Factory staff at Pung Wo Co. Factory No. 1, 1923Factory staff at Pung Wo Co. Factory No. 1, 1923
Shanghai
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, PR 02 CN 1 (F)
American women playing a floating game of Mah-Jongg, c. 1924American women playing a floating game of Mah-Jongg, c. 1924
Location in the U.S. unknown
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-npcc-11609
American expatriate Joseph Park Babcock, who is known for bringing Mah-Jongg to the United States, developed a love for the original game while working for the Standard Oil Company in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. By the early 1920s, he created a version with simplified rules and began exporting Mah-Jongg sets – setting off a craze back home. The Pung Wo Co., also known as the Mei Ren Company, was another major exporter of the game.