Playing Marbles

Though not all marble collectors played marbles as children, for many of us, the game was of great importance. I learned to play at recess in elementary school, in Flint, Michigan, with a few marbles given to me by friends. We played for keeps.

We followed a code of ethics passed on by children.  If you lost all your player marbles, someone would donate a few so you could keep playing.  We also hated to let you put your prized favorites into the ring. Better to give you a few plain ones, and give you a chance to come back.

On the other hand, if anyone had a good marble and didn't value it, it was a prime target! Marbles was simple. You looked in the ring for something you wanted, and you tried hard to knock it out of the ring with your shooter, which was hopefully just a little bigger than player marbles.

Disputes were resolved by kids themselves, calmly most of the time. However, yelling or fighting did occasionally erupt. If that happened, the game was suspended, often indefinitely—and you grabbed your marbles and got out of the way!

And the ring?  A spot of ground without grass. In the second grade, one simple ring with a diameter of few feet would do. Older kids added a second, larger ring to make you move back away from the edge to shoot.  The day after a rain was perfect for maintaining rings, for patting them out and re-drawing lines.

Most of us who played the game as children became collectors of a sort.  We held onto our favorites as long as we could.  Some managed to hold onto their prized  winnings into adulthood.  Others set out later in life to replace what they lost.  The smile of a collector, former player or not, looking a marble for sale or trade at a show, is a match for the smile of a child, looking at a newly won marble on a playground.  Pure delight.