I don't know what happened to that board, but I wish we still had it. They are not inexpensive, but it would be a fun game at family get-togethers, or at least I think it would.
I would have last played it in the late 70s or early 80s. A couple from the church had a number of couples over for a crokinole evening. Each man played a game with each woman for a partner although I am not sure if we played with our own spouses.
At evening's end, it was calculated that I had the worst results amongst the men. I remember saying, "I couldn't find a good partner, and I played with all of them."
So that was it. I last played crokinole more than 40 years ago, but I remember it being a fun game and have been thinking about quite a lot as a possible family activity. It would be great to have a board again, but the price is an obstacle, and it wouldn't get much use.
Have you played? Do you still have a board?
We were, quite surprisingly, able to play another ancient game on Christmas Eve: Tiddly Winks.
Tiddlywinks is a fun game played on a soft felt mat where players use small, flat discs called "winks" and aim to flick them into a target called a "pot". The objective is to get your winks into the pot to score points. It is a Victorian children's game that involves launching these disks from a flat surface into the pot, similar to beer pong.
According to the quote, above, it is an old game, more of my dad's generation than mine. I believe it because I never played it much, but when I did play with my dad, he was clearly more skilled than I.
We couldn’t find the game, or at least not inexpensively, in town, but, of course, Amazon had it for a reasonable price. I ordered it but then saw that it would not arrive until January. However, there it was in or mailbox about a week later, all of the way from Germany if you please.
I will now thrill you with a very brief Tiddly Winks clip from Christmas Eve.
I never heard of the first game, but we certainly played tiddlywinks! I don't remember a soft felt pad, though. We just played wherever. We also played pick-up sticks and jacks. Simple games, big fun!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I have had a couple crokinole boards in my possession over the years but have never known the rules to playing. Both of my boards were square wooden boards with netted pockets in the corner and a raised wood rim around it. I always played carrom on the opposite side and was quite the shark at it back in the day. On the opposite side was the crokinole side with the pins and different layout of lines. Both boards however had nary an instruction with them. It only came with the boards and the green and red plastic rings along with the black one and the white "shooter" rings which is what we called them. I may still have that board somewhere in the basement or it may have been sold at a garage sale years back. I haven't played carrom in probably 15 years or more.
ReplyDeleteThe other side looked like this
ReplyDeletehttps://carrom.com/blogs/rules/crokinole-carroms
On Ed's description, I am a little amazed to say that we have one of those boards in the attic of the old house. I will fish it out when it is warmer. Can you still get the pieces? When we come to Canada in June, I can mail it from within Canada. I will email you a picture when I pull it out.
ReplyDeleteNo help here...and didn't know about felt pads so tiddly-winks went all over except into the cup! A game that I only tried once!
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of playing tiddley winks with mum and dad as a little child, and we had a family crokinole tournament around the kitchen table at Christmas, complete with a silver (plastic) trophy for the winner.
ReplyDeleteNo to the first one, but I am sure I have played tiddley winks. Not that I remember it, well, maybe vaguely.
ReplyDeleteI have played tiddly winks but not the other one.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of Crokinole. It sounds fun. Tiddlywinks is fun - I used to play when i was little and tried to introduce my own children to it, without great success.
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of Crokinole, but it's fun to say! Tiddlywinks, we had that - but I can't say we played it a lot. We went for Battleship, lot of card games, Monopoly the most if I remember correctly.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Crokinale but have no idea how it's played. I seem to remember playing Tiddly Winks as a child. Monopoly was, I think, the only board game in my childhood house. My younger son and his family play Scrabble.
ReplyDeleteI have not played them.
ReplyDeleteI've played tiddly winks but not very well and I played more 'marbles' than other games as a kid.
ReplyDeleteWe played lots of card games every night. Cheap because there was no investment in a board, just a free deck of cards from anyone advertising their business on them.
It’s lovely how these games linger in memory
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of it and I don't think I've ever played Tiddly Winks, although I have heard of it. I know I would be terrible, unlike JJ. Wow!!
ReplyDeleteI have my fathers board. Unfortunately the little discs are long lost. I wonder if wood checkers would work?
ReplyDeleteCrokinole was very popular when I was growing up. we didn't buy the boards from a store. A couple of men were very skilled at making boards so we had home made crokinole boards. I'll take you on for a few games!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of crokinole, but definitely have played Tiddly Winks (haven't thought of it in years!).
ReplyDeleteI am Canadian and have lived here in Canada all my 69 years, and I am unfamiliar with Crokinole! Tiddly Winks....I loved this game! I remember Pick Up Sticks, Footsie, Hopscotch with a double skipping rope, loads of fun!
ReplyDeleteCrokinole? For sure. Not for years, but many times as a child. Anyone from Saskatchewan would surely say the same.
ReplyDelete