Happy Families

Happy Families is an English card game, often played by children. It is closely related to Go Fish.

... the aim is to collect and declare 'families' of four of a kind. At each turn you ask a particular person for a particular card: if they have it they must give it to you, and you get another turn; otherwise your turn ends. A nineteenth-century version of Happy Families was played under the name Spade the Gardener, with five members in each family, and another, Authors, with cards representing famous writers and their works.
(Source: David Parlett, The Oxford Guide To Card Games, 1990, p.141)

A special pack of cards, designed exclusively for the game of Happy Families has existed in the UK for many years. On these cards the family names used in the game are appropriate to the trade of the family, so we have "Mr Bun, The Baker", "Mrs Bun, The Baker's Wife", "Miss Bun, The Baker's Daughter" and "Master Bun, The Baker's Son". Andy alludes to this with his use of punningly appropriate names for the childen in the song, Master Race, Miss Fortune, Master Charge and Miss Carriage.

referenced on:

• "Happy Families" (on the She's Having A Baby soundtrack, and now on Rag and Bone Buffet)

further reading:

• The in-depth Card Games Site has an entry on Go Fish and Authors.
• The card images seen here come from Oxymoron's site.