“Happy Families” is a small deck, cheaply printed, and carrying no information on publisher or date.  We are only told that it was “Made in Hong Kong.”  Obviously, it carries on the tradition of “Dr. Busby” (you remember him, scowling at you from #40 of this survey).  The child is meant to collect the four members of […]

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This week brings you another game based on folktales: “Story Cards: A Fairy Tale Card Game,” published in 1965 by Ed-U-Cards.  Three tales are in it: “Red Riding Hood,” “Puss In Boots” and “Jack and the Beanstalk,” all illustrated in a curiously primitive and expressionistic style.  It’s hard to choose; but I can’t resist offering […]

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We have another example of a game based on folktales; this one, “Fairy Tale Families,” was published by Piatnik, in Vienna.  The deck includes such old favorites as Red Riding Hood and Cinderella; I’ve chosen an image from this less familiar Grimms’ tale. (Posted by Doug Skinner) 

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The Ariston company, in Detmold (Germany), was responsible for “Märchenquartett” (“Fairy Tale Quartet”), one of many games that requires its players to assemble four scenes from a folktale.  I’ve chosen a lively vignette from that perennial favorite, “The Frog King.”  His Majesty is obviously the life of the party. (Posted by Doug Skinner) 

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Parker Brothers published “Make-a-Million” in 1934.  The rules take up 8 pages of small type; once you’ve mastered them, though, you’ll enjoy “simplicity, novelty, and excitement!” The Tiger is a wild card in the game.  It may be a holdover from the once popular game of faro, which, for some reason, was always associated with tigers: […]

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“Piggy” is even more of a foundling than most: it’s crudely printed on cheap cardboard, and carries no date, copyright, or publisher.  It’s another variant on “Old Maid”; players collect pairs of such cheerful creations as Danny here, and try not to end up with Piggy.  Nobody wants to end up with Piggy. (Posted by Doug […]

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“Lecardo” was published in London; no date, and no publisher listed except “Lecardo.”  The idea, as you can see, was to combine standard playing cards, dominoes, and a word building game all in one deck.  According to the rules pamphlet, however, the object was not simply to offer a versatile deck; but to invent a […]

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Here we have a few images from a 1905 Milton Bradley edition of “Dr. Busby.”  As you may recall, he popped up earlier, making a guest appearance in an “Old Maid” deck (#33 in our survey, posted 11/13/08).  Like “Old Maid,” there were many editions; this Dr. Busby is certainly a more dour practitioner than the […]

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As a postscript to our survey of “Old Maid,” I’d like to add these alternate rules.  They’re tucked into a 1945 deck (a later edition of the one we posted here as #25, back on 9/18/08).  I assume somebody at the company bridled at the stigmatization of the Old Maid, and so decided to make her the […]

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We close the year with a final “Old Maid” (at least for a while).  This one’s from Whitman: no date or copyright, as is traditional.  And a fine breezy design, I think. Here’s the Old Maid: (Posted by Doug Skinner)

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