Category: 75thanniversary

Prior to the 1952 Winter Nationals held in Miami FL, a debate began about the use of the Roth-Stone system in tournament competition. Oswald Jacoby wrote a letter to the Bulletin stating, “I believe that considerable study should be given to the matter of barring from any except knockout teams-of-four of all systems such as
Read more . . .

Best known as the donor of the Rockwell Trophy for the Mixed Pairs, Helen Pendleton Rockwell (1885-1964) was the daughter of Major General Joseph Henry Pendleton of the U.S. Marine Corps for whom Camp Pendleton was named. Rockwell had two main loves – bridge and food. As the president of the Women’s National Committee of
Read more . . .

In the 1951 May-June issue of the Bulletin, the first full deal with analysis appeared. Editor George Beynon prefaced its appearance with, “In this issue we offer a bridge hand in which the comments, opinions and analysis are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of the League or of its editorial
Read more . . .

Long before the Sidney H. Lazard, Jr. Sportsmanship Award began in 1999 and the Goodwill Committee formed in 1955, the foundation was laid to show bridge as a game with a high opportunity to show good sportsmanship. Bertram Lebhar noted in April 1944 edition of The Bulletin that since tournament bridge is an amateur sport,
Read more . . .

Before Barry Cohen was Barry Crane, he began to leave his indelible mark on the masterpoint race that would eventually bear his name. “Barry Cohen, the Detroit Demon who has just moved to Pasadena, won the McKenney Trophy for the year 1952, scoring over 600 masterpoints! This beats the best previous record (Charlie Goren’s, naturally)
Read more . . .

Dorothy Rice Sims was born June 24, 1889 at Asbury Park NJ. From her teens, Dorothy was active in competition, holding the motorcycle speed championship for women (1911) and becoming one of the first U.S. aviatrixes, in which capacity she met and married ACBL Hall of Fame Member P. Hal Sims. She was a noted
Read more . . .

Many bridge players today have never heard of a trump indicator, but from the late 1800s to the early 1930s they were found at nearly every social bridge game. Originally developed for the game of whist, trump indicators were placed on the table to help players remember what the trump suit was since there was
Read more . . .

You’re probably thinking to yourself, “Why do I know that name?” Well, when you were in school, you probably saw it everyday – on your pencil. Eberhard Faber was the son of pencil-manufacturing giant John Eberhard Faber. He was an expert card player who took up each successive development of the game from whist to
Read more . . .

A hippogriff is a legendary creature, supposedly the offspring of a griffin and a mare. Anybody who’s seen a Harry Potter film could probably tell you what one looks like. In the world of playing cards, a hippogriff is a mythical suit chiefly used in an anecdote about a man who dreamed he held the
Read more . . .

Throughout the years bridge has evolved numerous times to become the most popular card game in the world. One failed transformation was five-suit bridge. The fifth 13-card suit added to the standard deck was known as the green suit because of its color. It was also called “eagles” in America, “leaves” in Austria and “crowns”
Read more . . .

June 1947 . . . The Bulletin “The ACBL is very anxious to have a plastic duplicate board made, but has so far been unable to get in touch with the right people. If you know plastics then you know what our problem is.” November 1950 . . . The Bulletin “Our supply department is
Read more . . .

In 1947, the Quiz of Two Cities (www.rustycans.com/HISTORY/gunther2.html), a radio show which aired every Sunday on WOR in New York and WGN in Chicago, hosted two teams of bridge players. The Chicago team of Bill McGhee, Maynard Adams, Jules Bank and Arthur Glatt handily defeated the New York team of William McKenney, Harry Roth, Dick
Read more . . .

In the 1944 World Master Pairs Event (now von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs), a confused pair took seats in the wrong section and failed to realize the error until the first board had been played. Director, Al Sobel, was called. As all boards were the same for each section, and the culprits were playing the
Read more . . .

In the June 1937 edition of The Bridge World, ACBL Hall of Fame member, Alexander M. Sobel described eight types of players found at bridge tournaments. Here are the last two in the sequence. Do you think these descriptions still foot the bill and if so, which category of player do you belong in? **See
Read more . . .

In the June 1937 edition of The Bridge World, ACBL Hall of Fame member, Alexander M. Sobel described eight types of players found at bridge tournaments. Here are the next three in the sequence. Do you think these descriptions still foot the bill and if so, which category of player do you belong in? **See
Read more . . .

In the June 1937 edition of The Bridge World, ACBL Hall of Fame member, Alexander M. Sobel described eight types of players found at bridge tournaments. Here are the first three. Do you think these descriptions still foot the bill and if so, which category of player do you belong in? Post Mortemist: Always disregard
Read more . . .