Rainy day game
What's It Wednesdays
Looking for something to do during these rainy afternoons? Perhaps these will help…
Anyone interested in a game?
ACHC #1999.104.1ab
These are part of a game called Jackstraws.
Dating back to Colonial America, the 45 Jackstraws pieces were often replicas of tools: ladders, rakes, shovels, and hoes.
Here’s how it was played:
To begin, one player holds the jackstraws pieces upright in a bunch with one end of the bunch resting on the playing table, floor, or ground. Then, the player lets go and the pieces fall in a pile.
Taking turns, each player tries to remove a jackstraws piece one at a time without disturbing the other pieces. If another piece is moved, the first player loses the turn and the next player takes a turn. Each piece has a point value, with more challenging pieces being worth more points. The game is completed when all pieces have been collected. The winner is determined by the whoever has the most points.
In Jackstraws, the Two-man saw, Wrench, Ladder, and Key-hole saw are valued at 10 points. The Shovel, Rake, Sledge, Fork, T-Square, Paddle, Axe, Crutch, and Sword at 5 points. The Cane, Arrow, Tamper, Baton, and Pick at 2 points and all other sticks at 1 point.
Sound familiar?
Perhaps you’ve played Pick-Up Sticks?
Pick-up Sticks, Jackstraws, Spillikins, Marakko and Mikado are all versions of the same game.
Sticks typically are between 6.5 and 9.5 inches in length. They can be made from twigs, broom straw (in colonial days), wood, bone, ivory, and plastic. Jane Austen apparently played Spillikins with an ivory set.
The Haida Nation and the Tlingit Nation peoples, The First Nations of Canada, played a similar game as observed by Charles Newcombe, British botanist and ethnographic researcher, in the late 1890’s. The sticks were made of bone and decorated with shells.
The Encyclopedia Britannica notes that “The game is supposedly of great antiquity, perhaps having originated in China.”
The Marakko / Mikado version, using multi-color sticks, originated in Hungary and was brought to the U.S. in 1936.
It seems to be a universal pastime!
I played Pick-Up Sticks as a child and also with my daughters. Do you remember playing the game?