22.1.11

Scientific for the Older Folks

Speaking of tiddlywinks... As I may have mentioned, my father was, on top of everything else, a bit of a packrat. One of his "childish things" he hung onto was this board game, which he had gotten for his tenth Christmas. We played several times when in my turn I was ten and he still thought I could be taught to understand, if not love, football.





The gist of it is that you choose what play you're going to make, and then spin the spinner to see what yardage you achieve. Then you move the little football pin to the appropriate place on the "gridiron" and follow the usual football rules (gaining ten yards to achieve another "first down" etc. -- it's all coming back to me after 40 years) until the other team gets the ball.

If you have all afternoon and a good pair of bifocals, here are the instructions.



I never took to it (or the real thing) to the extent he did. I remember endless weekends oveerhearing as he listened in the other room to the gabbling radio sportscasters wetting themselves over some unbelieveable field goal or whatever. He took me to a college game once. I remember I liked (and understood) the hotdogs.


(For more nostalgia, visit Sepia Saturday.

7 comments:

  1. Wow! What a keeper. Wonderful ephemera!

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  2. great old game to have. Must have been torture to play.

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  3. American football is one of those things which is still a great mystery to me. The copious instructions wouldn't have enlightened me further, I'm sure. How wonderful that you still have this, complete with the box.

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  4. It's a beautiful game board. I'm with you on football - and other sports. It's not that I don't appreciate them, it's that I appreciate them for the wrong reasons. I like baseball for the music, the mesmerizing pattern on the mowed grass, and the hot dogs.

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  5. I love this - old games (and for some reason their boxes) can be as evocative and memory inducing as any photograph. I am tempted to go searching through the dusty old attic now.

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  6. as long as you enjoyed the hot dogs, that's fine. but i personally love football!! canadian or american. loved the grey cup game and my hometeam won this year, well in 2010, in november... and i'll be watching the superbowl for sure!!!!
    man, i love football!! and i love your post. this game looks simply amazing!! color me enviious!!!
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  7. Okay, I'm teasing you a bit here.... You called your father a packrat - but you still have the game! I think it's wonderful that you still have it, especially since you didn't particularly enjoy playing it. I'm not a fan of football, either, but I can enjoy a hot dog.

    I'm wondering about a "publication" date for this game. I can't remember if you told us when your father was born but knowing the date of the game gives a good idea of when watching football began to become a national pastime.

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