Seeing these cards got me to wondering about what other derogatory figures were in the Old Maid decks. The worst was Jazzbo Jackson, a man in a green suit, red-rose corsage and some missing teeth. The two black figures in the most recent deck were named Agonizing Sue, a woman in a pink dress with pink lips.

The first deck I found was all white characters with caricatured names and poses, but not caricatures themselves. The cards were made by Whitman Publishing Co., and although neither deck had a date on it, they appeared to be from the 1940s or 1950s. Unfortunately, they were in stereotypical poses, which shouldn’t have been surprising. If any player is found to have discarded two cards that are not a pair, (thus causing three unpaired cards instead of one to remain at the end), the player who made the mistake loses and becomes the Old Maid.At an auction recently, I came across a deck of Old Maid cards, 45 in a box. This was the second time in the last six months or so that I’d found a deck of the cards, but this time, I uncovered a pair of black figures. Play proceeds in this way until all cards have been paired except one - the odd queen, which cannot be paired - and the player who 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. Players do not need to have an equal number of cards.Įach player removes all pairs from his hand face down. The goal is to form and discard pairs of cards, and not to be left with the odd card (a queen) at the end.Īny player shuffles the pack and deals them around, one at a time to each player, until all the cards have been handed out.

The standard 52-card pack is used, however, one of the four queens is removed, leaving a total of 51 cards. Matching, pairing, and recognizing numbers. Colorful decks made especially for the game are popular, but regardless of the playing cards used, the rules are the same. Old Maid is a constant favorite with children and lots of fun for families playing cards together.

Old maid card seedy sambo honey pie