| Origins. The Put and Take is one of many
forms of Teetotums (any gaming spinning top). The Teetotums were
known in ancient Greece, and the Dreidel (put and take instructions
on the four-sided spinner) was developed in 16th century Germany.
Put & Take tops, like the standard brass one pictured just above, were
very popular from the early 20th century to about the 1940’s. They
could be carried in ones pocket and used anytime in a bar or other gathering
place for an impromptu gambling session. Each player would contribute
chips, coins or currency to a pot. Links. Here are some informative links on the subject of Put and Takes: ¶ Wikipedia Teetotum article . ¶ Waterloo Univ. ELLIOTT AVEDON VIRTUAL MUSEUM OF GAMES: Dreidel - Put & Take - Teetotum . ¶ Game: TEETOTUM -- (Detail from Brueghel's Painting) . ¶ The Chanukah Dreidel (Dreidle) . ¶ Website of ARJAN VERWEIJ: click here, here, and here. Rules. If it landed T1, T2 or T3, the player who spun it would win (take) 1, 2 or 3 chips, respectively, from the pot. If it landed with the star or “Take All” showing, he would take all the chips from the pot. If it landed P1, P2 or P3, he would lose (put) 1, 2 or 3 of his chips, respectively, into the pot. If it landed "0" or “Put All” or “All Put,” he would have to match the pot or lose all his chips or each player would have to contribute to the pot, depending on the rules. I have one set of rules where a land on "0" would mean just that the top passes to the next person. Collection. In the many pictures below are some of the over 100 Put and Takes in my collection, plus some similar horse racing and dice tops. Towards the bottom of the page, I show some put and takes that I do not own. Be sure to see the about 15th picture below (the one with the three red celluloid tops), which show how Put and Take tops can be rigged for cheating! Spin. Some of the tops spin easier than others. For tops that are difficult to spin, try this technique: you have to (1) press it down firmly against the surface, (2) make sure it is upright and still; and (3) then twist it. Experiment with your top. You can make your own Put and Take using cardboard and a pencil. Try theses links: here, here and here, from a site about Spanish language put and takes. New York Times 1921 news story of Women's Christian Temperance Union denouncing Put and Takes by name. |
| Index. Some
Groupings of Put and Takes on this page --
quick links: miscellaneous vintage bi-level tops foreign put and takes gaffed tops: vintage, modern punch boards boxed game sets, cards modern put and takes misc. look modern |
| Pictured above are
the most common type of Put and Takes. They
were usually
small, about an inch
high, and made of brass.
They can be distinguished from
each other in a variety of ways, as
is apparent on this page. ¶ 6-sided ones: groups (bags) "5" and "7," above, are 6-sided tops, and as such invariably have words on the sides and must be read with the top lying on its side -- the words are lined up with the stem of the put and take top (go in the same direction as/are parallel to the length of the stem) . These invariably have words (like "put two") on the sides, not short-hand "P2", "T1," etc. ¶ 8-sided ones: groups "2", "4" and "6" above are 8-sided tops, and as such invariably do not have full words on the sides, just a letter, star and/or number, and to view/read them, you must hold the top upright. I have never seen an 8-sided one with words on the sides, just T1, TA, P2, etc.... ... .... I find that the 6-sided ones are more common than the 8-sided ones. ¶ bi-level: in group "1" and "3" the tops are "bi-level." That is, there are two independently moving parts. In "1" the P's and T's are on the top level and the amounts (1, 2, 3, etc.) are on the lower level. Also in "1," some of the tops represent two dice. In group "3," generally the pay-off odds are indicated in the top level, and the name of a horse is on the bottom level; the horse-betting ones have the name of famous race horses and were copyrighted in the 1920's. ¶ serifs: in groups "4" and "5," the letters have no serifs (those short, fancy hanging lines at the ends of the letters, like the letter "T" here), while in groups "2" and "7" there are serifs. ¶ The tops in group "6" are made of sterling. ¶ The tops in "2", "4" and "6" are 8-sided. The others are 6-sided. |
| These are other miscellaneous
metal
Put and Takes. A
number of them are sterling.
Note the different
sizes. One near the
upper left is a pin. The
dark one near the upper right is
a cube-shaped metal Put and Take.
Just below it is a 4-sided
top. The two at the lower right and
lower left have internal spinning
dials. The reddish one near
the top has a needle and thread inside. |
| These Put and Takes
are non-metal. About half are made
of catalin;
others bone, wood, celluloid
and ordinary plastic.
Some are bi-level. Three
of them are mechanical
lead pencils that are
to be rolled for the Put and Take
effect. Two of the tops are
celluloid advertising pieces
-- one touts Manbeck's Bread
("A winner everywhere"); the
other says "You don't gamble when
you buy Trenton Crackers." The
white 4-sided one at the
bottom is made of ivory. The one
next to it is 4-sided wood. The
red one next to it is plastic with
a compartment for solid perfume. |
| Earliest 6-sided Put and Take I know of -- pictured
above -- 18th-19th century, per auction house. I
thank Marianne Jager, of the Netherlands, for the above picture of her
ancient Put and Take spinner and the following informatrion. She
says, "In the Netherlands 18th –19th century they made spinners from
silver, like in the picture. The letters and text are old Dutch. Lengh
3.2 cm, weight 6.8 gram "The letters on each of the 6 sides: A - only take B - to pay N - nothing to take T - take D - double put S – put." She adds, "The letters on the sides are difficult to read, old fashioned Dutch," so she is giving an approximate translation. "Anyway, the letters stand for put and take, inclusive: nothing (spin again?) and double.... , like the spinners we all know. That much is for sure." In a reference work, she found, "... about women in the beginning of the 18th century ... had little games ... . Spinning with the a-al-top was one of the games. The top has 6 letters: A (al = take all), B (bij = add?), S (set=put), T (trek= take), D(dubbel=double) and N(niet=not, nothing)." None of this should be surprising, what with the Teetotum gambling top being known in ancient Greece and the Dreidel (put and take instructions on the four-sided spinner) being developed in 16th century Germany -- source here . |
|
I own a pair of Put and Take dice
like these. Mine are made of French ivory, a type of plastic
like celluloid where an imitation
ivory grain is printed on the dice.
On the standard Put and Take tops there
are different rules for "PA" or "AP"
-- the spinner can put up one unit or
match the pot, or all the players might
have to put in chips. Here there is no doubt.
One die has on its sides: P, P, T, T, Take All,
and Every Body Ante. The other die says:
1 2 2 3 3 4. |
|
Put and Take dice with a star. I
am always seeing something new. This one has on the
numbered die: 1 2 3 4 5 * (star = "all"). Most other
times I have seen these dice with no star -- for example:
1, 2, 3, 3, 4 and A (for All), or 1 2 2 3 3 4. |
|
Heads and Tails Bakelite Dice.
Not a put and take, but I couldn't resist
not showing it here! Neat. Never saw these
before. Australian dealer describes it as,
"ORIGINAL 1940s HEADS & TAILS DICE ... IN BOX PACK
OF THREE ... GOOD CONDITION FOR AGE..70+ YEARS....FROM
BYGONE STORE ... BOX MARKED W.O.I. No 256...RUSSELL
CRAFT." |
| Put and
Take Punchboards |
|
These are Put and Take
punch boards and punch
cards. Rules: most non-Put and Take punch boards were so many cents per play. For example, on a 5¢ board, the player would put up 5-cents, and the reault would be losing it, winning $.05 (thus breaking even), or winning $.10, $.25. $1.00. etc. But Put and Take punch boards were a little more complex/varied. A typical one would have the player risk not a single amount, but rather risk 1 to 5 pennies. Each punch would mimic a regular Put and Take game. The player would punch one of the unpunched spots and follow the instructions printed on the punched paper: put up (give to the house) 1 to 5 pennies, or win (take from the house to add to his stake) 1 to 5 pennies or more, sometimes up to $1.00! |
|
This neat little punchboard
has a picture of the whole family enjoying a put and take game!.
The seller describes the punchboard as
" Unused 1935. Board is 6" by 4-3/8" by 5
/8" full color printed, boys and girls playing dreidel game,
with spinner, 300 punches, green, red and white boarders.
Back has game title Put & Take, Gradner Guarenteed
Salesboard, serial numbered, operator number, guarenteed,
Made by Gardner & Co 2209 Archer Ave Chicago. Has
punch, paper cover, split , punch present.
Has red, white, blue, NRA Eagle Member US, for national recovery act, 1935."
|
|
Nice little Put & Take
punchboard.
It went for $17
on eBay, August 2010. To
play with puchboards like this one,
the customer would have to have at
least 5 cents because if the punch resulted
in a loss for him (a "put"), he could
lose anywhere from 1-cent to 5-cents. If
he won (a "take"), it would be from 5-cents to
$1.00, as noted on the board. The eBay seller described the item as: " Antique Punch Board, unused. "Odd Pennies Put and Take". Board measures 6 1/2" X 6 3/4" and is just over 1/2" thick. Board has rounded corners with light wear along the edges and corners from storage. Metal punch is still factory sealed in the back and the model/serial # sticker is intact." |
|
Another
Put and Take trade stimulator punchboard
I own. Per the dealer: "Very nice vintage circa 30's-40's 120 hole Put and Take Punchboard game.These were found in bars and general stores. Someone would punch a hole with the key and a slip of paper would push through. The person would either owe the house .10-.25 or win .25-1.00. The game would net the house a profit of $7.00. Everything fits inside the two peice red plastic case (about 2 x 3 inches)." |
| Illegal
Put & Take punchboard "trade stimulator" disguised
as a common match box. Really
great item. It would be left on the counter
of a store near the cash register.
When the customer is given change, he is given
the opportunity to make a small wager with
the change. He can push the punchboard through
the matchbox and punch out a paper which tells
him whether he lost 10, 15 or 25 cents, or whether
he won 25, 50 or 100 cents! It is, of course, disguised
as a harmless match box so the police and bluenoses
will ignore it in plain sight, while those "in the know,"
or known to the owner, will spot it for gambling. Actually
such disguised punchboards were probably well known, but
kept "disguised" so as not to ostentatiously force the
sight of them on children and others. The instruction sheet tells the store owner that the customer will win ("take") 12 times, lose ("put") 48 times, with a net profit to the owner of $3.50 from 60 punches. The dealer described it as, "UNPUNCHED PUT & TAKE 60 HOLE PUNCHBOARD IN A MATCH BOX -- Great little item is 2-1/4" x 1-3/8" x 5/8" and slides into a match box (Protecto wooden cover) - Unpunched and comes with a little instruction sheet" |
| These are combination
games that include Put and Take (also called Plus
and Minus
on one). The bottom
one is made of wood. It
is, among other things,
a roulette wheel. It is
14" in diameter, was copyrighted
1933 by the Cardinal Co.,
Dallas, Texas. |
| The above three pictures
show
how a Put and Take can be
rigged for cheating.
The typed
instructions came with the
rigged tops when ordered from
a gambling supply house.
The scanned instructions
and catalog page are from
the K.C.. Card Co.-Mason &
Co. "Blue Book" (copyright 1932),
which at that time had offices in
eight major cities across the U.S. Notice how the middle ones are nice and symmetrical -- straight/fair/honest. In both pictures, notice how the tops on the right are shaved on the lower right side of the "T2" face, and the tops on the left are shaved on the lower left side of of the "T2" face. Knowing this would give a favorable percentage to the user; he wouldn't always win on every spin, but would come out a winner in the long run. These are 8-sided tops. The "takes" are opposite each other (for example, opposite the "T2" is a "T3"). Likewise with the "puts." So it would work this way, using the top on the left as an example (the one where the left bottom of the "T2" face is shaved some): if you spun the top clockwise (as a right handed person ordinarily would), it would more often land on the "put" side because if the top slowed down near the "T2" side, it would continue past the extra rounded (shaved) edge and land on the adjoining Put side (or as the Instructions put it more simply: "When spun to the right, a Put will show....."). And as you would expect, on this top, all four of the Take sides are shaved on the bottom left, and on all four Put sides, all of the bottom rights are shaved. Just the opposite would happen if you spin the same top counterclockwise or the top on the right clockwise. |
