Who plays quoits and how?

[Badfish740]

This Memorial Day weekend I dusted off an old set of quoits that probably haven't been touched since my grandfather was alive (10+ years ago) and pitched a few at a BBQ at my house yesterday and a friend's house today. I remember being introduced to the game in my younger years at various neighborhood picnics, but the most heated and serious games I ever saw were at BBQs at my grandparents' house. Many of my grandfather's friends were Trenton/Hamilton natives who he had worked with at John A. Roebling and Sons in Trenton and Stouffer Chemical (later Kalex Plastics and now Clayton Block) in Yardville. Even though they didn't play on a regulation "court" with boxed in clay pits the pins were always set exactly 21 feet apart and when two quoits were in close proximity to the pin, outside calipers like those used to measure the inside diameter of large pipe would be used to determine the winner. I remember bringing the quoits to a Dave Matthews Band concert one year at the Tweeter Center in Camden and setting them up in one of the unpaved (I think they're all paved now) we were tailgating in. It wasn't until I had gotten at least 5 people who asked me "what the heck kind of horseshoes we were playing" that I realized that quoits were a relatively obscure game outside of Western/Central NJ and Eastern Central PA.

I was just wondering if anyone here happend to be a quoit afficionado and if so, how do you play? I was considering making some pits in the backyard, having the space and access to lots of good clay. I've seen ranges in size for the pits from 3' x 3' to 8' x 8' and specifications calling for a 4" x 4" border to an 8" x 8" border. I got this info from the U.S. Quoiting Association website among others, but it goes down a lot. Oddly enough they have rules for "Trenton" style quoits, but the page doesn't work. Also, the quoits I have came from Harry's Army and Navy on Route 130 North in Hamilton. On their website they list them as "Trenton" style as well.

 

[LARGO]

I have a treasured a "old" steel set that were a dear Uncle's long since past. He was from Hammonton so within your geography. He brought them to every gathering and they were well recieved. Heavier than horshoes and trickier indeed. He was surely old hat at it. A ringer of course was the goal but a leaner was point value too. They of course had better chances of leaning on the post than horseshoes. Distances counted as well.
Clay pits yes were best for the Quoit sticking but in most cases the old backyard would have to do. I suppose there is some new popularity because I have seen sets but of some composite, not steel. He played to 21 but I can't recall if your 21 foot spacing is what he used or not. He counted in paces I do not remember.On the whole I think they are a game unknown to youth.
Check online & Wikipedia, etc. I recall there is some interesting history involved with Quoits and their origins. I shall do a little reading up this morn' myself. Thanks for opening up a little box of memory.

G.

 

[Badfish740]

Clay pits yes were best for the Quoit sticking but in most cases the old backyard would have to do. I suppose there is some new popularity because I have seen sets but of some composite, not steel. He played to 21 but I can't recall if your 21 foot spacing is what he used or not. He counted in paces I do not remember.On the whole I think they are a game unknown to youth.

I assure you its a game not lost on the youth of this area. I can't recall ever being at a BBQ in Central Jersey without hearing the "clang" of quoit on quoit. It was a right of passage of sorts as I remember the first time my dad showed me how to throw (once I was old enough to heave a 2 1/2 pound steel ring at least 20 feet anyway) and all the grips, techniques, etc... When we got older it was only natural that you couldn't have a backyard party without two pins, four quoits, and a cold beer in the other hand for balance

Check online & Wikipedia, etc. I recall there is some interesting history involved with Quoits and their origins. I shall do a little reading up this morn' myself. Thanks for opening up a little box of memory.

I did check it out and the history is a bit murky, but apparently quoits are still widespead across the pond in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. They seem to have only survived in small pockets here in the "colonies." I read one account that the game was purged in a way after the revolution when we began to shed all things British (spellings, etc...) and the game was morphed into horseshoes. I wonder if Jerseyman could shed a little light on this?

 

[LARGO]

Very cool!
Good to know it's alive. I still get some raised eyebrows when I mention it here & there.
Me thinks you're getting off easy with 2-1/2 pounds there fella. I am going to weigh mine, I believe they are a little heavier.
On that last, I have the highest respect for Jerseyman's knowledge but darn it if he, due to his local history skills pulls the answers to this one off the top of his head, I'm shocked.
The evolution of Quoits in the colonies and it's impact on West Jersey, after that, what else is left?

G.

 

[gagliarchives]

We still play quoits when we tailgate at the Eagles games. I suck at it, but usually I am drunk at that point.

 

[Ben Ruset]

We still play quoits when we tailgate at the Eagles games. I suck at it, but usually I am drunk at that point.

I would have had you pegged as a bocce player.

 

[gagliarchives]

Not real good at that, but my uncle's are great at it.

 

[LARGO]

Badfish,
Weighed mine. Seperately and together & divided the qty. to check myself.
They are 4 pounds per with a 4" center and 8-3/4 overall. They are hard old iron.
Quite a few chinks on the edges, go figure. I repainted them the Blue & Red colors a few years back. My dad recalls Uncle Jack bringing that very same set to outings when he was a kid. There are no discernable markings or emblems and Pop said the box went away in the 80's. Couldn't tell you a brand. By what I see online my set pretty much fits regulation standards. My dad could not recall the name but there was a particular when a quoit landed right over an opponents and you took the point. And yes, it was 21 feet. The tolerance of distance for points from the post was a lot less though. My dad is checking but oddly enough he claims to have a set I do not remember, smaller in diameter but heavier??

g.

 

[Badfish740]

Ahhh Largo, you've touched on yet another chapter of the mystery of quoits. What you have are traditional American quoits. Based on a little research I've done I'd venture to say that they were manufactured somewhere in Pennsylvania. The U.S. Quoiting Association's Website is up now and I was able to learn a bit about the different types of quoits. "Trenton quoits" which are the ones I grew up with and still play with today are indeed 2 and 1/2 pounds each and have an inside diameter of nearly 5"-almost the outside diameter of a traditional quoit. What I do know is this: Only one company, P.Q. Wolf, still manufactures Trenton quoits. My quoits are from P.Q. Wolf and came from Harry's Army Navy, which, as far as I can tell is the only place you can buy them.

I'm way too interested in the history of the city of Trenton to not at least attempt to find out why and how the city developed it's own style of a centuries old game! The only thing I can think of is that since Trenton once contained at least two major foundries that I know of and countless heavy industrial manufacturing facilities that somewhere along the line someone employed at one of these places adapted the design of the quoit to something unique. There would have been plenty of men in the city who had the expertise and the access to the tooling necessary to fabricate quoits. Still, that leaves the question of why. There is a Trenton quoit club that happens to be online, so I'm planning on contacting them as well as P.Q. Wolf, who oddly enough is located in Clinton, NJ up in Hunterdon County. I've also been meaning to hit the Trenton Public Library for genealogical information so I'll see what I can find there as well.

In any event, chalk another great invention up to the city of Trenton! Wire rope, pork roll, and Trenton quoits!

 

[LARGO]

My Uncle worked most of his life as a machinist in Philly and being a die hard Sears man, whatever was not bought/ordered at Sears would likely have been purchased in Pennsy.
So, you are probably right on this set.

g.

 

[wis bang]

Growing up in Easton, we were close enough to the slate belt to have indoor quoits using hard rubber rings about the same size as 'trenton quiots' using a one inch thick slate board w/ a hardwood rizer screwed to the back and a chrome pin in the center of the slate which had concentric white rings scribed for assistance in scoring. The pin to pin distance was 21 feet scored to 21 like the outdoor game.

I remember the local clubs had teams and the competed various nights at different clubs. They used to set up 5 or 6 sets of quoit boards. I've never seen them south of Bucks County or north of Carbon County, There would be some spillover into Waren County on this side of the river...

 

[LARGO]

For Badfish

Add another to your list. My dad dug out that other old set I mentioned. These are 6 inches in diameter with a 2-1/2 center hole. Very tough to use & score. He recalls the distance being less than 21 feet though. Two are black & two are red. Two are marked "A" and two are marked "B". All four are stamped and do weigh in at 3-1/2 LB. Being only 1/2 pound less than the others yet smaller they are deceptive when held as though they seem heavier. All four bottoms are marked "Forged Steel". That is about it.
Figuring you to be the resident "Quoit" guy, I thought you might like to know about this set.

G.

 

[ChrisNJ]

Nice, I have also been playing Quoits since I was a child at bbq's. Fond memories of watching then playing as early in life as I was able to toss em. Kinda funny this post pops up now as I actually just bought my first set of Quoits after going to a pigroast/blues fest in Florence a week r so ago, where I was in a tourney. My Brother in Law and myself decided to get our own sets to practice for the next chance to play, rather than just wait for the next time at my Parents house.

BTW all Trenton decendants so I will assume Trenton Quoits .