Green Plaid Bags and Marbles for Keeps

I kept my green plaid marble bag for years after I was a kid. Mom sewed these longish cloth sacks that closed with a drawstring for Bob and me to keep our winnings in. Bob was very, very good at Marbles. He could skunk any kid. He learned how to aim and thrust his shooting hand forward without going over the line—a skill that forever eluded me. His “shooter” was a bright poison-green peerie. I don’t think he ever lost it to another kid. We had no rules except for going over the line. Everyone playing, placed five marbles in the circle and then took turns trying to shoot them out. You kept shooting as long as you knocked a marble out and your shooter stayed in the ring. If you missed, your turn was over. You could use any size shooter that you could manage. The kids with bigger hands had an advantage, but I don’t think we realized that back then. Marble designs really fascinated me. There were Cat’s Eyes and Aggies made of multicolored real agate. Then, the glass marbles were always white with one-color swirls and were cheap and plentiful. Peeries were clear- colored glass you could see through. Pee Wees were very small marbles, which some kids thought gave a speed and aiming advantage, and Steelies, which were really just ball bearings. Sometimes, if you shot too hard, you could break a glass marble with your steely, which would cause you to forfeit any marbles you had in the ring. This curtailed their use for their weight advantage, but only somewhat, because what kid wouldn’t think losing his ring marbles wasn’t a pretty small price to pay to see some other kid’s favorite marble explode. Everyone had his favorite marble, called his “Baby.” You never put your Baby into play unless it was your last one on a losing day or you were showing off. More than once, we were forced (by their parents) to give back winnings from kids we had suckered into playing “for keeps.”