The (r)evolution of gaming moved all the fun indoors

Dec 19, 2014 15:05 GMT  ·  By

People have found ways to entertain themselves since the beginnings of humanity. Either it’s dices, stones, fabric, circles or other geometrical figures, they have been present long before video games appeared and were often used as toys.

Perhaps Dungeons & Dragons could not have appeared in the mid ‘70s if someone didn’t invent dices a very long time ago. The oldest confirmed dice is dated 3,000 BCE and has been found in ancient Turkey. It has three facets, but since then dices have evolved up to the point that we now have the “zocchihedron,” the dice with 100 facets.

This means that humanity has evolved, and games have become more sophisticated and more complex as time went by. We have now reached the point where we have a dedicated industry, the so-called “gaming industry” that feeds us entertainment.

We’re just one small step from another revolution in the gaming world. The VR (virtual reality) gaming devices have recently become the focus of many hardware manufacturers and beginning next year we might see some of them start being mass produced.

We've been playing games from the beginnings of humanity

That is now, but many of us “video gamers” have no idea how people played not 1,000 years ago, but just 100 years ago, in the 1900s. Some of us may have caught a glimpse of how people had fun in the past watching movies, but I still think it would be much fun to actually know how people played in the 1900s.

If you’re willing to take this strange, but hopefully entertaining, trip with me, then sit tight and read on because I’ll be as informative as possible.

I’ll be starting with something called Hoops. These are perhaps the most widespread toys that children used to play with in the 1900s. They are simple circles made of iron that boys used to run on the streets all the while keeping them with some sort of large hooks. Girls had wooden hoops with sticks to beat them along the pavement.

Boys with hoops in 1920
Boys with hoops in 1920
  Then there was Marbles, a game played by boys usually, in which they had to flip their marble with their first finger against their thumb and score if they got a marble into a gully.

Many had entire collections of marbles of different sizes, shapes and colors, and they would swap them among themselves. Think about it as a TCG (trading card game), but with marbles instead of cards.

I’m not sure how many of you got to play hopscotch in your childhood, but I sure did quite a lot. Even those who haven’t played it yet, at least you probably know what it is all about.

Hopscotch can be played with several players, but also alone (not fun though). You simply toss an object into numbered spaces on the pavements and then hop through the spaces to retrieve the object.

Sometimes you had to hop on one leg, other times you could use both. The numbered spaces would be marked out with chalk on concrete paving slabs. Today, we have special playgrounds where you can play hopscotch.

Some games were played exclusively by boys, others only by girls

Most of the games I’ve been rambling until now were mostly played by boys with the exception of hopscotch, but here is one that was played by girls.

It’s called skipping rope and is now practiced as either entertainment or exercise in various sports (boxing, gymnastics). Girls in the 1900s would use ropes to skip, but the rope could be very well handled by two other girls while one or more would be jumping it.

Sometimes one girl would be called up and she would have to jump faster or in a fancier manner than the usual. It is a very funny game called either “jump rope” or “skipping rope.”

Wealthier families had special ropes with wooden handles, but most of the children used a simple rope. Today there are various jumping rope techniques that I don’t even want to get into.

Skipping rope in the 1900s
Skipping rope in the 1900s
  One of the oldest games played indoors or outdoors in the 1900s is called Five Stones. It originates from the ancient Greece during the Trojan Wars and is thought to have been invented by Palamedes, one of the commanders in the aforementioned wars.

There are many variations of this game, which is why it’s also known under different names. You may know it as Knucklebones, Jacks or Fivestones.

It usually plays with either 5 or 10 small objects, which are thrown up and caught in various ways. The winner is the first person that manages to complete a predefined series of throws.

I thought it should be interesting to know more about Israeli Jacks. As the name suggests, this is the Jewish variation of the Five Stones game. Apparently, there’s a saying among Jews that it was possible to tell where you were from depending on how you played Israeli Jacks. I’m not a Jew, so I can’t confirm it, but I find it pretty cool.

Lots of kids in the 1900s played variations of this game because it only required them to carry five small stones in their pockets. The Israeli version has many variations as well, such as playing without looking or the addition of countless stages that you would have to pass in order to win.

The game can improve children’s attention and reflexes, as well as patience. Some of these games require endurance to overcome all the challenges. It also teaches children the importance of practicing. Five Stones is one of the oldest games that survived in its pure form over the years.

Wealthier families had access to many more entertainment activities

There’s another game that many of us certainly played during childhood and some may still practice it as adults, Hide & Seek. I believe this one doesn’t need any explanations, but as I promised to be as informative as possible, you should know that there are several variations of the game with different names.

One particular variation requires one person to hide and the rest go look for him, unlike the original game where one person would seek many others who would conceal themselves in the environment.

Bicycles were a thing in the 1900s, but only wealthy families could afford them for their children. Still, bicycle riding was seen more of an entertainment activity rather than a means for transportation.

Bicycle decorated for street procession - Deniliquin, New South Wales
Bicycle decorated for street procession - Deniliquin, New South Wales
  These are just a fraction of the games that were played in the 1900s, but there are a lot more that we probably never heard of. Unfortunately, some have silently disappeared completely due to the apparition of video games, while others are about to become obsolete and will probably become a thing of the past in the next couple of years.

We are very curious to hear your stories from before becoming a video game addict. If you’re not one of us, it will still be interesting to know how you’re having fun these days. Don’t hesitate to share your experiences with us in the comments section.

Games of the 1900s (7 Images)

Children's Games by Peter Bruegel the Elder
Boys with hoops in 1920Boy with hoop, Barcelona, early 1900
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