A Family of Card Players

EVERYONE in my family enjoys/enjoyed playing cards:

• My grandfather Creighton loved cribbage and played with everyone in my family
• My grandmother Rhea (Coughlin) Moynahan would always organize card games for her grandchildren at the kitchen table.
• My father and step mother are euchre champions
• My Coughlin ancestors mention euchre at the beginning of this 1940 recording (Track 6 (3:05))
• My Windsor relatives would always play cards in the evening when we visited from Toronto

And the list goes on! (Please remind me of any other card game examples - war, rummy, Fan Tan and canasta -  in the comment section below)

A 1935 Bridge Tea

While I was researching my grand aunt Aileen (Moynahan) Boyle, I accidentally found an interesting article about "Bridge Tea" in 1935 and some of my women ancestors who attended.

The Border Cities Star; 7 Jun 1935 (page 25/42)

In 1935,  the Catholic Women's League (C.W.L.) of Our Lady of Prompt Succor (O.L.P.S.) organized their most successful bridge tea in their history.

There were 145 tables in play and a number of women organized bridge tables in their own homes and later took their guests to the church auditorium where tea was served.

Source: The Border Cities Star; 7 Jun 1935 (page 25/42)

Source: The Post:  “Bridge Party” by George Hughes; Nov 28, 1953

And my ancestors who were in attendance at the 1935 Catholic Women's League (C.W.L.) of Our Lady of Prompt Succor (O.L.P.S.) Bridge Tea included:

• Mrs J. Moynahan
• Miss Aileen Moynahan
• Miss Nellie Moynahan
• Mrs E. Lennon
• Mrs J.P. Finn

The Border Cities Star; 7 Jun 1935 (page 28/42)

I also learned that bridge playing was so popular in Windsor that there were regular newspaper columns on Contract Bridge strategies such as this one below:

Source: Border Cities Star; 15 June 1935

There is something about large numbers of women getting together to play Bridge that makes me smile. How I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during these bridge games!

An Old Fashioned Game?

I asked my father, "Does anybody even play bridge anymore?" to which he responded, "Oh yes!"and that makes me very happy.

Life Magazine; Nina Leen; Women Playing Bridge

Some Bridge Links

• Why Play Bridge? https://www.bridgeworld.com/indexphp.php?page=/pages/learn/beginners/whyplaybridge.html
•  "At the Bridge Table, Clues to a Lucid Old Age". The New York Times. 22 May 2009. 

Links to Border Cities Star article: June 7, 1935

• https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MA8_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=o04MAAAAIBAJ&pg=3149%2C4819528
• https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MA8_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=o04MAAAAIBAJ&pg=4857%2C4844324