General Post

Another ancient game that I remember playing at one of Herbert Rowsell's now legendary parties is General Post. At first sight this fabulous game appears to be just a blend of Blindman's Buff and Musical Chairs but it is vastly superior to both and is long overdue a renaissance.
Line up two rows of chairs facing each other (other chair formations can be tried). Each player is allocated a town which he must memorise because he will 'be' that town for the remainder of the game. Players then choose a chair to sit down upon, except for one who is blindfolded and stands between the rows of chairs.
A further player is picked to be the Postmaster General. The Postmaster General's job is as follows: he calls out the names of two of the sedentary towns, "I want to post a letter to Crewe and Scunthorpe". Upon which command each of those two towns must stand up, clap their hands, and change seats as quickly as possible. If the blindman catches one of them then places are changed, else the game continues. Occasionally, especially if the blindman is struggling, the Postmaster General can shout, "General Post" and all towns must stand up, clap hands, and find a new chair...almost as chaotic as the real postal system but lots more fun.

weird web: photos of American Post Offices (4000+ to view)
strange games no:84...category: party games

1 comment:

bowsider said...

I loved this game as a child - thanks for posting this as I was looking for the rules before my son's party tomorrow!

I remember a few variations - chairs were in a circle - we didn't have the blindfold so there was no need for the clapping. There needs to be a big room available if the blindfold's not going to be used, though.

Around age 9 or so, we also had different kinds of post - so, if the sender wanted to send a letter from Crewe to Scunthorpe, you walked, a postcard, you hopped, a parcel, you went backwards etc etc. Great stuff.