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Card game:Peter Coddles Esq. and His Trip to New York

J.H. Singerca. 1890

The Strong National Museum of Play

The Strong National Museum of Play
Rochester , United States

A very early and popular card game was a version of "Peter Coddle and his Visit to New York." More of a party or group amusement than a standard game, it involves one player telling (reading) a story. Other players, having drawn "cards," or slips of paper printed with nouns, fill in the blanks of the story as the reader arrives at them. Hilarity often results from the nonsensical story. The "Peter Coddle" version may have been developed by New York's McLoughlin Brothers, but other game makers created their own version, often spelling the name differently, or changing the city. Images of Peter on the game box cover often present him as a country bumpkin astounded by the city sights. Mad Libs is a modern game which operates in a somewhat similar way.

J.H. Singer produced this version of the game, spelling "Coddle" as "Coddles," and adding an "Esq." to avoid copyright infringement. On the box cover image, Peter is shown with some of his common iconography, including a beard and a briefcase.

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  • Title: Card game:Peter Coddles Esq. and His Trip to New York
  • Creator: J.H. Singer
  • Date Created: ca. 1890
  • Location: New York, NY
  • Subject Keywords: Peter Coddle, man, word
  • Type: Card Games
  • Medium: printed cardstock, printed paper, cardboard
  • Object ID: 107.2653
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