I think there's at least one observation you can draw from
this thread, and that is the power of nostalgia. :)
Thanks for the citations, Ron, Mary, and Smoke!
Here's a few more that I hope aren't duplicates (but I didn't
check too carefully). FWIW, you can search OCLC (WorldCat)
using the Library of Congress subject headings (LCSH):
"Marbles (Games)" and "Marbles (Game objects)".
_Courtship, Marriage and Pi-nic Dinner of Cock Robin and
Jenny Wren_. (Philadelphia, PA; New York, NY: Turner & Fisher,
[between 1841-1845]. [8] leaves, ill., 15 cm. OCLC# 54249285
[This book/pamphlet apparently contains juvenile poetry and
nursery rhymes, with hand-colored illustrations; judging from
the subject headings, at least one of the stories/rhymes
concerns playing with marbles.]
Akro Agate Company. _Mr. Akro Talks About Marbles_. (Clarksburg,
WV: The company, 1928). 17p. ill., 16 cm. OCLC# 50749352
Master Marble Co. _The Story of a Marble_. (Clarksburg, WV:
The company, 1933). 22p. ill., 16 cm. OCLC# 51218512
_Playing Marbles: A Perennial Pastime of Boyhood_. (Chicago,
IL: Chicago Park District, 1939). 28p. ill. OCLC# 13025769
White, Edward Mitchell. "Vocabulary of Marbles in Eastern
Kentucky." _Kentucky Folklore Record_ 9 (1963): [? -17pp.].
_Americana: Marble Playing_. (Erie, PA: Hammermill Paper Co.,
1968). [8] p. (folder), col. ill., 31 cm. OCLC# 16829369
Cohill, Michael C. _A Spin on the Past: The Origin Story of
the Modern American Toy Industry as it Occurred in Akron,
Ohio, including the story of S.C. Dyke and the first mass-
produced toy -- clay marbles_. Carol L. Robinson, ed. (Ravenna,
OH: Hounding Productions, 2001).
Block, Stanley A. _Antique Glass Swirl Marbles_. (Atglen, PA:
Schiffer Pub., 2001). 158p. col. ill., 29 cm. OCLC# 48857743
Block, Mark P. _The Encyclopedia of Modern Marbles, Spheres,
& Orbs_. (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub., 2005). 256p., chiefly col.
ill., 32 cm. OCLC# 2005015142
Block, Robert S. _Marble Collectors Handbook_. (Atglen, PA:
Schiffer Pub., 2005). 208p. col. ill., 23 cm. OCLC# 61249576
[Apparently, there's a lot of Blocks in marbles. <g>)
For my own $0.02: As the oldest (b.1955 CA) of four boys
we occasionally played with marbles, but rarely according to
the 'rules' (i.e., with a string circle, etc.). We didn't
play 'for keeps' as there was too much disharmony created
by older bros. taking away younger bros.' marbles. However,
we did do a lot of trading. I suppose we regarded them
more as collectible 'play-pretties' than as gaming pieces.
The most fun we had with marbles was in building marble
roll-ways (late '60s), with the specially designed wooden blocks.
We also liked to roll marbles down HotWheels tracks.
Oh, and we also played with Jacks, though not in a big way.
In my experience, Jacks was considered a girls' activity, but
not to the degree that playing with dolls was. (pardon my
grammar)
(Did you ever get up in the morning and step on a Jack in your
bare feet?!)
My father (b.1930 GA) was a big marble player as a child. He
still has a large Mason jar full of his old marbles, including
some of those golf-ball size (darn near) clay marbles. I may
have to verify this, but I believe that he said they sometimes
made their own clay marbles (w/sun-baked Georgia clay), but
they tended to break/fall apart very easily.
Some kids also made their own stone marbles by primitive rock-
tumbling. You need a stream with a stone bed or a large rock
in the water with a hole in it where the water swirls and
eddies. Put some pebbles & bits of stone in the hole and
let the action of the water naturally round them into marbles.
According to my father, you had to keep an eye on the weather,
for heavy rains could wash out the tumbling pocket. I'm not
sure if my father knew this first-hand or if it's something
he came across in a study of 'folk toys.'
Marty Perdue
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