Animal-Vegetable-Mineral


Animal-Vegetable-Mineral

The card game pictured at the left was donated to the Museum in 1981. The donor said that the game was played in his household in England when he was a child, and the deck was probably bought by the family shortly after 1900.

The deck was donated as pictured, without a container. There are 48 cards, and no indication if the deck is complete. Each card is 9.5cm long x 6cm wide. The card backs have a light green floral pattern. The "soiled" look of the cards suggest that they had seen a great deal of use over the years.

At the top of each card is the word Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral. Under that designation is a phrase relating to a half of a picture in the center of the card. The name of the object pictured is printed at the bottom of the card. Two matching cards make a complete picture (as seen in the upper right of the photograph).The game is for two players. This is a card matching game, and there are a variety of ways to play.

HOW TO PLAY

One way to play is to deal each player 5 cards. The dealer goes first, and draws the top card from the remainder of the deck. If the dealer has two matching cards in his hand, he places them on the table, and then is permitted to draw a card from the deck. The process continues until he no longer can match any cards in his hand. He then "discards" a card - face up - starting an exposed pile. The opponent has the option of taking that card, or drawing from the deck. If the opponent has a match, it is placed on the table, and then the opponent is permitted to either draw another card from the top of the deck, or (as the game progresses), take the exposed top card from the pile. The game stops when either player has no more cards in his hand. However, the winner is the player who has the most matched pairs.


Last update March 6, 2010