“Black Peter” — a sort of Eastern European version of “Old Maid” — reappears in an undated deck from Piatnik, in Vienna.  This delicate rendering of an accordion and cat duet is particularly nice.  For some reason, two Black Peters are included, which seems to belie the point of the game.  Do the players choose […]

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This battered and stained booklet is on sale online for an exorbitant price.  Fortunately, I was able to snag a scan of the cover.  It was published in 1919 by The Quill; Edwards was not yet editor, but apparently had free rein in the guidebook.  I’d like to know more, but will content myself with admiring […]

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“Life’s Game of Artists,” published sometime around 1910 by Parker Brothers, featured cartoons by Life magazine’s roster of illustrators.  This was, of course, the early humorous Life, not the later oversized photo mag.  The cartoons usually depicted courting couples, often with Cupid hovering nearby.  The game itself is a version of Quartet or Authors, in […]

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Nancy Hertel Melvin has kindly passed along a painting by Bobby Edwards, her great-uncle: a portrait of Edwards’ sister, Rebecca Chapin Edwards.  I’ve posted several of Edwards’ pen and ink drawings, but had never seen one of his paintings. Lovely muted colors, I think (especially compared to his ukes!), and lush, loose brushwork. (Posted by […]

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“The Game of Moneta, or Money Makes Money,” was published in 1888 by F. A. Wright.  Each card shows a coin; the denominations are: 1¢, 2¢, 3¢, 5¢, 10¢, 20¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1 (silver), $1 (gold), $2½, $3, $5, and $10.  We certainly had more elaborate currency back then.  The object of the game is […]

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I’ve been posting information here, from time to time, on Bobby Edwards: a singer-songwriter who became somewhat of a local legend in Greenwich Village in the ‘teens and ‘twenties.  He also made his own cigar-box ukes, which he sold at souvenir shops in the Village.  I had resigned myself to the idea that none had […]

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