Foster’s Self-Playing Whist Cards

Published June 24, 2023 Updated June 30, 2023

In 1890 R. F. Foster published the first edition of “Foster’s Whist Manual” which was to become the bible for serious whist players for the next two decades.

1890 USA Innovation Whist
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By Tony Hall

Member since January 30, 2015

I started my interest in card games about 70 years ago, playing cribbage with my grandfather. Collecting card game materials started 50 years or so later, when time permitted. One cribbage board was a memory; two became the start of a collection currently exceeding 150!

Once interest in the social history of card games was sparked, I bought a wooden whist marker from the 1880s which was ingenious in design and unbelievably tactile. One lead to two and there was no stopping.

What happened thereafter is reflected in my articles and downloads on this site, for which I will be eternally grateful.

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