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We have limited information on the games played by German children at this time. Some photographs taken in the 1950s suggest that boys in Berlin were playing marbles. Hopefully our German readers will provide us some information on popular German games. Many of the games were games played by other German children. We are guessing that there were also games played just by German children or just in regions of Germany. Our information here is still very limited. Hopefully our German readers will tell us about games they played as children.
German children like American children played cowboys and Indians. We see some staged photographs, but quite a few German children seem to have had some Native American coistume items. I'm not sure when this interest began, but it seems to have been a popular game by the early 20yh century. We are not yet sure about the late-19th century. We know that Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show was popular in Germany. Books about Native Americans were popular. Amercan boys generally preferred the cow boy end of the game. We get the impression that German boys preferred to Native American end. We see a lot more German boys dressed as Native Americans than cow boys. Even so, Hollywoof cow boy filns were popula in Germny, at least before the NAZIs. (Films in the 1920s were much more internatonal because silent films could be easily distributed in any country, all you had to do was to chznge the text segments.
We believe German children played hop-scotch, but have few details. We do not know the German name for hop-scotch or if the hop-scotch games were the same as those in America. As far as we know only girls played hop-scotch.
A popular game in the 19th century was horsey. Childrem would pretend to be horse and driver. This might be played with stick horses. Or children might fashion reigns and one or more children would pretend to be the horses and another child would be the driver. Tpy stores even sold play reins. This could be played with a wagon of some kind, but often children played it as a running game without a wagon. After the turn-of-the 20th century, horsey declined in popularity as trucks began to replace horses for transport.
We believe German girls played jacks, but have few details. We do not know the German name for jacks or if the jacks games were the same as those in America. As far as we know only girls played jacks.
We believe German children played marbles, but have few details. We do not know the German name for marbles or if the marbles games were the same as those in America. As far as we know only boys played marbles.
Children in all countries played ring games. These were commonly played by girls and younger boys. Ring games came in endless varieties. They mightbbe played on school playgrounds, on city sidewalks, or even in the country. We do not yet have details on the ring games German children played, but we have begun collecting imaging of the children playing them. We believe that they are now less common than they once were.
Roller skates like bicycles have a long history f development before they became usable and safe for children. This began in Europe (late-18th century). This seems mostly in Belgium, France, and Europe, but not to any extent in Germany. Major advances occured in America making the roller skates safe for mass adoption (mid-19th century). We do not have much information on adoption in Germany, but believe they were in use (late-19th century). The fist actual evident comes after the turn-of-the 20th century. There are issues in Germany with roller skating. That is mainly finding places that roller skates can be used. You needs a lat surface. Many streets in German cites were cobble stone, not suitable for roller skating. In America it was too dangerous for children to play in the streets because cars and truck became so common. Roller skating by children was mostly done on side walks. This s probably the casein Germany as well. But in German, streets that were not cobble stone could be used because cars and trucks were much less common than in America and children might be able to use them. Low income prevented many German and other children from having access to bikes and trikes. Roller skates were an item that most families could afford. They could be use by both boys and girls, although they seem more popular with boys and girls. This was different than America where we see more girls with roller skates than boys.
We have found some images showing German children playing games. In many cases, however, we are not sure just what game they are playing. Perhaps our German readers will recognize some of the games.
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