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High Stakes: 1909

"Living on a Skyscraper." Boys playing marbles on the roof of a New York apartment building circa 1909. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection.

"Living on a Skyscraper." Boys playing marbles on the roof of a New York apartment building circa 1909. View full size. George Grantham Bain Collection.

 

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Marbles

I played a lot of marbles in different locales because we moved around when I was a kid. And each place had its own particular way to play marbles, I can assure you. Your version of a ring drawn in the dirt that a shooter would line up next to was pretty common. These guys in the photo seem to have a peculiar long-range thing going on. Or maybe the kid was just showing off. Fun to speculate about a lot of these photos.

Up on the Roof

This was a very well to do group of boys. Even with the clothesline this is not a tenement roof, but a high end building. In the Park and 5th Avenue buildings, the maids occupied the top floors and lived in dormitory type rooms. The wash could be theirs or their employers.

Dumb Question

Being more of a girl-type human, forgive the question but did shooters really get that far away in marbles? I always thought they shot from just outside the circle. These boys look as if they really know how to shoot.

Re: not really a skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall building. Back then anything over maybe 10 stories was considered tall. The term got its start in the 1870s and was routinely applied to any building of a dozen stories or more. Which is why the photographer used "skyscraper" to caption this picture.

not really a skyscraper.

Back in those days there were no residential 'skyscrapers'. Interesting picture, though. My kids don't get that dressed up for anything, much less hanging out with friends playing games.

Reminds me of...

once upon a time in america.

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