Muffin
Muffin card game based on children’s TV series, c.1950.
Muffin the wooden mule puppet first appeared on ‘For The Children’, the 20-minute show hosted by Annette Mills just after the war in 1946. It became a forerunner to today’s Children’s Television. A range of spin-off merchandise followed using the Muffin character and this card game was published by Pepys in c.1951. In the game Muffin is supported by other puppets including Peregrine the Penguin, Louise the Lamb, Oswald the Ostrich, Willie the Worm, Peter the Dog, Katie the Kangaroo, Grace the Giraffe and Wally the Gog.
Above: Muffin card game published by Pepys Games, c.1951. The bottom of the box states: ©1949 Muffin Syndicate, when the copyright was first registered.
The Cartoon Strip by Neville Main
Although not stated anywhere on the box, it’s pretty clear that Muffin was drawn by Neville Main who drew the “Muffin the Mule” strip for TV Comic from 1951-1961 (for whom he also drew “Four Feather Falls” and “Fireball XL5”). His style is so recognisable and can also be seen in Pepys' Panto card game from 1956.
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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