Watney’s Happy Families
A vintage Watney's Coombe Reid & Co Ltd promotional card game distributed by the brewery to their customers in c.1930
A vintage Watney's Coombe Reid & Co Ltd promotional card game distributed by the brewery to their customers in c.1930. The backs have the famous red barrel. The families are: the Barrels, the Cheerilads, the Combes, the Hops, the Reids, the Stouts, the Watneys and the Malts.
Although the 1920s was a decade of optimism after the Great War, the Great Depression made the 1930s a difficult time. In Britain unemployment was widespread. As we see from these images, the woman was the homemaker and had a hairdo, and the man worked. The generation of children who grew up in the 1930s would go on to fight in World War II. They had their share of hardships and built strong values of hard work.
Above: Watney's Happy Families, with the compliments of Watney Coombe Reid & Co Ltd Brewers London, 1930. 32 cards. The rules are printed on the reverse of the box.
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.
Activity for Watney’s Happy Families
Sign in to comment or save this article.
Related Articles
Boddingtons Bitter playing cards
Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.
Tangle Foot Ale
Badger Brewery Tangle Foot strong ale advertising pack.
Oxford Pubs playing cards
Oxford pubs souvenir playing cards, United Kingdom, 2008
Meantime brewery
‘Meantime’ craft brewery playing cards, United Kingdom, c. 2000.
Donkey
Donkey card game by Chiefton Products Ltd of Bristol, c.1950s.
My Goodness my Guinness
Gilroy Special Edition Playing Cards to commemorate the centenary of the birth of John Gilroy, 1989....
Proverbs
Proverbs by Norvic Mill, 1920s.
Auction Game
The Auction Game by Multum in Parvo Co., Ltd, c.1900.
Misfitz
The very first ‘Misfitz’ game published by C.W. Faulkner & Co, c.1898.
Race-Cardo
Race-Cardo published by C.W. Faulkner & Co Ltd, c.1925.
Davenol Cough Linctus
Davenol Cough Linctus Happy Families published by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
Have A Go
Have A Go card game published by Photo-Briton Ltd featuring photographs of waxwork figures from Mada...
The White Cat
The White Cat, a game of cats, kittens & mice, published by Jaques & Son, c.1860s.
Sovereigns of England
Sovereigns of England published by Jaques & Son, c.1875.
Catalogue of Magic Card Tricks
Gamagic Catalogue of Magic Card Tricks, c.1940. Everyone is familiar with playing cards, which makes...
Four Flags
The Game of Four Flags published by Multum in Parvo, 1884
The ‘Mystic’
The ‘Mystic’ Fortune Teller card game by Clifford Toys.
Theakston Brewery
Theakston Brewery advertising playing cards depicting old brewing traditions, tools and skills, desi...
S. Salomon & Co Nr.154
Nr.154 Holmblads made by John Waddington Ltd specially for S. Salomon & Co., Copenhagen
Snap
An anonymous Snap game purporting to be “British Make”, 1930s.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
-playing-cards-with-wüst-courts/images/rijks-1.465ba2b2.jpg "Oude Kunst (Old Art) playing cards with Wüst courts")
