Murphy Varnish pack

The Murphy Varnish transformation playing cards were originally printed in 1883 by Andrew Dougherty. It was an advertising deck for the Murphy Varnish company of Newark New Jersey, founded in 1865 by Franklin Murphy, the former Governor of New Jersey. Not only is this a clever advertising pack but it is also a stunning and iconic example of a beautiful and creative transformation deck*, as it depicts comical and clever pictures of varnish salesmen, people worshiping cans of varnish and all of the good uses for the Murphy Varnish.

This reproduction was produced as a Kickstarter project in 2019 by Michael Scott, of Mesa, Arizona, the founder of Home Run Games. The pack was offered in three different tuck case versions. The Standard edition (illustrated here) recreated the original in a modern tuck box. The Limited edition, with a print-run of 1883 decks, has a more colourful design, a vintage long tongue case, a custom paper wrap and a numbered seal. The Original edition, much closer to the 1883 edition with a print-run of 883 decks, was produced in a two-piece box with two numbered seals in the case and in the deck. The pack also includes “The Best card” (or early Joker) and a card giving details of the reprint.

Above: reproduction of the 1883 Murphy Varnish transformation pack, USA, 2019.

* This was the pack selected to display on the front cover of the Hochman encyclopedia of American playing cards, US Games Systems, 1990 and the 2nd edition, 1993.

See: Field, A. Transformation playing cards, US Games Systems, 1987, p. 145