Cheery Families by De La Rue & Co., Ltd, c.1890

Designed by Richard Doyle (1824-1883). This is De La Rue's contribution to the 'Happy Families' genre which had become popular following the publication of Jaques' Original Happy Families in c.1850.

Above: eight cards from 'Cheery Families' card game printed by De La Rue & Co., Ltd, c.1890. 52 cards, 13 families of four cards each. The initials R.D. appear on Mr Grub the Gardener's flowerpot, which stand for Richard Doyle (1824-83), the humorous artist, cartoonist and illustrator.

Richard 'Dick Kitcat' Doyle (1824-1883) was uncle to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He was a gifted artist and began from an early age to illustrate juvenilia and books for family circulation. He went on to illustrate for Dickens, Thackeray, Ruskin and Punch magazine and became almost a household name. Doyle's cover design for Punch was used until 1954.

See also:
Black Peter ♠ British Towns ♦ Card Games ♣ Counties of England ♥ Cromy ♠ De La Rue Games ♥ Dartex ♦ Editorial Gráfica Flores ♣ El Negrito Pedro ♥ El Reloj Card Game ♠ Famous Five ♦ Golden Egg Game ♣ Happy Families ♥ Hijitus ♠ Illustrated Proverbs ♦ Jack-of-all-Trades ♣ Jaques' Games ♥ Jewish Quartet Game ♠ Kay Snap ♦ Kingdoms of Europe ♣ London Post ♥ Mexican Lottery Game ♠ Noddy Happy Families ♦ Pekka-Peli ♣ Peruvian Animals Quartet ♥ Proverbs & Maxims ♠ Reshuffle ♦ Vic Joc de Cartes ♣ Walt Disney ♥ Zoo Comics ♠