Stop Thief & Snip-Snap

Published November 10, 2015 Updated June 21, 2022

Another late Victorian family card game by Thomas de la Rue & Co Ltd, c.1895 with beautifully illustrated period characters.

1895 United Kingdom De la Rue Richard Doyle Victorian Card Games Snap

Another late Victorian family card game beautifully designed and illustrated by Richard Doyle (1824-1883) and manufactured by Thos de la Rue & Co Ltd, c.1895 with period characters: 13 x 4 Victorian street traders plus 2 'Stop Thief' cards. The set actually contains two amusing games in one: “Stop Thief” and “Snip-Snap” all for the price of one shilling. (The 2 “Stop Thief” cards are used in one game but not in the other).

Richard Doyle also illustrated “Cheery Families” and his drawings evoke characters from Dickens such as the flower women of Covent Garden, street vendors or the ‘dealer in fancy ware’, perhaps glossing over the grim reality of life for millions of poverty-stricken Londoners during the Victorian age.

See:  The Rules

Box from “Stop Thief” round game by Thos de la Rue & Co Ltd, c.1895
“Stop Thief” round game by Thos de la Rue & Co Ltd,. c.1895

Above: “Stop Thief” round game by Thos de la Rue & Co Ltd, registered in 1893. The pack consists of 54 cards.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.

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