|
A Brief Description of American Marble Tournaments
The National Marble Tournament began in 1923 as the brainchild of the Scripps-Howard Company and rapidly became the most successful newspaper promotion in the history of American journalism. The Scripps Howard Central Group organized and ran the tournament from their headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. Cities served by Scripps Howard owned newspapers and associated newspapers - clients using Scripps’ press wire service – were eligible to send their local champs to compete in a nation-wide tournament held on the New Jersey shore. By the 1930’s, 71 communities were sending their local marble champs to the Nationals. Communities not served by Scripps Howard syndicated newspapers were left out from all this fun. Enter Berry Pink, the “Marble King,” to fill this market niche. From the late 1930’s to the 1950’s millions of youngsters participated in Marble King Tournaments every year. In the late 1950’s when local newspapers began dropping their sponsorships of marble tournaments the American Legion picked up the task, organizing their own tournaments and holding their nation-wide championship in Indianapolis, Indiana. These tournaments continued into the 1970’s. Before The National Marble Tournament began in 1923, there existed city marble tournaments, most organized and sponsored by city governments’ parks and recreation departments. There is some evidence to suggest city tournaments might date back as far as the 1870’s, at least in Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland is roughly 25 miles north of Akron.) In the early 1920’s newspapers began sponsoring some of the city marble tournaments organized by local parks and recreation departments. In a few cases these newspapers pitted their champion against the champion from a neighboring community. These were sometimes called “grudge matches,” and reached their pinnacle in 1922 in a tournament held in Philadelphia.Home Players Main Origins Main
|