King Henry VIII's Pocket Ludo (19??)

King Henry VIII's Pocket Ludo (19??)

by House Martin

Given that Ludo wasn't patented as such in England until 1896, it's unlikely that Henry VIII ever said "Bring the... Ludo," as suggested by the box art. But considering that modern Ludo was based on a game that's believed to have existed from at least the 6th Century in India, it's not wholly improbable that the 16th Century King may have played a version of what inspired it.

The version pictured below is by House Martin, a trading name of W. Martin & Company (London) Ltd, who seemed to specialise in small, portable versions of popular dice and board games. Founded in 1908, they manufactured, imported, and exported such games.

- Top + Bottom of Box. Measurements are approx 137 x 105 x 22 mm -

Made almost entirely of cardboard, the Top Panel (Above LEFT) flipped up like a policeman's notebook, revealing the game board and pieces. The rules (Below LEFT) were on the reverse side of the flipped up cover, so were always visible. The white circle on both images is a plastic press stud that held the lid closed when not in use. For a while, at least; it loosened over time and was eventually rendered useless. The hole on the game board (Below RIGHT) is where it connected.

The red rectangle above the game board is a simple reinforced carboard hole that held 16 small pegs and 1 mini die. They weren't held securely. They just rattled around. But they're functional enough. The pegs are approx 17 mm long. The die is approx 10 mm. (See pics below.)

I'd a few other House Martin products, including Magnetic Chess, Draughts, a simple dice game 'In a Tube', and a Magnetic Fishing Game, but I don't know where they are, currently.

- Company Info, C. 1974. Not from the Ludo box. I found it on boardgamegeek.com -