Combination Game Board

WESTERN PUBLISHING "COMBINATION BOARD" - CHECKERS, BACKGAMMON, AND CHESS - WITH A RED CASE OF EMBOSSED WOODEN CHECKERS A vintage folding game board with a case of wooden playing pieces. The board is printed cardboard with a cloth-tape hinge and reinforced cloth edge binding, laid out for backgammon in bright orange-red, black, and cream, with X-border panels lettered "COMBINATION BOARD" and "CHECKERS BACKGAMMON CHESS," and a center panel of printed backgammon rules. The rules panel is marked "No. 4431:29," "Printed in U.S.A.," and "Western Publishing Company, Inc." along its lower edge. Accompanying it is a hinged red case with a chrome-plated draw latch and two interior compartments holding embossed wooden checkers in two colors - dark brown-black and cherry red-pink - with concentric ring and star-and-globe embossed patterns on their faces. Flaws include heavy soiling, foxing spots, and grey grime across the printed board surface, scuffing and rubbed-through printing along the folds and edges, frayed cloth binding at the corners, and scratching, scuffing, and two small drilled or punched holes in the lid of the red case. UNTESTED - the checkers have NOT been counted, no chess pieces or dice are present in these photographs, and the set is not represented as complete for any of the three games named on the board. Sold as one folding board with the red case of checkers as pictured. Description Form: two-panel folding game board with cloth hinge and bound edges, plus a separate hinged storage case with a metal latch Board: printed backgammon layout in orange-red, black, and cream with X-motif borders and a printed rules panel Pieces: two colors of embossed wooden checkers, concentric ring pattern with stars and a globe device, shown stacked in the case compartments Construction/Finish: printed and varnished cardboard board, cloth binding tape, painted metal or heavy-lacquered case with chrome-plated draw latch and steel rivets Marks: "COMBINATION BOARD," "CHECKERS BACKGAMMON CHESS," "No. 4431:29," "Printed in U.S.A.," and "Western Publishing Company, Inc." on the printed rules panel; no maker mark is visible on the red case or on the checkers, so none is claimed Size: board approximately 13 in long by approximately 7 1/2 in wide folded, per the tape-measure photographs; the red case is slightly shorter than the folded board at approximately 12 in long (estimate) Attribution note Western Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin was one of the largest American printers of children's books and games, best known for Golden Books and for the Whitman game line, and it produced combination boards of this kind in large numbers for the dime-store and variety trade. A single folding board printed for checkers, backgammon, and chess with the rules printed right on the playing surface was a standard inexpensive household game item, sold as the board alone or bundled with pieces. The stock number 4431:29 printed at the base of the rules panel is a printing and edition reference rather than a date, and no copyright year is legible in these photographs. The wooden checkers with embossed ring and star patterns are the traditional turned-and-pressed American type made by several makers over many decades, and they are not marked, so no maker or date can be assigned to them; whether they were originally sold with this board or paired later cannot be determined from the photographs. All period, maker, and origin comments are offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion and are not guaranteed. Bid on the item(s) as pictured.