Here at the museum, we are quite used to researching the history of people. Come in here and say a name that has anything even remotely to do with East Perry County and Gerard can usually give you a complete history. If he can’t, Fred, Lynn or Warren can usually fill in the gaps.
I’ve been posed with an interesting dilemma the last several weeks, though. I’ve been trying to research the history of a game.
Some background: In early December, my husband and I attended the Brazeau Christmas Walk with our eldest daughter and her family. While perusing all of the wares at the Craft Fair, we were drawn to the booth of our friend, Keith Bachmann, proprietor of KB Woodworks. He was anxious to show us a new game he had started making: “Golden Six.”
After a few minutes of showing us how to play and seeing how it even intrigued our 4 year old grandson, we decided to buy one. Knowing that I was the director here, Keith told me the story of how he came to start making the game. Evidently his sister and brother-in-law, Marilyn and Wayne Schuessler, had recently visited Germany, and they had played it with their hostess there. Marilyn came back home and told her brother that he needed to make this great game they had played. He took the description that she gave and soon started making them in many different color patterns (as you can see from the photo). He then asked if we would be interested in selling them in our gift shop.
After discussing the possibility with Carol, who runs the gift shop, we decided we would give it a test run, but, before advertising much about it, we would like to find the history of the game. That’s where things got interesting.
A quick internet search (of Die Goldene Sechs since it is, after all, German) did bring up a game of that name, but other than the fact that it is a dice game, it didn’t look at all like what we had. So, I called Keith, who called Marilyn, who called Regina Kahl, their hostess in Germany, to try and find more out about the game.
Several weeks later, after a few rousing games of telephone tag, I finally got my answer. Well, an answer at least. Regina didn’t know anything more about the game than that it was one they played with their family through the years.
Not knowing the history didn’t seem to deter our shoppers, though. We sold the 4 games he gave us before Christmas. He brought 3 more, and we sold the last of those last week. When I contacted him earlier this week to get more, I decided that I was going to write the blog about the game whether I knew the full history or not. I honestly wasn’t sure how I was going to go about it. Part of me wanted test my storytelling skills and make something completely up about it, with a disclaimer about the authenticity of my story, of course.
On Thursday, I called Wayne and Marilyn’s home to get permission to use their names in the blog (stories are much more interesting with names). Lo and behold, after a nice conversation with Wayne, I hung up not only with the originally sought permission, but also more of the story.
It ends up that a version of this game is sold as Ferkelspiel (Piggy Game) in Germany or also called Pig Hole in the US.
With this information at my fingertips, my internet search was much more fruitful. The gameplay of this and Keith’s version is identical; it’s just the board and playing pieces that are different. I still didn’t find a whole lot about its history except for this:
The game Pig, also called “Ferkelspiel” or “Pig Hole”, is a casual, fun dice game that has been enjoyed for generations in Germany and other parts of Europe. It’s an easy-to-learn game that can be played by people of all ages, making it a popular choice for family gatherings or casual hangouts.
I found this wonderful evaluation of the game on this website. If this final analysis doesn’t entice you to buy the game, I don’t know what will:
The fun factor of the Piglet Game, coupled with its educational value, makes it an excellent choice for game nights that will challenge and entertain children and adults alike. It strengthens family bonds and promotes social interaction in an age where digital media is often at the forefront.
We have four more games in stock. Come in and get yours before they’re gone!