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Today, when we see ABC, we probably think of the alphabet, as in “she is learning her ABCs,” or as an acronym for American Broadcasting Company or Association of Booksellers for Children, or one of many other things. But how many of us associate ABC with a card game called A-B-C or with a gambling device that no one today recalls? These are the first of our Americanisms to explore.
The A-B-C card game was played in late 19th century America and was a game playable by any number of players. Each card in the pack bore a letter of the alphabet and a picture that included items whose name began with that letter. The pack was placed on the table face up and players took turns naming an object in the picture that began with the letter on the card. A player had to name an item in less than a minute and could not name again an item that had already been named. Any player who couldn’t, was out. Does this game sound like something we still play today?
More intriguing, however, was the use of ABC to denote a gambling device that was often called an ABC table. I couldn’t find a description of the device, but whatever the device was, it must have been fun, because in 1798 North Carolina enacted a law fining people 100 pounds who were caught playing “any of the games at the tables commonly called A B C, E O, . . .” Fifty-five years later, it was written in the Alta California that “There are a number of A.B.C. tables, but they are conducted in a different style, and probably the majority of them are perfectly fair.” If you have an idea of what the device was and how the game was played, let us know. We’ll post the information.
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