Happy Families is a traditional card game, usually with a specially made set of picture cards, featuring illustrations of fictional families of four, most often based on occupation types. The object of the game is to collect complete families. The player whose turn it is asks another player for a specific card from the same family as a card that the player already has. If the asked player has the card, he gives it to the requester and the requester can then ask any player for another card. If the asked player does not have the card, it becomes his turn and he asks another player for a specific card. Play continues in this way until no families are separated among different players. The player with the most cards wins. One of the rules states that a player cannot ask for a certain card to deceive any player if he does not have a card in the set he is asking for. The game can be adapted for use with an ordinary set of playing cards (see Go Fish).
The game was devised by John Jaques II, who is also credited with inventing tiddlywinks, ludo and snakes and ladders, and first published before the Great Exhibition of 1851. Cards following Jaques's original designs, with grotesque illustrations possibly by Sir John Tenniel (there was no official credit), are still being made.
The Happy Families children's storybooks, written by Allan Ahlberg, are titled in a similar way to the names of characters in this game.
The names of the family members are structured as follows, where X stands for a surname and Y for an occupation.
Mr X the Y
Mrs X the Y's Wife
Master X the Y's Son
Miss X the Y's Daughter
Family names, which vary from edition to edition, include:
Ache, the Dentist
Ache, the Doctor
Artichoke, the Greengrocer
Ashes, the Sweeper/Sweep
Ashes, the Undertaker
Bacon, the Butcher
Black, the Undertaker
Block, the Barber
Block, the Builder
Blue, the Fisherman
Blue, the Sailorman
Board, the Teacher
Boat, the Fisherman
Boat, the Sailorman
Bobby, the Policeman
Bones, the Butcher
Bud, the Florist
Bun, the Baker
Bung, the Brewer
Carpenter, the Carpenter
Carriage, the Undertaker
Carver, the Mason
Carver, the Carpetner
Carver, the Sculptor
Caste, the Doctor
Caste, the Vet
Chalk, the Teacher
Chip, the Carpenter
Chop, the Butcher
Clay, the Potter
Clay, the Roofer/Tiler
Codd, the Fisherman
Codd, the Sailorman
Cooke, the Baker
Cooke, the Chef
Constable, the Policeman
Copper, the Policeman
Creep, the Crook
Dashe, the Athlete
Deck, the Swabhand
Digg, the Farmer
Digg, the Gardener
Digg, the Miner
Drill, the Dentist
Drill, the Digger
Drill, the Miner
Dipp, the Dyer
Doch, the Dockman
Dose, the Doctor
Dregg, the Brewer
Drip, the Dyer
Field, the Farmer
Fisher, the Fisherman
Fisher, the Fishmonger
Flatfoot, the Policeman
Flea, the Vet
Grey, the Sweeper/Sweep
Green, the Farmer
Green, the Gardener
Green, the Grocer (most likely a greengrocer)
Grits, the Builder
Grits, the Grocer
Grits, the Stonemason
Haddock, the Fisherman
Haddock, the Sailorman
Hardwatch, the First Mate
Hearty, the Captain
Hose, the Fireman
Hose, the Gardener
House, the Builder
Jack, the Mechanic
Jumbo, the pilot
Jumbo, the Zoo Keeper
Jumper, the Athlete
Kettle, the Potter
Kipper, the Fisherman
Level, the Architect
Level, the Surveyor
Mason, the Stonemason
Mug, the Milkman
Paint, the Artist
Paint, the Painter
Parcel, the Postman
Peeler, the Policeman
Pint, the Milkman
Pipe, the Gasman
Pipe, the Plumber
Pipe, the Tobacconist
Pithe, the Builder
Plod, the Policeman
Potter, the Farmer
Potter, the Gardener
Potter, the Potter
Pots, the Painter
Pots, the Potter
Root, the Farmer
Root, the Gardener
Root, the Grocer (most likely a greengrocer)
Runner, the Athlete
Runner, the Messenger
Shoote, the Hunter
Shoote, the Soldier
Shoote, the Gunman
Shoppe, the Shopkeeper
Snoot, the First Class Passenger
Smith, the Blacksmith
Snuff, the Tobacconist
Snuffet, the Undertaker
Spanner, the Mechanic
Sprint, the Athlete
Splint, the Doctor
Sodd, the Farmer
Sodd, the Gardener
Sole, the Fisherman
Soot, the Sweep
Squint, the Optician
Squint, the Scientist
Stamp, the Postman
Stitch, the Tailor
Stitches, the Sailmaker
Stone, the Builder
Stone, the Mason
Tape, the Tailor
Teeth, the Dentist
Test, the Teacher
Trout, the Fisherman
Trout, the Sailorman
Trim, the Hairdresser
Trim, the Tailor
Tuckin, the Chef
Walker, the Athlete
White, the Doctor
White, the Milkman
Wood, the Woodcutter
Wrenche, the Mechanic
The eleven families indicated by italics are from Jaques's original edition.
CBBC also showed a children's TV series based on the Happy Families Card Game, including the characters from the game.
In the 1987s, the town of Dartmouth in Devon, UK, produced a special version of the game to commemorate the many real business owners in the town that had names appropriate to their jobs. These were:
The Drews (artists)
The Hairs (vets)
The Crews (boatsmen)
The Pillars (builders)
The Sleeps (B & B)
The Nashes (dentists)
The Carrs (car hire)
The Measures (pharmacists)
The Crisps (greengrocers)
The Rains (fruit growers)
The Legges (athletes)
The Cutmores (butchers)
The Swindells (bankers)
The Prices (bank managers)
Many of the businesses are still there as of 2012.
In 2016, a British games company called GoForItGames.co.uk produced a contemporary series of special edition Happy Family card games that dispense with the professions. The card illustrations address the amusing aspects of day-to-day family life. These are divided into card sets such as:
The Family with new baby
The Family with unruly toddler
The Family with typical teenager
The Long Family Car Journey
The Family dressed up at Halloween
The Family getting through Christmas
The Family at Easter
The Disastrous Family Barbecue
The Gross Cousins
