Never-Before-Seen c. 1885 “Mind Reading” Game LOVERS’ PUZZLE CARDS – ROBERT GAIR

Description

For your consideration is the antique, circa 1885, “mind reading” game,
LOVERS’ PUZZLE CARDS
by
ROBERT GAIR
of New York, NY.
It consists of ten two-sided cards (2-3/8
th
inches by 4 inches) with ten sayings about love on each side (one side in black and the other side in red).
There are 100 sayings in all (each appearing once on the red side and once on the black side).
A person chooses a saying from the card and the one who runs the game “magically guesses” it.
[See below.]
I have chosen to designate it as “Never Before Seen” because I can find no record of it anywhere on the internet or in standard guides.
Although the
Game Catalog
of the Association of Games and Puzzles lists one game by this publisher,
THE SHAKESPERIAN PUZZLE
, copyrighted in 1880, there appear to be only two extant copies of it: one by Gair in the collection of the Lily Library at Indiana University and a later (1890s) copy by F. Passmore of London in the collection of the University of St. Andrews Library in Scotland.
There is no record of the sale of either of the games on eBay or at auction.
Since this game came without instructions, I had to figure them out by referring to the “Directions for the New Shakesperian Puzzle” by Passmore, since the copy by Gair in the Lily Library contains the cards alone.
[In fact, the Lily librarians misidentify it as a guessing game, of sorts.]
Here is how it works:
LOVERS’ PUZZLE CARDS
The puzzle consists of a set of ten cards, each with a series of quotations about love in
Black
on one side and in
Red
on the other.  The idea is to invite someone to choose a sentence on one of the cards and then to “read their mind” by stating the exact quote the person has chosen.
The quotations are arranged based on a simple key.  The
last line
on the
Black
side of each card holds the secret to the puzzle.  The person who knows the key can appear to read the mind of the other person simply by
noting the
first letter
of the
last word
of these lines.
The key to the puzzle is
:
W
H
A
T
I
S
L
O
V
E
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
This key governs the placement of quotations on the red side.  Exactly one line from each of the black cards appears on any given red card.  Every seemingly random grouping of these lines follows the “WHAT IS LOVE” rule, such that any line from the “
W
” black card will be the first quotation on any given red card, any line from the “
H
” black card the second quotation on the red card, and so on.
PROCEDURE
Have someone choose a sentence on the
Black
side of a card.
Ask the person to hand you the card.
Carefully notice the
last word
on the card and remember its
first letter
.
Now hand back the entire set of cards to the person and have them find the same sentence on the
Red
side of a card and hand it to you.
You will immediately be able to read back the chosen sentence.
It will be so many lines from the top in accordance with the key.
EXAMPLE
The person chooses a sentence from the
Black
side of the card shown in the close-up (photo #10).
You make note of the last word of the last line on the card: “shrine.”
The first letter of that word is “
S
,” which corresponds to the number “6” on the key (see above).
Now you know that when the other person hands you the
red
card, the sentence will be the
6
th
one from the top of the
red
card shown in the close-up (photo #11).
In this case, that sentence is “
Happy are they that love and are beloved
.
”
Robert Gair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1839 and came to America at the age of fourteen.  He worked as a clerk in a dry goods store in New York City before serving in the Civil War, at which time he achieved the rank of captain.  In 1864 he opened a business as a paper jobber in New York and then, in partnership with George West from 1867 until 1876, he began manufacturing paper bags with square bottoms. He also sold a wide variety of paper goods, many of which he also manufactured on machinery that he had constructed. His claim to fame was the invention of a machine
for creating folding boxes, patented in 1879.  The demand for folding boxes became so great that, in 1888, he moved his production facilities from 143 Reade and 161 Chambers streets in Manhattan--the location where the
LOVERS' PUZZLE CARDS
were made--to a large industrial complex in Brooklyn.  Thus, this card set could not have been produced before 1876 nor after 1888.
CONDITION
:  The game is complete with all ten cards but is lacking the original instruction sheet (see description).  The cards range from fair to good with missing pieces, creases, soil and stains (see photos).  Parts of the box top and bottom are there but lacking the aprons and missing pieces along the edge.  PLEASE MOUSE OVER THE PHOTOGRAPHS FOR CONDITION DETAILS.
I will include a printed copy of the instructions as well as a copy of the "Directions for the New Shakesperian Puzzle" by Passmore.