Love of game boards started with my Great Grandmother

I really do believe that my love for game boards came from my Great Grandmother.  I don't have many pictures of her but here is one with her,  my Great Grandfather and my Mother.  This was probably around 1936.

My Great Grandparents met and were married in San Diego, California.  They later moved to the Pacific Northwest and settled in Carlton, Oregon.  They were married for 72 years before she passed.

My Great Grandmother's name was Asenath Mae Rick.   I would visit their small farm as a child and my Great Grandmother loved to play checkers with me.  We spent many, many hours playing checkers in her living room, her dining room and out on her large covered porch.  Those were good times.

I recently opened a box that had been in my family for some time and was passed down to me.  As I was going through it I found this small cloth bag and my heart stopped!  Could it be what I thought it might be?  Ironically the bag has printed on it in red letters "Here Is The Proof."

As I poured the contents out of the bag I was so happy to find that it still held what my Great Grandmother used to keep inside of it.

They were her checkers!  The very checkers that we used when I was a small child all those years ago.  Those wonderful wooden checkers.  They are just as I had remembered.  The "red" ones are really a magenta in color.  They don't all match and have been heavily used.  They are treasure to me and I love having them.  They bring back such great memories.

I believe it is those childhood memories of playing checkers with my Great Grandmother that started my love affair with old game boards.  Many of them, we have collected, are home made.  This is a smaller board and I love the old paint. I found it in one of the booths in our antique mall.

This old board we found in Vermont!  The old mustard, black and maroon paint really makes this board special to us.

Dan gave this one to me for my birthday one year.  It is made by inlaid wood.  I love this board and my Great Grandmother's checkers fit on this one just fine!

This board is made from different woods and is quite spectacular and was found at the Little Antique Mall in Lincoln City.

As with many things that we collect it comes back to family.  This board is from Dan's family.  He can't quite remember whether his father or his grandfather made this one.  The craftsmanship is excellent and the wood beautiful.

We hang our game boards on the wall, put them on top of tables, prop them up around the house.  We love game boards.

For me it started with my Great Grandmother all those years ago--
playing checkers!