Adults love games just as much as children. Thus, many people came to the secular literary salons of the Russian Empire of the 19th century not only to discuss fashion, trade or political events, but also to have a good time playing active games.
Puzzle or Jigsaw Puzzles: This puzzle game that looks like a mosaic was invented in 1760 by the British engraver and cartographer John Stillbury. The cartographer glued the map onto a thin sheet of veneer wood. Then he sawed it into many parts. It was assumed that this kind of fun would be especially interesting for children, but this pacifying activity quickly fell to the taste of adults as well. Naturally, the more difficult the puzzle pieces were cut, the more interesting it was to assemble it.
Mail with a hat. The so-called post with a hat was a fairly popular game. How was it played? Each of the participants received a small piece of paper on which he wrote a question of interest, then all the sheets were folded into a hat and thoroughly mixed. Participants took turns taking out pieces of paper and, without reading the question, wrote the answer on the other side. The answer sheets were placed in a different headdress. In the finale, all the letters were removed from the hat and read aloud. Naturally, the answers to the questions were extremely ridiculous, loud laughter was heard in the hall.
To Paris for an exhibition. Board games were also held in high esteem. There were quite a few of them, but almost all of them consisted of a playing field, a cube and figures. According to historians, most of these games are a kind of variation of the jib, an old Russian game, the essence of which was to gradually move along the field to the finish line. The points of the moves corresponded to the number on the dice and the passing collection of geese.
Some of the "board games" reflected the travel purpose of that time. For example, the same "to Paris for an exhibition", the essence of which was to get to the capital of France the fastest and visit the exhibition of the achievements of the national economy.
Perhaps the most popular board game has always been Lotto. Introduced into the Russian Empire in the 18th century, it quickly fell in love with many aristocrats. Almost everyone had Lotto. Rainy autumn days and frosty winter evenings flew behind him. It was played for money and often lost fortunes. That is why bingo was banned in public places.
The rules of the game are extremely simple and have survived unchanged to this day. Each of the players receives cards with numbers, the leader takes out small numbered barrels from the bag, they name the number that will need to be crossed out in the card. The winner is the one who scores the fastest horizontal row.
Gambling addiction. Due to the gambling component, cards were banned in many secular salons, and the games themselves were considered obscene. After the next game, a scandal could flare up, which then escalated into a fight. It also came to murders. Addiction to gambling was already known at that time. There were even whole collections that warned young people against such harmful entertainment.
However, both rich and poor played cards, and the games themselves were divided into two types. In some, everything depended on luck, that is, literally anyone could win, in others, the ingenuity and speed of the player's reaction played a key role.
Rhymes, forfeits, burners and other innocent games. Various active games were meant by the innocent. Unlike the card ones, there was not even a hint of simulation, lies and various dirty tricks in them. These included forfeits, players must complete a comic task assigned by lot. Like crowing, jumping on one leg, and so on.
Burners, players line up in pairs and stand one after another. One stands two or three steps ahead of everyone on the line or in the intended circle. This player is called burner, burner, burner, burner. He sings a song, "burn, burn clearly, so that it does not go out, once, two, three last couple, run."On the command to run, the players in the last pair run along the columns, one to the right, the other to the left, in order to hold hands in front of the burner. The burner tries to catch one of them before they join hands. Whom the burner catches, he takes his place. The game continues until all pairs run across from the end of the column. The formed pair is in front, the rest of the pairs recede back. The game ends when everyone has run once.
The burner game was extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It spread to various East Slavic territories and is recorded in many ethnographic sources. It was played not only by children, but also by children before marriageable age. It is believed that children's play has its origins in a very ancient mythical ritual. Perhaps since pagan times.
The song that the burner sings, certified in many versions: "I am burning, I am burning a stump", "I am burning, I am burning an oak", "I am burning, I am burning, I am suffering in the fire." In the old version of the game, there is a whole dialogue between the burner and other players. After the replica of the burner, the phrase “why are you on fire?” Sounds, which is pronounced by the player from the back pair, sometimes all the players together. The last player announced that he wanted to catch the girl, “I'm burning, I'm burning stump. What are you burning? I want a red girl. Which one? You young."
Another not the most mobile, but fun game was rhymes or rhyming. The bottom line, the players sit or stand in a circle. One of them begins to throw a handkerchief at the other, simultaneously shouting out any word. The person on the contrary must definitely catch a handkerchief and come up with a rhyme for the word. The handkerchief moved in a circle and collected funny words. Many tried to come up with complex words, it was extremely difficult to find a rhyme for which, and the result could be extremely unexpected and funny, like a walk - a roll, compote - an antidote, and so on.
Rhymes originated in France around the beginning of the 19th century. The game was called Burime. And they quickly became popular in almost all of Europe. They quickly grew from a game for aristocrats to entertainment for a wide range of the population.
Flying birds. Flying Birds is another no less fun game. Participants had to sit at a round table and put their index fingers on it. A separately designated guide listed animate and inanimate objects. If an object that can fly was named during the listing, participants had to raise their index finger up. If someone was in a hurry and raised a finger on the word crocodile or beet, then they flew out of the game.
The prevalence of certain games changed depending on the era and reflected the cultural trends of that time. Perhaps the most popular have always been card games, with the exception of intellectual ones, which united a small circle of people with identical spiritual values.
After the revolution, the games of the bourgeoisie, aristocrats did not take place in the new proletarian state. Some of them gradually became popular, while others have sunk into oblivion.
