Lost your Marbles?

"Have you lost your marbles?" A question stated frequently in my growing up days. I always took this saying as coming from the generation before, since playing marbles seemed to be during my Dad's generation. You could still buy a bag of marbles at J.J. Newberrys on Main Street, but this section of the toys was gradually replaced by sacks of army men, cowboys and Indians, fire trucks, and all the real boy toys.

At one point, I even tried to play marbles, but the rules we never quite clear, and my thumb hurt after trying hard to flip those little round, glass, balls. In the real marble playing days, I guess that if you really lost all your marbles, you could become sad, angry, and feel a loss. Coming home dejected, I could see where your mom might ask, "Have you lost your marbles?"

The picture to the right shows some of my Dad's marbles. They have been placed in a "Lamb Mason" jar with the tin lid. Various shapes and colors...various sizes...various game playing experience...how would you know which one to pick as your shooter? Perhaps a "cat eye" would work. I suspect that most of the expert marble players are gone. Someone should write the rules down for future generations. At any rate, if you have lost your marbles, I have some.