One quaint pack of Educational Cards, which seems to have been made in America and probably in New York, has been carefully preserved for nearly one hundred years, and is most valuable as giving specimens of the cards used at that time. This pack is now owned by Dr. Richard Derby, a descendant of the Lloyd who was granted the manor of Lloyd’s Neck, which was one of the original manors (or grants of land) held under the English in the colony of New York; and these cards are preserved in the family mansion on Lloyd’s Neck, Long Island. Tied in a pack by a crumpled green ribbon,—which tradition declares was a garter,—on the back of the Knave of Diamonds is written in faded ink this inscription,—
To Angelina Lloyd, from her affectionate Uncle,
Henry Lloyd.
February 13th, 1795.
The cards (which are wonderfully fresh) are printed on coarse, thick pasteboard, guiltless of enamelled surface or diapered back. The descriptive matter is printed with fine type on each card, which has either a distinguishing pip containing a number on each left-hand upper corner, or in a lozenge is a letter, K, Q, or J, which takes the place of the figure usually placed on the court cards of each suit.
The suits represent the four quarters of the globe. Clubs contain a history of Africa (the name being printed across the surface of the cornered Ace),—its area, inhabitants, products, commerce, customs, etc.; all this valuable but obsolete information being crowded on the surface of the ten pip cards of the suit. The “J” (Jack) shows the principal islands which surround the continent; the “Q” (Queen) tells the quarter of the globe to which Africa belongs, with various statistics; and the “K” (King), the kingdoms or governments into which it is divided. The same formula is adopted on the other cards,—the Spades being devoted to Asia, the Hearts to Europe, and the Diamonds to America. Among the statements on the cards we find, on the Four of Diamonds: “The Dutch first planted colonies in New York, but these usurpers were obliged to own the right of the English to the land.” On the “J” (Jack), among other islands mentioned, it states that “Long Island is 140 miles by 10. The middle is sandy.... The place called Lloyd’s Neck, from its situation and fertility, is or might be made a paradise” (and this sentence probably led to the purchase and preservation of these precious cards). The chief towns of America and their population were given as follows: Mexico, 150,000; Lima, 60,000; Quito, 60,000; Cusco, 42,000; Panama and Philadelphia, 42,000; New York, 23,000; Boston, 19,000; Newport, 6,000.
Plate 15.
What manner of game was played with these instructive cards is not now known. They were probably valued only as a book would have been which contained interesting information in a condensed form; and it is more than probable, from the excellent state of preservation in which they were found, that they were looked upon with awe by Miss Angelina, preserved with care, but never played with.
A letter from a sprightly young lady quoted in the “Republican Court,” written during a visit to the Van Hornes of New York, which was probably about 1783, says: “All is a dead calm until the cards are introduced, when you see pleasure dancing in the eyes of all the matrons, and they seem to gain new life.” But what were the favourite games of the dames of that city? She does not mention.
What has been called the national game of the United States, and the one at present in fashion among many classes of society, although perhaps not among the most refined and cultivated, is Poker. This game has its advocates, and a historiette of its own which is too widely known to require further comment here.