Mangola (modern)
From Wikinfo
| Mangola |
| Inventor: Walter Whitmore Jones, 1864 |
| Ranks: Two |
| Sowing: Single laps (?) |
| Region: UK |
Mangola is the name of a mancala game which was published by Jaques in England, around 1864.
It was invented by Walter Whitmore Jones.
The board consisted of two rows of six holes each.
Richard Ballam, a collector and board game researcher, has found the following information about it:
Contents |
Walter Whitmore Jones
The History of Croquet by DMC Prichard, Cassell Ltd. 1981, ISBN 0-304-30759-9. Chapter 3 is about a croquet player Walter Whitmore Jones, otherwise Walter Jones Whitmore.
He codified early rules and "invented" games sold to Jaques.
Prichard says, p. 21, he "decided to go into business to market all these great inventions and managed to persuade an acquaintance, JC Swaine to go into partnership with him... to distribute from Walter's rooms in South Audley Street, the Focus Shade, the bootlace winder (not games), a game called Mangola and something called Corotherque".
In the year of his death (1872) he was working on a book of games to be "by the inventor of Squails, War, Frogs & Toads, Hard Lines, Mangola etc".
Prichard says "he might have been hard put to explain the authorship to Wolryche, Mary and Miss Mordaunt, the respective inventors of Squails, Hard Lines and Mangola".
Jaques
Jaques pattern book covering c. 1840-1877 shows a thick wood board with two rows of six cells in which something like white beans are placed. It looks like an Oware board, and is named Mangola.
Copyrights
The records of copyrights kept by the Stationers company, the Public Records Office at Kew, includes a volume covering 1862-64, which has an entry showing rules of Mangola were protected by copyright at that time.
Advertisement
There is an advertisement in the Illustrated London News (December 23, 1865):
- Mangola, a new game. By the author of Squails, Frogs & Toads etc. Wholesale Jaques & Son
See also
A traditional four-row "Mangola" in the Congo.
© Wikimanqala.
By: Víktor Bautista i Roca
Under the CC by-sa 2.5 license.
