Can You Flick It? A Subbuteo Story

The thrilling, incomprehensible, unnerving history of tabletop soccer.

Home page of Subbuteo.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 09, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics, Games, 1940s, Europe

Follies of the Madmen #239

[Click to enlarge]

"Droodles" sounds ugly, like "drool." And these jokes are fit only to entertain an eight-year-old. Excellent campaign to indicate quality of product and sophistication of audience.

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 08, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Games, Tobacco and Smoking, 1950s

Funny Bones Game

How quickly these sessions devolved into outright swingers' orgies is a matter of historical record.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 25, 2014 - Comments (9)
Category: Games, Sexuality, 1960s

Crazy Clock Game

Everyone knows Mouse Trap. But who recalls its sister game, Crazy Clock? Why would one become famous, the other forgotten? The vagaries of play....

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 17, 2014 - Comments (3)
Category: Games, Rube Goldberg Devices, 1960s

Beetle Game

I want to see Hasbro or Mattel market this game today.

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 24, 2014 - Comments (6)
Category: Games, Insects and Spiders, 1930s

Under The Carpet

A home owner found something neat while pulling up old carpet, a hand painted monopoly board. It follows the original pretty closely except the names of properties are omitted. Oh and also, sexy lady silhouettes grace the community chest squares.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 12, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Games

Extreme Amazing Super Chess

Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 31, 2012 - Comments (3)
Category: Games, Humor, Body Fluids

Bullet Pudding and Snapdragon

Back in the days before TV and the internet, people amused themselves over the holidays by playing parlour games. One game popular in Regency-era Britain was "Bullet Pudding" [via tywkiwdbi]. Jane Austen's niece Fanny Knight described it in a letter sent to a friend :


Nothing gets a party going like playing with live ammunition! The illustration below by Francis Hayman shows the moment when the bullet toppled from the top of the Flour pyramid.


Another game, called Snapdragon, involved lighting a bowl of brandy punch on fire and then trying to pick the raisins and nuts out of the punch without burning your fingers. Austenonly comments, "Though brandy does not burn at a particularly high heat it was still possible to be scorched and  the point of the fun was to watch peoples expressions as they darted their fingers through the flames, picking out the fruit or nuts."

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 27, 2012 - Comments (5)
Category: Games, Nineteenth Century

Parker Brothers Billionaire Game

Perhaps it's wise that this 1973 game is no longer manufactured. Hard to imagine it being very popular in today's economy. But if you still want a set, so you can pretend to be part of the 1%, check out the link to Amazon below.

More info here.

And here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 27, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Games, Money, Outrageous Excess, 1970s

Calamity Board Game

Gosh, this looks like a really not boring, laugh-a-minute game. And perfect for these economic times!

Stick to your kitty cats, Andy!

More pix and info here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 19, 2012 - Comments (9)
Category: Celebrities, Games, Insurance, 1980s