GAME OF CARDS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 August 1939, Page 5

GAME OF CARDS

POPULARITY OF “NOCK AND KIRBY.” FIRST PLAYED IN SYDNEY DURING WAR. Bridge and poker players throughout the world are familiar with the game of “Nock and Kirby,” but few are aware of the fact that it originated in Sydney during the war. The Lord Mayor of Sydney, recentlyknighted Sir Norman Nock, revealed the secret of the game, although he only consented to do so under persuasion because of a fear that a popular game might be adversely affected by a misunderstanding that his firm, Nock and Kirby, Limited, was seeking to gain publicity.

When assured that an explanation of the game’s origin would be of widespread interest and should not affect the game’s popularity, Sir Norman gave the solution. “I first come across the game in San Francisco in 1922,” he said. “I was staying at a hotel and was invited to play bridge. At the end of the game someone suggested a ‘Nock and) Kirby.’ We each put in a certain amount and proceeded to play five hands of show poker. The first four were the ‘Nocks,’ and the last, for half the original kitty, was the ‘Kirby.’

“In 1924 I was staying at Cannes, in the south of France, when someone asked me to have a game of ‘Nock and Kirbj'.’ Since then I have encountered the game in other parts of the world. I was intrigued by the fact that the game had the same name as my firm and I made a thorough inquiry. “I asked a friend of my father, a retired sea captain living in England, about it, and he was able to supply the solution. It tippears that during the war my firm had a number of contracts for the provision of supplies for troop ships leaving Sydney. The orders were so heavy that we became notoriously late'with our< deliveries. The game of ‘Nock and Kirby’ was invented by four ship’s officers who were affected by delay. “They played what they called ‘Nocks’—each time contributing an amount to a the watch announced the arrival of our firm’s lorry. Then they would play a final hand for the kitty. This they called the ‘Kirby.’ Apparently the game was then introduced among the troops on the ship, and became very popular as a finale to any poker school. Today it is very popular among bridge ers, and it has been apparently spread throughout the world by travellers from Australia.”