Card Game

Item number Edz1088 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

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Description

Card game consisting of 38 cards with black and red characters on a white background on the face, and black reverse sides, all wrapped with a piece of off-white paper with an image of two elephants and both English and Chinese text printed in red ink.

History Of Use

Cards of this type were used for card games enjoyed by elderly people sitting outdoors in Hong Kong. At the time of collection (1980), groups of elderly people, primarily women, could be seen seated outdoors wherever there was available space, enjoying this leisure-time activity, which normally included small-scale gambling. Older men gathered in parks or wherever there was space, playing Chinese chess, called “elephant chess”. Their games attracted large groups of other men, who commented regularly on the game, making suggestions. Both men and women played mahjong, which also involved gambling, but this was done indoors, in shops created for the purpose or in people’s homes if they had enough space. Younger people almost inevitably had to work hard to support their families in this difficult economic time, with very little time off to engage in social activities like this.