What else did you use marbles for other than playing marbles?

Answer 1

My brother and I would make marble mazes out of small toy blocks placed on a slightly tilted table. Put a marble in at the top and guess which opening at the bottom it would come out. The maze was covered with cardboard. Fun! Years later I worked in a machine shop and we used a lot of spray paint . One day I took a completely empty spray can and opened it up to see what the rattler was, and it was a glass marble just like the kid's marbles, but not as pretty. Reject, I suppose. So then I opened all the used cans and had dozens of the ugliest marbles in my tool box. They came in handy for air-powered cannons, sling shots, etc. Never told the boss. :)

Answer 2

I had a bunch of marbles, cat's eyes and aggies and all the prettiest ones. I played marbles with them, but I loved them too much to use them for anything where I might lose them. I kep them in a special bag. Later when I grew up, I used marbles for other things, but I bought new ones to make the cracked marble grape clusters, and Chinese Checker game. I kept most of my marbles until a few years ago, when I traded some of them at an antique show for some antique beads. I still have some in a glass jar in the kitchen.


Some people would probably say I lost most of my marbles a long time ago, but that is just a matter of opinion, lol!

Answer 3

All these lovely things people have done with marbles as a kid.....and me?....well, we all used to carry a sock with marbles in the toe part and tied at the top in our pockets so that if the kids from the other estate came to our patch we could give 'em a good hard whack to chase them off! They were all gypsy kids either still living in caravans or had been housed by the Council. We didn't dare go to their patch but they were always coming to ours and we had to defend our play area or we'd never have got on the swings, roundabout, see-saw or slide lol.
Mum always knew when there were new gypsy kids at our school coz me, my brother & sister would come home with nits!!! xx

Answer 4

I never actually played with marbles but I had a bunch. I used to collect really pretty ones and keep them in a jar. That's really as much use as they ever got for me.

Answer 5

We would put them in our pockets and pretend they were money. Plus, I remember sticking some in my dolls' shirts to give them breasts. LOL And, we would always put a few in our slingshots. Thank goodness no one's eye was ever put out!! And, when I played with the boys next door, we would always have a load of marbles in one of their dump trucks.I still have my bag of marbles from when I was a kid. My Mom made the canvas draw string bag with corduroy trim in which they are stored. Thanks for the great memories, Wally!

Answer 6

We used them to make a home made Oncala/Owari game. We used marbles and rice bowls.
I have also used them heated to make art projects in the sixties. It gave them a cracked appearance. Mine was a bunch of grapes in a dish.

Answer 7

I used them in my home made sling shot to kill bull frogs so I could eat their hind legs, also for killing rats at the town dump. I shot a few jars and bottles back then. (About 58 years ago). I lived and was raised in a coal mining town and you had to roll tour own, fun, that is.....

Answer 8

I either traded them or sold them and made a profit when i brought them by the small bag full.

Answer 9

My cat loves to play with the shooters.

Answer 10

Carrying them in a can to scare off dogs, who used to run free, in our neighborhood. When we were kids, the threat of dog bites was much greater than today. If we spotted a dog coming near us, we would shake the can! It was loud enough, and scary enough to make the dog wary of coming near us.