Woolley & Co: “Eurekas”
Woolley & Co: “Eureka” playing cards with rounded corners, small index pips and decorative back design, c.1880-1885.
Woolley & Co “Eureka” playing cards with rounded corners, small index pips and decorative back designs, c.1880-1885. Packs with corner indices, along with rounded corners, had been introduced by Woolley & Co as a novelty around 1878-79 and were sold at that time for one shilling per pack. Woolley also took pride in publishing new artistic and eye-catching back designs each season, in several tints, which were inspired by fashion trends of the day. These features, along with enamelled surfaces and competitive prices, were aimed at increasing sales.
Above: Woolley & Co “Eureka” playing cards with rounded corners, small index pips and green decorative back design, c.1880-1885. 52 cards.
Above: another of the "Eureka" type, with the innovative and registered small indices in the corners and a geometric back design, from the 1880s. Image courtesy Jonas Bohn.
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.
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