While the depiction of the Old Maid varies depending on the deck, it is nearly always a grandma-like figure. The image of the Old Maid on speciality decks moved from the Victorian bike rider to the troublesome caricatures of Silly Old Cat Woman and Knitting Fanatic, over the twentieth century.

While this may look totally normal now, it was offensive to suffocating Victorian decorum. An 1890 deck, for instance, depicts an elderly woman wearing trousers and bike riding. Special decks of Old Maid were developed as early as the late 1800s, with inappropriate images of the titled figure on them. Historically, the game’s Old Maid has been portrayed as a negative person (the player who has the Old Maid loses the game after all). Though the original roots of the game are uncertain, one probable explanation is that it is derived from ancient British drinking games. The card game Old Maid first appeared in the late 1800s. The term was initially used in England in the 18th century. Origin of the GameĪ childless and unmarried spinster woman is referred to as a “Old Maid.” As a result, the Queen is the only card that remains unpaired. The goal of the game is to link up all of your hands and prevent having a Queen out towards the end.Ĭheck out our Go Fish and Hearts guides for other classic card games. Old Maid is a hand match game for two or more players that uses a normal 52-card deck. The purpose of scapegoat games is to resist possessing a certain card or cards. Old Maid is a card game that belongs to the “fall guy” family.

Oriiginal old maid card game