“Squadron Scramble” Card Games (R112-8A & R112-8B)
Whitman Publishing Company, United States

• Series Title: Card-O “Squadron Scramble” Card Game No. 1 and No. 2
• ACC No.: R112-8A and R112-8B
• Manufactured by: Whitman Publishing Company
• Packaged With: Sold as sets in Variety Stores
• Number of Cards: 3 × 54 (Set 1 - Simple and Fancy Blue Backs; Set 2 - Simple Green Backs)
• Numbering: unnumbered
• Card Dimensions: 2¼ × 3½ inches with rounded corners (Playing Card Format)
• Circa: 1942
• Checklist: Download

Overview

During World War II, the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, issued a series of World War II Booklets, trading cards, and Airplane Game Card sets. The trading cards and Airplane Game Cards sets were all of the standard PLC format with rounded corners. Whitman Publishing Company issued two distinct sets of Airplane Game Card set series during World War II. The two sets were “ZOOM” and “Squadron Scramble.” Both the Zoom and the Squadron Scramble games had two different sets of card games associated with them.

Recently, we noticed a posting on the Vintage Non-Sports Cards Chat Board³ (Network 54) that mentioned the existence of a R112-8A “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1” “Fancy Back” set that had a red dot or “meatball” in the center of the U.S. star roundel. Our (Skytamer Images) R112-8A “Fancy Back” set does not have the “meatball” in the center of the U.S. star roundel.

As you may know, the U.S. Military star roundel with the red center circle or “meatball” was used from May 1917 to Jan 1918, and from Sept 1918 through May 1942. From June 1942 through June 1943, the star roundel was modified and the red “meatball” was removed. The reason for its removal was to reduce the chance for shooting down a “friendly” during air-to-air combat. The red flash of the “meatball” could easily confuse a “work-loaded” pilot during combat, so bye-bye meatball. A new U.S. roundel with a circle disc, star and bars with a red border surround was then introduced. This roundel lasted for only two months … July and August 1943. The red surround was then changed to a blue surround in Sept 1943 and has been used up to the present. The red surround was most likely dropped for the same reasons that the meatball was dropped. Example of the U.S. roundels are shown below.

The new roundel with the star and a red surround and horizontal bars appears in “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 2” with the “Simple” green Back. This suggests that the artwork for the “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 2” was most likely completed during July-August 1943 timeframe.

Now Back to the R112-8A, “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1 — Fancy” Back deck with the “meatball”. This was most likely printed prior to June 1943. This would mean that there are the following four, not three, variants in Whitman's “Squadron Scramble Card Game” series.

1. “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1” with blue “Simple” Backs.
2. “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1” with blue “Fancy” Backs and a red dot or “meatball” in the center of the U.S. roundels.
3. “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1” with blue “Fancy” Backs without the red dot of “meatball” in the center of the U.S. roundels.
4. “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 2” with green “Simple” Backs. This is a completely different set with new aircraft.

We would appreciate it if anyone can could provide us with some scans of the “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1 — Fancy-Meatball” cards. Who knows, there might even be a “Simple-Meatball” set out there! Use the “Contact Us” link on the left.

Both of the “Squadron Scramble” card game sets consist of 54 cards each: 3 cards each for 16 different types of American, British, German and Japanese military planes, 3 “KEEP 'EM FLYING” cards, 1 “VICTORY” card, and 2 “Instruction” cards. The first set of cards … “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 1,” is comprised of two subsets: (1) cards with “Simple” blue Backs, and (2) cards with “Fancy” blue Backs. The American Card Catalog reference designation for this set is R112-8A. The second set of cards … “Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 2,” is easily recognized by its green color “Simple” Back. The designation for this set is R112-8B.

Neither of these sets were packaged with gum. Instead, they were marketed as complete sets and sold in variety stores, a.k.a. “Dime Stores” during the war. Both sets were packaged in small card boxes or packs. Both of the boxes are shown below along with the fronts and Backs of all the cards.

Squadron Scramble Card Game Instructions

(Copyright, 1942, National Aeronautic Association of the U.S.A., Inc., Washington, D.C.) This game may be played by 2, 3 or 4.

The game consists of a deck of 52 cards, including 3 cards each for 16 different types of American, British, German and Japanese military planes, 3 KEEP 'EM FLYING cards, and 1 VICTORY card. On each of the picture cards is reproduced an authentic scale drawing of a military plane. The planes are divided into two groups — bombers and fighters. The names of bombers are printed in red and the names of fighters in blue.

METHOD OF PLAY - the dealer shuffles the deck and deals seven cards, face down, to each of the players. The remainder of the deck is placed face down in the center of the table, the top card being turned up to form a discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer starts the game by drawing and discarding a card. He may draw from either the drawing or discard pile. A player may take any card in the discard pile but must always take all the cards on top of it.

The object of the game is to lay down complete sets of three cards — such as, the top, side, and front views of the Bell P-39 Fighter. Complete sets of cards may be laid down only during a player's turn and a card must be discarded unless the player is going out of the game. The player must give the name and nationality of the plane when he lays it down, and must forfeit his next turn if another player discovers he has not done this. The three KEEP 'EM FLYING cards and the VICTORY card are wild and may be used in place of any missing card when forming sets. A player having the card for which a wild card has been used may place that card in his opponent's set and take the wild card to use in forming his set of cards. A player may use a wild card as a fourth card in a set but only when he goes out. Sets of fighter planes may shoot down sets of enemy bombers. This is done as follows: At the time a player lays down a set of American or British fighters he looks at the cards his opponents have laid down. If any of these are either German or Japanese bombers, they may be shut down. The player who shoots down the bomber keeps the two sets of cards face down, next to him, to add to his score at the end of the round. Japanese and German fighters may shoot down British and American bombers the same way. The round is ended when one of the players has laid down or discarded all of his cards. A card need not be discarded on the final turn.

METHOD OF SCORING - At the end of the round each player scores 10 points for each bomber and 5 points for each fighter he has laid down and subtracts the same number of points for each of the cards remaining in his hand. A KEEP 'EM FLYING card counts the same as the card for which it was substituted; the VICTORY card doubles the score of the set in which it is used unless it is played on the last turn in which case it doubles the score for all cards which the player has laid down. If the player holds a KEEP 'EM FLYING card in his hand at the end of the round, 10 points must be subtracted from his score. If he holds the VICTORY card, 15 points must be subtracted. The first player to get 250 points wins the gain.

R112-8A “Squadron Scramble” Card Game No. 1 Image Guide

The “Squadron Scramble” Card Game No. 1, squares off the Allies forces represented by American and British aircraft, against the Axis forces represented by German and Japanese aircraft. The fronts and Backs of all the cards in the “simple” and “fancy/” subsets of this game set are shown below. All of the images have been computer enhanced for presentation purposes.

R112-8B “Squadron Scramble” Card Game No. 2 Image Guide

Squadron Scramble Card Game No. 2, also squares off the Allies forces against the Axis forces. However, this set adds the Russians to the Allies and the Italians to the Nazi forces. The fronts and Backs of all the cards in this game set are shown below.

Checklist

The Card-O “Squadron Scramble” Card Games No. 1 and No. 2 (R112-8A & R112-8B) checklists may be downloaded by clicking the “PDF” button below. This document is presented as an Adobe® Acrobat® PDF 8½ × 11 inch format document.

Reproduction Set

In 2002, U.S. Games Systems, Inc. issued an authentic reproduction set of the “Squadron Scramble&rdqup; Card Games. Both games were combined into a single set. When purchasing Squadron Scramble sets or cards, be aware that there are distinct differences between the original cards and reproduction cards. The reproduction cards have a “F” or “B” superimposed onto a white circle and also have “Axis” or “Allied” notations. The reproduction cards are also nicely coated whereas the 1942 original cards are not. The reproduction set may be easily found on the internet and is reasonably priced.

Special Thanks

A very special thanks to Albert B. Kramer, President of Roll-EZ Wheels, Inc. for helping us with this collection.

References

1. Shupek, John A., Card images from the Skytamer Archive
2. Kramer, Albert B., Card images from the Kramer Collection
3. Lentz, Keith, 6 April 2010. Vintage Non-Sports Cards Chat Board (Network 54)