Introducing the American Mahjong Sets

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Mahjong originated from China. It was a favorite past time of the people in China as well as the other people in communities where they speak Chinese. The game was introduced to the western world on the latter era. It was then had been a game being enjoyed by the foreign community.

Stewart Culin, an American anthropologist, wrote a paper with the word mahjong in 1895. This was the first known account that mahjong was written in a foreign language aside from Chinese. After five (5) years, specifically in 1910, mahjong has written accounts in many languages such as French and Japanese. By 1920, it was introduced to the United States by an American resident of Shanghai, Joseph P. Babcock.

Babcock was the one responsible for importing Chinese mahjong sets in the U.S. and making the first American mahjong sets by giving English translations and adding index letters and numbers familiar to the card players. In the U.S. mahjong is spelled as mah-jongg or mahjongg. Babcock even wrote the “red book” which is the simplified rule of mahjong for Americans to easily catch up. These rules were used until the 1920’s mahjong fads were dead. The first mahjong sets in the U.S. were sold by Abercrombie and Fitch and it became a success in new New York. Due to that, the owner of the company Ezra Fitch sent people to Chinese villages to buy all the sets they could find. The company sold 12,000 sets. The Department of Commerce even reported a peculiar way of getting more sets, large quantities of bones were being exported from Kansas City and Chicago to China.

Mahjong has taken different trademarks such as Pung Chow and the Game of Thousand Intelligence. There are also mahjong nights in America wherein people were decorating and dressing the rooms in Chinese style. While the game was accepted by the American players of all ethnicity, many have considered the new version of a Jewish game as many of the players were in Jewish descent. By late 1920’s, the game’s popularity faded off quickly. However, still being played by the enthusiasts and still in hope in rejuvenating it’s craze. For some, it was just another fad.

Now, mahjong is still being played by some Americans and still being enjoyed by other communities. It may not be as famous as how it used to be but still one of the favorite past times around the globe especially in the Chinese-speaking communities.

Other articles of interest include topics: Mahjong tiles.

This mahjong set is styled to have the look and feel of a traditional American Bakelite set. Buttery tiles sit atop comfortably beautiful wooden racks, and a wooden rosewood veneer case with felt lining gives this set an understated elegance. This set has 166 tiles, including all the 144 tiles for classical Chinese play as well as an extra 22 tiles for the American version of the game. With this set you can comfortably play either version. To play the Chinese version simply use the red dragons as the ‘hong zhong’ and the green dragons as the ‘fa’ tiles.

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This Cantonese Style Mahjong Set features a set of 28 mm tiles, dice, and a batter. All of this is enclosed by a protective vinyl case, which prevents components from being misplaced between games. CHH Games offers a wide variety of Games – Mah Jong

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  1. Pingback by Mixture of Madness Brain Trust » Understanding Mahjong Tiles

    [...] Other articles of interst include topics: American mahjong sets. [...]

    on October 3, 2011 at 2:45 pm