Bridge was almost eclipsed and so was gin rummy. A double-deck card game called Canasta had spread over the hemisphere. In Buenos Aires, citadel of the game, Canasta had progressed from a diversion to a rage.
Fashionable porteños play Canasta from 6, when offices close, until 9:30—just before dinner time. The new game has swept the swank Jockey Club and the Circulo de Armas; the presidents of those fabulously wealthy organizations solemnly met with the president of the Argentine Bridge Association to codify the rules and scoring of the game. For the...