Trains and dominoes combine for fun
ONE of my favourite toys is a jolly red coloured container of dominoes.
The bright red box shouts out ‘play with me’ and to make the game even more enticing, the dominoes have steam trains embossed on them.
A double whammy for our Summer of Play.
The dominoes were marketed by Spear’s Games who had their headquarters in Bavaria, a German centre for toy making.
This box is dated 1925 and is one of a collection of toys belonging to a boy called John Hutchinson, which included other well-known favourites like tiddlywinks, snap and paper based games including beetle and battleships and cruisers.
A selection of his games is on show in A Window into The Wilson until the end of August.
There are trails and quizzes and our under-fives gallery WOW (also enjoyed by other age groups and generations too).
Tile games similar to dominoes date back to the Chinese dynasties, but first appeared in their modern form in Italy in the 18th century.
The name may well refer to the Venetian black and white carnival costume known as a domino, as the tiles are traditionally black and white.
These dominoes are made of a cheap wood, dyed black with white painted pips but older and special versions of the game used dark hardwood like ebony, or even ivory, stone or frosted glass for the tiles.
In this set each tile is further decorated with an embossed image of a steam train on the reverse, no doubt to appeal to young children with an interest in transport.
The rules are printed inside the lid, outlining several games you could play with the 28 dominoes.
And there is a fun advert printed in the base of the box for another of Spears Games.
This tells you about ‘the thrilling new game of The Bonzo Chase, a policeman chasing after a dog who has run away with some sausages’.
Spears were good at advertising their goods and became one of the most significant producers of board games and children’s toys in the 20th century.
Jacob Wolf Spier founded the company in 1879 in a town called Furth, near Nurenberg in Germany, initially making table mats, photo frames and waste paper bins but by 1900 games had become their main product.
In 1932, Spears actually set up a factory in England, at Enfield to enable manufacture and sales to take place nearer their market.
Most households would have bought Spears games, a popular Christmas present.
Certainly the Hutchinson family had a good selection to keep them entertained.
Whatever the weather we always hope to keep you entertained so join us on Tuesday. August 21 from 10.30am-12.30pm for Investigating Toys!
Inspired by the August star objects of vintage toys we’re hosting a morning of play. Drop in and investigate, play with and make your own toy. Admission is free.
The Wilson is open Tuesday– Wednesday/friday–saturday 9.30am-5.15pm; Thursday 9.30am–7.45pm and Sunday 11am– 4pm.
You can find us on Facbook and Twitter as @Thewilsonchelt and browse all our events on our website cheltenhammuseum.org.uk/