Marbles

Everybody knows them and I’m sure a lot of you played in your childhood with them: marbles. The small and beautiful spheres have a long tradition and children of very many generations played with them. But where do they come from and who invented them?

The oldest marbles date from 3000 before Christ. Some round pieces of jewelry were found in a grave of an Egypt child in Naqada. Other really old ones were found in Crete, they date from 2000 – 1700 years before Christ. The origin of marbles cannot be found like that, because it is possible that some ancient cultures developed the popular game around the same time and separately. Nevertheless the typical glass marble was created in Greece, Thessaloniki, by the glassblower Kristos Karafoulidis in the middle of the 19th century. From there the glass marble started a real comeback and got famous, popular and beloved again. Collectors still consider the old glass marbles from this time as very valuable. The most expensive and most exclusive glass marble ever was even sold for 27 000 $! This marble has a diameter of 7, 5 cm and could have been produced before WW I.

It is also said that the roman Emperor Augustus always wore a bag with marbles with him and joined the children’s play on the streets when he saw them. This first famous and passionate adult is the very first proof that the marble play can be interesting for all age classes. Today there are annual international marble championships in several countries like England, France and the Czech Republic. Each championship is about another way to play and has participants from all over the world. The most known variety is to make a hole in the ground and to try to hit the target. But there are myriads of varieties and rules all over the world and every day some new ones are created on the streets of the world. So what about being creative and invent a new version of a marble play?