Playing Cards
After searching for years, and all but given up on ever finding a full deck of playing cards, I get a call from out of the blue one day, from a collector friend of mine in Nashville TN, who has an unopened deck of playing cards that he would like to sell. Couldn’t believe it. I snatched them up quick. This deck has never been opened, and you can see the string wrapped around it. Playing cards was one of the main past times for soldiers during down time.
Game Pieces
During the winter months of inaction, Civil War troops resorted to a variety innovative ideas to pass time. Checkers, chess, backgammon and several card and dice games were extremely popular. Most game pieces were made of wood or lead. These lead pieces appear to be made of 69 cal lead musket balls, pounded out flat. Half of them has an impression stamped into it. All 30 pieces were dug in one hole. I made the checker board out of an old feed sack, to resemble what one would have looked like back then. This 30 piece set was dug by a friend of mine near Murfreesboro TN. in a Confederate winter camp.
