In our museum exhibit, we have quite a few toys and games. It’s amazing how so many of them share similar beginnings and how far in the past they were first played. While some of the early colonial toys and games can be traced back to the influence of Native Americans, many others have roots that go much further back to the earliest civilizations in Asia and the Middle East or to the days of the Greeks and Romans.
Dominoes and playing cards both date back to 10th century China, and board games were first played in ancient Egypt. Forms of balls, jacks and spinning tops were found in ancient tombs and there are records of the ancient Greeks and Romans playing with them. The materials used to create them – bone, stone or wood – have all been replaced by plastics and other new compounds.
There is an early mention of building blocks in 1798. The wooden blocks had letters carved in them and they were used to teach children their ABC’s. Early blocks were called “rational toys,” and it was believed that children would learn not only their letters but also the concepts of gravity, physics and spatial relationships, as in how different parts become a whole.
Although today we think of board games as primarily for children, they have been an adult pastime for centuries beginning with rudimentary chess and backgammon. Both Chinese Checkers and Parcheesi, originally from India, have been sold in America for over 100 years.
I remember that my grandparents met with other couples weekly or monthly to play whist or Canasta. They would hold the card games at different houses. The Rochester’s Women’s Club grew out of weekly card games played by a group of local women at the Men’s Club building off Mary’s Pond Road.
The “pandemic” reintroduced many of us to both jigsaw puzzles and card games, while many of the board games of the 1950s and ’60s were introduced to a new generation. At the museum, we also have a marble game with quite a few rules and a lot of marbles. Our homemade board came from Canada and dates back to the 1950s.
So, whether you want to try your luck at marbles or backgammon or you just want to spin a top or accessorize Mr. Potato Head or want to ask questions of the Ouija board pictured here, we hope you’ll join us at the museum at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, April 16, to kick off our 2025 season.
By Connie Eshbach
