When mahjong was first introduced to the United States, it was quickly absorbed by Americans across the entire country. People were signing up for mahjong classes, much as they did with bridge or chess classes in the years before. Mahjong teachers were quite willing to receive this large fluctuation of mahjong hungry students because they themselves had multiplied in number. For those who could not afford classes, there were always demonstrations on corner of streets. In New York society’s prestigious Park Avenue, twelve Chinese demonstrated the game for an entire week. At the end of the first day, each of the twelve Chinese left empty-handed because they had sold out their stocks of mahjong sets.20
With such tremendous popularity, one has to wonder why the game became as popular as it did. At the height of its popularity and thereafter, many experts speculated that mahjong appealed to the American people because it offered a few things that other leisure games at that time did not. For one thing, many found the game not too difficult to learn. As with any other game, it took time to master some basic skills of mahjong but once this was done, one’s ability to excel from there on was limitless. Unlike bridge, as it was often compared to, mahjong was able to be played by even the “common” folks. After all, uneducated people in China had been playing for hundreds of years and were able to master the more advanced techniques. At one point, a writer for the The New York Times wrote, “...for the past two years its red, green and purple marked tiles have slowly but surely usurped the affection of bridge devotees...”21 Mahjong was clearly easier to learn than bridge.
Another reason why mahjong was so fascinating was because many people considered it more scientific than chess.22 Even though mahjong was easier to learn than chess, many found the intricacies involved in mahjong to be more interesting. In chess, a player only had to keep track of his one opponent’s moves. A player would make his own moves based on either what his opponent did or what he anticipated his opponent was going to do. In mahjong, on the other hand, a player had to keep track of three of his opponents’ moves. A player had to figure out what the three other players had in their hands and actively anticipate what their moves would be. That way, he would not hastily throw away a tile that another player may need. There was much logic involved in the entire process of keeping track of three players and many found that challenge quite fascinating.
Lastly, many viewed mahjong as, “...a novelty--in a land where novelty ranks next to Godliness...”23 Mahjong had the merit of looking like it was hard to play, while in actuality, it was quite easy. The neophyte who was able to learn the game in fifteen minutes could indulge himself in the bask of glory because he had conquered the age old myth that only people of high intelligences were able to master the game. Mahjong did carry much glory, evident in the fact that it was often referred to as “the game of a hundred intelligences.” 24 A game referred to as such could not have evolved overnight nor could it have been invented by a person with less than high intelligence. A game with such prestige would have to have been developed from highly cultured people over the course of many centuries. One of mahjong’s largest appeal came from the fact that those who were able to learn to play the game possessed a sort of “Godliness” in themselves. Who wouldn’t want to be admired in such a manner?
Clearly, mahjong had many aspects that were appealing to Americans. These appeals often came about because games of the same sort did not offer the things that mahjong offered. However, it should be fair to mention that mahjong did have some not-so-appealing aspects to it as well. For example, mahjong sets were relatively expensive compared to a deck of cards or a chess set. A mahjong set in the 1920’s ranged anywhere from $18.74 to $32.25 That may not seem like a lot today, but back then it was. Also, mahjong requires much concentrated gambling, a habit that some speculated that Americans did not possess, which is why its popularity declined at one point. Nevertheless, mahjong, at its height of popularity, did possess more of an appeal over its counterparts of chess and bridge.