I found it very interesting that games would be made regarding such a serious matter as slavery was in Uncle Tom's Cabin. I suppose there was an appeal, for those who read and learned from the novel, to have their children partake in its lessons as well. The link I've listed below takes you to a Milton Bradley game that included a mat and multiple buildings and characters that children could place together in order to set up a town or village. The interesting thing is that in one version (listed as the Other Play Village in this link) there are no designations on the mat as to where the different buildings and people should go, but on the one I've listed, their places are already predetermined. I find it very odd that a game derived from an anti-slavery novel would be produced with prejudicial places already mapped out as to where each individual belongs in society. As it says on the site, if you follow the prearranged mat, you basically set up a plantation, fully equipped with the white slaveholder's large home and the slave's lowly quarters.
I like the idea of appealing to children to understand the wrongs in society and slavery by having them set up the village according to their own imaginations and beliefs (imagine what little Eva could have built), but I hate the idea of having predetermined places laid out on the mat. That prearranged village seems to represent everything that Harriet Beecher Stowe was attempting to rid our society of by writing Uncle Tom's Cabin. I suppose it is a good foreshadowing of all the obstacles that African Americans would face in society even after the dissolution of slavery. They may not have belonged to another man, but another man still told them where to sit, where to eat, and which schools, buses, and bathrooms they could use.
http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/utc/tomituds/playvillage2.html
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8 comments:
I like your idea of dispensing with the play mat and letting the children decide where to place the houses. I suspect Tom's cabin would occupy a very prominent place in the town and would no doubt also get the best accessories (i.e. the tree).
Still, the idea of an Uncle Tom's play set seems truly bizarre. But I guess it's no more bizarre than all of the Cowboy and Indian play sets they used to sell. Each a product of their time.
I have to admit, when I think of Milton Bradley, Uncle Tom's Cabin never comes to mind. This is, after all, the company that invented "Twister". What does come to mind is that commercial they played incessantly when I was a kid, "Milton Bradley's got a hot one it's the Twister, spin the spinner, call the shots, Twister ties you up in a knot."
No, I have no idea why I remember that!
Times sure have changed.
Tom
I have to agree with Tom. Reading your description I thought this was the strangest thing to call a game.
I have to wonder though if it was meant to teach kids how bad slavery was or if it was to glorify the days of the plantation and the Old South. Also makes me wonder, how would children portray the characters?
Hey now Tom, don't go dissing one of my favorite games from my youth. I loved Twister!!
Wow, that is an interesting play thing. It does seem very bizarre to all of us, I am sure. Yet, as Tom mentioned, that was a different time and what was the norm then is definately different for us today.
Truly though, even though there are alot of ugly things in American history that we could be ashamed of, we have to look at it as "history". How can we learn to appreciate what we have now and learn from the past if we don't take the time to understand it?
I really liked you example and your post. I like your puppy too!:)
Catherine
please excuse the typos...I can't modify them now...ooopps! :)
That is a very interesting game. It is so strange that they would have a game that would end up going around a plantation. That just seems a little to much to me. I also liked your idea of having the kids decide where the houses should go. It doesn't make much sense to have it predetermined.
This is by far the strangest game that I have ever seen but as Tom was saying it is just a sign of the times. The only way that I see the game could have had a negative impact on the children would be if the parents were over involved with the playing and told them where they thought the cabin should go and passed on prejudices to their children. Other than that it was a game that could help them in learning skills that they may need later.
I agree it is a strange game but I enjoyed reading and learning about it through your post.
This seems like a startling thing to give your children, doesn't it. Still, it's good that this story, with its strong anti-slavery was such a part of the popular consciousness. I imagine that in the right hands this sort of game could be a great tool for teaching children about the ills of slavery.
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