Jeu des 7 Familles by J.J.F

Jeu des 7 Familles by Jeux et Jouets Français

French Happy Families games, or “Jeu des 7 Familles” tend to have extended families of six members stretching across three generations, making a total of 42 cards. Playing the game encourages observation and memory skills. The set shown here was made by Jeux et Jouets Français of Paris, who continued to make games until 1931. These cards are quite early, probably around 1910 and are one of a series of games in similarly styled boxes. The family trades depicted are: Lafleur (gardeners), Latourte (bakers), Lahure (butchers), Ducordon (caretakers), Lempeigne (shoemakers), Rapineau (artists) and Rémifat (musicians).

The rules were provided on a separate sheet→

On the Grandfather Cobbler and the Daughter Cobbler cards are portraits on the wall behind them. These concern the French President at the time, illustrations representing Fallières, President of the Republic from 1906 to 1913, and Nicolas II (whom Fallières had met in 1909 in Cherbourg). See close-up here►

Above: “Jeu des 7 Familles” by Jeux et Jouets Français, Paris, c.1910. 42 cards in box with rules. The backs are plain blue colour. Images courtesy Rex Pitts.

The small logos found on game boxes change over time, becoming less elaborate. We have no information regarding dates for each version.

Above: assorted logos used by Jeux et Jouets Français, Paris, 1904-31.

This game was republished by Miro Company►

By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

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Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.

His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.

Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.