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English boys clothes: games marbles boys play clothes -- English trends games marbles
English Outdoor Games: Marbles
Figure 1.--This British postcard shows boys playing marbles in the street. The Eton collars suggests it was after school. The photograph was from Uncle Ned's Child Studies. The postcard (part of series 4) was published by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, probably about 1905. I think it would have been seen as example of disreptuable behavior on the part of unspervised children. The location is not indicated, but it is clearly along the coast (note the boat). It seems to have a Welsh or Cornish look.
Marbles has been a popular game over a long period of time. Marbles have been found in the ancient world. The earliest marbles were clay. I'm not sure when marbles began to be played in Britain. We suspect it was as least as early as the Roman era, but we can not yet substantisate this. Glass marbles first appearered in Renaissance Italy. When they first reached England, I am not sure. The first book about marbles was published in England in 1815. We know shooting marbles were popular in the 19th century. They were popular in the first half of the 20th century. The popularity has varied over the second half of the 20th century. It appears to have been almost entirely a boy activity. The idea of marbles of course was competitions, shooting your oponents marbles out of a rng. We do not yet have details on the rules for this in England or if there were specific English marble games. Marbles were inexpensive enough that boys from all economic backgrounds could enjoy the game. Rules can can vary and children may make up their own games. The players have to decided before they begin to play weher or not they are playing for keeps. It is not commonly a play ground game as playing for keeps can be a problem. Marbles were more of a street game.
