It seems that the article on marbles has brought back some childhood memories for a lot of you. I have since had a lot of request for the history of another popular game played by children back in the days of old. It was called jacks or jackstones, fivestones, onesies, knucklebones or maybe even snobs.

The game originated in Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt hundreds of years ago. It was before televisions and video games when the only things boys and girls had to play with were materials they found near their homes. The game was played with small stones and animal bones collected from around the home.

The children learned to use them in a game. They tossed an object into the air and picked up the other objects in a way similar

to today’s version of the game. An older version of the game used five stone cubes made of clay, wood, ivory, bone or other objects. This game is usually played with two people and was often called the playground game.

Louisiana Treasures Museum has a set of antique jacks in the original package from the 1950s on display at the museum. The museum is located on Highway 22 west of Ponchatoula. For more information, call 225-294-8352 for hours of operation or tours.

Wayne Norwood is a lieutenant with the St. John Parish Sheriff’s Department and owner and operator of the Louisiana Treasures Museum located at 10290 Highway 22, West Pontchatoula.