Old Maid
‘Old Maid’ card game manufactured by Milton Bradley Co., Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, c.1920s
‘Old Maid’ card game manufactured by Milton Bradley Co., c.1920s. It is unusual to see a double-ended version of ‘Old Maid’. Characters are Baxter Brown, Sunny Jim, Auto Reggie, Alex, Gussie, Old Foxy, Katzs Kid, Toyland Soldier, Toodles and the Old Maid herself. See the Rules►
Above: ‘Old Maid’ card game manufactured by Milton Bradley Co., Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, c.1920s. 19 cards + rule card in box. Images courtesy Rex Pitts.
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.
Related Articles
The European Interchanges Quartets
A card game based around motorway intersections from European countries.
Love Tests
Vintage novelty “Love Test” cards of a slightly saucy nature but all in good fun!
Briefmarken-Quartett
Quartet game featuring postage stamps from the Zones of Occupation in post-WWII Germany.
Get Decked
Black and white cartoons devised by Sam Wagner with help from artist Lindsay Bevington.
Doctor Who Trump Card Game
Game for two players in which Doctor Who and the Legendary Legion join battle with the Alien Hordes....
Beowulf
Jackson Robinson's Beowulf playing card deck inspired by the Old English pagan poem.
Keith Haring playing cards
Energetic graffiti images by the American artist Keith Haring.
Polygo™
Cards of irregular, four-sided shape for playing word and colour games as well as more traditional o...
The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot
Marty Yeager’s original Tarot of Meditation from 1975, republished later by U.S. Games Systems, Inc....
Adobe Deck
The first digitally-produced deck of cards.
Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.
The UCR Deck
Giant-size cards designed by Thomas Sanders to advertise courses and facilities at UCR.
Fredericks & Mae playing cards
A rainbow pack from the design team of Fredericks & Mae and Benjamin English.
Verkeers Kwartet
A helpful quartet game celebrating the 75th anniversary of road safety exams making traffic safer.
Pirritx eta Porrotx
Happy Families card game from the Spanish Basque Country.
Red Hat Society playing cards
Society that encourages women in their quest to get the most out of life.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
