#1090 CLIFFORD SERIES – SNAP CARD GAME (Around 1950)

Snap is a classic card game for two or more players. The cards are shuffled and dealt evenly, and the players keep them face-down in front of them. Then, at the same time, all players turn the top card of their stacks and place it in a second stack next to the first one. If two or more of the cards show the same picture, the first person to call “Snap” takes the stacks of upturned cards that show the same picture, and puts all those cards under his or her face-down stack.

If someone calls “Snap” by mistake, or if you cannot agree on who was first, the cards are put in the middle of the table and the game continues. If in a future round the upturned card is the same as one of the cards in the middle of the table, you must call “Snap Pool”, and in that case you win the cards in the pool.

These simple rules allow the card deck to be themed with an infinite number of designs. This deck shows portraits of cowboys and Indians, 9 different in total, and has 56 cards (4 of each). The drawings are caricature-like, typical of the 1950s, or maybe the early 1960s, when Western movies were still very popular around the world. It is difficult to date exactly, since the box is unmarked.

Since 1923, Clifford produced many card decks for adults and children, with games such as Snap, Rummy, Happy Families, Old Maid, or Pantomime in many different versions. I found a short but informative history of the company here: Clifford Toys — The World of Playing Cards. Sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the company became Clifford Toys.

Thanks to Steve for the present!

FACTS AND FIGURES

• Name: SNAP CARD GAME
• Year: Around 1950
• Company: Clifford Series (United Kingdom)