Whot
Whot was invented by William Henry Storey in 1935. It comes from the days when friends and family played indoor games by the fireside.
Whot comes from the days when friends and family played indoor games by the fireside, enjoying hours of pleasure in each other’s company. The game was invented by William Henry Storey in 1935. It was first marketed by W. H. Storey & Co of Croydon but was soon acquired by Waddingtons.
Above: Whot card game manufactured by John Waddington Ltd with rules booklet published by W. H. Storey & Co. Ltd., 24 Dingwall Road, Croydon, c.1935.
Above: Whot card game manufactured by John Waddington Ltd for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Each card is embossed with its Braille representation. Unfortunately, the embossing goes right through the cards so that a sighted person can read the back of each card like any other marked pack. Not much use for a blind person playing cards with the sighted! Whot was popular in Britain in the 1950s and 60s and Waddingtons continued to sell it until the 1990s. It is distributed today by Winning Moves UK.
William Henry Storey patented several appliances for games, including playing card cases, board games, tile racks, etc. during the 1930s and '40s.
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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