East African Playing Cards

East African Playing Cards by Heraclio Fournier S.A., 1st edition with different monochrome colours in each suit, published in 1957.

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Above: East African Playing Cards by Heraclio Fournier S.A., first edition, 1957. 52 cards + 2 jokers + title card + explanatory booklet in mock felt slip case. A second edition was published in 1964 with all cards in the same monochrome colour.

REFERENCES

Ferro Torrelles, Victor: Variantes en los Naipes de Heraclio Fournier, La Sota No.12, ASESCOIN, Madrid, Feb 1995.

Second Edition - update by Roddy Somerville

In the second edition the images are all in a monochrome sepia colour. The tax stamp on the 4 of Clubs is a different, later one, and the manufacturer's name at the top of the 4 of Clubs reads "HERACLIO FOURNIER" rather than "Heraclio Fournier, S.A.". The two different back colours are shown. There is no booklet but instead a rather fine fold-out map of East Africa, also printed by Fournier. This map is dated 1957 so I wonder if it was also included in the first edition with the "explanatory booklet" which Matt Probert mentions. See the box►

Above: cards from the second edition of East African Playing Cards by Heraclio Fournier, 1964. 52 cards + 2 jokers + title card + map in mock felt slip case.

My guess is that this second edition had a very short life. As Kenya became a republic in 1964 under Jomo Kenyatta, I strongly suspect that they wanted to drop the images of tribespeople and concentrate more on wildlife (to attract tourists) - Roddy Somerville.