I live in Texas, but maybe I can help someone…I bought a metal set of jacks that came in a metal cannister with a set of pickup sticks (also fun!). I also found a really cute metal pastel colored set of jacks at a grocery store here called Albertsons. Both of these came with basic directions. If anyone would like me to pick up a set, I would be happy to make arrangements to send them to you. Also, I am having a very hard time finding rules for various jacks games. If anyone can help me there I would appreciate it. Thanks, Barbara Brech

Here in the middle of England, to be specific, Derbyshire, we call jacks ‘snobs’. I tried to look ‘snobs’ up on the Internet but there was no entry for the game, just the definition about the sort of person who feels himself superior. I did not even know the other names such as ‘jacks’ but I asked my grandson to find some ‘snobs’ for me back in England (I live in Mozambique). Now I’m back in England for Christmas I find he’s got me some from a shop and I’ve only now heard the names ‘jacks’, ‘bones’ and so on. When I was a kid in Derbyshire, the snobs were of rather rough pot (i.e. fired clay) and cubical. I think I remember some or all of them had lines on the side but I don’t remember enough to know if these had some numerical significance. (This was about sixty years ago now.) The ball was also of fired clay. Cheers, Keith Warren

Has anyone ever heard of a jack game referred to as around the world? When I was growing up it referred to bounceing the ball, picking up the jacks and circleing the ball befor it hit the ground again.

I have been reading with great interest the discussion of “jacks.” We flipped to see who was first; if you could flip all of the jacks from one side of your hand to the other, you could claim, “one game.” Otherwise, we went from onezies to tens, in order. If you missed, you were out and the next girl took her turn. We called a stacked jack “double jack,” and if anyone yelled “double jack” first, she got to smash it apart. Of course, if it were your turn you wanted to be the one to yell and break it apart gently, so that your jacks wouldn’t scatter. I had never heard the term “fancies” but evidently we called the same thing “coggzies.” You had to get through a hard coggs or easy coggs (your call) before you could claim the game. We played multiple games, reciting “one game, two games, etc. as we finished.