Multum in Parvo Co., Ltd
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:
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
Consil
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.
Snap
Fairy Tales
Nap, or the Game of Proverbs
Four Flags
Who Buys?
Auction Game
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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