PAN-CAKE TIDDLY-WINKS sports a Black Mammy caricature of a Black woman on its cover, holding a stack of pancakes. The playing surface adds caricatures of two Black men. This game was produced by Russell Manufacturing Company of Leicester, Massachusetts in the 1920s (estimate). This game was issued in two very slightly different versions, one with publisher catalog number 511, the other with 211.
The Russell Manufacturing Company was founded before 1928 and changed its name to Russell Press Inc. during or before 1938, though it had changed its name back to Russell Manufacturing Company by 1951, when it was listed in the Leicester city directory as a maker of card games. Herbert E. Carlton was its President in 1928, and Ralph R. Russell its Treasurer the same year. Ralph R. Russell was the President of Russell Press Inc. by 1938, and of Russell Manufacturing Company by 1953. Ralph’s father was Joseph Russell (1850–1916). Ralph Ray Russell was born in 1891 and died in 1863; he had three sons including one named Ralph Ray Russell Junior.
title • PAN-CAKE TIDDLY-WINKS
publisher • Russell Mfg. Co.
publisher catalog number • 155
date • 1920s (estimate)
item • cover
photograph by • Rick Tucker
original in • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
COONIEFLAP was put out in England under the brand of the Atlas Series of games, which was produced by Moses Kohnstam & Co., better known as MOKO. This game employs coon caricatures of Black people. The cover and the game target show the same illustration of 5 Black people with wide-open red lips (and red tongues on the cover). The object of the game is to shoot as many winks as possible through the mouths on the game target; each mouth is worth between 2 and 10 points. The game was printed in Bavaria.
Moses Kohnstam was founded in Fürth, Germany, in 1875. In addition to games, they also produced dolls, toy trains, and other toys. The British branch of the company was formed in 1890 by Moses’s son Julius.
title • PAN-CAKE TIDDLY-WINKS
publisher • Russell Mfg. Co.
item • contents
photograph by • Rick Tucker
original in • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
title • COONIEFLAP
publisher • Moses Kohnstam & Co.
brand • Atlas Series of Games
item • cover
photograph by • Rick Tucker
original in • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
title • COONIEFLAP
publisher • Moses Kohnstam & Co.
brand • Atlas Series of Games
item • contents
photograph by • Rick Tucker
original in • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
title • COONIEFLAP
publisher • Moses Kohnstam & Co.
brand • Atlas Series of Games
item • rules
photograph by • Rick Tucker
original in • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
The J. Pressman Company of New York City produced Playtime TINNKY WINKS • A modern Tiddley-Winks. The game appears in a November 1933 newspaper advertisement, selling for 10 cents in a special promotion.
publisher • J. Pressman Co.
title • Playtime TINNKY WINKS A modern Tiddley-Winks
item • cover
photograph by • Rick Tucker
source • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0
In this game, the Black man is identified as a minstrel (usually a White man in blackface) in the rules. He stands vertically at the rear of the target, holding a metal cup. According to the rules:
The real idea of this game though is to snap the wink into the cup. For this wonderful achievement the player receives fifty points.
In contrast, the target areas in the box bottom are worth 10, 5, 3, and 7 points. The player who first scores at least 300 points wins the game. It could take quite some time for a player to reach that goal!
publisher • J. Pressman Co.
title • Playtime TINNKY WINKS A modern Tiddley-Winks
item • contents
photograph by • Rick Tucker
source • Tucker Tiddlywinks Collection
licenseable • per Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0