Happy Families
Happy family Card Game
Classic playing cards and games such Tiddledy-Winks, Ludo, Snakes and Ladders - games still so familiar today that few people can recall their origin, or indeed believe that any one person invented them!
One person did - The innovative John Jaques II. The World's Finest-ever games inventor.
John Jaques II invented the traditional and ever-popular card game during the early 19th Century.
The card game of Happy Families consists of a set of picture cards, featuring illustrations of fictional Families of four (based on occupation types).
The game's original and best-known cards were illustrated by Sir John Tenniel; also known for his work as the chief cartoonist of Punch and providing the original illustrations shown in Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.
A family connection to the Carroll's was enhanced in later life when Irene Dodgeson (Lewis Carrolls Niece) married John Jaques III.
Happy Families is a card game traditionally, played in the UK, with special packs of 44 picture cards, grouped into 11 sets of 4. The cards usually feature pictures of family members or job types, for example: Bun the Baker.
The idea of the game is to collect whole families.
All of the cards are dealt as equally as possible.
Play starts by the first player (usually on the dealer's left) asking for a certain card. The player must already hold one of that family and asks just one other player.
If the other player does not have the card it is then their turn to ask.
If they do have the card, they have to pass it to the first player, who can ask again.
As players form sets of 4 they place them face down in front and the winner is the first player to group all their cards into sets.
