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Q&A With Charles Harris never before seen a Teetotum recovered in a Civil War site, it makes sense that some soldiers used them as a gambling game. Even today, forms of the game still exist. During research, I even found an online game of it. Some things, it seems, never really change! (Vol 6, Issue 5)
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found this brass item measuring ½ x 1¼ inches in a Confederate camp near Atlanta, Georgia. I think I know what it is, but wanted to see if you could elaborate. Michael Giannotta This is a “Put & Take” or Teetotum. They have been around in this form since at least the mid 1700s and possibly much earlier. English engraver artist, and writer Joseph Strutt, who was born in 1749, mentions a Teetotum being used in games when he was a boy. It is a form of the Dreidal, which originated in Israel for Hanukkah games. Originally a four-sided top, it evolved into this six-sided spinner. The instructions are on the sides: Two sides are “Take All” (player gets the pot), and one side each is “All Put” (player puts an agreed amount in the pot), “Put Two” (player puts two chips in pot), “Take Two” (player takes two chips from pot), “Put One” (player puts one chip in pot). Although I’ve 20
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his fired bullet measures about 1¼” long, has three rings, and a cone and pin type cavity. I have seen similar elongated bullets with a regular cone base, always fired. Just what is the story on these? Ran Hundley Like you, these bullets had always puzzled me, too. Although the cone/ pin “teatbase” was a new one, I’d seen a few cone base elongated bullets like this over the years, and like you said, they were always fired. Mason and McKee have a similar bullet that they note is a .58 bullet fired from a .54 bore. But neither our publisher, Butch Holcombe, nor myself could understand how such a bullet could be forced into a smaller bore. Butch’s
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theory was this: “I think this is a teat base bullet that hit mud. I’ve found bullets like this and think that if a projectile is fired into soft mud (or water) at a 90° angle, it might compress the sides, as this one is. Maybe a stupid theory, but I’ve seen many bullets ‘squeezed’ like this and can’t understand how or why someone tried to force them down the muzzles of smaller caliber muskets or rifles.” I felt much the same way: how did they force them down the barrel? But as it turns out, we were overlooking the obvious: not all guns of the Civil War were muzzle loaders. The answer came from bullet authority and author Dean Thomas: “We call these ‘stretchies.’ I think that was what Wendel Lang used to call them, anyway. They are .58 calibers fired thru a smaller bore breechloading carbine...most commonly the Sharps.” Bingo! While muzzleloaders must have a smaller diameter projectile than the bore (in order to load them), a breechloader usually has a slightly larger bullet as the breech is larger than the bore. So it is not a stretch (pardon the pun) to imagine a trooper attempting to use a larger .58 three-ring Minie in a pinch. While a teat base version is uncommon, there is no reason it couldn’t be utilized in the same way. One thing is for sure: I’ll bet such a combination had a kick like a mule! (Vol 6, Issue 5)