Places to Play
Curtis, Edward S. "The Hand Game." Photogravure from The North American Indian, 1915. Vol. X, Kwakiutl
The Hand Game, a guessing game played to music, has long been an important part of the culture of native peoples of Canada and the United States. Today, the American Indian Higher Education Consortium of Tribal Colleges and Universities continues the ancient game by sponsoring Hand Game competitions.
Musselman, Virginia W. Home Play in Wartime. New York: National Recreation Association, 1943.
Produced by the National Recreation Association, this volume celebrates personal sacrifices made to support the war. For instance, staying at home to develop family game time was encouraged because it helped save money for true necessities. In this way, tire rubber was reserved for critical business use rather than for personal travel. The idea of the nuclear family at home was thus promoted as central to victory.
Sogioka, Gene. Playing Mahjong. 1943.
This image depicts two Japanese Americans playing Mahjong in the Poston Japanese American Relocation Center in Arizona. In the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks, Japanese interment camps were established to defend against the perceived threat of people of Japanese origin. The Relocation Program: A Guidebook (published by the Department of the Interior, War Relocation Authority, in 1943) states that pastimes such as Mahjong, including non odori, shibai, go, and flower arrangeing—which have no political implications—were freely permitted. The War Relocation Authority also promoted YMCA and YWCA activities amongst youth in the camps as a means of assimilating Nisei (children of Japanese immigrants) into broader American society.
Records of the Japanese American Relocation Centers
National Recreation Association. Home Play. New York, ca. 1945.
Following the victory of World War II , a new culture of optimism and a growing economy helped promote leisure in America. New consumer patterns developed as middle class families moved to model suburbs, purchased labor saving appliances for the house, and ate processed convenience foods. Books such as the National Recreation Association's Home Play promoted the importance of bourgeois family values, reinforcing those values by advocating structured play at home.