Set of playing cards for a game called Pit
Catalog #
2002.029.003
Date:
Accession #
Set of playing cards for a game called Pit
Pit is a fast-paced card game for three to eight players, designed to simulate open outcry bidding for commodities. The game first went on sale in 1904 by the American games company Parker Brothers, having been developed by the clairvoyant Edgar Cayce.[1][2]
The inspirations were the Chicago Board of Trade (known as ‘The Pit’) and the US Corn Exchange. The game itself was likely based on the very successful game Gavitt’s Stock Exchange, invented in 1903 by Harry E. Gavitt of Topeka, Kansas. The classic version has seven commodities: flax, hay, oats, rye, corn, barley, and wheat. Two special cards are also included, the Bull and the Bear; use of these cards is optional.