Given these were designed to be punched, this is likely a pretty rare item. The seller certainly believes it is! Great piece. You can see other types of punchcards here: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/punch-board
“WONDERFUL WWII JEEP PUNCH BOARD.
PIECE IS UNUSED, BUT PUNCH IS MISSING FROM THE BACK.
THIS WILL STAND UPRIGHT WITH THE WHEELS TURNING WHEN ROLLED.
IT MEASURES APPX. 9 1/2 TALL 11 1/4 WIDE & 3 1/2 INCHES DEEP.
GREAT ESTATE FIND!!!!!”
View all the information on eBay
I don’t think I’ve ever seen one. What did you do with it? It’s cool and looks like a Bantam or willys MA
Maybe it’s where Hasbro got the idea for lite-brite.
I have never seen one, like Bob said, what do you do with it. Maybe its like popping bubble wrap?
You young’uns probably don’t know about punch boards. They were quite popular at taverns, gas stations and other small businesses up until the 1970’s (that’s a guess). My grandparents owned a small grocery/gas business in Idaho and I remember they had them until the government gave them the boot. You paid a small fee–a dime or quarter for each punch in the hopes of winning the big prize such as $10.00 or more depending on the punch board and the cost per punch. There were questions as to whether the big prize was ever won on some boards–hence the government stepped in. There was some pay to the business for having punch boards available.
Whew! I thought this would make a wonderful birthday gift to someone I’m close to, but after seeing the price, I decided I’m not quite that close. I still love you though.
I tried to learn more about the game, but most sites described them as similar to lotteries. What’s not clear to me is how punching the hole would tell you if you won or not?
Mom: It’s a really cool piece, but $900 does seem a bit steep to me, too. I won’t take it too personally 🙂
There is a small piece of paper inside the punch you shoved out with the punch “key”. You would unroll the piece of paper and it would tell you if you won anything or not. There were usually multiple prizes –maybe a free punch or some other small token to entice you. They were definitely a form of lottery with minimum control.
ahhh… so that is a honeycomb like structure that will allow a punch to go all the way through it. The paper pops out the rear when you push the punch through it. That makes more sense.
And, there could still be a winner inside! However, redeeming it might be a challenge . . .
Go rent the movie “Flim Flam Man” with George C Scott, there are several punch boards featured in the movie.
This is so cool! Not the price… Although how many more of these can there be?
I do remember those at seedy bars and Italian Clubs back in the 80s and 90s.