British Empire
British Empire published by Norvic Mill, c.1920.
The British Empire antique card game published by Norvic Mill, c.1920. In the 16th century Britain began to establish overseas colonies. The Empire went through many changes during the course of history and interpretations have changed over time, including reviewing some of the more shameful aspects. The object of this game is to win the most complete sets of cards for each country. See the Rules►
Above: cards from The British Empire card game published by Norvic Mill, c.1920. 56 cards + rules in box. For all four card games they used the same back design.
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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