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Marbles in the News
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Trying to Find a Game of Marbles
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Original Publication Date: July 19, 2007. Published in The Mississippi Press" Newspaper
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What's the deal on marbles? Do kids even play marbles anymore?
On these lazy, hazy summer days, it's hard not to think back to games played in one's youth. I don't know about all of you, but one of the major backyard games for my group coming up was good old marbles.
You drew the bullring in the dirt and went at it.
There were generally two sets of games going on: keepsies and funsies. My competitive nature drove me to keepsies, which was the earliest form of gambling a lot of us encountered. You could go to school with a bag of 20 marbles and come home with 100 or with none at all.
The bullring was usually about three feet or so in diameter. You played onesies, twosies, and so on, depending on how many marbles you had to put in the ring to enter. After lagging to see who went first, the best man (or lady) won.
Of course, you had to know all the rules and terms: "chicken on the fence", is in (or out), "hard down knucks", "no fudging" and the other phrases were common. Plus, there were all varieties of marbles.
You shot with shooters, toys or taws. Oversize ones were half-pints or bolies. Colors or appearances were noted as cat's eyes, swirlies, steelies and clearies.
I'm telling you, there was a whole subculture to the marbles panorama. You learned hand-eye coordination, how to deal with pressure and decision-making. Most of all, it was a lot of fun.
If I had a nickel for every marbles game I played at Beach Elementary or up and down Oliver Street and Washington Avenue, I'd be a rich man.
So, do kids play marbles anymore?
I really don't know, but I sure don't see them if they do. I taught my kids how to play for old times sake and they got a kick out of it, but never really followed up on it. I hope it's not a dying art.
While we're at it, whatever happened to yo-yo's, tops, and jacks? But, hey, that's a story for another day.
Right now I think I'll go find a good shooter to have ready if a game breaks out.
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This submission was made by Peter Caparelli, NY NY on July 20, 2007
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