World Information

The Cooperative Recreation Service (Precursor to World Around Songs) was founded by Lynn and Kathryn Rohrbaugh in the 1930's. They started when they were in graduate school at Boston University's school of theology. A group of students got together to pool their ideas for church parties, and Lynn edited their first game book and recreation kit. These were so successful that Lynn and Katherine got a Mimeograph machine and went into the publishing business as the Church Recreation Service. In1929 they made a down payment on a farm near Delaware, Ohio (Lynn had been a student there, at Ohio Wesleyan University, converted the barn into arecreation center and print shop, and set up a publishing firm that was to become known all over the world. But success came later. To pay off the mortgage and buy groceries, the Rohrboughs struck out to tour the country as recreation leaders in churches. It was the early 1930's and there was practically no organized recreation in most towns. People didn't have much money, so they put on parties where nothing much was needed but enthusiasm. They taught people some square dances and folk dances and play party games,and everywhere they went they learned more games and songs. Lynn once mused, "One time we drove from Toronto to San Diego and gave a party at some church or hall nearly every night. The pay wasn't so good but we usually had enought to eat, and we collected the most marvelous songs and games. We took the music and the words down where we found them and later put them into print." After 11 years of traveling and party-giving, the mortgage on the farm was paid off and the Rohrboughs could get into the publishing business in earnest. They assembled the music and games they learned into handy, pocket-sized booklets, or 'kits"--"Play PartyGames," "Quadrilles," "Southern Singing Games," "Big Times in Small Spaces,""Ancient Games," "Party Programs." The booklets sold well and the business gradually became know as a source for authentic folk games. Then the Rohrboughs started publishing booklets of folk songs, and soon the firm's reputation spread world-wide. Today the little (3-3/4" by 6-3/4") booklets are known and used across continents. "Music speaks its own language," Lynn said. "You don't have to know the words of a folk song to understand its meaning. That's why music is such an excellent bridge between people and nations." Sources for the songs and games were almost as varied as the titles. Exchange students at Ohio Wesleyan were invited to parties at the Rohrbough farm, and sometimes they knew folk songs or games that could be recorded or published. A retired Norwegian opera singer recorded several songs without charge. Ukrainians in Alberta, Canada sent a number of published songs. A physicist at Oak Ridge trained a choral group and sent several old songs on a tape recording. Often, booklets were traded for tapes,in an international barter system that enabled people in dollar-short countries to replace worn-out song books with new ones. Other songs and games resulted in being recorded from correspondence. In the forty years the Cooperative Recreation Service was in operation it made a disproportionally large impact on the world of recreation relative to its modest size.