Let’s Play
WASHER TOSS
How To Play
Setup
Washers can be played 1 v 1 or 2 v 2.
The boxes are placed 20-25 feet apart.
Gameplay
A washer thrown into the box is worth 1 point and in the cup is worth 3 points.
Cancellation scoring is in effect.
Alternate Rules
Within one washer length of the box – 1 point In the box 2 points in the cup 3 points balanced on the edge of the box 4 points.
Scoring
The first player to 21 or more wins.
If a player is up 11-0 they win or if a player is up 17-1 they win.
History
Like so many of the classic yard games, it is difficult to pinpoint Washer’s exact origin. Some credit the Greeks for inventing the game, as they had pitching games. England also had very similar pitching games popular in their pubs. In the late 1800’s there are stories of cowboys playing a similar game with wagon wheels as the target. The states of Indiana and Texas both claim to be the birthplace of washers, as do our friends up north in Canada, with the story being that it originated in Michigan.
Whatever the correct origin story is, it wasn’t until the 1980s and 1990s that the game began to gain popularity, and it didn’t become a mainstream game until the early 2000s. Washers is now one of the most popular and most portable yard games out there. In addition to having lots of variations and cousins in the yard game world, it also has a lot of names, including but not limited to: Washoes, Washers, Can It, Redneck Horseshoes, Ringers, Texas Horseshoes, Tubit, Washer Pitching, Washeroos, Washooe, and Poor Man Horseshoes.
