Thursday, October 16, 2008

Hey, Let's Gamble!



















This perplexing photo of a woman seems to be in some kind of lottery office. She is surrounded by different types of punchboards and coin boards, as well as some other items that look very much like they could be prizes. Behind her is a drapery that clearly looks Christmas-y.

Punch boards have been around since the 1700s as a form of gambling. Typically, they used a board with holes drilled in it. The holes would be filled with small numbered pieces of paper. The holes themselves were covered by another piece of paper, as shown above. The bar patrons would use a sharp object to puncture the paper and reveal the paper inside the drilled holes.

Ever since punchboards have existed, there has been room to cheat. Many times bar owners would tear open the back of the punchboards and learn where the high pay-out numbers were and remove them, thus eliminating the possibility of a big winner.

This photo shows a woman sitting at a table full of gambling paraphernalia of the time. To one side of her you can see that she has a Texas Charley punchboard. The story behind this is anyone's guess. This is probably circa 1950s.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Symptoms of Nerve Exhaustion?



This advertisement reads further (though I can't post the actual article and have it be readable since Blogger compresses files during upload. Wow, I hadn't known that previously! I wish it was in the terms of use or something... hey wait, who knows? Does anyone actually read those word for word?):

These are only a few of the signs of weak, unhealthy nerves that are steadily robbing thousands of people of their youth and health.

What Causes Sick Nerves?

WOMEN In women this is largely due to over-active emotions, and to the constant turmoil in their domestic and marital relations.

MEN In men, these signs of nerve exhaustion are produced as a result of worries, intense concentration, excesses and vices. The mad pace at which we are traveling is wrecking the entire Nervous Organization.


This advertisement was published in a March, 1932 copy of a magazine called National Republic. On the front cover it says:

In This Issue: "Uncle Sam's Naval Plan," by Hancock Adams; "The Irish In Our Revolution," by Fairfax Braxton; "The Tragedy of John A. Sutter, " by Dr. Horace Ellis; "On the State of the Union," by George B. Lockwood; Other Illustrated Features