Christmas Carols
Christmas Carols playing cards illustrated by Stuart Dilks
Originally published in 1997 by the Heritage Playing Card Company, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and re-issued in 2018, this pack presents the illustrations of the artist Stuart Dilks. Each card in the Heart suit portrays a verse of the Twelve Days of Christmas, while the opening lines of some of the best known and loved Christmas carols are portrayed on the remaining three suits: Silent night, Little donkey, The holy and the ivy, Ding dong merrily on high, Once in royal David’s city, O come all ye faithful, Away in a manger, God rest you merry gentlemen, and many others. There are two jokers, one of which depicts the Star of Bethlehem • See the box
Above: Christmas Carols playing cards illustrated by Stuart Dilks, published by the Heritage Playing Card Company, 1997 & 2018.
By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
Related Articles
Copechat Paramount Sorting System
Preserving the past: a specimen deck showcasing edge-notched cards and their ingenious sorting syste...
Heartsette by Herbert Fitch & Co, 1893
A glimpse into a busy print and design office in late Victorian London.
Batman® playing cards
Batman playing cards published by InterCol of London 1989.
Can You Believe Your Eyes?
“Can You Believe Your Eyes?” playing cards featuring visual illusions & other oddities.
Pastime Playing Cards for the Blind
The “Pastime” Playing Cards for the Blind manufactured by Goodall & Son Limd., c.1910.
Songs with Flute accompaniment
Eighteenth century English engraved cards with music for voice and flute.
Love Tests
Vintage novelty “Love Test” cards of a slightly saucy nature but all in good fun!
Ben 10 playing cards
Characters from the American animated television science fantasy series Ben 10.
Doctor Who Trump Card Game
Game for two players in which Doctor Who and the Legendary Legion join battle with the Alien Hordes....
Disney’s Aladdin playing cards
Characters from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin.
2011 Worshipful Company Pack
Celebrating the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, with characters adapted from drawings b...
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.
Polygo™
Cards of irregular, four-sided shape for playing word and colour games as well as more traditional o...
Treasures from the Bodleian Library
Rare books, manuscripts, music scores, portraits, maps, gospels, chronicles and other valuable artef...
Victorian grocer’s scale plate
Large flat plate decorated with highly coloured English cards and royal arms.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
