Buff-Ball

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Game	Buff-Ball
Game Family	Hook-em-snivy Hook-em-snivy
Location	Maryland
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Eras	Predecessor
Invented	No
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Description	Tom Altherr has found a reference to buff-ball in Baltimore in 1773. A visitor wrote in his journal for 10/28/1773: "In Baltimore for some Buff-Ball." Tom notes that the nature of the game is not known, but that OED lists "to hit something" as one meaning of "buff." Bruce Allardice has reviewed contemporary literature and found that the term "buff-ball" seems to refer not to a game, but rather to a cleaning brush or agent. Cf. The Middlebury (VT) Mercury, Sep. 13, 1809; Hartford Courant, Nov. 20, 1797.
Sources	Philip Vickers Fithian, Philip Vickers Fithian Journal and Letters 1767-1774, John Rogers Williams, ed. (Freeport NY, Books for Libraries Press, 1969 [1900]), page 49. Reported in "Tom Altherr's Notebook," Originals volume 5, number 6 (June 2012), pages 1-2.
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