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November 14, 2011 · 8:33 am

Historic Boats, Historic Boards

The New Hampshire, early 19th century

Just off the coast of Manchester, Massachusetts, lies a historic American battleship. About 30 feet under the water, not far from the shore, the USS New Hampshire invites divers and historians alike. One local diver, however, has made the New Hampshire his own. “I hit a lot of other wrecks,” Norman “Dugie” Russell tells me. “Some I never found out what they were, others I knew what they were. This one I just had a love affair with, and after a time–unless somebody came up with something cool–I spent all my time on the New Hampshire.” Just wait ’til you see what he’s found, what he’s made, and what it almost cost him. Continue reading →

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Filed under art, Boards, Cribbage, Cribbage 'Round the World, history, Interviews

Tagged as Art, Boston, Cards, Civil War, Cribbage, Games, history, Navy

November 7, 2011 · 8:49 am

700 Cribbage Boards and Counting

Civil War-era boards; brass inlaid on wood.

Not long ago I received an email titled “I Know More About Cribbage Boards Than You Do.” It was from a man named Peter Leach, a fellow St. Paulite with a penchant for pegging. A few weeks earlier, I was invited to speak at the annual Cribbage Board Collectors Society convention in Grand Haven, Michigan, but instead had to settle for sending them an open letter. Peter responded with gusto—he invited me over for a beer and a sandwich on a chilly Friday evening, and we swapped a few stories before breaking into his collection of boards. “When I started, I never–underlined and capitalized ‘never’–I NEVER could have envisioned the variety,” he says, ”There’s no end to them, simply no end.” After seeing his collection, I have to agree with him. Continue reading →