SomeRset Played In Minden
What's that card game that they play in Minden, you ask? It's SomeRset...pronounced as it is spelled...[suhm-er-set.]
Played in Minden for decades, SomeRset is said to have originated in Scandinavia, however the person credited for its invention was an Iowa mail clerk, Arthur J. Hodges.
Hodges is said to have invented the game in 1903 and published it for many years under the Some'R'Set Card Company, Chicago, Illinois. After copyrighting 'Some R Set", it is reported that he received royalties for many years on sales of the game. Around 1934, he sold the rights to Parker Brothers, who published it until about 1960.
The game of Single SomeRset, created by Hodges, consisted of 28 SomeRset cards. In 1913, the game evolved into Double SomeRset and was played with a 50 card SomeRset deck. In 2009, Jerry Childs of Ludington, Michigan created a variation called Triple SomeRset using a 92 card deck and can be played by 6-8 players.
Although the game was invented in Iowa, Minden is home to the current copyright for the game and the actual SomeRset playing cards.
Rick Johnson, owner of the Minden Hardware Store, purchased the copyright to the card game when he purchased the Coast to Coast store from Jim Runions in 2004. Runions previously held the copyright which he purchased in the 1970s.
The card game may be purchased at Hank's Hardware in Minden.