The Captain's Mistress

At one time or another, most of us have played the game Connect Four.  You might remember the thin blue plastic vertical "board" with seven channels into which plastic checkers are dropped.  The first player to get four checkers in a row (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) wins.

Connect Four was trademarked by Milton Bradley in the mid-1970s.  What most people don't know is that this game has a long, but cloudy, history.  One source suggests that the game is actually hundreds of years old, but I've not been able to find firm evidence of this.  The earliest confirmed example I've seen was owned by games historian R.C. Bell.  In one of his many books, he has a photograph of the game (see http://www.tradgames.org.uk/games/Four-in-a-row.htm).  He called the game "Four Balls". It is in the form of a mahogany box with seven wooden chutes attached to the inside of the lid.  Birch balls, stained in two colors, are kept in the box.  These fit into the chutes, which are open in front to allow the colors to be viewed.  Mr. Bell believed his version of the game to have been made in the early 20th century.

An interesting legend persists about this game, that cannot be confirmed or disproved.  As the story goes, Captain Cook enjoyed playing the game onboard ship with his science officers, the naturalist Joseph Banks and botanist Daniel Solander.  Reportedly, he played the game so much each evening that the crew began to joke that he had a mistress in his cabin.  Hence, some versions of the game are called "The Captain's Mistress".

This is truly a game for which fine quality materials add immensely to the enjoyment of play.  Whenever I play the game on flimsy plastic sets, I find myself dropping the checkers in the slots without taking enough thought, and not really caring that much when I lose. 

Years ago while living in England, I bought a version of the game offered by a company called Nauticalia that looks very much like the one owned by R.C. Bell - a wooden box with chutes on the inside of the lid and wooden "rounds" to drop in the chutes.  A removable "gang plank" is used to hold the rounds in place and then release them into the box after play.  My version is not made of mahogany and birch, but is still of very fine quality, and a delight to play.  The top of the lid has a beautiful piece of inlaid polished burl and a brass knob used to open the box.

When I play with my fine wooden version of The Captain's Mistress, the game takes on a whole new personality.  I am carried back to a former day, when games held a more important role in an evening's entertainment.  The sound of the wooden rounds falling in the chutes and striking each other is very pleasant.  I take much more thought about each of my moves, and therefore, play a much better game.  And I really care whether I win or lose.

I have located a currently available version of The Captain's Mistress that is very much like the one I own.  You can research this by clicking on the link (above right) to The Quality Gameboard Shop and looking in "The Captain's Mistress" area.  This area also includes a couple of less expensive versions that are still a big step up from the plastic game.  I hope you find enjoyment in them.