Thread from old forum:
This is the first book that was written devoted soley to darts, it is by Rupert Croft-Cooke and was first published in 1936:
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Old 1930's Darts Book by Rupert Croft-Cooke (3) by dazdart, on Flickr
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Old 1930's Darts Book by Rupert Croft-Cooke (1) by dazdart, on Flickr
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Old 1930's Darts Book by Rupert Croft-Cooke (2) by dazdart, on Flickr
Replies from old forum:
Bigshow
Cool, whats it like? Does it give good advice? Is it a good read?
getagrip
Not read it yet, but I heard that it was written in a kind of jokey style and skimming through it, it seems more of an intro to what darts is as some people had not heard about it in those days.
DR. DARTS
Absolutely right. Croft-Cooke was called into his publisher's office in London and asked if he could produce 20,000 words for a book on darts. The publisher Geoffrey Bles was aware of Croft-Cooke's passion for the game and the work was produced in a few short weeks. As getagrip shows us, the book was published in December 1936 in response to the upper classes demand for information on how to play. The book sold out within weeks and was reprinted in January 1937. The book is a great little read although lady darts players might be offended by Croft-Cooke's intense dislike of female players!
Stuart180
Sounds like a great read, I will have to keep on the look out for a copy.
getagrip
LOL they had a funny attitude towards women in those days.
DR. DARTS
Yes, Croft-Cooke didn't appreciate the female gender 'interfering' with darts. In the chpater on 'The Social Aspect' he made his point very clear by writing, "There are women who play darts. They are few and their merits are usually exaggerated."
That was a bit short-sighted of Croft-Cooke as by the time his book came out a goodly number of local and national breweries were sponsoring ladies' darts leagues. Also, the year after publication of his book DARTS, a Mrs. Morgan became the first lady darter to make the Divisional finals (there were no national competitions then) of the News of the World.
getagrip
Maybe he just never liked the idea of women been in pubs etc, but I bet he nearly choked when he saw Mrs Morgan do so well, LOL!
Stuart180
Grip, here you go -
One I got today -
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Seen some action by the looks of it !! lol
getagrip
GREAT!
only 2 shillings and sixpence too a bargain!
Hey that table top is the same as my desk lol.
Saber
good stuff.
Stuart180
How much would that be in today money ?? Im no good with old money !!
That my work bench Grip ! lol, we made our desktops out of it so we could have them the size we need (to fit 2 Macs and 32" monitor on !!)
getagrip
LOL I did the same could not find a pc desk to fit my needs so just made one, well my Dad helped mostly, he is the craftsman lol but its been good and strong for 10 + years now
shafted
I want one! I know my rights, and I want one. Lol
Stuart180
My second copy turned up this morning, this is a re-print (paper back) printed a year later in 1937.
Amazingly, it's got the same "Reduced" sticker on it that the one on Ebay has!
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getagrip
hmm I wonder if it is the same one?
Stuart180
No, the one on ebay has slightly less of sticker left. must have come from the same shop
DR. DARTS
2s 6d is equivalent to 13p today and 6d about 3p.
The book is extremely useful for giving a brief overview of darts in the mid-to-late 1930s and provided me with a few excellent leads when I was researching my PhD.
The book was thrown together by Croft-Cooke very quickly and includes a number of errors. For example on page 83 he manages to give us the 1936/37 NoW winner at least six months before the final of the tournament was played.
By the way, I believe the image on the front cover of DARTS is/was of the public bar of the Puesdown Inn, Gloucestershire, Croft-Cookes local back in the day. But don't go there. It's a gastro pub and there's no sign of a dartboard and the public bar is no more, having been 'improved' some years ago.
mc1958
Haven't read it yet but I found a copy of this book as well now lol. At a rough guess it was given to someone as a Christmas present in 1936 as it has a little note written inside dated 25/12/1936:
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This is the first book that was written devoted soley to darts, it is by Rupert Croft-Cooke and was first published in 1936:
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Old 1930's Darts Book by Rupert Croft-Cooke (3) by dazdart, on Flickr
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Old 1930's Darts Book by Rupert Croft-Cooke (1) by dazdart, on Flickr
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Old 1930's Darts Book by Rupert Croft-Cooke (2) by dazdart, on Flickr
Replies from old forum:
Bigshow
Cool, whats it like? Does it give good advice? Is it a good read?
getagrip
Not read it yet, but I heard that it was written in a kind of jokey style and skimming through it, it seems more of an intro to what darts is as some people had not heard about it in those days.
DR. DARTS
Absolutely right. Croft-Cooke was called into his publisher's office in London and asked if he could produce 20,000 words for a book on darts. The publisher Geoffrey Bles was aware of Croft-Cooke's passion for the game and the work was produced in a few short weeks. As getagrip shows us, the book was published in December 1936 in response to the upper classes demand for information on how to play. The book sold out within weeks and was reprinted in January 1937. The book is a great little read although lady darts players might be offended by Croft-Cooke's intense dislike of female players!
Stuart180
Sounds like a great read, I will have to keep on the look out for a copy.
getagrip
LOL they had a funny attitude towards women in those days.
DR. DARTS
Yes, Croft-Cooke didn't appreciate the female gender 'interfering' with darts. In the chpater on 'The Social Aspect' he made his point very clear by writing, "There are women who play darts. They are few and their merits are usually exaggerated."
That was a bit short-sighted of Croft-Cooke as by the time his book came out a goodly number of local and national breweries were sponsoring ladies' darts leagues. Also, the year after publication of his book DARTS, a Mrs. Morgan became the first lady darter to make the Divisional finals (there were no national competitions then) of the News of the World.
getagrip
Maybe he just never liked the idea of women been in pubs etc, but I bet he nearly choked when he saw Mrs Morgan do so well, LOL!
Stuart180
Grip, here you go -
One I got today -
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Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
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Seen some action by the looks of it !! lol
getagrip
GREAT!
only 2 shillings and sixpence too a bargain!
Hey that table top is the same as my desk lol.
Saber
good stuff.
Stuart180
How much would that be in today money ?? Im no good with old money !!
That my work bench Grip ! lol, we made our desktops out of it so we could have them the size we need (to fit 2 Macs and 32" monitor on !!)
getagrip
LOL I did the same could not find a pc desk to fit my needs so just made one, well my Dad helped mostly, he is the craftsman lol but its been good and strong for 10 + years now
shafted
I want one! I know my rights, and I want one. Lol
Stuart180
My second copy turned up this morning, this is a re-print (paper back) printed a year later in 1937.
Amazingly, it's got the same "Reduced" sticker on it that the one on Ebay has!
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
getagrip
hmm I wonder if it is the same one?
Stuart180
No, the one on ebay has slightly less of sticker left. must have come from the same shop
DR. DARTS
2s 6d is equivalent to 13p today and 6d about 3p.
The book is extremely useful for giving a brief overview of darts in the mid-to-late 1930s and provided me with a few excellent leads when I was researching my PhD.
The book was thrown together by Croft-Cooke very quickly and includes a number of errors. For example on page 83 he manages to give us the 1936/37 NoW winner at least six months before the final of the tournament was played.
By the way, I believe the image on the front cover of DARTS is/was of the public bar of the Puesdown Inn, Gloucestershire, Croft-Cookes local back in the day. But don't go there. It's a gastro pub and there's no sign of a dartboard and the public bar is no more, having been 'improved' some years ago.
mc1958
Haven't read it yet but I found a copy of this book as well now lol. At a rough guess it was given to someone as a Christmas present in 1936 as it has a little note written inside dated 25/12/1936:
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
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