the.com/canasta
a card game so addictive 1950s America briefly forgot bridge existed.
means A rummy-style card game for two to six players, usually played with two decks, in which the goal is to form melds of seven cards (a canasta) for big scores.
from Straight from Spanish 'canasta,' meaning 'basket' — the word ultimately traces back through Latin to the Greek 'kanastron,' a wickerwork vessel. The game itself was devised in Uruguay in the 1930s, and the name is said to nod to the basket or tray that held the discard pile, before it swept north and conquered American card tables.
- origin
- Invented in 1939 Uruguay by two bored lawyers.
- name meaning
- Spanish for basket, where discards once piled up.
- craze
- Outsold bridge books in early 1950s America.
- the meld
- Seven matched cards forms a prized canasta.
- deck count
- Played with two full decks plus jokers.
canasta championship 1949 — card game that swept america in late 1940s, reaching peak popularity with national tournaments
uruguay canasta culture — canasta became the national card game of uruguay in the 1950s and remains deeply embedded there