Tout Est Bien Qui Finit Bien
‘Tout Est Bien Qui Finit Bien’ family card game by Dondorf.
‘Tout Est Bien Qui Finit Bien’ is the French language version of the charming family card game produced by Dondorf with a proverbial title: ‘Ende gut / Alles gut’ (All’s well that ends well).
The pack is divided four series of 10 cards, as shown in the table below, and each series has equivalent titles (key, cat, dog, etc) making ten sets of four cards. Each series also has its own miniature indicator at top left-hand corner and a different colour ribbon around the picture. These are a bit scruffy but it’s the only pack I have ever seen. The game is played akin to Happy Families. See the Rules►






Above: ‘Tout Est Bien Qui Finit Bien’ family card game by Dondorf, No.323. 40 cards + rules in box. Late 19th century. The German language edition was titled ‘Ende gut / Alles gut’►

By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
View ArticlesRex'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.