A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve: Studia Ethnographica 4. (Szeged, 2003)

Grynaeus Tamás: Vésztői gyermekjátékok (1953–1961)

Toys front Vésztő (1953-1961) by TAMÁS GRYNAEUS The most popular game with children between the ages of 10 and 12 in Vésztő is sorozás (playing with mud), i.e. making various objects from mud. Older children, girls in particular, are however not supposed to engage in a game like this. Girls are expected to play games more becoming their sex. But while they are still allowed to do so, they relish in the game, showing great ingenuity in making various objects, in particular guns, which are used in a game called pukkantózás (when struck against the ground, the mud gun goes bang). Younger children are taught how to play the mud game by their older playmates. Sitting on the pavement or along the road, they take a handful of mud from a ditch and knead it until it is half solid and assumes some figure. Photos 2-12 show the most common types of 'guns'. What they have in common is that a hole is bored in them. Then they are thrown to ground. Bone colts with matching carts are toys exclusively for boys between 4 to 10, sometimes even older. Bone colts, as the name suggests, are made from horse bone and are either left unpainted, or painted red, blue or black. Equestrian accoutrements are made of strings of various thickness, and harnesses are sometimes made of leather. When a bone colt is finished, it is harnessed to a cart, either on its own or with another colt (Photos 20-25). The cart is loaded and pulled with the aid of the strings, while the horse/horses is/are 'spurred on' with a whip. The study describes two toys that children themselves make. It is safe to assume that the shapes of these toys, their preparation and the terminology associated with them are rather archaic in nature. Hence they can easily lend themselves to comparison with toys popular with related nations and primitive tribes. They are likely to help us acquire a better understanding of mythology and the custom of painting toy horses. 1. kép. Sározó gyerekek 211