Whatever happens, you don’t want to lose these!
What's It Wednesdays
We have a variety of marbles in our collection. Some are handmade of clay, some stone and others glass.
ACHC #1984.273.1
ACHC #1984.274.1
Marbles dating to 2500 BCE were found in archaeological sites of the Indus Valley Civilization in South Asia, as well as sites of Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt. Early marbles were usually of stone or clay, though Roman literature mentions a game using walnuts. The game of marbles appeared in Europe and Britain in medieval times. In 1503, in Nuremberg, Germany, marbles was so popular that play was limited to a meadow outside of town.
It wasn’t until 1884 that the mass production of marbles made the game more widely popular. Sam Dyke of Akron, Ohio invented a process where a wooden paddle was manually rolled over 6 small lumps of clay that were positioned in a grooved block of wood. This allowed his 350 workers to make a million marbles a day. It brought the cost of marbles down to a penny a bag of 30 marbles instead of a penny each.
ACHC #1984.275.1
Then in 1915, M.F. Christensen, also in Akron, invented a process to mass produce glass marbles. His process was so successful that it put Akron on the map as the Marble Capital of America. The process for making marbles hasn’t changed much since. Although now there are no more marble factories in Akron. Marble King, Inc. in Paden City, West Virginia is the only US company still producing marbles.
There are many games using marbles. The most common marble game, Ringers, starts with a 10’ ft diameter ring on a flat surface. Two players position 13 small marbles (ducks) in an x in the center of the ring. Then the first player tries to shoot the ducks out of the circle. This is done by the player positioning a fist on the ground just behind the shooter and flicking a finger to send the shooter into the ducks to scatter them. Each small marble that leaves the circle is worth a point. A player’s turn ends when the shooter leaves the circle. When all 13 marbles have been shot outside the circle, the points are tallied, and the marbles reset. The game ends when a player reaches 50 points.
The game comes with its own lingo – shooters and ducks, knuckle down (which is putting your hand in position to shoot a marble so you keep at least one knuckle on the ground at all times), aggies (marbles made from agates), cat’s eye (glass marbles with colorful designs in the center), fudging (a minor way to cheat), and dead duck, which is an easy shot. And then there's the dreaded Keepsies when the winner keeps all the marbles!
Playing marbles was a popular childhood pastime in the early half of 1900’s. There was a comeback during the 1970’s. Although not as popular as it once was, Ringers is still played today. The National Marbles Tournament, started in 1922, is still played annually in Wildwood, New Jersey. Children ages 7-15 play over 1200 games in 4 days for scholarships and bragging rights as National Marble Champions.
Do you remember playing marbles? Hope you still have your marbles!