Pit (1903)

The original game was invented by Harry E. Gavitt and published in 1903 by Gavitt Publishing and Printing. In that game players deal and trade cards to corner the railway stock market. Be the first to get all the cards of one railway line, call out “Topeka” and you’ll win the hand!

But Pit, the more famous version, adapted by noted psychic Edgar Cayce, was first published by Parker Brothers in 1904 and in many editions since. In this loud, real-time trading game, players are given the task of cornering the market in one type of commodity. There are as many suits as there are players, and all the cards are dealt out at the start of each round. When the trading begins, players offer sets of cards to each other in the hopes of completing a set for themselves. If you're successful, you ring the (optional)bell and yell out, "Corner on wheat!" (or whatever your commodity is). You then score points depending on which it was - some are more valuable than others. Two cards labeled Bull and Bear may be used to add wild/penalty cards to the gameplay.

Most editions support up to 8 players, but at least one allows up to 10.

Printings:

• Gavitt Publishing and Printing (1903) (As Gavitt's Stock Exchange)
• Parker Brothers (1904-???)
• Out of the Box Publishing (2004-Present)
• Winning Moves

Re-implemented by:

• Zaster
• Wheedle
• Jurassic Jumble

Contents and Commodities:

Except for the classic version, each deck consists of 74 cards with nine cards each of each different commodity, plus the Bull and Bear cards. The classic version only has seven commodities and 65 cards total. The types of specific commodities have varied over the various editions of the game. The differing values result in some lower-valued cards bringing fewer points if that market is cornered, but perhaps they are easier to get because more people are trying to collect higher-scoring cards.

The classic version had these cards with these 7 commodities and point values:
Wheat 100
Barley 85
Corn 75
Rye 70
Oats 60
Hay 50
Flax 40

The modern version contains these 8 commodities with these values:
Wheat 100
Barley 85
Coffee 80
Corn 75
Sugar 65
Oats 60
Soybeans55
Oranges 50

The 100th anniversary edition released in 2004 included a reproduction of the original edition as well as a brand new edition that featured 8 "modernized" commodities:
Cocoa 100
Platinum85
Gold 80
Cattle 75
Oil 65
Rice 60
Silver 55
Gas 50

Older and Deluxe versions include a shiny orange or silver desk bell.