I had gone off the grid this weekend; tuned out, zoned out, and I couldn’t think of a J. It came to me in a dream last night. Of course! Jacks!! And then it was a matter of remembering where I had stored them away for safe keeping.
I used to play jacks at school recess every day with my BFF, and when she wasn’t around I’d play with any willing soul otherwise unoccupied. These jacks are the only thing that I’ve kept after all these many years. And I’ve kept them in the container that they were in back then. It was really cool to keep your jacks stored this way
I take umbrage with Wikipedia’s definition of jacks being a game of great antiquity, I mean, I know I’m old, but really!
I went online to try to find photos of my old (there’s that implication again) school. A Catholic girl’s school in San Antonio, Texas, Ursuline Academy, built in 1851 (I wasn’t born then, by the way). I couldn’t find a photo of the arched terraces we’d sit at to play jacks, but I did find this photo on the Library of Congress online site of another area of the school grounds
Thanks Frizztext for the walk down memory lane with the letter tagged j
AngelineM's Blog 
yes, I remembered we played with jacks too (also known as Knucklebones) … – me, born 1945 – not 1851 … – I think we got them as little school kids after WW II as content of care gift packages sent to Germany from USA …
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I wondered if boys played jacks/Knucklebones. It really was so much fun. You’ve just got a couple of years on me….but, right…not 1851 🙂
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goodness Angeline I haven’t seen those in so long…what a trip
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🙂
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We called these ‘jackstones’ and my sisters and I would sit cross-legged on the floor and play for hours. I don’t remember keeping it anywhere as cool as that Band-aid tin, though. 🙂
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Looks like this was a world wide game with different names. Yeah, I was waaaay cool with that Band aid tin 🙂
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Inspired entry Angeline 🙂 We played a similar game with small smooth stones!
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Thanks Madhu. It’s such a fun game. I have to wonder if kids still play jacks. I’m going to ask my older grandson,9, if he will play with me next time he’s over for a visit. That should be interesting.
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They might be more adept at pushing buttons than this jugglery 😀
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Exactly….so then I can win 🙂 🙂
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Speaking as a “J” word, I loved this blog entry – it was just a jewel
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Thanks for joining in and I hope you are not jesting 🙂
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What a wonderful memory!! I loved playing jacks (and was really good at it)!! Hours and hours with friends..
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Wasn’t it fun? My friends and I were obsessed with the game, and had to remember where we left off when the bell rang to go back inside when recess was over. I thought I was pretty good at it too….if we ever meet one day, I challenge you to a game of jacks 🙂
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You’re on!
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🙂 I’m gonna start practicing tonight
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Uh oh…;-)
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I used to love that game 🙂 Have to say, we played the game with stones and it was called ‘five stones’ long before manufacturers caught on and ‘invented’ jacks!
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The jacks we used were metal (the ones in the photos) and must have been the first set of jacks after stones. I remember the version that came after my metal ones that were a cheap plastic.
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I also played jacks at school. Gosh thanks for the memory!
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You are quite welcome! Thanks for stopping in to share in those memories.
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