Marble Games

Games

In Early America these games helped children learn skills that they would need later in life as a farmers and parents. Games taught children how to aim and throw, how to solve problems and do things with their hands, and how to follow directions and rules. They also leaned to be fair, to wait their turn and to use their imaginations.

Board Games

Some of the board games that settlers played had been around for centuries. Chess, Checkers, and backgammon are examples of old favorites, but many new games were also created in the 1800’s. Some helped players learn about history, geography, and science. Others taught children the value of working hard and behaving well.

Marbles The history of marbles dates back to at

least 3,000 years ago in ancient Egypt and Rome.

The Roman poet Ovid wrote of the game of marbles.

The oldest marbles found so far were buried with an Egyptian child at Nagada.

Marbles from Crete date back to 2000-1705 B.C. and are in the British Museum.

Marbles have also been found in ancient Native American earthen mounds.

During the reign of Elizabeth I, tradition has it that a game of marbles was played to win the hand of a maiden.

Knikkers

The word "marble" was not used to represent the round toy ball made from various stones until 1694 in England. It was then that marble stone was being used for the toy and was being imported from Germany. Before this time, the English adopted the Dutch word "knikkers" for marbles. The word "knikker" was used by New York City children well into the 19th century.

Marbles were made of…

The earliest marbles were made of flint, stone, and baked clay. For centuries afterward, marbles were made of stone and sometimes real marble. Glass marbles were made in Venice, Italy, and later, around 1800, china and crockery marbles were introduced. A glassblower invented a tool called the "marble scissors" in 1846 that allowed a larger production of glass marbles. Clay marbles began being produced in large quantities around 1870. Children in colonial America played with marbles made of clay which have been uncovered at a wide variety of eighteenth century sites.

1st Manufactured Marbles During the 1890s, the first machines to

manufacture glass marbles were introduced. Martin F. Christensen invented the revolutionary glass marble-making machine in 1902, and his glass marble company produced over a million marbles each month. Horace Hill founded a company named the Akro Agate Company and moved it from Akron, Ohio, to Clarksburg, West Virginia, because natural gas and sand were more abundant in that area. By 1920, the Akro Agate Company was the largest marble producer in the world.

Marbles Games Two Types

Marble games can be divided into two types: the games in which a player tries to knock his opponent's marbles with his own (and win the marbles), and the games in which a player tries to hit a target or roll the opponent's marble through a hoop or into a hole.

There are specific ways to play marbles and to hold what is called the "shooter marble," which is a larger than the regular playing marbles. One method of shooting is called "knuckling"; and another way is called "fulking." One can also roll or flick the marble until these other two methods are learned.

Marble Terminology Shooter -- taw

Alleys -- marbles once made of alabasterFlints -- marble that look like flintCloudies -- marbles that look cloudy

Marbles are definitely a part of America's heritage. They have been a popular American game from Colonial times to the present. Norman Rockwell painted a wonderful picture called "Marbles Champ," which features a little girl winning the marbles of two forlorn boys.

Shooting Marbles

To shoot a marble, point your hand down and curl your fingers in your palm. Tuck your thumb behind your index finger. Place the marble between your thumb and finger and “knuckle down,” or rest the knuckle in your index finger on the ground. Flick out your thumb to shoot the marble. Some games require players to use a slightly larger marble for shooting and hitting an opponents marbles.

Ring Taw

The most popular marble game in settler times. To play draw a large ring on the ground. Draw a smaller circle inside it and place several small marbles, called nibs, in a circle. The players crouch outside the large ring. From there each player takes a turn flicking a large marble called a shooter, into the circle. The goal is to knock all of the marbles out of the circle. Each player keeps the marbles he or she knocks out. The winner is the player with the most marbles.

Boss Out

First player shoots one marble. Second player tries to hit the first player's marble. If he or she hits it, he or she collects both marbles. If the two marbles are close enough, he or she can attempt to 'span' them. He places his or her thumb on his or her own marble and his or her index finger on his or her opponent's marble. He then draws his or her hand up while bringing his or her fingers together. If the two marbles hit, he or she collects both marbles. If he or she misses, the first player may shoot at either marble on the field. If a player collects the last marble on the field, he or she must shoot a marble for the next player to shoot at.

Bridgeboard

A board with nine cutouts along one edge is propped up on that edge to form nine archways. The numbers 6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 8, 7, 9, 4 are painted over the arches, one number over each arch. Players try to shoot through the holes and win the number of marbles indicated by the number above the hole. Any marbles which miss become the property of the board owner. The board may also be used to play NINE HOLES.

Bun Hole

A one-foot wide hole is dug in the center of the playing field. Players attempt to get a marble as close as possible to the hole without going in. Whoever's marble comes closest without going in wins a marble from each player. Knocking in your opponent's marble is permitted.

Cherry Pit

This is the reverse of RING TAW. A one-foot wide hole is dug in the center of a ten-foot circle. Each player places a number of marbles around the hole so that there is about a dozen marbles surrounding the hole. Players take turns trying to knock marbles into the hole. Like Ring Taw, as long as marbles are knocked into the hole and the taw remains in the ring, players may continue to shoot. If a taw goes into the hole, the owner must forfeit a number of marbles and place them around the hole to 'buy back' his or her shooter.

Hundreds Both players try to shoot their taws into a one-foot hole. If both taws

go in, players start over. If one player's marble goes in and the other player's marble doesn't, the player whose marble went in scores ten points. If neither player's marble goes in, the first player now tries to hit the second player's marble. If he or she hits it, he or she earns ten points and another chance to shoot his or her marble into the hole for ten points. If he or she misses either his or her opponent's marble or the hole, the second player tries to hit the first player's marble for ten points and another try at shooting his or her marble into the hole for ten points. Whenever a marble goes into the hole, both players start over from the starting line, otherwise all shots are made from wherever the marble stopped rolling. First player to reach one hundred points wins.

Nine Holes

This name is given to two different marble games. The first game is Miniature Golf played with marbles. Players construct a miniature golf course from materials at hand and take turns shooting their marbles around, through, and over the obstacles they've built. First player to complete nine holes wins.

The second version of the game is played with a bridgeboard. Players take turns shooting their marbles through the arches in numerical order. Arches that are shot through out of sequence don't count. A successful shoot through the correct arch entitles the shooter to an additional turn. First player to send his or her marble through all nine holes in the correct order wins.

INCREASE-POUND This is superior to any other game with marbles. It differs from "Ring-taw" in the following particulars: - If,

previously to any marble or shot being struck out of the ring or pound, the taw of one of the players be struck by the taw of another, (except that of his partner,) or in the case he shoot his taw within the pound, in either case, he puts a shot in the ring, and before either of the others play, shoots from the offing and continues in the game; but if the first of these events occurs after one or more shots have been struck out of the pound, if he have previously, during the game obtained any shots himself, he hands them over to the party who has struck him, and also puts a shot in as before, previously to his shooting from the offing; but if he have previously obtained no shots during the game, he is put out of the game entirely, or "killed," by his taw being so struck: and again, if after a shot or shots having been struck out of the pound, his taw get within it, (on the line is nothing) he puts in shots, if he have obtained any, with an additional one, into the pound, and shoots from the offing; but if he have not obtained a shot or shots after his taw so remains within the ring, "or gets fat," as it is called, he is "killed," and stands out for the remainder of the game. When there is only one marble left in the ring, the taw may then remain inside it, without being "fat" at this game. The players seldom put more than one marble each in the ring at first. (Clarke, 12)

This game is played with a minimum of two teams of two players. It is set up and played like Ring-taw with the following additions to the rules. Only one marble per player is placed in the ring to begin the game. All players have extra marbles to be used to add to the ring. Before any of the marbles have been struck out of the ring, if a player strikes an opponent's taw or fails to send his own taw out of the ring, that player is not out, but must put one marble in the ring. When it is his turn again, he shoots from the offing, rather than where the taw landed. Once the first marble is shot out of the ring, the rules change. If a player's taw is struck by an opponent's, the player who is struck must put one marble in the ring, and give all the rest of his marbles he has won to the player who struck him. At his next turn he must start again by shooting from the offing. If the person who has been struck has no marbles to give to the ring and the opponent, he is out of the game. If a player's taw remains in the ring after a shot, he must put all the marbles he has won plus one of his extra marbles into the ring and shoot from the offing when his turn comes. Again, if he has no marbles, he is out of the game. When there is only one marble left in the ring, the taws may remain in the ring without penalty. The winner is the team with the most marbles.