“Animalloys” was a set of cigarette cards from the Imperial Tobacco Company, of Great Britain and Ireland.  Each card had 1/3 of an animal on it; you could combine them to produce new and unusual creatures.  This is an alligator, armadillo, and buffalo.  I assume that Dad was supposed to give these to the kids, […]

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In 1953, the Albany Times-Union published a set of “Lucky Safety Cards.”  If you got the right number, you won $5000, which I suppose taught children about the numbers racket.  Hans and Fritz were probably not the best spokesmen for safety and obedience. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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“The Great Composers” was like “Authors,” but with music.  This particular edition was published by Merrimack Publishing, as “an exact replica of the antique original.”  I enjoy Weber’s music, but I must admit I’ve never heard “Euryanthe.” (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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This one is more of a card game about children than for children.  Applying humorous interpretations to infants’ grimaces is a publishing staple; here all of the captions are about card-playing.  The result was used to promote a Buick dealership in Greenfield.  The world boasts many Greenfields; thanks to search engines, I can tell you […]

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“3D Trading Cards” were such a lowball timewaster that they carried no date, copyright, or indication of publisher.  They came in a little cardboard holder that touted them as “DIFFERENT” and “EDUCATIONAL.”  I do like to think of the kids peering at stereo photos of the Pyramid to the Sun God. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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Attention: we have another “Old Maid.”  This one is a 1975 offering from Western Publishing.  It uses the same artwork as one of our earlier examples — but a different Old Maid. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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This version of “Animal Rummy” was published by Whitman.  Our anonymous artist outdid him or herself, with some particularly lush and inventive designs. (Posted by Doug Skinner.)

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This pictorial deck is from Creative Card Games. (Posted by Doug Skinner.)

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“Felix the Cat’s Rummy” contained pictures of cartoon animals, as well as a picture of Felix himself.  Some of the images were also used in other rummy decks, but I hadn’t seen this scootering pig before. (Posted by Doug Skinner.)

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“Bible Memory Match” — which bears no sign of date or publisher — presented 18 pairs of Biblical subjects, to be matched by the players.  I don’t remember the buzzard in this scriptural passage. (Posted by Doug Skinner; thanks to Lisa Hirschfield.)

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