The Surge
From grandmothers' tables to a summer camp bunk, a younger crowd picks up the tiles
A Media Line report finds younger players, from high school to college and beyond, taking up American mah jongg as a screen free way to gather.
Younger players are joining American mah jongg in growing numbers, according to a September 2 report by Steven Ganot for The Media Line. The revival, the report says, is showing up in Jewish summer camps, school clubs, synagogues, community centers and family living rooms.
At Union for Reform Judaism Camp Harlam in Pennsylvania, per the report, a camper's suggestion became a popular summer elective. It began with a few tables and spread into rest hour games and staff activities, with campers keeping tile sets in their bunks. The report adds that high school and college clubs are appearing, and that one online community with more than 100,000 Facebook members says the age of new learners is dropping.
The piece notes that players draw and discard toward specific winning combinations, often using the annual card issued by the National Mah Jongg League. It also places the game in its history: it began in China in the 19th century, reached the United States in the 1920s, and became closely tied to American Jewish women in the decades that followed.
In Prim's opinion, a tile set kept in a camp bunk is the whole story in one picture. The game travels best when someone simply teaches the person beside them.