It is a happy talent to know how to play.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
I guess the image above makes it pretty obvious what I found!! Jacks...metal jacks...not exactly what I had as a child, they were a little thinner than these, but these will do. I can now play jacks again. Thanks to Wanda for suggesting that I look on Amazon for them. I should have known, you can just about buy anything from Amazon. Just so you know, in case you're dying to buy a set, the pouch in the background didn't come with the jacks, it was my grandfather's and has some fool's gold from Colorado in it.
Jacks is an ancient game, but
kids all over the world still play it in one form or the other. I've read that you can play a different version of jacks with rocks. I think I'd better stick to throwing up a ball, not tossing up rocks! We played jacks every day, either at school or home. We played...
- Black Widow (ones to tens without missing)
- Cherries in a Basket (place jacks in cupped hand)
- Pigs in a Pen (slide jacks into other hand that is slightly cupped on the ground)
- Over the Fence (place jacks on the other side of straight hand)
- Around the World (make a circle in the air around the ball before it bounces)
Do you remember Kissies? I'd almost forgotten about Kissies, when the jacks are thrown out and two (or
more) jacks are touching or stacked. You can choose to either pick them up as part of a play or
drop them again to spread them out. We always kissed the two that
were touching before dropping them again.
Now I have something else to waste my time on, but I tell myself I'm keeping my hands and fingers limber! I don't think I'm too bad either. I made it all the way to the sevens the first game and my hands don't move near as fast as they used too. I also don't sit on the floor very well any more.
This brings back such wonderful memories! I will admit to being not at all coordinated - so it took me forever to learn to play jacks, but I did finally get it! Your images for today are beautiful - crisp and well focused with the shallow depth of field drawing my eye to the fun of the image - those jacks and bright red ball. Such a perfect post!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures - and - oh - the memories!!!
ReplyDeleteI remember playing jacks in the recreation at school! We also played a similar game called 'stones' (you mention 'rocks') and of course we chose small stones. It was great fun! I love your grandfather's pouch!
ReplyDeleteYay, I'm so glad you found the jacks you wanted! When I was in school we girls used to play jacks at recess and lunch time. Sitting on the sidewalk outside the classroom, one leg stretched out and the other bent and tucked up close. Of course, girls wore dresses or skirts and blouses to school back in those olden days. I never liked those little red balls, though. I preferred ping pong balls or golf balls. One was very light, the other very heavy, but boy, did they bounce good! :-)
ReplyDeleteAh, what fond memories! You have a great memory for the details of the game - I didn't remember any of the game types. And yes - playing is therapeutic - keeps one's brain active and promotes eye-hand coordination! :)
ReplyDeleteSuch wonderful images and beautiful memories!
ReplyDeleteThis is a joyful post, Cathy! I wish I had played Jacks. No, we played marbles and a lot of skipping rope games. And one with elastics about jumping. So glad amazon had the proper kind. I've missed your blog. Now that fall is in the air I feel back on track again. Always a pleasure to see what you're up to there. Happy weekend to you.
ReplyDeleteThat's a neat find. You know I don't remember ever playing with jacks as a kid although I'm sure I probably did at some point.
ReplyDeleteOh the game of childhood and how many hours I would spend playing Jacks. Love this Cathy
ReplyDeleteLove your photos and your story. I read Lee's comment above about using either a golf ball or a ping pong ball. My friends and I also thought golf balls were the best, though we usually took off the white coating on the golf ball and then unwound the innards of the ball (I seem to recall it was some sort of elastic band wrapping) until we finally found the hard, high bounce ball in the center.
ReplyDeleteI played jacks as a kid with one friend and have tried it with my kids. They didn't take to it like I thought they would. But, I still have my memories.
ReplyDelete