Games Betsy Played

In Heaven To Betsy, Betsy and her classmates have fun at the Freshman Party.

"...presently a program of games was begun. Ruth and Jacob, Going to Jerusalem, Bird, Beast or Fish, Jenkins Says Thumbs Up.

"...In the game of Pass the Ring she found herself next to Joe Willard" (Heaven To Betsy, p. 113).

--quotation identification courtesy Holly Davis

Bird, Beast, or Fish

9 to 33 players; indoors or outdoors

Divide the group into teams of equal number. One person acts as the judge. She doesn't belong to any team.

Each team sends one player to the judge, who tells them what animal, bird, or fish they will be. She may say, "Bluejay," or "lion," or Monkey," or any other creature she chooses. She tells the same name to all of the them, very quietly so that the other players cannot hear.

Then the players go back to their teams and try to act out the animal they are supposed to be. The other members of each team have to guess the name of the animal. They are allowed to ask questions, but the answers to the questions must be acted out, not spoken. For example, a girl may ask, "How do you eat?" The player acting out an animal must eat the way that particular animal eats.

The first team to guess wins. Then another member of each team goes up to the judge. She tells them another animal, bird, or fish to act out. The team that comes in first 10 times is the grand winner.

--101 Best Games for Girls 6 to 12 (written at the girls' own reading level). Page 72. ASU's copy is a compilation, Giant Book of Games, with 101 Best Games for Boys, Teen-agers, Party Games for Adults, Stunts and Novelty Games. By Lillian Berson Frankel. (Giant Book of Games. 5 books in 1. Sterling. [1956]

Up Jenkins! (close enough?)

Legend has it that this game originated with a group of Mississippi riverboat gamblers. They grew tired of the constant admonition "keep your hands above the table," and so they invented a game which legitimized the sly passage of a coin.

"Up Jenkins!" requires a long table with two teams sitting opposite each other. One team has possession of a coin which can be passed surreptitiously from palm to palm under the table until, suddenly, the captain of the opposing team cries, "Up Jenkins!"

At this command, all members of the team with the coin must obey by raising their hands above their heads, fists clenched. The coin, of course, is concealed in one of the fists. As the opposing captain give the second command, "Down Jenkins!" all members of the coin-holding team must slap their palms down flat on the table.

Naturally, the sound of coin hitting table will be heard, but who has the coin? The challenging team gets tow chances to guess. Usually the players consult before one challenger (one of the two nearest the captain) points to a player and says: "Show up!" The player thus challenged must raise his hands. If he hasn't the coin, the second challenge is given.

If the challenging team has guessed right, it scores a point and gets possession of the coin for the next round. If it fails to guess correctly, the other team gets a point and keeps the coin for another round. And so on, until one team gets 10 points.

Who was Jenkins? Possibly a Mississippi gambler with chewing gum on his palms.

Hint: to make things difficult use a silver dollar for your coin.

--101 Best Party Games for Adults, p. 22 From the same compilation as Birds, Beasts, or Fish--different "book."

Jacob and Rachel, or Ruth and Jacob

any number of players over 10

All players but tow form a circle, with clasped hands. The two other players are placed in the center, one of them, "Jacob," being blindfolded. The object of the game is for "Jacob" to catch the other player, "Rachel." "Rachel" does all she can to avoid being caught by "Jacob."

"Jacob" begins the game by asking, "Rachel, where are you?" "Rachel" replies, "here I am, Jacob," and at once tiptoes to some other point in the ring, trying to avid being caught. "Jacob" repeats his question whenever he wishes, and "Rachel" must at once answer each time. NO one else, of course, must speak.

When "Rachel" is caught, "Jacob" returns to the circle. "Rachel" is blindfolded an becomes the new "Jacob," being now the one who asks the question, "Rachel, where are you?"

--The Book of Games for Home, School, and Playground. by William Byron Forbush and Harry R Allen. Revised Edition. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1954. Page 24-25.

[My question: how do you choose the next "Rachel"???]

There are "Pass the" games, but no mention of a ring. I've seen two varieties of this.

---

BACK TO Betsy-Tacy Trivia
The Betsy-Tacy Homepage