Periscope for Bridge Kibbitzers
From the December, 1933 issue of Modern Mechanix, a "periscope for bridge kibbitzers":
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AT A recent international bridge match the problem of letting people watch the play without interfering with the players was satisfactorily solved by the use of a horizontal periscope with one end suspended over the table and the other fitted through one wall of the room, so that the observers need neither be seen nor heard by the players.From the observer’s standpoint this method of watching a bridge game is more satisfactory than standing by the table, as it permits a view of the cards held in all hands as well as a better look at those played.
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They should have done a Camera obscura-thing instead, then a whole room could have enjoyed it without having to crowd around a small hole.
I'm naming my next band "the bridge kibbitzers"
Surely without magnifying lenses, the cards would still appear to be about 12 feet away to the observers, so unless they had really good eyesight it wouldn't be much use.
Look at the throng in front of that periscope!
It is truly mind-boggling how easily amused some folks were, way back when.
@5
Truly! How difficult to imagine watching card games as entertainment today!
W.C. Fields used to perform his famed vaudeville pool-trickery act with a huge mirror mounted at a 45 degree angle over the table so the spectators could better see his shots.
@5
Not only what #6 said, but have you ever played bridge? What a game.
The only way I can think to explain it is in analogy. Take anything you love - a food, a musician, a blog - but you have to really really love it. Say Peanut Butter. You know how, when you love peanut butter, you just never _not_ have any in the cupboard? And if you run out, you always know to pick one up _that_ _day_ And you don't mind eating it for three meals in a day at all, and you can't remember the last time you went a week without it. Your friends think you are quirky, but not certifiable.
Almost every bridge player I've ever met, including me and my bridge partner, are like that. Bridge can be played or watched or read about in a weekend paper equally as enjoyably.
As a friend of mine says "it's the bombshit".
BUSH: Hey Uncle Dick, I bet we could rig up one of those...
CHENEY: Shut up, George.
BUSH: OK, Uncle Dick!
been more marriages and relationships ruined over bridge than you'll ever know...
Some culinary courses I attended also had a 45º mirror above the counter. And so we, at the audience, could follow the preparation from a 'bird's eye' perspective
i like how the two short womyn get a view of those alpha's backs.
you mean the guys standing behind the women in the very front row?
the cards would still appear to be about 12 feet away to the observers
And inverted - that is only one mirror, isn't it?
You can still find lots of people to watch bridge. Thousands of online spectators for a world championship match is not an unusual number; the viewing room at the playing site for the big-event finals at the "Nationals" in North America is usually full.
Of course nowadays they use video cameras, computer card diagrams, and a laptop operator in the room who transmits the bids and plays to the viewing area and the online portal.