Banking on Texas

 Hello Atticittes! This week I'm going to feature the other thing I bought at the estate sale where I got Skittle Poker.... What is it? Well...this!

This is a small (about 4 3/4 inches tall), very simple bank! It's made out of some brass-like metal that is stamped with the state of Texas. Here are a couple of other shots of the stamping...

I actually looked this bank up because I hadn't seen one exactly like it, and it seems it was probably made in the early 1960s. This is the only Texas example I could find, but there were banks for other states. There was even an example from the New York World's Fair that I would really rather have (if anybody wants to trade ;-)  ).

An interesting detail I noticed was that there is supposed to be a penny glued to the top. Mine has the dent for it, but no penny, so I found a 1967 example and placed it there for this picture. Hey, production value is important for a blog!

The bank is very simple to open. You just screw off the bottom. There is a long screw down the middle that holds everything together.

And there you have it! These seem to all go for right about 25 bucks, and I paid less that two for mine, so I did ok. I'll add it to my small (but growing) coin bank collection.

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Skiddle Cards!!!

 Sorry this entry is a day late! My anniversary was yesterday and I was focused on that. Also, there's literally no one saying what day I HAVE to publish, so there's that...

Anyway, this week's entry is an item I picked up on Sunday! We stopped into an estate sale that we happened to be driving by, and in a closet by the car port I found this...

Yep, it's Skittle Poker by Aurora! There were a couple of years in the early 1970s where everything was coming up "Skiddle," baby! Don Adams, of Get Smart fame, was the spokesman for a line of games that used on interesting swinging ball device to bowl, play pool, or, in this case, play poker! There were even more skiddle games as well, but I don't recall what they were right off the top of my head- which is how I usually do research on these posts. Nothing's too good for my readers!

Now this box is BIG! It's over two feet wide, and about four inches deep. You won't find any display space hogging games like this at your modern department store, but it was a different time. And that time for this game was 1972!

Opening up the box doesn't show you much. This is just the poker table part, with the plastic ring around it that the skittle shooter sits in. Everything else is under the board.

And here are the parts set up! You only get eight playing cards, which brings me to the fact that this game is complete. 

This is a "player's view" of the game. The idea is simple; you swing the ball attatched to the chain into the stationary ball mounted to the tripod that then knocks the colored ball (green in this case) into a hole on the board. Everything can be aimed and the tripod can be moved around the ring.

So how, exactly, do you play? I'm glad you asked! Here you go!

This last page was in the box, but I'm not sure it actually came with the game. It doesn't seem very useful in this application.

So there you go! Having owned this for just a couple of days, I haven't played yet, butbI will! I hope I remember to tell you guys how it goes!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

A Case of Matchboxes

 Hello Attic Folk!

This week we're going to look at something that I've had for quite a while. It's a 24 car hanging (or standing) Matchbox case! Now, as I have said many times, I don't collect Matchbox. However, when you collect Hot Wheels of the same vintage, a Matchbox item is bound to get snagged with the haul. 

So let's take a look, shall we?

Here she is all loaded up with 24 of my best 1960s Matchbox cars! The case is made of that thin vacuformed plastic that was so popular with toy makers in the 1960s and 1970s. It gets brittle over the decades and there are a few small cracks in the shelves, but nothing concerning.

Even though all of these cars are from the 1960s, the case is actually from 1978. I found this out by doing a bare minimum of research, because you guys are worth it! I picked up the case for five dollars at an auction house that was closing down and selling off their odds and ends. 

This is the back of the case. You can see there are two "nail holes" for hanging it on the wall, and a fold out table stand as well. From what I hear, the stand never held up well, and this one seems no different. It will work, but I wouldn't trust it for long!

Most Lesney Matchbox items were made in England, but not this case. It was produced in New Jersey here in the good ol' U.S.A.!

Ah, there's the credit going to England. Very nice!

Now I took the picture of the case with it loaded with cars because it looked better that way. And, in another example of going the extra mile, I looked them all up! If you want to read about them just keep reading. If you don't, the just skip to the end!

I'm not as knowledable about Matchbox as I am Hot Wheels, so I looked up each car. Some were produced for two or three years with no changes, so I just put the first year they were produced on the description.

Here we go, starting from the top-left...

1. Rolls Royce Silver Cloud #44- 1964

2. Mercedes 230 SL #27- 1968

3. Lamborghini Miura #33- 1969

4. Volkswagen Camper #34- 1967

5. Ford Galaxie #55/59- 1967

6. Field Car #18- 1960

7. S&S Cadillac Ambulance #54- 1965

8. Dumper Truck #48- 1967

9. Coach #66- 1966

10. Ford Heavy Wreck Truck #71- 1968

11. 8 Wheel Crane #30- 1965

12. Land Rover Fire Truck #57- 1966

13. Horse Box #17- 1969

14. Refrigerator Truck #44- 1966

15. Cattle Truck #37- 1966

16. Same as above

17. Fodor Concrete Truck #21- 1968

18. Refuse Truck #7- 1966

19. Unimog #19- 1967

20. Grit Spreading Truck #70- 1966

21. Boat and Trailer #9- 1967

22. B.R.M. #52- 1965

23. Dodge Crane Truck #63- 1968

24. Dodge Wreck Truck #13- 1965

So there you have it! My accidental collection of stuff I don't collect, but I guess I kind of do...sort of...

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!

Compu-Ball!!!

...Sort of... But more on that later.

First, I apologize for missing last week! We've been having terrible allergy weather lately and mine turned into an upper respiratory infection. So, I slept right through the deadline! I'm sorry!

Now, this week we have an item that I picked up at a thrift store over ten years ago. It's a "Computer Football" game from 1969! Let's take a look!

This is a BIG game! And pretty heavy. It's made of that space age material called "wood."

Here's the cover without the tape measure...

Inside you find all the bits and pieces. 

The playing surface is actually pretty nice. All the plastic bits are moveable.

This is where the batteries go in the back.

 

The instructions explain the idea behind the game. There aren't actually any processors or integrated circuits here, just hard wired circuits that are either "On" or "Off" depending on the selected switches. Pretty primative, but not really as primative as the first computers.

I put batteries in it, but couldn't get lights. That being said, I'm not sure my batteries were good. There's really not much that can go wrong.

Here are the actual game rules. Although they seem complicated, I'm pretty sure that once you start playing it gets easier.

Computer Games made other games as well, or at least they had a catalog for them. I've only seen Football, and then only one other example at an estate sale.

If my game doesn't work, I'm out of luck. No one ever sent in the registration card!

 So there you have it! As primitive as it may be, it's better than electric football with it's players vibrating in silly circles all over the field! I guess I'll have to get fresh batteries and give it another whirl!

Until next time, keep searching for treasure!