The hubster's sister got married this past Saturday. The first weekend in October--same as us, and my girlfriend in Ohio, and my cousins, and (I'm sure) a bazillion other couples. Obviously, early October is a very popular time to get hitched! Anyway, due to administrative red tape on our end, we weren't able to make the trip back to the states to attend. Which meant we wanted to come up with a fabulous, meaningful gift to send them.
Noting that the bride is now going to be a stepmother, the groom has 11-year-old twins from his previous marriage, we really wanted to send a great family gift they could all enjoy. Which actually made choosing a traditional, Turkish keepsake a simple task. BACKGAMMON!
Noting that the bride is now going to be a stepmother, the groom has 11-year-old twins from his previous marriage, we really wanted to send a great family gift they could all enjoy. Which actually made choosing a traditional, Turkish keepsake a simple task. BACKGAMMON!
A little research taught us that backgammon originally spread to Turkey from Persia/Mesopotamia (which is what's now the eastern side of modern Turkey), and its roots can be traced back ~5,000 years which makes it the oldest recorded board game in the world.
Turks love backgammon and have been charmed by it since the sixteenth century Ottoman times. Walking around Istanbul, you can tell it's an extremely popular pastime--we see people playing it at just about all the cafes and coffee shops. And according to a 2002 survey, there are about 30 million Turks who know and play backgammon.
The board we chose is the best quality we could find. It was handmade by three separate people over the course of at least a week. Hand-stained solid walnut inlayed with brass and mother of pearl. The mother of pearl is one thing--but all that brass you see, that's not painted on, the wood is carved and then thin strips of brass are pounded in. Pretty impressive skill set!
The dark and light game pieces we chose are solid boxwood and will patina with age and use. And the bonus is that we picked a design where a person can play checkers or chess on the back as well.
And if you find yourself overseas with no craft or card stores in sight--but you can rustle up a roll of plain paper, a marker, a glue stick, and a local map--then you can certainly get creative and wing the gift wrap!
They're off to Australia and New Zealand for their honeymoon. But when they get back, they'll have a real family treasure waiting to greet them! xx
And if you find yourself overseas with no craft or card stores in sight--but you can rustle up a roll of plain paper, a marker, a glue stick, and a local map--then you can certainly get creative and wing the gift wrap!
They're off to Australia and New Zealand for their honeymoon. But when they get back, they'll have a real family treasure waiting to greet them! xx
Absolutely beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI have been a backgammon fan since the early 80's. This information was very interesting and the gift you chose is absolutely gorgeous. How wonderful!
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