Table Hockey: A Canadian Game

Additional Information

Munro Games Ltd., 1962, Electric Canadian Hockey/H-29

In 1932, Don Munro Sr., like many Canadians during the Depression, was out of work. With Christmas just around the corner, he wondered what he could give his children since all the money was needed for food and shelter. Tinkering around for a few days, Munro built the world's first table hockey set from the family ironing board. The game was designed in such a way that once a week the pieces could be taken apart to do the ironing. Eaton's soon ordered 10 and the whole family was enlisted to make the games -- with the children sanding the wood and Mrs. Munro crocheting the goalie nets. One of these original games will be displayed at the Dunlop along with nine other historical table hockey games, and a contemporary version which patrons are invited to play. As the Dunlop's mandate of visual literacy promotes the exploration of ephemera from popular culture and design, the presentation of these historical toys from the 1930s to the present sets these artifacts in a new context, drawing attention to the social relevance, and daily presence these intriguing objects have had in basements across Canada for decades.