Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts

Vintage Bocce Balls

I have this old Vintage set of Bocce balls. They are made out of hard wood and are dented, chipped and have taken a beating. They were brought over from Italy by my husbands Grandfather back in the early 1900’s. We are thinking around the 1920’s. So these balls are almost 100 years old. This Bocce Ball set is the one thing I really wanted after my father in law passed away. There was just something about the old wooden look of these balls that made me want to take them out of hiding and display them. I also wanted to keep them in the family.

 

They looked great in their old withered shape but I wanted to condition them so they will last for many more years. I used coconut oil. I put a thin coating of coconut oil and gently gave them a rubdown, then I took a cloth and wiped them clean. This brought the dark leathery look back. The best thing about using coconut oil is that it does not leave them greasy or oily.

I‘m not real sure if I like them better with the oil applied or not. It sort of took away from the distressed character. If I decide to keep them in the best condition, I will need to apply the oil at least once a year. The wood will eventually dry back out. 

Before and after

Bocce Ball is a yard game. One person will throw the small ball called a Pallino (target ball) then each team takes turns throwing a large ball. The goal is to get as close to the small ball as possible even if it means knocking someones else's ball out of the way. Points are gained. You can have a team of two to four. 


We have a newer Bocce set that we keep in our camper. We like to play Bocce Ball on the beach. It attracts new friends as teams are made. They are also wooden and the same weight and size as the vintage set, but the new sets come in vibrant colors. A beach trip is the first time I ever learned about this game as I saw many people playing it on the sand.


I found a wire basket to display this old vintage set. They sit on my hearth with a story behind them. I would have loved to play with this set along side of my late grandfather in law. 



Old Games-Memories

When the husband and I take our afternoon walks we will often come across coins, broken jewelry, lost keys and more. But what I like to find is marbles. It's rare but I have found a few. When I pick a marble up, I will always say "Someone is loosing their marbles".  I have no clue why I find them because I'm pretty sure they are not needed in any of the video game kids play now days.


I still have a bag of old marbles. Some are mine and some are my husbands from when we were kids.

I remember playing marbles when I was younger. It's started by drawing a ring in the dirt with your finger or stick. Each player would throw in a few of their own marbles into the center of the ring. Each player also had a "Shooter" marble which was larger than the marbles in the center. We always had our lucky shooter. Each player took turns thumping there shooter into the ring and try to knock out the other player's marbles. They also got to keep the marbles they knocked out. This led to going home with either more marbles than you had or less. It was sort of a gamble. But it was fun.

As I was cleaning out some old games from the TV hutch the other day, I came across some old Jack Rocks. These were not the large plastic ones you see in the stores today. These are the tiny metal ones that would scar your foot for life if you ever stepped on one barefooted.


I used to play with these things all the time. I remember the back side of my pinkie finger would be raw and even bleed at times from sweeping my hand across the pavement. You would start with collecting one, then two and so forth until you were able to grab all ten jacks in on sweep before the ball bounced. You do not see that being played by kids anymore either.

Another game I came across while cleaning..... wait.....let me back up...It really has not been that long since I have cleaned. I was just going through some old small games I had stashed away.
I found a box of Old Maid cards and a can of "Pick up Sticks". These were all simple and fun games we enjoyed as a kid. I think I'll hang on to them for the next generation.

Do you remember old games you used to play? Do you still have them?