Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty ImagesOn Mother’s Day in the 1950s, many Jewish women across the U.S. looked forward to one gift above all: their very own mahjong set. Mahjong, a game of skill and luck played by four people using domino-like engraved tiles, emerged in China in the 1800s, and in the 1920s it briefly sparked a global fad. By the mid-20th century it had become a hallmark of Jewish American culture.
In the traditional Chinese version, mahjong tiles come in sets of 144 and are divided into three suits, known as “circle” , “bamboo” and “character,” as well as a variety of nonsuited tiles. The original game is fairly similar to gin rummy: The players draw and discard tiles to assemble a winning hand of 14, usually consisting of four sets of three and a pair. It can be played in highly competitive, fast-paced games or at a more leisurely, social rhythm.
In the early 1920s, American marketers—at first mostly white, then also Chinese—imported thousands of “mah jongg” sets from Shanghai. They advertised it as an exotic, sophisticated game that could compete with card games like bridge. Mahjong was soon being played everywhere from Hollywood sets to New York galas and White House functions. In 1924, Congress passed a law imposing a tax on mahjong sets.
The game’s popularity in the American market sparked a fad across Asia and Europe. Chinese manufacturers of the game’s bone-and-bamboo tiles imported so much cow bone from U.S. stockyards that the global price skyrocketed. In China, booming exports shone a spotlight on mahjong, helping it become known as the country’s national game.
Ironically, mahjong exploded into American consciousness at a time of rising nativism, as the U.S. was imposing new restrictions on immigration. Immigration laws already treated Asians as perpetual foreigners, making them ineligible for naturalized citizenship. For many Americans, China evoked negative stereotypes of unsophisticated manual laborers and cheap chop suey.
My mother played Mahjong weekly game.. very big social event!!
I have been playing a Mac computer version of Mahjong solitaire for almost 30 years.
Milfs
just because it's an interesting game
🙂
At least it’s not another opinion piece
justjoycek I know what you’re getting.
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