Walker & Hall Markers

What was this used for? - PHOTO REQUIRED
dognose
Site Admin
Posts: 50677
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: England

Walker & Hall Markers

Postby dognose » Wed Jan 11, 2012 1:19 pm

Just posting this one for a friend. I'm afraid I have no idea of the answer.

Image

Image

This curious set of markers is made up of FIVE aces, and one joker.

They are contained in a fitted box that is marked for Walker & Hall of Sheffield. Datewise they look around the 1930's period, they are not hallmarked, but are marked 'SILVER'.

Any thoughts?

Trev.

dognose
Site Admin
Posts: 50677
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: England

Re: Walker & Hall Markers

Postby dognose » Wed Jan 11, 2012 2:21 pm

I have now been made aware of the answer.

If no-one gets it right, at least it won't be left hanging in the air.

These pieces can be dated to c.1938.

Trev.

oel
co-admin
Posts: 4240
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:16 pm
Location: The Netherlands

Re: Walker & Hall Markers

Postby oel » Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:44 am

Hi Trev perhaps markers to be used during 'five suited poker/bridge' games?

Just about all variants of poker have been played with four suits during the two centuries the game has been around, but attempts have been made now and then to introduce a fifth suit. Probably the most notable of these attempts occurred in the late 1930s when a five-suited, 65-card deck was briefly introduced. In the United States, the fifth suit -- “eagles” -- was printed in green. Around the same time in England there were five-suited decks produced with the fifth suit printed in blue and called “royals.”

In truth, the five-suited decks were not really made for poker but rather for bridge, which by the late 1930s was enjoying a major boom in popularity in the U.S. According to “As They Saw It” (a neat website that compiles information from news articles about various 20th-century topics), there were something between 12 and 15 million bridge players in America at this time. Worldwide the game had taken off in a big way, too, with the World Bridge Olympic in 1938 attracting nearly 200,000 players from 57 different countries.

Much as we’ve seen happen in poker over the last decade with the introduction of new games coming in the wake of the explosion in popularity that has occurred, the bridge boom also inspired some attempts at innovation, including the idea of five-suited bridge. Apparently the idea originated in Austria, moved over to England, then made it to the U.S.

http://hardboiledpoker.blogspot.com/201 ... poker.html"

Oel

dognose
Site Admin
Posts: 50677
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:53 pm
Location: England

Re: Walker & Hall Markers

Postby dognose » Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:58 am

Hi Oel,

You win the cigar!

In 1938 there appeared a five-suit deck, having the usual 52 cards of the standard deck plus a complete fifth suit. In the United States this fifth suit was green, called EAGLES, and marked by an appropriate symbol; in England it was blue, called ROYALS, and marked by a crown. A five suit Bridge game was widely played for some months, but was soon forgotten. Five-suit poker made a better game, but can seldom be played today because the cards are no longer generally on sale.

Source: The Pocketbook of Games - Albert H. Morehead - 1945

I guess these are a set of novelty cocktail sticks, I've never seen such a set, or known about that extra suit before.

Regards Trev.


Return to “Mystery Objects”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest