Watching Forty Years Go By...

 Well, since I featured a 1905 watch last week, I thought I'd feature the other watch my dad gave me, which, by a stroke of luck, is exactly forty years newer! 

This is actually the first watch my dad gave me, when I was a teen. It's a 1945 Bulova that he received as a high school graduation gift from his parents! 

The back indicates that it's 10k rolled gold plate (gold over steel) and has a stainless steel back.

Looking inside, we find some more information. We see that it's a 15 jewel watch. The "10 AK" is the movement type. The interesting part is how you tell the date of the watch. See that little triangle under the word "watch?" That means "1945."

This watch is manual wind and runs. I actually wear it from time to time. I've had it repaired twice over the years and, since the going price for a 1945 Bulova is 100 to 500 bucks, I may have spent more than it's worth keeping it going. Still, it's worth it, as I've already decided to give it to my grandson. 

Now you've seen both of my dad's watches! Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Watch Out for History

In this week's post I'm going to share an item that was given to me by my father. Here it is...

This is a small pocket watch that I thought he said belonged to my grandfather (which I may have gotten confused, more on that later) As you can see, it's an Elgin watch, made in Elgin, Illinois. They stopped making watches in the 1960s. 

I was able to pop the case open, and this is what I found...

The "Supreme" marking and serial number are for the hunter's case, not the watch itself. It shows that the case is gold filled (solid gold cases were never guaranteed due to being soft) and was made by the Illinois Watch Case Company. 

Now, lets look at the movement, shall we?

There we find the serial number which is the pot of gold in this story. You see, there is a website, pocketwatchdatabase.com, where you can enter in the serial number and maker and find out all sorts of info about a pocketwatch! I did so, and this came up...

Next, since I'm certainly no expert, I asked AI to break these facts down. In a nutshell, I found out..

Grade and Model: The watch is a Grade 308, Model 5, Class 104. The Grade 308 is a 17-jewel movement, which is a higher-end model for its time, offering better accuracy and durability due to the additional jewels reducing friction in the gear train. The Model 5 designation and Class 104 indicate specific design and production specifications within Elgin’s catalog.

Manufacturing Details: Made by the Elgin National Watch Co. in Elgin, Illinois, with the movement serial number 11655876. This serial number aligns with an estimated production year of 1905.

Production Run: A run quantity of 1,000 suggests this was a limited batch within the broader Grade 308 production, which totaled 25,000 units. Being the 14th of 19 runs indicates it’s part of a series with some variation over time.

Technical Specs: The movement is an 18-size, full-plate, pendant-set design with a gilt finish, openface configuration, and a quick train. It features a Moseley regulator, Breguet hairspring, and is adjusted to temperature, indicating it was finely tuned for consistent performance across different conditions. The 17 jewels are screw-set, a sign of quality craftsmanship.

Patents and Adjustments: The U.S. patents (77078, 347272, 345619) and the "Adjusted: Yes" and "Adjusted to Temperature: Yes" markings confirm it was a precision movement, though it’s not a railroad grade, meaning it wasn’t specifically designed for the strict standards of railroad use.

Case and Dial: The case is listed as "Various," which fits with the gold-filled "Supreme" case with a 10-year guarantee. The single-sunk dial type matches the subsidiary seconds dial at 6 o’clock.

So, now I know that it's 120 years old and that it was a high end, fairly rare watch. I registered it with the website and apparently out of those 1000 watches only seven have now made it there. Also, that manufacture date of 1905 is interesting. Why? Because my grandfather was born in 1910. That's why I said I might be confused. Could this have been my great grandfather's watch? Possibly, but I'll likely never know for sure, since my dad passed away in 2008, so I can't ask him. 

The watch isn't working, and in fact if you look closely at the gears, you'll note one is just sitting there, not attatched to anything. This type watch apparently sells for 150.00 to 400.00 not working, but 500.00 to 800.00 working. AI said that it typically costs 100.00 to 300.00, plus parts, to fix one, so it seems like it would be worth it. Of course, that's still a pretty good chunk of change, and I'll have to find someone who specializes in antique pocket watches. But I think I'll eventually do it. 

It will be a nice thing to hand down to my daughter, even if I'm not exactly sure whose watch it was.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure! 

Looking In

 Hey gang!

Today I'm going to share a game that I've never played, don't remember from when I was a kid, and don't even know where I got it! I literally just noticed it on the top of a shelf and thought, "Whaaaa????"

Now, no one broke into my house and gifted me a vintage game. I've obviously had it for years, but completely ignored it on that top shelf for a decade or so. I'm sure I picked it up with some more exciting items and while focused on those, shoved it up on that lonely shelf and literally forgot about it. 

Well, today that injustice will be corrected! Let me introduce you to Inner Circle from 1981 by Milton Bradley (insert trumpets)!

There is a little foxing on the cardboard parts and box, but overall the game is in great shape.

Looking at the back, we can get a little better idea of what this game is all about. It's kind of a cross between a board game and those little golf tee jumping puzzles on the tables at Cracker Barrel (do they still have those?)

Here's the inside of the box! 

...and all the parts laid out. At first I thought I was missing some pawns, but as it turns out the more people that play, the fewer pawns you use. Therefore, they're all there!

Here are the instructions. They're actually very easy, although it took some studying for me to make sense of them, probably due to the game being so unconventional.

And here's yellow as the winner, surrounded by his fallen fellow players! 

Inner Circle was released in 1981 and was designed by game designer hot shots Virginia Charves and Wayne J. Lee. I haven't heard of them either, but apparently they're well respected in the game board world. It was an instant hit and was named one of Games Magaxine's Top Ten Games of 1981! 

And, no, I never heard of it. 

Maybe it was because in 1981, I was focused on graduating from high school, Dungeons and Dragons, and girls (not in that order). There is really no reason this game would have shown up on my radar. Oh well, it seems to be a decent game. I actually found a good overview on it while looking for a period commercial. Here ya go!

How to Play Inner Circle

So, there you have it! I may actually play this game some time, or maybe not. It seems to take a lot of strategy and thoughtfulness that my daily Wa-Hoo board doesn't require. Still, maybe...

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

This Battle is Tops!

 Literally!

In 1969 Ideal came out with a game that was a huge hit with the kid sports world! Battling Tops made any afternoon into a grand tournanent full of epic battles, heros and crushed dreams. It was a game so epic that it was re-released many times over the next couple of decades (including a space themed version to loosly tie in with Star Wars in 1977). I happened to find a copy at a thrift store a few years back. Let's take a look!

My copy, (an original 1969 version) while priced very well at just two bucks, has some obvious box integrity issues.

Upon opening the box, we find that the contents are a little light as well. We have five out of the eight tops, and only one puller. That's going to make "battling" a little difficult.

But here are the instructions on the inside of the lid anyway. The beauty of this game is that it's very simple. You pretty much just launch your top and hope it wins! Now, there are some techniques you can use, like how you aim your launcher, or how hard to pull the string, but no one has ever proven that those things change matters much.

Here are the tops I have. Note that "Fighting Frank" has lost the top of his spindle. This really doesn't slow him down much. He spins with the best of 'em! No word on if "Dizzy Dan" is actually dizzy 

..."Super Sam"...

..."Smarty Smitty" and "Rocky Rocko." I'm missing "Hurricane Hank," "Tricky Nicky," and "Twirling Tim." As a kid, I usually used "Tricky Nicky." It's funny what you remember fifty years later.. 

Here we have my one launcher and one score peg. I really need at least one more launcher...

Now this is just an interesting picture that I found on the internet, showing the insert that came in the box. I just thought it was neat, so I included it. 

Do you wanna see a top go? Do ya? Do ya???

Well, here you go!

Battling Top!

Wasn't that thrilling?

How about a vintage commercial?

Battling Tops Commercial 

Ok, that was just about as thrilling as my video. But the point is that this game kept us occupied for hours, and that's really what our parents wanted...

Battling Tops was invented by Eddie Goldfarb who's other big invention was those wind up chattering teeth. For real. Then again, with a name like Eddie Goldfarb, he was probably destined to invent those.

Anyway, if you want to pick up a copy of this game, they go from around 30 to 50 bucks on eBay. I think I'll go there now and see if I can find some replacement parts.. 

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!