This Sepia Saturday prompt of a man playing cards evoked memories for me. We used to play cards and board games quite a lot in my family when I was growing up. This was way back before the digital era, when there also weren't more than one or two TV channels to watch. But we quite often played games later in life too, when my brother and I were visiting our parents for a weekend, or during the Christmas holidays etc.
But would I be able to find any photo in my own albums to support those memories? Offhand, I could not recall any. I suppose that back then, one usually got too caught up in the game itself. (Unlike now, when one constantly seems to have at the back of one's head to also snap a photo of whatever one is doing for posting on social media!)
I decided to randomly pick an album from my teens and have a look, though - and didn't actually have to search long before I came across this photo, from around Christmas 1971.
Above: The faded colour photo as it looks in my photo album - 50 years later.
Below: An attempt to digitally adjust contrast and colour a bit.
I rarely play cards nowadays (actually can't recall when I last did!), and can't say what game they (or we) were playing here. Maybe I was done with my part in it, and that was what made me go and fetch the camera? Anyway, we're at the kitchen table in our house, where we lived back then. There's a small Christmas tree in the background (we had a full size tree in the living room), and a red 'Christmas' plastic cloth on the table. (From spring through autumn, the table cloth and curtain were yellow. The seasonal change of colour scheme in the kitchen is a tradition I still practice in my own home.)
I recall that one game we used to play was Canasta. I don't remember the rules now, only that I preferred that to Bridge, which at some point dad tried to teach us as well. (There was too much afterward analysis and argument involved in bridge for my liking.)
fond memories. mother had a plasctic table cloth in every color she could find, for the kitchen table and 6 colors for seasons of cloth tablecloths for dining room table. no cards allowed in our home, daddy was a Baptist Preacher and no cards allowed. we did have a few board games, chinese checkers, checkers, monopoly, candy land and a few i can't remember. no photos though, the Brownie camera and expensive film was only used for Christmas tree and a few places we went, none of the mad snapping I do these days... I have yet to get an email from follow it on this post. will let you know when if I do
ReplyDeleteSandra, my grandma (dad's mum) did not allow cards in her house either, and I never saw a deck of cards there in my childhood. (I don't think I ever reflected over it back then, but dad mentioned it later.) From grandma's I remember playing Ludo, and a fox and geese game. At home we also had Chinese checkers and Monopoly, and quite a few more board games were added over the years.
DeleteHi, your link on Sepia Saturday take us to your May post. Please repost with the URL for this interesting post! I figured you wouldn't have posted about tents and then commented about cards! Great photo that you found, whatever the game was!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barbara for pointing out that mistake. I have added the correct link now. (Couldn't remove the wrong one though, but perhaps Alan can?)
DeleteMy wife is youngest of three sisters and card games were a big deal in her family. She still follows the bridge column in the newspaper and plays endless games of solitaire on the computer. But as I had no siblings growing up, I didn't learn any card games until my college years and then not very well. A few years ago I played a concert at the Cherokee reservation casino here in western North Carolina. Walking by the "game pit" I was astonished to see hundreds of people playing poker/blackjack video games, sometimes gambling on several machines at once. No human interaction, just constant button thumping in front of bright garish-colored screens.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the gambling aspect (often also associated with drinking etc) was why some religious people condemned card games altogether. My grandma for example never allowed cards in her house, and our decks of cards probably never came out when she was visiting us either.
DeleteWhat a fun photo! This could have been my family home at the holidays. Always a game of pitch or rummy going on -- and partner games were very competitive. I concur with you about the arguments. My dad was a big one for walking away in a snit after a loss, but when he won -- well, then he was beaming!
ReplyDeleteThanks Molly. I guess playing games can be good practice for learning about how to handle other kinds of wins and losses as well... ;)
DeleteI bet when you went and got your camera, you had no idea how iportant this photo would become! What a blast from the past. Your editing is wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ginny. I guess it's nearly always hard to predict which of our "frozen moments" that may seem most interesting in the future!
DeleteIn my childhood and youth, we played cards and board games a lot, too. As you say, back then there was not much TV to watch, and so that was often our evening entertainment. I can not recall the rules of the few card games I knew, but I know I was never really good at them (still enjoying it, though).
ReplyDeleteI love it that you still do the changing round of curtains etc. with the seasons; I do not have curtains in my flat, but I change small things as well, such as the cushion covers on my settee and a few other bits.
Meike, I think I read somewhere that board games have had somewhat of a revival during the pandemic, with families having to stay at home more. Living alone, that's not really an option, though. It still happens occasionally (but rarely) that I take out a deck of cards for a solo game of patience if I'm tired of staring at the computer screen, though.
Deleteoh gosh card games, something that doesn't happen much these days but I remember playing them with my nana when I was growing up, such good memories.
ReplyDeleteAmy, if one did not focus *too* much on winning vs losing, it was often quite a relaxing way to spend time together :)
DeleteIsn’t it fun that you found this little moment in time? We were a game playing family when I was growing up, but my husband and two of three kids have little to no interest. The one who does is a good poker player. When he was working for free as an intern and then a volunteer for a basketball team, he would drive to a casino on a reservation about an hour away from where he lived a couple of times a week. He won enough to live on until the team finally hired him for a permanent job.
ReplyDeleteKathy, poker is a game I only know from films... (The only game I've ever played with 'money' involved is Monopoly! and I was never much good even with that!)
DeleteLike others cards and board games played a big part in our family evenings. I still have lots of board games. I loved Bridge but haven't played for years. We played card games when away in New Zealand at croquet tournaments sometimes too.
ReplyDeleteGraham, I have few board games tucked away in a drawer, but can't remember when I last used them. I did not keep any of the old family board games from my parents' house as I rarely have anyone to play with now anyway.
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