 The object of the cup and ball game is to swing the wooden ball into the cup that is attached to a stick. Directions from an 1859 book describes the rule of the game as:
"A ball of ivory or hard wood is attached to a stem of the same substance, having a shallow cup at one end and a point at the other. The player holds the stem in his right hand and having caused the ball to revolve, by twirling it in between finger and thumb of his left hand, he jerks it up, and catches it, either in the cup or upon the spike to receive by which a hole is mad in the ball." [Children's Toys Thoughout the Ages by L. Daiken]
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One of the earliest and favorite games played by children is the cup and ball toy. This toy was popular in Europe with adults and children alike. Cups and balls came to England from France where it was called bilbocquet. In 1767 America, Charles Shipman advertised cups and balls in the New York Journal or General Advertiser. Cups and balls range in size from about three inches in length with a tiny bead ball, to 12 to 14 inches long with a ball the size of a golf ball.
