In our recent story “Dimple Shooting in Belgium” we lamented the fact that we could not locate a picture of either children or adults playing marbles in Belgium.
Well, we never did find one. However, Ellen Ryckx at Het Huis van Alijn (Aline’s House) in Ghent did! Ellen is a dedicated, resourceful, and researcher and we thank her for her work.
Where the Photo Came From
Ellen wrote in the email which contained this photo: “The House of Alijn keeps a collection of toys, including marbles…. Unfortunately, we do not have many images of people playing with marbles. We keep one image from 1931 of children playing in the inner garden of the House of Alijn, which was a hatch[1] at the time.”
Have you ever seen marbles played like this? Is that a dimple just to the right of the marble on the ground? Also just to the right of the boy’s hand?
Finally, what are the boys’ marbles made of? Glazed ceramic? Stone? We welcome any and all feedback: just use the comment button.
This is a fantastic photograph and, again, we thank Ellen Ryckx at Het Huis van Alijn!
References
- The phrase “We bewaren één beeld uit 1931 waar kinderen spelen in de binnentuin van het Huis van Alijn, destijds een beluik”, with an emphasis on “beluik” can only be understood in context. Our friend Wendy Leyn in Belgium (see the previous story) explains that “A “beluik” is a group of small houses for the poor people and workers It is in a (little) street with a dead end so You had a courtyard where children could play…. Wendy also suggested some websites to check to learn the back story of The House of Alijn. This one has wonderful photograph as well as history: https://www.gent-geprent.com/bijzondere-gebouwen/gebouwen-h/huis-van-alijn-1 (7/25/2023); the House of Alijn also has photographs and history @ https://huisvanalijn.be/nl/historiek-van-het-gebouw (7/25/2023). Many thanks, Wendy! ↑
