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Animal Grab

Published January 31, 2011 Updated September 20, 2024

Animal Grab card game by Thomas De La Rue & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, London..

1893 United Kingdom De la Rue Gibsons Games Nature & Environment Card Games
Animal Grab card game box, c.1900

An Interesting and Amusing Round Game published by Thos De La Rue & Co., early 1900s

“Animal Grab” is a variant of “Snap” which involves calling animal or bird cries instead of the word “Snap!” making it a fast & noisy game. This Victorian edition by Thomas De La Rue contains 52 full-colour cards + rules leaflet inside a telescopic box. The winner is the player who wins - or grabs - all the cards.

Right: box from Animal Grab card game by Thomas De La Rue & Co, London, c.1900.

Long before our awareness of endangered species or environmental activism became topical issues, these Victorian playing cards for children foster awareness of farmyard and countryside animals, inviting players to mimic the animals' characteristic calls.   See the rules

Animal Grab card game by Thomas De La Rue & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, London, c.1900 Animal Grab card game by Thomas De La Rue & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, London, c.1900 Animal Grab card game back, c.1900

Above: cards from Animal Grab game by Thomas De La Rue & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, London. The game was registered in 1893. It was later distributed by HP Gibson & Sons.

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By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.


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