PostCardCollector, I really appreciate your time in posting this information and playing card timelines and dates as well! I am not a collector, this deck just fell into my lap, as I am grateful to get as much info regarding this as I can! If you can give me your e-mail address, if you like, to discuss further. ©1883 Verborum, or Word-Building, The Game If any player is found to have discarded tow cards that are not a pair, (thus causing three unpaired cards instead of one at the end), the player who made the mistake loses and becomes the Old Maid.This is really a dream of a deck!! Thompson also made a game called 'Anagrams, Or Words Alive' colorful cover, boxed card game 1880-1900.ġ882 Peter Coddle's Trip to New York Peter Coddle Play proceeds in this way until all cards have been paired except one - the odd queen, which cannot be paired - and the player wo has that card is the Old Maid!

The player then offers their own hand to the player on their left. This player discards any pair that may have been formed by the drawn card. The dealer then offers their hand, spread out face down, to the player on the left, who draws one card from it. If a player has three-of-a-kind, they remove only two of those three cards. Depending on the number of players, some may have more cards than others.Įach player removes all pairs from their hand face down. The cards are dealt one at a time to each player until all the cards have been handed out.

Goal: To form and discard pairs of cards, and not to be left with the odd card (a queen) at the end. The standard 52-card deck can also be used, however, one of the four queens is removed, leaving a total of 51 cards. Colorful decks made especially for the game are popular. Old Maid is a matching game for 2 - 6 players, and is recommended for ages 4+.

Old maid card game history