The Game of Traits

This early-1930s game from Wilder Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis hearkens back to the Victorian era with its focus on moral rectitude. The game consists of a deck of 48 cars, 24 of which illustrate Faults and 24 illustrate matching Virtues. There also are four cards with a list of all the Faults and the Virtues that cancel their effects, and a set of four wooden racks. Each player is dealt six blue-backed Faults and six red-backed Virtues. He puts his Faults upright in the racks facing away from him, so that others can see his Faults but he cannot. By looking at his opponents' Faults, a player must work out which Faults he has, and on his turn puts a Virtue from his hand on the table that will match one of his Faults. If this Fault is in his rack, it is removed and discarded along with the Virtue from his hand. If a player feels that he does not have a needed Virtue in his hand, he may draw a card from the player on his right. If it matches one of his Faults, he discards both cards. If not, he must take one of the Faults from that player as a penalty. The first player to dispose of all his Faults wins the game.