“Letters and Numbers,” from the Russell Manufacturing Company, is a curious creation.  It’s essentially an alphabet book; some of the letters are repeated to pad the deck out to 40 cards, which are arranged into four suits (Planet, Moon, Star and Comet) of ten cards each.  Several games are suggested; but children are encouraged to […]

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“Old Maid at the County Fair” is an Arrco “Pla-Mor” game.  In this one, our Old Maid meets “all the funny folk at the County Fair.”  Unlike most decks, she (or her cat) is also in each picture.  The Arrco people certainly had some stylish illustrators on board. And here she is.    (Posted by Doug […]

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In keeping with the medical theme of our upcoming event, “Medi-Vaudeville,” we offer “The Comical Game of Dr. Quack.”  It’s not, strictly speaking, a game: more of an amusement.  One player reads the rollicking doggerel about Dr. Quack’s wedding to Miss Hen; others draw cards bearing nouns to be inserted in blanks in the story.  Like the […]

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The Old Maids return!  We shall have whole brigades of Old Maids!  For our last batch, leaf back to September through December of last year; again, we’ll alternate them with other graphic delights. This deck, from E. E. Fairchild, pairs delicately rendered storybook scenes, including “Mary Quite Contrary,” “Robinson Crusoe,” “Snow White,” and other perennials. And […]

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We’re up to #53.  If this were a deck of cards, it would be the joker.  Let’s mark the occasion, then, with a splendid joker from a souvenir deck of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.  It’s not really a children’s game, but I’m sure the whole family can enjoy this giant gorilla from a million years ago. […]

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Our last specimen of the venerable game of “Hearts” is a deck currently on sale in toy stores.  It tells us no date or publisher, only that it was made in China. Most “Hearts” decks have four suits; this one, for some reason, has only three: clovers, hearts, and horseshoes.  The 9 of stars, the […]

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We continue our gallery of the game of “Hearts” with an undated deck from the E. E. Fairchild Corp., of Rochester, N.Y.  And a vibrant color scheme they’ve given us, too. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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And we have another round of “Hearts.”  Like our last, this deck was published in 1951 by the Whitman people.  It’s a miniature deck, and features strange little beings. (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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It’s high time we had a round of “Hearts,” that simple and charming card game that became a staple for the kids.  This edition was published by Whitman in 1951.  The player with the least points wins; and that Jinx card adds 11 to your score.  Beware that sly cat, Hearts players! (Posted by Doug Skinner) 

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We’ll have one more specimen of “Happy Families” before we move on.  This one is “Flower Families,” from Piatnik, in Vienna.  There’s no date, I’m afraid.  But we are, for once, given the name of the artist: Hubert Lechner, of the Vienna Academy. This game is also somewhat unusual, in that it apparently assumes that the players […]

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