Bzowica 'airplane game' bullroarer

zabawa w samolot

zabawa w samolot — Polish, 'the airplane game'; the roarer's engine-drone named the play.

In Bzowica in the Ternopil country, in the middle of the Second World War, children played 'the airplane game.' A birch board the length of a forearm went on a braided cord with a round stick for a handle; swung about the head it spun on its own axis, winding the cord tight and then unwinding the other way, and the sound it tore from the air — the boys said — was the growl of an engine. Over a countryside that had real aircraft in its skies, the oldest toy in the world played at being the newest.

Particulars

Object

Birch board 30-35 x 7-8 x 1.5-2 cm with a hole in the upper end, a cord braided of two or three strands, and a round stick handle; swung around the head, the board spinning on its axis, winding and unwinding the cord.

Function

Children's game of 1942-44: whirled around the head, the board roared like a combustion engine — hence 'the airplane game.'