2378 - Fairmont, Nebraska, USA

Fairmont is a village of 560 people just outside of Lincoln, Nebraska. The name of Fairmont was chosen to conform with the alphabetical stops along the Burlington & Quincy Railroad westward from Lincoln: Berks, Crete, Dorchester, Exeter, Fairmont, Grafton, Huxley, etc.

Charlene, who sent me the card, is a recently retired music teacher. She apologized for not having a lawn bowls card. Marbles was the only round thing card she had.

I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s and although I had bags of marbles, I never used them to play marbles.

There are many different types of marbles with unique names and they are made out of a variety of materials. There have been world championships held since 1932. The British and World Marbles Championships have been held at Tinsley Green, West Sussex since 1932.

Playing marbles have been played in the area all the way back to 1580. The marbles playing season traditionally started on Ash Wednesday and lasted until midday on Good Friday. It was believed playing past midday on Good Friday was bad luck. More than 20 teams compete at the world championships and German teams have been dominating since 2000. The first world champion (1932) was a young girl from London, named Ellen Geary.

Comments

3227 - Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Mölln is a small city of about 20 000 located in northern Germany. The Elbe-Lübeck Canal flows through the town, and there are eight small lakes that surround the city. It was founded in the 12th century and was a part of the Old Salt Route. Salt that was produced in the salt mines of Lower-Saxony was shipped to the Baltic Sea. Till Eulenspiegel, a legendary trickster known for exposing vices and provoking thought, is said to have lived in Mölln the last year of his life. He apparently died of the plague in 1350, but his existence has never been proven. Mölln has several monuments dedicated to him.

3322 - Hamburg, Germany

Happy birthday to me! What a lovely handmade card from the sender. Beautiful penmanship. Am Rothenbaum is the site of the main court of the German Open Tennis Championships. The International German Open has been played at the Rothernbaum since 1892, making it Germany's longest running tennis tournament. The current stadium was built in 1999 and can hold 13 200 people.

3232 - Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States of America

The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light was built in 1882. There were nine keepers of the light until 1897. It was redesigned in 1903 and is 12 meters high. The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal was started in 1872 and wasn't opened for large-scale watercraft until 1890. The canal is 2.1 kilometers long that goes from Sturgeon Bay in Lake Michigan to Green Bay. There are no locks on this canal. The canal was sold to the United States government in 1893 and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers maintains the canal.

Search This Blog