Rainy River Record
Ken Johnston
April 30, 2001
Old game,
new craze!
Marble
mania has taken over
Kids from
kindergarten to grade 8 have rediscovered a game that spans many generations;
the game of marbles!
It started in early March when grade 2 and 3 teacher Pat Stoyka noticed the kids
were getting a bit restless as the seasons changed from winter to spring and
there was little to do at recess. She found a few marbles in her desk and
introduced the game of "Pot" to Alexander Affleck and Cody Jarvis. Shortly
thereafter A.J. Pirkl, Tyler McNally and Matt Sharpe were introduced to the game
and within a few weeks a large majority of the school was playing it.
The game of Pot involves digging a hole in the ground, establishing a shooting
line and then a great deal of accuracy and in some cases luck.
Players stand behind the line and toss their "Shooter" towards the hole (the
pot). The closest to the hole gets to go first. They then use a number of
techniques to try and get marbles in the hole. Some flick their finger on the
marble while others sort of scoop it. If they get a marble in the hole they get
to keep shooting. The last one to get a marble in the hole wins the pot; that is
if they are playing for keeps.
Some kids prefer to play for fun while others prefer to play for keeps. Most of
Stoyka's class said they prefer to play for keeps. Now there is a rule about
keeps that is pretty well honored by most players. Just about everyone has a
favorite shooter and tends to stress that when the game is over that they want
their shooter back. Most agree to this and will receive another marble from the
player's stash in lieu of the shooter.
Kids store
their marbles in a number of different ways. Some have plastic containers, some
have ziploc bags and others have sparked sewing machines up around the area.
Some adults remember the purple Crown Royal bags being very popular when they
played the game as carrying cases for their marbles. However those bags are not
available anymore so many moms and grandmas have been busy sewing fabric marble
bags for the kids.
Outside of
the normal rules for Pot the kids have modified the game to create several new
games. They also trade marbles like a collectible. Rainy River True Value owner
Cory Lindal said he has a hard time keeping marbles in stock. "As fast as I put
them on the counter they are gone."
Other stores like
In some
cases kids have been unable to get marbles when local stores are out of stock
and between orders. So kids have written to relatives in far away places or have
looked while away over spring break for marbles.
Unique
ones tend to garner a great deal of attention when introduced to the local
circuit. Stoyka's students said that some of their marbles come from as far away
as Edmonton, Alberta, Brandon, Manitoba and Fargo, North Dakota. They can range
in price from about $2 to $8.
"It is a fun game and I really like getting different marbles" said Alexander
Affleck who was unanimously voted the Marble King of his class. He has won over
80 marbles since he started playing. He takes his game so seriously that one day
he was late for school, which Stoyka said is very unlike him. He was late
because he had stopped at
Both A.J. Pirkl and Tyler McNally said they like to play because they Like to
win marbles.
Anyone seeing the playground at Riverview would think they are looking at a
lunar landscape. There are craters and lines everywhere and when recess hits the
kids swarm out to the marble pits to play. Stoyka said that the kids are also
coming back to play after school well into the evening.
While many kids have won marbles, many have also lost their marbles.
A fun and rewarding way to learn
The students have been learning about the history of marbles, how they are made
and some of the terms and different games that are used and played.
History and how they are made Marbles have been around for many thousands of
years. However it wasn't until the early part of the 1900s when the marbles used
today to play were invented.
Mr. Marvin George of
People from
Prior to that era, George said that marble players relied on marbles that were
baked crockery. Hence the term many people remember from their childhood as a
reference to the big marbles called "Crocks."
Another common term for marbles was Alleys. George thinks that came from another
Terms
Besides
Crocks and Alleys, there are many different terms used by players:
Beauty: A
beautiful marble
Cat's Eye:
A clear marble with a twisted strand of colour in the center
Clearie: A
see-through, clear marble
Lag: A way
to decide who goes first.
Mibs: The
rest of the marbles used in a game besides the taw or shooter.
Shoot: Aim
a marble and flick it forward with your thumb and finger.
Taw/Shooter: The marble used to begin a game, almost always bigger than the rest
of the marbles in the game.
Other games
There are several types of marble games which require different skills. There is
the chase, the hole and the ring (box or triangle) With every region there are
variations of these three types of marble games.
One of the chase games that I have heard about was called POISON. A large marble
is placed in the dirt so that only half of it is showing. Players start some
distance from the MARBLE. You can hit a players shooter away so that they can't
hit the MARBLE. When a player hits the MARBLE, he becomes poison. The next time
he hits a player's shooter, that player is eliminated from the game. The person
who is left after all others are eliminated, gets the ante.
The British game is the circle. Players try to knock marbles out of the ring
while keeping their shooter inside the ring to get another shot. The French must
want to be different because they use a triangle.
Players must designate the target they will knock out of the triangle. But if
the shooter stays inside the triangle the target marble is returned to its spot
and the player starts over.
In Kentucky/Tennessee there is a game called roley hole. The court is clay and
measures about 20 feet by 40 feet. Three holes about the size of a quarter are
placed about 10 feet apart. A two person team tries to "make" these holes three
times before they can go out. Both teams start with the middle hole. Players
take turns shooting. The strategy is similar to croquet. If you hit an opponents
shooter you get another turn. If you "make" a hole you get a turn. A good player
can control a hole by knocking opponents away from the hole he is guarding.
Through teamwork each player on a team is able to get to the three holes in
order and finish first. In this region a roof is built over the court so that
play can be conducted in all weather. Many of the businesses maintain roley hole
courts at their workplace so that men can play roley hole at lunch. The kids get
to play marbles when the adults finish their games.
Old marble shooters talk about "baseball." Tomato paste cans were used to make
holes. Cans were placed in the ground, with their tops level with the ground in
a diamond shape, resembling a baseball diamond. The player who was able to make
all four cans would score.
Americans modified the British game and called it ringer. In the late teens and
early twenties the game of marbles was so popular that cities like
Value of the game George said that in his part of the world teachers and
principals see the following learning experiences that can be gained from
playing the game:
Winning, losing, socializing, developing hand/eye coordinations and developing
reasoning skills in determining the best shots.