The history of the game of conkers
Conkers has a history as a pastime favoured by children in the UK. So in this article, we shall delve into a light history of conkers in schools, exploring:
The history of the game of conkers in schools
Why conkers became popular
How conkers has been banned in schools across the UK
How the conkers game first started
(Ripley’s) Believe it or not, the game of conkers, or more properly a similar kind of game, was played long before the horse chestnut tree was introduced to the British Isles from the Balkans! Children instead used snail shells and hazelnuts, and would have played. The horse chestnut arrived eventually however and totally overthrew the other objects, being used in various regions across the country by the 1850s. Now at this time many children still weren’t in schools, but after acts passed in the 1870s, they were, and the game began to really skyrocket in popularity – across the country, and at schools too.
What are the origins of the name of conkers?
Now jump ahead, and picture yourself as a child living in England during the First World War. Depending on where exactly you came from you may have known conkers by a different name, such as ‘cheggers’ or ‘cobblers’, but you would have known the game all the same. So imagine your surprise when you were suddenly called upon to collect these conkers by the British government – not to have fun, but for the war effort!
Alternative names for the game of conkers include:
Cheggers
Cobblers
Conkers!
The history of conkers
This did in fact happen, in the autumn of 1917, when children were offered money to collect as many conkers as possible, being encouraged by posters at school and societies they might have had access to like the scouts. The children weren’t told why of course, the idea being to keep any secrets from leaking to the Germans. It was because a Professor Weizman was trying to find a way to make acetone, which was needed for producing cordite – a chemical needed for artillery that had come into shortage due to war-related blockades. While this method proved ineffective for the artillery in the end, it certainly contributed to uplifting the culture of conkers and conker collecting in schools.
Conkers banned in schools
In more recent years, there has been much hysteria about the ‘overbearing’ nature of health and safety that led to an end of the era of conkers in school. One myth arose about having to wear goggles to play conkers, but this is simply untrue. This came about as a well-intentioned head teacher decided children should wear safety goggles in an attempt to prevent the local council banning conkers being played in the playground.
Nonetheless this myth has persisted. So much so in fact, that in 2019 there was a petition put forward to and rejected by Parliament to allow children to play conkers in schools again. Why? Well according to Parliament, its because there was never any government policy banning children from playing conkers in the first place! So if children being unable to play conkers is something the government isn’t responsible for, then its up to individual schools to make their own policies.
I’ll finish on this note – the history of conkers is engrained in British school culture, and is not so much something that has a written history as it is a pastime passed down from generation to generation. So in light of the revelations in the final section… to any parents reading, contact your children’s schools! And if you are ever worried about how they can play conkers safely and not hurt themselves getting conkers ready to play, then we can always recommend our conkers kits, which you can use to prepare conkers for your children in the safety of your own home.