Pepys contraband card game

This time the game was endorsed by the famous naturalists Armand and Michaela Denis who had a very popular TV series throughout the s. The next game was Happy Families of the Nations which was a reissue of the older Happy Families of the World but in the usual full size cards, with eleven families instead of nine. The cards have some really evocative pictures of the times.

The rules are printed on paper sheets much larger than usual with a map on the back of both sheets used to follow your route during the game. One of the most ingenious games is Secret Agent with the famous Magic Monocle.

There are secret messages on some of the cards which can only be read using the monocle which is a cardboard cut-out with a red viewing window; another good idea for a game. Double Feature games were not forgotten this year with the introduction of Stocks and Shares. This was Win-A-Lot reissued with a few differences.

The Old Maids are splendid owls and the rules are on a card not in a book. Finally the word game Spell came along in its first edition and a further three editions at least followed later. It quickly went out of date however as the inconsiderate football clubs changed their playing strip and the game had to be revised with the six changes amended. A real surprise came next. Above : Astronaut , celebrating the arrival of space travel, s.

Above : Winnie the Pooh , from the story by A. Milne, Above : Rupert , Two old traditional games were issued in the range in Wild Flower Sevens was introduced and would prove to be an enduring success with steady sales up to today.

I am not sure but strongly suspect that the artist who later drew Garden Flowers also drew these cards. She was Dora Ratman.

Also offered was Foreign Legion , a game with the novel idea of a map in four sections on four cards. To celebrate the arrival of space travel Pepys introduced a space game, Astronaut , with pictures of Russian and American spacecraft. The cards were also quite an unusual design. Cards with three different pictures had been used before in Girl but now they were used for The Car Game with a selection of interesting cars from different times; none later than of course.

It was called Card Golf. Most of the copies you will encounter have now lost their little golf balls. Garden Flowers , as I have already mentioned, pictured by Dora Ratman, must have been a welcome addition for those who like that sort of thing but I prefer the next game; Round the World. It is played like Speed, with the Comet cards acting like the Lightning cards.

A second edition of Round the World was issued in the late s when Concorde first flew and this aircraft was substituted for the Comet. A good old fashioned game of cowboys and outlaws came on the market in the form of Wild West with very fine pictures and lots of fun.

Animal Snap was one of the few games for very young children and although there had been some before this it was probably one of the areas that had been a bit neglected. Another animal game was also issued, Family Favourites , which was a reissue of the old Pets game but without the George Cansdale connection. The cards were exactly the same but the rules were reprinted and a new box designed.

Some really superb paintings were used for Trains which Pepys said were by Ian Allen. The second edition of Happy Families of the World was also published in but it was no revamped game this time. It has some rather good pictures completely different from any preceding Happy Families game. The only photographic card game was Wild Life. The Planes Game was the third game with three pictures on most cards, issued in The last Double Feature game, Channel X was issued in and showed Pepys awareness of modern TV advertising on the new commercial channel.

British Birds published in is still on sale today so it must be a steady seller. Perhaps to revitalise their range Pepys turned to MGM for a new game. This must have been popular as the game was reissued in and Legs Eleven was the only game produced in Hong Kong and it even had square corners. This could well have been by way of an experiment, which seems not to have been a success. Historical note. The companies were merged to form Castell Larby.

In anticipating his retirement, the company was sold to Graphics Publicity Ltd with Kenneth staying on for two more years. The company was sold again in not doing very well. After huge losses 2 years running the company was closed and remained moribund until it was finally disassociated in At that point H P Gibson acquired the existing range of games in The last throes of the company were The Famous Five, a second edition completely redrawn and gaining absolutely nothing from it in and also Rupert was reissued, both tied in with TV series.

After that no further trading was carried on until finally in Castell Bros was disassociated. All these were published by Gibson under licence from the copyright owners.

The earlier ones without Bar Codes were issued late s to when the bar code appeared on the boxes. Just three more games would appear, two of them were based on what were originally De La Rue games of around These were Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan both of them with reduced numbers of cards from the originals. The third game was a new version of Speed being the 15th edition completely changed from the 14th with all new pictures and backs designed by Mark Bromley.

It is a good job that Gibsons rescued the old Pepys games or perhaps they would have disappeared for ever. As it is our grandchildren can still enjoy a Pepys game like we did years ago. Article text and images courtesy Rex Pitts.

Playing cards have enormous educational value, with a long history and many diverse types and graphical styles from around the world Email address. First name. If, before looking at the cards, he thinks Player 1 has deceived the Customs officer by making a false declaration, he may become an Informer. Informers Tell the Customs Officer that they suspect the player on their right of having made a false declaration. Player No. Play passes from Player No. Players exhausting their funds must retire from the game or borrow from the Customs officer or another player.

When the pack is exhausted, the cards are reshuffled and play continues. The Diplomatic Bag Entitles the holder to pass through the customs unsearched and without paying any customs duty.

If a player is passed a hand containing the Diplomatic Bag card he must choose that as the card he discards. The Game Ends - by agreement or - When a time fixed beforehand is reached or - After all players have acted as Customs Officer or - After the cards have been exhausted and reshuffled an agreed number of times.

The winner is the player with the most money at the end of the game, after allowing for any loans that may have been made. Some companion games to Contraband from the Peps range of card games.

A game of skill in which an element of chance provides the upsets of form such as occur in real football. Players use true football tactics and movements giving greater realism than ever before found in a football card game.

Based on the stock market it is an enthralling quick moving game demanding skillful play and an understanding of human nature. Fortunes are won and lost depending on the skill of the players in manipulating the combinations of programmes, advertising space and TV channels. LTD ST. Museum of Childhood. Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum.

The first edition has blue card backs and no captions with duty or fines on the goods cards. Above : 1st edition of Contraband by Pepys Games, early s, including the toy currency printed on coloured card. Blue backs. Above : 2nd edition of Contraband by Pepys Games, c. The paper currency is printed on different colour paper. Above : 3rd edition of Contraband by Pepys Games, c. Some of the duty values and fines are altered and the card backs are changed to red. A Scandinavian version of the game was published in Finland by Forlag Bildkonst, c.

Playing cards have enormous educational value, with a long history and many diverse types and graphical styles from around the world Email address. First name.