Carved bone Spellicans game (C19th)
From The Brighton Toy and Model Index
Jump to navigationJump to search
| Exhibit |
|---|
Carved bone Spellicans game (C19th) |
 |
| location: |
A carved bone Victorian-era "Game of Spellicans" with its original wooden box, label and instructions, from circa ~1867.
About Spellicans
"Spellicans" or "Spillikins" was the Victorian version of the game that we now know as "Pick Up Sticks" or "Jack Straws", with two "hooks", and multiple long pieces of carved bone with complicating features, usually at the ends. A game for two or more players, the pieces would be dropped to produce a haphazard pile, and the aim would then be to take turns trying to remove chosen pieces from the pile without disturbing the other pieces.
Versions of the game seem to have existed in many early cultures.
