Jack Horner Snap

“Little Jack Horner” Snap

Little Jack Horner sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie,
He put in his thumb and pulled out a plum
And said "What a good boy am I!"

The nursery rhyme was often used to parody the politics and leaders of the day. Seemingly innocent rhymes could easily spread scandalous and scurrilous messages. Their original meanings are often forgotten with the passing of time.

Above: “Little Jack Horner” Snap manufactured by Thomas De la Rue & Co Ltd, c.1890. There are 13 different rhymes with 4 cards of each. They are: Oranges & Lemons, Little Bo Peep, Old King Cole, Little Tommy Tucker, Little Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, A Frog He Would a Wooing Go, Little Jack Horner, This Little Pig Went to Market, Pat a Cake, Tom the Piper's Son, Old Woman who lived in a Shoe and finally Old Mother Hubbard. Images courtesy Adam West-Watson.

See also: Nursery Rhyme & History→

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator 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.