Playing for money, marbles, and chalk

I can still remember, back when as young lad, my mother emptying the pockets of my pants prior to washing them. She would always ask me, “What all do you have in these pockets … money, marbles, and chalk?”

I really never knew exactly what she was referring to at the time, but the question has remained with me over the years.

I used to play marbles with other kids, so I had a sack of at least a dozen colorful glass marbles. Occasionally chalk was used to mark up a sidewalk so we could play a marble game that was called “Ringer,” although sidewalks were not very common back in those days. But where did she get the idea of any money in my pockets?

A little research has cleared up the mystery. It seems that the phrase dating back to the mid 1800s means “going for everything.” It is an old blues expression meaning “I’m all in. You can count on me for all I’ve got.” It seems to have evolved from the marble game called “Ringer” which all the kids used to play. It turns out that many adults also played the game on a semi-professional level who bet a lot of real money on the winners. That’s where the “money” part of the saying comes in.

In case you have forgotten how the marble game was played, I will remind you. First the chalk goes into play when a large ring was drawn on the sidewalk, usually from five to ten feet across. Thirteen marbles were placed inside the ring in the form of a cross and spaced three inches apart. Each player shoots in turn from outside the circle, trying to hit a marble out of the ring while keeping his shooter inside the ring. The person who collected the most marbles is the winner.

Perhaps you have forgotten marble terminology from this game. The following are a few of the more common ones: “Knuckle down” – The position adopted at the start line. The player begins with his knuckle against the ground.

“Quitsies” – Allows any opponent to stop the game without consequences.

“Keepsies” – The player keeps all the marbles he/she has won.

“Elephant Stomps” – When called, it allows a player to stomp his/her marble level with the ground surface, making it very difficult for other players to hit the marble. Bombies” – When called, it allows a player to take one or two steps while holding the marble and normally closing one eye will line up over one of the opponents marbles and drop the marble trying to hit the marble on the ground.

“Leaning Tops” – When called, a shooter leans in on his/her off hand for leverage over any type of surface obstacle.

“A Taw” – The shooter is generally a larger marble used to shoot with, and “ducks” are marbles to be shot at.

“A Grandfather” – Is the largest marble, often the size of a tennis ball.

“A Peewee” – A marble smaller than the majority being played.

Traditionally the game is played with two players, but you can let up to six play together. In order to begin the game, the players had to “lag” to see who shot first. To do this, a straight line was drawn with the chalk. Each player shot a marble at the line from ten feet away. The player’s marble closest to the line gets to shoot first.

It is interesting that in 1949 Garner Eckler wrote a song entitled “Money, Marbles, and Chalk” which he recorded. The biggest selling version was recorded by Pattie Page in 1949 which made its way to the top of the Billboard country music chart for one week. It was again recorded in 2006 by a group called “Pop’s Boys,” but never seemed to catch on.

The refrain to that old song says: “Money, marbles, and chalk is alright, for a miser who loves only gold. But give me a chance to save our romance, for I love you with all of my soul.”

It’s a shame that the young people of today know nothing of playing with marbles, or even pitching horse shoes or washers. Of course, there may be an “app” for that on their hand-held computers.