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In 1903, Harry Gibson managed to obtain an unsecured loan of £500 from the Royal Bank of Scotland which enabled him to start a business supplying card games and postcards, which at that time was called The International Card Co. in Aldersgate St, London. The International Card arm of the business was sold to the De La Rue Company and H. P. Gibson & Sons Limited was formed. However, the “International Series” brand continued to be used by Gibson right up to the early 1980s, which accounts for the title on their Mahjong sets.
H. P. Gibson & Sons Ltd made its name with the ‘HPG’ brand of indoor games, such as L’Attaque and Dover Patrol. Sadly the company’s premises, along with all its manufacturing equipment were destroyed during the blitz in 1940 and when the war ended, it was almost a case of starting from scratch.
Robert & Harry Gibson, sons of the founder, re-established trading from Barrett Street in London’s West End. The company continued to sell its own family games and pastimes, alongside ranges from other established names, including Waddingtons and Chad Valley.
According to the advertising leaflet, they produced several kinds of sets between the wars, from Bamboo housed in yellow Cardboard boxes, to 5 thicknesses ofBone & Bamboo in austere ash or oak varnished boxes, with a 15-fold price difference.The top of the range set cost the equivalent of £800 in today’s money!
The early Mahjong sets, introduced in the 1920s, are recognised by their distinctive sinogram logo, either solid red, or ‘silver’ and shadowed. The logo can be easily confused with those of the Mahjongg Sales Company of America / Parker Bros or Jaques, but there are subtle differences in the formation of the characters.
Gibson also produced the famous ‘East Wind’ rulebook, which became the standard for Mahjong play in Britain, at least(Fig. 6) and also the ubiquitous ‘Jackpot’ rulebook which appears in many unrelated sets.
Post WWII, they produced polystyrene sets in card boxes; melamine, urea, and Chinese bakelite sets in zipper& popper cases; as well as cheaper painted wooden sets. They also imported quality bamboo-backed urea tiles with deeply impressed designs from Japan, housed in faux leather briefcases, but their only current offering is a two-tone melamine? set with impressed designs in a faux leather case.
In the late 70s H. P. Gibson & Sons shortened its name to ‘Gibsons’. The company is still a family business.
1936 Yellow Box Bamboo Mah Jong Set 1.
Bought for a song, but not really a bargain - I only bid on this one because I don't have this box (not seen one before either).
The standard lift-top, drop-front yellow cardboard box with 5 inner trays, but taller than usual, measuring 225x150x110mm.
The top logo is a departure from the earlier designs, this one is from 1936 according to the accompanying small 'Jackpot' rulebook.
It appears that there are 2 sets of counting sticks, both bone, but one is rounded baton type, the other flat plank type.
The tiles are pretty low quality, a mismatch of sizes and thickness (~27x20x10mm), evidence of poor quality control.
The carving is not much better, the only saving grace is the quirky bambird, but the rest of the designs are bog-standard.
So, not a resounding success, but a nice addition to the Gibson collection.
AC Bamboo Mah Jong Set 2.
'INTERNATIONAL SERIES Guaranteed Genuine Chinese - Set No A.C. All Bamboo Tiles' made by HP Gibson & sons Ltd in 1924.
A card box covered in bright yellow paper, now somewhat faded, with lift-off top and drop front, revealing 4 small trays holding the tiles and a larger one with 4 compartments for the bamboo counters, spare tiles, horn ming and cricket box holding 4 wee dice.
It measures 220x150x12mm - but unfortunately someone has used (aargh!) scotch tape to 'repair' the broken top - Lord, save us from this stuff! I'll remove it, glue the broken seams and touch up the paintwork.
The book is 1924 reprint by 'East Wind' in excellent condition and worth twice what I paid for the whole set - the only bidder.
The tiles are good quality bamboo measuring 30x22x11mm, nicely carved with very little use. Red #8 circles and uncommon #1 circle.
Also featuring rod bamboos, unusual stylised swooping sparrow #1 bambird... I have another example with smaller tiles featuring seed bamboos, so I think the firm used whatever tiles were available at that 'boom' time, with little regard for consistency or quality control.
AM Slide-Top Box Bamboo Mah Jong Set 2.
A Gibson model AM set (same box as the BB set I already have), there is a small missing piece at the top of the small side (easy to fix).
The box is a slide-top, made from mahogany (but the slide is plywood) with painted sinograms in gold and red with black shadow, measuring 275x150x85mm.
The bamboo tiles measure 28x21x12mm,
The counting sticks are casein with perforated ends, 3 spare tiles, no ming or dice.
The tiles feature simple Circles...
... a cute sparrow on branch Bambird and simple joined rod Bamboos...
... and simple wan Craks.
Standard Winds and Dragons. The Seasons show the plum, Orchid, bamboo and Chrysanthemum. The Flowers show the Four Art of the scholar.
BB Slide-Top Box Bone & Bamboo Mah Jong Set 4.
A bargain Buy It Now price of £35, complete with 1924 hardback 1st Edition Reprint rulebook and dustcover plus Gibson advertising brochure from +/- 1924 - this is such a rare piece of ephemera!
The box is a slide-top, made from mahogany (except the slide is plywood) with painted sinograms in gold and red with black shadow, measuring 275x150x85mm.
The tiles are bone & bamboo measuring 31x22x12mm with 4mm bone to dovetail, in almost unused condition, with very few Haversian lines.
They feature a fat peacock, strangely with no beak (?), joined rod bamboos, green #8 circles (not seen this before) and basic, but nicely carved Flowers and Arts.
Also has a mini horn ming box, cricket box for 4 mini dice and small neat bone counting sticks.
This and following image show the Gibson advertising brochure from +/- 1924.
The tiles are bone & bamboo measuring 31x22x12mm with 4mm bone to dovetail, in almost unused condition, with very few Haversian lines.
They feature a fat Peacock, strangely with no beak (?), joined rod bamboos, green #8 circles (not seen this before) and basic, but nicely carved Flowers and Arts.
Also has a mini horn ming box, cricket box for 4 mini dice and small neat bone counting sticks.
Faux Crocskin Box Painted Wood Mah Jong Set 5.
A Gibson set I had not seen before, and 2 appear on eBay UK in the same week!
I was the only bidder, probably because of the appearance of the tiles, but if you can see through the fault, it is quite a nicely-made set.
The box is lift-top, drop-front, made of heavy card measuring 215x140x85mm covered in dark brown faux crocskin housing 5 trays, 4 for the tiles and 1 for the counters etc.
The tiles measure 29x22x12mm and are hardwood, varnished dark brown on the back and painted white on the face, with the designs impressed then painted.
They look strange because the impressing was done before the white paint had set, causing squeeze-out forming a raised border, and paint has been caught in the lip of this border, giving a strange effect.
This excess paint can be scraped off, returning the tiles to their intended condition, but I may just leave it as an example of how quality control is necessary.
Pristine Boxed Zip Case Bakelite Mah Jong Set 6.
The outer box is very good, but the zip case is absolutely pristine, it measures 320x230x40mm.
The tiles are pale yellow Chinese bakelite, numbered, they measure 28x20x11mm.
Featuring perching phoenix 1 bamboo, 4x flowers, 4x seasons, 4x spares plus Rules & score sheets
The tiles are nicely carved, quite attractive and unmarked, apart from a pencilled x on the back of each spare tile.
This set looks like it was made yesterday, not 70+ years ago!
Trad. Box B&B Mah Jong Set 7.
Another BiN at a reasonable price for this quite rare Gibson set.
Gibson were one of the few British makes who featured Bone & Bamboo sets (most favoured Wood or Casein with the odd Bamboo set).
The box is British-made from stained pine with nailed joints, so not the best quality, but does the job.
It measures 250x170x165mm, fancy single handle, slide front with decal logo, ledges rather than shelves, drawers with bone pulls and a section for book storage.
The tiles measure 29x21x14mm with 5mm bone to dovetail; they are reasonably well carved, with simple Circles, interesting Bambirds, simple rod Bams, simple wan Craks, standard Flowers and vegetable Seasons(see following images).
The set is pretty dirty, but a good clean will make a very presentable set and a nice addition to the Gibson stable.
Trad. Box Casein Mah Jong Set 8.
I am pretty sure that this is a Chad Valley Set, re-badged by Gibson, which I've not seen before.
The box is almost the same as Chad Valley, with the same problem of the front shrinking vertically, leaving a gap at the bottom -
The minor differences are:- the box is taller than CV, 5 drawer pulls (CV only had one on the top), flat back (instead of a recessed panel) and the very nice casein counting sticks.
The box measures 240x167x145mm, with 4 drawers containing 144 casein tiles (8 missing), measuring 30x20x12mm and a large drawer for the casein counting sticks.
The paint has worn off many tiles and they have been previously repainted, but very badly, so they will be cleaned and re-painted.
They measure 30x20x11mm and feature a displaying pheasant? bambird, separate rod Bamboos, simple Circles, simple wan Craks and vase Flowers(see following images).
