Haushaltgeräte
Publicity pack for VEB Kombinat Haushaltgeräte, makers of household goods, with designs by Volker Hartmann.
This German-suited pack forms a snapshot in time of what many household goods looked like in the early 1980s. The designer, Volker Hartmann, has somehow managed to fit a small household item, the requisite number of pips, and a man, woman or child onto each card – bar the aces where a cooker, fridge or washing machine takes centre stage. On this occasion the Obers are female. Only the 10s to 7s have indices. The pack was made for VEB Kombinat Haushaltgeräte of Karl-Marx-Stadt. Their name appears twice on the reverse – in white on a dark blue ground with a pale blue border. The extra card carries text in German, listing some of the company’s products.
Above: Haushaltgeräte publicity deck made by Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik, Altenburg, DDR, 1981. 32 cards + 1 extra card in clear plastic box. Size: 57.5 x 87.5 mm.
Reference
Braun, Franz. Schriftenreihe “Spielkarten”, Band 2: Die Spielkarten in der DDR (2. Auflage). p.64, AS 1981/5.
By Roddy Somerville
Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
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