Handheld punch-board parlor games, like Coo Coo and its companion The Fortune-Teller in Rhymes, were the icebreakers du jour at cocktail parties of the 1920s and '30s. They were sold by the checkout at five-and-dimes.
First designed for gambling, punch boards quickly became the go-to scam for gangsters and mobsters like Jack Ruby (yes, the man who kiled Lee Harvey Oswald ), con artists, and lottery operators hoping to swindle the gullible.
(thanks Lisa)
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