When was the domino game 42 first played at Texas A&M? According to http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2003/02/05/AggieLife/The-Domino.Effect-514547.shtml, the Aggies were playing 42 in the early 1960s. Can anybody top that?

Supposedly, old Aggie yearbooks might show photos of students playing the game before the 1960s. Also, alumni grandparents might remember the game being played when they attended A&M; however, a previous thread in the history forum yielded no earlier years. (I'm not an Aggie and I don't live near College Station. I'm researching this for my 42 web site at http://texas42.net.)

You need Fossil Ag. He knows EVERYTHING about Aggie history.

Or, at the very least, he knows everything HE knows.

I'm sure it's been around a lot longer than that, in whatever form of undocumented rarity.

pproft ...

I do not recall any organized domino play on the A&M campus in the early the 1950s ... in the MSC, YMCA, dorms or elsewhere. It was considered to be an "old timey" game by the sophisticated students at A&M college at the time.

Domino games like "42", Moon, Nello and Straight Double-6 dominos had long been a favorite "Sunday afternoon in the shade of a tree" pass time for old folks in West Texas.

In older times, domino games that evolved in the back rooms of "filling stations", feed stores, and other places where old men gathered to chew tobacco, spit and talk about the weather became the favored place for a Domino Hall.

I was amused and pleased when in the 1970s or so "42" was re-introduced at the Dixie Chicken at North Gate

Edit: I do not know if domino games remain popular today. In the older times when women folk would allow menfolk to gather at domino halls, games would continew for days on end without interruption ... the players kept score and declared winners and losers but no money was involved.

[This message has been edited by fossil_ag (edited 6/20/2009 3:30p).]

We have family lore regarding my grandfather and his friend who eventually became his brother in law, known as a gambler, riding the train to enroll at AMC in 1916. His friend lost both of their tuition money gambling in a 42 game. The winner of the money took pity on my grandfather, giving him money for his tuition. Uncle George was SOL and as family legend tells never quite got over his gambling ways... which was a bad thing for the grandson of a Methodist circuit riding preacher.

Anyway, my guess is at least prior to WWI there was 42 being played for sport and or $$ @ AMC.

[This message has been edited by momlaw (edited 6/20/2009 3:25p).]

Thanks, fossil_ag and momlaw. Here are the Lechner Hall rules in the early 1990s: http://texas42.net/lechnerhall.html.

The Lessons That Matter

For those who wonder what does this “education” have to do with “real life”:

As you may have gathered from earlier post, I was familiar with 42 before becoming an Aggie. Being a member of the first freshman class of women to live on campus in '72 those skills were honed a bit.

Ten or so years later I was the first woman in a managerial position on the North Slope of Alaska. Every Tuesday the J shift management team played 42. I became aware of the gathering and stopped by as a spectator, not having earned my spurs. There were numerous bouts of hazing and opportunities to prove my leadership and worthiness in the interim. One of my favorite recollections is the first time I was asked to join the 42 game. The assumption was my partner, a powerhouse, would loose. Unexpectedly, we reigned supreme. I suppose I should mention one of the opposing partners graduated from tx tceh**.

**Note to pproft: that is not a misspelling on my part.

Momlaw: Sounds like you have an interesting story to tell. And you write well, too. If interested, click the Info button at http://texas42.net/commentaries.html and follow the instructions. - PP