Rodolfo de Olea : “El Elefante”
“El Elefante” Cadiz pattern by Rodolfo de Olea Viaña, 1899.
Rodolfo de Olea Viaña (active 1891-1905) inherited a well-established playing card factory from his father, Segundo de Olea Lepiani, in 1891. Inscriptions on the elephant trademark, as well as on other advertising materials, were updated to notify of the succession. The factory address was at Comedias No.12, Cadiz. In around 1895 Rodolfo de Olea commenced using photolithography which produced a finer quality product, although packs continued to be coloured by the older method using stencils.
The Olea playing card factory exported cards around the world, in particular to South American markets, and was awarded numerous gold, silver and bronze medals at exhibitions which are illustrated on several cards.

Above: “El Elefante” deck by Rodolfo de Olea Viaña, Cadiz, dated 1899. This edition was printed by lithography, as stated on the four of coins, but coloured using stencils. All images courtesy Ib Hilmar Hedegaard.
Alternative presentation



Towards the end of the 18th century, with the rise of industrialisation, the need for a more powerful source of energy was felt. Steam engines provided the answer, and were employed in playing card manufacture even into the early 20th century.

Above: interior view of the Olea playing card factory showing steam-powered presses and workers engaged in the various stages of manufacture, late 19th century. © El Fenicio, 2015.
Rodolfo de Olea’s son, Rodolfo de Olea Mora (1874-1926) and his step-brother Segundo de Olea Aguilera (1893-c.1950) also manufactured playing cards. See: Segundo de Olea Aguilera►

Above: other members of the extended family were also card makers.
REFERENCES
Pérez González, Alberto: Los Naipes de Cádiz, in LA SOTA no.13, Asescoin, Madrid, October 1995
Portillo, Jose Alvarez: La fábrica de cartas e imprenta Olea, in El Fenicio, Cadiz, December 26th, 2015 (www.elfenicio.com)

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
Related Articles

Baraja de Juan Martín Zamorano
Deck inspired by El Pendón de los Zamorano, a military pennant dating from 1501, published by Priego...

Heráldica Castanyer No. 16
Strange variant of international pattern cards for poker or bridge.

Fantasy Spanish-suited deck
Fantasy Spanish-suited deck by Bertschinger y Codina, Barcelona.

Bertschinger y Codina - Cartes Françaises
French ‘Paris’ pattern made by Bertschinger y Codina, Barcelona, c.1850.

Braulio Fournier
Baraja Nº 1 produced by Braulio Fournier, Burgos, c.1868.

Pirritx eta Porrotx
Happy Families card game from the Spanish Basque Country.

Naipe Vizcaino
‘Naipe Vizcaino’ designed by Javier Urkiri and published by Industrias Gráficas Castuera and the Caj...

Baraja Turística del País Vasco
Basque poker deck of 55 cards published by Fournier with scenic views of the Basque Country.

Baraja Vasca
Spanish Basque Country deck with original drawings by María Isabel Ibañez de Sendadiano.

Baraja Cultura Española
ASESCOIN pack for 2022 designed by M.A. Corella featuring famous Spaniards and notable buildings.

Laurenzo Propagine
Spanish-suited cards made in Italy by Laurenzo Propagine.

Jeu de 7 familles Les Dynasties d’Artisans Basques
Long-standing Basque businesses represented in a traditional card game with illustrations by Odile A...

Archaic Franco-Spanish pattern
Archaic Franco-Spanish pattern by Guillaume & Jean Grossard (Bordeaux).

La Baraja del Mundial
“La Baraja del Mundial” satirical football deck published by Fournier for ‘Interviú’ news magazine. ...

Archaic Spanish proof sheets
2 x uncoloured proof sheets of archaic Spanish-suited playing cards produced for “New Spain”, possib...

Hispania Romana
Educational card game depicting the Roman period in Spanish history.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days