What did our Italian Ancestors do for Fun

[rp76226]

Since the 1900s, Americans have played many different games both indoors and outdoors (sports, card games, video games, movies, TV, radio, etc.). What did our ancestors in Italy in the 1800s and before do for fun? I'm thinking that they worked such long hours, that maybe very little.

[joetucciarone]

bocce?

[rp76226]

Sure. The wealthy would have also done theatre and opera. The non-wealthy may have done some religious church and town festivals.

[joetucciarone]

A reporter for the New York World was sent to observe Italians in a New York tenement; in his article for the paper, published on January 20, 1873, he wrote: "around the stove several pairs of them began a vulgar Italian game known as 'morra,' which is constantly played in every low wine shop in Italy, and often at the corners of streets and in the yards of village churches. The game consists in two men confronting each other, closing their fists behind their backs and simultaneously darting them forward...the game frequently creates intense excitement, and in its seemingly circumscribed history many a bloody crime is recorded."

[joetucciarone]

On June 20, 1897, the Repository, a newspaper in Canton, Ohio, published this: "The modern Italians have few out-of-door games worth mentioning. There is, however . . . one bowling game which is good enough for transplanting to the new world. In Orvieto the boys and young men whittle out round disks of light wood...the disk is slightly rounded at the edges by whittling, and in throwing or rolling it a tough string, from five to nine feet long, is used. The string has a loop tied at one end. To roll the disk, this loop is slipped over one or two fingers . . . then, beginning at the other end, the string is wound snugly round the edge, until the disk rests in the hollow of the hand. After the disk has left the player's grasp, he draws back the string, with a strong, even pull . . . with the string an Orvieto boy can send a large disk spinning up a steep grade . . . nearly 400 feet."

[PippoM]

They also used to play cards in "osterie" or at home.
Do you know how "morra" works?

[joetucciarone]

Hi Pippo - here is more of that 1873 article about morra: "Immediately the hands are darted forward each of the players makes a guess, and he who succeeds in guessing the number of fingers exposed by his opponent not only wins that number of the specified stakes, but the number guessed by the losing party is added." When I was a kid, we played something similar that we called "fling flang flu."

[BrownEyedGirl]

Tarocchi?

It was popular in previous centuries so it might have been popular in certain regions in the 19th century, too. I think there were tournaments in very recent years if I'm not mistaken.

The decks didn't catch on for card-game purposes here in the US though. But I guess "divination" is kind of a game in itself.

[rp76226]

One card game my grandfather loved to play was pronounced Breesk (don't know the true spelling). 8s, 9s, and 10s were removed from the deck. You were dealt only 3 cards each and kept picking from the deck. One card turned over from the deck was trump. You could play whatever card you wanted and did not have to follow suit. Ace was worth 11 points, 3s worth 10, Kings worth 4, Jacks worth 3, and Queens worth 2. you needed over 120 to win which took 2 hands to accumulate (120 total points in the deck). Can play 2, 3, or 4 players (pairs). He also played a game called Tre Sette (Three Sevens), but only once in a while.

[PippoM]

One card game my grandfather loved to play was pronounced Breesk (don't know the true spelling).

This is "briscola"

[PippoM]

Hi Pippo - here is more of that 1873 article about morra: "Immediately the hands are darted forward each of the players makes a guess, and he who succeeds in guessing the number of fingers exposed by his opponent not only wins that number of the specified stakes, but the number guessed by the losing party is added." When I was a kid, we played something similar that we called "fling flang flu."

Thank you, Joe. I know, and I played it when I was a kid. I would have explained if nobody had a description of it!

[Frank Saulino]

Hi Pippo - here is more of that 1873 article about morra: "Immediately the hands are darted forward each of the players makes a guess, and he who succeeds in guessing the number of fingers exposed by his opponent not only wins that number of the specified stakes, but the number guessed by the losing party is added." When I was a kid, we played something similar that we called "fling flang flu."

I have been looking for where this game (Fling Flang Flu) originated...Being of Italian descent I'm well aware of Morra, as it's a staple of many an Italian wedding reception and family reunion....I was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio and I can't seem to find any evidence very far beyond my home town, that this version of Morra even exists....Where did you hear about this as a kid ?

[joetucciarone]

Hi Frank - sorry, I just saw this. I'm originally from the Youngstown, Ohio area. I knew some Sauline's from that area.