Actually Carl, that quote came from Larry McKee, Archaeologist from THE
HERMITAGE, Andrew Jackson's home in Tennessee. I am thinking about the guys
gambling style of playing marbles...it seems to me that the idea of playing
marbles is to win more. Wouldn't dice or cards be a more likely candidate
for gambling? No idea about the language...there is a whole linguistical
terminology for marble-playing. If you lost your favorite...maybe there
would be cussing. In Clay County, TN they have mostly men over 50 years of
age playing outdoors on lit marble courts. I think it can be taken very
seriously by anyone at any age thus "playing for keeps" vs. "playing for
fairs" where you get your marbles back afterwards.            Diane Rice
-----Original Message-----
From: Diacarl <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Saturday, April 11, 1998 5:47 AM
Subject: Re: Toy Marbles, Cooking Spheres, and ... hem weights?
 
 
>In a message dated 98-04-10 16:22:29 EDT, you write:
>
><< very large collection of marbles - off the top of my head, more than
> forty.  My call is that because the marbles are so diverse, including
> everything from glass to hand-painted ceramic to locally made
brick-looking
> things, that these are toys rather than anything else, but the alternative
is
> certainly worth mentioning. >>
>
>
>My understanding is that in the 19th century marbles was a game of chance
>played by adult men--replete with gambling, cussing and fighting. Would
they
>still be considered toys in that context? Also, locally made clay marbles
are
>no graet feat. One famous archaeologist told me that when he was a boy,
many
>years ago of course, that he and his firends made clay marbles they called
>"pee dabs"--you take a dab of clay and wet it, then throw them in the fire.
>Carl Steen