“Kit” 27: The Pocket Magazine of Social Recreation

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“Kit” 27: The Pocket Magazine of Social Recreation found in a briefcase, alongside a number of dismantled puzzles and games

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Inside the cover of "Kit" 27

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The cover of "Kit" 27 (a close-up image)

The Recreation “Kit” and its Editors

There are cues, both textual and historical, that guided the research of the puzzles that accompanied "Kit" 27. The more those cues revealed themselves, the clearer it became that the puzzles may have been utilized for recreational purposes rather than IQ testing.

For instance, on the inside of the “Kit” cover, a call for submission of “play treasures” was out for the public to partake in:

You are invited to share your play treasures in coming issues. Send games, puzzles, program outlines, party reports, stunts, and news to Social Recreation Union, at Delaware, Ohio

At the bottom of the inside of the “Kit” cover, credit was properly given to the editors, Lynn and Katherine Rohrbough. Many references were given elsewhere to the Rohrboughs, especially in terms of their efforts in recreation and leadership. For instance, in his foreword, Kenneth Lewis Heaton, the author of the book Character Building through Recreation: A Training Course acknowledged Mr. Lynn Rohrbough, of the Social Recreation Union, for his help with the manuscript and with planning the training course. Heaton also devoted a chapter to “The Social Party” with a section on “Materials for Social Parties” (1929, p. 68). In that section, it was mentioned that

Mr. Lynn Rohrbough of the Social Recreation Union asked six hundred recreation leaders to send in a list of ten games which each had found most popular for young people’s parties. One hundred and twelve leaders, representing about half the states in the country, sent in their lists. Owing to the kindness of Mr. Rohrbough we are able to reprint this list, which was published in the winter edition of the Kit for 1928

The fact that Mr. Rohrbough, one of the editors of the Kit, reached out to recreation leaders for them to compose a list of the most popular games in youth’s parties and later had that list of games published in the Kit may imply that the puzzles published two years later in the same venue were also used for recreational activities—rather than IQ testing.

In the briefcase, alongside volume VII, issue 3 of the 1931 Kit, the following puzzles, though mostly dismantled, were found: