♥️ Growing Up Playing Cards ♠️
Back on the farm near Traverse City, Michigan where I grew up, we always played card games like Euchre, Oh Hell! (or Hellsapoppin' as our father named it, so we didn’t think we were swearing), Pinochle, Hearts, etc. We never gambled for money or played card games associated with it like Poker and Blackjack.
We always played when we had company for dinner after the table was cleared and the dishes done. It was a time for socializing as well as testing our skills against one another – especially against Dad who was always the best player of all.
1986 at my home in Hermosa Beach, California:
My parents Leona & Frank playing cards with sister Liz and my son Mike
My siblings also have memories of our early card playing days. Sister Mary says, "I remember card games and parties - mostly Euchre and Pinochle - games you can play and still talk.
March 1964 in brother Gary's house trailer near Silver Lake, Michigan: My father Frank and my brother Gary (on the right) playing cards.
Sister Lillian writes, "Who can remember all the fun card games - Hellsapoppin', Crazy 8, Old Maid, Pinochle, etc.? Cards were a social time, where we could play cards, tell jokes, and have fun."
August 1974: Lillian's kids Amany & Yasser, Mom & my son Mike playing cards in the Peninsula home outside of Traverse City, Michigan
"As I play Pinochle with my neighbors," sister Liz says, "I'm reminded of all the times I sat by Dad's side to keep score of their games, and Dad's patience while I used the 'long' method, you know, 'carry the one,' or worse yet, dealing with those dreaded scores 'in the hole.' I don't know how Dad had the patience to teach me math, cribbage, checkers, chess, Hearts, Hellsapoppin', and Pinochle after teaching seven siblings before me, but I sure did enjoy every one of them, and still do."
1952: My siblings and I in the living room on the farm, freshly bathed and ready for bed: Rear: Gary, Mary, Barbara (me) holding Liz (age ~2 months), Lillian and Elaine Front: Frank J and Leone
Sister Leone says, "Childhood memories I have of Mom and Dad include playing cards. I'll never forget how Dad was so good at Pinochle that he seemed to know what everyone had in their hand."
Sister Elaine recalls, "Who can forget our family Pinochle games or Hellsapoppin' at our birthday parties with the our cousins once or twice a month."
♣️ Blackjack ♠️
I first started playing cards for money when I started working at Hughes Aircraft Company in 1963, while I was going to graduate school at UCLA and had my young son Mike. We started out playing bridge during the noon hours, but I didn’t like being responsible to a partner for my moves – so we switched to Blackjack.
Several of us engineers would gather in one of our offices for the hour-long lunch break. To make it less obvious that we were playing for money, we used colored computer data entry punch cards with different colors (see the photo on the right) for various dollar denominations. We would settle up at the end of each week in cash.
One noon, one of the bosses came in and left after seeing what we were doing. Later, he called one of his senior engineers, who had been playing with us, in to his office. He suggested that it didn’t look good for him to be gambling at the company. When we got the word, we decided that it didn’t look good for any of us.
So what did we do? Stop gambling? No way! We decided to move the game off the company premises. Since I lived the closest, my home was selected (with my then husband’s consent, of course). So several days each week, a couple of cars would pull up in front of my home where I would get out with several guys, go inside for an hour, return to the cars and drive off back to work. I can’t believe that none of the neighbors ever called the police! They must have been suspicious as to what was going on.
I made enough on my Blackjack winnings to buy my first set of contact lens.
🃏 Poker ♥️
Back in my heyday in the 1970’s and into the early 80’s after my first marriage ended, I often played a weekly poker game with my boat partners, my boss & coworkers at The Aerospace Corporation, and various other guys – I was the only female. I remember when I first started dating my husband Stan in 1975, I often had to tell him, “Sorry, I can’t see you tonight – I’m playing poker with the boys.”
We would take turns hosting the games. We played for money, but for reasonable stakes – the most anyone usually won or lost during an evening was $200-$300 – but it was still a lot of money in those days. I always held my own and felt that I was a better player than most of the guys – I knew how to bluff as well as anyone, and to read their body language and count their cards.
♦️ A Favorite Song ♥️
All of this gambling talk leads up to another of my favorite songs, The Gambler, by a favorite country artist, Kenny Rogers. You can listen to it on YouTube by clicking the red play button on the window below.
Here are some of my favorite lyrics from the song.
You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done ...
I hope you enjoyed another of my trips down Memory Lane,
🥰 Barbara
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