Long before social media, group chats, or sending someone a meme at exactly the right moment, people had… games.
Not apps. Not online matches.
Not “just one more round” that somehow turns into three hours of staring at a screen.
No—people sat across from each other. At tables.
In living rooms. On porches. In church basements.
And they played.
Cards. Board games. Quietly competitive games that somehow always involved at least one person keeping score a little too seriously.
And if we’re being honest?
Those games weren’t just entertainment.
They were connection.
They were community.
They were, in many ways, the original social networks.
Before the Screens, There Was the Table
In rural communities—especially across the Midwest—entertainment didn’t come easily.
There were no streaming services. No phones. No background noise unless you counted the wind, livestock, or someone telling a story for the third time.
So people made their own entertainment.
Evenings often meant gathering:
- after dinner
- after chores
- after long days of work
And pulling out whatever games were available.
Which, more often than not, meant:
- a deck of cards
- a game board
- or something handmade and passed around for years
These weren’t elaborate setups.
They were simple. Accessible. Repeatable.
And that’s exactly why they lasted.
Cards: The Universal Language
If there was one thing nearly every household had, it was a deck of cards.
Cards were portable, inexpensive, and endlessly adaptable.
Different communities had their preferred games, but some favorites included:
- Euchre
- Poker
- Rummy
- Hearts
- Solitaire (for quieter moments)
And then, of course…
Cribbage
Cribbage had a reputation.
It wasn’t just a game—it was a thinking game.
A counting game.
A strategy game that involved pegging scores on a board and casually revealing who in the room understood math under pressure.
It’s one of those games where:
someone always says, “Oh, it’s easy once you get it,”
and everyone else quietly wonders if that’s actually true.
Cribbage was especially popular in English and American communities, passed down through generations, often taught at kitchen tables or during long winter evenings.
And once you learned it?
You tended to keep playing it. For years.
Or decades. (Like my family.)
Crokinole and the Quietly Intense Competition
Then there’s Crokinole.
If you’ve never seen it, imagine:
- a circular wooden board
- small discs
- flicking them toward the center
- trying to knock other players’ pieces out of the way
It looks calm. It looks simple.
It is simple. It is not calm.
Crokinole is one of those games where people say things like:
“It’s just for fun”
But are internally cursing each other for a good move.
Popular in Canadian and Northern U.S. communities, Crokinole became a staple in homes where people wanted something interactive but not overly complicated.
It required skill. A steady hand.
And just enough competitiveness to keep things interesting.
Board Games: More Than Just Passing Time
Beyond cards and Crokinole, families also turned to board games.
And some of them are still around today.
Games like:
- Checkers
- Dominoes
- Early versions of Monopoly
- Parlor games
- Word games and puzzles
But here’s what’s interesting:
Many of these games weren’t originally designed just for fun.
They reflected:
- economic ideas
- social values
- cultural norms
For example, early versions of Monopoly were actually designed to demonstrate the downsides of land monopolies and economic inequality.
Which means yes…
Your family game night may have historically doubled as a lesson in economics.
No pressure.
Games as Social Glue
Much like church socials and quilting bees, games created space for people to gather.
They gave structure to time spent together.
They encouraged:
- conversation
- storytelling
- teasing (friendly… usually)
- connection
Because when you’re sitting across from someone, playing the same game over and over again, something happens.
You talk.
You learn things. You share stories. You build familiarity.
And over time, those moments become part of daily life.
This same kind of community connection shows up in other traditions too—like [#96 The Quilting Bee: Gossip, Art, and Community Wrapped in One Blanket] and [#108 The Sunday Dinner: When Meals Were Family Reunions].
What Genealogists Can Take From This
Games might seem like small details in the grand scheme of family history.
But they tell us something important:
How people spent their time.
What brought them together. What they valued. What they enjoyed.
And sometimes, even where they came from.
Because certain games:
- traveled with immigrant communities
- spread through regions
- became tied to specific cultures
So if you hear:
“Oh, Grandpa always played cribbage,”
That’s not just a random detail.
That’s part of a pattern. Part of a habit. Part of a life.
Understanding everyday habits like these can add depth to your research—just like exploring food traditions in [#104 Dinner Is Served: 1900s Menus] or community life in [#101 Small-Town Gossip Columns].
Somewhere Between the Game and the Gathering
It’s easy to overlook something as simple as a deck of cards or a wooden game board.
But when you look closer, you realize:
These weren’t just games.
They were reasons to sit down together.
To stay a little longer.
To talk. To laugh. To compete (just a little… or a lot). To connect.
And just like with church socials and quilting bees, you start to see the same pattern:
People didn’t just live near each other.
They lived with each other.
One game at a time.
Final Thoughts
Your ancestors may not have had group chats.
But they arguably had something better.
They had time together.
Shared spaces.
Simple games that turned into lasting memories.
I think there’s something worth remembering in that.
Even if I personally still haven’t memorized cribbage scoring.
📚 Sources & Further Reading
- Family Playing Cards
- Crokinole | Image | BoardGameGeek
- 9 Reasons Analog Games Are Awesome
- The Strong National Museum of Play — history of games and play culture
- Smithsonian Institution — social history and recreational life
- Chronicling America Historic Newspapers — references to social gatherings and games
- It’s All a Game by Tristan Donovan — history of games
- World Crokinole Championship — historical context of Crokinole