St George Game

Published May 18, 2014 • Updated December 17, 2021

St George Game, 1858, depicting St George and other saints engaged in battle slaying the dragon to save souls from perdition.

St George Game, 1858

Published in Manchester, England, in 1858 by C. Henry, printed and designed by Leeming Lithographer, to be played in the Victorian family home. The figure cards show St George and other saints with their ladies in medieval attire engaged in battle, slaying the dragon to save souls from perdition. Because only heroes of uncommon valour, courage and purity could hope to subdue these monsters and emerge victorious, the images have an underlying moral and ethical implication. For Victorian parents the upbringing of their children was the most important responsibility. They believed that a child must know the difference between right and wrong in order to become a thoughtful, moral adult.

Above: 50 cards in total with 21 “Pay One to the Pool”, 7 “Pay Three to the Pool” & “Receive three from the Pool” numbered 1 – 7. The others are all single cards.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009

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.