Reo Rex Luxus bild
Celluloid playing cards made in Vienna
Several factories manufacturing celluloid playing cards were active in the years between WW1 and WW2. One of these was the firm Reo Rex Spielkarten GmbH based in Vienna, Austria who produced this striking Luxury Rommé deck in what I can only describe as a modernised Rococo design. The cards were printed by the Kartographischen (früher Militärgeographischen) Institut in Wien VII. They also had cards printed in Nurenberg, Germany. The company moved in 1929 to Mannheim-Waldorf in Germany. Reo Rex also produced celluloid English pattern, Berliner pattern and various German suited playing cards. They were acclaimed as long lasting hygienic and easy to clean, but they were also extremely flammable ! Production ceased sometime in the mid 1930's.
This pack dates from 1929 and has 52 cards, a joker and an extra card with the factory name and a calendar of 1929 on the reverse. The backs have a design in silver and black.
Below: the extra card
Reference: Spielkartenhersteller in Deutschland zwischen den Weltkriegen, Jürgen Platz, 2021 (Studien zur Spielkarten Nr.47)
All cards shown are from the collection of Paul Symons ©
By Paul Symons
Member since February 01, 2016
I'm British but I have now lived in the Netherlands for more than 50 years and am still enjoying every minute of it. I started collecting playing cards in the early 1980’s after speaking with my neighbour who was at that time a croupier in a casino. I started with just collecting jokers, but that soon led me to complete packs of cards and eventually to specialising in old and antique playing cards, particularly those of C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany. I am presently the Dutch representative of the I.P.C.S. and the auctioneer at the IPCS conventions.
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