Reminiscing

Peripheral

Dedicated Member
I have reached the time of life when there is more fun looking back:p than looking forward:rolleyes:. This morning I was reminiscing about marbles. We used to make holes in the roadside turf to shoot our marbles into. There were several games in which we indulged with marbles and a couple of sayings from the game's spring to mind. One is 'Fog Conks' and the other is 'High Knees'. Does anyone else remember playing marbles or other pastimes you may have indulged in?:) I can think of quite a few. What was your favourite game?:geek2:
 
I recall marbles and the battles to get a really good marble from your opponent when you won and to give away your worst when you lost . I also recall a game called Cannon which was popular up here but not sure it was popular in other parts of the country. Basic premise was two teams, an old can placed equally between the two teams with lolly sticks on top each team take it in turn to throw a tennis ball to knock the can over and the successful team took off chased by the losing team who attempted to hit all the members of the other team with the ball before they could get back and stand the can up and put the lolly sticks back on top .

If a throw of the ball missed you , you were allowed to clench your fists , pick up the ball and bat it away to give you more time to get back to the can to stand it up . It sometimes got very tactical .

If there was no can available and none could be found in any neighbours bins someone was volunteered to go in and demand baked beans for lunch to ensure a can was available . Eating a whole can of beans for lunch did have detrimental side effects .:)
 
I recall marbles and the battles to get a really good marble from your opponent when you won and to give away your worst when you lost . I also recall a game called Cannon which was popular up here but not sure it was popular in other parts of the country. Basic premise was two teams, an old can placed equally between the two teams with lolly sticks on top each team take it in turn to throw a tennis ball to knock the can over and the successful team took off chased by the losing team who attempted to hit all the members of the other team with the ball before they could get back and stand the can up and put the lolly sticks back on top .

If a throw of the ball missed you , you were allowed to clench your fists , pick up the ball and bat it away to give you more time to get back to the can to stand it up . It sometimes got very tactical .

If there was no can available and none could be found in any neighbours bins someone was volunteered to go in and demand baked beans for lunch to ensure a can was available . Eating a whole can of beans for lunch did have detrimental side effects .:)
Are you sure that eating a can of beans gave you SIDE effects Captain? Wouldn't the effects have been more to the rear?
I've never heard of the game called Cannon. Sounds a lot of fun.:37:
 
Wot, no games? Did any of you fellas make parachutes? We used to tie four pieces of string, about 15 inches long, to the four corners of a handkerchief, fasten something heavy on the other ends, roll it all up and throw it into the air. It would open up and float down like a parachute. If you never did that then now is your chance. Go out into the park with a parachute and throw it into the air. If you are worried about people thinking you are acting like a child then roll your trousers up above your knees and people will think you're just a little boy. .... Back to the marbles, did any of you put a silver milk bottle top over a marble to make a 'tadpole'? We used to have races with them. Ladies, surely you must have played hopscotch. :D:17::32:
 
Do remember when you used to get football cards in a pack with chewing gum sort of Panini with "the gum in the gob not on the back of the sticker:eek:" . They were solid card so you could play a football game with them . Never mind jumpers for goalposts you used two pocket dictionaries with the spine upwards and slightly opened so they stood up . Your Goalkeeper card was placed at an angle across the dictionary so it covered most of the surface .

Player cards were laid out in your desired formation and the ball??? a rolled up piece of silver foil . You pass player to player [hopefully] and the player entitled to kick the ball is the card closest to the ball at any time . To kick the ball you simply hold the card in your fingers and flick the ball with it . To score you had to hit the dictionary goal . It was quite difficult often you would hit the goalkeeper card and the ball being light would go over the dictionary for a corner . Sometimes the keeper would fall down and he had to stay down for 3 moves giving the opposing team a chance to score in an open goal . We had leagues and friendly games normally played on a rainy day when you had to be indoors.

The only drawback ??? Jaw ache from chewing all the gum you had trying to get your favourite players from a pack remember spending all my pocket money on packs much like the kids do on Panini. Happy days:)
 
It was a game my friends and I invented pre-Subbuteo so instead of just looking and admiring the cards we did something with them . Sadly they were packed away when Subbuteo arrived and replaced them in our affections. What we did with the cards we did with Subbuteo , leagues etc . We got the very first sets which were nothing like they are now. You got the bases which were solid but for a slot on the top the players came as a printed plastic sheet of push outs so you pushed out the individual players and put them in the slots all a far cry from how they developed .

We often played on the floor which was fraught with danger of someone treading on your star player so a tube of glue was an imperative accessory. It grew in popularity and the sets became sophisticated I had floodlights and the stadium as I got older . I am sure people still play it , I kept a couple of teams and a pitch for posterity and they are currently in Pickfords storage with lots of other items I interred when I had my house renovated. Sadly the rise of Computers and gaming machines saw its popularity wane its all about Fifa but it was a superb game of its time and gave us hours of fun and despair.
 
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