W H A T I S

Tac-o-Tac?

Collaborative Art

When the girls were little, one of the Palmatier family's favorite restaurant games was "Squiggles": Player One draws a random shape on a piece of paper. The shape, called a squiggle, should be small, and its lines shouldn't cross. Pen and paper are passed to Player Two, who is challenged to turn the squiggle into a recognizable something. Any orientation of the paper is permitted. The finished drawing is shown around the table to applause and laughter. Player Two then makes a squiggle and passes it back to Player One. Repeat until food arrives. I got this game from my childhood spent watching local LA kiddy shows -- specifically The Popeye Show, hosted by Tom Hatten (who later hosted Family Film Festival on KTLA channel 5 when my kids were growing up). Every weekday, he'd have a couple of kids on as guests. They'd stand at nice, big easels and compete to make the best drawing of a weird shape -- a squiggle -- that Tom had made up. Each kid specified where and how big to make the squiggle on his paper, Tom would draw it there, and then they were off. While we at home watched Popeye cartoons, they worked on their drawings. At the end of the show, the least awful artist won a prize. YES, BUT WHAT'S THAT GOT TO DO WITH TAC-O-TAC?

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This page last updated on 10 January 2000.

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