On yon gray stone, that fronts the chancel-door, (church)
Worn smooth by busy feet now seen no more,
Each eve we shot the marble thro’ the ring,
When the heart danc’d, and life was in its spring,
1729 Samuel Rogers
I dug some old marbles recently while digging for vintage bottles. Some of these marbles were made of clay and others were made of glass. These are just small, round, simple objects that were very popular with kids. Is there anything more basic as a few kids playing with these tiny round marbles?
The heyday of marbles was during the late 1800’s and up to the late 1950’s or so. Seniors are likely to have spent many hours playing this popular game. Germany was a big manufacturer of marbles. It is said that the peak interest in the game was during the 1920-1930’s in the United States. No one really knows where marbles originated, however the British Museum in London displays marbles that date back to the Roman and Egyptian civilizations. Marbles were actually found in the ashes of Pompeii and native Americans were also known to play. It is kind of amazing to think that this simple activity had lasting memories for so many and for so long. Seniors may enjoy thinking back to the time they and there friends played with marbles.
As a kid growing up in the 70’s marbles were never really our thing. I can’t recall anyone really playing with marbles. One of the things that we did that was somewhat similar was “scale” baseball cards. Scaling cards for “keeps”was high drama and could get very competitive. I had “won” a lot of baseball cards this way. The rules were simple: line up 10 cards against a wall and stand 6-8 feet away. Now the goal was to knock them down by scaling (flicking your card with your wrist) at the target. The player who knocked down the last card won all the cards that were on the floor. These games are still forever etched in my memory bank. Scaling cards was fun and at times very competitive. I admit I still like to scale a card across a room to show off this well developed childhood skill that still exists!
Playing marbles was also a game that provided kids with a lot of fun and could also be very competitive. The game took on increased intensity when the players agreed to play for “keeps.” One of the most popular games was to make a large circle and use your “shooter” (the largest marble) to knock the “mibs” (the smallest marbles) out of the circle. The winner was the player that knocked all the other players mibs out of the circle. The term “knuckling down” actually comes from the stance and technique of getting low to the ground and using your shooter to knock a competitors mib out of the circle. I can”t imagine kids today finding playing marbles very exciting, but who knows maybe they would. Simple times and simple activities can sometimes make the most pleasurable and lasting of memories.