This sundial was situated a neck aching height above a thoroughfare in Florence. It made me wonder when it was put there, and why they chose a rather obscure site. Never mind, we’ll probably never get answers to those questions.
For some reason, the children’s game of the title came to my mind as I looked at this photo. I wonder if they still play this unsophisticated game in any parts of the world?
* For those of you who had an underprivileged childhood, you can recreate this game at your next dinner party: chasing_games Have fun.
Hello World 
I love to come a visit
Just to see the pictures
And feel the distant culture
Thank you for visiting
As always Sheldon
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And, thank you for dropping in, Sheldon.
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I don’t know that game. But, am always wiling to learn something new! 🙂
We played tag, hopscotch, Mother-May-I?, etc. 🙂
HUGS!!! 🙂
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We need to have a blog writer’s Master’s Games I reckon.
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Yvonne I played those rural Saskatchewan games too. How about jacks? I was a master jacks player. 🙂
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No, we never heard of jacks back in pre-history, Sue. Ask your mom if she played them.
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Will do Yvonne. 🙂
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We played “What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?” when we were very small, but I think we probably felt it wasn’t sophisticated enough by the time we really got into hopscotch, skipping, and marbles. I remember marbles as an autumn game here in NZ, and girls played it too. But while I occasionally see hopscotches drawn on the footpaths, marbles and skipping seem to be a thing of the past. Sad, because the rules and language of those games were, as Cynthia recalled, handed down from one generation of kids to another.
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I think we graduated to other tag games like 1, 2,3 Red Light or Mother, May I. The former was an interesting choice, because we kids out in rural Saskatchewan would never have seen a red traffic light, I’m sure.
Someone has surely done their Doctoral thesis on the subject of the genesis and spread of children’s games. It would make interesting reading. Off I go to look online.
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Here’s something about the history of marbles: http://mentalfloss.com/article/29486/brief-history-marbles-including-all-marble-slang
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Kid culture really grows from one kid generation to another—bypassing the adult world. I do remember how spring brought out hopscotch and jump (skip) ropes and I still recall many of the rhymes we used to chant while jumping rope in the girls’ schoolyard…while the boys were playing with marbles.
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And then, there was hopscotch. I still see it chalked onto sidewalks, or scratched into soil in parks.
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I do remember play a game but I forget exactly how the rules went.
I love sundial. Not the ornamental ones but the ones that work. All r eal sundials will have the gnomon (The triangle thing that makes the shadow) made so that the angle is the same as your latitude. So if a sundial was made for you in Brisbane for example and you brought it down to Melbourne it would only be an ornament.
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I tried to make one once, following instructions online. But, it wouldn’t work at night, or on cloudy days. What good is that? 🙂 Oh, and when we changed to DST, it was out by an hour.
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Complaints, complaints. If you’re having so much trouble use a clock.
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OK. Now where did I put those batteries?
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If it’s dark its night time. If you;re hungry it’s dinner time.
If you’re sleepy it’s bedtime.What else do you neeed to know?
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I’m thinking, John.
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Then take a panadol
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Now you want me to be a druggie?
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I remember this from primary school in the 50s, and I suspect it went on into later decades — may in fact still be played. This Wikipedia entry — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What%27s_the_time,_Mr_Wolf%3F — lists some versions and variants from around the world.
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It’s too far back to recall exactly which version we played. Isn’t it interesting how that game was played in far flung places. I wonder how it was spread. It probably travelled with migrant children, no doubt.
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I remember that game! I used to play it in school when I was a little girl. For the life of me though I can’t figure out that sundial.
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And, did the girls start to do skipping games while the boys brought their marbles to school, once spring arrived?
That sundial is not a simple garden variety, is it?
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The girls did do skipping games, but some of them also brought marbles to play with the boys. Until the school banned marbles since kids were getting into fights over them hahaha.
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I wonder if the kids in your home town/city still play these games, or are they locked onto their electronic gadgets.
Some of the marbles were so pretty.
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Yes, children still play the game, at my school anyway. I can’t imagine who thought it was a good idea to put a sundial way up there.
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The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.
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Me, me – pick me! I used to play it even though I never liked it because I always got caught. My kids also knew the game but preferred not to play….. Don’t know if its us or the game. I also played on the jungle gym – but don’t recall kissing anybody!
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Did you go to the same school as Bruce Almighty, by any chance?
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No – but we were educated not that far from each other …….. It’s scary isn’t it 😀
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That explains a lot!
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I never knew the game but I did kiss Christine Rumble once on the jungle gym. Would that count?
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That will do for the time being, B.A.
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I havent heard of the game either-thought you were referring to the character in Pulp Fiction-the clean up guy-who fixes everything. Great picture!
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From kiddy’s games to Pulp Fiction. That’s an interesting leap, Sam.
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Totally Yvonne. 😉
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It was certainly played in the 1940s 🙂
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I remember playing it with my children in the 1960s. In Canada, we had Fox and Geese in the winter, and Anti-I-Over in the summer.
http://www.oneroomschoolhouses.ca/the-games-they-played.html
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Thanks for the link, Yvonne. Anti-I-Over I don’t remember
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It looks as though you need a degree in physics or maths to tell the time on that sundial.
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It looks quite complex, and it’s so high up you really can’t easily make out the details.
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Only if it is available on an ipad or an x-box!
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Now, there’s an idea. We can develop a “What time is it Mr Wolf” app, Andrew. 🙂
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Played that game many a time, but never in Florence!
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Nor have I, Anne, but there’s always a first time.
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No, I have never heard of that game. We used to play spin the bottle. I think it involved kissing or something even more and better.
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Well, this game is aimed at the very young, although I guess we could introduce elements of your game for the more mature participant, Gerard.
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