Cribbage Board Collection part 5

Above: tiny leather travel cribbage board with metal pegs, reportedly used by soldiers in the First World War.

Above: elaborate example (complete with central ash tray), almost certainly Anglo-Indian, probably dating from the 1920s. From the collection of Tony Hall.

Above: leather cribbage board with twin scoring tracks and a folding cover.

Above: leather travel cribbage set with a card compartment and separate scoring boards.

Above: wooden cribbage board advertising England’s Glory matches.

Above: Silk Cut cigarette advertising cribbage set, with two packs, pegs and board.

Above: Whitbread Best Scotch advertising cribbage board and box.

Above: miniature leather cribbage board in a key-ring case, advertising Jasper Park, Canada.

Above: Bakelite was much used from the 1940s/50s and one standard model was used by a wide variety of tobacco brands. Some used other materials such as Perspex or wood (below). Others still were more elaborate with double card or domino boxes (left). The smallest in my collection is in the form of a key ring advertising Jasper Park, Canada.

Above: a group of advertising cribbage boards promoting Double Diamond beer, Blue Bell tobacco, Charrington & Co., and Hamlet.

Above: The four card hand comprises a “double run”, always worth 8 points, that is two runs of 2,3 and 4 each worth three points, and two for the pair. As the up-turned card is an Ace the five card hand constitutes “a double run and one” (each run is now of four cards) – always worth 10 points, and more if any of the combination of cards add up to 15.

There have been many attempts in more modern boards to move away from the traditional scoring shape of 30 hole parallel tracks. The most common of these are the varying types of continuous track. Probably the earliest in my collection is a Drueke “Club Master” board, no.1957 made in the USA in the 1950s/60s. But others abound, and range from the reasonably small to a much larger range catering for three or four players. Alternately, you can play on a long track China-made board, with 60 holes in each track length.

Above: this hand looked promising before the fifth card was cut from the pack, but even with that is worth absolutely nothing – no 15s, no runs and no pairs!