Do any of you remember playing pitch by a coal oil lamp? Or maybe going to a pie supper or a cake walk? I remember those things and know some of you probably do, too. I hate telling my age, but I guess it really isnt much of a secret. In the historical newspapers of Barry County, we read items about candy pulls, spelling bees, pie suppers, cake walks, singing conventions, and music parties. Pitch was another favorite game of our Barry County ancestors, but it was usually played at home, where the other things were a community type of activity. During the Civil War, soldiers played pitch, but it was called set back in those days. It was a four or five point game back then. The five points were high, low, jick, jack, and game. Two people could play 5 point, where 7 point or 10 point is a 4 person game. Four points were high and low, and main and off jacks, I think - but am not sure. Nowadays, we play ten point pitch and in fact that is what we are going to do tonight. We play with 5 or 6 people at a table sometimes. But I like the game with 4 better. Tonight we will have about 20 to 25 people to play with. The winners will progress to the top table and the losers will move to the bottom. My grandparents and their generation thought that the ten point game wasnt much of a game and far too easy for anybody who wanted to play cards, so they usually played five or seven point pitch. The seven points were the ace, the deuce, which were high and low - main and off jacks - high and low jokers - and the ten spot. When the 3 spot or the tray was added to the game hat made a total of ten points.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Apr 2014 22:56:18 +0000
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