Monkey Shoulder playing cards
Monkey Shoulder whisky advertising playing cards, United Kingdom.
Monkey Shoulder is a brand of whisky created by William Grant & Sons, a major Scottish family distiller. Monkey Shoulder is blended from three of Speyside's finest single malts (Balvenie, Glenfiddich and Kininvie) using batches of just 27 casks for a smoother, richer taste for mixing to make perfect whisky cocktails. It was crafted by Grant’s Master Blender Brian Kinsman in 2003. See the box►
This pack was clearly produced to promote and advertise the whisky, and monkeys feature prominently on all 52 cards and the 2 jokers. On the pip cards they can be seen swinging freely, with 3 or 4 monkeys on each card, while on the court cards they are swinging and holding a standard jack, queen or king court to indicate their rank. There is an extra card explaining the rules and ranking of Monkey Poker. See the rules►
Above: Monkey Shoulder whisky advertising playing cards, United Kingdom. Manufacturer / date unknown.
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.
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