Friday 28 January 2011

Fish Pond Magic


Over 45 years ago when I was a little girl growing up in a one-horse prairie town, fundraisers in the form of Community Hall Teas were regularly held by various church groups and women's auxiliaries. Apart from all the little tables at which tea and dainties were served, there would also typically be a bake sale table, a crafts table, a white elephant table and -- my favourite -- a Fish Pond!

The Fish Pond consisted of a blanket or quilt pinned up high on a wire strung across two supporting poles. For 25 cents, you would be given a little wooden fishing rod with a safety pin at the end of its string. You'd cast the line over the top of the quilt and fish, fish, fish! The lady attending the booth would secretly signal your age group and gender to the lady hidden behind the quilt. She would fasten an appropriate little prize or trinket onto your safety pin. Then there would be a tug on the line, you'd pull it back over the quilt and -- wow! Look at what you caught! It was magic. Pure magic.


These internet photos are of modern-day Fish Ponds, pretty fancy-shmancy compared to the ones I knew, but still homemade! I'm glad to see that even today, kids can get a kick out of such innocent and low-tech fun.

28 comments:

brandi said...

~oh yes...fishing ponds were and still are so much fun...one true thing...there will always be a catch!!! we made one for our oldest first bday party...a carnival theme...and the wee littles fished and fished...i think it was the highlight of the day!!! so atleast i know now if i come for a visit...no boats on a river or lake...one must seek out a carnival filled day! much love light and blessings~

Jeanne said...

Now that's my kind of fishing! :0)

Patsy said...

Aww... I can see how the fishing pond would appeal, especially the nostalgia of it. :o)

Thanks for your concern about my muscles, btw... I'm not injured - just suffering from a mild build up of lactic acid (will wear off in a day or two). Always the same after an absence of proper exercising! :o)

Hope you have a fantastic weekend!

mxtodis123 said...

What a wonderful memory you've instilled in me this morning. I loved the fish ponds.
Mary

Snap said...

oh my goodness ... you jogged my memory ... I think this even existed back in the middle ages!!!!!!! :D :D

Unknown said...

This instantly reminded me about the fishing pond in the movie "Pollyanna". She was at the town fair and did this exact same thing and she got a beautiful doll. I love that movie. So sweet and innocent.


Many smiles and blessings!!!

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

Awwwwwwwwwww precious!

I prefer the one you remember, from childhood. :-)

Hugs and ♥'s...
'Cause Valentine Day is coming!

Wendy said...

Oh my gosh, Debra, I used to visit a favorite "Fishing Blanket" too, lol..I love yours, wouldn't that be fun to make one?

turquoisemoon said...

Boy you sure triggered a memory from the past. I haven't thought of this in years. I remember my boy's school carnivals...wow!!!

SUZY8-TRACK said...

I've never seen anything like that before, but its very cute!

Blueberry said...

I seem to remember this from the country fairs ages ago. I hope that the kids still love the kind of prizes they catch here. I wonder how many quarters it takes to fish now?

Jim said...

Oh those memories at ST.Joseph's Church Hall Fall Fair! Yes it was like magic Debra! Good to see that some kids still like the 'simple' uncomplicated things.

DB Stewart said...

Good memories.

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

Wow, I so remember this from my childhood too! What a great trip down memory lane.

Cheers!

My Grama's Soul said...

I am so glad to see there is still entertainment for kids out there that does not involve texting, twittering, rapid use of the thumbs, etc. (O:

Jo

Miss Robyn said...

what an absolutely brilliant idea!!!! never heard of it.. but will keep it in my memory incase I am ever involved in fundraising again..
I love childhood memories :)

Dancing With Fey said...

That looks so neat. :)

Tara said...

My kids used to love those! Sadly, they're far too grown for silly things like that now. Yanno, cause they're 9 and all, lol.

laughingwolf said...

i loved em as well, deb... they sure have evolved, like you say :)

yellowdoggranny said...

the tale tellers have them at every one of their story hours. I love it and the TT's enjoy it as much as the kids.

Tempo said...

never heard of this...here in Oz (Australia) we dont have this tradition..and 'dainties' are womens underwear..I guess youre talking cake? Tea and dainties?..chewy but interesting.

Magaly Guerrero said...

I caught Nemo! Now if I wait long enough I can probably swim (in space) with the Discworld turtle.

This is lovely. I think I'll try it with my nieces.

Suzie said...

Oh my! I had forgotten all about the fish pond at our local school carnival!

Just the other night, I was telling hubby about how grand my school carnival was each year. .a two story school, and every room had some activity going on in it, with chicken dinners or barbeque dinners going on in the gym .cake walk, movies, ring toss, bingo, etc. and I forgot the fish pond! The parents had one quilt after another strung up continuously, the whole length of the room. .there were LOTS of little fisherpeople. .and as I seem to remember now, lots of tangled lines too! lol

It is nice to see that little ones today are still enjoying something so simple (whomever painted the Nemo characters did a pretty good job!).

Thanks for jogging my memory to such a fun time!

Unknown said...

I've never seen that before. We used to have fishing rods and fish with magnets at fetes when I was a kid. You way is much more magical :-)

Wendy said...

We have lots of small-town fundraisers around here but I've never seen a fish pond. We used to do a family fun night fundraiser at a school I taught at in Calgary and I used to dress up in a head scarf and giant hoop earrings and tell fortunes all night--lots of fun!

Laura said...

:)

Anonymous said...

I am giggling at the wooden thingymajiggys on the top of the last picture - Oh my, I do laugh when those little fish sing... But then I haven't grown up yet!

Andrea on Third Street said...

I, too, have fond memories of our community's 'Fun Day' fish pond. Crazy how the simplist things seems so magical and wonderful when we were kids!