Table hockey was invented in 1932, during the Great Depression.
Donald Munro couldn’t afford to buy his children Christmas presents that year, and decided to make them one instead. Using an ironing board, wood from a coal bin, a coat hanger, clock spring and twine, he fashioned the first makeshift tabletop hockey game in his Toronto home.
When a travelling salesman spotted the invention, he suggested Munro take it to Eaton’s, then the largest department store chain in Canada. The store put his prototype on display, and it sold so quickly that by the time he got home, ten more had been ordered.
