1914-07-04a

“Six hundred children at play – real play. Can you imagine, Mr. Everyday Citizen, what a babel of hearty, wholesome noise and health-giving laughter permeates the atmosphere in the vicinity of such play?”

          Hamilton Spectator. July 4, 1914.

          At the start of July, 1914, the City of Hamilton opened three supervised playgrounds for the use of city youngsters, places where the children would be provided with fun, invigorating and safe activities during their days away from the classroom.

          Hamilton’s playgrounds were sponsored by the municipal government who paid for the staff, but there was also fund-raising done to help pay for equipment and supplies for the activities throughout July and August.

          To help publicize the need for donations, an invitation went out to all three Hamilton daily newspapers, offering to give reporters a tour of the playgrounds.

          The following is the article written by a Spectator reporter after his tour:

          “If you cannot picture in your mind’s eye just what six hundred healthy, chubby-cheeked children at play really means, then take an afternoon off and inspect Hamilton’s three supervised playgrounds. See you yourself just what these supervised playgrounds mean to the youngsters in the congested areas; ask the boys and girls what they think of the grounds and if they would just as soon be on the streets.

          “You’ll get your answer right smart – and take a little tip from one who knows – the answer will always be favorable to the playgrounds.”¹

               ¹ “Watching the Boys and Girls at Play : Kiddies Have Great Time in Holiday Season : Happy Little Folks Throng Local Grounds”

          Hamilton Spectator.  July 4, 1914.

          The tour of the Hamilton playgrounds for the newspapermen was led by Mr. M. Cummings who had long taken an active interest in promoting playgrounds and by R. Tasker Steele, the man who first promoted the playgrounds’ movement in Hamilton, and who had continued to be the movement’s most committed champions :

          “The Wellington playgrounds was the first stop, and oh, what a scene as the automobile chugged up to the curb. BY actual count, there were 265 boys and girls on the grounds. The littlest tots were not more than ‘knee-high to a grasshopper,’ and then they ranged up to the sturdy lads and lassies of 13 and 14 years of age. In one corner of the grounds, a baseball game was in progress, and though the ball tossers were but mere midgets in size, the article of baseball furnished was really good.

          “At the other side of the grounds, were half a dozen little hammock swings for the little kiddies. Three of the tiny mites of humanity were in slumberland; the other three in the hammock swings just prattled and billed and cooed, while older girls, deputed as guardians, watched over their charges with motherly care.

          “This, in itself, is just an example of the playgrounds’ spirit – the spirit that the men behind the movement are desirous of instilling into the growing youngsters of today, who will the mothers and fathers of tomorrow. Each day the regular supervisors select several boys and girls to act as guardians over the small children. Faithfulness and watchful care in these duties is not unrewarded, for prize buttons are given the most diligent at the end of each week.”¹

               One of the most popular areas of Wellington Street playground was the sandbox:

          “Scientists agree that is one of the most healthful substances know, and that children who play with it will be found free from the majority of local ailments. And, oh, how those children at the playgrounds did revel and roll in the big sand box.

          “Then there were more substantial swings for the older children, giant strides and real sure-enough chute-the-chutes.

          “Everything is kept in perfect order, and cleanliness prevails throughout.”¹

               The playgrounds’ tour next arrived at the John Street playground. This one was a little different in that the playground area was only a portion of a larger  yard used by the Hydro Department and the city’s works department:

          “The employees have taken an active interest in the playgrounds and are always ready to assist and help the youngsters to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

          “To the newspapermen, Mr. Steele confided that it was his dream to see, in the not-too-far distant future, the yard used exclusively for a playground and to have a big swimming pool constructed in the building now used as a stable.”¹

               The third playground, the Wilcox grounds, was also visited and the structured activities which took place there were the same as at the other two playgrounds.

          It was noted that “through the generosity of Mason & Risch, manufacturers of musical instruments, there is a musical hour at each of the grounds in the afternoons. This firm has donated three fine gramophones and supply patriotic records.”¹

               Late in the season, the reporters were told, it was planned to hold excursions to Dundurn Park and to the mountain. It was noted that the women supervisors would take the girls on excursions, then on alternate days, the male supervisors would take the boys.

          The Spectator concluded his report on Hamilton’s playgrounds by saying that he felt it impossible to adequate describe, in only one article, the advantages of the Hamilton playgrounds for the children living in the inner city.

          The reporter invited readers to make their own thorough inspection:

          “On such a trip, one sees the youngsters at their play and hears their shouts of glee, and that which impresses the visitor most of all is the ever-present courtesy and good-humor that goes hand in and with the movement.”¹