Red Hat Society playing cards
Society that encourages women in their quest to get the most out of life.
Published in 2004 by the United States Playing Card Company under the Bicycle brand, this pack was produced for the Red Hat Society, an international social organization that was founded in 1998 by Sue Ellen Cooper of Fullerton, California. Originally aimed at women aged 50 and over, the Society is now open to women of all ages. Its purpose is to support women in the pursuit of Fun, Friendship, Freedom, Fitness and the Fulfilment of lifelong dreams, and in so doing, get the most out of life. For more information see here►
Each suit repeats the same images, with the aces and court cards depicting stylized ladies in red hats holding a cup of tea or coffee, and the pip cards showing teapots or coffee pots with cakes, cups, napkins, etc. The two wild cards show a tiered cake stand replete with pastries. There is an extra card which provides a link to the Society’s website • See the box
Above: Red Hat Society playing cards published in 2004 by the United States Playing Card Company.
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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