Ely & Josephine Culbertson Bridge Books

During the 1920s and 1930s, the glamorous husband and wife team of Ely and Josephine Culbertson succeeded in transforming bridge from a parlor game into an international phenomenon. Already accomplished players when they married in 1923, the pair enjoyed spectacular success on the tournament circuit with their (at the time) unconventional bidding methods and playing strategies. When contract bridge was introduced in 1926, Ely seized the opportunity to establish himself as the new game's foremost expert and practitioner. After launching The Bridge World magazine in 1929 and publishing his bestselling Contract Bridge Blue Book the following year, Culbertson partnered with his wife to score victories in a series of high-profile matches at home and abroad. The unprecedented media coverage of these contests made the Culbertsons international celebrities and ignited a contract bridge craze that remained unabated for more than a decade.