The last few articles needed much research. I decided that now something in a lighter vein was in order. In truth, I have long had this post in the back of my blogging mind. The reason being that a vivid memory was shining out among my childhood recollections. Just a tiny little memory yet clear and sharp and somehow comforting. You know how those memories can be?
Here is how it goes. A few of us young Fuller School classmates are outside in the schoolyard at recess. Specifically, we are on the right side of the dirt playground not far from the side and front picket fences. Huddling together under one of those precious elms that hugged the side fence,
we each have a cloth bag of marbles.
We are on our knees. It's good that packed dirt is beneath us,
much kinder to little girl's knees since we wore dresses or skirts. Our knees were
always at risk and often tattooed with scars and healing scrapes.
Anyway, you could not play marbles on concrete.
There are three or four of us around the " bunny" hole we have dug out of the ground, thumbs and fingers ready to launch our chosen marble. Little girls with pigtails or curls hanging over our shoulders, we are in intense concentration. Elbows ensconced in the dirt...liftoff!!
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I vaguely remember the marble terminology for each kind of marble
such as the cats eye, the aggie, the tiger, and swirly...
Wikopedia tells us that there are many more names, and many rules. I do not recall those.
I just remember the feel of the marbles in my fingers and my hand.
The beauty of each one. The joy when I was able to gain another in a game.
Today try to find old marbles. There are collectors out there. Real old marbles are expensive,
but hold so much memory of peace, of gentle gaming and the fact that no one
seemed to get ticked off after a game of marbles.... No one left mid-game in a huff.
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Just a simple little game. You were quiet, there were no spectators or reporters. You did not need anything electronic. Your little drawstring bag of marbles fit nicely into a pocket.
The game of marbles- gender and class neutral. Non-violent. I never saw a fight over marbles. Rich or poor could play equally. It was race neutral. The game could be slow or it could be fast. Ah, the days of innocence. Marbles did involve strategy and concentration. It involved friendly interaction, there was anticipation and time for laughter.
Then there was the sheer feel of the marble itself. No corners. Marbles were marvelous with their cool roundness snuggling into your hand. This post reminded me that when I did tai chi we had a session on "meridian balls" (sometimes called boading balls). These go all the way back to the Ming Dynasty starting in the 1300's. Small marble-like spheres (or larger if indicated) were rolled in the hand and fingers. The practice is still used today. They exercise not just the fingers and hand, but the forearms and shoulders, too . The very simple exercises invigorate and increase blood circulation, unblock energy areas, keep the brain in good health, reinvigorates memory, relieves fatigue, drowns your worries and may prolong your life.
Not bad for a sweet little sphere!
This 1937 Life magazine cover demonstrates the concentration
of playing marbles. This boy obviously is not worrying about other things.
of playing marbles. This boy obviously is not worrying about other things.
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....More Marble factoids
Marbles have a history all of their own as we read above. Time magazine (quoted in Wikopedia) goes way back to the 1500's. The were found in early Egyptian and Roman excavations.
Marbles as we know them were first manufactured in Germany in the early 1800's.
Ceramic marbles were first mass produced in the 1870's. In Germany someone invented glass scissors and glass marbles were sold everywhere. Recently, a marble set owned by Anne Frank has been discovered, giving the history of marbles a poignant aspect.
Today there are only two companies who manufacture marbles in the U.S., one in Ohio and another in W. Virginia.
Below a game of marbles at a South Carolina cotton mill in 1903.
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A thought about marbles:
Sometimes I think this present world has lost its marbles.
It needs a quiet time to crouch down in the dirt and
pay attention to listening to the wonders and goodness around it.
It needs to gaze into
the swirling depths of a marble. It needs to concentrate on strategy and trajectory
with another human being, both of you crouched down into the same size, neither of you
thinking of differences but of commonality.
Then we might all find our marbles...
...................
More about oriental healing balls...
http://www.natashascafe.com/html/popups/chinese_balls_pop.html
.......
Note: I have been derelict in not attributing Pinterest photos.
They are now being attached as they should have been.
If you are into nostalgia and history and have not found Pinterest online,
you havea wonderful surprise coming... The attached sites
are websites from which the Pinterestphotos originally derived.
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