Introduction:
I have only ever heard of this game as played by Quakers.
Quakers in Britain, where they call it "Screwdriver"; New England
and Maryland, where they call it "Bloody Winkum"; Pennsylvania...but
I've never found it played by non-Quakers. see
letters to the contrary I think this is priddy cool:
us Quakes have this great insane esoteric activity that nobody else does.
Maybe Wink is a sort of subconscious Quaker letting-out-violence thing.
Hey, we're pacifists--how else are we gonna do it? Why not use some
game that's a cross between spin the bottle and wrestling? On this same
tangent . . . anyone ever wonder why Quaker boys are so sword-obsessed?
But I digress! Carrying on. . .
Okay kids, you wanna play Wink?
Are you sure?
Well, okay, but don't say I didn't warn you.
Roight (said in Monty Python tone of voice)! First you will need several
rather silly people who don't mind rug burn (preferably, Young
Friends).
It must be an odd number of people. Got that? Okay. Now, have them all
choose a partner, except for one person, and have them decide upon who
sits in the front and who sits in the back:
Now have all the sets of partners form a circle:
The person left over from the partner choosing is known as the "Winker".
He or she should sit alone, usually cross-legged, and not obscured by
anything:
The Winker then chooses three sets of partners (sometimes more, occasionally
less, depending on how many people you're playing with, never less than
2, rarely more than 4). The front partners in these three sets must
try to get to the Winker and kiss them (on the cheek is usually the
easiest way to go, but anywhere on the head will work). The back partners
must try to stop the front partners from doing this.
When the Winker is finally kissed, the kisser becomes his/her partner,
and the kisser's old partner becomes the new Winker. Thus the circle
of Wink continues. However, the Winker must be rather brave...having
several people trying to kiss you at once may be quite the ego boost,
but also can be rather traumatic.
Rules
There are a few rules which should be observed:
--no technical wrestling moves (meaning: you guys who wrestle on school
teams, you can't use what you know)
--no tickling (this is unfair)
--if someone says "ouch", keep playing
--if someone says "stop", EVERYONE stop playing
--the partners directly next to the Winker are disqualified from that
round (it's too easy for them to win). Depending on the amount of people
you have, this can even be expanded to not letting people two partners
away from the Winker go.
Then there are some "unofficial" rules...
--yell "over!" as loud as you possibly can when the Winker has been
kissed
--yell "first blood!" if you get the first significant rug burn, and
let everyone make a fuss
--try to sit on your partner (it's humiliating)
--try to make your partner go backwards (also humiliating)
--wear tall socks (preferably striped)
--when you're calling on people and aren't sure of their name, call
by shirt color and not by pointing and saying "you".
A special Thanks to Alice Rutherford for creating
this page
I found various descriptions of Wink in old games books,
one from 1909 and one from 1940. The 1940 version has the clearest
description but both were clearly describing the same playing style.
-Cookie
Wink 1940
This is an old timer. In the writer's boyhood days this was one of the
favorites. A party was hardly complete without it. Chairs are arranged
around the room with a man behind each chair. In all but one of the
chairs set young ladies. Each man keeps his hands on the back of his
chair, except when trying to prevent the lady sitting there from leaving
him for the winker. The man with the empty chair makes an effort to
get a partner. This he does by winking. When he winks at a lady she
must immediately make an effort to get up and move to his chair. The
man in whose chair she is sitting tries to prevent her from getting
up. If he puts his hands on her shoulders before she arises she must
stay. The winker keeps at it until he succeeds in getting someone's
partner.
from The Fun encyclopedia, E. O. Harbin, Abingdon
- Cokesbury Press, New York & Nashville
page 160.
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June 13, 2007
Elizabeth P. Schmidt (one of the faces in the picture at the
top) informes me that this Philadelphia Young Friends website with
game rules is referenced in the Wikipedia
free online encyclopedia Wink (Game)
1/18/2007
I received this e-mail from a camper at Camp Galilin
near Camp Onas in Ottsville, PA.
Wink is also quite popular at my Jewish camp in rural
PA! I knew we were near Camp Onas geographically, but I keep finding
out more and more things we have in common!
Sara
I have received several letters
from Unitarian Universalist kids like the ones below, saying how they
play Wink at their gatherings -Cookie
10/13/2004
i'm a Unitarian Universalist kid, and i just wanted to let you
know that my and my friends (and every other UU kid i know of) have
been playing wink since forever. and on your site http://www.pym.org/youngfriends/Pages/wink.htm
it says wink is only played by quakers, so i just wanted to let you
know that UUs play too.
thanx
jAMES cARP
8/28/2004
Hi,
My name is Maia and I loved your Wink page. I just thought you would
be interested in hearing that another religious organization has caught
on to this awesome game! That would be the Unitarian Universalists.
Somehow Wink was spread to us and now most Unitarians know how to play
it ..thanks for such a great game!
~Maia
P.S.If you have any other great Quaker games we should know about, be
sure to pass the word.
| [*WINK*] Sitting, waiting…
The tension watered down
By “Ummm”s and “Errr”s, but still
Tangible, like the carpet beneath me.
Suddenly, a name!
Mine?!
In a flash she is on me.
The room erupts, people screaming.
We struggle furiously, the carpet
Abrading knees and elbows alike.
I roll, inching closer; the shouts
Around me continue, some people
Cheering me on, others pulling
For her and others in the fray.
Squirming to free my leg, I see
How close I am. In one final
Stretch, I extend my being, and
In one perfect kiss, it is
"OVER!!!"
-Hilary
12/29/2005
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