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Antique Gambling Chips & Gambling
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| Put & Take tops were very popular
from the 19th 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.
They would take turns spinning the top. Some tops had six sides,
others eight sides. The roots of the game can be
traced far back -- four-sided
Hebrew Chanukah dreidel and Victorian England pub
games. Other web sites: Thomas' Spinning Tops Collection,
here (Arjan Verweij dice
home page), and here (Arjan Verweij put
and take page), and here
. 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. In the many pictures below are some of the over 50 Put and Takes in my collection, plus some similar horse racing and dice tops. Be sure to see the last set of pictures, which show how Put and Take tops can be rigged for cheating! |
| 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. ¶ In groups "5" and "7," above, the words are lined up with/go in the same direction as the stem of the Put and Take top. In the other groupings the words are upright/perpendicular to the stem. ¶ 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. ¶ In groups "4" and "5," the letters have no serifs (those short, fancy hanging lines at the ends of the letters), while in "2" and "7" there are serifs. ¶ The tops in group "6" are made of sterling. ¶ The tops in "2" and "4" 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. |
| These are Put and Take
punch boards and punch cards. |
| 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. |
| This is a close-up of the only movie lobby
card I know of that shows a put and take, and here two
are shown. It is from the 1922 silent film, "Forsaking
All Others." The full lobby card can be viewed on
this page: click here,
and then look at the third picture on that page. In the picture above here,
nothing can be read from the lower left put and
take, but the upper right one's two sides can be read.
You can read them too if you look close -- "TAKE
ALL" and "PUT 3." |
| This is something I just saw
for the first time -- a 10-sided put and take. It
is made of brass. I don't own it. It went for over
$200 on eBay in January 2004. |
| I don't own this little dandy.
It is described as enameled on brass, 1-1/4." It
went for $155 on eBay in November 2005. |
| I now own one of these. The
one pictured above was sold on eBay in June 2006 for $254.
Seller was from United Kingdom. The description
said in part,
"This is a vintage
6-sided brass spinner (or wobbler).It
looks similar to a 'Put & Take' spinner, but is in two sections - the
top section can be spun independently to the bottom part. The top part has numbers (1, 7, 2, 5, 3, 9). The bottom part has card suits (heart, spade, club
and diamond) plus a crown and an anchor. On the top has 'Patent 33471.' It measures approx
1.25" I later acquired one
in 2006 for about $100 in a private sale. They are
rather small -- about 1-1/4" high and about 1/2" wide. The
top (odds) part moves rather freely. I learned that it
takes a certain technique to get it to spin properly. At
first I thought it would never spin. Then I got it to spin
properly about 1 time in 15. Finally, I found the technique:
you have to (1) press it down firmly against the surface, (2)
make sure it is upright; and (3) then twist it. It spins
for quite a long time. |
| Here's another neat one, not mine. Looks
like the bottom, at least, is made of bakelite. |
| This picture was emailed to me January 2007.
The sender said, " It's from 1982 and was made by a company
called BOJO's. ... ..... ..... The top breaks down
and you can move the tumblers off and on, depending on what you are
playing." |
| The one on the left
is a put and take spinner. Transparent plastic top.
It calls itself "Whirl-E-Gig, Spin Game, Put-n-Take, copyright 1946,
printed in USA." The outside bottom says Pat. Pend.......
... .. I don't know what the one on the right is. It is broken
some. Could have yellow catalin center, black plastic outside.
Six decals on the 6 sides: 5 of spades through 10 of hearts. Doesn't
spin well at all. The center piece (red catalin top and bottom)
is loose, slides up and down and around, to no effect. |
| These are all bi-level spinning tops.
(One collector described them as : "Plated brass two-tiered,
six sided spinning top dating back to the 1920's.") The idea
was for the upper and bottom halves to spin independently. Some
were aluminum, or chrome plated.... ... ... On the put and takes,
the upper tier would tell you if you won or lost, and the bottom tier
would tell you how much. ... ... ... On the race horse tops, the
bottom tier would indicate which horse won, and the upper tier would
give the payoff odds. The race horse tops originally sold for
50-cents each in the 1920's. The box they came in proclaimed "the
pocket race course ... America's Great New Racing Game." |
| No. |
Game |
Top sides |
Bottom sides |
Comments |
| 1 |
Crown & Anchor |
1-9-3-5-2-7 |
Crown-Spade-Dia'd- Anchor-Heart-Club |
"Patent 33471" engraved
on top; a British game similar to Chuck-a-Luck, I got it from
the UK. |
| 2 |
Horse Racing |
DISQ,10-1,2-1, 4-1,6-1,8-1 |
Yutoi-Envoy-Harrier- Scamp-Sicyon-Golden Corn |
"Odds On," Pat. App'd.
For." Famous British race horses, c. 1920's. (Yutoi
was born 1917 and Golden Corn 1919. In the U.S., anyway,
horses raced about 2,3 4 years after birth. Please correct
me if I am wrong about that.) I got the top from U.K. |
| 3 |
Horse Racing |
DISQ, 5-1,2-1, 8-1,6-1,4-1 |
Citation--Assault--Zev-- Whirlaway-- Man-O-War-- Stymie |
no patent numbers,
etc. Quite lightwight. Aluminum. Famous American
horses. This top is not as old as the others. While Zev was
born 1920, the others were born 1938 to 45. All the horse
on this top, except Stymie (who won a record fortune in second class
races), won the Belmont stakes. |
| 4 |
Horse Racing |
DISQ,5-1,4-1, 8-1,6-1,2-1 |
Grey Lag-Colin-- Man-O-War--Morvich- Zev-Spark Plug |
no engraved names
and numbers on the top, perhaps worn away. Famous American
race horses. Colin b. 1908; the others were born 1919-23. |
| 5 |
Horse Racing |
DISQ,5-1,2-1, 4-1,6-1,8-1 |
Lucky Hour-Bunting- Colin--Man-O-War- Morvich-Pillory |
"Patented April 1921,
No. 19(or 3)74243." Famous American Horses. Colin was born
1908; the others 1919-22. Go figure. One eBay listing of this
top said: "Man O' War, The greatest thoroughbred racehorse of all time...
...Morvich, 1920 winner of the Kentucky Derby ....Pillory, 1922 winner of
the Preakness and Belmont Stakes ... ..Lucky Hour, Lexington Stable winner
at Bellmont and Aqueduct .. ....Bunting, Whitney Stables winner at Saratoga
and Belmont. ...... Colin, Undefeated champion. 1907-08 Horse of the year.
#15 in the top 100 of U.S. racehorses of the 20th century." |
| 6 |
Dice |
2-4-1-5-3-6 |
3-6-2-4-1-5 |
For craps or any
other dice game. The white thing on the top is a label. I
should have scanned another side, but didn't want to take
another scan. |
| 7 |
Put and Take |
Tag (means grip,
take,grab)-Pott (pot)-Satt (to deposit,put)-Tag-Alla (all)-Satt
|
4-2-5-3-1-6 |
Sweedish put and
take. |
| 8 |
Put and Take |
P-T-P-T-P-T |
3-1-A-2-4-0 |
""SPINIM," PAT'D
APR 12- 21" |
| 9 |
Dice |
4-5-6-1-2-3 |
1-6-5-4-3-2 |
nothing engraved
on top. |
| 10 |
Dice |
6-2-4-1-5-3 |
5-3-6-2-4-1 |
same as No. 8, above,
on the top -- SPINIM, etc. |
| 11 |
Dice |
6-5-4-3-2-1 |
5-4-3-2-1-6 |
nothing engraved
on the top. This top is unusual in that the numbers go in a
natural sequence -- 6,5,4,3,2,1. Usually the numbers are
mixed up as on a roulette wheel. |
| 12 |
Horse Racing |
1-1, 2-1, 6-1, 8-1, 5-1,
3-1 |
Red Fox, Fan Tan, My Pal,
Jim Jo, Zev, Gay Pet (query: other than Zev, I can't find info on these horses. Are they actual race horses, what period?) |
no mfgr info is engraved on the top. Both the top (much bigger and heavier than most: c. 1.5" x 1") and the canvas layout (30" x 5") are pictured below this table. April 2008 I paid $210 total for both in the George Cross Collection live, gambling items auction on eBay. Till then I had never seen either. |
|
Bi-level poker top! I had never
seen this before till February 2009 when it went for $225 on eBay. The
seller described it as: "This auction is for a 6 sided vintage gambling spinner
device. This is metal piece in excellent condition. The piece dates to the
1st half of the 1900's. It is 1&3/8" tall by 1" wide. The top reads Ten,
Nine, Ace, King, Queen, and Jack. The bottom half reads straight, four, flush,
two, full house, and three....." |
| Football teams (British)
bi-level top. First time I saw this, on eBay Feb. 2008 |
Upside-down
lettering on brass put & take. Never saw this before.
Maybe no one else did either, as I got it for $14 on eBay,
March 2008 |
| I saw this on eBay March
2008 -- top has 8 sides. I could make out these sides:
1/M, 24/P, 13/P, 10/P, 36/P, and I think 12/P. Description: "
RARISSIME ET ANCIEN JEU DE COMPTOIR !! - Jeu de bistrot de la fin
du XIXème - TOUPIE ROULETTE BTé SGDG - Roulette de comptoir,
8 facettes (voir photos) - Jeu d'une très grande rareté!!!
, très bon état, tourne parfaitement, hauteur :
1,5cm - BONNES ENCHERES !!! -" |
| Seller in United Kingdom auctioning
this 6-sided Put and Take on eBay in June 2008. I won the auction,
paid $28 postpaid. The sides say: Take Pool, Two Out, One Out, Two
In, All Pay and One In. |
I saw this on eBay in July 2008 as a $40 Buy-It-Now. " Vintage 6 sides put and take galalith spinning top. It reads in Spanish Toma 2, Pon 1, Toma todo, Pon 2, Toma 1, Todos ponen. It measures 1.68 x 0.8 inches. Tiny scratches for usage, otherwise excellent condition." |
| I saw this neat P&T on eBay in
October 2008, an auction listing starting at $99, went for $114 plus
shipping from Argentina. Seller described it as: "Description:
Rare vintage teetotum / put-and-take. This unique six-sided gambling
device is made solid bronze divided in six panels with incised [Spanish]
letters on each side. The screwed top handle of this fine teetotum opens
to reveal three tiny red dice that can probably be used in different
games. Lanyard could be attached as the rounded top of handle has a hole
thru. Unmarked, but very probably made in Argentina, ca. 1920's. Dimensions:
1-3/4" (4.5 cm) tall." |
|
This is a modern Put and Take (maker
calls it a "spinner" and "dreidel") that I first noticed appearing
on eBay in October 2008. It is lightweight, made of aluminum, and
has a hole in the stem to accommodate a key chain. The letters
are "blacked in" for easy reading. |
|
¶ Another modern put and take, sold in U.K. ¶ two other modern put and takes are the first two on my sales page. |
| The above game is by W. H. Schaper Mfg. Co. Inc.,
Minneapolis 11, Minn, copyright 1956. The box is 8.5 x 11 x 1." From
left to right, I show the outside box cover, the inside including chips
and black plastic put and take top in the lower left, and the instructions
on the inside of the top of the box. |
|
Large, Spanish-language, wooden Put and Take I bought
on eBay April 2009. It is approximately 3.5" x 2.5." Per
the auction description: "It's made of wood with painted black and red accents.
It has a metal tip and looks as though the numbers/words were stamped on
it. It does have a nick in the paint on the handle and some indentions
on one of the sides that you can see in the pictures provided."! |
|
Embossed lead metal Put and Take -- embossed
letters stand out in relief, unusual for a put and take -- I saw
this on eBay May 2009; they wanted $60.00 buy-it-now. Per description:
"Embossed lead metal Put and Take -- embossed letters stand out in relief,
unusual for a put and take -- I saw this on eBay May 2009; they
wanted $60.00 buy-it-now. Per listing description: "Antique gambling device
called a "Put and Take". This one is the same size & shape of others
that are similar; however, this one is made from cast lead. It undoubtedly
was less expensive at the time than the more common cast brass style, but
is also more scarce and unusual. These typically date to the late 19th century
through the first part of the 1900s. This small device ( about 1 3/16" tall
x 9/16" wide; weight .4 oz.) has nice, natural aged patina, and was carried
in the pocket by Men who could initiate a gambling game almost anytime and
anywhere; and could be played by any number of 2 or more Men. The game consists
of all participants putting the same amount of money in the "Pot". Then, each
gambler would spin the top (the Put & Take), and the spinning top would
land on one of it's 6 flat surfaces, with the top flat surface designating
the luck (or unluckiness) of the gamblers to do one of 6 actions. The 6 possible
actions on the 6 flat surfaces are; TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL, TAKE TWO, PUT TWO,
ALL PUT, & PUT ONE. This gambling game would continue until one participant
would "TAKE ALL"; then the gamblers would again all put $ in the pot and continue
the game. This was a very popular form of spontaneous gambling among Men,
as this small pocket gambling device was small, portable, simple, and easy
to understand and participate... ....." |
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