Letter-Grams 1938

This was Milton Bradley's entry in the crossword card game craze of the late 1930's. The deck has 60 cards, 2 of them Keystone cards which act as wild cards, and the rest having 1 letter and an associated value. The rules describe three games:

1. Crossword Card Game: For 2-7 players; deal 10 each for 2-4, 7 each for 5-7. In a turn a player plays up to 4 cards to make a word (of 2+ letters) on the table. The first word is alone, but all later words must intersect a previous word, crossword fashion. If unable to make or extend a word, a player discards 1 card and draws 1 from the draw or discard pile. The hand ends when a player goes out of cards; the rest add the sum of values in their hand to their running total. When someone's total reaches 100, the lowest total wins.

2. Solitaire Lettergrams: Deal 6 cards face up, and place the rest in a pile, with the top card exposed. Make and discard words from the face-up cards, filling in blanks from the deck. You win if you use up all the cards.

3. Lettergram Anagrams: Spread the cards loosely on the table, face down. In a turn, a player: draws cards (3 their first turn 2 thereafter), and either lays down a word (2+ letters), lays down a word fragment, or adds letters to a fragment, or adds letters to an existing word to make a new word. When a player lays down a 2-letter word fragment he says what word he is aiming to make; any player may complete it. Words that are completed or extended are placed in front of the player who did it, even if it was in front of someone else. When all cards have been played, the player with the most words wins.