Are you there, Moriarty?

‘We play for hours on end, often with about 24 people in a room designed for nine’

ONE ibble-dibble with four dibbleibbles calls four ibble-dibble with five dibble-ibbles!’ Ah, ‘ibbledibble’, the classic Christmas parlour game, best served after lunch—and preferably with a glass in hand.

Many of the parlour games we think of today —‘wink murder’, ‘charades’, ‘blind man’s buff’ —have pleasingly ancient origins. During the Victorian era, the popularity of the parlour game grew exponentially, as affluent families were introduced to the concept of free time. ‘A manual of parlour games has long been a desideratum among the social and family circles of town and country,’ wrote Catharine Harbeson Waterman in her 1853 book The Book of Parlour Games: Comprising Explanations of the Most Approved Games for the Social Circle.

‘Most Victorian parlour games used equipment (2009). ‘While competitive, they were not particularly about winning and losing: they brought family and friends together for the uncomplicated process of enjoying one another’s company. It was a great time to be a games lover.’