This week we're looking at a little item that I picked up at an estate sale just up the street! May I introduce to you, an original WaHoo game!
This board is a cardboard board with a pine frame that was made in Henderson, Tx. This is the type of board that I remember people playing on in my hometown of Denison, Tx. This one was made sometime between 1966 and 1969. How do I know? Well, this week I actually dug a little deeper in my research and contacted the guy that currently makes and sells WaHoo boards! You're welcome!
Here is his history of the (surprisingly mysterious) board. He keeps this response saved for people that ask about it. Caution, it's long.
He says, "In late August of 1991, I began trying to find the original proprietors of the version of WAHOO that was popular in Texas when I was a child (1960s). The name of the business on the board I had when I was a kid (and still have) was Creative Designs, Inc. of Henderson, Texas. I have other games made by Creative Designs, Inc., but they have Gatesville, Texas written on them. I have one game that has the name Creative Ideas, Inc. of Gatesville, Texas which I assumed is the same company.
>
> On 4 September 1991, I called a business called Creative Image in Henderson, Texas. What I thought might be the company that made the game was, in fact, a beauty salon. The lady working there said she got calls all the time about WAHOO boards. I subsequently called the Henderson Texas Chamber of Commerce. The lady called me some time later and gave me the name of the people that made the game in Henderson in the 1960s. Their names were E.L. and Helen Sadler. She said she thought that they had retired to the Dallas area.
>
> I found Mr. Sadler in the Dallas telephone book and called him. Remember, this was long before the internet was publicly available. He told me about how he and his brother John (then deceased) had made these games and referred me to his son, Keith, who had briefly manufactured the game in the mid-1980s. Mr. Sadler said Keith could provide me with details of how the game was made, warehoused, and marketed.
>
> I subsequently called Keith Sadler and made arrangements to come by his office and discuss making the game with him. I visited his office on 11 September 1991. He had only made the game for a short time. He said he did it primarily out of sentimental reasons because he remembered his father making the game in their garage when he was a kid. Keith and his family lived in Henderson and Keith’s uncle, John Sadler, lived in Gatesville. Thus, the origins of the boards I have that bear the same design and company name, but different town names.
>
> Keith explained to me the manufacturing process and provided contact information about whom he had used to assemble, package, warehouse and ship the games. He also provided me with a copy of one of the last games he made and a label that was still unattached to the cardboard which he said I could use as a pattern.
>
> In the fall of 2007, Keith and I began corresponding on the early history of this version of WAHOO. This version started out as a game sold by the Boy Scouts in Georgia around 1960. Some unknown company formalized production and it became commercially available. Keith’s father was the Texas area sales rep for the company that made the game around 1963 or 1964. That company went out of business and Keith’s father bought the balance of the inventory and equipment and started making the game. Keith says his father would sell the games to toy retailers during the week and that he and his sister, Beverly, would help make and assemble the games in the garage of their Dallas home on the weekends. As sales grew, Mr. Sadler eventually moved the production facility to a building in Gatesville, Texas. His primary customers were the Howard Brothers and Gibson’s Discount retail chains, both now out of business.
>
> These early boards were made out of “beaverboard”, also known by the trade name Masonite. The boards were painted a very pale green and the simple black and red artwork was silk-screened onto the boards. The board was put into a huge punch press which punched out all of the holes at the same time, which, by the way, is exactly the way the holes are punched out today. Since the games were only printed in two colors, some method was needed to indicate on the playing surface where to place the different colored marbles. A piece of paper was glued to the back of the board. This piece of paper looked like a checker board on the outside, but on the side glued to the board, each corner contained a square with a different color. Thus, the colors showed through the holes on the front of the board to indicate where each color marble was to start and end the game. The board was then inserted into a small oak frame.
>
> Sometime in the mid-1960s, the building Mr. Sadler occupied burned to the ground. At this time, he moved his manufacturing operation to Henderson, Texas. He also manufactured a Chinese Checker board, a game called Mill, and many other products. As volumes grew and costs rose on the WAHOO game, he changed to 80 point chipboard (.080 thick cardboard) and laminated the artwork to the board surface. This is the process used today. A pine frame was introduced to reduce cost as well.
>
> However, operating costs continued to escalate making it harder and harder to make a profit. Mr. Sadler began seeking the assistance of an investor. He eventually found an investor who brought in a new management group. The first thing they did was change the frame from wood to plastic. Keith says he thinks this ruined the game and Mr. Sadler finally sold the equipment to a company called Plastic Activities in Van, Texas which continued making the game for a short time. The business closed sometime
> in the late 1960s.
>
> For a short time in 1985, Keith resurrected the game under the company name Texas Traditional Toy Company in Dallas. Fred Moore Training Center, a branch of the Denton State School, made and warehoused the game for Keith and the primary customers were the “five & dime” stores E.B. Mott’s and M.E. Moses. Both of these store chains, along with most other small discount chains went out of business with the rise of Wal-Mart. Because Keith had other more profitable business interests, he discontinued
> operations.
>
> I started Traditional Game & Toy Company on 17 August 1992 in order to produce and sell a commercial version of WAHOO. Over the years, I have used several different printing and die-cutting companies to print the playing surface labels and instruction sheets and punch the holes in the board. I have also used various craftsmen to cut and assemble the wood frame to the boards.
>
> Initially, my primary customers were Dallas based E.B. Mott’s and M.E. Moses and a handful of independent toy retailers. By 1999, Wal-Mart had decimated the small discount retail chains and I had just about stopped making the game.
>
> However, a friend and fellow computer programmer created a simple web page with a picture of the board game and simple order form. Without even publishing the existence of the web site, I started getting orders and inquiries. By Christmas of 1999, I had sold out of my remaining stock.
>
> Realizing the marketing potential of the internet, I spent several months developing a more comprehensive web site which incorporated a simple shopping cart feature. Because of the internet, I have been able to sell directly to the end customer rather than depend on wholesale sales to retailers.
>
> In 2005, I noticed someone selling some very high-quality wood WAHOO boards on eBay. I had been interested in finding someone to fill the void in my product line with such a high-quality board. So, I contacted Jimmy and Kathy Oden in Midland, the makers of the Old-Style Deluxe WAHOO boards. Our business relationship has been great for both of us. They are great people to work with and the quality of their craftsmanship is impeccable. The Old-Style Deluxe WAHOO boards are handmade from ½” cabinet grade birch plywood and are trimmed with solid pine corner molding. These high-quality boards have several coats of high gloss polyurethane varnish applied to the surface for years of durability. Jimmy died of cancer April 2, 2020 , but his wife, Kathy, picked up where Jimmy left off and I continue to sell these games as Old-Style Deluxe Wahoo boards.
>
> More recently, I partnered with another skilled craftsman and am happy to offer the new craftsman's Deluxe boards on my website."
>
> Chuck Cox
> PO Box 605
> Aledo, Texas 76008
> http://wahoogames.com
> Trademark Registration Number: 2956915
So there you go! Notice that I included his website in case you want to find out more...or even order your own! As for mine, I think I'm going to hang it on the wall. I still have my board that I made that we use just about every day. This will be a nice wall hanger!
Until next time, keep searching for treasure!
