After checking out of our condo we had a delightful morning cup of coffee at my new favorite P.S. coffee spot- KOFFI.

Mah-jongg was a relatively modern game that was developed in the mid-to-late 1800s, around the Yangtze River Delta. By the end of the 1800s, it was spreading in popularity in China, but mostly only in specific urban centers like Shanghai and Beijing. But in the early 1920s, it developed this international reputation, which helped spread interest in China as well. This trend was driven by exporters, marketers and businessmen, particularly Joseph Park Babcock, whose mah-jongg sales company helped popularize it with American expatriates living in China before intentionally marketing it as this new, exotic and cosmopolitan consumer good to the broader American public.

It became so popular, it was used in marketing for a variety of consumer goods. "For Sunday Night Supper, for a delicious luncheon, a bite after the theatre or a Mah Jong party, nothing is more welcome than a Club Sandwich. Make it in a jiffy. All you need is a glass of boned chicken, toast, bacon, a tomato, a bit of lettuce and Best Foods GOLD MEDAL Mayonnaise." Hysterical.

In the late 1930s, a group of Jewish women, including one named Dorothy Meyerson (who had already been marketing her own slightly adapted version of the game, which she called a streamlined version) decided to standardize the game and simplify some of the complicated scoring rules that had already been simplified from the original version. They met in New York City and formed the National Mah-jongg League in 1937.

The game has fostered various and rich game cultures around the world due to the rhythm of the game itself. In between each round, you have a pause, where you are shuffling the tiles, or “washing” the tiles. And it’s just the right amount of time to have a little bit of conversation. That tempo is perfect for building new relationships. When you’re in a new community or connecting across a generational divide, maybe you don’t want to have deep heart-to-heart or can’t have one, but you can have a little bit of conversation and over time, those rhythms, especially if you’re playing with the same group of people, can build incredibly deep, long-lasting relationships. It is a game that forms community.

The game is currently enjoying a renaissance thanks in part to shout-outs from regular players Julia Roberts and Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as the game appearing in television shows such as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and films such as Crazy Rich Asians.

Julie and I left ready to find a senior center and learn to play! So interesting.

Steve made a comment about the length of these Modernism Week posts. Believe me, they could have been so much longer. I didn't share the wonderful flea market we discovered where I brought home a few screaming deals. The photos I shared were merely a fraction of all that I captured. The memories evoked will help the magic remain. Enjoy whatever you glean from this. I'm just happy to share.

"All architecture is shelter,

all great architecture is the design of space

that contains, cuddles, exalts, or stimulates

the persons in that space."

-Philip Johnson