Hi Tammy. A punchboard is a gambling device. Sometimes called a "trade stimulator", punchboards were popular from about the turn of the 19th Century to the 1950s. They were often found in candy stores, cigar stores, barbershops, gas stations, bars, taverns, etc. A Punchboard can be small, a couple of inches square, or as large as 24" x 36". Basically a Punchboard is a "board" of compressed paper containing numerous holes. Each hole on a punchboard contains a tightly rolled piece of paper, or ticket. The ticket is removed, or punched, with a wire "key". On the paper is a symbol (number, slot machine symbol, poker hand, dice, etc.) that determines the award. Awards were usually money, cigarettes, candy, etc.

Some punchboards are really weird! I have some with as few as 10 holes, and other with as many as 1800 holes. Some of the unusual awards / prizes on my boards are... cigars, beer, gasoline, hunting knives, firecrackers, boxes of chocolate covered cherries, ice cream, and my favorite... a live TURKEY!

What makes a Punchboard valuable is the graphic at the top. A board the same size as my "The National Game" with a boring graphic would be worth a few dollars at best. A board with a poker graphic that shows chips?... Got to be worth $5 anyway.

Punchcards are virtually the same, but are printed on a relatively thin piece of heavy paper stock. Pull-Tab cards are used in the same way, but have exposed sealed tickets instead of rolled tickets in holes.

Please email me your mailing address & I'll send you a couple.