Category Archives: Game

Bloody Mary

Nationality: American
Age: 22
Occupation: Pastry Chef
Residence: Napa, CA
Performance Date: April 14, 2020
Primary Language: English

Here is a transcription of my (CB) interview with my informant (AH).

CB: “Can you tell me about Bloody Mary?”

AH: “Yes! So I learned about Bloody Mary when I was pretty little. I think that it was one of my friends in elementary school that taught me about it, but I don’t really remember honestly. But, uhhh…. The superstition was that if you went into the bathroom at night, traditionally you’re supposed to do it at midnight. But you go in and you flick the lights on and off again three times, and you say ‘Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary’ and she’s supposed to appear to you and kill you. 

CB: “So what does Bloody Mary mean to you?”

AH: “Bloody Mary was the very first folklore that I remember. I used to be scared shitless of Mary, whoever the fuck she was…. Oh! No! She wouldn’t kill you right away, her bloody severed head would appear in the mirror, and there would be blood in the sink, and then she would kill one of your family members the next night. That’s what it was!!”

CB: “But why do you think that piece of folklore is important?”

AH: “I just always thought it was kinda a way to keep kids out of the bathroom at night. I don’t know.”

Background:

Bloody Mary is a very popular tale or game that many of my friends and I have heard growing up. My informant and I discussed how the game seems to only ever be played by girls, and is very heavily associated with elementary school bathrooms. We compared versions of the story that we grew up with, and laughed at our fears. I had heard that the ghost was based on Mary Queen of Scots, and that she would haunt young girls because she was killed at a young age.

Context:

My informant called me with stories prepared after hearing that I had been interviewing other members of our family for folklore. We had a fun and casual conversation, exchanging versions of stories that we had heard growing up.

Thoughts:

Bloody Mary is a really common childhood game because it reflects young girls’ universal apprehension about blood and bathrooms. The fears associated with the game also reflect modern social portrayals of bathrooms as a dangerous space. Girls are taught from a very young age not to go to the bathroom alone. I grew up hearing stories about men hiding in women’s bathrooms to kidnap, rape, or murder the women who go in their. Because of this, girls begin to internalize this fear of bathrooms, particularly public bathrooms, at a very young age. This game reveals is a way for girls to channel and address their fears associated with a public school bathroom, often with the protection of their friends.

For another interpretation of Bloody Mary see “The Psychology of Extraordinary Beliefs” published by The Ohio State University. https://u.osu.edu/vanzandt/2019/04/17/bloody-mary-from-the-bathroom-to-the-laboratory/

Miss Mary Mack Hand Game

Nationality: American
Age: 53
Occupation: Respiratory Therapist
Residence: Chico, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

Here is a transcription of my (CB) interview with my informant (PB).

CB: So what was it?

PB: It was a hand clapping song. There were specific hand claps that went with it, and it was for two persons, or three persons. And it was called Miss Mary Mack”

CB: “How did it go?”

PB: “Old Mary Mack Mack Mack

All dressed in black black black

With silver buttons buttons buttons

All down her back back back 

She asked her mother mother mother

For fifty cents cents cents

To the animals animal animals

Jump over the fence fence fence

They jumped so high high high 

They touched the sky sky sky

And they never came back back back

To Mary Mack Mack Mack”

CB: “So what do you think is the meaning of the song?”

PB: “The meaning of the song? I just… I think it was mostly nonsense to be honest. I think it was just rhymy, and she had to ask her mother for the money to go to the zoo basically, and then she fantasizes about the animals who can fly over the fence.”

CB: “Why do you think its important and people do it?”

PB: “I think it connects them with all the people in the group that they’re doing it with. And it can help improve their skill and memory”

CB: “Where and in what context would people do it?”

PB: “Um, gosh you know sometimes, if you’re at like a sporting a event for one of your relatives. Like your sister plays softball and you don’t, or if your brother plays football and you’re bored, then like a bunch of the younger kids would get together to pass the time. They would kind see how fast they could do it, and do it faster and faster each time or in line at school the kids would do it.”

Background:

Miss Mary Mack is just one of many hand games that children grow up playing. My informant actually taught me this game and many others like it. Because the games are so popular and widespread, they are able to connect kids who might have very different experiences.

Context:

I interviewed my informant in person. We were in my bedroom on my bed, and the conversation was very comfortable and casual. I had heard and played the hand game many times beforehand.


Thoughts:

I grew up with hand games being a very gendered activity. Only girls would play the games at school, and as my informant described, girls would often use them as entertainment while boys played the more stereotypically masculine games such as sports. I learned Miss Mary Mack from my mother, but learned other hand games from siblings, cousins, aunts, and my grandma. It often followed the pattern where older women would teach young girls the games. Like Miss Mary Mack, the songs often had no clear meaning but were repeated for amusement. The songs did often have connections to common aspects of childhood, as is seen when Mary asks her mother for permission and money to go to the zoo. I think that these games represent the way that gender roles are passed down through society. While it was never explicitly stated, the older generation’s involvement in sharing these games clearly state that they approve of them. The girls who learn them then learn that these are more acceptable methods of entertainment than other forms of play.

For another version of the Miss Mary Mack hand game see YouTube video “Miss Mary Mack hand clap” uploaded by Tom Cecil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP9V0S51GVo

Children’s Game: The Fart Touch

Nationality: African American
Age: 58
Performance Date: April 22, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following has been transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

“And, there was this really strange one that we used to do. I was just talking to [my brother] about this. We can’t figure out why this was like a ritual. We had to do this. But it was something that we all did and it was something that we had to do. Now, it’s a little gross, but it has to do with flatulence. So, whenever anybody farted, we had to run and touch glass. And if you were the last one to touch a piece of glass then you had ‘the fart touch’ until somebody else farted and you weren’t the last person to touch glass. Then, they would have ‘the fart touch.’

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore in an over-the-phone interview. The informant, my uncle, played this game with his friends and brother while growing up from elementary school to middle school. He is an African American who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio.

Thoughts/Analysis:

This piece of folklore is something that in my informant’s social group would consist of boys. This piece of folklore takes a natural bodily function and turns it into a game. It makes fun of the idea of farting in public and also brings an aspect of shame to farting because of “the fart touch.” This game acts as an outlet for young boys to discuss the human body in a way that is frowned upon by society. It, in a way, encourages farting in public so that the game can be played, but also discourages it with “the fart touch.” A possible reason that the boys had to touch glass is because glass is usually considered a clean object. People tend to clean glass more because it is obvious when glass is dirty. So, touching glass in this case is kind of like cleansing yourself from this “gross” act of farting. It’s interesting that my informant, as he is older, now finds this game that he would weird, and he can’t remember why he would do it. I think a part of the rush why kids would do it is because it would have frowned upon by grown-ups. So, as my informant got older and more inclined to agree with grown-ups about its gross nature, the game would lose its appeal in the same way that fart jokes are seen as immature as you get older.

Children’s Fart Game: ‘Doorknob’

Nationality: African American
Age: 21
Performance Date: April 21, 2020
Primary Language: English

The following is transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

Main Piece:

“So around the time I was in middle school with my friends, we would play a game where….. um I don’t remember the exact rules for…. So if basically, if someone farts and then if one of your friends say ‘doorknob’ before you say ‘safety’ then they get to basically punch you until you find a doorknob and touch it.”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore inside the informant’s house during an interview. The informant, my brother, is an African American male who grew up in California. He learned this game from one of his friends while in middle school, and he recalls enjoying playing with his friends even though he stopped once he entered high school.

My Thoughts:

This piece of folklore which was only played with my informant and his male friends shows a type of policing in order to create proper etiquette, but also makes a natural bodily function into a game. This game polices the act of farting (which is frowned upon in public) by making it okay to punch the person who farted if they do not say “safety” fast enough. It also turns farting into a game by simply making it an interactive game for young boys to play. In this case, the doorknob could represent a type of escape.

Annotation:

For another version of this game see http://uscfolklorearc.wpenginepowered.com/?p=12440

Children’s Games: Paper Football

Nationality: African American
Age: 58
Performance Date: April 22, 2020
Primary Language: English

Main Piece:

The following was transcribed from an interview between the informant and the interviewer.

“We used to play this football game when I was a kid. So, we took a piece of paper, and we folded it up to where it was like this triangular football. And we played it on a table and the table was the field. And you would hit the piece of paper, and I think you had four times, just like four downs in a football game. And if because it’s triangular, if one edge of the little football, was hanging over the table, that was a score.

And if you didn’t get it to hang over, you could kick a field goal. And what the other person would do is they would make like a goal out of their hands. They would take their two thumbs and put ‘em together and then hold their hands up and that would be the goal post. So, you put your two thumbs together to make the goal post and then you would like prop the little piece of triangular paper up, and then take your finger and like thump it through. And depending on where you were on the table it would be a long field goal or a short field goal. So you would do that and if it goes in between the goal, then you would get three points.”

Context:

I collected this piece of folklore in an over-the-phone interview. The informant, my uncle, is an African American who grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He used to play this game all throughout his childhood, and he was taught this game by his friends.

My Thoughts:

This game is meant to be a really cheap version of the popular American game. Not only is it cheap, but it also requires no physical skill, strength, or agility in the same way that actual football does. So, this game is an easily accessible game for people of all economic backgrounds and various physical abilities to play. Since all it requires is a piece of paper, at least two people, and a table, this game was and is an easy way to pass time without a financial or physical barriers.