Page 88 - REALLY What A time Book IX

REALLY SO WHAT
What A Time

PARLOR GAMES

The card games were usually simple in the beginning, like Old
Maid, Fish or Hi-Lo, but by the time I was 9 it was Pinochle
with those 48 face cards. Later it would be hours of Canasta
with two decks. But, my parents were the card players. They
usually played Pinochle.

Board games were more fun. Checkers, Chess, Chinese
Checkers and marbles. There were others Parcheesi, and
India, which I think are the same game. Battleship was lots of
fun. Sort of like checkers, there were separate pieces each with
a different war boat on it. Each side had their own fleet so to
speak. When a piece would move in for an attack each player
would have to expose their piece, and the most powerful
would win. If a Cruiser attacked a Battleship it would win,
thereby removing the opponents Battleship. The supreme
piece was a submarine. It beat everything.
There wasn’t any question which game was every ones
favorite. It was Monopoly. Even today, If I close my eyes, I
can picture every color on the board; St. James Place, orange;
red, yellow; and green Pennsylvania Avenue; all of them.

There were many strategies used to play, depending upon what
the rules were and where you were in the game. We often
made additional rules. If for instance each player received
more money in the beginning then you would buy property
when you landed on it. If not I’d save my money until
landing on orange, red and Marvin Garden, yellow. I always
wanted property on that side of the board.

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