Mumblety-peg...

I may be misremembering, but didn't this "game" originate in some form with one of the knife companies? IIRC, there were some "games to play with your knife" type premium booklets printed up by at least one of the old knife manufacturers (with most such games being dreadful things to do to any folding knife) -- as with most crimes, you need to first ask "who benefits?"
 
zerogee said:
I may be misremembering, but didn't this "game" originate in some form with one of the knife companies? IIRC, there were some "games to play with your knife" type premium booklets printed up by at least one of the old knife manufacturers (with most such games being dreadful things to do to any folding knife) -- as with most crimes, you need to first ask "who benefits?"
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That's possible. I do know that Mark Twain wrote about it in one of his short stories about Tom Sawyer.
 
kamagong said:
Thanks for the insight guys. I still don't think it's the game for me, I could never sacrifice my S&M harness jack for a few minutes of fun. Might be just the thing for Rough Rider knives though...

- Christian
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That's the point- the game was played with those cheap shell-handled Imperials and Camilluses. You didn't play with the expensive stuff, a Rough Rider would be perfect.
 
wagglebee said:
That's possible. I do know that Mark Twain wrote about it in one of his short stories about Tom Sawyer.
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And that book, "Tom Sawyer, Detective," was published in 1896.


Well, by one account here. . . .someone even predates Tom Sawyer's days as a detective, as to how old the game of Mumbly Peg is. . . . .



Blues said:
We even played this game on the streets of New York in the late 50's and early 60's. . . . . .
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1850s and early 1860s? :eek: You don't look that old Elliott! :D
 
kamagong said:
Thanks for the insight guys. I still don't think it's the game for me, I could never sacrifice my S&M harness jack for a few minutes of fun. Might be just the thing for Rough Rider knives though...

- Christian
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Isn't this the game that Marbles Elephant Toenails were made for?:eek:
 
GigOne said:
And that book, "Tom Sawyer, Detective," was published in 1896.

Well, by one account here. . . .someone even predates Tom Sawyer's days as a detective, as to how old the game of Mumbly Peg is. . . . .
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I seem to remember the booklet was from around 1920, give or take a decade or so. So they were likely just seizing on a great way to shorten the usable life of pocketknives. I know it struck me as being like a car manufacturer giving out copies of "Ramp jumping for fun and profit" or "Demolition Derby: not all those parts are strictly necessary".
 
GigOne said:
When growing up, we played ........ progressively difficult tosses and a variation of the "Split." The latter did not involving each participant throwing knives at each other, but required players to move his or her foot to the space where the knife lands.

Whatta blast from the past. :D Thanks for bringing the topic up! :thumbup:
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We played that and the opposite, Chicken, where ya start with yer feet widespread as far apart as ya can go, then throw the knife in between windin' up with less distance between between until someone chickens out.

We had a few accidents in our time.:D
 
my grandpa played it in the late 1890's, my father in the 1920's, and i in the middle 50's. pretty much the same: stretch, chicken, and "split the top". in split the top, one person gets the top spinning (on cement) and the older kids w/ heavier knives tried to throw the knife and split the top w/ a perfect throw. i only saw one split, and another wounded in 3-4 years. knife games were confined to 2nd-5th grade. 6th grade and on, knives were in pockets, only taken out to sharpen a pencil, etc. ours was a little hillbilly town in so cal. just another part of rural america that has been driven out by more progressive attitudes. for the OP, a dime would get you 2 playable knives if you shopped the playground. most i ever saw paid was 25 cents, for a full size camillus wwII marine knife w/ only the very tip of the main blade broken off. great memories, much sadness.......................b
 
Sword and Shield said:
That's the point- the game was played with those cheap shell-handled Imperials and Camilluses. You didn't play with the expensive stuff, a Rough Rider would be perfect.
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At the age I was playing cheap was all I had...expensive did not exist at that time :)
 
rprocter said:
I grew up in Montreal in the 1950s. We played "Stretch" (called "Split" above). Two players would face each other about 5 or so feet apart. You would throw your knife trying to get it to stick in the ground just a bit to the outside of your opponents foot. If it stuck in, he would have to move his foot to that spot. When it got to the point that one player could no longer stretch far enough to get to the knife, the other guy won. We played in the school yard which was grass back then.
Neat, this is an old memory that i have not recalled for decades.
roland
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Thats how we played it out here as well. We also called it stretch but sometimes Mumblety-peg. That was in the late 70's and early 80's Newfoundland.
 
Used to play it on the school ground in Oklahoma City in 1948 and then right on through high school in the 1950s. It wasn't unusual to have a teacher or two join in for a round now and then. Even the girls played it. Nobody really gave it a thought as to whether it damaged their knives. One of the cool things about it was everyone (teachers too) standing around comparing knives. My favorite patterns for playing were either a Jack Knife or a Barlow Knife.
 
What's really neat about all this, is that many of us were playing with knives when we were children, and we're still playing with knives 50 or more years later. Different 'games', but we're still having fun.
If you've got a fascination with knives, it seems to last a lifetime.
roland
 
Hi I just found this thread looking for another. Anyway I have a mint Imperial in the box with instructions. If anyone wants a picture I can probably pull the knife out of inventory out of my show stuff, but my camera is not working as well as it should, I should be able to scan the instructions also. I rarely stray from Bernard's thread, but this one has some killer discussions
Dennis aka nifman
 
All it takes is a $5 knife to play. No reason to throw your best knife...just needs a blade that will stick in the dirt
 
cnas122 said:
All it takes is a $5 knife to play. No reason to throw your best knife...just needs a blade that will stick in the dirt
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You save your best knives for sticking into trees, Campbell!!
:D:D

(Tell me you didn't expect that!!)
 
waynorth said:
You save your best knives for sticking into trees, Campbell!!
:D:D

(Tell me you didn't expect that!!)
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:) :) :) Only the very best knives get stuck in trees. Man's gotta be a man with his knives ;)
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