Lost your marbles?

Derculees · Post by **Derculees** » Sun 20 Jan, 2013 10:11 pm

Remember the various games mentioned and the various taws names, a really cheap china with a worn well scuffed finish was a 'stonker' and unplayable. If one shouted 'oats' before some other shouted 'no oats' the taw could be lifted to snooker bridge two finger height or even up to Knee height, otherwise knuckles flat back to the ground had to be played. Gullies in the cobbles were played to advantage. I think taws was replaced by cardboard milk bottle tops that had a real cheesy stink about them.

tomq · Post by **tomq** » Mon 21 Jan, 2013 1:43 pm

Phill_dvsn wrote: raveydavey wrote: Phill, what you called 'Chinese' marbles, we used to call 'Chinas'.It's a long time ago now, but I assume it's because they looked like they were made of China, (like crockery)? Yes long time ago indeed, about 35 years or more for me I think the rules (and names) of marbles depended very much on the area where you lived. No doubt it was different in North and East Leeds to South Leeds. In 50's Hunslet & Belle Isle your 'chinas' were called Knucks. The ordinary glass ones were taws. The rules seem the same though.

BIG N · Post by **BIG N** » Mon 21 Jan, 2013 4:51 pm

Not a lot to add to this thread and like many can't clearly remember the rules we played to but just to add that in Huddersfield we usually played on a manhole cover using the indent where the handles were as the target area or "Pog" as we called it.

Steve Jones · Post by **Steve Jones** » Mon 21 Jan, 2013 5:35 pm

The games we played over in Blackpool when I was at school were similar.One thing though ,we had a "marble season" which had no real defined start or finish.Usually some time around March people started for a few weeks and then stopped.We never played all year round and people trying to start a game when it wasn't the season were laughed at!anyone else have a certain time to play them in?

blackprince · Post by **blackprince** » Mon 21 Jan, 2013 6:31 pm

Steve Jones wrote: The games we played over in Blackpool when I was at school were similar.One thing though ,we had a "marble season" which had no real defined start or finish.Usually some time around March people started for a few weeks and then stopped.We never played all year round and people trying to start a game when it wasn't the season were laughed at!anyone else have a certain time to play them in? Steve, I don't remember marbles having a definite season. if memory serves me correctly I think we played it any time from about Easter to late summer, when the conkers season took over. It is remarkable how the rules and customs for playing these street and playground games got passed on by word of mouth from one generation of children to the next without the rules ever being written down . These weren't games that "grown ups" taught you or you learnt from a book you just learned from your peers.

jdbythesea · Post by **jdbythesea** » Tue 22 Jan, 2013 10:18 pm

In the 80s, I am advised by my two girls, that the marbles they used were called chinkies, pearlies, cats eyes, devils eyes, steelies and tigers among other names. I haven't seen kids playing taws for years now.

String o' beads · Post by **String o' beads** » Sat 26 Jan, 2013 8:47 pm

My Dad recalls calling the large see through ones 'Stonkers'. He didn't like the porcelain type ones. This was Woodhouse area. He also remembers that there was a marbles 'season'. He also said that the most precious ones were very small ones, about half the size of the ordinary small taws.

Caron · Post by **Caron** » Sat 26 Jan, 2013 10:33 pm

As a youngster I also enjoyed playing with marbles but the best of all was my ......... Whip n Top I don't remember boys playing it though???

Leodian · Post by **Leodian** » Sun 27 Jan, 2013 12:07 am

Caron wrote: As a youngster I also enjoyed playing with marbles but the best of all was my ......... Whip n Top I don't remember boys playing it though??? I played those, at least when I was a youngster some millenia back (so it sometimes seems!). Chalking the top of the top with different colours to create effects was good fun. Simple times.

tilly · Post by **tilly** » Sun 27 Jan, 2013 1:52 pm

Caron wrote: As a youngster I also enjoyed playing with marbles but the best of all was my ......... Whip n Top I don't remember boys playing it though??? Hi Caron I have played whip and top when i was a kid. Do you remember the big ones about four times the size of the normal ones then there was the ones with the long thin body.It took a lot of skill to get some of them upright.What about the tanks we made from cotton bobbins i think this has been talked about on another thread.Every thing we played with cost pence my grandaughter who would be the same age has i would have been at the time i am talking obout plays on an i pad. i pod. laptop.x box 360.I would not swop my childhood for hers for a million pounds.