Animal Grab
Animal Grab card game by Thomas De La Rue & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, London..

An Interesting and Amusing Round Game published by Thos De La Rue & Co., early 1900s
Animal Grab is a variant of Snap which involves calling animal or bird cries instead of the word Snap! making it a fast & noisy game. This Victorian edition by Thomas De La Rue contains 52 full-colour cards + rules leaflet inside a telescopic box. The winner is the player who wins - or grabs - all the cards.
Right: box from Animal Grab card game by Thomas De La Rue & Co, London, c.1900.
Long before our awareness of endangered species or environmental activism became topical issues, these Victorian playing cards for children foster awareness of farmyard and countryside animals, inviting players to mimic the animals' characteristic calls. See the rules►



Above: cards from Animal Grab game by Thomas De La Rue & Co., 110 Bunhill Row, London. The game was registered in 1893. It was later distributed by HP Gibson & Sons.

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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