A Beautiful Piece of Playing Card History...

[jmrock]

Unfortunately I did not win this, although I did bid rather heavy on it... Within the last 4 seconds, the bidding jumped from $40 to $375... What colors... From the late 1800s... Can you believe how these colors pop...

[RandyButterfield]

That is beautiful! Is it poster sized or is it a small flyer / ad?

It's good to see you post again JMRock!

Thanks, Randy

[jmrock]

It's 3.5 inches by 7 inches or so... Is this fantastic or what... Would have looked really nice framed in my office...

[10ofclubs]

That is really beautiful. I actually bought my first card posters on eBay yesterday. They weren't anything special like this though; just some things from the 40's or so. But that's pretty salty for such a small paper, don't you think?

[Don Boyer]

That is really beautiful. I actually bought my first card posters on eBay yesterday. They weren't anything special like this though; just some things from the 40's or so. But that's pretty salty for such a small paper, don't you think?

Salty?  That's got to be slang for something, but I don't know what.

I think that card looks gorgeous.  They REALLY knew how to print back then, all handcrafted, artistic work - quality automated printing presses were still a way off in the late 19th-century.  Decks themselves were expensive in inflation-adjusted dollars because of this - I don't think it was until the turn of the century if not later that the prices really dropped enough to make them affordable to everyone.  It's why deck presses were quite common in the antebellum years and far less so heading into the 20th century - the presses were used to flatten the cards and get the maximum amount of life out of them, and typically it was the saloons and taverns that owned the decks rather than the patrons; they were thought to be that expensive that most common folk couldn't afford them.

[10ofclubs]

That is really beautiful. I actually bought my first card posters on eBay yesterday. They weren't anything special like this though; just some things from the 40's or so. But that's pretty salty for such a small paper, don't you think?

Salty?  That's got to be slang for something, but I don't know what.

I think that card looks gorgeous.  They REALLY knew how to print back then, all handcrafted, artistic work - quality automated printing presses were still a way off in the late 19th-century.  Decks themselves were expensive in inflation-adjusted dollars because of this - I don't think it was until the turn of the century if not later that the prices really dropped enough to make them affordable to everyone.  It's why deck presses were quite common in the antebellum years and far less so heading into the 20th century - the presses were used to flatten the cards and get the maximum amount of life out of them, and typically it was the saloons and taverns that owned the decks rather than the patrons; they were thought to be that expensive that most common folk couldn't afford them.

Salty means expensive. I was just saying 400 dollars for something the size of an index card kind of surprised me, that's all.

[52plusjoker]

That is really beautiful. I actually bought my first card posters on eBay yesterday. They weren't anything special like this though; just some things from the 40's or so. But that's pretty salty for such a small paper, don't you think?

Salty?  That's got to be slang for something, but I don't know what.

I think that card looks gorgeous.  They REALLY knew how to print back then, all handcrafted, artistic work - quality automated printing presses were still a way off in the late 19th-century.  Decks themselves were expensive in inflation-adjusted dollars because of this - I don't think it was until the turn of the century if not later that the prices really dropped enough to make them affordable to everyone.  It's why deck presses were quite common in the antebellum years and far less so heading into the 20th century - the presses were used to flatten the cards and get the maximum amount of life out of them, and typically it was the saloons and taverns that owned the decks rather than the patrons; they were thought to be that expensive that most common folk couldn't afford them.

One great thing about playing card ephemera like this store card [likely displayed under a glass counter top] is that the playing card printers did their own - and of course they did their best work for their best customer, themselves.

[Don Boyer]

One great thing about playing card ephemera like this store card [likely displayed under a glass counter top] is that the playing card printers did their own - and of course they did their best work for their best customer, themselves.

Not only that, but most of them ended up in the trash or put to other uses, like note taking, plugging up a mouse hole, starting a fire in the fireplace or wood-burning heater, etc.  Shopkeepers didn't generally keep old signs lying around - they usually reserve that kind of space for backstock or floor merchandise.  They also weren't printed in huge quantities in the first place - a retailer stocking a few dozen decks or more with new inventory coming in over time only needed one sign.  There are fewer of these signs than there are antique decks of the period, without a doubt.