The History of Crokinole

There is some controversy surrounding the birth of Crokinole, but one theory is that the first Crokinole board was made by man named Eckhardt Wettlaufer in 1876 in Perth County, Ontario, Canada. It is said he made the board as a 5th birthday present for his son, Adam. Other home-made boards dating from southwestern Ontario in the 1870s have been discovered over the years, suggesting that the region eagerly embraced the new game.

In 1880, an American by the name of M. B. Ross patented a similar game board in New York, but it is unknown which man truly created the game first. Did Wettlaufer, said to be a talented painter and woodworker, discover the game while traveling to New York and make the board from recollection? Or, was it the other way around? Did Ross travel to Ontario, see the game being played there, then return home and file a patent in the states? No one knows for sure, but after 30 years of research on the subject, historian Wayne Kelly believes that one of these two men is likely the game’s inventor. Kelly lays it all out in his book - The Crokinole Book.

Others think that the game might have originated in the Amish or Mennonite cultures, simply because of its popularity amongst them, but there is no historical record to support that theory. And still others believe the game can be traced back to a British or Asian origin due to its similarities to the game of Carrom, which dates back to around 1860.

The only thing anyone knows for sure is that even though it’s not as well known as Shuffleboard or Billiards, it has had, and will always have, a fanatically loyal following that will be playing Crokinole for generations to come.

***Information above sources from Wikipedia