Tag Archives: one bam

YOU’VE HEARD OF STAR WARS…

…well, here comes BIRD WARS!

You’d better sit down because you are about to see some of the most spectacular One Bams ever!!!

nov 18, 2014 birds 007These tiles are all ivory, bone and bamboo, and bone and ebony tiles.

Next – get ready…

nov 18, 2014 cb fi birds 005These tiles are resin, Chinese Bakelite, Chinese Catalin and French ivory.

All of these One Bams have something in common – they are all hand-carved. Wow!!!

And they are all part of the breathtaking collection – kept locked away in a secure location, of course –  belonging to my dear friend, the wonderful, ethical, fantastic, and knowledgeable seller of vintage sets, Fracas1 – click on this link to see the beautiful vintage sets she has for sale on eBay.

But wait…there’s more!

885510_864856030192408_4114994913563141877_oThese One Bams are all bamboo tiles, from 1920-1980, courtesy of my great friend, Tony. Double wow!

Want more?

10517408_10204297445828319_7873444320993174131_oThese come from the collection of Shirley, who has been known to save the day for readers of this blog with matching tiles from her incredible orphanage. Triple wow!

Thanks to  Fracas1, Tony, and Shirley, for so generously sharing these fabulous and amazing One Bams with us!

And, before I close today, let me share a poem with the first two lines started by Joy and the second two lines finished in a completely different email by Diane – and I don’t believe they even know one another! This is so fabulous – thanks, ladies!

Ten little birdies, all in a row,

Sitting on a Mah Jongg rack

Flew to a tree, made a show,

Rode the wind; didn’t look back.

10 LITTLE BIRDIES, ALL IN A ROW!

My friend Em shared this photo of 10 different One Bams – I wanted you all to see it because I find it so amazing that each manufacturer of Mah Jongg games had a different way to stylize the One Bam. Even the size of the tiles are different. Clearly there was no standardization back then but that is what makes each of our vintage sets so unusual and so special.13231_10152378683272653_581588190452960551_n Continue reading →

ANOTHER DAY AT THE BEACH…

Do you remember the fabulous One Dot that our very artistic friend Kat had created in the sand? Well, get ready because she is back with another sandy Mah Jongg tile and this one is nothing short of AH-MAH-ZING!!

This lovely One Bam was the model for the sand sculpture – read on to see the real thing…

10519194_269666383236618_1192467238762088983_o Continue reading →

WHO CAN HELP?

I am quite fond of this lovely Chinese Bakelite set but am missing a few pieces to make the set complete. Perhaps there is someone out there who can match some tiles for me…

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I am missing a One Crak. It would be wonderful if there was a stray One Crak orphan out there somewhere. I do have two blank tiles and could use one of them to send to the amazing Didi Lee Gallo who would carve a new One Crak for me. By the way, her work is so incredible – if you ever need a tile carved, she is the source to seek.

I also need tiles for Jokers. If I send one blank tile to Didi then I would need 7 more tiles for Jokers as I could use the other blank for that purpose. Is there anyone out there who can help?

Continue reading →

MORE PUNG CHOW!

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I was still in the hospital recovering from knee replacement surgery when my dear friend alerted me to this early Pung Chow set up for sale. I hear the words “Pung Chow” and nothing stops me – not even languishing away in a hospital bed! – so by the time I arrived back home, this new purchase was already waiting for me.

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As always, the White Dragon was the Pung Chow-trademarked silver and the One Bam is the delightful swooping crane.

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But of particular interest to me are the charming Flowers:

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No question about it, this was a very wonderful welcome home package!