Card Game Items and contemporary advertisements
It is often difficult to identify the origin, manufacturer and date of a card game boxed set and other card game artifacts.
By Tony Hall
Member since January 30, 2015
I started my interest in card games about 70 years ago, playing cribbage with my grandfather. Collecting card game materials started 50 years or so later, when time permitted. One cribbage board was a memory; two became the start of a collection currently exceeding 150!
Once interest in the social history of card games was sparked, I bought a wooden whist marker from the 1880s which was ingenious in design and unbelievably tactile. One lead to two and there was no stopping.
What happened thereafter is reflected in my articles and downloads on this site, for which I will be eternally grateful.
Related Articles
Scientific Whist
“Scientific Whist” : standard cards with instructions for play on the faces by Chas Goodall & Son, 1...
Agatha Christie and Playing Cards revisited
Agatha Christie uses card-play as a primary focus of a story, and as a way of creating plots and mot...
Historic Shakespeare
“Historic Shakespeare” playing cards featuring Shakespearean characters by Chas Goodall & Son.
Copechat Paramount Sorting System
Preserving the past: a specimen deck showcasing edge-notched cards and their ingenious sorting syste...
Pastime Playing Cards for the Blind
The “Pastime” Playing Cards for the Blind manufactured by Goodall & Son Limd., c.1910.
Love Tests
Vintage novelty “Love Test” cards of a slightly saucy nature but all in good fun!
Playing card designs by Franz Exler
Reconstruction of playing cards from the original 1903 designs.
Whist by Ditha Moser
Ditha Moser created this minimalist Whist deck in 1905, in the style of the Vienna Secession art mov...
La Réussite (Sébastien Féraut)
Sébastien Féraut’s designs inspired by the animal kingdom for a set promoting patience games.
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.
Victorian grocer’s scale plate
Large flat plate decorated with highly coloured English cards and royal arms.
Simpson (Piccadilly) playing cards
Innovative advertising pack for Simpsons of Piccadilly designed by André François.
Moguls, Highlanders and Merry Andrews
Discover the historic origins and evolution of card naming and quality designations like ‘Moguls’ an...
Hand-drawn transformation cards, c1875
A complete set of hand-drawn transformation cards from c1875, using a standard De La Rue pack.
Why our playing-cards look the way they do
Analysis of early playing card designs: origins, suit differences, standardization, technological ad...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
