Blind Man's Bluff

Blind Man's Bluff, as the game is known in thse United States, has been played by both children and adults under a variety of names and in a variety of ways for at least 2,000 years. In its most familiar form, the game consists of a blindfolded player who attempts to catch one of the other players who are silently running around, touching and teasing the blindfolded person. Once the “blind man” catches someone, he must identify that person, usually by touching the face and body to see if he can recognize the individual, and, if he can correctly do so, then that person becomes the next blind man.

Though its exact origins are unknown, Blind Man's Bluff has been played around the world for centuries and is known as Blind Man's Buff in England, as La Gallina Ciega (Blind Hen) in Spain, and as Mosca Cieca (Blind Fly) in Italy. The game can be played in numerous ways, and some versions include tying the hands of the “blind man” behind his back, blindfolding all players except one, having the players make the sounds of different animals, [Page 84]and incorporating elements of other games, such as the decreasing number of seats from Musical Chairs.

Blind Man's Bluff reached the height of its popularity between the years of 1837 and 1901, when it was played as a parlor game in Victorian England and America. During this time, the game, formerly played by children, was appropriated by adults, where it developed new meanings and connotations. As a game for adults, Blind Man's Bluff, like many other parlor games, purported to help adults return to the supposedly more innocent and carefree times of childhood, but the physical touching that is an integral part of the game provided adults with a culturally permissible justification for physical contact and flirtation with members of the opposite sex. After all, the rules of Blind Man's Bluff do not specify how much or how little touching is necessary among players, and Guessing Blind Man, one of the many versions of Blind Man's Bluff, even calls for men and women to sit publicly on one another's laps, an action that was only sanctioned in Victorian times as part of innocent and wholesome entertainment.

At the end of the Victorian era, the popularity of parlor games among adults waned, and Blind Man's Bluff was returned to the grammar schools and playgrounds, where the game is often taught to young children. In addition to the amusement and exhilaration that it provides them, Blind Man's Bluff helps children learn to rely on senses other than sight in navigating through their surroundings. Adults also frequently impart Blind Man's Bluff to children with a certain amount of nostalgia for bygone, simpler pleasures and pastimes, but children find ways to add fresh elements to the game that help to keep it current and relevant for them. For example, the water game Marco Polo has its roots in Blind Man's Bluff, and through such evolutions and variations, as well as its earlier forms, Blind Man's Bluff will continue to exist as a game in many children's play repertoires.

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