Spelka

Published July 11, 2015 Updated July 31, 2022

Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908.

1908 United Kingdom Jaques Spelling Card Games

Spelka is a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd in c.1908, founded on the older game of Spelling Bee. The pack contains 52 cards, each card showing a letter of the alphabet and a number in the corner indicating how many cards with that letter are in the pack and also how many points the loser has to pay. See the Rules

Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908

Above: cards from Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908. 52 cards + score card + rule booklet + leaflet in box.

Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908

Above: click the box to zoom. We note that John Jaques & Son is now a limited company by this time and had been since 1904 or just before.


Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908

Above: the leaflet enclosed with the game has a photo of actors playing Spelka which also appeared in press releases at the time, suggesting that the game was popular amongst celebrities. The actors include: Eille Norwood (1861–1948); Oscar Asche (1887–1936); Alfred Bishop (1848–1928); Albert Chevalier (1861–1923) and James Welch (1865–1917).

See Press Photo

Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908

Above: the back design of the cards.

Spelka, a word game published by John Jaques & Son Ltd, c.1908

Above: the back score card.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

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.

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