As far as we can tell based on available games and research, the Canadian tiddlywinks scene pretty much mirrored the tiddlywinks scenes in England and the United States, mostly (but not always) replicating English and U.S. games to be sold in the Canadian market.
William Bryce
Book publisher William Bryce in Toronto, Canada produced the NEW PARLOR GAME FLIPS, selling for 25 cents in Canadian funds at the time (as indicated on the cover of this game), which was likely to be during or shortly after 1890. That was quite a bit of money then, wasn’t it?
We suspect that the William Bryce company of Toronto opted to name its obviously tiddlywinks game in Canada as FLIPS rather than risking naming the game as TIDDLEDY-WINKS or SPOOF or anything else associated with the game in England because all of these other game names were either trademarked or copyrighted in England, and he wanted to ensure that his Canadian game name would stand out and not be confused with those other games.
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Copp-Clark Company and Canada Games Company
The Copp-Clark Company of Toronto, Canada was created in 1899 when employees William W. Clark and Henry J. Clark took over the existing W. C. Chewitt and Company along with William Copp after W. C. Chewitt left the company.
In addition to their main Copp Clark business, another partnership was formed on March 15, 1915 by William Copp, Henry Legatt Thompson, and Arnold William Thomas. This new partnership was named “The Canada Games Company["] and shared the address of 495-517 Wellington West in Toronto with Copp Clark Company Limited. [...] Copp Clark manufactured the products for Canada Games while Canada Games was more of a brand.
The Canada Games Company produced these two quite similar editions of TIDDLEY-WINKS around the 1930s (estimated). The game with the orange border sports catalog “No. 1” while the one with the red border has “No. 2”. Another edition with the same artwork on the cover but a larger box has “No. A” on it. Note that these games were published solely in English.
The following Copp-Clark game of TIDDLEY WINKS was sold in the 1950s (estimated).
Copp-Clark produced TIDDLY CARDWINKS, which bears a 1965 copyright by E. S. Lowe Company, Inc., who published the game in the United States from 1965 to 1967 (based on available newspaper advertisements from the times). Like many Canadian games, both French and English languages are used on the box and the rules. The rules describe three adult games: Poker, Blackjack, and 500 Rummy; and two children”s games: War and High Score.
TIDDLY CARDWINKS was registered as a trademark in the United States by E. S. Lowe, with a 18 May 1965 first use date.
Somerville Limited
Somerville Ltd. was incorporated in Canada in 1921. The company changed its name to Somerville Industries Limited in 1961. In 1977, the company changed its name to Somerville Belkin Industries Limited. The company was continued in 1979. The company privatised in 1987 and subsequently amalgamated into Belkin Inc.
This company was based in Toronto and later, nearby London, Ontario, Canada. Their tiddlywinks games appear to be predominantly from the 1950s and 1960s (estimate).
Some of Somerville Limited’s tiddlywinks games were licensed from Milton Bradley Co. in the United States, and therefore sport very similar covers and contents.
This Combination Tiddledy Winks game shown below issued by Somerville Limited employs the same general cover layout used on Milton Bradley games from the 1950s and early 1960s (estimated) that predominantly incorporated a gray descriptive rectangle at the left with text along with a colorful cover illustration to the right. However, this particular Somerville Limited game is not known to have a matching Milton Bradley counterpart using the same cover illustration.
This particular Canadian game includes rules for playing 5 games: TIDDLEDY WINKS, TEN PINS, SPOT TIDDLEDY WINKS, SPOT TEN PINS, and GAME OF FORTY-FIVE. While the rules for these games are provided both in English and French, as would be expected from a Canadian game from this timeframe, the cover text surprisingly is only in English.
Since the company name shown on this game is Somerville Limited, the most likely date for when this game was issued must be prior to 1961, and hence, most likely in the later 1950s (estimate).
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