Table game
P. A. Adolph
Category
Sports equipment, games and pastimes
Date
circa 1954
Materials
Metal, plastic, cardboard and paper.
Measurements
Each player - 36 mm (height), Each goal - 133 mm (width); 64 mm (height), Ball - 22 mm (diameter), Box - 150 mm (length); 140 mm (width); 70 mm (height), Leaflet - 140 mm (width); 218 mm (height)
Place of origin
Langton Green, Tunbridge Wells
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 661921
Summary
A Subbuteo table soccer game in its original box (circa 1954). It comprises twenty-two players, two goals, a ball and five leaflets including the playing instructions. Each player consists of a flat metal 'cut-out' man, printed in black on white, with either red or blue shorts. Each has a number between '2' and '10' on his back. The goalkeepers are similar but have either a yellow or green long-sleeved top with no number. Each player's feet are slotted into the centre of a metal base (shaped as a hemisphere with a flat bottom and painted to match his shirt), with the goalkeepers having a long piece of rigid wire protruding from the back of their bases, ending in a loop. The red number '6' has become detached from his base. Each goal has a metal wire frame, with white plastic tubing covering the front edges and a brown cotton mesh net. The ball is made of plastic, half coloured yellow, the other white The box is in two halves, each made from cardboard covered in red glossy paper, with a (faded) printed paper label on the lid which reads 'Subbuteo 'Table Soccer', The Replica of Association Football'. One of the leaflets includes a form for registering as a member of the Table Soccer Players' Association, and is completed by 11-year-old M. Edwards (see inscription). Total number of items is 33.
Provenance
Donated to the Museum of Childhood by Mr F. Edwards in May 1987.
Marks and inscriptions
Top of each player's base: 'SUBBUTEO/ SUBBUTEO' On one of the leaflets: 'M. Edwards/ 71, Surgeys Lane/ Arnold/ Notts/ 11'
Makers and roles
P. A. Adolph, maker