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