52 Pickup or 52-Card Pickup is a children's game, using a standard deck of 52 playing card

Playing card

A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...

s, that verges on a practical joke

Practical joke

A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, indignity, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or...

. The name has also been used for solitaire

Solitaire

Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself or with other people. The solitaire card game Klondike is often known as simply Solitaire....

 versions and for legitimate educational children's games that are based on the fundamental principle of picking up scattered cards or objects.

Rules

Any deck of cards will do, although the game works best with traditional playing cards. 'Unnecessary' cards such as jokers can be ceremoniously removed. The game mechanics require at least one player who is familiar with the game and one player who wants to be initiated into the game. The first player throws the entire deck in the air so that the cards are spread on the floor. The other player must pick them up.

Variations

Other card games sometimes transpose into this game. For an example, a child falling behind in Go Fish

Go Fish

- Basic game :Using a standard 52-card deck, five cards are dealt to each player, or seven if there are four or fewer. The remaining card pack is shared between the players, usually sprawled out in a non-orderly pile referenced as the "ocean" or "pool"....

 or Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights

Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players. The object of the game is to be the first to get rid of all the player's cards to a discard pile. The game is considered a pre-extension of Switch and Mau Mau, much favoured in schools during the 1970s.A standard 52-card deck is...

, or bored by a never-ending game of War

War (card game)

War is a card game typically involving two players. It uses a standard French playing card deck. Due to its simplicity, it is played most often by children.-Gameplay:The deck is divided evenly among the two players, giving each a down stack...

, may simply declare "52-Card Pickup!" and sweep all the cards off the table.

The game is sometimes renamed to adjust for deck sizes other than 52 or to fool someone who is already familiar with the game under its normal name.

By introducing additional rules, the task of picking up the cards can be made so interesting that it becomes playable as a solitaire game. A popular rule of this kind is that only cards from the top of the heap may be removed, and that they must be removed in sets that form Poker combinations.

Similarly, a competitive element can be introduced, e.g. when one player must pick up the cards in red suits and another those in black suits. If the cards are substituted with more robust and easily distinguishable objects such as plastic spoons in various colors, the game becomes appropriate for a group of very young children to train locomotive and object control skills. Letter or word cards can be used for older children.

History

While written records start later, the prank appears to have been played among children as early as the middle of the 20th century. The Encyclopedia of American Folklore discusses it under folk humor and, confirmed by numerous references in popular cultures, describes it as a "popular American prank". It notes that the typical mark for the prank is a very young child who is too keen to be included in play to ask questions. The game is also popular in Germany, where it is known as 32 heb auf. At least one American card game anthology has listed the prank among more formal children's games. It is however widely acknowledged that the most likely candidate for being termed the 'inventor' of the game is David Champion who is reported to have played the prank at a pub on the Isle of Wight in the presence of Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the mid 1800s.