Antique 1919 Parker Bros Dixie-Rook Edition Card Game

The Famous Game Rook and other Splendid Games

Played with the Same Cards

Some for Adults

Some for Children

Rook is the name of a group of games and of the special deck of cards for the game which was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1906. The games are popular in Eastern Kentucky, in the Mennonite communities of Southern Ontario (near Elmira / Waterloo), Manitoba, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and probably also in other parts of North America. The Rook deck contains 57 cards. There are four suits coloured black, red, green and yellow. In each suit the cards are numbered from 1 to 14. The 57th card is the rook card, which carries a picture of the bird. It is likely that Rook cards were introduced for the benefit of members of fundamentalist protestant religions, such as the Mennonites, who considered (and in some cases still consider) playing cards to be the "devil's tool". They were forbidden to play cards; but Parker Brothers filled the void with a game that was played like cards but did not use the standard playing card deck. There are people who refuse to play any cards with a standard deck but who will happily play Rook all night every weekend. There is a close parallel here with Kvitlech cards, which were playing cards bearing numbers, made for use by Central European Jews who were also forbidden by their religion to use standard cards.

 

Manufactured in 1919 

Game is in Good Used Condition

Game is Complete with Instructions and Original Box