mibstan

Mr. Desousa, I'm a newbie on MC and recently found this older post from you. I can add some info about your trophies (if you still have them). I recognized Joseph Hines' name right away. He was the 1925 champion of New Haven, CT and played in the 3rd NMT in Atlantic City that year. Hines (age 14) was one of the 64 contenders, all of whom received a "Marble Shooter" trophy. He was also one of just two African American kids to play in the 1925 Nationals. Hines didn't come close to reaching the semifinals. The Nichols name was harder to track down, since none of the 1925 participants (or semifinalists in following years who got the trophies) had that name. Then I found "Armand T. Nichols" in some 1925 news reports from Atlantic City . He was described as the "Deputy Mayor" of A.C. and director that September of the 4th "Beauty Pageant" (Miss America). Nichols welcomed the marble champs to the city and started the first day off by playing an exhibition match against A.C.'s Rev. Robert A Elwood (who was helping run the NMT on behalf of the city). (The kids always had a blast watching adult officials playing the game they ruled.) Nichols beat Elwood 7-6, and it's likely that the NMT directors game him one of the "Marble Champion" trophies as a fun appreciation to him and the city.

A couple of weeks ago I attended the 100th anniversary National Marbles Tournament. Things went pretty well, considering that the tourney is still rebuilding after two years of Covid cancellations. The weather was fine for two days, and then heavy rains wiped out the entire 3rd day of competition (not the first time in NMT history, as was reported in some places). On the 4th and last day, the 3rd day's preliminary playoffs, semi-finals, and finals were all played out indoors at the Wildwood Convention Center, followed by the awards ceremonies at the NMT Hall of Fame. The last day of activities was over 16 hours long. The 2023 championss (Isaiah Garcia from Philadelphia, PA and Jessica Thompson from Middletown Valley, MD) were crowned well past midnight. Jessica was doubly honored by being voted the tournament's "Best Sport on the Beach" among the girls. The Best Sport among the boys was Bentley Dillon (Doddridge County, WV) who played in his first NMT, finished next to last, but handled it like a true champ. In May, I previously mentioned a blog that I was posting about "The Birth of the NMT" (https://lostmarblestories.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/about-lost-marbles-stories/), which covered people and events of 1922 and 1923. Before going to Wildwood, I reformated the blog material into a 68-page illustrated booklet ("How the NMT Got Started"), had several dozen privately printed, and gave out copies at the NMT to folks who expressed some interest in the topic. I gave some copies to the Wildwood Historical Society "Boyer Museum," which is selling them for $10 each. I have a few copies left, and can send one at the same cost to anyone who mails me an address and $10 (which barely covers the printing and first class mail costs). As a "newbie," I'm not sure if my contact info is openly available here yet. (Please email me at [email protected] for my snail mail address.)

Thanks Chad. I used to hang my hat in WA for many years (near SeaTac). Miss the beautiful PNW.

Yes, Steph, have seen many of your posts here about tournaments. Great material. I especially remember your thoughts about George Springer (Beckley, WV) and fully agree. Hope you can take a look at my 1923 NMT blog, if you have time.

Hi. I've thought about signing up for this forum for a long time, but I'm not a marbles collector, as such. (I barely know the difference between a carnelian and a Corinthian...) I do collect historical information about marbles play and players, especially stories from the US National Marbles Tournament (NMT). Members of this forum have shared a lot of great info here about that competition (and several others). So I've lurked around TMC for years. The NMT will celebrate its 100th anniversary in June 2023. With that milestone in mind, I've been posting a blog throughout May to tell the forgotten stories of the first NMT in 1923 and 1922 events that led to it. For anyone who's interested, here's a link to the introduction page of the blog: "Lost Marbles Stories" As for TMC, I'm open to sharing info I've collected about participants in the NMT, especially the earlier years (say, 1920s to 1950s) when the tourney was better known and participated in than today.