Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun

A SKATING PARTY

A SKATING PARTY Pathfinders, Free Press Prairie Farmer January 16, 1924 Gwyneth Davies (13) Heart Lake, Alta. Dear Pathfinders, We live by a small lake called Heart lake, so I can have many a pleasant skate. We had a skating party here this fall. There were 19 people present. We skated until 11, then we had lunch and played games till 4. I have no brothers or sisters, I am 13 and in grade eight. I ride to school on a pony; his name is Tipperary. I can crochet, knit and embroider. I also like to read. I would like to hear from any girls my own age. Wishing the members a prosperous new year. GAMES OF WAR Fred Greaves recalls his wartime childhood in Vancouver. I entered Grade 1 at Vancouver’s Cecil Rhodes School in 1939, right at the start of World War II. It was a fear-filled time. As a little boy I became acquainted with constant air-raid drills, the buying of 25 cent war stamps, rationing, the ARP (Air Raid Precaution) with constant blackouts and the fearful notion that the walls had ears. The war spilled over into our games. We built cities out of cardboard boxes and had air raids on them. We made wooden guns of the type used in the war. We knew all the types of planes used by both sides because we collected them from the backs of Player’s cigarette packages. The climate of the times seemed to determine the nature of the games we played. The distrust and violence engendered by war was reflected in the competitive (often violent) ways in which the games were played. In our war games we use slingshots and BB guns and at times people got really hurt. Racism was very much alive. Race-based stories abounded. I remember a Chinese gentleman wanted to buy my dog. My 128 Freedom to Play ...