Carrom Game Board

Almost 50 years later, I still have regrets that I could never beat my mom at this game. She was good! Now I think that it's time to bring the game back into our house. We are raising our grandson and hopefully, many years later, he will have regrets that he could never beat me. That's not likely, he is more like his great-grandmother than he is me and I am afraid that she will live on through him.

BTW, my mother never used the sticks. She always used her index finger to shoot. Poor little me, with the sensitive index finger, had to use the stick which is probably why I could never beat her.

Carrom tournaments started in 1960. The board they are playing on here is a tournament board and not the one that we all played on when we were kids.

There are more than 100 games that can be played on this board. The product description lists only a very few. The product, made in the USA, is sturdy and will last a very long time.

The Carrom game is highlighted here but the board comes with the pieces for many other games.

Carrom fever is a four-minute promotional video made at the US Open International Carrom Tournament in 1996. Featuring a rare white slam by A. Maria Irudayam, the video includes interviews with founding members of the International Carrom Federation and a great overview of South Asia's favorite game.

We played on a wooden board. Sometimes, they pop up on eBay. I don't know if the surface makes that much difference but I certainly prefer the older materials.

As familiar as I am with this game, I am finding that many have never heard of it. I played it in the 1950s and 1960s in Southern California. So this is my informal, unscientific poll.

The company website has a whole page on the history of the board that we are familiar with. Just a bit is shared here but if you're interested, there is quite a timeline. The story's beginning sound a little like the story in the Music Man.

In the last quarter of the 19th century Henry Haskell, a Sunday School teacher, viewed with alarm the growing number of boys who loafed around pool rooms. (Ironically, the company would eventually manufacture pool tables.) Haskell had an inventive mind and he concentrated his thought on supplying a game which would appeal to these boys and supply wholesome enjoyment. Soon after, Haskell patented and introduced the U.S. Carrom game board. Produced at Ludington Novelty Works (Ludington, MI) of which he was part owner.