Whoever came up with the name of "puck" must have had a Puckish sense of humor, because the black, synthetic rubber disk used in ice hockey was named after the character of Puck, an impish rascal, in William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer's Night Dream. Presented is a 1940s game used Art Ross NHL hockey puck. When hockey developed as an outdoor sport, pucks were often frozen pieces of cow dung, or sometimes small pieces of wood. When hockey moved indoors, a lacrosse ball was used as a puck, but the ball was too large and bouncy. Then, the lacrosse ball was sliced in a third, with the middle third becoming the puck. In 1940, great Hall of Fame defenseman Art Ross (for whom the award for the NHL's annual top scorer is named) came up with a hockey puck made out of synthetic rubber. The pucks were kept frozen, and because the synthetic rubber didn't bounce like natural rubber, the problem of wildly bouncing pucks was basically eliminated. The puck has a diameter of 3". Printed on the puck is "Sole CCM DIST'R Official National Hockey League/Official Art Ross Tyer/Buffalo N.Y. U.S.A." The puck shows some use, but it is in really nice condition, with no chipping. This puck is from the time when the NHL had only six or seven teams, because when the New York Americans stopped play after the 1940-41 season, the NHL had only what later came to be called the "Original Six" teams: The Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, and Detroit Red Wings. It was a time of Hall of Fame legend Eddie Shore, a hockey veteran, and younger players like future Hall of Famers Gordie Howe and Maurice Richard. The puck game used puck is an excellent vintage hockey remembrance.