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Punchboards www.punchboard.com
Punchboards were created sometime in the 1800s, probably by a tavern owner. Holes were drilled in a board, rolled up scraps of paper were inserted, and then the tavern owner sold chances at punching out a prize winner. After an initial popularity, interest later waned in punchboards until the late 1800s when they were created out of cardboard with paper covering the front and back of each hole. As you will learn at www.punchboards.com, “This added level of complexity was intended to prevent the operator from discovering where the winners were and tampering with the board. The boards were sold with a metal stylus or ‘punch’ for the players to use. Players responded, and the games began to appear again in the bars, drugstores, and barber shops of America.” Among the sellers of punchboards during this era – and the most famous – was Jack Ruby, the man who killed Lee Harvey Oswald. In 1905, C.A. Brewere and C.G. Scannell of Chicago patented the punchboard, and soon, punchboards were being produced by machines, which greatly increased their distribution. It is believed that in 1939 approximately 50 million were sold. Some of these mass-produced boards had up to 10,000 holes. It wasn’t just the Flim Flam man that conned people with punchboards. The operator of an establishment was often the guilty party. Some companies sold “keyed” punchboards, which came with a map key that listed the location of all the winning tickets. With their colorful faces and interesting theme, punchboards are attracting collectors. In addition to true punchboard collectors, punchboards also appeal to collectors of nostalgia, advertising, tobacco, pin-ups, gambling, Mafia, sports and others due to the great variety of theme boards. As the website reports, “Particularly nice vintage boards often sell for hundreds of dollars.” Punchboards were also used by manufacturers to sell their products, including Coca-Cola and Zippo lighters. Zippo reportedly sold 30,000 lighters in a six-year time period with punchboard advertising. Products were also given out as prizes on punchboards to get around the laws against gambling. Winners received cigarettes, beer and other products, but usually that was just a disguise for under-the-counter cash payouts – like many of the video poker machines today. For collectors, be aware that, “In recent years, the number of punchboard collectors has skyrocketed, while the number of boards available has continued to decline at a steady pace. In years past you might have found punchboards at nearly any flea market or swap meet. Now, the boards are becoming more difficult to locate, and significantly more expensive to acquire.” The punchboard era ended about 1970, but its history is still alive at www.punchboard.com, plus lots of photos and information about punchboards, punchcards, push-cards and so on. And if you haven’t seen The Flim Flam Man, rent it. It is better than 95% of the movies that were in the theaters last year. The Netropolitan Museum of Figure Skating Pins http://members.cox.net/netropolitan/
Figure skating events are always the most watched at the winter Olympics because of the beauty, grace and skill of the skaters. Pins from those events reflect those very same qualities. This website also has “Pinformation”, or pin history information, that provides clues for collectors. For instance: •The only sterling silver Nationals pin issued was 1965 Lake Placid. •The rarest U.S. Nationals pin is 1975 Oakland; the pin was made only for skaters and officials and was not sold at the event. In fact, the pin wasn't ready in time for distribution at the event, so it was later mailed to officials and competitors. •The first U.S. Nationals pin featuring a mascot was issued in 1982 Indianapolis; the mascot was Shivers the Penguin; a 1981 San Diego U.S. Nationals pin featuring a figure-skating Snoopy was issued, but Snoopy was not the event mascot. •The pin to commemorate the 1980 European Championships (Gothenburg, Sweden) did not arrive from the manufacturer until the event was over; according to well-connected sources, the pins were subsequently destroyed. For skaters, skate fans, and collectors, this is a site to see. Pinball Machines www.pinballhistory.com
One featured there is the 1931 Gottlieb Baffle Ball. “Dave Gottlieb, who produced penny arcade grip testers, observed a potentially huge market for pinball. Dave produced a small coin operated countertop machine and called it 'Baffle Ball'. The game took the country by storm and rocketed pinball into national prominence. Even working 24 hours a day, Gottlieb just couldn't produce enough Baffle Balls to satisfy the public's demand for it. This is the machine which launched the whole pinball industry.” His success did not go unnoticed by others. Ray Moloney engineered his own game and named it after a popular magazine of the time, “Ballyhoo”. His company was Bally Mfg. Co., which is legendary in the pinball field. The arcade pages on this website include: slot machines, love testers, peep shows, stereoscopes, electricity machines from the 1940s (which challenged patrons to see how big a charge they could take), dancing clowns, and the forerunner of the today’s claw machines, the digger, which dispensed candy—if you were skillful and lucky. You don’t often find websites with so many antique and vintage machines pictured. It’s good for a look. |
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