Game of Jinx


Jinx

The partially pictured deck at the left was donated to the Museum in 1980.

There are 44 cards (9cm long x 5.8cm wide) in the deck. No container or instructions were with the deck. Card backs (bottom right of photograph) are similar to those found on a standard deck of playing cards.

At the top of the face of each card is a sketch of animal. The bottom face of the card has the same sketch in reverse. A suit symbol appears in the center and the corners of each card - star, heart, horseshoe, clover.

Numbers 1 through 11 appear in the corners of the cards. Eleven cards contain a sketch of a squirrel. Eleven cards contain a sketch of a rabbit. Eleven cards contain a sketch of a raccoon. Ten cards contain a sketch of a cat - the eleventh "cat" card has the word "Jinx" on it printed in red.

While there were no instructions with the deck, from the distribution and design of the cards, the play of the game would appear to be much like any number of "card matching" games. It could be assumed that the game is for two players, and perhaps four cards are dealt to each player. Pairs are placed on the table, and a new card is taken from the pack in order to form additional pairs. The one difference here is that whomever holds the "jinx" card when the deck is depleted probably is the loser!


Last update March 6, 2010