The CACHELORUM is an old game made of wood and made once upon a time in Val Gardena, in the South Tyrol area of Italy. This game is now being produced again by hand in the Gardena Valley.

What is the CACHELORUM?

This very interesting game made of wood with balls originally was made 200 years ago in Val Gardena, and it is one of the oldest toys that exists. Most of these games were produced and sold between 1870 and 1914. Nowadays you can only see this toy in a few museums, a few examples of which are in the museum of Ortisei. This clever game was first seen in Russia than Nürnberg and finally Val Gardena. As there were already woodcarvers in Val Gardena they were able, through their artistic skills to transform and develop this game.

What does the word CACHELORUM mean?

Many famous linguists such as Prof. Guntram Plangg and Prof. Hans Göbl have studied the meaning of this interesting and curious word. Plangg maintains that the word comes from a german dialect "Gaggelari - Zeug" which means 'something to play with'. While Prof. Göbl says the word comes from the latin name "calculorum" meaning "calculus" "counting".

The toy comprises of a basin which collects small balls and a spiral tower at the top of which is a head through which the balls are thrown.
The small ball can be made out of wood or glass and it slides around the spiral falling into the basin and positions itself in one of the holes, each one being numbered.

The game also has a musical interest as the balls make a musical sound when they slide down the spiral and drop in the wooden basin. This is a sound which is not produced on plastic or metal.

The game remains like it originally was, a game with small balls however it is also considered an object to collect whether old or new.

Ivo Bergmeister a very experienced woodcarver by trade. He has devoted a lot of time over the years in the producing the exclusive CACHELORUM and keeping the originality of the game.

For this reason in his workshop the game is sculptured and painted completely by hand and sometimes the head, the spiral and the basin are even painted in 22 carat gold.

There are unique CACHELORUM games which have the famous heads of Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife Sisi, Princess Diana, Luis Trenker, the minstral Oswald von Wolkenstein......

Why not have your own CACHELORUM made for you to your personal wishes, in that way you have a unique collectors item.

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