MOTHER GOOSE'S ATTIC - Vintage Card Games

Fairy Snap
by ?

The full title of this 19th century game is "An Interesting Round Game of
Fairy Snap". It has some beautiful lithographic illustrations based on the
Mother Goose nursery rhymes of the day with a little rhyme under each one.

The game usually came in a cardboard box, but there was also a deluxe version that had a wooden cards box with the label on the front.

There are 52 cards to the game. 13 sets of 4.

Famo
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys c1939 This game features famous historical people and the items associated with them. The cards are colourfully illustrated with one of each set being a picture of the person and the other three of items associated with them.

The complete set has 45 cards :
4 cards to each set and a joker:
The Sets are:
Bodicca
Robert Bruce
Grace Darling
Francis Drake
Guy Fawkes
Admiral Nelson
Florence Nightingale
Sir Walter Raleigh
William Tell
Dick Turpin
James Watts

The aim of the game is to collect as many sets of 4 as possible.

The Famous Five
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1951 this game is based on the characters (Julian, Dick, Anne, George, and Timmy the mongrel) of the children's adventure stories by Enid Blyton.

The first edition included a special letter from Enid Blyton.

Eight cards of each set tells one of 4 of the Famous Five adventures. The coloured circles denote which story the card comes from.

The cards are designed by Eileen Soper, who drew the illustrations for the original books.

The game is for 2-4 people

The complete set has 44 cards :
4 sets of 8 cards:
Yellow - Five on a Treasure Island
Purple - Five go off in a Caravan
Pink - Five get into Trouble
Blue - Five go to Smuggler's Top
2 General Danger Cards (G-D)
4 Danger Cards (each with a different coloured circle)
6 All Safe Cards

The object of the game is for a player to complete a set of adventure cards by playing the No. 8 card.

The second version of this game was issued in 1978. The cards were drawn by Darrell Waters, in line with the TV series that was shown around the same time. Apart from that the game itself is played the same.

See the rest of the listing for descriptions of other Enid Blyton card games

The Faraway Tree
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1950 is a game for younger children inspired by the Faraway Tree stories of Enid Blyton and featuring the characters Jo, Bessie, Fanny, Moon-Face, Silky the fairy, Saucepan Man, and Mister Watzisname. The highly coloured artwork depicting Pixies, Goblins, Fairies, and the other folks are very reminiscent of the books.

The game is for 2 - 4 people.

The complete set has 44 cards :
There are 4 sets numbered 1 – 9
8 Penalty Cards marked P
(these cards are used when trying to stop anyone else climbing the Faraway Tree)

The winner is the one who completes the story of the Faraway Tree by playing a No. 9 card so that he has a complete set of cards from1- 9 in front of them.

See the rest of the listing for descriptions of other Enid Blyton card games.

Farmyard Cries
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

This lovely game illustrated by Racey Helps with wonderful characterisation of the different animals was Produced by Pepys around the 1950's

The complete set has 44 cards (Divided into 7 sets):
Each set has a “Mother” card
(purple band on the top).
1 or 2 “Young” cards (pink band).
1 or 2 “Where Found” (Yellow band)
1 or more “Breed” cards (Green band)

The object of each round is to collect 4 cards, a “Mother”, a “Young”, a “Where Found” and a “Breed card all of the same group, and the first player to collect such a set of cards is the winner of the round.

Famous children's illustrator Racey Helps (1913-1971) expressed his love of nature and enthusiasm for excitement and adventure with these lovable characters

Film Fantasy
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1940, all the cards of this delightful game are in full colour and each card in this pack depicts a scene or star/s from one of the eleven box office hits for the 1939/40 season. The sketches for the cards were taken from photographs produced during the making of the films.

The game is for 2-10 people. (for more than 6 people 2 packs should be used)

The complete set has 45 cards:
4 cards each of 11 films + Joker (an extra card from The Ice Follies 1939

The object is to collect two complete sets of four different cards from one film

Find Out
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1958, the Find Out game is based on 6 of The Mystery Series books by Enid Blyton. The Find Outers are Fatty, Larry, Daisy, Pip, Bets and Buster the Scottie dog. As with all Pepys games this game is beautifully illustrated.

The game is for 2 - 4 people.
The complete set has 44 cards:
12 Mystery cards
12 clue cards
12 pictures of Find-Outers
4 Buster cards
2 PC Goon
2 Inspector Jennings

The object of the game is to solve 2 mysteries by collecting and laying out 2 sets of cards, which may or may not be identical.

See the rest of the listing for descriptions of other Enid Blyton card games.

Flags
by The Fireside Game Co.
The Cincinnati Game Co .Successors.

This game was copyrighted by The Fireside Game Co. in 1896. There are 53 cards to the game - 13 suites (or books as they are called in the rules) with 4 cards to a suite, each with a letter of the alphabet and a number on the top left hand corner and a Crown card.

This is a Rummy style game, as soon as a player gets a complete book they lay it on the table, face up.

Flags of all Nations
by McLOUGHLIN BROS,NEW YORK

This game is no. 400 and was copyrighted in 1903. There are 48 cards.

Fleet Street
by Chad Valley

This 1920s game consists of 48 cards. 6 sets of 8 cards in each which are also numbered:

Light Blue borders 1
Pink borders 2
Dark Blue borders 3
Yellow borders 4
Orange borders 5
Plain borders 6

The object of the game is to complete a set of 8 cards of one kind. The players don't wait turns but on the word "Go" from the dealer start shouting the name of the paper they want to buy. The first to collect a complete set and lay them down shouts "FLEET STREET" and scores the points for that set. The cards are reshuffled and dealt again.
The winner of the game is the first to score 250.

Fleet Street
by Waddy

This game for 4 - 6 players has 52 cards in the pack, 7 Reminder Cards and 45 playing cards comprising of 6 sets of 7 cards each in different colour and 3 Penalty Cards Fog, Riot and Strike which are all black. The 6 set are:
1. Fire
2. Arson
3. Strike
4. Riot
5. Fog
6. Crash
7. Spies

The object of the game is to collect a complete set of 7 cards in one colour without and penalty cards. The first player to do so shouts "Stop Press" and wins the game.

Flight
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1955 this is a game of international air routes with passport and customs controls, weather hazards and delays, with delightful colourful artwork on every card of scenes from around the world .

The game is for 2- 4 people.
The complete set has 44 cards ( 4 sets of 7 cards):
Each set has an Airplane card, 5 Route cards numbered 1 – 5 & a Safe Landing Card
4 Fog Cards (used as Stop cards)
4 Alternative Route Cards (cancels the Fog Card)
4 Customs Cards (used as Stop cards)
4 Passport Cards (cancels the Customs Card)

The object of the game is to lay out in line the 4 Routes starting with the Airplane card and continuing through the Route Cards to the Safe Landing Card.

Flinch
by The Flinch Card Co 1903 -1920s?
then by Parker Brothers Inc. 1934 onwards

This game was originally copyrighted by A. J. Patterson in 1901-02, then in 1903 The Flinch Card Co was formed and the copyright ws taken out in that name.

The advertising for the 1913 version (the year it was revised) states Flinch as "The Acme of Parlor Games ...More Simple Than Authors. More Scientific Than Whist." Manufactured by the Flinch Card Company Kalamazoo, Mich.

For 2 - 8 players. There are 150 cards to the game ( 10 of each of 15 numbered cards).

The Parker Brothers seem to have brought out their first version of the game around 1934

Flora
by J. W. Spear & Sohne

This game was made by the German firm of J. W. Spear & Sohne in Nurenberg around the early 1900s. Although in in German this game can still be played by non German speakers because under the common name for each flower is the Latin botanical name.

There are 40 cards in the pack, 10 sets with 4 cards to each set. The 10 sets are:

Game of Flowers
by The Cincinnati Game Co.

This game was copyrighted in 1899. It has 4 suites (A - D) with 13 cards in each suite. Each card has a letter and a number in the top left hand corner. There are only 13 garden flowers depicted eg. No. 1 of each suite is a bunch of Carnations.

Foreign Legion
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1960. The players are “secret agents” for the Foreign Legion, their missions are to find and spy on the rebel organisations in the fictitious desert sheikdom of As Q’Ara who are planning a rebellion.

The game is for 2-4 people.
The complete set has 44 cards:
2 complete maps (each map is made up of 4 cards marked 1 – 4 on the backs)
26 'Mission' cards with a number & letter. Each card shows a “nest” of rebels.
2 spy cards marked * in the top left hand corner.
8 unsuccessful search cards with a letter in a double ring in the top left corner.

Fred Basset
by Pepys (Castell Brothers Ltd)

Produced by Pepys in 1977 This game of Snap is based on the newspaper & BBC cartoon TV series. Delightful colouring and art depicting Fred and various his friends.

The game is for 2- 4 people.
The complete set has 44 cards (11 sets of 4).