Toys and traditional games in the province of Guadalajara (Spain)
The Escuela Provincial de Folklore de Guadalajara (Guadalajara Province School of Folklore) was set up in 1984 with the aim of researching and recovering the traditions and customs of the Province of Guadalajara, Spain. This year we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of a centre created to research and teach the different techniques developed over the years by the different civilizations and cultures that settled these lands over the centuries.
This popular lore is learnt in workshops and classrooms at the school so that it is not lost. The school of folklore is divided into two main areas of work: the crafts area with courses of pottery, enamelling, woodwork, restoring, basketry, bobbin lace, clothing and traditional activities; the music and dance area with classes on dancing, singing, accordion, dulzaina (a somekind of oboe), drum, guitar, lute, bandurria (a somekind of mandolin) and violin. Alongside these activities, the school organizes other cultural dissemination work by means of craft demonstrations in the local villages and music and dance performances by the students under the guidance of our teachers, mainly during the local fiestas in nearby villages.
In addition, the school undertakes archive and research work into documents, songbooks, traditional patterns and designs, which are rescued by the teachers with the invaluable aid of the students. Thanks to this, we have a library, an audio archive and a video archive at the public´s disposal and European university students also contribute.
Within the widespread meanings encompassed by the word folklore, we find the stories told by the old folk to their young ones at bedtime or the games played in the street, activities for young people. It seems that it is now that we have realized that we must respect nature, now, when all toys work with a battery or mains electricity, toys which arrive from afar with the resulting ecological footprint and its by-product, environmental damage. They already knew of old—we had forgotten—that we must respect our environment and live in balance with it. There was a time when everything was more sustainable, toys were made of wood, with stones or with clay and they didn´t pollute. As well as having fun, people learnt to preserve them because there were no supermarkets to buy another one. What´s more, these games were played in the street with all the kids in a group.
We have decided that this Temporary Exhibition in the Virtual Museum of Human Ecology, which celebrates our anniversary, should focus on the fun aspect of games, on the one hand, because of the importance of play for an individual´s development, and therefore of society. On the other hand, because we noticed that within the wide range offered by the museum there was a gap which could be filled by traditional toys, something which the School of Folklore has taken in, preserving, researching, documenting and recovering them.
Toys have accompanied the human journey from the start. The first miniatures date back to 3000 BCE. The ones which have come down to us are made of clay, but clearly there must have been wooden ones and even made of bone. There are also remains of toys made of materials which didn’t resist the passing of time so well, made of horn and animal skins, from the Egyptian Empire some 2000 years later.
Play, as Plato said, is a way of socialising, not just for humans but for other species too, a means of learning. Culture and values are passed on through play, so it is the main channel for learning at an early age. It is an activity with no practical aim, only an agreeable feeling which generates well-being. Aristotle later added a complementary meaning, play as a therapy after work, a healthy remedy to rest and comfort the soul.
Games are linked to human culture. They do not age, but vary according to the life cycle and its educational or recreational purposes. Their variety is as wide as human imagination, ranging from street games, spinning tops, balls to indoor games, dice, board games or games in town squares like skittles and calva (throwing stones at a bit of wood) among others. Younger people played with individual toys, like wooden horses or rag dolls, while adults took part in group games like dice or tejo (like shuffleboard).
Freud sets the origin of play in the first relationship of the child with its carer, and the child categorises people as good or bad depending on their willingness to play, getting closer to those who play because they make the child feel safe. Through play, children develop the ability to use objects and relate to people, free to communicate feelings and wishes.
Open air play areas are places for socialising and passing on knowledge, where children learn to develop their personality. The street and play become the great shapers of the individual. As Albert Einstein said «Play is the highest form of research».
With the selection we have made for this Temporary Exhibition, we aim to show a representative sample of the games which were traditionally played in the Castilian province of Guadalajara. Their simplicity, both in manufacture and in materials or durability, clearly defines the popular culture of the province and its people.
The older photos were taken by staff assigned to the Provincial School of Folklore and belong to the School’s photo archive on toys which have been recovered by the monitors at the school during its 40 years of existence.
This exhibition was coordinated by Miguel Ángel Fernández Auñón with the help of Luis Alberto Larriba Cabezudo, Javier Plaza García, Margarita Blas Guerra and Santos Beato Hernando from the Escuela Provincial de Folklore de Guadalajara. Special thanks go to José Antonio Alonso Ramos, David Serrano, Francisco Toquero Ochaíta, José Enrique Bueno Martín, Félix Nolasco Roche and José López Picazo, invaluable collaborators with their photos and work, which they selflessly donated to the School.
Recommended further reading:
Benito, J.F. 2022. Juegos de la calle en la Guadalajara de mediados del siglo pasado. Cuadernos de Etnología de Guadalajara, 52: 385-400.
Blanco Garcia, T. 1995. Para jugar como jugábamos. Diputación de Salamanca.
Cabrelles Sagredo, Mª.S. La influencia del juego para potenciar el desarrollo infantil en el ámbito educativo (I).
Cortázar, A. 1939. Al margen del folklore: los juguetes y sus raíces psicológicas y estéticas.Humanidades, 27: 345-364.
García Rodríguez, C. (coord.). 1995. Juegosde nuestra tierra. Recopilación de juegos tradicionales de la provincia de Guadalajara. Elaborado con la colaboración de los alumnos del I.E.S. Martín Vázquez de Arce de Sigüenza.
Minguet, P. 2005. Juegos de Manos, ó sea, el arte de hacer diabluras.Edición facsímil de la edición de 1864, editorial Maxtor.
Sánchez Romero, M. 2022.“Los primeros juguetes de la prehistoria fueron pequeñas figurillas de animales, canicas o miniaturas de objetos adulto”. Sinc.
Molinero Sánchez, F. 2010. Colección de Juegos Infantiles: el tirachinas. Museo del Juego.
Tejero Muñoz, M., Prieto Barrera, L., Álvarez Domínguez, P. 2017. Educar a la infancia a través de juegos y juguetes tradicionales: experiencias pedagógicas al aire libre. Cabás. Revista Internacional Sobre Patrimonio Histórico-Educativo,18: 73–106.
VV.AA. 2011. El Ocejón y sus juegos populares. Asociación Serranía de Guadalajara.
VV.AA. 2008. Catálogo exposición. El juguete popular en Guadalajara. Arqueología y tradición, Diputación de Guadalajara.
Villalva Plaza, A. 1991. Juegos populares en la Alcarria Baja. Cuadernos de Etnología de Guadalajara, 17: 95-102.