Multum in Parvo Co., Ltd

Published May 22, 2021 • Updated June 18, 2024

Multum in Parvo published a range of indoor games during the period from 1884-1927.

Multum in Parvo Company of 7 Water Lane, Ludgate Hill, London, was founded by descendents of Mullord Brothers in 1884. The company published a range of indoor games until 1927, which were supplied wholesale. However, they were not all card games:

Animal Quorum, Auction Game, Birds, Beasts and Fishes, The Bogie Man, The Castle, Chameleon, Consil, The Dockyard or Ship Building at Home, Fairy Tales, Four Flags, Grand Prize, Happy Golliwog, Invasion, Judge & Jury, Koker-Nut Shy, Lifeboats, Merry Families, Money Matters, Music, Musical Dominoes, Nap, Newmarket, Nuhome, Our Fleet, The Poets’ Conversation Cards, Rabbits!, The Rescue, The Roaring Lion, Shop, Shute, Simple Games for Simple Folk, Snap, The Soccer Game, Speculation, Stock Exchange, Tennis, Tommy's Wedding, Touring, Turnover, The Walk to Brighton, Who Buys?, Word Making & Word Taking.

Most games sold for between 6d and one shilling, but miniature packs of playing cards, one penny.

Several of the card games shown below contain the same images, repurposed to fit a different game format, particularly the Merry Families and Snap characters. For example, the same animal caricatures are seen in “Birds, Beasts and Fishes”, “Consil” and “The Improved Game of Snap”.

Birds, Beasts and Fishes

Above: the Game of Birds, Beasts and Fishes, from 1884, more →

Consil

Above: “Consil” published by Multum in Parvo Ltd, c.1900, more →

Some of the pictures in the above games were also used in The Improved Game of Snap►

Merry Families

At least two different versions of Happy Families are known, one featuring tradespeople, the other occupations, or professions.

Above: Merry Families (Trades), from 1884, more →.

Above: Merry Families (Occupations), c.1890. more →.

Snap

Above: Snap, c.1890. more →.

Fairy Tales

Above: the Game of Fairy Tales, c.1884 more →

Nap, or the Game of Proverbs

Above: Nap, or the Game of Proverbs, c.1900 more →

Four Flags

Above: the Game of Four Flags, 1884, more →

Who Buys?

Above: Who Buys?, c.1890. more →.

Auction Game

Above: Auction Game, c.1890. more →.

CREDITS

All images courtesy Rex Pitts. Thanks to Neil Darbyshire for additional research.

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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.

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