Copyright © Françoise Herrmann
Jean René Lacoste crossed the Atlantic, from France to the United States, and back, on more than one occasion to participate in the US Open Tennis Championships. The long five-day voyages at sea are thought to have given him much time to think about his inventions. In any event, Lacoste was inspired by the Chinese game of Mah-jong, which was both a popular form of entertainment onboard the large transatlantic liners, and a fad from China that had taken over the United States in the 1920s.
Inspired enough to invent a new game table specifically for playing Mah-Jong, and incidentally suitable for other card games, Lacoste filed a patent for his Mah-jong invention, as early as 1924, when he had just turned 20. The French patent FR603811A, titled Table de jeu de mah-jong utilisable pour jeu de cartes (Game table for Mah-Jong suitable for card games) was filed on December 24, 1924, and awarded almost 100 years ago, on April 23rd 1926, to Jean René Lacoste.
The invention was designed to facilitate racking tiles, and the secure storage of game tiles when not in use. The scope of the invention extended beyond Mah-jong to other card games, which could also be stored in the table's compartments. A portable (i.e., hinged foldable) embodiment of the invention is also described in this patent.
The Figure 1 is extracted from the patent. The Figure 1 depicts the top view of the square game tabletop (1). The game tabletop (1) is equipped with slightly angled edges (2) on all four sides, as well as pegs (11) for attaching markers in front of each player.
A second smaller gameboard proper (6) is placed on an elevated frame, separating the tabletop (1) from the gameboard (6). The frame between the gameboard (6) and the tabletop (1) is designed to create a space for compartments that accommodate the storage of Mah-jong tiles and other game accessories. Compartments that might be accessed by lifting the gameboard (6). The gameboard (6) further comprises hinged edges (10), on all four sides, that might be raised up, or lowered, thus forming stable tile racks for each of the players.
Below a set of Wind tiles: East, South, North, and West, depicting various ethnicities.
References
Heinze, A. (2021). Mahjong: A Chinese game and the making of American Culture. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Lacoste
https://www.themahjongtileset.co.uk/tile-set-materials/
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