Panto People card game
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1930s
"Panto People" is a card game produced on card by E.S. & A. Robinson Ltd. in England during the 1930s. The full set includes a box, an instruction card, and 42 playing cards printed via chromolithography. The card faces are printed in grey-black on white, while the reverse sides are printed in dark blue on white and feature a design of a witch flying on a broomstick.
The game's illustrations depict traditional pantomime characters drawn from seven different pantomimes. Each featured pantomime comprises three pairs of cards: one pair marked with the letter "H" designating the hero or heroine, one pair marked with "V" indicating the villain, and a third pair left unmarked. For example, the Red Riding Hood set contains six cards: two depicting Red Riding Hood marked "H", two showing the wolf marked "V", and two portraying the grandmother.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Historical context
The game was designed to accommodate any number of players, with the primary objective being to collect combinations of cards belonging to the same pantomime story. The full packaging also carried the manufacturer's descriptive subtitle, "the cheery and jolly new card game full of fun and merriment."
Physical characteristics
- Material
- Chromolithograph on card
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- England
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection record for this single object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Museum object name
- panto people
- Museum object number
- MISC.241:1to45-1980
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.