MOTHER GOOSE'S ATTIC - Vintage Card Games

Happy Families
made in England

These 2 packs are typical of the cheaper games of Happy Families available in the 1950s to 70s. Although different packaging the cards stayed the same.
The red 2 part box (which seems to be the oldest of the 2) has a cheeky picture of a window cleaner as you pull the inner box down so his ladder gets longer.
The background to the cards are coloured, so there are 3 sets each of pink, pale blue and creamy yellow.
There are 9 families to this pack:

Happy Families
by Tower Press

This 1960s pack of Happy Families by Tower Press is typical of the artwork used in this period and are a modern take on the old "grotesque" style packs of the Victorian and Edwardian era. There are 9 trades represented.

Happy Families
by Chad Valley Games (made at Harborne, England)

This set of cards was made at the Chad Valley Harborne works in the early 1900s.
There are 60 cards in the game, 15 sets of 4 with the usual Father, Mother, Daughter and Son.
The names of the trades are:

Batch the Baker
Clamp the Carpenter	Putty the Painter
Cook the Chef	Smut the Sweep
Groats the Grocer	Bull the Butcher
Howler the Singer	Drip the Dyer
Barrel the Brewer	'Arris the Aristocrat
Blonde the Barber	Drug the Doctor
Cane the Schoolmaster
Tack the Tailor

As can be seen by the pictures and the writing on the box they are still of the "grotesque" or caricature style as perfected by Jaques in the 1860s.

by Cope's Cigarettes
This set was reproduced, with Chad Valley's permission, as cigarette cards by Cope's in 1937.

This set of 40 cards (10 families) dates from about the end of the First World War. It differs from the first Chad Valley set in that the pictures by Linda Edgerton are more natural, gone are the "grotesque" features.

You can see Linda Edgerton's name in the painting on the easel in the card for "Mrs Tube, the Artist's Wife".

The names of the trades are:

Linda Edgerton (1890 - 1983 ) was best known for her children's postcards using nursery rhymes and fairytales in the 1920s and 30s. She also illustrated the Vanity Snap game for Chad Valley around the same time as this game.
In 1938 when her mother died she stopped illustrating and entered a convent. She was to remain there until her death in 1983.

This last Chad Valley set is from the 1950s - 60s and the style of the pictures reflects more the animated film and TV characters of the time .

There are 40 cards in this pack, being 10 families of 4.
The names of the trades are:

Happy Families
by C. W. Faulkner & Co. Ltd

These slightly "grotesque" characters are typical of the type of illustrations used for Happy Families in the early part of the 20th century, up to about 1920. There are 12 families in total.

The pictures seem to have a faint yellow grid design in the background

The firm of Hildesheimer & Faulkner: London, were publishers of books, postcards & Christmas cards (from 1877 - 1885) which were mostly printed in Germany and Austria. In 1885 their partnership ended with Faulkner taking over the business entirely. He changed the company name in the 1890’s, and it became a Limited company in 1905.

Happy Families
by Glevum (Roberts Brothers, Gloucester)

There are 2 sets of cards pictured here. The 1st set I am guessing is Glevum as I have no box or rules but most of the cards are the same as the boxed set, the only difference being that the backs are a plain pink colour and there are 10 families.

The 2nd set (which is the boxed Glevum pack) has a blue "Art Nouveau" patterned background and only 9 families, but instead of the Soldier, Policeman and Carpenter there are the Usher and Turncock families.
The families are:

The name "Glevum" is the Roman name for Gloucester. Roberts Brothers was founded in 1895 by John Owen Roberts and his brother Harry Oscar Roberts. The company was taken over by Chad Valley in 1954, but remained in business until 1956 when the factory was closed.
Quite a few of the early Glevum games are just marked "made in England" on the box, which is usually red and the only way you can tell they are Glevum is by the name on the bottom of the rules.

Happy Families
by Jaques

The game of Happy Families was published by John Jaques & Son Ltd. in the 1860's with the original caricature styled figures being drawn by Sir John Tenniel.
There are 48 cards in all made up of 12 families of 4, a Father, Mother, Daughter and Son.
The trades depicted are:

There was also a half pack edition of 24 cards which contained six of the above families. In earlier editions the corners of the cards are square rather than the usual curved shape found in later.The aim of the game is to collect as many families ass possible by asking for cards from the other players. The winner being the person with all or most of the sets at the end of the game.

The only difference between the 1930s Jaques game and the original is the box (the cards are the same), which now has a more colourful orange background. It is this design that Pepys used in their 1970s edition.

by Alfred Bird & Sons (Birds Custard)

In 1938 Alfred Bird & Sons started to give away miniature versions of this game, (a few cards at a time) in greaseproof packs in with their custard powder. There were still 48 cards to collect but there were also substitute cards with the Bird's Custard emblem on the front. If you have ever collected trade cards or toys from cereals etc. you will know it is not as easy as it seems, you tend to get many doubles and trebles of some cards and none of others. After you had collected your 48 cards you were supposed to send them back to Birds and they would supply you with a full size pack.

The Rules of the Game

The Rules of the Game - Pepys

by Pepys (Castell Brothers)

There are a few differences between the 1970s Pepys edition of the game and earlier versions. The most striking difference is that there are only 44 cards (11 families rather than the usual 12), The missing family is that of Mug the Milkman.

The other differences are:
The cards are slightly narrower than the Jaques sets.
There is no line border around the pictures.
The name of the family is printed on the left hand side (facing you) near the top.

This is part of the original 1860s pack (note the square corners on the cards)

Happy Families
by Nestle's

This game of Happy Families was created by Nestle 's in 1934/5 as a promotion for their 1d. chocolate bar. The trade cards were 1.5" by 2.25" (the same size as cigarette cards) and when you had collected the full 48 cards (you could use some of the "jokers" supplied as substitutes) they were then exchanged for a full size set.

We know the promotion finished on 30th April 1935 because some of the trade cards have this date stamped in red across the back. The artwork and character's, with the ladies "Marcel" waves and the radio announcer's family, puts this game firmly in the 1930s era. On the left can be seen 3 of the original trade cards and the pictures underneath are of the full size pack.

There are 12 occupations portrayed.

Happy Families
by Spears

The 2 games shown here were made at the same time (1930s ) in the Enfield factory in England. The cards are the same families the only difference is the packaging. The top picture shows a one piece packet with an oval window cutout in the centre of the packet and the rules printed on the back. The bottom picture is of a two piece box of a more conventional design.
There are 9 families:

The company J.W.Spear (later J.W.Spear & Sons) was registered in Germany in 1879. Many of the company's early products were designed in the UK and aimed at the English-speaking market, But in 1930 with the introduction of new UK customs tariffs and with the start of the pounds bad exchange rate trade was badly affected so , in 1932 it was decided to open a factory in Enfield London which flourished until in 1994 Spear's was bought by US toy giant Mattel, which retained the Spear's name. The following year the Enfield factory was closed and production moved to the north of England.

Happy Families of the Nations
by Pepys (Castell Brothers)

This Pepys game of Happy Families of the Nations is from 1958. Some of the families had already been featured in their earlier game Happy Families of the World (version 1) and the cards are the same with the addition of 2 new families from Japan and Sweden

There are 11 families making a total of 44 cards.

Happy Families of the World Version 1
by Pepys (Castell Brothers)

This pack of Pepys Happy Families of the World is the 1st version of this game. The cards are shorter than usual (85mm as opposed to 90mm) and the cards have a more fussy background. The rules are on a card, unlike the later version which is in the form of a booklet.

There are 9 families (36 cards):

Happy Families of the World Version 2
by Pepys (Castell Brothers)

This is the later edition of this game as advertised on the back of the box.
"The newest version of this firm favourite amongst card games. The families from many nations, are in their colouful national costumes and settings."
There are 11 families making a total of 44 cards.

Hats Off

This game although copyrighted has no manufacturer's name or mark. The cards are small measuring only 65mm long (2.5") by 52mm wide (2" approx) and as can be seen from the picture are printed in black on a white card.

The game is played like a game of snap, but instead of shouting "Snap", when a card without a hat appears on the pile the players must shout "HATS OFF " and also touch lightly the crown of their head, the first player to do both things takes the pile

The History of England
by H. P. Gibson & Sons

'The History of England Game consists of three separate series of cards illustrating the various reigns and the chief features of that reign, made up as follows :—-

series 1. William I, 1066 to Edward IV, 1483 (69 cards)

series 2. Edward V, 1483 to James II, 1688 (66 cards)

series 3. William III. 1688 to George V, 1914 (64 cards)

Each series a complete game in itself.

Complete rounds are played to coincide with the number playing, 3 Players, 3 Rounds; 4 Players, 4 Rounds, etc., without the pool, and all hands are exposed. The player Holding completed sets with the greatest number of cards, wins the game.

Should a longer game be desired, points can be scored, one for each card in a completed set. The first player to score 50 points is declared the winner.

Huckleberry Hound
by Tower Press

There are 36 cards in this pack (2 of each card) with many of the Hanna Barbera cartoon favourite characters from the 50s & 60s, Including Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Mr Jinks and Pixie and Dixie.
The object of the game is not to get caught with the "Booby" card at the end of the game.

Hustled History
by Chad Valley.

This game was created by Chad Valley in the 1920s/30s. The game consists of a booklet and 75 printed cards.

The game is played like consequences, after the cards are dealt out one player reads the story in the booklet and everytime they reach a blank space one of the other players has to read out the word on their topmost card