We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
This 1950's era photograph shows boys and girls playing a circle marble game. Each player would take a turn to shoot target marbles out of the circle. Marbles knocked out of the circle were typically claimed by the shooter unless "playing for fair" rules were in effect.
Despite the diminished number of kids playing marbles, the classic glass spheres are available from many sources. They can be purchased in bulk (by the bucket, jar or bag) or in the pictured vintage tin, complete with marbles and a 20 page book about "how to play marbles." Likely garages, attics, basements and abandoned outbuildings are also good sources for marbles.
The classic position to shoot a marble involves placing a marble in the curve of the index finger, holding the hand on the ground and flicking the thumb to propel, or shoot, the marble toward a target. Some shooters balance the marble on the tip of the index finger and use the thumb to balance and propel the marble simultaneously. Except in rare situations, the shooter must keep their "knuckles to the ground."
My wife recently came home from a yard sale with a bag of marbles. I had not thought about marbles in years. When I was in grade school (the early 1950's) marbles were a major deal among boys. With dirt school yards it was easy to draw a big circle and start a game of marbles easily. It was mostly "boys only" though a few girls did like to shoot marbles.
For readers not familiar with how to shoot a marble, see attached photo. When a shooter hits another player's marble or knocks a target marble out of a circle or square, the shooter typically takes the marble they hit. There are rules and protocols for marble games that players typically follow.
Here's a short primer on marbles and marble games.
A marble is a mini-lesson about history
Every marble has a story: how it was made; where it was made and for what purpose it was made. Early on clay balls and polished nuts were used in games where players tried to get a sphere in a hole in the ground. Clay 'marbles' were found buried with children in Egyptian tombs, suggesting the clay spheres were ancient playthings for the hereafter.
In the early 1600's German craftsmen began to shape and polish semi-precious stones in to spheres, the precursors of modern marbles. By the 1700's German producers were shaping and baking porcelain marbles with painted designs on them. From 1860 to 1903 both Montgomery Ward and Sears sold these decorated marbles. Those low-cost marbles are now high-priced collectibles.
The invention of the 'marble scissors' was the first step toward mass production. The cupped tool was used to snip globs of molten glass off heated rods, speeding up the shaping process. Adding color to and twisting the heated rods created the 'swirl' common in modern marbles. The production of machine-made marbles began in 1900, allowing thousands of affordable marbles to enter the marketplace.
The 'golden age of marbles' was the 1920's and 30's. Cat's Eye marbles, a Japanese creation, added new interest for marble players in the 1950's. Don Berger, in his early 80's, grew up near Zurich. He said, "Back in grade school every boy had a pocketful of marbles, ready to play at a moment's notice." Rita Surber, who began teaching in the early 1970's recalled, "I don't remember kids playing marbles when I started teaching nor later in my career." By the 1970's marble playing had basically ceased in the U.S.
There is still a U.S. marble tournament, for kids younger than 14, held each year in Wildwood, New Jersey. Several specialized tournaments for adult players are held around the country. On Good Friday, in England, several long running tournaments are still held.
Marble games, rules and etiquette
Someone wrote there are "either hundreds of marble games or only three games with endless variations." Marble games played in the U.S. are of three types: 'circle games' where shooters try to knock target marbles out of a circle; 'chase games' that follow the terrain with shooters trying to get close enough to hit another player's shooter (think of a croquet game played around the yard without wickets) and 'hole games' where players try to shoot, toss or roll marbles into holes in the ground. Circle games are most common in the U.S. and in international marble tournaments.
Marble games have their own language to identify types of marbles, rules and proper etiquette for playing. Every region had its own language regarding marbles. Where I grew up playing for 'funsies' meant at the end of the game everyone got the marbles back they lost. In other regions that was called 'playing for fair.' Some schools had rules against playing for keeps as it smacked of gambling. Likely that rule was often disregarded by serious players trying to increase their stash of marbles they won.
One unusual saying in marble games I recalled had to do with avoiding a 'fudge'-allowing your hand to move when you flicked the shooter marble with your thumb. Fudging was a definite no-no as moving the hand while shooting gave an advantage of a more powerful shot. We would yell at a shooter, "Knuckles down, screwballs tight!" Reading about marbles I learned that was a variation of a warning from upstate New York first used in the 1920's. How it got to southern Illinois in the 1950's is curious.
Every player had a favorite 'taw'-a marble used for shooting at other marbles. Don Berger said around Zurich kids liked 'steelies' as shooters. The steel marble was more durable but one disadvantage was if it hit a glass marble just right it could chip or crack the target marble. A typical taw was easily distinguishable and players were careful not to lose their taw to another player.
Are marbles the next 'big thing' for kids?
The short answer is, "Likely not." Ask any kid under fifteen about marble games and they will probably give you the deer in the headlights look, having no idea of what you even asked about. But, people who follow the big national tournament in New Jersey say interest has grown and the numbers of kids trying to qualify through regional tournaments is increasing.
COVID-19 and the restrictions on organized youth sports have also generated some potential to get kids interested in marbles. For grandparents who want to introduce marbles to this generation, first, make it seem like the only way to learn is to master something on one of their electronic devices. Instead of showing them how to play marbles face-to-face, hold a Zoom meeting with them or explain marbles during a Facetime session. If you're a grandparent techie, write a 'marble app' they can use on their smartphone (check first though because there's likely an app or a marble game already available).
If marbles don't do it for the grandkids, try introducing a game of 'jacks.' That's a game old-timers can get excited about. Your biggest challenge will likely be finding one of those cards that held the jacks and ball, all as one deal. Good luck finding that.
