Pekka-peli
‘Pekka’, an additional card in the set, is an ethically-incorrect golly look-alike card, embodying the caricature of foreign heritage without a status or family structure. In other countries the game is often known as ‘Old Maid’, ‘Black Peter’, ‘Petter-spel’ or ‘Schwarzer Peter’.
Traditional Finnish children’s card game titled Pekka-game or Funny Families.
The Pekka-game consists of family members of four, illustrating the stereotypes of Caucasian Finns with various occupations such as the Baker, the Skipper, the Tailor, the Fisherman, the Farmer, the Pilot, the Banker, the Photographer, each with their wife, daughter and son. Pekka, an additional card in the set, is an ethically-incorrect golly look-alike card, embodying the caricature of foreign heritage without a status or family structure. In other countries the game is often known as ‘Old Maid’, ‘Black Peter’, ‘Petter-spel’ or ‘Schwarzer Peter’. The object of the game is to collect the sets of family members and avoid getting the loser-card Pekka.
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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