peace, surprising the crowds that gathered to
hear Hoosier backwoods tunes by singing
Beethoven instead.

Contrariwise, Mrs. Hawkins' group sang "Home
on the Range" instead of Beethoven at the White
House; they thought the President would enjoy
it more.

These women sing for the fun of it, not, as
someone annoyed them by suggesting, "to break
the drudgery of drab lives with a bright moment
of culture." They insist that their lives are not
drab, that thanks to electricity on nineteen out of
twenty of their farms the drudgery is gone from
housekeeping.

"We get together and sing for the same reason
some women play bridge," Mrs. Hawkins ex-
plains, "and we think it's a lot more amusing."
They are not "music starved," either. Nearly

663

664

SONC, ALONG THE W ABASH

all have radios, and a survey of one club showed
that nearly half the members listen to two or
more symphony programs a week. Many drive
occasionally to Indianapolis or Chicago to hear
concerts.

The average age of Indiana's singing house-
wives is forty-seven ; they average not quite three
children each; nine out of ten are married, one
out of six is a grandmother. Fewer than ten per
cent have had any previous vocal training; more
than half must travel at least ten miles to
rehearsals.

Each year Stewart prepares a mimeographed
song book and distributes it at cost — about five
cents a copy — to the eighty- four clubs. With each
song is a brief discussion of the composer, the
place, time and conditions in which he lived, an
explanation of how the piece happened to be
written.

At a recent typical meeting, Mrs. Hawkins'
club sang the "Italian Street Song," following
the rehearsal with a discussion of Italy in 1880
and of Italian folk music. More than twenty of
the thirty-five women present took part in the in-
formal talk, and all knew a great deal about
Naples before they were through. They were not
thinking of self-culture; they were just naturally
interested in the people and the situation which
produced the lilting air.

The choruses sing at all
Home Economics club meet-
ings, at sessions of /J.-H clubs,

parent-teacher, patriotic and community gather-
ings. First rule is : "Sing as often as you can."
Club members have been active forming choirs in
rural churches.

Not everyone may join the chorus. In a two-
weeks period each year the director and executive
committee of each club test the voices of appli-
cants. If a woman's voice does not measure up to
strict standards, she is firmly but politely told
that the chorus is full.

On the campus at Purdue, Indiana is building
a state music hall even larger than the one in
Rockefeller Center, New York, which will be the
hub of activities of the singing Hoosier women.
When finished, the choruses plan to meet in it
several times a year for massed concerts. Mean-
while, in church and school and county meetings
they are keeping song alive along the Wabash.

"We can afford to be honest with ourselves,
even if we do not seem to be going ahead very
fast. If we take our music as we would any other
recreation, trying to take some active part in it,
trying to arrive at some intelligent appreciation
of a truly great performance or composition, but
never losing sight of the importance of our per-
sonal enjoyment, Music for Fun becomes a prac-
tical possibility. . . . You are the only one who
knows whether you are honestly enjoying music or
not. Let no one deprive you

. .. of that privilege." Siqmimd

Iowa women, too, are enthusiastic over . ,, . *

singing. Members of this Worth County Sf>acth in Mltsic f°r Fun-
chorus drive many miles to rehearsals.

Noon Hour r

our run

THE RKCIPE for noon hour
fun requires the follow-
ing ingredients : a typi-
cal American school, typical
American youth, and the op-
portunity for wholesome, self -directed, self-
chosen activity during the lunch period or noon
day recess.

The school program should be organized so
that all periods of free time, recess, lunch time or
after school hours, become opportunities for
students to participate in the things they like to
do and which are of their own choosing. Self-
directed extra classroom experiences are truly
educational and should be the natural outgrowth
of vitalized classroom experience. In turn, the
extra classroom experience should motivate class-
room work. The two types of experience must be
integrated to ensure complete pupil development.

At the present time after school or extracur-
ricular activities, as they are so often called, seem
to be a part of most school programs. The pos-
sibility of organizing extracurricular activities
during the noon hour seems to have been over-
looked by most school administrators.

The noon hour recess has two functions: to
give the student time to obtain proper nourish-
ment and to rest the tired senses and intellect
from the strain of constant attention. An hour at
noon is absolutely essential from a hygienic as
well as physiologic standpoint. From the adminis-
trator's standpoint, a double noon hour period
may be necessary in order to relieve crowding,
but under no circumstance should this be used for
an excuse to shorten the lunch period to thirty
minutes. A thirty minute lunch period is sufficient
for lunch as such, but another thirty minutes are
absolutely necessary in order that the child may
rest tired faculties. The point to be made is that
the noon period is not
merely time to eat, but
should be regarded as an
essential period of rest and
recuperation.

Scheduling a double per-
iod at noon, that is, a half
hour for lunch and a half
hour of free time, will not

By EDWIN L. HAISLET, Ed.D.

Assistant Professor

Physical Education and Recreation

University of Minnesota

In this article Dr. Haislet presents the
case for noon hour recreation, outlines
the steps which may be taken in develop-
ing a program, and offers a long list of
possible activities. In an article to be
published in a future issue of the maga-
zine two successful experiments in differ-
ent types of schools will be recorded.

alone assure that the student
returns to class rested and
refreshed. The fact remains
that the half hour of free
time is usually spent in mere
idleness, "bull" and smoking sessions, gambling,
making noise, causing disturbance, and getting into
trouble. Noon time is delinquent time, a source
of worry to the school administrators, merchants,
police and surrounding neighbors.

The fault lies not with the boy or girl but with
the administrators who do not realize that the
noon time leisure should mean noon time fun. In
terms of refreshment of mind and spirit nothing
is so vitalizing as recreational experiences. Give
the child a chance to do the thing he likes to do ;
challenge him with fun and happiness, and the
experience becomes creative, interesting and edu-
cational. Planned noon time fun will bring the
student back to the classroom refreshed and ready
for the job of formal education. In rural and con-
solidated schools where students are taken to and
from schools in buses, the noon hour becomes the
only period of time for the promotion of extra-
curricular activities. In these schools this time
must be used to promote group and social con-
tacts, develop personality traits and bring out
leadership qualities.

Administratively, a noon hour program means
scheduling half the noon hour for lunch, half for
the program. In large schools this involves double
scheduling. A second administrative problem is
the selection of a leader to promote the noon hour
program. Such a person must be one who is will-
ing not only to determine the interests of the
student body but who will organize a program
around such interests.

Facilities

Once the noon hour program is administratively
feasible, the organization of
the program must start.
The first step is to conduct
a facility and equipment
survey as the physical basis
of the program. Before al-
lowing the students to select
the things they would like
to do it is necessary to find

665

666

NOON HOUR FUN

out what type of program can be conducted. Nat-
urally, this depends on facilities, areas and equip-
ment that can be used. Every school has some
type of facility or area that can be used for a
noon hour program. The greater the amount of
facilities, areas and equipment, the wider and
more comprehensive the possible program.

The gymnasium is well adapted for a noon
hour program. Depending on the size, equipment,
and number of game courts, the gymnasium can
be used either as the center for the entire pro-
gram, or as a unit in which to conduct a game or
athletic program as part of a wide comprehensive
plan. The library, class or play rooms can be well
utilized for interest and hobby groups of all kinds.
Halls can be used for low organized games, social
recreation activities, dancing or rhythms, or for a
specialized athletic program such as track, boxing,
wrestling. The auditorium
can be used as a meeting
place for the entire noon
hour group, for discussion
periods, forums, lectures,
talent or amateur shows,
play groups, group singing,
orchestra and band work.
(See page 668 for other
types of activities which
may be sponsored.)

Art rooms and wood-
working shops should be-
come centers of handcraft interest. The general
science room, greenhouse and surrounding grounds
should be used by nature study groups. The
music room should be the center of all musical
activities, chorus work, bands and orchestras. All
these facilities, or only one of them, can be used
in a noon hour program, depending on what is at
hand, the interests of the students, and the lead-
ership available.

Leadership

The facility survey should be followed by a
leadership survey. There are two approaches to
the leadership problem — administrative or re-
quired leadership, and volunteer or cooperative
leadership. Under the first plan the teachers are
required to assist in the noon hour program, the
program being considered a part of the whole
school program. The second approach is through
the solicitation of teachers who are willing to su-
pervise or lead some activity or interest group.
The cooperation of the Art, Music, Physical Edu-

"Planned noon hour fun is truly educational.
Boys and girls are encouraged to express
themselves in their own ways at their own
rhythms. In such an atmosphere of joy,
social contacts are multiplied, many friend-
ships are made, optimum physio-mental de-
velopment takes place, and finally, individ-
ual interests find expression through group
experience. Boys and girls learn to play to-
gether in an entirely natural relationship,
making it possible for them to accept one
another on a friendly and equal basis."

cation, Botany, General -Science, Speech, English
and Shop teachers is necessary to effect a com-
plete program. The greater the leadership, the
better the possible program.

In many cases the noon hour program will have
to be conducted by a single teacher who will or-
ganize, direct and supervise the whole program.
The success of such a program will have to de-
pend to a great degree upon student leaders.

The Interest Survey

With leadership, facilities and equipment inter-
preted in the light of program possibilities, the next
procedure is to find out what the students would
like to do. This means conducting an interest
survey. This is done by listing in questionnaire
form all activities that can be promoted in the
school and asking the students to check those ac-
tivities in which they want to
participate. The survey
should also find out what
special aptitudes, talents and
leadership abilities are to be
found in the group. Such a
survey might look like this :

Name

Address

Phone Number

Age

I would like to take part in the
following activities : (list only
those possible) Place a check
(V) after activity you like best.

Athletics

Music

Handicraft

Dramatics

Dancnni

Clubs

Social Activities Nature and Outing Activities Hobbies

If you have had either special training or a considerable
experience in music, dramatics, nature work, athletics, or
craft work, please indicate below the exact nature of
the experience

NOON HOUR FUN

667

Would you be willing to act as a
volunteer helper in the above ac-
tivity ?

What other activity do you feel you

excel in ?

The following are talented people
whom I believe would be willing to
help:

Name Grade

Room

Specialty

Every student in school should
fill out such a form. The ques-
tionnaires are then sorted ac-
cording to interests, with special
aptitudes, talents and leadership
possibilities being listed.

Core interests now become
the basis of program organiza-
tion, the administrative unit. It might seem ad-
visable to make certain that each student become
acquainted with many types of activities by re-
quiring the student to select a new or different
interest group each quarter or term of the school
year. Students should not be allowed to change
from one group to another during the term.
Meetings of each interest group should be sched-
uled. If possible, bring in a specialist or enthusi-
ast for the first meeting in order to motivate and
center interest. At this meeting find out each
person's special interest in the particular field and
then indicate the possibilities for each ; if possible
formulate a program which will allow each indi-
vidual to express his special interest and at the
same time be working on a special group project.
Each interest group should choose its own leader
if possible.

A general meeting of all interest groups should
be scheduled usually once a week. Sometimes the
general meeting can take the form of a party,
sometimes a talent show, a demonstration, a lec-
ture, a debate, a play, or a community sing. It
might be well to assign each group a chance to
sponsor a program of its own design.

The program should be, of course, co-recrea-
tional in all aspects, with the one exception of
highly organized team games.

The complexity and type of organization is in-
dicated by the number and type of interest groups,
facilities, equipment and leadership.

Courtesy WP

York City

"Art rooms and woodworking shops should
become centers of handcraft interest"

Some Hints in Administration
The club unit with its own leadership and pro-
gram is an effective administrative plan for most
interest and hobby groups. Sports can be admin-
istered through the formation of leagues, tourna-
ments, contests. The round robin schedule is
preferable to the elimination tournament, the
double elimination to the straight elimination tour-
nament; the double elimination and ladder type
to the straight elimination. In games and sports
the foremost objective should be participation for
fun — not championships.

A bulletin board on which are listed the name,
meeting place and membership of the various
groups helps the student to grasp the idea of the
complete program and is an effective method of
getting others into the program. Meetings, pro-
grams, special events, demonstrations, schedules
and results of schedules should be posted regu-
larly. The bulletins should be attractive and well
placed. If possible there should be a special place
on the board for each group.

A noon hour council composed of one member
from each interest group can well be formed with
the idea of assisting in the administration of the
entire program, forming policies, and planning
and coordinating activities.

668

NOON PI OUR FUN

Program Possibilities

Sports

Acrobatics

Aesthetic Dancing

American Ball

Apparatus

Aquatics

Archery

Athletic Games

Badge Tests

Badminton

Bag Punching

Baseball

Basketball

Bicycling Events

Boating

Bobsledding

Bowling

Box Hockey

Boxing

Broom Hockey

Calisthenics

Canoeing

Captain Ball

Casting

Cage Ball, Center Ball

Coasting

Combatives

Corrective Gym

Cricket

Cross Country Running

Curling

Deck Tennis

Diamond Ball

Diving Contest

Dodge Ball Tournament

End Ball

Fencing Tournament

Field Ball

Field Hockey

Folk Dancing

Football

Free Play

Games

Golf

Gymnastics

Handball

Hand Polo

Hockey, ice and field

Hop-scotch

Horseback Riding

Horseshoes

Ice Boating

Ice Skating

Indian Club Swinging

Jiu Jitsu

Juggling

Junior Olympic Event

Kick Ball

Lacrosse

Singing Games
Folk dance
Clog
Tap

Life Saving

Long Ball

Marathon Games

Marbles

Marching

Marksmanship

Motorboating

Mountain Climbing

Newcomb

Paddle Tennis

Physical Efficiency Contest

Pin Ball

Ping-pong

Playground Ball

Pyramids

Punchball

Quoits

Racing

Reducing

Regattas

Relays

Riflery

Riding

Roller-skating

Rope Skipping

Rowing

Rugby Football

Sailing

ShufHeboard

Skating

Skating Ice Carnival

Skiing

Skeeball

Skeeter Contest

Sleigh Riding

Sliding

Snow Shoes

Soccer

Softball

Speedball

Squash

Stilt Contest

Stunts

Surfboard Riding

Swimming

Target Practice

Tennis

Tetherball

Tobogganing

Touchball

Track and Field

Trapping

Tumbling

Volleyball

Wading Pool

Water Carnival

Walking and Hiking

Dance

Athletic

Social

Modern

Music Activities

Accordion Club
Bands

Barber Shop Quartet
Choral Club
Choruses

Community Singing
Concerts and Recitals
Drum Corps
Flute Contests

Glee Clubs
Group Piano Lesson
Harmonica Club
Holiday Music
Jews Harp Contest
Kazoo Contest
Kitchen Bands
Mandolin Club
Minstrel Show

Music Club Festivals
Music Evening
Music Memory Contest
Negro Spirituals
Opera Club
Orchestras
Phonograph Concerts

Radio

Saxophone Band
Singing
Toy Symphony
Trumpet and Bugle Corps
Ukelele Club
Whistling Club

Dramatics

Charades
Comedies
Costume Parade
Debating Club
Drama Tournament
Dramatic Games
English Classes
Farces
Fantasies
Literary Society
Literary Clubs
Little Theater Group
Melodramas
Minstrel Shows
Mock Trials
Oratorical Contest
Pageants
Pantomimes

Play Writing and Producing

Plays for Children

Public Lecture Course

Public Speaking Club

Reading Clubs

Puppetry

Recitals

Story Acting

Storytelling

Stage Club

Stunt Contest

Tableaux

Tom Thumb Theater

Traveling Street Theater

Vaudeville

Wandering Storytelling

Writing Clubs

Voice Training

Craft Work

Aeroplane Building
Art Classes
Art Exhibit
Art Stone Work
Balloons — Hot air
T'asket Weaving
Bead Work
Block Printing (Soap,

wood, linoleum and

potato)

Bird House Building
Boat Building
Book Making
Bridge Building
Building Clubs
Cabinet Making
Clay Modeling
Cobbling
Cork Work
Crayon Work
Crocheting
Costume Making
Drafting
Drawing
Dressmaking
Dyeing
Etching
Fancy Work
Flower Work
Furniture Work
Glider Making
Hammock Making
Housewifery
Interior Decorating
Jewelry Making
Jig Saw Making
Kiddy Car Making
Kite Making
Knitting

Lamp Shade Making
Lanterns
Leather Work
Loom Weaving
Marionettes

Astronomy

Forestry

Geology

Mask Making

Mechanical Club

Millinery Club

Model Boat Making

Modeling

Needle Work

Ornamental Wood and Iron

Painting

Paper Cutting and Pasting

Paper Modeling

Photography

Poster Making

Pottery

Pressing and Mending

Printing

Pushmobile Building

Quilting

Radio Building

Raffia

Reed Work

Rope Work

Rug Making

Sand Modeling

Scooter Making

Scrap Book

Sculpture, wood and stone

Sealing Wax Work

Sewing Club

Shelter Building

Shipbuilding

Signaling

Sketching

Snow Modeling

Stenciling

Tie Dyeing

Tin Craft

Toy Making

Trick Clubs

Vocational Training

Wax Work

Weaving

Whittling and Carving

Contest '
Wood Craft

Nature

Flower Show
Museums
Pet Shows

NOON HOUR FUN

669

Bird Studies

Trees

Insects

Hiking

Leaves

Field Trips

Gardening

Woodcraft

Camp Activities
Camp Fires
Clam Bakes
Fishing
Gypsy Tribes
Hiking Club
Hunting Club
Jamborees
LaAvn Parties

Active Games
Banquets
Billiards
Backgammon
Bean Bag
Candy Pulls
Chess
Camelot
Checkers
Dance Reviews
Dominoes
Dramatic Stunts
Dancing
Fun Roast
Folk Evenings
Games Carnival
Hobo Party
Ice Cream Social
Tack Stones

Indian Lore

Collections

Campcraft

Flower Pressing and

Mounting
Nature Games
Nature Excursions
Agriculture Contests

One Day Camp
Outing Clubs
Picnics

Summer Camp
Summer Outings
Trail Making
Walking Clubs
Fire Building
Tracking

Social

Lemonade Party
Mock Track Meet
Magic and Entertainments
Mumbly-peg
Picnics and Steak Frys
Progressive Games Party
Puzzles
Quiet Games
Peanut Hunt
Stunts
Ring Toss
Splash Party
Squares
Shuffleboard
Singing

Tea Party for Young
Tops

Watermellon Party
Weenie and Marshmallow
Roast

Hobbies

Bridge Clubs
Camera Clubs
Checkers
Chemistry Club
Chess

Collecting Contest
Doll Club Fashion
Show Dressing Contest
Farming Club
Gardening Clubs
Gun Clubs
Hobby Clubs

Household Mechanics
Indian Lore
Interpretive Hobby
Jig Saw Puzzle
Lassoing
Pageantry
Reptile Club
Rodeo Club
Science Club
Stamp Collecting
Traveling

Special

Academic Classes
Americanization Classes
Baby Show

Backyard Playgrounds
Branch Libraries
Carnival of Games
Citizenship Training

Classes

Clean-Up Campaign
Commercial Club
Community Club
Country Club
Current Club
Demonstrations
Doll Parade and Shows
Economic Club
Fraternities
First Aid
Geography
Health Clinics
Health Clubs
Kindergarten Activities

Knowledge Club
Know Your Town Club
Language Club
Lectures

Lip Reading Classes
Little Mother Club
Lyceums
Men's Club
Metropolitan Club
Mothers Club
Naturalization Classes
Naval Club
News Boys Club
Newspaper Contest
Nurseries
Office Club
Olympic Club
Organization Club
Orientation
Oriental Club
Orthopedic Club
Parents Club

Physicians Club
Physiotherapy Club
Play Days
Playground Beautification

Contest

Playground Circus
Playground Village
Political Club
Psychology Classes
Relief Agency Work
Roof Playgrounds
Sand Box Contests
Service Bureau
Scrap Bubble Contest
Stuff Doll Contest

Street Playground
Tea Clubs
Thrift Club
Traffic Club
Tropical Club
Union Club
University Club
Volunteer Club
Cooking Classes
Etiquette Club
Exhibits
Hairdressing
Knot Hole Club
Showers
Telegraphy

Celebrations

Arbor Day Celebrations

Baby Show

Banquet

Block Parties

Book Week

Carnivals

Children's Pageant

China Parties

Christmas Celebrations

Community Dances

Dog Derby

Easter Carol Service

Easter Egg Hunt

Entertainment

Father-Son Dinners

Festivals

Hallowe'en Celebrations

Historical Pageants

Ice Carnivals and Festivals

July Fourth Celebration

Labor Day Celebration

Lantern Parade

Navy Day

Mardi Gras Parade

Mother-Daughter Dinners

Masquerade

New Year's Celebration

Parades

St. Patricks Day

Thanksgiving Celebrations

Valentine Celebration

"How long will it take adults to learn that the
art of getting along with others, like any other
technique, requires years of practice, years of
seeing others, years of talking with others, and
years of cooperating and sharing experiences.
Young people will meet, and if favorable condi-
tions are not convenient, their social contacts may
be in undesirable circumstances. Mystery and
glamour produced by undue sentimentalism are
often dangerous. Self-control is not learned in
isolation nor by a process of unconscious prohibi-
tive conditioning. It requires understanding on
the part of adults and opportunities for self-im-
posed responsibility on the part of youth.

"Those who would help young people to reach
a well-adjusted maturity must guide them in this
adolescent period of transition, of conflict, search,
and experimentation. Leaders are needed who
are themselves well adjusted and fully mature,
who will not use authority to hamper youth, and
who will lead by example toward better ways of
behaving. Evaluation of youth's conduct should
be in terms of 'better' or 'not as good as possible,'
rather than an absolute right or wrong. ... It is
not the academic curriculum but rather the activi-
ties known as 'extracurricular' which offer the
richest opportunities for young people of opposite
sexes to meet each other under favorable circum-
stances."— G. M. Gloss, Ph.D., in The Journal of
Health and Physical Education, January 1940.

Are You Planning an Easter Egg Hunt?

EASTER EGG HUNTS are always great fun and
the children look forward eagerly for the
season which means brightly colored eggs,
bunnies, and Easter baskets. But an Easter egg
hunt holds possibilities for keen disappointment
on the part of children who are not able to gather
the eggs because larger children crowd them out.
Then, too, the fact that many eggs are destroyed
by being stepped on is another disappointing
factor.

The Recreation Department of Sacramento,
California, believes it has found the solution to
these difficulties in a plan described by Elmer
Congdon, Supervisor of Athletics, which was very
successfully put into operation last year.

Twenty thousand cut-outs in the shape of eggs
were made from inexpensive colored mimeograph
paper. These were divided among several areas
on which the hunts were held, and Boy Scouts and
other volunteers with handfuls of cut-outs were
stationed at various points. At a given signal the
cut-outs were thrown into the air, and the hunt
was on ! In each area an Easter basket or a large
chocolate bunny was concealed as an incentive to
careful searching, and the child lucky enough to
find a golden egg cut-out received a live bunny.

A similar hunt for younger children was con-
ducted in an enclosed area.

After the hunt was over each child \vas given a
chocolate egg and two colored eggs. Later races
were held, the winners of which received small
candy chocolate bunnies.

More than 3,000 children took part in the
Easter egg hunt held under the auspices of the
San Jose, California, Recreation Department held
at Alum Rock Canyon, and 35,000 people came
by bus or family car to take part in the celebra-
tion. Many of these were adults who had come
from neighboring cities to watch the hunt and to
enjoy the musical program prepared for them.
Many gathered in family groups to picnic under
the oak and sycamore trees which grow on the
floor of the canyon.

Off to a flying start soon after one o'clock in
the afternoon, practically every child in the park
under fifteen years of age joined in the hunt for
the multicolored eggs, particularly the golden
colored prize eggs. The children had previously
been divided into three general age groups — the
first limited to children up to six years of age;
(Continued on page 700)

670

Courtesy Sacramento Recreation Department

The Place of a Hobby Program

in the

Department of Public Recreation

A PRACTICAL and realistic
treatment of the place
of hobbies in a public recreation program
must take cognizance of the fact that few recrea-
tion departments throughout the country are in a
position financially to expand their programs. The
departments in most cities have been forced, dur-
ing the past ten years of financial strain, to operate
on smaller budgets than before. In cities where
the budget for recreation has not been reduced
there has been an increasing necessity for careful
use of funds. Most of the additional activities
have arisen despite the inability to secure larger
appropriations. With these examples in mind, it
may be observed that a hobby program can be
included in the activities of a public recreation
agency with only slight additional expense and
with very little increased pressure on the admin-
istrative organization.

Just as planning is important to the entire rec-
reation program, so it is with the hobby activity.
If new activities are to be undertaken at a mini-
mum of expense and effort, there must be plan-
ning to coordinate them with the old. It will be
necessary to allocate the new administrative duties
to the proper divisional head. In the Cincinnati
Public Recreation Commission, the hobby pro-
gram is under the Supervisor of Playgrounds. In
this instance, as is often the case, the administra-
tive assignment was given to the person responsi-
ble for its development. Another city, depending
on its organization, may place
the administration of hobbies
under some other divisional
head. In Cleveland the Super-
visor of Girls' and Women's
Activities administers the
hobby program. Since the or-
ganization structure of pub-
lic recreation departments
will differ in the various
cities, it is impossible to state

By HERBERT M. WEINBERG

This material represents extracts from a
section of a comprehensive dissertation
entitled "The Development of Avocational
Interests in the Program of Public Recre-
ation" submitted by Mr. Weinberg to
the Graduate School of the University of
Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master
of Arts. We regret exceedingly that lack
of space makes it impossible for us to
reproduce the section in its entirety.

dogmatically just where the
administrative responsibility
should lie. It is a problem which should be solved
by the individual departments ; location of admin-
istrative responsibility will vary as conditioned by
the organization and its needs.

Scope of the Program

The first consideration of the supervisor of a
hobby program will be its scope. He must famil-
iarize himself with details of the various hobbies
and their local possibilities. Equipment require-
ments, general popularity with the public, and an
evaluation of comparative worth, are some of the
first problems. The hobbies finally selected will
be determined by such factors as those mentioned,
as well as by general feasibility, which depends
upon availability of funds, space, and adequate
personnel for service as instructors. The fact that
an elaborate program cannot be undertaken at the
outset should not disturb the supervisor, since it
is well to undertake one hobby group at a time on
a small experimental scale. Whether the public
evinces interest in the activity, whether attendance
is regular or sporadic, and whether constructive
work is accomplished by the group, will determine
future plans.

In Cincinnati the program sponsored by the
Recreation Commission began with one hobby
group in 1936. At present it includes the follow-
ing eight groups : model railroad building, model
airplane building (including
gas models), model boat
building, telescope making,
jewelry making, painting,
drawing and designing, short-
wave radio broadcasting, and
photography. As it appeared
feasible and desirable to in-
clude each new activity, the
program was broadened.

671

672

THE PLACE OF A HOBBY PROGRAM

Providing Space

The problem of providing adequate space for
the hobby activities is one of the controlling fac-
tors in determining the program. The existing
recreational centers should be utilized, of course,
wherever there is suitable space. In cities with
large recreation centers there is usually oppor-
tunity to meet the space need at the outset. More
often, however, the recreation department will
find itself hard-pressed for space in its recreation
centers, for building space, and for funds from
which capital outlays can be made.

One practical solution was found by the Rec-
reation Commission in Cincinnati through utilizing
the second floors of two police stations. In Cleve-
land also, the motorizing of the police force made
it possible to use police stations for recreation
centers. The efficacy of such use is readily seen
when it is remembered that no rent is charged.
The only extra cost is light and heat, which in
some cases, are also provided without expense to
the recreation program. The example set by the
public recreation agencies in these two cities is
but one practical solution to the. problem of space.
Other possibilities may be found in schools,
churches, women's clubs, settlement houses, vacant
stores, factories, offices, homes, as well as police
and fire stations. To the pragmatic recreation
supervisor who can visualize methods for utilizing
otherwise unused facilities, the space needs for
hobbies will not be a perplexing problem.

Leadership

The third problem the hobby supervisor must
face is that of personnel. This problem, how-
ever, has been solved in many cities through the
use of WPA personnel. Since the largest item of
expense in a recreation department is for per-
sonnel, this federal personnel possibility has been
of great financial assistance. In a large metro-
politan city there are many potential hobby leaders
on the WPA rolls, including skilled craftsmen
who are no longer able to find private employ-
ment in their trades on account of age. There are
also many young men oh WPA rolls who were
merely unfortunate in presenting themselves to
the labor market during a time of economic dis-
tress. These younger men have often learned
hobby skills as boys, and are of great value as
instructors to the hobbyists.

Equipment

The final problem is that of supplying equip-
ment for the hobby groups. Tools and machinery

are usually needed, and these should be provided
by the Recreation Department from its own funds,
when they are available. Such expenditures may
be met the first year the hobby program is intro-
duced from the reserve fund which should be
part of the financial program of a well-adminis-
tered recreation department. In no case, however,
should an outlay be made for expensive machin-
ery and tools, unless it is found that such equip-
ment is absolutely necessary. In most cases, only
the most simple machinery and tools will be
needed. Even these often run into a large item
of expense. It may be possible that the hobby
group can provide the money for subsequent
equipment from the sale of things made with low-
cost initial tools. This is not merely a possibility ;
it has been accomplished by one of the hobby
groups sponsored by the Cincinnati Recreation
Commission, which purchased a mechanical saw
costing $25.00 from the sale of articles which had
already been made by hand tools.

Since the administrative structure of a recrea-
tion department, as well as the facilities of space,
personnel, staff, and finances all vary in different
municipalities and prevent the application of rigid
rules for developing a hobby program, a concrete
illustration from the hobby program of the Cin-
cinnati Recreation Commission is described as an
example for recreation departments without
hobby programs, as well as for comparison with
those departments already furnishing hobby
activities.

The Cincinnati hobby program, it should be
noted, serves both children and adults. An indi-
vidual's personality, tastes, and habits are formed
in his childhood, and it is at this stage that the
correct uses of leisure time should be introduced.
Skills will be more easily learned at this stage of
development. Avocational interests are important
to adults also, and as one grows older, his leisure
time gradually increases. Important to adults also
is the fact that hobbies are the chief means of
satisfying the restlessness which often comes with
retirement.

In Cincinnati's Hobby Shops
Many varied activities feature the programs of
children's hobby groups and clubs meeting weekly
throughout the winter months under the sponsor-
ship of the Cincinnati Public Recreation Com-
mission. A total of three hundred and forty-
seven different groups meet each week, an aver-
age of almost seventy groups daily, Monday
through Saturday.

THE PLACE OF A HOBBY PROGRAM

673

The Recreation Commission provides six hobby
workshops, located in different sections of the city.
Two of these are located on the second floors of
police stations. The activities conducted in one
shop are model railroad and airplane building,
photography, and radio work. From three to six
in the afternoon, the main activity is model air-
plane building for the younger boys. In the eve-
ning the workshop is given over to adults arid the
older boys. The chief activity during this period,
for the boys, is airplane building, while the adults
engage in photography, radio, and model railroad
building. One evening of the week the entire
workshop is given over to the model railroad
group. This is a difficult group for which to
provide facilities because of space requirements
for tracks for the miniature railroad, with its
round house and yards, all of which must be left
undisturbed between work periods. This problem
has been solved by building a wire enclosure
about the large table on which the tracks are laid.

The enclosure is portable and can be removed and
folded when not in use. When the model railroad-
ers are finished for 'the evening, the enclosure is
placed around the table and locked so that the
children who use the shop in the afternoons can-
not disturb any of the railroad group's work. The
model railroad hobby is most interesting; all the
cars and engines, which are exact replicas of the
rolling stock of the large railroads, are built by
the hobby group of railroaders. By constructing
a miniature railroad one becomes familiar with
the operation of a real system. The hobbyists not
only make the cars, but lay the tracks, plan the
system, route the cars, and build miniature scen-
ery for the railroad's background.

The second hobby workshop operates on the
same work schedule for children and adults. Its
main activities are photography and large model
airplane building. Some of the gasoline models
have an eight foot wing-spread. The main activi-

WPA, New York City

674

THE PLACE OF A HOBBY PROGRAM

ties of the children's hobby groups are photog-
raphy and model boat building.

A third center, in a fieldhouse near one of the
athletic fields operated by the Recreation Com-
mission, provides ample space for building large
model boats and for making telescopes and grind-
ing lenses for evening adult groups.

The fourth center, provided by The Goodwill
Industries, furnishes quarters for amateur short-
wave radio broadcasters. This hobby group had
been operating less than three months when it
received post-card replies from over fifty listeners,
one from Hawaii. The cost to the Recreation
Commission for eight months operation was
$25.00 spent for equipment.

The fifth center, in a downtown building, has
been converted into an art studio for the fine arts
hobbyists. The space is donated, and the up-keep
and instruction costs are met by the cooperative
effort of women's clubs and the Recreation Com-
mission. Afternoon activities are engaged in
mainly by women. The studio is also open three
evenings a week, when men have found it con-
venient to engage in fine arts hobbies.

The sixth workshop is located in one of the
public schools, where an adult group meets to
make jewelry. The jewelry is made from inex-
pensive metals and gems, but nevertheless is
attractive and decorative.

The policy of the Recreation Commission in
supplying materials for the jewelry group has
been to buy at advantageous prices in large quan-
tities and charge the individuals the actual cost of
the material. The cost, of course, depends on the
nature of the particular hobby, and therefore
varies greatly, ranging from a few cents for a
model airplane kit, to five or ten dollars for equip-
ment for model railroad building, gas model air-
planes, and telescope lenses. Then too, it must be
remembered that although each group engages in
a special hobby, each hobbyist within the group
may desire different types of models and lenses.
For this reason it often happens that a large sup-
ply of materials or equipment
cannot be bought at one time.
There is a saving, however, in
knowing exactly where the best
materials can be secured for
the lowest cost. This informa-
tion is usually supplied by the
instructors and more experi-
enced hobbyists.

Other subjects dealt with in the sec-
tion of Mr. Weinberg's thesis having
to do with the hobby program in public
recreation departments include person-
nel, library and research, publicity,
and hobby fairs. Unfortunately space
does not permit of our presenting this
interesting and informative material.

Courses in Hobbies

An outstanding innovation of the Cincinnati
hobby program was a course in hobbies included
in the curriculum of the Teachers' College of
the University of Cincinnati. The class was under
the supervision of the director of the hobby pro-
gram of the Public Recreation Commission and
met one evening per week for two hours, for a
period of one semester. One hour of academic
credit was given to those who enrolled and suc-
cessfully completed the course.

The course consisted of three sessions on pho-
tography, two of which were lectures and one a
laboratory period in which the students developed
and printed their own pictures. The fourth and
fifth sessions were devoted to model airplane
building, during which time the students built two
different types of models. The sixth session was
a lecture and demonstration of telescope making,
and the seventh and eighth sessions were devoted
to collecting stamps. It was during these sessions
that the students were introduced to the many
phases of collecting and heard lectures by several
philatelists, of whom one was the stamp editor of
one of the metropolitan newspapers. Each student
built a model sail boat during the ninth and tenth
sessions on model boat building. The last two
meetings were devoted to the making of a radio
crystal set and to a short-wave broadcast
demonstration.

The course was well received, having an en-
rollment of approximately twenty-five students
composed mainly of teachers, recreation leaders
and play leaders. Instruction was handled by the
employees of the various activities in the regular
hobby program of the Recreation Commission,
many of whom are under the WPA. It was found
that the offering of such a course answered a
definite need.1

There are two big items of economy in the
Cincinnati program : first, the personnel costs for
instructors are borne by the WPA, and secondly,
the Recreation Commission has been careful to
secure locations where no rent
must be paid. The only costs
are light and heat, and electri-
city for operation of the ma-
chinery.

It is interesting, for pur-
(Continucd on page 701)

1 "A New Course in Hobbies," editorial
of Journal of Physical and Health
Education, September, 1934.

What They Say About Recreation

"«^™HK PARK SPIRIT must be American culture;
I it is the spirit of bigness and spaciousness as
opposed to littleness and narrow minded-
ness, providing vistas for a war-torn world to see
life that is good. It builds democracy for men
who would be free ; it creates beauty where there
is ugliness; restores hope where there is despair.
. . . The park spirit is universal. It is simplicity,
genuineness, sincerity. It challenges America's
over-emphasis on material values." — Raymond
Morrison in Journal of the National Education
Association.

"People need recreation, not because they are
poor or rich, young or old, but because they are
people. A democratic leisure-time program is one
intended for all of us, on the theory that the best
is none too good for the American people." —
Ednard C. Lindcman.

"Important as is work, it is only one of the
great activities of life in which most normal in-
dividuals engage. The success of any individual
in leading a happy, well-adjusted life depends on
his ability to develop satisfactory relationships
and activities not only in gainful employment but
in his leisure time as well ; not only among his fel-
low workers but also in the family and commu-
nity. Life cannot be separated into sharply divided
compartments." — From The Bulletin of the Na-
tional Association of Secondary School Principals.

" 'Happiness to be got must be forgot' is an old
hedonistic saying. To go deliberately seeking art
values in painting, literature, any medium, is to
defeat itself. One cannot fruitfully make a busi-
ness of friendships. The influences that slowly
build up liking are subtly accumulative ; they must
be permitted to steal upon us before we are aware.
Besides, art is enjoyment, one's personal pleasure.
It is one's fun, to put it indecorously ; it is the joy
of living as different from the struggle to keep
alive. . . . Art was made for man." - - Hughes
Mearns.

"Timber and minerals, grass and forage, game
and water are tangible forest crops. Definite

values can be put on them. Certain values of rec-
reation defy price analyses. But they are real
values just the same, for they help change for the
better the spirit of a country's people." - - From
Report of the Chief of the Forest Service.

"Always there is the danger of learning to
speak too much in terms of recreation in the mass
and of neglecting the individual human values that
manage to assert themselves in the face of inade-
quate floor space and playground facilities. There
is a way of being seriously unjust to the little
people by assuming that without our intervention
they are lost." — New York Times.

"Nothing is more important for maintaining a
balanced, happy life than to have all of one's
abilities functioning. With the high degree of
specialization in most vocations, it becomes in-
creasingly necessary to seek expression through
hobbies and avocations if some valuable capacities
are not to atrophy and if the individual is not to
feel stifled." — (Catherine Whiteside Taylor.

"The total recreation program of a community
should be community-administered; that is, it
should be a coordinated program to which all
agencies can make a contribution. It is time we
eliminated the idea that the magnitude of a pro-
gram is any index of success. It is time we con-
sider the people to be served rather than the pro-
gram of an agency or the protection of vested
interests." — Alonzo G. Grace, Commissioner of
Education, State of Connecticut.

"In reinterpreting the three R's through the
enrichment program the arts will take a conspicu-
ous place. They are essentials. No experiences
which help us to identify and to appreciate love-
liness in life, lead toward social and emotional
poise, have such large recreational and vocational
possibilities, can be looked upon as frills. No
program which helps to build the character of a
person can be classed as unnecessary." — Agnes
Samuclson, Iowa State Teachers Association.

675

The Metamorphosis of a Milk Cart

Coiirtcsv National Youth Administration, New York

Do YOU REMEMBER the high-slung milk wagon
that used to come swaying down the street
to your door in the wake of faithful Dob-
bin? Do you remember how, as the old horse
turned in toward the curb and came to a stop, the
milkman would catapault out of the sliding side
door and down the steps with his dripping dipper
and two shiny cans — the large can for milk and the
small one for cream ; and how Dobbin would doze
peacefully until he heard his master running back
around the corner of the house, when he would
snatch a hasty bite of grass as he moved off un-
guided by the hanging reins to wend his leisurely
way, cloppity-clop, to the next stop, leaving the
driver to make a flying leap into the cart as it
jogged along?

Dobbin has probably long since gone the way
of all flesh, but apparently some of the wagons are
still in existence. At least Mrs. E. H. Bunce,
Superintendent of the Children's Home in Water-
town, New York, saw several relics of the pre-
motorized, pre-sterilized era standing out back of
the Hygienic Dairy, and forthwith had a bright
idea. Her children needed a playhouse; why
couldn't a milk cart be made to serve the purpose ?
So she talked the matter over with the owner of

676

By

RUTH SHERBURNE

State Supervisor of Demonstrations

National Youth Administration

New York State

the dairy, and the next day one
of the dilapidated wagons stood
at the back of the Home.

Mrs. Bunce looked it over with
a critical eye. Of course, it could
be used just as it stood, but if
only those wheels were off and it
were fixed up a bit! Whereupon
she telephoned Mr. Russell B.
O'Reilly, Jefferson County Super-
visor of the New York State Na-
tional Youth Administration,
asking him to come out to talk
with her a bit; she had a problem on her hands
that she thought the boys at the NYA work cen-
ter in Watertown could help her solve. Mr.
O'Reilly came, saw the wagon and caught the idea.
The next day it was towed to the work center,
where a group of NYA boys, under the direction
of John O. Stamp, the foreman, set to work with
enthusiasm. Off came the wheels, and the wagon
body was put on a foundation. When a front
porch and window boxes were added, and finally
the structure was treated inside and out to liberal
coats of gay paint, and an awning hung over the
windows and doorway, the metamorphosis of the
old wagon was complete. Here stood a quaint
little playhouse looking as if it belonged in a
picture book, all ready to gladden the hearts of
any group of children. Once more the old cart —
now riding in pride high on a truck — was driven
through the streets of Watertown it had traveled
so many years in humbler guise to rest at last in
the playground of the Children's Home.

The children were delighted with it and set to
work happily making curtains for the windows,
hanging pictures on the walls, and arranging and
rearranging the small tables and chairs. In fact,
the house was so popular that Mrs. Bunce decided

677

she must have ^another. So Mr. O'Reilly again
talked with the owner of the dairy, this time beg-
ging four wagons, two of which, when remodeled,
went to Mrs. Bunce for her Children's Home, and
two to St. Patrick's Orphanage. There are about
seventy-five children in each of these institutions,
and reports from both superintendents indicate
that the youngsters have taken the greatest pride
in keeping the houses neat and in order, as good
housekeepers should.

The completed playhouses are io'x7'x4^',
so constructed that they can be left out of doors
the year 'round, and were remodeled at a total
cost of $8.00 per wagon.

Undoubtedly there are some antiquated milk
carts or other old wagons stored somewhere in
every town that the owners will be glad to give to
the playgrounds, just to get them out of the way.
Lacking an NYA work center in the community,
NYA boys on a. special project or even the older
boys on the playground can fix them up. Either
Mr. O'Reilly or Mr. Stamp, who may be ad-
dressed in care of the National Youth Adminis-
tration, Watertown, New York, will be glad to
furnish specific information as to just what ma-
terials are needed.

Another interesting project, this time reported
by the Extension Service of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, was the transformation
of a box car into a 4-H club
house annex at Camp Clinton,
Indiana. The car, donated by the
Nickle Plate Railroad, was taken
to the camp grounds where it was
set up on a concrete foundation
and concrete blocks.

Both side doors were screened
and screen doors were installed.
Porches were built over both
doors with eave troughs for each.
Three windows with overhang-
ing protection from sun and rain
and serving windows were in-
stalled in each side of the annex.

The playhouses at Watertown, when
set up and furnished, proved all
any child could possibly wish for!

If your funds for equipment are low — and
whose aren't — why not try the plan sug-
gested in this article? From all parts
of the country come reports testifying
to the resourcefulness and ingenuity of
groups everywhere in evolving needed
equipment for their recreation programs.

Each window on the two main side porches was
valanced, giving the annex an attractive, cozy
appearance.

The renovated box car was painted green on
the outside and white on the inside. So irregular
was the inside of the car that painting had to be
done with a borrowed spray pump. Plumbers
who were on the sponsor list laid a water line-
Other sponsors in paint, lumber, and implement
companies aided by material price reductions. The
final cost of the new annex was $135.00, which
included $32.50 for hauling the car to its location
and installing it upon the concrete foundation.

A new kitchen was installed in the annex and
placed in charge of club members and leaders.
Electric stoves and an ice box were installed. The
other end of the annex was used as storage space
for equipment and as a sub-office for the camp
director.

Courtesy National Youth Administration, Neu> York

America's Typical Boy and Girl

A SHORT TIME before his death in April 1938, R. Tait McKenzie, distinguished
sculptor, who for many years was director of the Department of Physical
Education at the University of Pennsylvania, decided to design a column or
herma which would combine the masks of two students to represent the best types
found in our American colleges for men and women — "the finished product," as Dr.
McKenzie expressed it, "of the great movement for physical education, sports, and
outdoor life which is one of the outstanding features of our national life of the
past forty years."

In the sculptured "column of youth" Dr. McKenzie attempted to answer the ques-
tions: What does the American college girl look like? What kind of boy would we
consider as representative of our American college and university ?

Dr. McKenzie's composite American girl which he evolved as the result of his
study has a forehead broad and rather square. The eyebrows are not highly arched ;
her nose is short and inclined to tip up ; the lips are full but not heavy ; the chin is
prominent and broad rather than pointed. The face is not long but wide, the whole
head belonging to the round skulled rather than the long skulled category. The
typical boy is tall, broad shouldered, thin hipped; his face shows a low, square
forehead, very straight eyebrows, blunt nose, high check bones, and square jaw.

678

Dr. McKenzie will be remembered
as designer of the badge worn by
many thousands of boys who have
passed the tests issued by the
National Recreation Association

Is Archery a Safe Club P

rogram

HAS YOUR school principal
ever said to you, "1
wish we could have
archery in our club program
but it appears too hazard-
ous?" Isn't he really saying,
"If we are to have archery
as one of our club activities,
how can the program be con-
ducted safely?"

Many developments have
occurred in archery since
DeFeltra1 introduced its use
in his physical education pro-
gram in 1378. Progress has been slow, to be sure,
but available figures do not in any way indicate
that accidents have caused this somewhat retarded
growth. Lloyd, Eastwood, and Deaver 2 point out
that archery compares very favorably with golf
and tennis in the low incidence column. Research
shows that these three activities, with others, have
a distinctly low accident record, and that the se-
verity of these relatively few occurences is slight.

Archery is an ideal activity for indoor club use.
For secondary school purposes few clubs provide
more opportunities for real educational experi-
ences. Its fascination lies not alone in shooting.
Its avenues of exploration and pleasure are many.
As an art teacher said the other day, "At last I
have found one way to interest my pupils in Diana
of Versailles, the huntress." Archery often adds
interest and enthusiasm to academic and vocational
subjects where it blends nicely with the romance
and meaningfulness of their content. A fine ex-
ample in. this connection is an editorial, "Is Arch-
ery Safe?" which appeared in the semi-annual
edition of a recent school publication. The edi-
torial was an outcome of work in an English class.

During the past five years
the demand for archery has
been clearly in evidence by
its increased use in universi-
ties, colleges, and teacher

By WILLIAM M. GRIMSHAW

Center for Safety Education
New York University

Because of the increased need
for training of leadership in
a field showing evidence of
rapidly growing popularity,
this article is dedicated to
11 making safe fun safer"

training institutions. The
popularity of archery is
growing steadily in camps,
playgrounds, and schools even
though it is handicapped by
incompetent leadership, in-
adequate facilities, and faulty
procedures. From this evi-
dence it appears certain that
archery has reached a stage
of permanency; that its
growth will continue; and
that its place as an integral
part of the physical education
program in schools is not just a passing fancy.

How can a program of archery be conducted
safely in secondary schools? What are some of
the underlying principles of safety in a construc-
tive indoor archery club program?

Leadership

Probably no other single factor has had more
to do with retarding the progress of archery in the
secondary school program than has incompetent
leadership. Besides the usual prerequisites of a
good sponsor, it should be required that the club
activity be a hobby or field of special interest to
the sponsor. It is not in the least unusual to find
many club leaders or advisers laboring away in
club work that has no special appeal to them. The
club activity under such circumstances seldom be-
comes a real constructive program full of rich
educational experiences. The sponsor who has an
appreciation of values in club activities, who is
expertly prepared in the theoretical and practical
aspects of archery, who is fully acquainted with
the responsibilities involved, can be expected to
promote and direct a successful archery program.

Accidents are not always
predictable but in many cases

1 Raymond A. Kent, Higher^ _ Educa-

tion in America. Boston: Ginn and
Company, 1930. p 565.

2 Frank S. Lloyd, George G. Deaver,

Floyd R. Eastwood, Safety in Ath-
letics. Philadelphia: W. B. Saun-
ders Company, 1936. pp 104-107.

The Center for Safety Education is is-
suing at nominal cost much helpful mim- are preventable. Qualified
eographed material on safety education. leadership, careful supervi-
The Center, of which Dr. Herbert Stack
is Director, is preparing a series of tests
which will be available during the spring
of 1940. Additional information may
be secured from the Center, 20 Wash-
ington Square, North, New York City.

sion, and good management
attribute to more joy and less
grief. Like a good automobile
driver who quickly diagnoses
a serious traffic situation, the

679

680

IS ARCHERY A SAFE CLUB PROGRAM?

Good equipment, ample space, and proper space
eliminate many accidents on the shooting range

archery club sponsor must be able to recognize
instantly any possible danger and see that proper
adjustments are made to insure safety. To be
sure, every member of the club should appreciate
safety hazards as they arise and should see that
their corrections are made. This latter takes time
and requires constant teaching and supervising.

Principles

The club sponsor should be selected for his
special fitness in the field.

It is advantageous to the best interests of club
members that the sponsor have an appreciation of
safety and the general purpose of school club
programs. ,

The sponsor and his assistants should be able
to recognize safety hazards and know their
prevention.

It is desirable that the adviser remain with the

club during activ-
ity on the range.

Assistant lead-
ers should be spe-
cially trained by
the sponsor to
cope with situa-
tions peculiar to
the local condi-
tions.

Archery clubs
should not be or-
ganized unless
there is trained
leadership avail-
able.

Membership
From the stand-
point of safety the
selection of pupils
for the archery
club must be made
carefully and sys-
tematically. Not
every one who de-
sires to become a
member will nec-
essarily make a
good member. At
least every pro-
spective candidate

should satisfy certain minimum standards of selec-
tion before given serious consideration for mem-
bership.

First, the responsible type of individual is
looked for. After club choices have been made by
the student body, a list of all those pupils indicat-
ing archery as their choice is made through the
principal's office. Individual studies of this group
through the personal record file, by talks with
home-room teachers, and through interviews with
the pupils themselves will reveal much of the in-
formation desired concerning the student's re-
sponsibleness.

Secondly, age grouping is used in further de-
termining the selection of candidates. As in many
other phases of physical education, this technic is
found very desirable from the safety viewpoint.
The additional technic of height measurement
is also important. This is especially true when the
club does not afford a variety of arrows lengths
and bow poundage.

IS ARCHERY A SAFE CLUB PROGRAM?

681

Thirdly, a testing program may be used in the
finaly analysis of selection. Skill tests and infor-
mation tests can be given outside of the regular
club period. These may be followed by a short
series of instruction and then each candidate
tested again.

The following testing program has been found
useful :

Archery Skill Test

Demonstrate stringing bow.

Take proper position on shooting line.

Show method used in warming up bow.

Indicate points of inspection before shooting.

Demonstrate nocking bow.

Pull bowstring to full draw and release.

Explain aiming methods.

Show proper technic in retrieving arrows.

Demonstrate target shooting.

Show possession of an arm guard and finger tabs.

Archery Information Test

(True or False)
TF i. Archery is the most dangerous recreational

activity.
T F 2. Broadhead

arrows are gen-
erally used for

indoor target

practice.
TF3. It is a good

rule to use the

same bow regu-
larly.
T F4. A person

should always

remove his

glasses when

shooting.
TF5. W h e n

shooting both

feet should be

parallel to the

shooting line.
T F 6. Linen bow-

strings are

more durable

than cotton

bowstrings.
T F 7. Beeswax is

a liquid used to

preserve bows.

T F 8. Archers should stand more than two feet

apart on shooting line.
T F 9. Bows kept in heated rooms do not need

"warming up" before using.
T F 10. A lacerated thumb may be caused by a

loose feather.
T F n. The loop end of the bowstring is at the

upper limb of the bow.
T F 12. Bows will last longer if used frequently

with bottom limb up.

T F 13. The flat type of bow is considered in-
ferior to the "stacked" type.
T F 14. Archers should always pull their own

arrows from the target.
T F 15. Arrows that are too short are hazardous.

Principles

Interested pupils should have an opportunity to
express their desire to have a club organized or
to be considered for membership where the pro-
gram is already promoted.

While one student pulls the arrows, another re-
cords the scores, and two retrieve stray arrows

IS ARCHERY A SAFE CLUB PROGRAM?

First consideration for club membership should
be given to responsible boys and girls of approxi-
mately the same age level, who manifest common
interests and demonstrate like abilities in archery.

Personal records, interviews, and testing de-
vices serve admirably in the selection of new
members.

Prospective members should receive practical
and theoretical instruction before shooting on the
range in the regular club period.

Size of Club

In determining the size of an indoor archery
club consideration must be given such essentials
as space, facilities, equipment, safety, and the
nature of the activity. The gymnasium is usually
best adapted to the purposes of the indoor range.
There must, be ample space in order that over-
crowding may be entirely
eliminated. Overcrowding in
itself is a safety hazard. It
lends itself to interference,
confusion, and poor morale.
Especially on the shooting
line there should be ample
room for freedom of move-
ment. No less than four
feet between archers should
be the rule. A membership
of twenty-four boys and
girls is a workable sized
group where sufficient
equipment and a minimum
floor space of 52 feet wide
and 72 feet long are provided.

"Safety in archery is not merely a method,
a convenient organizational plan or proced-
ure; it is a real educational experience.
The archery club represents a small organ-
ized community where boys and girls work
and play together. Here they learn to share
responsibilities, appreciate orderly conduct
in a refined recreation, and live together
in a situation which demands conscious
effort toward respect for property, and
sane, safe living. The club presents abun-
dant opportunities for leadership, self-reli-
ance, craftsmanship, coordinated skills,
fun and adventure. Through these media
safety is taught, experienced and lived."

Principles

The size of the club should be determined by
its objectives, its available space and equipment,
and leadership.

The club should be large enough to be stimu-
lating and yet small enough to encourage con-
stant, active, and safe participation.

There should be no overcrowding at any time.

From the point of view of safety, sixteen to
ivventy-four members should be the maximum
enrollment under ordinary circumstances.

Equipment

Careful selection and frequent inspection of
equipment and archery tackle are safeguards
against accidents and injuries. Reliable informa-
tion regarding the extent of accidents and in-

juries due to faulty equipment is difficult to obtain.
From personal observation and experience, how-
ever, it would seem that a large percentage of in-
jurious accidents are caused by inferior or faulty
materials. Such conditions are in most cases pre-
ventable with better care and better technics.
Good natural and artificial lighting is necessary.
Wall fixtures, including clocks, passing bells, tele-
phones, fire alarms, open ventilators, and door-
ways, call for protection. Preferably, these should
not be at the target end of the range. The ceiling
should be high and free from suspending appara-
tus that might interfere with the flight of arrows.
The sponsor and his assistants should be expertly
acquainted with equipment hazards, their cause
and prevention. Members of the club should be
familiar with these as well.

Some insight into the extent of the responsi-
bilities of safety involving
the use and care of facilities
and equipment is shown in
the paragraphs following.
The number of situations
where possible accidents
may occur are numerous. It
is the responsibility of the
sponsor to see that proper
safety controls are provided.
Equipment, facilities, and
tackle for a club of twenty-
four members :

Floor space with mini-
mum dimensions of 52 feet
wide by 72 feet long.

Arrow-proof backstop at least ten feet high and
extending fully across the floor.

A system of pulleys and ropes for raising back-
stops into position.

Three regulation targets spaced equally apart
twenty yards from the shooting line. Iron pins at
the bottom of the target stand set into holes bored
in the floor to prevent slipping.

Twelve selected lemonwood bows varying from
20 to 26 pounds pull.

Six dozen selected white birch dowel arrows with
at least three dozen more in reserve. Arrows
should be made in four different crests (colors)
since four persons use a target at one time.

Twelve combination bow racks and quivers
placed on shooting line.

Twelve chairs placed in back of shooting line
for pupils waiting turn.

IS ARCHERY A SAFE CLUB PROGRAM?

683

Extra chairs in safe locations for club sponsor
and visitors.

Bow racks for storing bows.

Arrow racks for storing arrows.

Arm protectors and finger tabs for all members.

Individual score cards and clipboards for each
target.

Additional equipment and supplies for replace-
ments and repairs.

Principles

Equipment should be selected and cared for
under careful supervision.

Constant inspection should be made by mem-
bers themselves during shooting period.

All hazardous situations should be removed.

Equipment and tackle such as arm protectors,
finger tabs, bows, and arrows should be assigned
to pupils according to their special needs.

The following table cites examples or situations
where accidents may occur. These situations may
be improved or entirely eliminated through proper
safety procedures and controls. The table indi-
cates actual situations, possible results, and sug-
gested safety controls to aid in reducing these
hazards.

Situation

Possible Result

Safety Control

Equipment

Target stand out of position.
Bow too strong.

Cracked or splintered bow.
Bows stored in heated places.

Bows left on floor after shooting. .
Shooting broken arrows.
Arrows left lying flat or grouped

together.

Frayed or worn bowstring.
Shooting without arm protector.

Organization

Overcrowding on shooting line.

Open doorways and entrances

behind or near backstop.
Putting up backstop.

Members waiting turn to shoot.

Range captain uses advisor's
whistle.

Left hand and right hand archers
facing each other while shoot-
ing on range.

Members unable to find proper
bows.

Drawing bow before all members
return to the shooting line.

Walking forward as soon as own
arrows are shot.

Two or more archers pulling
arrows from target at same time.

Technique

Shooting with glasses.

Shooting with ornaments on

personal dress.

Wrong stance on shooting line.
Shooting without finger protection.
Bows used 'before "warming up."

Stringing bow improperly.
Shooting bow with lower limb up.
Overdrawing arrow.

Broken arrows. Damaged target.

Strained muscles and ligaments in
arm, back, and shoulders.

Body injury.

Bows become dry and brittle causing
breakage.

Broken bows. Falls.

Lacerated hand or forearm.

Feathers damaged or loosened, caus-
ing lacerations of thumb and hand.

Broken bow. Head and face injuries.

Bruised forearm.

Confusion, disorder, body injury.
Serious accident 'by flying arrows.
Body injury.

Interference with those shooting.
Transfer of cold infection.
Head and face injuries.

Muscular strain. Breakage of
equipment.

i
Arrow loosed unintentionally.

Individual is struck by flying arrow
from another bow.

Face and head injuries.
Damaged target face.

Released bowstring may throw off

glasses.
Torn clothing. Contusion of chest.

Interference.
Blistered finger tips.
Broken bow.

Broken bow. Bruised face.

Pinched fingers.

Broken bow. Faulty aiming.

Broken arrow. Lacerations about face
and arm. Injury to others.

Anchor target stand to floor.
Select bow to meet individual needs.

Inspect bows regularly.
Store bows in cool place.

Use bow rack.
Inspect before using.
Keep arrows in quiver.

Use only bowstrings in good repair.
Use arm protector.
Correct arm position.

Allow four feet between archers.
Four archers on one target.
Lock all doors. Place safety

posters outside doors.
Stand away from pulley blocks

and wall fixtures.
Provide seats in safe location.

Quiet when shooting.
Captain should use own whistle.

Archers should stand so they do
not face each other.

Each members given range number.
Use only equipment with corre-
sponding number.

Range should be clear.

All archers should await the signal
of the range captain before walk-
ing forward to targets.

One member should be designated
to pull arrows ; one member to
record scores ; two to retrieve
stray arrows.

Change anchorage.
Wear plain clothing.

Shoot with feet parallel to line.

Use tab or glove.

Make preliminary drawing with bow,
slight at first, and gradually in-
creasing to full draw.

String bow only after having had
instruction.

Make note that bow is in proper
position for shooting.

Shoot only arrows of proper length.
(Continued on page 702)

One More Step Forward

A'TER WORKING for more
than two years to com-
plete their project, the
citizens of North Alton, in
Alton, Illinois, officially opened
a lighted playground for pub-
lic use on May 15, 1939. At
the same time three similar
lighted areas in Alton were
dedicated, making a total of
four such playgrounds for this city of 30,000
population.

The North Side Playground is the result of
many meetings and a great deal of hard work.
The idea originated at a church brotherhood meet-
ing in the early spring of 1937, and immediately
after tentative suggestions had been offered, the
North Side Playground Association and the North
Side Auxiliary were organized. The search for a
playground site then began. After visiting six
sites, bids were received. Following considerable
investigation and deliberation, the committee rec-
ommended a tract of ground about three blocks
from their present playground. The area con-
sisted of 4.99 acres and was located in the very
center of the district to be served by the new
agency. Larger than any other city playground,
the acreage was suitably located in regards to traf-
fic and population. There was a deep valley run-
ning through the land, however, and this valley
would have to be tiled and filled with soil graded
from the hills. The magnitude of the task did not
frighten the North Side enthusiasts, for they had
seen other city playgrounds develop from worse
sites than this one.

Everyone Helped!

The boosters started a money-raising campaign
and secured the purchase price of $1,700 entirely
in their own section of the city and all by cash
donations. The land was deeded to the city and a
Works Progress Administration project was filed.
While waiting for the project to be approved,
workers cleared the land and purchased about
three hundred locust fence posts at fifteen cents
apiece. The project was approved, and later had
to be reapproved, as the federal appropriation of
$40,000 was used almost entirely for grading.
The City Council voted six hundred dollars for

684

By RUSSELL J. FOVAL

Superintendent of Recreation
Alton, Illinois

A ton's fourth playground
is a demonstration of what
hard work plus community
cooperation can accomplish

tile, and the Recreation Com-
mission gave about a thousand
dollars. The North Side group
later contributed an additional
five hundred dollars for lights,
water lines, and such neces-
sities.

Lighting poles were pur-
chased from the Shell Petro-
leum Corporation at scrap iron
prices : $49-5o for six 48-foot poles made of four-
and six-inch pipe. A member of the North Side
Club who is a welder by profession donated his
equipment, and other welders in the club as-
sembled the poles. They welded the four-inch pipe
into the six-inch pipe, put steps every two feet
starting ten feet from the ground, and welded the
cross-arms on each pole. The poles were erected
through the same cooperation of North Siders.
One member owned a large flat truck. Aided by
other volunteers, he erected a boom on the bed,
called a local garage for a wrecker, and set the
poles in the holes in about two hours' time.

The Kiwanis Club purchased ten flood lights
and the North Side group another four. The ap-
proach of opening day found the light company
crew installing the transformer and setting sev-
eral lead-in poles. The official working day for
the crew ended at four o'clock in the afternoon,
and somehow the men sent by the light company
managed to complete their day's work exactly at
that time. But then the entire crew started to
work as volunteers for the North Side. In less
than two hours, they had wires strung, lights
erected, the switch hooked up, and the lights
turned on.

This is Alton's fourth lighted playground.
These areas are more than athletic fields, for the
modern playground equipment has been installed
with sections for children of all ages, and a regu-
lar playground program is carried on from 9:00
in the morning until 9 :3O at night each week day.
All of these playgrounds were obtained and im-
proved in the same manner. Neighborhood inter-
est was there; the entire city was called on at
times for volunteer labor and money, and very
seldom was a refusal reported. We feel that we
have had outstanding assistance and cooperation
from everyone in the city in the development of
needed playground areas in Alton.

Housing and Recreation Cooperation Effective

Some outstanding recreation devel-
opments will be the end result of
cooperative planning in the low-
rent housing projects in Pittsburgh

RECREATION is finding new problems and un-
precedented opportunities for developing
needed services in conjunction with new
public, low-rent housing projects. Decent shelter
is not the sole aim of the housing program. It is
becoming widely recognized that normal commu-
nity services designed to meet the basic human
needs of health, education, security, and recrea-
tion, in addition to shelter, are the goal of the
well-planned urban neighborhood. Facilities and
program for these varied services must be well
planned and well integrated. Those of us long
engaged in these older related services now have
a new medium for attacking the problems of
social planning in an orderly coordinated fashion.
Housing authorities are thinking of recreation
in much the same terms as we are. They are
thinking of recreation facilities and leadership for
the whole neighborhood including both the project
and the surrounding area. That means recreation
is not a housing function, but the job of the ap-
propriate local public agencies, wherever these
exist. Housers do have an obligation to plan and
operate the projects in such a way that the rec-
reation program may be conducted efficiently.
That means that housing and recreation officials,
along with officials of other community service
agencies, should establish a working relationship
at the moment the project is first conceived, and
should be in constant consultation all through the
planning, construction, and operation of the
project.

The fruit of this type of working relationship
and some of the possibilities involved are illus-
trated by the cooperative planning between recre-
ation, education, health, welfare and housing agen-
cies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Steps Taken

Late in 1937 the Pittsburgh Housing Authority
started negotiations with the United States Hous-
ing Authority to secure a Federal loan for slum

in

Pittsburgh

By LOUIS C. SCHROEDER

Superintendent, Bureau of Recreation

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

clearance and low-rent housing. After President
Roosevelt had approved the loan application, work
began in earnest on demolition of 3,053 substand-
ard dwellings occupied by white and Negro
families in blighted areas, and construction of
3,053 low-rent dwelling units was started. The
cost of the projects was estimated to exceed
$18,000,000. . Approximately 12,500 people will be
rehoused in modern row houses and apartments
located on the 180 acres of project land connected
with twenty more acres of city playgrounds. Rents
will average $4.86 per room per month, including
utilities. Consequently, families from the lowest
income third of the city will compose the project
population.

This tremendous demolition and building pro-
gram offered an opportunity to replan community
facilities for large sections of the city in well in-
tegrated relationship to housing. The time to be-
gin such planning is when the housing organiza-
tion is first established. The personnel selected
and procedures established at that stage determine
to a large degree the possibilities of success of
the cooperative planning venture.

In the first place, the Pittsburgh Housing Au-
thority was organized on a basis conducive to a
sound consideration of recreation and other com-
munity needs.

George E. Evans, City Councilman and Chair-
man of the Council's Committee in charge of Park
and Recreation Bureaus, was selected as chair-
man of the Housing Authority, which is the
legally constituted local public housing body. Dr.
B. J. Hovde, Administrator for the Authority,
was formerly Director of Public Welfare for the
City of Pittsburgh. Furthermore, officials and

685

HOUSING AND RECREATION COOPERATION

technicians of the City
Planning Commission
who plan city recreation
facilities also serve the
Authority. Thus, those
who determine and exe-
cute the policies are well
versed in recreation plan-
ning.

In addition to the experts directing the housing
program, a special advisory group was formed to
study further the recreation needs and possibili-
ties of the project in relation to the community
and to make recommendations to the Housing
Authority. This special committee brought to-
gether the major local agencies concerned with
the provision of such community services as rec-
reation, education, library, welfare, and health, by
including representatives from ( I ) Regional Plan-
ning Commission, (2) City Planning Commission,
(3) Board of Education, (4) schools in the
neighborhood, (5) City Council, (6) Bureau of
Recreation, (7) Conference of Catholic Charities,
(8) Bureau of Parks, (9) Soho Community
House, do) Soho Neighborhood House, (n)
Soho Board, (12) Urban League, (13) Carnegie
Library, (14) Carnegie Institute of Technology,
(15) Federation of Social Agencies, (16) Jewish
Social Service Bureau, (17) Pittsburgh Housing

A view to the northwest of the filled-in Soho
Valley where a new recreation area is under con-
struction to take the place of the old Kennard
Playground. At the extreme left is the junior
playground, and at the right a part of the major
recreation center for older boys and girls and
adults. On top of the far hill will be seen the
units of Terrace Village Apartments being built.

Association, (18) The
Irene Kaufmann Settle-
ment House, and (19)
Pittsburgh Housing Au-
thority.

The Advisory Com-
mittee met a number of
times during the planning
and construction stages

of the development to study the recreation needs
of the neighborhoods affected by the projects and
subsequently to make recommendations to the
Housing Authority and other interested public
and private agencies, such as the School Board
and Bureau of Recreation.

The United States Housing Authority gave as-
sistance in the determination of needs for com-
munity services, in the negotiations with various
local agencies, in the planning of community
space, and in the preparations for operation of
that space. At the request of the Pittsburgh
Housing Authority, Howard L. White, Assistant
Chief of Tenant Relations, and Daniel U. Kiley,
Associate Town Planning Architect, came from
Washington to render these services.

Such was the organization and personnel of the
housing staff and advisory groups concerned with
the planning for community services. All this,
coupled with the spirit of cooperation with other

HOUSING AND RECREATION COOPERATION

687

agencies, led to the sound planning which fol-
lowed.

Achievements in Recreation Planning

Let us focus our attention now on a review of
the achievements of these planners as applied
specifically to recreation.

Recreation planning came into the picture in
the early stages of choosing the sites. Coopera-
tion between the Pittsburgh Housing Authority
and the Bureaus of Recreation and of Parks,
which had just received a two million dollar bond
issue for new space and equipment, resulted in
the joint purchase and planning of two large
areas for project and playground development.

The smaller of the two sites is located in the
Upper Hill District and is known as Bedford
Dwellings. The first families are scheduled to
move into these homes in April, 1940. The
twenty-acre project site, which had to be leveled
and graded before construction, includes four
acres of former sloping play space known as Am-
mon Playground. This recreation area has been
relocated on a site filled in by project grading,
immediately west of the project boundary. It is
now double its former size.

The larger area selected for cooperative de-
velopment has been almost completely redesigned.
About three and one-

Goat, and Gazzam Hills and poured into Soho
Valley in a tremendous topographical face-lifting
job. Nathan Straus, United States Housing Au-
thority Administrator, has called this "the most
dramatic achievement of its kind in the United
States/' Terrace Village Units One and Two,
jointly covering over 130 acres, are each to be
located on two elevations on opposite sides of this
leveled fill, which will hold the new twelve-acre
Kennard Playground. The old Kennard Play-
ground was hidden away in narrow Soho Valley.
It had about six acres of space terraced in three
levels — obviously a natural handicap to proper
recreation use. This whole remodeled area will
be truly a Garden Community.

Both of these plans were reviewed and ap-
proved by the Department of City Planning. The
City Park and Recreation Bureaus are develop-
ing, maintaining, and operating this play area,
while the Housing Authority is in charge of the
adjacent project properties.

The sites having been agreed upon, it was nec-
essary to study the recreation facilities of the sur-
rounding neighborhoods in order best to adjust
the projects to their locale. The Bureau of Re-
search of the Federation of Social Agencies pre-
pared a map of the city showing existing public
and private recreation facilities. This map was

reviewed by the Ad-

half million cubic yards
of waste hillside are
being cut from Ruch,

A view of Kennard Playground before grading opera-
tions were started. Ruch Hill, in the background,
was chopped off in some places as much as a hundred
feet to make room for a Terrace Village housing unit.

visory Committee and
by the Authority in de-
termining what recrea-

688

HOUSING AND RECREATION COOPERATION

tion needs of the ultimate
project population would
not be met by the existing
provisions.

Supplying recreation op-
portunities for 12,500 proj-
ect residents, with their
necessarily divergent inter-
ests, is a sizeable problem.

But this is only a portion of the group to be
served. The Authority and the Advisory Com-
mittee began with the premise that the whole
neighborhood, and not merely the projects, must
be considered.

In the areas surrounding the Pittsburgh proj-
ects, it was discovered that the recreation facili-
ties existing prior to initial revision would be en-
tirely inadequate for all age groups of the soon-
to-be increased population. The needs appeared
to be as follows :

For preschool children — nurseries and play
areas; for school children — more schools, play-
grounds, and indoor space, including meeting
rooms, craft rooms and gymnasiums ; for adult —
outdoor recreation areas and community buildings
for meetings, dances, and libraries.

Having decided upon the needed space and
equipment, the next step was to see that such was
provided. This too was done on a cooperative
basis between the Housing Authority and other
city agencies.

Preschool children require recreation facilities
within the immediate vicinity of their homes.
Hence this is a need within the project bounda-
ries. The Pittsburgh Housing Authority itself
has planned space and equipment such as indoor
and outdoor play areas, sand boxes, and spray
pools for this group. A few well-situated junior
play areas with adjoining indoor space for play,
arts, crafts, and adult education are provided.
Furthermore, advantage is
being taken of a natural
hillside to develop a splen-
didly located amphitheater
at almost no additional cost.
Leadership will probably
be supplied by other agen-
cies and by parents. This is
almost the only recreational
responsibility assumed by
the Pittsburgh Housing Au-
thority, and then only as
part of a cooperative plan.

"Planning Recreation Service for USHA-
aided Housing Projects" is the title of a
recent USHA pamphlet outlining the steps
of project planning and the stages at which
recreation officials can assist the local
housing authority. Copies are available
from the Tenant Relations Section of the
United States Housing Authority, North
Interior Building, Washington, D. C.

The nation's first census of housing will be
taken in April as part of the Sixteenth De-
cennial Census. Facts on physical features
and equipment of dwellings, type of tenure,
actual rental or estimated rental value if
occupied by owner, mortgage characteristics
and other facts will be sought through thirty-
one questions included in the schedule. The
Census Bureau, believing that the data se-
cured will be of great value to housing ex-
perts, city officials, social workers, manufac-
turers and builders and other groups, urges the
cooperation of all citizens in this enterprise.

Educational requirements
of children were planned
for through a cooperative
agreement between the
Board of Education and the
Authority. "The Board
shall cooperate with the Au-
thority by furnishing school
buildings, improvements,

services, and facilities for the projects and by
giving other aid on behalf of the projects. The
Board agrees to provide, together with educa-
tional -facilities mentioned above, auditorium,
gymnasium and meeting places." These facilities
are to be open to the community as a whole as
well as to the school children.

The City Park and Recreation Bureaus, as
already indicated, are taking an active part in
planning to meet the needs of children and adults.
The new Edith Darlington Ammon Playground,
adjoining Bedford Dwellings, will include an out-
door swimming pool, play spaces for children and
adults, volleyball and basketball courts, and an
athletic field. These hard-surfaced courts can be
flooded in winter for ice skating. A well-equipped
community building is planned, including club
rooms, auditorium, gymnasium, dressing rooms
and showers. Kennard Playground, located on
the filled-in area between the Terrace Villages,
will likewise include the swimming pool of the
playground plus play spaces for all ages, volley-
ball and tennis courts, an athletic field, and an
amphitheater across the project boundary. The
Kennard Community Building will house facilities
similar to those described in the Ammon structure.
The City Park and Recreation Bureaus report that
in this park planning there has been greater em-
phasis on active recreation than has been cus-
tomary in the past.

The Authority also decided that the small meet-
ing rooms provided in the
schools and playground
community buildings would
not be adequate to serve
the entire neighborhood. To
meet this inadequacy, a
central community building
has been planned to supple-
ment those already men-
tioned

These plans for neigh-
borhood recreation facili-
( Continued on page 702)

Youth's Interest in Community Recreation

IN 1938, about fifty
young people attended
the evening session of
Chicago's Annual Recre-
ation Conference. These
young people had been
arbitrarily selected by the
neighborhood recreation
committees and commu-
nity councils. They had
no part in the planning
or promotion of the pro-
gram, and following the
Conference nothing more was done by the youth.

In setting up plans for the 1939 Conference, con-
siderable interest was shown by city-wide youth
organizations in greater participation in the meet-
ings. Local community councils in several sections
of the city expressed their desire to have young
people from their neighborhoods have an active
part in the city-wide recreation movement. Young
people who had been participating in group ses-
sions in past conferences in cooperation with
P.T.A.'s, women's clubs, and social agency ses-
sions asked to have a session of their own. All
indications pointed to the awareness of these
young people of their place in recreation programs
of local neighborhoods. The general conference
committee accordingly included in its program a
youth session and urged that the problem be
thoroughly explored with youth in the hope that
by having young people participate in the Confer-
ence a continued interest would be developed in
the city-wide recreation problem and local recrea-
tion committees of youth might be set up.

Sixteen youth agencies representing fraternal,
social, character building, church, and neighbor-
hood youth groups, selected from approximately
sixty city-wide organizations, were invited to
select representatives who were leaders in their
respective organizations to attend a meeting in
which young people would discuss the question.
Community councils which had organized junior
recreation committees were also invited to send
representatives. At the meeting the question was
put before the young people: "Will youth partici-
pate in the city-wide Recreation Conference and
organize themselves for the purpose of further-

In the February issue of Recreation mention was
made of the Fifth Annual Recreation Conference
conducted by the Chicago Recreation Commis-
sion, and of the part played by youth in the meet-
ings. A recent Information Bulletin issued by the
Commission tells how the interest and participa-
tion of the two hundred young people attending
the special Youth Session of the Conference were
secured, and recites the steps being taken to make
this interest count in the development of the
city's program'. We are presenting a resume of
the information for the benefit of other commu-
nity groups wishing to enlist the aid of youth in
the interest of their city-wide recreation plans.

ing recreation through-
out the city?" There was
a unanimous opinion that
youth should be definitely
identified with recreation,
and a city-wide organiza-
tion was proposed which
would have a part in the
annual Recreation Con-
ference. The meeting re-
solved itself into a con-
ference planning com-
mittee divided into three

operating committees — promotion, program, and
exhibits.

Three subcommittee meetings and three addi-
tional general meetings were held over the next
four weeks. At this time additional youth organi-
zation groups participated both by attending meet-
ings and helping to promote the youth session at
the Conference. Many youth organizations were
asked to submit the name of youth leaders from
their respective organizations to be invited to the
youth session dinner and program. Several hun-
dred invitations were issued.

In planning the subjects for program discussion
at the Conference, three main topics were de-
cided upon:

(1) "A Definition of Recreation — An Explana-
tion of the Opportunities and Inadequacies of
Recreation in Chicago"

(2) "Benefits to Be Derived from Adequate Rec-
reation in Metropolitan Areas"

(3) "Should Youth Be Represented in Any Rela-
tion on the Chicago Recreation Commission
— How Should It Be Represented ?"

These subjects were to be presented by youth,
and the program was to be in their hands. Recom-
mendations were to be made by youth representa-
tives following an open forum.

During the discussion at the planning commit-
tee meetings of youth several recommendations
were made to be brought up at the youth session.
It was decided that definite consideration would
be given the organization of a permanent youth
group in the interest of recreation in cooperation
with the Chicago Recreation Commission and
neighborhood communities.

689

690

YOUTH'S INTEREST IN COMMUNITY RECREATION

At the Conference

About two hundred young people representing
thirty-five different organizations attended the
youth dinner and program which was held in a
separate banquet hall at the same time the main
Conference dinner was going on in the grand ball-
room of the hotel which was the headquarters of
the Conference. The youth themselves planned
the dinner arrangements which were carried
through in a very dignified manner. The program
included a roll call by organizations, the posting
of the colors by representatives of the Boy Scouts,
and the presentation of a number of topics by
young people. During the discussion period four
members of the Chicago Recreation Commission
were welcomed, and the group was addressed by
Dr. Philip L. Seman, Chairman of the Chicago
Recreation Commission. Following the dinner
and program, the entire assemblage of young peo-
ple adjourned to the main ballroom and were
greeted by the toastmaster. The procession of
youth made a great impression upon the thousand
and more people in attendance at the banquet.

Looking to the Future

The young man who had served as chairman of
the planning committee for the youth group
selected an executive committee of youth to plan
for a meeting with representation from all youth
groups at which
recommenda-
tions made at the
general youth
session would be
discussed fur-
ther. Among the
recommenda-
tions were the
following :

That a perma-
nent youth or-
ganization be set
up with repre-
sentatives from
all city-wide
youth agencies,
organizations,
and groups.

That this youth
organization
confine its poli-
cies and objec-
tives to recrea-

tion and the constructive use of leisure time by
youth.

That plans be made to hold four general meet-
ings throughout the year, having in mind the
promoting of a large youth session at the Sixth
Annual Recreation Conference in 1940.

That a representative group of twenty-five or
more youth be selected to meet with members of
the Chicago Recreation Commission to discuss
relationships and further participation by youth
in cooperation with the Chicago Recreation Com-
mission.

The assembly of nearly two hundred youth
voiced itself as desiring to have youth represented
in relationship to the Chicago Recreation Com-
mission. The youth session further resolved that
as an organized body of youth and as an organi-
zation and groups of individuals, they accept the
responsibility for helping to create and organize
local and neighborhood recreation committees;
that they, participate either as members of adult
recreation committees or from junior recreation
committees within their own neighborhoods, and
aid in securing the cooperation and participation
(Continued on patje 703)

How can these young people of Fitchburg, Mass.,
be guided so that they will play a part in the
development of community recreation in that city?

Courtesy Massachusetts IVPA

. . . And the Pursuit of Democracy

DEMOCRACY has been making
excellent table talk these
days. Democratic "tech-
niques," "procedures," "proces-
ses" and "implications" make
splendid conference-theme fodder. Teachers, so-
cial workers and recreation leaders have hitched
their conference wagons to the ascendant star —
"the contribution of blank field to the democratic
wav of life." In brief, democracy is current lingo.

Of all the ink spilled in the name of the demo-
cratic concept in the last years, no one drop was
more challenging than Dr. James Plant's "Recrea-
tion and the Social Integration of the Individual"
in the September 1937 issue of RECREATION. The
message was vital, sincere. A certain county
school office, committed to the principles of pro-
gressive education, ordered several hundred re-
prints and set about recording responses.

Soon the seeds began to sprout. The newly
proselytized came home to roost.

Yes, the readers agreed, yes, the article is ex-
cellent, challenging, thrilling — -

Most people will agree —

But nothing will happen!

Why0

Because Dr. Plant's ideas are essentially the ac-
cepted democratic concepts which presuppose per-
sons essentially democratic to carry them out !

Leadership, then, democratic leadership is the
answer. All wre need is leadership and then we
won't be guilty of what Dr. Plant called "selling
our birthright for a mess of pottage." But surely
you recall the story of the mice and the bell
around the cat's neck ? That's right, the beautiful
idea needed only an executor to save, now and
forever, all mice-posterity from the predatory cat.
Only an executor — only someone to do it.

Refresh your memory on
Dr. Plant's thesis —

Attitudes are more im-
portant than techniques —
the doing counts — not the
results of doing, extend the
rhythm of the individual,
don't impose rhythm on him
—your pattern will be event-
ually debilitating. Live with
yourself instead of escap-

By CAROL L. LEVENE

State Supervisor of Training

Work Projects Administration

Northern California

"Democracy needs a longer period of growth
than a standardized society planned from
above. The more complex the society, the
more skill the individual needs to find his
unique place in it. It takes time to acquire
skill. ... A state which can put human
values first will be glad to give individuals
time to discover their potentialities. This
is an expensive procedure, but human
beings are worth what it costs." — Mildred
McAfee in Education for Democracy.

ing yourself, thus deriving the in-
dividual-centered culture; it is
around this individual-centered
culture that we must build new
social frontiers, etc.
Let's make another check-list —
Who develops the attitude of the new recrea-
tion leaders?

Who plans the program and what are his ob-
jectives— doing or results?

Trace back to the individual behind all of Dr.
Plant's statements — the recreation executive.
Does that recreation executive —
Genuinely solicit ideas from his staff ?
Acknowledge such ideas when he puts them to
use?

Give his staff a stake in the thinking-processes
preceding a new move?

If the recreation (or the school or social wel-
fare) executive is a real democrat, one who is
willing to practice his democracy in all personal
and professional relationships, the current lingo
takes on meaning. Unfortunately, more cases in
negative point come to mind. For example :

A recreation executive in a large community
decided that he would like to observe one of the
national youth weeks by having the young people
of his town operate his business for a day. He
decided he'd like to have them plan programs,
meet with his Board, sign checks, handle press
releases, confer with staff and supervise facilities.
The more he thought of the plan, the better he
liked the idea. Being something of the kind of
democrat who lives its precepts, he cast about for
the best method of selecting the various one-day
executives and assistants. "Select," he thought,
"why not elect?" So he interviewed the local
school executive and asked if the election could be
conducted, with the usual
paraphernalia of election, by
the school.

The school executive,
steeped in the long practice
of quasi -democrats, gave
the question due thought.

"No," he said, weightily,
"that won't work. They
won't elect the deserving or
the skilled. But," he

691

692

AND THE PURSUIT OF DEMOCRACY

added, shedding the quasi and emerging resplend-
ent in his autocracy, "I'll appoint them."

The recreation executive, something of a demo-
crat, remember, demurred.

"I realize," he agreed, "that we haven't a situa-
tion here strictly paralleling a municipal election,
since my job is appointive, but I feel that the
parallel is sufficient for the purposes of Youth
Week."

The school executive explained that the differ-
ences in appointment and election did not concern
nim, but pointed out again —

"The right children won't get it if we let them
elect. I'll have to appoint them to be sure."

They argued back and forth a bit, and finally,
for the sake of his now-shredded dream of ob-
serving Youth Week as well as for the sake of
community relationships, the recreation executive
compromised on allowing the school executive to
select five or ten meritorius and skilled young
ones from whom all the other young ones could
be trusted to elect several (since each of the five
or ten was equally skilled and equally meritorious) .

The point of the story? Oh, yes. The school
executive was subsequently invited to speak to the
P.T.A. during youth week and his topic was —
"How Can We Teach Our Youth American De-
mocracy?" The recreation executive didn't go to
the meeting, because he is becoming allergic to
democracy.

That is a clear-cut example of lip-service. An-
other, and less simple case, is one where the par-
ticular executive, himself a willing and sincere
democrat, mistakenly substituted terms for
practice:

In a large summer camp, the camp director
decided one year to put on a program which
would give the camper a free, untrammeled,
democratic summer. He decided that the camp
should be based on an "informal" philosophy of
education. Nothing was scheduled. Activities
"grew" from the desires of the campers, subtly
stimulated by the camp staff displaying itself en-
gaging in the activities.

The day began later than most camp days, be-
cause "children don't like to get up early." By
the same token, rest period was eliminated. In
other words, the entire camp was apparently con-
ducted in direct accord with Dr. Plant's thesis of
extending, rather than imposing rhythms.

Actually, nothing of the sort happened. This
camp director confused formal and informal with

obligatory and optional. He made a sweeping
barter — "democracy" for planning. In running an
optional (informal) program, he produced an un-
scheduled, unorganized and unplanned camp. He
forgot that choice, a prime element in the demo-
cratic process, exists only where tangibles exist
to be selected.

He started out with the correct thesis. Where
did he slip? His original conception was correct
and essentially democratic: the progressive and
intelligently handled camp program, like that of
any other social group, should be formulated by
its participants. But from the point of initial con-
ception on, the camp must still be scheduled,
planned and — led ! It is the attitude of the leader
and his consequent technique of handling the pro-
gram that stamps the ultimate product "demo-
cratic" or as in this case, "died 'a-borning.' "

In summary, then, we have, first, agreed with
Dr. Plant that the democratic process is more
than just a desirable factor in recreation: it is
essential to its healthy pursuit; second, that such
a concept must have leadership, and third, that the
leadership must be genuinely democratic before
the concept takes shape as reality. Two examples
were cited to indicate two of the major fallacies
of "democratic leadership."

Obviously, the school executive who wanted to
appoint Youth Week officers thought he was a
democrat, because he lives in and by a democratic
society. He elects his public servants, but he can't
understand what similarity there is between his
accepted mode of living and a proposed election
for children. Example number one, then, is the
leader who thinks he is democratic, but rules
autocratically. The camp director goes one step
further and thinks democratically. But instead of
leading from there on or even ruling autocrati-
cally from there on, he simply does nothing. He
sits still and envisions.

The first step to be taken in providing genu-
inely democratic leadership to guide what Dr.
Plant calls "an individual-centered culture," is to
recognize the subtle difference between thinking
and acting democracy. The one step remaining is
ultimately the most important — "How are such
leaders to be trained ?"

"We are learning that democracy is not merely
a method of ballot counting so that a numerical
majority may make the rules and administer the
governmental machinery for the rest of us. De-
mocracy is a way of life." — Henry M. Bitsch.

WORLD AT PLAY

0 .. ,., . WASHINGTON, D. C.,

Seventh National

T, ,. T, . . will again be the scene
Folk Festival & ,.. •
of the National Folk

Festival which will be

held at Constitution Hall, April 25, 26 and 27,
1940. Miss Sarah Gertrude Knott, national di-
rector of the Festival, writes that the Washington
Post Folk Festival Association which is sponsor-
ing the Festival, is anxious to have again the most
genuine traditional folk expressions of the country
on the program, and she urges that groups inter-
ested get in touch with her at the headquarters of
the association, 508-9 Munsey Building, 1329 E
Street, Northwest, Washington, D. C.

National Music
Week in 1940

THE 1940 Music Week
will be celebrated May
5th to nth. Informa-
tion regarding the cele-
bration and helpful literature may be secured
from C. M. Tremaine, Secretary of the National
Music Week Committee, 30 Rockefeller Plaza,
New York City.

At the Center for
Safety Education

A RESEARCH planning
committee of experts

to determine research

needs in safety educa-
tion has been set up by New York University's
National Center for Safety Education, according
to Dr. Herbert J. Stack, director of the center.
The committee, of which Dr. Raymond Franzen
is chairman, will formulate problems in safety
education in order of priority as research proj-
ects, and indicate techniques for their investiga-
tion. During the center's first year 375 students
from thirty states were enrolled in nineteen dif-
ferent courses.

A Day Dedicated to
Doing Nothing!

EARLY last August,
Ontario, Canada, cele-
brated a holiday which
has no historical, re-
ligious or political basis. An unnamed holiday, set
aside seventy years ago by the city council of
Toronto, it has been called "Civic Day," but in
reality it is simply a hot summer day when every-
one can relax without bothering to remember
what the holidav stands for. Although many

merchants complained at first, other towns in On-
tario iollowed the example of Toronto, until now
the residents of the entire province look forward
to their "Do Nothing Day." Manitoba and Al-
berta caught up the bizarre celebration, and many
predict that the holiday will sweep throughout
Canada. As an example of the widespread ob-
servance of the enticing "Do Nothing Day," the
Border Cities Star announced that there will be no
issue of the paper on that day.

Where Bicycling Is
Made Safe

UNDER the direction
of the Mayor, a pro-
bation officer, and the
Automobile Club,

Middletown, it is said, will be the first city in
northern Connecticut to establish a Bicycle Safety
Club. The principal objective is to reduce danger
on the road by teaching children the rules of
safety. The owners of bicycles must register
them; they will be given a number license plate
after they have passed a safety test on brake,
wheels, headlight, tires, handle bars, bell or horn,
and reflector. Saturday morning conferences will
be held with members who have violated the rules
of the club. First offenders might have to write
out the safety rules a prescribed number of times,
and second offenders might have their bicycles
taken from them for a short period.

Hikers Celebrate an
, Anniversary

1940 MARKS the twen-
tieth anniversary of
The Minneapolis Hik-
ing Club, celebrated in

their bulletin, The Minnehiker, and at the Club's
annual banquet. The Twentieth Anniversary
Yearbook, giving a resume of the organization's
history, was distributed to the 393 members.

Weekly Dances for
Young People

YOUNG people from
sixteen to twenty-five
years of age in Santa
Monica, California.

are enjoying very successful weekly dances. The
dances, which are sponsored by the Playground
and Recreation Department and the Coordinating
Council, are held each Friday night with instruc-
tion offered from 7:30 to 8:30, followed by
dancing until n:oo P.M. The girls' gymnasium

693

694

WORLD AT PLAY

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Horseshoe Equipment

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at the high school is used, and the services of
the worker in charge of the recreation program
at this center are provided by the Commission.
The agencies associated with the Coordinating
Council furnish chaperones and help in a variety
of ways. From one hundred to one hundred and
fifty young people have enjoyed each dance. Each
person attending pays 25 cents, and the receipts
meet the expenses. Music is provided by a high
school orchestra.

National Playground in TV A Area --In
January, President Roosevelt sent a special mes-
sage to Congress asking broader statutory author-
ity to develop recreation resources in the Ten-
nessee Valley which would permit the Authority
to undertake development of the resources over
which it has jurisdiction. "Such powers," stated
the message, "should include authority to con-
struct and operate recreation facilities on proper-
ties acquired in connection with the primary pur-
poses of the water control program ; to utilize the
work relief resources of such agencies as the
NYA, WPA, and CCC in carrying out the de-

velopment program." Norris Park, adjacent to
Morris Dam, has become so popular, according to
the report, that demands for facilities have far
exceeded the supply, but under the existing law
TV A .cannot provide additional facilities. The
park now includes twenty-five vacation cabins, a
public lodge, an outdoor theater, a trailer or camp-
ing area, a swimming area, two picnic areas, and
a riding stable.

The Problems of Youth — In Youth Tell Their
Story, Howard M. Bell (National Youth Com-
mission, American Council on Education) states
the three most pressing problems of youth as em-
ployment, education, and recreation. Of recrea-
tion he says, "For no less than millions of young
people in America, this calls for an awakening, on
the part of communities, to the social as well as
the personal values of healthful and satisfying
recreation, and a determination to develop leisure-
time programs that will not only absorb energies
that often lead to delinquent behavior, but which
will add something valuable to the spiritual
stature of those who participate in them."

"The Romance of Playing Cards" - - Indi-
viduals with whom card playing is a hobby will
want to know that an interesting article entitled
"The Romance of Playing Cards" may be secured
free in the form of a bulletin from the Secretary,
Association of American Playing Card Manu-
facturers, 420 Lexington Avenue, New York City.

The Y.M.C.A.— The Y.M.C. A.'s of the United
States and Canada have pioneered in thirty-two
countries during the last fifty years. October 4,
1939 marked the fiftieth anniversary of two
Americans leaving for foreign lands. During the
next twelve months the 1,290 Y.M.C. A.'s in the
United States will pay homage to the pioneers and
to those who now serve abroad.

The recreation movement in the United States
has received very substantial aid from the
Y.M.C.A. Here many present leaders received
part of their training.

The Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation

—For the past four years the Philippine Amateur
Athletic Federation, which was granted a charter
by the Philippine legislature in December, 1925,
has been conducting in cooperation with the Of-
fice of the National Physical Director a summer
school for physical directors, coaches, physical

WORLD AT PLAY

695

education teachers, and recreation directors and
leaders. The courses, given at the Rizal Memorial
Field in Manila, are offered in an effort to raise
the standard of professional leadership in this
field.

A Group Method of Teaching Tennis— The
Athletic Institute, Inc., 209 South State Street,
Chicago, Illinois, has issued three bulletins deal-
ing with the subject of group methods of teach-
ing tennis which have been evolved after long ex-
perimentation. The first bulletin is entitled "How
to Conduct a Novice Tennis School" ; the second,
''Methods of Instruction for Tennis Schools"; and
the third, "Tennis Tips for Amateurs by Well
Known Stars." This final bulletin contains ma-
terial which will be helpful for publicity articles.
The entire series consists of thirty-seven pages of
single-spaced mimeographed material which will
be mailed prepaid by the Athletic Institute to any
recreation department requesting it and sending
39 cents in stamps.

Boys and Girls Week — April 27 to May 4,
1940 will be Boys and Girls Week, and each day
will be featured by a different interest. Saturday,
the opening day of the observance,, will be Recog-
nition Day ; Sunday, the Day in Churches ; Mon-
day, a Day in Schools ; Tuesday, Vocational Day ;
Wednesday, Health and Safety Day; Thursday,
Citizenship Day; Friday, a Day in Entertainment
and Athletics ; and Saturday, a Day Out of Doors
and Evening at Home. Further information may
be secured from the National Boys and Girls
Week Committee, 35 East Wacker Drive, Chi-
cago, Illinois.

Seventh Annual Conference on Outdoor
Recreation — Stemming from the theme, "Rec-
reation and You," the seventh annual Conference
on Outdoor Recreation to be held under the
auspices of the Massachusetts State College has
been announced for March 15, 16, and 17, 1940,
at the State College in Amherst. Dr. William G.
Vinal, Professor of Nature Education, is chair-
man of the committee in charge.

The Conference will include section meetings
of interest to people in many fields. In addition
to consideration of the broader problems facing
recreation generally, special attention will be de-
voted to archery, golf, and parks, camping, com-
munity organization for recreation, hotels and
restaurants, horsemanship, hunting and fishing,
nature study and gardening, mountaineering and

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trails, photography, and livestock. At the evening
session on March I5th there will be a general
session which will take the form of an open meet-
ing of the Public Recreation Commission of the
Town of Progress. This typical New England
town of io,oqp people will critically consider the
following subjects : Recreation in the Town For-
est; the Municipal Golf Course; Nature Activi-

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RESEARCH IN RECREATION

CHARACTER
AND CITIZENSHIP

brings each month to its readers a story
of what community organizations, insti-
tutions, and agencies are doing — or
not doing —

To lay the foundation for good citizenship

To build good character

To develop personality

To solve community problems

To safeguard democratic institutions

To improve family life

To promote recreation and good health

To encourage cooperative activities

The magazine is the medium of expres-
sion for the National Council on Educa-
tion for Character and Citizenship. It is
of particular value to:
School and Church Leaders
Y.M.C.A. and Y.W.C.A. Secretaries and
Directors

Boy and Girl Scout Executives
Parent-Teacher Association Officers
Leaders of Youth Clubs and Activities
Directors of Recreation

Dr. Francis L. Bacon, Principal of the Evanston,
Illinois, Township High School says, "The current
issue of your magazine, CHARACTER and
CITIZENSHIP, came to my desk this week. I
carried it home and pleasantly, I believe profit-
ably, too, spent an evening reading the entire
contents.

"Permit me to express my appreciation of the
increasing value of this unique periodical. I could
ardently wish that every school library possess
one or more subscriptions. It would seem, too, that
civics and guidance teachers might well utilize
the magazine as reference material for students.

"The overview which your periodical gives to
the work of the various social agencies and the
emphasis afforded to the desirable coordination
of school and community social agencies consti-
tute a superior service. More power to your
efforts!"

Send your order to

Character and Citizenship

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ties ; the Work of the Public Recreation Commis-
sion; Photography as Recreation; Use of School
Buildings for Recreational Purposes. Dr. Jay B.
Nash of New York University will summarize
the discussions and will address the delegates on
the Conference theme, "Recreation and You."

Research in Recreation

(Continued from page 653)

feminacy. That the harmonious life requires as
a necessity the creation and appreciation of beauty
is not as a rule consciously understood.

Social-minded research workers point out that
through the medium of recreation many people of
diversified backgrounds may share pleasurable ex-
periences together and through understanding one
another could help integrate our society in such a
way that many of the persistent problems of liv-
ing might be solved through mutual respect and
understanding as the result of cooperative play
efforts.

A Folly Party for April First

(Continued from page 654)

line, he picks up his balloon and races back to
touch off the second person in line, who repeats
the performance. This continues until everyone
in line has had a chance at the balloon. The team
whose last contestant regains his original place
first is the winner.

A Lancing Contest is the next event of the eve-
ning. Three rings (embroidery hoops) are sus-
pended from the ceiling at one end of the room.
Two boys and one girl are chosen from each
team, and one team competes at a time. The girl
is supplied with a lance or straight stick about three
feet long; the two boys form a "pack saddle" by
clasping hands. At the word "Go" the girl mounts
to the saddle, and the boys charge straight at the
rings, turn as quickly as possible and return to
the starting line. In the meantime, the girl throws
the lance through one of the hoops at the instant
of approach. This is repeated three times, and
each time the lance goes through a ring the score
for that team is increased by ten points. The team
amassing the highest number of points wins.

A game of Charades may be built around quo-
tations which contain allusions to the foolish. For
instance, "The Foolish Virgin" could be acted out
in a charade. Other possibilities are : "A fool and
his money are soon parted"; "Fools' names like
fools' faces are always seen in public places";
"Wisdom is too high for a fool" ; "A rod for the

DAISY ALFORD HETHERINGTON

697

Daisy Alford Hetherington

On January 8, 1940, Dr. Daisy Alford Hether-
ington, wife of Dr. Clark W. Hetherington, died
in California. Mrs. Hetherington was widely
known as the founder of the California Play
School and as a writer on play schools and other
educational subjects. For the greater part of her
life she was actively interested in the recreation
movement.

fool's back"; "Every inch that is not fool is
rogue" ; "Fools, to talking ever prone, are sure to
make their follies known" ; "The fellow is wise
enough to play the fool, and to do that well craves
a kind of wit" ; "Pennywise and pound foolish."

For the next game the players are scattered
about the rooms. The guest who acts as starter
stands near the center when the game begins. A
non-breakable clown doll is passed behind the
backs of the players as the starter tries to tag the
one who is holding the clown. If the doll moves
quickly and several players make fake motions of
passing it on, the game becomes very exciting. If
several rooms are being used, the leader may have
difficulty in locating the doll, so a tiny bell fast-
ened around the doll's neck adds interest to the
game.

Interspersed with the contests should be all the
old April Fool jokes and pranks which make this
day one which young people look forward to.

The refreshments may be as simple or as
elaborate as desired. Ice cream and cake or sand-
wiches and hot cocoa may be served. If a more
elaborate menu is desired, however, then creamed
chicken, hot buttered rolls, tomato and celery
salad, frozen custard, and individual cakes are
appropriate.

In order to find partners for refreshments, dis-
tribute dunce caps with colored crepe paper pom-
poms fastened at the point. Use two pompoms
of the same color so that partners can find each
other by matching pompoms. After this the
couples don their caps and march into the dining
room to the strains of lively music.

We Play Cards at Our Recreation
Center

(Continued from page 658)

6. Address of President

7. Date of Expiration of President's Term

8. Club Secretary

9. Address of Secretary

SPORTS EQUIPMENT

For Playground and
Recreational Departments

Complete Line of
Equipment for all Sports

THE P. GOLDSMITH SONS, Inc.

JOHN AND FINDLAY STS., CINCINNATI, OHIO

Members of this club, know the conditions upon which
charter is granted and hereby attach club constitution
and by-laws which are so drawn as to meet the require-
ments set forth in form "Application for Charters and
Charter Renewals" dated January, 1940.

We hereby certify this club is not connected with any
organization not under the jurisdiction of the Playground
and Recreation Department.

Club President's Signature

Club Secretary's Signature

(a) Charter Renewal t Check |

(b) Original Application / which \

Approved by :

Chief Director

GROUP WORK INSTITUTE

June 3 — 15, 1940
Western Reserve University

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including credit courses in Principles of Group Work,
The Understanding of Individuals in Groups, and The
Analysis of Program Activities.

A bachelor's degree from a college of approved stand-
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For information address

SCHOOL OF APPLIED SOCIAL SCIENCES

Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio

698

CAMP FIRE GIRLS TURN BACK THE CLOCK

Sckoof <*4ctitntle&

HARRY C. McKOWN. Editor

C. R. VAN NICE. Managing Editor

Subscription
Price

A Journal of Ideas and Projects for the School as a
CHARACTER AND CITIZENSHIP LABORATORY

in which

Student Council, Clubs, Home Rooms, Athletics,
Music, Debate, Publications, Trips, Dramatics,
Assembly, Financing Activities, and Social
Functions make democratic settings and life
situations typical of the American way of living
and working together.

SCHOOL ACTIVITIES PUBLISHING CO.

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TOPEKA, KANSAS

It will be observed throughout this "charter
method" the group is made to feel it is responsible
to the director for its actions and needs to meet his
approval if it is to continue to use the facilities.
Experience has shown that if this is not done,
clubs become careless of the authority of the di-
rector and the Department and they develop an
attitude of ownership toward the facilities and of
right to special privileges and considerations.

Camp Fire Girls Turn Back the Clock

(Continued from page 661)

cake ever to be made without bread dough; and
white fruit cake, a recipe brought from England
in 1800 by a Massachusetts sea captain.

The Nun's Cake was thought to have been first
made by the Abbess of Whitby Abbey in Eng-
land, and its recipe cherished for generations in
great English families. The old recipe was as
follows :

"You must take four pounds of the finest
flower, and three pounds of double-refined sugar
beaten and sifted ; mix them and dry them by the
fire till you prepare your other materials. Take
four pounds of butter, beat it with your hand till

it is soft like cream, then beat thirty-five eggs,
leave out sixteen whites, strain off your eggs from
the treads, and beat them and the butter together
till all appears like butter. Put in four or five
spoonfuls of rose or orange-flower water, and
beat again ; then take your flower and sugar, with
six ounces of caraway seeds, and strew them in
by degrees, beating it up all the time for two
hours together. You may put in as much tincture
of cinnamon or ambergrease as you please ; butter
your hoop and let it stand three hours in a mod-
erate oven. You must observe always, in beating
of butter, to do it with a cool hand, and beat it
always one way in a deep earthen dish."

The Camp Fire Girls marveled at those ancient
cooks who could beat "for two hours together."
The modernized recipe for Nun's Cake used by
them follows:

"One cup butter, one and one-half cups pow-
dered sugar, yolks of five eggs, whites of two
eggs, three quarters of a cup of milk, three cups
pastry flour, two and one-half teaspoons baking
powder, one-quarter teaspoon salt, three teaspoons
caraway seeds, two teaspoons rose water, one-
half teaspoon extract of cinnamon.

ALL THE WORLD'S A BARBER SHOP

699

"Beat butter until soft and creamy, add sugar
and yolks of eggs beaten well. Stir in the un-
beaten whites of eggs and beat one minute. Sift
flour with baking powder and salt, adding alter-
nately with milk. Sprinkle in the caraway seeds,
beat well and add flavoring. Pour into well but-
tered cake tin and bake forty-five minutes in a
moderate oven."

The White Fruit Cake recipe unearthed by the
New England girls is a delectable concoction,
baked in baking powder tins, each cake frosted
separately with boiled icing, then pyramided, and
twined with dark green Wandering Jew or wind-
ing flowers.

At a Camp Fire party held in a Southern log
cabin, the rough-hewn walls were festooned with
red, white and blue crepe paper, and corn was
popped over the blazing fire. Taffy pulls provided
the refreshments for some groups, but the girls
had to be careful not to spot their precious bor-
rowed costumes.

Two of the many clever favors invented for
these Americana parties were old-fashioned bou-
quets made of gum drop blossoms attached to a
paper doily frill with stems of wire thread, and
tiny birch bark canoes filled with candy. Place
cards were shaped like old home books, and red
candles hand-dipped by the girls provided the
light for one feast. Camp Fire hostesses in Min-
nesota used red and white checkered tablecloths
and kerosene lamps for lighting.

Everything old-fashioned isn't funny, the girls
have discovered while giving their parties. Besides
laughing at the quaintness of old songs, games,
dances, and clothes, they have gained a deep un-
derstanding of the charm of these antique cus-
toms. And, incidentally, they have had a won-
derful time.

All the World's a Barber Shop

(Continued from page 662)

erboard pattern that was almost as loud as their
voices. The judges were ex-Governor Al Smith,
Jack Norworth of Harvest Moon fame, and the
writer of this report, serving for the fourth time
in that capacity. There was community singing
by the audience of 12,000, music by the Park De-
partment Band, and an impromptu rendition of
Sweet Adeline and The Bowery by the judges,
with Commissioner Moses himself presiding.

The barber shop quartet contest has now become
one of the most popular forms of entertainment
throughout the country. It is most successful when

As Originally

Developed by
DR. FORREST C.
"PHOG" ALLEN

Director of Physical
Education and Varsity

Basketball Coach

University or Kansas

Lawrence, Kansas

Fills a need in every school . . . Goal-Hi is a new year-
' round indoor and outdoor play-game for boys and girls of
all ages . . . May be played by entire gym classes or play-,
ground groups . . . Official Rules Book by Dr. Allen . . .
Same single piece of equipment may be used in the gym
or on the playground . . . Unexcelled as a stimulating
exercise and as a lead-up game to regular basketball
... It costs little to play Goal-Hi.

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presented in the actual setting of an old-fashioned
barber shop, with proper emphasis on costuming
and under the general direction of an experienced
master of ceremonies, able also to lead the audi-
ence in song and perhaps contribute a musical
specialty to the program. It is best not to let any
quartet sing more than two numbers, and to put
' little if any restriction on the material, so long as
it is of the barber shop harmony type.

That unique institution, Oglebay Park, in

LEISURE:

A National Issue

by Eduard C. Lindeman

A significant pamphlet in which Dr. Lindeman
points out the meaning of leisure in a democracy
and discusses the need, present progress, conflicting
concepts involved, and the next steps in democratic
planning for the leisure of the American people.
12 for $5.00; SOc, single copies

Association Press

347 Madison Avenue
New York, N. Y.

700

ARE YOU PLANNING AN EASTER EGG HUNT?

GOOD
EQUIPMENT
BUILDS
CONFIDENCE!

Your Baseball and Softball
Teams, to be good, need the
confidence which only the use
of good equipment can give
them. "It Pays to Play" and it
pays to buy good bats to play
with. The complete line of
Louisville Slugger Bats for Base-
ball and Softball are shown in
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a copy today to HILLERICH
& BRADSBY CO., Louisville,
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LOUISVILLE SLUGGER BATS
for BASEBALL and SOFTBALL

Wheeling, West Virginia, held a most successful
outdoor contest during the past summer, chiefly
through the efforts of Edwin Steckel and Henry
Schrader, with Crispin Oglebay himself present
as a spectator. The winners of this event were
The Four Little Shavers, and the judges were the
Singing Millmen, who worked for the Wheeling
Steel Corporation. The whole affair went so well
and made such a hit with the audience of 2500
that it was immediately established as an annual
feature of the Oglebay Park musical program.

Individual glee clubs all over the country have
formed the habit of holding barber shop quartet
contests at intervals, one of the best being at Mt.
Vernon, N. Y., under the direction of the late
"Teddy" van Yorx. The University Glee Club of
New York City regularly holds such a contest for
a large cup, originally offered by the famous Ham
Bone Quartet. Last Spring the resonant bass of
"Squire" Barber paced the Jay Birds to a well
earned victory in this event, with half a dozen
quartets competing, all from the same club.

This leads to the final reflection that barber
shop harmony really works in two directions. Any
good glee club should contain the material for
several quartets, with unlimited possibilities for
home competition as well as representation in
various outside contests. But any barber shop
quartet is also the basis for a complete glee club,
needing only a gradual duplication of the four
voices to grow to an adequate size. W'ith a pinch-
hitter for each part you already have a double
quartet, and one more all round really makes it a
chorus. That is why the Associated Glee Clubs
are heartily in favor of barber shop ballads and
all their devotees, and ready to cooperate always
toward bigger, better and closer harmony.

Are You Planning an Easter Egg Hunt?

(Continued from page 670)

the second to those between the ages of six and
ten, while the third included all between ten and
fourteen years of age. This was done in the in-
terest of safety and to provide the smaller chil-
dren with a fairer chance of success. Each group
conducted its hunt in a separate area which had
been especially prepared.

Following the egg hunt, which was brief, the
children reassembled in the center of the park
where they enjoyed egg rolling and various relay
contests. At the conclusion of the children's events
a program was presented for the benefit of the
adults. This included a band concert by the local
Memory Post American Legion band and a num-
ber of sleight-of-hand tricks by a clever magician.

To maintain safety and preserve order among
the large number of children present during the
day, especially around the playground area, eighty
white clad recreation directors and assistants
wearing distinctive arm bands were in charge of
the various play activities. Under the supervision
of an American Red Cross instructor ten first aid
attendants maintained stations in the park. Only
a few minor cuts and bruises, however, required
treatment.

With more than twenty-five miles of good trails
beckoning to them, hundreds of hikers took ad-
vantage of the expert guide service furnished by
the Recreation Department. Others, seeking relief
from a hot sun, found the cool waters of the park
plunge very refreshing, and capacity crowds
enjoyed the pool.

While members of the Recreation Department
dyed the eggs, prepared the areas where they were
hidden and arranged to supervise the program, the

MAGAZINES AND PAMPHLETS

701

success of the event was due to the unselfish co-
operation of the various civic bodies and public-
spirited citizens in San Jose.

The Place of a Hobby Program

(Continued from page 674)

poses of comparison, to note the action taken by
other cities in developing hobby programs as part
of their broader recreational programs. We pre-
sent below the hobby activities of a few cities, as
far as information has been available.

The Cleveland Hobby Program

The Recreational Department of Cleveland in-
troduced hobby activities into its winter program
in 1938. The program includes : model airplane
building, model boat building, rug making, sew-
ing and dressmaking, metal crafts, jewelry mak-
ing, salvage crafts, cement crafts, games crafts,
handcraft, marionettes, all types of dancing, and
music, including choral groups, harmonica bands,
piano, and folk songs.1 Personnel is supplied by
the Works Progress Administration, the National
Youth Administration, and municipal employees,
and is administered by the Supervisor of Girls'
and Women's Activities of the Recreation Depart-
ment. Finances are secured from city and private
grants. Materials are paid for by the hobbyists,
whenever possible.

The Chicago Recreation Commission sponsors a
hobby program which takes advantage of its large
recreation centers. Since its facilities are more
extensive than in most cities, the program is also
broader than the average.

The hobby program in Philadelphia, in contrast
with those of Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Chicago,
is sponsored not only by the public recreation
agency, but by the "Hobby League" of the Play-
ground and Recreation Association, which is a
private organization.2 The program is primarily
for adults, the activities being carried on in one
of the public schools five evenings a week, Mon-
day through Friday. The hobbies sponsored are:
Handcraft, dramatics, piano, playwriting, pho-
tography, home-workshop guild, folk dancing,
contra dances, marionettes, rhythmic dancing,
sketching and painting, coin club, tap and ball-
room dancing, symphony orchestra, mixed chorus,

Magazines and Pamphlets

\ Recently Received Containing Articles of \
' Current Interest to the Recreation Worker (

1 The program was not in complete operation in December, 1938,

when the Supervisor of Girls' and Women's Activities was
interviewed.

2 The scope of this thesis is confined to hobbies sponsored by

public recreation agencies. However, since Philadelphia is
unique in having both a public and a private agency, the
private is here illustrated in contrast with the public. No
consideration has been given to the private hobby groups and
hobbyists in Cincinnati.

MAGAZINES
National Municipal Review, December 1939

"We Thought the Battle Won !" by C. A. Dykstra,
President, University of Wisconsin. A plea for
the development of civic consciousness among all
classes of citizens in a community

The American City, December 1939

'Talking it Over with the Taxpayer." Helpful hints
for forthcoming annual reports

"Recreation on the Reconstructed Bank of the Rari-
tan River"

"Wood Pulp Digester Liquor Used as a Dust Pal-
liative" by Henry W. Young

"Mud Trouble Cured by Paved Playgrounds"

"Why Wellsboro Built a Straw-Hat Swimming
Pool" by J. R. Crosetto, Wellsboro, Penna.

School and Society, December 2, 1939

"Teaching Patriotism in Our Public Schools" by
William H. Johnson

Parks and Recreation, December 1939

"Lighting a State Park" by H. E. Mahan, General

Electric Company
"Trends and Needs in Park Management." Notes

from an address by Gilbert Skutt, Superintendent

of Parks, Los Angeles, Calif.

"Why a Garden Center ?" by Mrs. William G. Mather
"Winter Sports in Northern Cities" by Harold Mott

Camping Magazine, December 1939

"A Camp Program for the Littlest Tots" by Helen
Ross

"Natural History — A Model Camp Activity" by
Herbert Bearl. Descriptions and pictures of Nat-
ural History Museum developments

"Sustaining Interests" by Mary Northway, Ph.D.,
University of Toronto

"Number 10 Tin-Can Stoves and Cookery" by
Harold M. Gore

Journal of Health and Physical Education, December 1939

"Bring 'Em Back Alive!" by Lloyd Shaw. Impor-
tant hints in the development of a program of
square dancing

"Physical Education in the Light of the Social
Sciences" by Samuel Haig Jameson

"Adapted Sports for the Handicapped" by George
T. Stafford

"Is Our Athletic Philosophy Sound?" by William
Ralph La Porte

Camping World, December 1939
"A Camp Budget Outline"
"Oh, I Am Only the Camper." Symposium on

Camping
"A Camp's Legal Responsibility" by Charles

Rosenberg

Beach and Pool, December 1939

"Experiences in Promotion and Operation" by Jack
Mellon. Paper on indoor swimming pools

"Sanitation — the Keynote of Efficient Operation" by
A. John Horn and A. Lloyd Taylor

"Swimming Pool and Recreational Bathing Code."
Rules and regulations of the Wisconsin State
Board of Health

"The Surf-Board as a Medium of Sport and Life-
Saving"

702

IS ARCHERY A SAFE CLUB PROGRAM?

Recreation for Washington, Fall Issue 1939
Service Bulletin, December 1939. National Section on
Women's Athletics of the American Association for
Health, Physical Education and Recreation^
"Connecticut Reports Variety in Play Days"
"Sports and Games for the Small High School" by

Rosina M. Koetting
"Athletic Point System for High School Girls by

Eliza J. Foulke
"Liberty Throw Ball" by Annabelle Ranslem

PAMPHLETS

Annual Reports 1938-1939

Department of Playground and Recreation, Los An-
geles, Cal. ; Chicago Park District, Chicago, 111.
(contains report of Division of Recreation) ; Play-
ground Division, Chicago, 111.; Department of Rec-
reation. Detroit, Mich. ; City Recreation Department,
Pontiac, Mich.; Great Falls Recreation Association,
Great Falls, Mont; Board of Recreation Commis-
sioners, Bloomfield, N. J.; Municipal Playground
Board, Ocean City, N. J. ; Recreation Commission of
Auburn, Auburn, N. Y.; Greensboro Recreation
Commission, Greensboro, N. C.J Bureau of Bom-
berger Park, Bureau of Linden Center, Bureau of
Recreation, Dayton, Ohio; Department of Parks and
Recreation, Steubenville, Ohio; Playground Com-
mission, Hamilton, Ontario; Parkersburg Board of
Recreation, Parkersburg, W. Va.

Study of the Organization of the National Capital Parks
by H. S. Wagner and Charles G. Sauers

A Survey of Recreational Opportunities in Omaha, 1939
Bureau of Social Research, Department of Sociology,
University of Omaha

Portland, Maine, Municipal Activities, 1938
Contains report of Recreation Commission

hiking and nature study, public speaking, music
appreciation, and model boat building.

In Philadelphia, a registration fee of twenty-
five cents is charged, which entitles one to engage
in as many activities as he may desire. The hob-
byists pay for their own materials, but no charge
is made for instruction. The Hobby League
serves, also, as a clearing house and bureau of
information for hobbyists.

Is Archery a Safe Club Program?

(Continued from page 683)

The archery club, though a genuine educational
experience, should not become a course in safety
education. But like many academic fields and
extracurricular activities the club presents splendid
avenues for the teaching of safety consciousness.
One of the finest projects in this connection is the
making of lantern slides in art classes which in
turn could be used for visual safety education
purposes in archery. Diagrams, charts, and draw-
ings can be used as instructional aids also. In
English classes archery club members have oppor-
tunities of writing and giving special talks on
their experiences in archery. In school shops
where archery tackle is sometimes made, safety

procedures in the proper use of tools are part of
the student's educational experience. Bulletin
board displays, exhibitions, assembly demonstra-
tions, and visitation days are but a few of the
many ways a worth-while club can bring attention
to good safety practices.

The answer to the principal's question is, "Yes,
archery can be conducted safely."

NOTE: Mr. Grimshaw, who prepared this article, is a
member of the staff of the Department of Health and
Physical Education of the Springfield, Mass., schools.
He is now on leave of absence at New York University.

Housing and Recreation Cooperation

(Continued from page 68S)

ties have been the result of careful study and plan-
ning on the part of the advisory committee, public
and private agencies, and the Housing Authority
working together cooperatively. The success of
this planning experience was made possible by
housers with interest and experience, in recreation.
Cooperative planning between the Pittsburgh
Housing Authority and other agencies provided
the early emphasis on recreation planning with
its resultant well-integrated program.

Public housing is still in its infancy. Sixty-
three projects financed by either PWA or USHA
funds are now in operation. Over 300 more are
now being developed to rehouse eventually about
160,000 low-income families. Because of the new-
ness of the program, many local housing authori-
ties may be slow to recognize their own needs. Or
perhaps they will be at a loss to know where to
turn for guidance in the solution of some of their
recreation problems. In the light of these factors
the municipal recreation executive, always desir-
ous of serving the whole community, will wish to
do everything possible to cooperate with housing
officials.

Housing officials must be encouraged to accom-
plish their stated aim of "shelter plus." We must
see that the low-rent housing movement provides
ample opportunity for community recreation.
Local housing authorities must have proper or-
ganization of experienced personnel from the
very beginning of project development. They
must also plan cooperatively with other agencies
already engaged in recreation. In so doing, it is
the duty of recreation specialists to appreciate the
objectives of those who are working in the hous-
ing field and to promote in every way we can the
elimination of slums and the construction of low-
rent housing. Let us hope that both recreation

703

and housing realize these opportunities for co-
operative development and make the most of them
for better community life.

Youth's interest in Community
Recreation

(Continued from page 690)

of all neighborhood youth and recreational agen-
cies. They were agreed in feeling that youth as a
group of persons should be vitally concerned and
interested in doing something towards solving the
many problems of recreation and the proper use
of leisure time by youth in local communities.
Another resolution stated that this youth organi-
zation in no way duplicates the services of other
youth groups in Chicago or local neighborhoods,
and that it should be primarily concerned with
the recreational needs of young people and the
coordination of their efforts in the leisure-time
field.

Post Conference Meetings

Following the youth session dinner and pro-
gram a meeting was called by a dozen young
people who had taken considerable leadership in
the planning sessions. At this meeting plans were
laid for future action to be directed at two main
objectives: (i) to make permanent a youth rec-
reation organization; and (2) to bring about par-
ticipation of youth on the Recreation Commission.
Later twenty-five young people representing six-
teen youth organizations came together to plan
for a permanent youth organization. The young
people voted to have appointed a committee on
organization which would set up plans for a
permanent organization, with subcommittees ap-
pointed to consider such matters as name, purpose
and objectives, and plans for community co-
operation. At a later meeting held in December it
was definitely decided to draw up a constitution
and by-laws.

With the cooperation of thirty-five out of sixty
agencies, and with two hundred young people
from all sections of the city enthusiastic about the
plan, it is believed that a continuing organization
of youth is now definitely assured. These young
people will become a service group devoted to
developing recreational facilities and opportuni-
ties for all youth.

NOTE: Since this article was prepared, word has been
received of the formal organization of the Chicago Youth
Recreation Council. The president of the Council and
one other representative have been appointed advisory
members to the Chicago Recreation Commission.

Question:

In a field as crowded and demand-
ing as the teaching profession,
how can one be sure of success?

-By uslng JUNIOR ARTS AND AC-

. TIVITIES, the most helpful magazine
for the teacher who wants to get ahead.

According to thousands of successful teachers who
use it, JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES now ranks as
the best-likftd, the most useful and helpful magazine
published in the interest of teacher and pupil.

Its popularity is due to the wealth of full-page (9x12
inches) project illustrations, accurate and up-to-date
work material, creative activities, units, practical
ideas and suggestions that fill every issue — to its
usable source material and construction work corre-
lating with regular school subjects.

JUNIOR ARTS AND ACTIVITIES adds new features
as teachers ask for them, presents worth-while con-
temporary events in a way that can be used in the
classroom. Such a recent feature is the Admiral Byrd-
Antarctic material that started in the January issue.

And here's an exclusive feature of JUNIOR ARTS
AND ACTIVITIES: Teachers can obtain the same
project material shown in each issue, printed on one
side of the sheet only. This service enables a
teacher to give individual work sheets to each child
— a big time saver for the busy teacher.

You can be the judge. Send in your subscription on
the coupon provided. If, after examining the first
issue, you are not entirely satisfied that JUNIOR
ARTS AND ACTIVITIES will definitely help you and
your pupils, you may cancel your subscription order
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New Publications in the Leisure Time Field

The School Auditorium as a Theater

By Alice Barrows and Lee Simonson. Bulletin 1939, No.
4. Office of Education, U. S. Department of the In-
terior. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
$.10.

THE PURPOSE of this bulletin, Which throughout stresses
' the importance of school planning for community use,
is to point out the functions of the school auditorium,
to describe some of 'the tendencies toward a more or-
ganized use of the auditorium both during the day and
for adults at night, to show how the construction of the
auditorium may help or hinder its effective use, and to
submit suggestions for more efficient planning of audi-
toriums for school and community use. Part II, pre-
pared by Lee Simonson, theater consultant, offers a
wealth of concrete suggestions for the more effective
planning of the school auditorium.

The Folk Dance in Education

By Emil Rath. Burgess Publishing Company, Minne-
apolis, Minnesota. $1.25.

A BOOK FOR TEACHERS in which Mr. Rath has set forth
** the importance of the folk dance in education with
a view of enhancing its use in the public school program.
The monograph is accordingly addressed to students and
teachers of education in general rather than to those
chiefly engaged in physical education, although the latter
may be primarily interested in it. The book concerns
itself mainly with what are known as folk dances, some
of which include song accompaniments. However, a few
other dances that have become popular because of their
appeal to children have been included.

How to Play Badminton

By Herbert L. Fisher, M.A. Burgess Publishing Com-
pany, Minneapolis, Minnesota. $1.35.
|r HAS BEEN the purpose of the author in compiling this
manual, which by presenting adequate illustrations
makes necessary only a minimum of descriptive phrase-
ology, to help those players who are interested in improv-
ing their game and to provide material for instructors
engaged in teaching beginners in the art of playing bad-
minton. Mr. Fisher has included in his manual only the
essential techniques which if mastered will improve the
game of both the beginner and the advanced player.

Housing and the Home

By Hazel Shultz. D. Appleton-Century Company New
York. $2.00.

IF BETTER STANDARDS in housing are to have permanence,
there is need for engendering in the minds of the next
generation concepts of housing as a universal need and
one for which there must be individual as well as group
responsibility. Hence the importance of giving children
m scliool a concept of housing as an effective environ-
ment. This book has been prepared specifically for use in

704

secondary school home economics courses. Designed for
the field of home economics, the book includes material
on home furnishing, which may give it reference value
for art departments. Adult study groups, too, will be in-
terested in parts of it. The book is profusely illustrated
and is full of helpful suggestions.

Holiday Parties

By Dorothy Gladys Spicer. The Womans Press, New

York. $1.50.

AA iss SPICER takes us around the year in this new party
' * * book with its programs for the holidays and special
days of each month. Each party has as its central theme
some festival — folk, patriotic, or religious ; each is com-
plete from invitations and decorations to entertainment
suggestions, favors, and refreshments. Every party is
preceded by a brief account of the occasion it celebrates
and some of the folk customs and beliefs with which the
day is popularly associated. The author has used many
old religious holidays as the inspiration for modern
parties and has drawn freely upon the rich festival back-
ground of superstition, folk tale, and food lore in de-
veloping both the parties and the folk plays they include.

Homemade Dolls in Foreign Dress

By Nina R. Jordan. Harcourt, Brace and Company, New
York. $.2.00.

II ow TO MAKE DOLLS and dress them in the native cos-
tumes of fifteen different countries is the subject of
this attractive book which also gives directions for mak-
ing domestic animals, typical little houses, and other
objects characteristic of each nation. One chapter shows
the Chinese fisherman and his sampan. Others give direc-
tions for making Dutch children and their windmill, a
Mexican boy and his burro, hut, and market.

Woodworking as a Hobby

By Emanuele Stieri. Harper and Brothers, New York.
$3.00.

A-* EXHAUSTIVE, completely illustrated, step-by-step
manual for the amateur as well as the skilled crafts-
man, this volume describes the newest and most efficient
home, power woodworking tools, and their use and care.
Such fundamental processes are included as the making
of joints, finishing of wood, paint removal, and refinish-
ing and remodeling of furniture. Eight chapters are en-
tirely devoted to complete diagrammatic instructions for
making such household articles as shelves, tables, lawn
furniture, cabinets, and lamp bases.

American Skiing

By Otto Eugen Schniebs. E. P. Dutton and Company,

Inc., New York. $3.50.

A BOOK FOR BEGINNERS as well as experts, this volume
** is devoted entirely in content and pictures to Ameri-
can techniques and American terrain. There are over

NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THE LEISURE TIME FIELD

705

330 illustrations including many action shots and movie
strips. The subjects covered include ski equipment, the
building and upkeep of ski trails, organization of ski
centers, ski patrol and first aid, and ski schools, as well
as the technique of ski mountaineering and ski touring.

How to Make Linoleum Blocks.

By Curtiss Sprague. Bridgman Publishers, Inc.,
Pelham, New York. $1.00.

While wood block printing is probably a better medium
of expression for the experienced artist and craftsman,
for the student linoleum has many advantages over wood
as linoleum block printing is simple, reasonable in cost,
and lends itself to many applications. This attractively
illustrated book describes all the processes involved in
this craft from tools and equipment to the practical uses
to which linoleum block printing may be put.

How to Plan a Public Relations Program.

By Mary Swain Routzahn. Social Work Publicity
Council, 130 East 22nd Street, New York. $.50.
As an aid to planning programs of public relations for
a few months or a year in advance, this bulletin attempts
to set down in convenient form questions which should
be answered and check lists of opportunities among
which choices may 'be made. The bulletin contains an
explanation of the terms public relations, publicity, pub-
lic information and interpretation, and has three main
objectives: (1) What Goes Into a Public Relations
Program; (2) Setting up the Program; and (3) a Sam-
ple Program Outline.

Rural Community Organization.

By Dwight Sanderson and Robert A. Poison. John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. $3.00.
Although there is a lively interest in rural community
organization, there has been no book which has brought
together the experience and knowledge of the past twenty
years or more. This book will fill a real need in agri-
cultural colleges which are giving courses in rural com-
munity organization based on the scattered material avail-
able. It will also prove helpful to extension workers,
planning officials, and all interested in meeting the prob-
lems of rural life. In a chapter on Community Projects
some very practical suggestions are given for community
events, community enterprises, and community institu-
tions. This chapter will be of special interest to all
working to improve the community recreational life in
rural districts. Other chapters deal with Organization,
Relationships, Procedures, Leadership, Techniques for
Making Organizations Effective, and similar subjects.

Fun at Home

Kit 48. Edited by Lynn Rohrbough. Cooperative
Recreation Service, Delaware, Ohio. $.25.
Among the games and activities recommended in this
booklet for home play are Ancient Folk Games, Kentucky
Play Party Games, Tennessee Folk Songs, and Group
Games and Stunts.

Guide to the Appalachian Trail in New England.

Published by the Appalachian Trail Conference,

Washington, D. C. $1.25.

Because of the damage done to the Trail by the hur-
ricane of September, 1938, this revision of the Guide for
Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hamp-
shire, omits eighty-three miles of trail from Mt. Moosi-
lauke to the Barnard Gulf Road. Rather than delay the
publication of the Guide, which has been out of print
since early in 1937, it has been decided to issue a supple-
ment as soon as the section of the trail destroyed is re-
opened and data is available. The Guide in its revised
form contains detailed information regarding the trails
and descriptive maps.

Wild Animals.

Compiled by Frances E. Clarke. The Macmillan

Company, New York. $2.50.

In this volume, one of her series of Great Wild Animal
Stories of Our Day, Miss Garke has brought together
twenty-five stories and articles on wild animals of many
kinds. Among the contributors are William Beebe, Dal-
las Lore Sharp, Hal G. Evarts, Bill Nye, and James
Oliver Curwood.

Leisure — A National Issue.

By Eduard C. Lindeman. Association Press, 347

Madison Avenue, New York. $.50.
In this booklet, dedicated to "planning for the leisure
of a democratic people," Mr. Lindeman undertakes an
exposition of the meaning of leisure in a democracy, ex-
plores the implications of a democratized leisure for
social planning, and examines the role of government in
relation to the whole. Mr. Lindeman believes that from
the WPA program there has arisen a body of facts and
experience which cannot yet be properly appraised but
which will be of great value for the future. It is the
purpose of his monograph to indicate how the experience
of the Recreation Division of the WPA may be utilized
for future planning purposes. The booklet will be of
interest to recreation workers and others who have
worked closely with the WPA recreation program.

Officers and Directors of the National
Recreation Association

OFFICERS

JOHN H. FINLEY, President
JOHN G. WINANT, First Vice-President
ROBERT GARRETT, Second Vice-President
MRS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Third Vice-President
GUSTAVOS T. KIRBY, Treasurer
HOWARD S. BRAUCIIER, Secretary

DIRECTORS

F. W. H. ADAMS, New York, N. Y.
F. GREGG BEMIS, Boston, Mass.
MRS. EDWARD W. BIDDLE, Carlisle, Pa.
MRS. ROBERT WOODS BLISS, Washington, D. C.
MRS. WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH, Moline, 111.
HENRY L. CORBETT, Portland, Ore.
MRS. ARTHUR G. CUMMER, Jacksonville, Fla.
F. TRUBEE DAVISON, Locust Valley, L. I., N. Y.
HARRY P. DAVISON, New York, N. Y.
JOHN H. FINLBY, New York, N. Y.
ROBERT GRANT, 3rd, Jericho, L. L, N. Y.
ROBERT GARRETT, Baltimore, Md.
AUSTIN E. GRIFFITHS, Seattle, Wash.
MRS. NORMAN HARROWER, Fitchburg, Mass.
MRS. MELVILLE H. HASKELL, Tucson, Ariz.
MRS. CHARLES V. HICKOX, Michigan City, Ind.
MRS. MINA M. EDISON HUGHES, West Orange, N. J.
MRS. JOHN D. JAMESON, Sugar Hill, N. H.
GUSTAVUS T. KIRBY, New York, N. Y.
H. McK. LANDON, Indianapolis, Ind.
MRS. CHARLES D. LANIER, Greenwich, Conn.
ROBERT LASSITER, Charlotte, N. C.
SUSAN M. LEE, Boston, Mass.
J. H. McCuRDY, Springfield, Mass.
OTTO T. MALLERY, Philadelphia, Pa.
WALTER A. MAY, Pittsburgh, Pa. '
CARL E. MILLIKEN, Augusta, Me.
MKS. OGDEN L. MILLS, Woodbury, N. Y.
MRS. JAMES W. WADSWORTH, Washington, D. C.
J. C. WALSH, New York, N. Y.
FREDERICK M. WARBURG, New York, N. Y.
JOHM G. WIHANT, Concord, N. H.
STANLEY WOODWARD, Washington, D. C.

Recreation

Index to Volume XXXIII

April 1939— March

Administration and Recreation

Month Year Page

Strengthen Your Financial Base!
William S. Packer January 1940 570

Wanted — A Public Relations Coun-
sel, Josephine Blackstock August 1939 279

What About the Bulletin Board?
Ailcenc Lockhart February 1940 599

Appreciations

Business Executive Turns Parks

Administrator, A October 1939 408

Daisy Alford Hetherington March 1940 697

Hugh McK. Landon Honored February 1940 645

Man Back of the Park Executives,

The, Theodore Wirth July 1939 240

Robert Marshall January 1940 564

Charles Nagel February 1940 636

Ferdinand A. Silcox February 1940 645

Philip H. Slocum April 1939 46

Arts and Crafts

Arts and Crafts Fair, An

November

1939

448

Campaigning for Industrial Sal-

vage, Harry A. Burnham

May

1939

100

Craft Program Goes to the Water-

front, The, Marguerite Ickis. . . .

May

1939

65

For Your Arts and Crafts Program

January

1940

581

Hobby Craft Program for Cleve-

land, A, Margaret E. Mulac ....

May

1939

68

Lantern Pageants in the Making,

James Masik

August

1939

261

Metamorphosis of a Milk Cart,

The, Rut h Sherburne

March

1940

676

Shelf Show for Community Crafts-

men, A, Cora Sherburn

February

1940

624

1620 — Pilgrim Activities — 1936,

William G. Final

January

1940

571

"Tonic" for the Craft Shop, A,

Robert L. Horney

January

1940

547

What, Why and How of Hand-

craft on a Small Budget, The,

Ida Jo Fuller

May

1939

99

Book Reviews

Activity Book for School Libraries,

Lucile F. Fargo June 1939 194

Administration of High School

Athletics, The, Charles E. For-

sythe June 1939 192

Adventuring for Senior Scouts,

Boy Scouts of America February 1940 648

Amateur Craftsman's Cyclopaedia,

Prepared by Editorial Staff of

Popular Science Monthly September 1939 368

American Folk Dances, Kit 49,

Cooperative Recreation Service.. December 1939 536
American Folk Plays, Edited by-
Frederick H. Koch December 1939 536

706

Month Year Page

American Skiing, Otto Eugcn
Schniebs March 1940 704

Amusements and Sports in Ameri-
can Life, Robert B. Weaver.... May 1939 119

Barnes Dollar Sports Library, The April 1939 55

Basic Principles of Healthful Hous-
ing, American Public Health
Association June 1939 193

Better Badminton, Carl H. Jack-
son and Lester A. Swan August 1939 311

Bibliography of Nature- Study, A,
Eva L. Gordon February 1940 647

Bird Houses — How to Make and
Where to Place Them, Edmund
J. Sawyer November 1939 479

Book of Indoor Hobbies, The,
Emanuele Stieri December 1939 535

Book Quotation Crostics and Other
Puzzles, Alice Neptune Gale . . . January 1940 591

Boy Scouts Book of Indoor Hobby
Trails, The, Edited by Frank-
lin K. Mathiews May 1939 120

Boys' Club, The, R. K. Atkinson. August 1939 312

Bruce and Marcia, Woodsmen, W .
P. Alexander and Maribelle
Cormack September 1939 368

Budge on Tennis, /. Donald Budge August 1939 311

By Way of Introduction, Jean
Carolyn Roos June 1939 192

"Call to Youth, The," National

Council of Catholic Women April 1939 56

Camp Management, H. W. Gibson September 1939 367

Camps and Camping, Mabel A.
Badcock. A bibliography May 1939 119

Child's Book of Famous Compos-
ers, A, Gladys Bwrch and John
Wolcott June 1939 194

Cine-Sports Library, The, Inter-
national Sports, 1 nc September 1939 367

Color Mosaic Windows, John T.
M organ February 1940 647

Committee in Action, The, Edited
by Ivah Deering May 1939 1 19

Complete Swimmer, The, Harold
S. Ulen and Guy Larcom, Jr October 1939 423

Constructional Activities of Male
Adults, W. Virgil Nestrick,
Ph.D

Correct Toy, The, Edited by Child
Study Group, Raleigh Branch.
American Association of Uni-
versity Women June 1939 195

Costume Book for Parties and
Plays, The, Joseph Leeming . . . . April 1939 55

Cowboy Dances, Lloyd Shaw November 1939 479

Creative Play, Ivah Deering November 1939 479

Curtains Going Up, Albert Mc-
Cleery and Carl Click \ugust 1939 311

Dances of Our Pioneers, Collected
by Grace L. Ryan July 1939 256

February 1940 647

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIII

707

Dances of the Hungarians, Eliza-
beth C. Rearick

Dartmouth Book of Winter Sports,
Edited by Harold Putnam

Dorothy Gordon's Treasure Bag of
Games and Songs

Education for Democracy. Proceed-
ings of the Congress on Educa-
tion for Democracy

Encyclopedia of Knots and Fancy
Rope Work, Raoul Graumont
and John Hensel

Encyclopedia of Sports, Frank
Menke

Facilities for the Use of Workers'
Leisure During Holidays

Finding New Subjects for Your
Camera, Jacob Deschin

Floodlighting Plans for Sports and
Recreation, General Electric
Company

Flowers and Still-Life, Compiled
by J. B. Charles

Folk Dance in Education, The,
Emil Rath

Folk Songs of America, Robert
W. Gordon

Forum Planning Handbook, John
W. Studcbaker and Chester S.
Williams

From Building to Neighborhood,
Abel J. Gregg and Charlotte
Himber

Fun at Home, Kit 48, Edited by
Lynn Rohrbough

Fun with Words, Jerome S. Meyer

Fundamentals of Leathercraft, Ross
C. Cramlet

Fun's Fun, Jeanne Abbott

Games, Dances and Activities for
Physical Education, Fred L.
Bartlett

Games for Rural Schools, Myrtle
Voder Messenger

Garden Fncvclooedia, The, Edited
by E. L. D. Seymour. B.S.A

Girl Grows Up, A, Ruth Fedder. .

Golden Gate Songs and Chorus
Book — for Home and Commu-
nity

Government and the Arts, Grace
Overmyer

Group Instruction in Tennis and
Badminton, Harry E. Edgren
and Gilmer G. Robinson

Group Methods in Vocational Guid-
ance, Louis H. Sobel and Joseph
Samler

Guide to the Anpalachian Trail in
New England

Hand Pupnets and String Puppets,
Waldo S. Lancester

Handbook of Nature- Study, Anna
Botsford Comstock

Handicrafts as a Hobby, Robert
E. Dodds

Happy Birthday to You! Horace
J. Gardner

Health and Physical Education
Class and Record Book, Hugh
Fischer .

Month
July
January
February

Year Page

1939 255

1940 591
1940 647

February 1940 648

September

1939

368

April

1939

55

February

1940

648

February

1940

647

January

1940

592

October

1939

424

March

1940

704

April

1939

55

June

1939

195

September

1939

367

March
October

1940
1939

705
424

July
June

1939
1939

256
193

June

1939

191

September

1939

367

November
June

1939
1939

480
195

June

1939

191

November

1939

479

July

May

March

May

May

June

June

1939 255

1939 120

1940 705
1939 120
1939 119
1939 191
1939 193

November 1939 480

Month Year Page
Health Facts for College Students,

Maude L. Ethredge, M.D October 1939 424

Herbs for Urbans and Suburbans,

Katherine van der Veer September 1939 367

Holiday Parties, Dorothy Gladvs

Spicer '. . March 1940 704

Homemade Dolls in Foreign Dress,

Nina R. Jordan March 1940 704

Housing and the Home, Hazel

Shultz March 1940 704

Housing for the Machine Age,

Clarence A. Perry June 1939 194

How to Build It, Edited by Clif-
ford Peters June 1939 194

How to Build 20 Boats May 1939 119

How to Make a Community Youth

Survey, M. M. Chambers and

Howard M. Bell

How to Make Linoleum Blocks,

Curtiss Spragne

How to Make Music on the Har-
monica, P. V . Planta

How to Organize a Science Club,

American Institute of the City

of New York '. May 1939 120

How to Plan a Public Relations

Program, Mary Swain Routzahn March 1940 705
How to Play Badminton, Herbert

L. Fisher March 1940 704

How to Play Six-Man Fottball,

Henry Barbour and LaMar Sarra December 1939 535
How to Win at Checkers, Millard

Hopper April

Intramural Sports, Elmer D.

Mitchell :.. January 1940 591

Introduction to Decorative ^Wood-
work. An. Herbert H. Grimu-ood

and Frederick Goodyear

Keep Fit and Like It, Dudley B.
Reed, M.D '. . . . Mav 1939 119

Knitting Manuals October 1939 424

Know Your Community, Joanna
C. Colcord July 1939 256

Leisure — A National Issue, Eduard

C. Lindeman March

"Let Me Think," H. A. Overstrcet October 1939 424
Let's Play "The Game," Clement

Wood May 1939 119

Low-Cost Crafts for Everyone. H.

Atwood Reynolds February 1940 647

Mai or Tactics of Checkers, The,
Millard F. Hopper May

Making Good Before Forty, Wal-
ter B. Pitkin September 1939 423

Manual for Christian Leaders,
Young Men's Christian Associa-
tion, ^Dayton, Ohio August

Marblehead Model Sailing Yacht,
A, Claude IV. Horst July

Marriages Are Not Made in

Heaven, Janet Foivler Nelson,

PhD June 1939 194

Meeting the Needs of the Mentally

Retarded, Department of Public

Instruction, Pennsylvania October 1939 423

Modern Basketball, Lon W. Jour-
det and Kenneth A. Hashagen. . November 1939 479

Modern Furniture Making and

Design, Rodney Hooper December 1939 o36

January 1940 592

708

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIII

Month Year Page

Modern Trends in Physical Edu-
cation Facilities for College
Women, Ruth E. Houston June 1939 196

Afore Fun for the Family, Com-
piled by Jerome S. Meyer May 1939 120

Motion Pictures and Radio, Elisa-
beth Laine August 1939 311

Motion Pictures in Physical Edu-
cation, Thurston Adams, Ed.D.. November 1939 480

Motion Pictures in Sports, Elaine
M. Dear, Louise S. Kjcllstrom
and Jenny E. Turnbull November 1939 480

Municipal Index and Atlas 1939,
American City Magazine Cor-
poration September 1939 367

Municipal Year Book— 1939, Edited
by Clarence E. Ridley and Orin
F. Nolting june 1939 196

Museum and Popular Culture, The,

T. R. Adam August 1939 312

Musical Programs, Edited by Flor-
ence Hale ... June 1939 195

Nature in Recreation, Marguerite
Icki* May 1939 119

New York Advancing — World's
Fair Edition, Municipal Refer-
ence Library june 1939 194

1939 Swimming Pool Data and
Reference Annual, Volume VII June 1939 191

Offender in the Community, The
— Year Book, National Proba-
tion Association, 1938 June 1939 192

100 Games of Solitaire, Helen L.
Co°t>s November 1939 480

100,000 Day, Dorothy Ketcham... June 1939 192

One Reel Scenarios for Amateur
Movie-Makers, Edited by Mar-
garet Mayorga june 1939 192

Party Book, The, Mary J. Breen. December 1939 535

Personal Experiences— A Two-Act

Play, Ada Louise Barrett April 1939 56

Persons Participating in Leisure-
Time Activities by Economic
Status, Harvard W. Green August 1939 311

Perspective Made Easy, Ernest R
Lon"ff October 1939 423

Photography as a Hobby, Fred B
Barton July 1939 255

Physical Education in the Ele-
mentary Grades, Strong Hinman June 1939 194

Physiology of Exercise, James H.
McCurdy and Leonard A. Larson September 1939 368

Picture Dictionary for Children,
A, Garnette Wattcrs and 5" A

'....'june 1939 197

Plays for High Holidays, with In-
cidental Music and Dancing
Janet E. Tobitt and Alice M G
Whlie December 1939 536

Pottery Made Easy, John W
Do*9h«rty , Allgust ]939 3U

Power of Dance, The— Dance and
Related Arts for Children, C
Madeline Dixon j llllc ]939 192

Practical Bibliography of Recrea-
tional Activities, A, Compiled by

C. O. Jackson

April

1939 55

Principles of Child Care in Insti-
tutions, Edited by Esther Mc-
Clam and Jessie Charters February 1940 648

Month Year Page

Promenade, Lloyd Sharv July 1939 255

Psychology of Making Life Inter-
esting, The, Wendell White,

Ph.D August 1939 311

Public Problems in Landscape De-
sign, Prepared by Paula Birncr June 1939 194
Puppets — A Handbook of Mario-
nettes, Hamburg, Ncu< York,

Puppet Guild July 1939 255

Quartz Family Minerals, H. C.
Dake, Frank L. Fleener and Ben

Hur Wilson August 1939 312

Rehearsal for Safety, Fanny Fen-
able Cannon * February 1940 647

Romance of the National Parks,

Harlean James November 1939 479

Rural Community Organization,
Dzvight Sanderson and Robert

A. Poison March 1940 705

Rustic Construction, W. Ben Hunt January 1940 591
Safety Every Day, Herbert J.
Stack, Ph.D. and Esther Z.

Schwartz June 1939 196

Scenes for Student Actors, Volume
IV, Edited tvith notes by Frances

Cosgrovc June 1939 194

School Auditorium as a Theater,
The, Alice Barrozvs and Lee

Simonson March 1940 704

Schools in Small Communities.
Seventeenth Yearbook, Ameri-
can Association of School Ad-
ministrators July 1939 256

Selected List of Ten-Cent Books,

Mary L. Morse November 1939 479

Shadow Plays and How to Pro-
duce Them, Winifred H. Mills

and Louise M. Dunn June 1939 191

Shellcraft, Ruth L. Wahwrth... April 1939 55

Short-Time Camps, Ella Gardner January 1940 591
Silk Screen Stencil Craft as a

Hobby, /. /. Bicgelcisen July 1939 256

Sing Your Way to Better Speech,

Gertrude Walsh January 1940 592

Singin' Gatherin', The, Jean

Thomas and Joseph A. Lceder. January 1940 591
Skating, Harold Putnam and

Dwight Parkinson January 1940 592

Skiing, Walter Prager January 1940 592

So You're Going to Do Publicity!
Dorothy S. Cronan and Clara

W. Alcroft June 1939 193

Social Agency Boards and How
to Make Them Effective, Clar-
ence King April 1939 56

Social Services and the Schools,

Educational Policies Commission. September 1939 368
Social Work Year Book 1939,

Edited by Russell H. Kurtz.... 'June 1939 193

Soilless Growth of Plants, Carle-
ton Ellis and Miller W. Sivansey December 1939 536
Some Notes on Amateur Dra-
matics, Elisabeth Moss Palmer. June 1939 192
Sources of Free and Inexpensive

Teaching Aids, Bruce Miller... October 1939 423
Special Events in the Physical
Education Program, National

Section on Women's Athletics.. February 1940 647
Sports Education, Seivard C.
Staley December 1939 535

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIII

709

Sports for the Handicapped,
George T. Stafford

Spring Plays and Programs :
Autumn Plays and Programs ;
Winter Plays and Programs,
Edited by Florence Hale

Stories for Parents, Jean S. Gross-
man

Study of Education in the Civilian
Conservation Corps Camps of
the Second Corps Area, A,
Samuel F. Harby, Ph.D

Successful Stunts, Kit 46, Edited
by Kathcrinc and Lynn Rohr-
bough

Supervision in Social Group Work,
Sidney J. Lindenbcrg

Swimming Pool Standards, Fred-
crick W . Luehring, Ph.D

Table Games, Ray J. Marran

Talks to Counselors, Hedlcy S.
Dimock and Taylor Stattcn

Teachable Moments — A New Ap-
proach to Health, Jay B. Nash,
Ph.D ."

Teaching Wholesome Living in the
Elementary School, Alma A.
Dobbs, M.A

Tennis Type Games, National Sec-
tion on Women's Athletics

Textbook of Healthful Living,
Harold S. Diehl

Textbook of Physical Education,
A, Jesse F. Williams, M.D., and
Whitelaw R. Morrison, M.D...

3000 Books of Leisure, Leisure
Magazine

Time Off and On, Abbic Graham.

Traditional Ballads Mainly from
West Virginia, Collected by
John H. Cos

Training for Championship Ath-
letics, C. Ward Crampton

Understanding Youth — His Search
for a Way of Life, Roy A.
Burkhart, Ph.D

Uses for Waste Materials, Asso-
ciation for Childhood Education

Walking, Camping and Nature
Clubs of America, 1939, Edited
by William Hoeferlin

What Councils of Social Agen-
cies Do, Community Chests and
Councils

What to Do with Herbs, Mary
C. Dennis

"Which Way America? Commun-
ism, Fascism, Democracy," Ly-
man Bryson

Wild Animals, Compiled by Fran-
ces E. Clarke

Wild Country, F. Frascr Darling.

Woodcraft, Bernard S. Mason...

Woodworking as a Hobby,
Emanucle Sticri

World of Plant Life, The, Clar-
ence J. Hylandcr, Ph.D

Wrestling, E. C. Gallagher

Yachting with Models, John Black

Y.M.C.A. and Social Need, The,
Owen E. Pence

Month

July

August
April

Year Page

1939 255

1939 312
1939 56

Year Page

October 1939 424

April
June

July
January

June
April

November
December
June

1939 56

1939 193

1939 255

1940 591

1939 480
1939 535
1939 196

October 1939 423

December
January

September
September

August
November

1939 535

1940 591

1939 368

1939 367

1939 312

1939 479

February 1940 648

October
June

1939 423
1939 192

August 1939 312

March

February

December

March

November

February

October

June

1940 705

1940 648

1939 535

1940 704

1939 480

1940 647
1939 423

1939 195

1939
1939

191
367

Month
You Can Design, Winold Reiss

and Albert Charles Schweiser.. June

Your City, E. L. Thorndike September

"Your Neighborhood Club," Abel

J . Gregg and Charlotte Himber. October
Yours for a Song, Compiled by

Janet E. Tobitt February 1940 647

Youth in European Labor Camps,

Kenneth Holland . . October

1939 424

1939 423

Camping(and Hiking

Dramatics for the Camp Com-
munity, Kate Hall April

May

Rainy Day Programs for Camps,
Dan Dryden and Bill Schafer . . May

Sure Cure for Sunday Afternoon
Blues, A ! Mary Flo Siegal October

To. See What They Can see,
Julia Anne Rogers August

With the Day Camps of Pitts-
burgh, Louis C. Schroeder May

1939
1939

21
91

Clubs

Activities of Co-Recreation Clubs,
Marion Preece

Biking Makes the Headlines,
Lome C. Rickert

"Body Meets-a-Body" in Cincin-
nati, A, Mabel Madden

High School Recreation Club, A,
Jack James

Leadership, Organization and Pro-
gram Making in Boys' Club
Groups

Milk Shake Night Club, Kenneth
M. Storandt

Newark Museum Nature Club,
The, Edward B. Lang

Schenectady's Otyokwa Club,
Alar gar et C. Harrison

Science Indoors and Out,
H. Henry Platt

Shoe Shine Boy, Lee G. Crntch field.

Take the Zephyr Club, for Exam-
ple, Henry D. Schubert

September
January
October
October

April
December
August
October

April
December

1939 77

1939 389

1939 274

1939 95

1939 325

1940 557
1939 387
1939 392

1939 13

1939 505

1939 267

1939 393

1939 9

1939 513

October 1939 391

Community Centers and Recreation Buildings

1939 283

1940 539
1940 563
1939 451
1939 80

Centers for Girls, Ethel Boivcrs.. August

Dover Community School, The,
N. L. Engelhardt January

Education Moves Out — Recreation
Moves In, Thomas W. Lantz. . . January

Growth of Community Centers in

Cape Cod, The, John Bradley . . November

Playgrounds as Community Cen-
ters, Mabel Madden May

Co- Recreation

Activities of Co-Recreation Clu'bs,
Marion Preece September 1939 325

"Body Meets-a-Body" in Cincin-
nati, A, Mabel Madden October 1939 387

Boys and Girls Together,
C. Frances Loomis October 1939 371

Cooperating in Co-Recreation,
Jean S. Bogan September 1939 337

710

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIII

Month Year Page
Co-Ed Events in Bethlehem,

Harriet Larrabec December 1939 503

Milk Shake Night Club, Kenneth

M. Storandt December 1939 505

Co-Education and Recreation in
the Jewish Community Center.

Louis Kraft . 1 " November 1939 457

Co-Recreation at the Recreation

Congress September 1939 357

Co-Recreation at the University of
Iowa, Florence M. Cruickshank

and Katherine Trocstcr ...'.... September 1939 342
Co-Recreation at the Universitv
of Wisconsin, Reuben L. Hill

and Mary MacKcchnic October 1939 402

Co-Recreation in Indiana's Larg-
est Play Plant, James R. New-
corn September 1939 318

Co-Recreation in the Boys' Club,

Elisabeth Morrow McStea October 1939 374

Co-Recreation in the Y.M.C.A.,

Robert E. Laveaga September 1939 331

Co-Recreation in the Y.W.C.A.—

A Symposium October 1939 398

"Come and See Lincoln's Youth

Program," Ruthalcc Holloway. October 1939 377
"Drop In" Room, A, Minna B.

Reichelt October 1939 386

Introducing Bovs and Girls to Co-
Recreation, Eleanor W. Cham-

berlin . . October 1939 394

Evolution of Flint's Co-Ed Nite,

The, Marie Waiters October 1939 395

Experiment in Church Co-Recre-
ation, An, James McKinley October 1939 382

Getting Along with the "Other
Fifty Per Cent," Anne L. New. October 1939 372

In Defense of Courting! January 1940 588

It's Easy to Have Fun! C. Leslie

11 pde graph October 1939 399

Let's Serve Youth! Ethel Bowers September 1939 315
Municipalities Look at Co-Recrea-
tion, The September 1939 321

Plus Experiments in Co-Educa-
tional Camping, Olive L. Whitson September 1939 354
So-Ed Nites at the Tacoma Y.M.

C. A., Royal J. Lindal September 1939 334

Successful Mixed Baseball and
Volleyball Teams, Marguerite

M. Schivarz September 1939 353

"Swing Night," Suzanne D. Cope September 1939 341
Where Cross the Crowded Ways,
Melba M. Mumford and Con-
stance W. Cartmell September 1939 345

Dancing
Class Social Dancing, Arthur J.

October 1939 383

Experiment in Church Recreation,

An, James McKinley October 1939 382

Summer Dances for Teen Ages,

Jena V. Holland October 1939 381

Symposium in Social Dancing, A. October 1939 385

Drama

Different Kind of Little Theater,
A, Ethyl Pine Van Hercke.... January 1940 549

Month Year Page
Dramatics for the Camp Com-
munity, Kate Hall April 1939 21

May 1939 91
Sunbeams for Footlights, F. Ell-

wood Allen April 1939 3

May 1939 .73

Festivals and Pageants

Lantern Pageants in the Making,

James Masik

Larks in Latimer Street, Julia

Anne Rogers

Lasting Spring, A, A. D. Zansig.

May Day Celebrations

Memphis Cotton Carnival, The...
Progress of Dearborn, The, Iris

Becker

Sixth Annual National Folk Fes-
tival, The

"Strong and the Brave, The,"
Catherine Herb .

August 1939 261

July

February

April

May

December

June

May

1939 238

1940 605
1939 5
1939 113

1939 495

1939 189

1939 86

Games, Athletics and Sports

Athletics for Industrial Workers,

Vincent Farrell December 1939 501

Cross-Country Running in County

Parks, F. S. Mathewson January 1940 576

Fourteenth Century Game Comes

to Life, A, Edward M. Ryan... August 1939 295
Is Archery a Safe Club Program?

William M. Grimshaw March 1940 679

Our National Pastime, Vincent

Farrell April 1939 25

Picnic Services, Clark L. Fredrlk-

son July 1939 231

Roller Skating on Tennis Courts,

George A. Fairhead September 1939 351

Rovers' Archery Course in Mil-
waukee, A, Richard G. Brecden May 1939 69
They Want to Play Badminton,

Peter J. Mayers September 1939 352

University Athletics July 1939 248

Volleyball — Popular American

Game, James E. Rogers December 1939 502

Hobbies

Hobbies June 1939 180

Place of a Hobby Program in the
Department of Public Recrea-
tion, Herbert M. Weinberg March 1940 671

Holiday and Special Day

Along Comes Hallowe'en !

Are You Planning an Easter Egg
Hunt ? '.

Christmas in Hartford

Christmas Present to Decatur, A,

R. Wayne Gill

City Celebrates Christmas in

Drama, A, 7. Lee Harne, Jr. . .
Community Christmas Party, A,

Clark L. Fredrikson

Creative Community Christmas, A,

A. D. Zansig

Hallowe'en in Manhasset, Rex M.
Cate

January First — Hospitality Day!.

Celebrations

October 1939 405

March 1940 670

December 1939 527

November 1939 435

December 1939 493

December 1939 487

November 1939 430

October 1939 409

December 1939 499

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIII

711

Month

Year Page

Modernizing the Christmas Legend,

Nevin Nichols December 1939 494

Under the Harvest Moon . . November 1939 462

Layout, Equipment and Facilities

Historic Canal Turned into Rec-
reation Area June 1939 186

Lighting for Night Tennis, Com-
piled by Russell Barthell November 1939 444

Modern Playground in No Man's
Land, A, /. Noble Richards.... May 1939 97

Multiple Use of Recreation Facili-
ties, The, James V. Mulholland. April 1939 28

New Arboretum, A July 1939 246

"Old River," Andy Weaver July 1939 234

Planning for the Future, Glenn G.
Bobst February 1940 611

Playground Beautification, Lloyd
A. Rochford July 1939 239

Sunbeams for Footlights, F. Ell-
wood Allen \pril 1939 3

May 1939 73

Leadership

Institutes as Valuable In-Service
Training, Weaver W. Pangburn

Message to Recreation Workers,
A, George Hjclte

Professional Leadership in the
Field of Public Recreation, H.
A. Overstreet

School of Recreation at Camp, A.

Society of Recreation Workers of
America, The

Training Social Recreation Lead-
ers Can Be Fun ! Ncvin Nichols

February 1940 617

December 1939 511

December 1939 483

August 1939 307

December 1939 510

October 1939 380

Miscellaneous

. . . And the Pursuit of Democracy,

Carol L. Levene March 1940 691

Boystowns for Cleveland Youth,

Fred Kelly November 1939 437

Chicago's Fifth Annual Recreation

Conference February 1940 641

Citizens' Committee Reports, A . . December 1939 529
Housing and Recreation Coopera-
tion Effective in Pittsburgh,

Louis C. Schroeder March 1940 685

Nursery Grows Up, A, Margaret

E. Mulac '..... November 1939 455

Recollections of My Boyhood Days,

Hon. Alfred E. Smith December 1939 512

Three Playground Personality

Stories, Edith Crasto August 1939 296

Trek Back to Che-Pe-Ko-Ke, Jane

Kitchcll August 1939 259

Music

All the World's a Barber Shop,
Sigmund Spaeth March 1940 662

Austin's Symphony Orchestra,

Karl Meyer December 1939 508

Harmonica in the Recreation Pro-
gram, The, Richard H. Aber-
nethy December 1939 506

Music Forums, Margaret H. Letzig August 1939 269

Month Year Page

Recreational Music, Sigmund

Spaeth January 1940 565

Song Along the Wabash,

Karl Detzer March 1940 663

National Joseph Lee Day

National Joseph Lee Day May 1939 59

Spirit of Joseph Lee Day, The... November 1939 441

National Recreation Congress

Boston Awaits You August 1939 291

Exhibits at the Congress October 1939 421

Nation-Wide Interest in the Na-
tional Recreation Congress July 1939 241

Recreation and the National Mo-
rale, Hon. Paul V. McNutt January 1940 543

This Year It's Boston May 1939 101

Twenty-Fourth Recreation Con-
gress, The, Josephine Blackstock January 1940 561

Nature Activities and Gardening

Green Revolution, The, Frederick

Frye Rockwell April 1939 30

Newark Museum Nature Club,

The, Edward B. Lang August 1939 267

To Promote Nature Recreation... November 1939 471

Our National Parks, Philip L.

Seman August

Recreation Activities in State Parks April

1939
1939

Philosophy of Recreation and Leisure

ing!

Mav

Quotations about Recreation

281
49

Education for What ? June 1939 187

Leisure June 1939 190

Recreation and the National Mo-
rale, Hon. Paul V. McNutt.... January 1940 543

Recreation in the World of To-
morrow, Mark A. McCloskcy.. November 1939 427

Planning

After the Fair June 1939 188

Play Space in New Neighborhoods April 1939 35

Ten- Year Park Program, A February 1940 628

Playgrounds and the Playground Program

In Step with the Playground Pro-
cession May 1939 87

Neighborhood Makes Its Own
Playground, A, Lawrence C.
Woodbury April

"On Wings to Fairyland" May 1939 83

Romper Day's Silver Anniversary,
Irene Welty July 1939 230

Travel Tours via Wishful Think-

1939 82

What They Say About Recreation April 1939 20

May 1939 72

July 1939 216

August 1939 266

November 1939 434

December 1939 486

January 1940 542

February 1940 616

March 1940 675

712

INDEX TO VOLUME XXXIII

Recreational Developments in Localities

Month Year Page
Ally the Arts ! Hugh Lacy. ...... November 1939 460

One More Step Forward, Russell

J. Foral March 1940 684

"Places of Children's Joy,"

Dcmitrios Lezos February 1940 631

Ultra Modern Recreation in a

Small Community, William P.

Witt January 1940 551

Rural Recreation
Improving Our Rural Civilization December 1939 517

Safety

Safety for Cyclers, Jessie Schoficld January 1940 559
Safety on the Playground August 1939 273

Schools and Recreation

Dover Community School, The,

N. L. Engclhardt January 1940 539

Education Moves Out — Recreation

Moves In, Thomas W. Lantz. . . January 1940 563
Noon Hour Fun, Edwin L. Hais-

Ict, Ed.D March 1940 665

Recreation for Public School

Teachers, Lcs L. Warren December 1939 498

Social Recreation

Along Comes Hallowe'ei

i

October

1939

40S

Camp Fire Girls Turn
Clock, Nancy Walker

Back-

the

March

1940

6SQ

Community Christmas
Clark L. Fredrikson

Party,

A,

December

1939

487

Folly Party for April
Loie E. Brandom . . .

First,

A,

March

1940

f>54

Lollipop Land Party,
Anne Rogers .

A, /

ulia

Anril

1939

31

Square Dancing is Fun, But —

Teach an Easy One First !

Homer F. Davis

Through Games to Debating,

Paul L. Schwartz

Turn Conventions Inside Out !

Marion E. Godshall

Under the Harvest Moon

We Play Cards at Our Recreation

Center, Louis A. Orsatfi

(See "Co- Recreation")

February
November

March

1940 629

1939 515

1940 601

1939 462

1940 655

Trends in Recreation

Child Development Through Play
and Recreation

National Recreation Association
Looks to the Future, The,
Eugene T. Lies

Recreation for Children in a De-
mocracy, Irma Ringc

Research in Recreation,
G. M. Gloss

Trends in Public Recreation,
Heriot Clifton Hut chins

Trends in Public Recreation,
lira J!'. White .

February 1940 625

April 1939 37

January 1940 553

March 1940 651

January 1940 573

February 1940 609

Water Sports

Month Year Page
Boat Building in the Chicago Park

District, F. E. Kardcs May 1939 63

Calling All Landlubbers ! Olive

McCormick July 1939 213

City-Wide Swimming Program, A,

Max Farrington July 1939 227

Games and Stunts for Water Play July 1939 223

Model Boat Sailing in New York

City's Parks, James V. Mul-

holland July • 1939 208

Model Yachting, Charles E. North,

M.D July 1939 203

Recreational Aspects of Stream

Pollution July 1939 222

Recreational Values of Water,

The, Conrad J. Wirth July 1939 209

Regatta of Their Own, A !

William Bliss Stoddard July 1939 221

Salem Builds Swimming Pools,

Silas Gaiscr August 1939 278

Swim for Health Week May 1939 116

Swimming Pools as a Recreation

Center, A, /. R. Horak. July 1939 211

Swimming Pool as a Recreation

Operation, David McCary July 1939 217

Winter Sports

Annual Winter Frolic, An January 1940 587

Golf and Country Clubs for Win-
ter Sports, Chester C. Conant . . February 1940 621

Growth of Winter Sports, The,

Milo F. Christiansen February 1940 595

Introducing the Snow Artist ! February 1940 619

Is Ski Jumping Dangerous? December 1939 533

Ski Patrols, Jessie Schofield February 1940 598

Skiing in the Rockies, Raymond E.

Phillips February 1940 597

Winter Sports Were Made for

Co- Recreation, Jessie Schofield. September 1939 364

Writing

Playground Paper, The July 1939 235

Writing for Publication, George
M. Roy April 1939 34

Year Book

Community Recreation in 1938... June 1939 125

Tables of Playground and Com-
munity Recreation Statistics . . . June 1939 137

Emergency Recreation Service in
1938 June 1939 170

Service of the National Recreation
Movement in 1938 June 1939 171

Financial Statement — National
Recreation Association June 1939 172

Youth

"Accent on Youth," Robert L.

Homey August 1939 290

America's Typical Boy and Girl.. March 1940 678
Youth's Interest in Community

Recreation March 1940 689

(See "Co- Recreation")