Page from “The Pied Piper of Health.”
In 1920, a contest was held in New York City under the guidance of the Child Health Organization to present plays supporting the “Milk and Child Health Campaign.” The resultant plays were donated by their authors, public school teachers, for republication in an anthology called Health Plays for School Children (1921). The volume also includes a reprint of the short pamphlet “Milk: The Master Carpenter” which was meant to be the inspiration for the plays.
Some of the plays are in verse; some feature large stage presentations, including big props and acrobats; others are more straightforward recitations. The volume is thoroughly illustrated; possibly the illlustrations were meant to provide inspiration for teachers who wanted to present the plays in their own schools.
The plays are all brief and share a common emphasis on the importance of good nutrition, sleep and proper weight for the child’s age. There is an emphasis on the need for balanced nutrition with a strong focus on the importance of milk to proper childhood development.
In an interesting contrast with modern practice, though, the plays and the pamphlet which the Organization initially put out are all concerned with making sure a child gains enough weight rather than, as is often the case today, loses enough. The concern seems to be that a child will not weigh enough for his or her age and height rather than that he or she will weigh too much even with the rather rich diet suggested by most of the plays — low-fat milk, for example, is not mentioned. While one play starts with a child complaining that milk makes her sick, there isn’t any suggestion, as there might be today, that perhaps a dairy allergy could be at the bottom of the problem.
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