However, it must be admitted that the game also holds some mystical quality that can’t quite be placed. Old Maid is a favorite pastime for everyone from children to old maids, and there are a number of reasons for its popularity. There are a myriad of card games out there, but only one reigns supreme: Old Maid. Economic circumstances change, and children's card games today vary in quality and educational value.Poker. Children's card games used to be produced to very high quality, both in the materials used and the design and printing.

Those produced at this time tended to have pictorial themes rather than the numerical format we are familiar with today. They also have educational benefits for young children, encouraging congenial play and developing counting, sorting and matching skills, as well as early literacy and flowers or bird identification, whatever the case may be.Ĭards specifically designed for the amusement and education of children did not appear until the second half of the 18th century.

Instead game cards are either numbered, lettered or grouped in some other way. A child's values are learnt from the example of adults, game playing and the media.Ĭhildren's games are distinct from ordinary playing cards, with their most obvious difference being the lack of any court cards or suit marks. Although designed principally for juvenile diversion, toys and card games can assist in a child's emotional, social, mental and physical development. Some games recreate the thrill of sporting activities, whilst others give a sense of creativity. There is a magic in games from those created in the imagination, such as hide and seek, to those using pieces of paper, sticks or sophisticated manufactured items. In many cases the illustrations provide documentary evidence of social stereotypes, gender relations or racist caricatures from past times, showing how our attitudes have changed.

The study of toys and games reveals interesting coincidences from geographical and historical points of view. They belong to a cheerful, gregarious, competitive world, and provide the collector, by their associations, with an unusually vivid view of history, nonetheless interesting for being from the sidelines. 1914 more →Ĭards of the past belong to and evoke their period, whether it be a matter of style, fashion or customs. Above: cards from The Round Card Game of Happy Families, published by Chad Valley Games, England.

Characters in old maid card game