Prince of Wales National Relief Fund 1914
A two-pack patience set produced by Thomas De la Rue on behalf of the Prince of Wales National Relief Fund in 1914.
A two-pack patience set was produced by Thomas De la Rue & Co Ltd on behalf of the Prince of Wales National Relief Fund in 1914. The design consists of the Prince of Wales’s Feathers on a tinted background surrounded by a garter and patriotic design in gold, blue and red. The cards have either pink or light blue backgrounds and have a cambric surface which makes them easier to deal.
A column in the Daily Telegraph published on August 7th 1914 quotes the appeal from Buckingham Palace regarding the National Relief Fund►
Above: a two-pack patience set produced by Thomas De la Rue on behalf of the Prince of Wales National Relief Fund in 1914.
Note from Roddy Somerville
I think it is worth pointing out that both patience-size and full-size (62.5 x 90 mm) packs were produced with this fine back design. Here is what a sealed full-size pack looks like: tied with string to the 3d duty wrapper is a sample card with one corner cut off. The layout of the text and the decorative border on the box (and on the wrapper under the duty wrapper) are slightly different on the full-size version. (Click either image to zoom).
By Matt Probert
Member since March 02, 2012
I have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.
Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.
Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of cards.
I describe my self as a playing card archaeologist, using detective work to identify and date obscure packs of cards discovered in old houses, flea markets and car boot sales.
Related Articles
Songs with Flute accompaniment
Eighteenth century English engraved cards with music for voice and flute.
Love Tests
Vintage novelty “Love Test” cards of a slightly saucy nature but all in good fun!
Ben 10 playing cards
Characters from the American animated television science fantasy series Ben 10.
Doctor Who Trump Card Game
Game for two players in which Doctor Who and the Legendary Legion join battle with the Alien Hordes....
Le Journal de Mickey
Perforated sheet of cards with Disney characters issued with the magazine Le Journal de Mickey.
Disney’s Aladdin playing cards
Characters from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.
La Réussite (Sébastien Féraut)
Sébastien Féraut’s designs inspired by the animal kingdom for a set promoting patience games.
2011 Worshipful Company Pack
Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...
Jim Lyngvild playing cards
Photographs of Danish royalty as imagined by fashion designer Jim Lyngvild.
Jockey Club de Buenos Aires
Spanish-suited pack by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd for the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires.
New interest in old games
Games once fashionable are now eclipsed by quicker gratifications.
Polygo™
Cards of irregular, four-sided shape for playing word and colour games as well as more traditional o...
Treasures from the Bodleian Library
Rare books, manuscripts, music scores, portraits, maps, gospels, chronicles and other valuable artef...
Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.
Victorian grocer’s scale plate
Large flat plate decorated with highly coloured English cards and royal arms.
Queen of Arts
A wide variety of women artists celebrated on cards with illustrations by Laura Callaghan.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
