Special cards, called "Happy Families," can be bought, containing family groups of four; but where such cards have not been provided, the game may be played with quite as much success with a pack of ordinary Whist cards. Indeed, it is more than probable that in the first instance the principles of the game made their appearance originally with cards of this description.
The court cards, aces, and tens of an ordinary Whist pack are selected, and to each king a name is given. Spade the Gardener for one of their Majesties will do as well as any other; still, if any better name suggests itself to the mind of any one, there is no reason why such should not be adopted in preference. Supposing, however, this name to be the one chosen, we should have the king of spades for Spade the Gardener, the queen for his wife, the knave for his son, the ace for his servant, and the ten of spades for his dog, thus forming a complete family group. Three other comic names may easily be imagined for the other three suits, after which the business proceedings must be commenced.
The dealer gives the cards out all round, one after another, face downwards, until the whole pack is exhausted, and the aim of each player must be to win from his friends the whole of the twenty cards.
Supposing the name of "Shah of Persia" to have been given to the king of diamonds, "The Afghan King" to the king of clubs, and "Good Jack Faithful" to the king of hearts; the elder hand then begins by asking from any one of the players he may choose to select a card which he imagines they may have. He himself may have in his own hand three members of one family; if so, he must try to get the other two members, and succeeding in doing so, he must throw the whole family on the table, and devote his energies to the acquisition of the other families. The task, however, devolving upon each player of collecting the different members of the four families is by no means an easy one.
Every time a card is asked for, the player who makes the demand, in doing so, gives to the company a certain amount of information respecting his own hand, because he may not lawfully ask for the Shah of Persia's dog unless he should already possess either the Shah himself or some other member of the family. If the card asked for be given him, he may ask for another card from either the same person who acceded to his request or from any one else; but as soon as he is refused, his privilege passes on to the person who was unable to give him what he asked for, and who may possibly request the return of the very cards he has been called upon to relinquish. Thus the game goes on until one of the players is left without cards, who retires as out. The rest of the players proceed in the same way until another is out, then another, and so on, until at last two players only are left to end the struggle.
HAPPY FAMILIES.
Although, without doubt, the well-known game of Happy Families is nothing but a variation of Spade the Gardener, the rules of the game are not quite the same. In some respects, perhaps, the game of Happy Families may be the better game of the two, for the reason that, in consequence of there being many more cards belonging to it, a great many more players can take part in it. In one of the ordinary Happy Family packs there are eleven families, though, instead of each family containing five members, as in Spade the Gardener, there are usually only four in Happy Families, namely, father, mother, son, and daughter.
A pool is first formed by every player giving a certain number of counters, and the cards are dealt round one by one, face downwards.
On looking at their cards, the player to the left of the dealer begins by asking any one in the company to give him a certain card, which he needs, perhaps, to complete a family or to help to do so, because the object of each player in this game is to secure for himself as many tricks as possible.