'PANKO' - PLAYING CARDS 'Panko or Votes for Women. The Great Card Game. Suffragists v. Anti-Suffragists' [complete pack of 48 pictorial playing cards], pictures by E.T. Reed of Punch, printed in black, red, purple and green, versos with purple on white geometric design, in original card outer box, lacking lower left hand edge, inner slip case lacking top of box and inner slip case, worn and marked, some water damage to inner slip, with original sheet of rules, 95 x 70mm., Peter Gurney Ltd., [c.1909] Footnotes: 'PANK! PANK! PANK!' - 'PANKO OR VOTES FOR WOMEN': A complete set of the popular Suffragist card game with original rules sheet, from the collection of prominent suffragette Mary Phillips. The pack comprises four Suffragist suits and four Anti-Suffragist suits, each of six cards, the object being to exchange cards and collect a complete suit in a game similar to rummy. The present set has the points printed on each in red (for Anti-Suffragists) or green (for the Suffragists). The game, costing two shillings, was widely distributed by the Women's Social and Political Union, the advertisement claiming 'Not only is each picture in itself an interesting memento, but the game produces intense excitement without the slightest taint of bitterness', and was used a way of subtly disseminating propaganda into domestic circles. As Elizabeth Crawford writes, 'the translation of the mechanics of the women's suffrage campaign into board and card games was a masterstroke that originated from within the Women's Social and Political Union. Not only were funds raised, but the message of the cause was brought into domestic circles where more rabid propaganda might not have been welcomed (Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement, A Reference Guide 1866-1928, 1999, p.235). It was first advertised in Votes for Women in December 1909 and suffragette and diarist Mary Blathwayt is known to have given a set of 'Panko' to her mother for Christmas that year. Provenance: Mary Phillips Collection, Sotheby's, 'Valuable Autograph Letters, Literary Manuscripts and Historical Documents', 29 June 1982, lot 62. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing