Joseph Fincher patents Tiddledy-Winks

Background. Tiddlywinks is a game played on a flat felt mat with sets of small discs called winks, a pot, which is the target, and a collection of squidgers, which are also discs. The offensive objective of the game is to score points by sending your own winks into the pot. The point of squopping, which is the key element distinguishing the modern competitive game from the child's game, is that a wink that is covered may not be played by its owner.

Patent Filing. Bank clerk Joseph Assheton Fincher (1863–1900) filed the original patent application for the game in 1888 and applied for the trademark Tiddledy-Winks in 1889. The winks and pot used in competitive play are standard, and are supplied by the English Tiddlywinks Association. Points are calculated when determining the finishing placement of winkers in a tiddlywinks game.

Market Competition. Competition was quite fierce, and for several years starting in 1888 other game publishers came out with their own versions of the game using other names, including Spoof, Flipperty Flop, Jumpkins, Golfette, Maro, Flutter, and many others. Throughout its history, many different varieties were produced to meet the marketplace demands, including those combining tiddledy-winks principles with tennis, basketball, baseball, croquet, cricket, football, golf, and other popular sports and endeavours.