Web Page No 2776 17th April 2021 1st Picture: Marbles used in a game of Solitaire

2nd Picture: Ball and Jacks

3rd Picture: Traditional Skipping Rope

4th Picture: Conkers

The Seasons of the year Not the Chronological seasons we experience every year but the seasons of play when we were kids. No one told us when it was the season for marbles or five stones or ball and jacks, toy cars or skipping ropes, ball games or card swaps! Some activities were regulated by the weather, for example it was no good trying to build and use a sledge in the summer months likewise it was no good building a go cart in January or February. However some things were regulated but nature. You could not play conkers before the conkers had fallen from the Horse Chestnut trees.

Five stones could be known as knucklebones, snobs, tali, dibs, snobs, astragalus or jackstones, among many other names, is ancient in origin and is found in various cultures worldwide. The name "knucklebones" is from the Ancient Greek version of the game which used a bone in the ankle of a sheep. However, different variants of the game from various cultures use other objects, including stones, seashells, seeds, and cubes. Modern knucklebones consist of six points, or knobs, projecting from a common base, and are usually made of metal or plastic. The winner is the first player to successfully complete a prescribed series of throws, which, though similar, differ widely in detail. The simplest throw consists in either tossing up one stone, the jack, or bouncing a ball, and picking up one or more stones from the table while it is in the air. This continues until all five stones have been picked up. Another throw consists of tossing up first one stone, then two, then three and so on, and catching them on the back of the hand. Different throws have received distinctive names, such as "riding the elephant", "peas in the pod", "horses in the stable",and "frogs in the well". A traditional marble is often made from glass, clay, steel, plastic, or agate and vary in size. Most commonly, they are about 13 mm (1⁄2 in) in diameter, but they may range from less than 1 mm (1⁄30 in) to over 8 cm (3 in). Marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles. They are often collected, both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colours. In the North of England the objects and the game are called "taws", with larger taws being called bottle washers after the use of a marble in Codd-neck bottles, which were often collected for play. They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass. Marbles arrived in Britain, imported from the Low Countries, during the medieval era.

In 1503 the town council of Nuremberg, Germany, limited the playing of marble games to a meadow outside the town. It is unknown where marbles were first manufactured. A German Glassblower invented marble scissors, a device for making marbles, in 1846. Ceramic marbles entered inexpensive mass production in the 1870s. The game has become popular throughout the US and other countries. The first mass-produced toy marbles (clay) made in the US were made in Akron, Ohio, by S. C. Dyke, in the early 1890s. Some of the first US-produced glass marbles were also made in Akron, by James Harvey Leighton. In 1903, Martin Frederick Christensen—also of Akron, Ohio—made the first machine-made glass marbles on his patented machine. His company, The M. F. Christensen & Son Co., manufactured millions of toy and industrial glass marbles until they ceased operations in 1917. The next US company to enter the glass marble market was Akro Agate. This company was started by Akronites in 1911, but located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Today, there are only two American-based toy marble manufacturers: Jabo Vitro in Reno, Ohio, and Marble King, in Paden City, West Virginia.

Meanwhile here at home the British and World Marbles Championship has been held at Tinsley Green, West Sussex every year since 1932. (Marbles has been played in Tinsley Green and the surrounding area for many centuries in fact TIME magazine traces its origins to 1588. Traditionally, the marbles-playing season started on Ash Wednesday and lasted until midday on Good Friday: playing after that brought bad luck. More than 20 teams from around the world take part in the championship, each Good Friday; German teams have been successful several times since 2000, although local teams from Crawley, Copthorne and other Sussex and Surrey villages often take part as well. The first championship in 1932 was won by Ellen Geary, a young girl from London. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com

News and Views:

You Write: On this day 17th April 1960 – 1965

On 17/04/1960 the number one single was My Old Man's a Dustman - Lonnie Donegan and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Armchair Theatre (ABC) and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Burnley were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 17/04/1961 the number one single was Wooden Heart - Elvis Presley and the number one album was GI Blues - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 17/04/1962 the number one single was Wonderful Land - The Shadows and the number one album was Blue Hawaii - Elvis Presley. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 17/04/1963 the number one single was How Do You Do It? - Gerry & the Pacemakers and the number one album was Summer Holiday - Cliff Richard & the Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 17/04/1964 the number one single was Can't Buy Me Love - The Beatles and the number one album was With the Beatles - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was The Budget (All Channels) and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions. On 17/04/1965 the number one single was The Minute You're Gone - Cliff Richard and the number one album was Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street (Granada) and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.