SPECIAL OBJECT GAME

INFORMANT STATED THAT WHEN SHE WAS GROWING UP, MOST
OF THE CHILDREN AMUSED THEMSELVES BY PLAYING
POKER AND RUMMY WITH CHIPS. THE CHILDREN
PREFERRED PLAYING THESE CARD GAMES TO PLAYING
BASEBALL, MARBLES, ETC.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 03-01-1970

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NUMBERS

WHEN MY GRANDFATHER WANTED THE HIGHEST CARD IN A
CUT, HE WOULD KNOCK ON THE DECK OF CARDS THREE
TIMES.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT ; DETROIT

Date learned: 10-23-1970

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CARD TRICK

OUT OF THE DECK, TAKE ANY 21 CARDS. ASK A PERSON
TO PICK A CARD. IT ISN'T NECESSARY THAT THE PERSON
TOUCH THE CARD. LAY THE CARDS OUT ONE AT A TIME
IN THREE DIFFERENT ROWS. AFTER ALL THE CARDS ARE
LAID OUT, ASK THE PERSON WHICH ROW HIS CARD IS IN.
WHEN YOU PICK UP THE CARDS, MAKE SURE THE ROW WITH
HIS CARD IN (IS) IN THE MIDDLE. REPEAT THIS TWICE
AND THE THIRD TIME YOU LAY THE CARDS DOWN, IT WILL
BE THE ELEVENTH CARD, OR THE FOURTH CARD FROM THE
BOTTOM OF THE MIDDLE ROW.

Submitter comment: I LEARNED THIS FROM MY UNCLE WHO LIVES IN DETROIT,
MICHIGAN.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 11-21-1967

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CARD TRICK

ASK A PERSON TO TAKE A CARD OUT OF THE DECK. MAKE
SURE THE ENTIRE DECK IS IN THE SAME ORDER, I.E.,
IF THE CARDS HAVE A PICTURE ON THEM, MAKE SURE THEY
ARE ALL IN THE SAME DIRECTION. WHEN THE PERSON
PUTS THE CARD IN THE DECK, MAKE SURE IT GOES IN
UPSIDE DOWN. START LAYING THE CARDS OUT, LAYING
OUT THE PERSON'S CARD. THE CARD ALREADY BEING OUT,
THE CARD TRICKER SAYS THAT THE NEXT CARD HE WILL
TURN OVER WILL BE THE PERSON'S CARD. SINCE THE
CARD IS ALREADY OUT, THE PERSON KNOWS THAT IT'S
IMPOSSIBLE. BUT SURE ENOUGH, IT'S NOT REALLY THE
NEXT CARD IN THE DECK THE TRICKER TURNS OVER BUT
THE PERSON'S CHOSEN CARD.

Submitter comment: I SAW THIS TRICK PLAYED WHERE THE FELLOW ACTUALLY
BET THAT THE NEXT CARD THE TRICKER TURNED OVER
WOULD NOT BE HIS. OF COURSE, THE FELLOW LOST HIS
BET FOR THE TRICKER DID TURN OVER THE FELLOW'S
CARD. I LEARNED IT IN DETROIT.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; DETROIT

Date learned: 11-21-1967

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SPOONS

THIS GAME IS TO BE PLAYED WHEN PLAYERS ARE SLIGHTLY
DRUNK, OR IN RATHER GOOD SPIRITS. A MINIMUM OF
FIVE PLAYERS AND A MAXIMUM OF ABOUT 13 CAN PLAY.
PLAYERS SHOULD SIT ON THE FLOOR IN A CIRCLE; THEN
PLACE ONE LESS SPOON THAN THE NUMBER OF PLAYERS IN
THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE, E.G., SIX PLAYERS, FIVE
SPOONS. START WITH FOUR CARDS PER PLAYER, ONE OF
EACH SUIT. DEAL EACH PLAYER FOUR CARDS; THEN THE
DEALER STARTS THE GAME BY ASKING THE PLAYERS TO
PASS FROM ONE TO THREE CARDS TO THE PERSON TO HIS
LEFT. IN RAPID SUCCESSION, THE PERSON ON THE DEALER'S
LEFT, BY HIS OWN CHOICE, ASKS THE REST OF THE PLAYERS
TO PASS FROM ONE TO THREE CARDS TO THEIR LEFT. THE
OBJECT BEING TO ACCUMULATE IN A GIVEN HAND FOUR OF
A KIND (SUIT). WHEN THIS HAPPENS, THE PERSON
HOLDING THAT HAND SHOUTS "SPOONS," AND EVERYONE
TRIES TO GRAB A SPOON FROM THE CENTER OF THE CIRCLE.
THE ONE WHO IS LEFT WITHOUT A SPOON IS LABELED A
-P- WHICH DENOTES THE FIRST LETTER OF THE WORD PIG.
THE GAME TERMINATES WHEN ANY PLAYER HAS LOST THREE
TIMES, THAT IS, HAS THREE LETTERS WHICH SPELL PIG.

Submitter comment: THE INFORMANT, MR. HOGAN, LEARNED THIS GAME ONLY ONE
WEEK BEFORE HE PASSED IT ON TO ME. HE LEARNED THE
GAME WHILE AT A PARTY IN BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN CONSISTING
MOSTLY OF YOUNG MARRIED COUPLES. THE COUPLE FROM WHOM
HE GLEANED THE SPECIFICS OF THE GAME ARE MR. AND MRS.
JAMES BIRNEY, ALSO OF BIRMINGHAM. THIS GAME IS
APPARENTLY QUITE POPULAR AT THIS TIME, ALTHOUGH I WAS
UNABLE TO TRACE IT ANY FURTHER.

Where learned: MICHIGAN ; BIRMINGHAM

Date learned: 12-31-1963

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