Brief History of Shuffleboard with Pictures

Table Shuffleboard began in 15th Century England as a simple coin sliding game on a tabletop played in taverns and pubs. The "standard" Shuffleboard puck was a (large) groat coin and later silver pennies became popular. The game was known as shove or shovel penny. Eventually, English settlers introduced the simple, fun and competitive game to America.

The game shed its crude beginnings when American cabinetmakers such as George Hepplewhite and Duncan Phyfe turned out some fine inlaid cabinet work on shuffleboard game tables for wealthy homes in New York City.

Circa 1913, Shuffleboard was introduced at Daytona Beach, Florida as a game on land. It was also introduced on cruise ships as a way to entertain the guests.

As many of you may know, today, it has evolved to include an outdoor game in which players use long-handled cues to shove disks into scoring areas of a diagram marked on a smooth surface.