Somebody out there may be able to help identify this. It was another auction acquisition (because it was cute) and I would love to know what it was used for. It's a very small, nicely made, brass spinner with various symbols on each face. You can just see the handle receding into the background.
Well, it looks like the shape of a Dreidel but those aren't Hebrew letters on the side and it looks like it has more than four sides so it's not a Dreidel. My guess is that it is some kind of gaming piece though- probably came with some sort of chips or cards for gambling??? Interesting object!
Thanks everybody for your comments and suggestions about this item. Hope's suggestion of it being a Dreidel and Ann's idea that it was a gambling device led to the answer. According to Google it's a spinner used in a gambling game called "Put and Take".. A group of people all put a starting amount in the middle of a table and then take it in turns with the spinner. If you spun the P4 shown here you would have to put 4 times the standard bet into the centre. It also has T2 etc - which is Take twice the standard bet out of the centre. TA and PA - take all or put all. I think the odd symbol must be a non-event - just pass the spinner on. We'll have a go at it on our next family get together!! @overalvandaan@mzzhope@olivetreeann@shutterbug49@gamelee@jgpittenger@taffy@bkbinthecity@fr1da@sangwann@craftymeg@jacqbb@lastrami_@cruiser@koalagardens
@robz The dreidel game has a similar set-up as far as the rules go- one letter means put one piece (of chocolate or whatever candy you're playing with) in, another letter take one out, one means take everything and the other lose everything... I have a feeling that game has been around for a long time!
don't know what it is though
@overalvandaan @mzzhope @olivetreeann @shutterbug49 @gamelee @jgpittenger @taffy @bkbinthecity @fr1da @sangwann @craftymeg @jacqbb @lastrami_ @cruiser @koalagardens