However, the game may be older and simply have been renamed. Other sources name the game after another notorious bandit, Peter Nikoll (1771–1817), from Mecklenburg in north Germany who was also nicknamed Black Peter.
Petri also went under the nickname of 'Old Black Peter' ( der alte Schwarzpeter) or just 'Black Peter' ( Schwarzer Peter) and is supposed to have invented the game while in prison, sometime after 1811. The name Black Peter may be derived from the robber Johann Peter Petri, a contemporary and accomplice of Johannes Bückler, the notorious German highwayman known as Schinderhannes. Old Maid is similar in concept to Black Peter and may have derived from it. Spear & Sons packīlack Peter is the English name of the European game of Schwarzer Peter which originated in Germany where, along with Quartett, it is one of the most common children's card games.
