The Old Card Game Gram Gave Me: Authors

Another little box from my Gram included a complete pack of Authors. The game is sort of like Go Fish I am told. I felt like an uneducated yahoo as I scanned the cards...who are some of these old white guys?!! Here are some that I knew. It got me thinking about who played the game besides my grandmother. Regular people I assume....not just trivia fiends or english majors. It was a game you played with 2 to 5 other people so obviously the subset of folks who play card games and would like Authors had to be fairly large or no one would be able to find anyone else to play with! 

 Did people care more about authors then, or care about learning about more authors? This was a very popular game! Maybe parents bought it hoping to sneak a little extra learning into the kids? Maybe as the prohibition on playing games on Sunday eroded a game with some redeeming qualities seemed like a good compromise? 

 I  looked it up on Google to see what surfaced and it turns out the game still exists (I hadn't a clue...is it popular?) and it has many variations. One set is "Women Authors". Another similar game is "Notable Black Women In American History Card Game". Times change and games with them! 

Go to Amazon if you are curious about the modern variations. Take a look at the many past years of different sets of Authors on eBay.

My set also says copyrighted 1897 but was made by the Cincinatti Game Co. successors to the Fireside Game Co.