("Squeezers") Bulldog & DeLand Nifty - one 'marked', one with odd joker & AoS?

[Mike Ratledge]

I tried to post this twice and it just went south - not sure why...  Attempt #3 failed as well, so I'm cut 'n' pasting one more try:

Let's try one more time: two decks of Hochman's NU57 varieties - both a little odd to my eye, anyway.

One's a Bulldog Squeezer with a different AoS than any I've seen - nor can I find it listed in Hochman's encyclopedia.  Marked "New York Consolidated" and "Long Island City" on the tuck box.

The second is a marked deck of Steamboat #220 with a different (marked) back than the usual diamond pattern for these (which includes "Bee #92").  Odd looking baseball-themed AoS as well and a Joker that I can't place elsewhere nor find in Hochman's.  Is this just a marked deck, Tom?  Is it actually unusual?  I know that they printed enough of these to wallpaper both of our houses, but . . .  This one is "Consolidate Dougherty" on the tuck.

[Daniel Wilson]

Mike; your second deck is a DeLand Nifty deck; I recognized the Joker.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/3729612163364031/

My copy of Hochman lists it as N3, 1925 or after (since it has the baseball Ace).

[Mike Ratledge]

Mike; your second deck is a DeLand Nifty deck; I recognized the Joker.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/3729612163364031/

My copy of Hochman lists it as N3, 1925 or after (since it has the baseball Ace).

Interesting!  I would have never found that one.  So, somebody took the deck and put it in the wrong tuck somewhere along the way in the past 80-something years.  Curious, I knew for certain that it wasn't what I was used to seeing as a Steamboat #220.

I forgot to mention that the "F" date code puts it at 1925 on the other (Bulldog) deck as well.

Thanks, Daniel!

[52plusjoker]

Mike; your second deck is a DeLand Nifty deck; I recognized the Joker.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/3729612163364031/

My copy of Hochman lists it as N3, 1925 or after (since it has the baseball Ace).

Interesting!  I would have never found that one.  So, somebody took the deck and put it in the wrong tuck somewhere along the way in the past 80-something years.  Curious, I knew for certain that it wasn't what I was used to seeing as a Steamboat #220.

I forgot to mention that the "F" date code puts it at 1925 on the other (Bulldog) deck as well.

Thanks, Daniel!

The Squeezer deck looks different from any Ace I've seen based on memory [I'm in Indiana with no references]. Have to research it! Cool.

[Mike Ratledge]

Mike; your second deck is a DeLand Nifty deck; I recognized the Joker.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/3729612163364031/

My copy of Hochman lists it as N3, 1925 or after (since it has the baseball Ace).

Interesting!  I would have never found that one.  So, somebody took the deck and put it in the wrong tuck somewhere along the way in the past 80-something years.  Curious, I knew for certain that it wasn't what I was used to seeing as a Steamboat #220.

I forgot to mention that the "F" date code puts it at 1925 on the other (Bulldog) deck as well.

Thanks, Daniel!

The Squeezer deck looks different from any Ace I've seen based on memory [I'm in Indiana with no references]. Have to research it! Cool.

Interesting. I missed by one on the date code, by the way: 1924. Close enough...

[Don Boyer]

If you didn't notice this already, like most DeLand decks, this one is thoroughly marked on the back, allowing you to not only identify the top card, but if the deck is in the correct stack order, you would also be able to identify the location of every single other card in the pack!  The DeLand Automatic deck, still available today if you know where to look, was a different back design but with very similar features.

There's also a chance it's been stripped - in fact, looking at it, I suspect it might be, though the edge-strip appears to be extremely shallow, meant for a more professional touch.  That was another common feature of DeLand decks.

It's also quite possible that someone intentionally rather than accidentally slipped this deck into the Steamboats tuck box to conceal the fact that it was a tricked-out deck.  When I was younger, people knew about these DeLand decks and could usually spot them easily enough, but with the current generation, it's entirely possible they're clueless about it.  After all, you can't tweet with it, listen to music, receive texts or play "Angry Birds"...

[Mike Ratledge]

I immediately knew that it was marked - see OP. Do you know the "secret sauce"? IHNI what to do to decode, but I'm certain that a lengthy inspection would reveal...

[52plusjoker]

I immediately knew that it was marked - see IP. Do you know the "secret sauce"? IHNI what to do to decode, but I'm certain that a lengthy inspection would reveal...

They came with instructions. U could easily find on internet I expect.

[Mike Ratledge]

Yes, you can get the "automatic" deck from Amazon for $5-7 depending on which seller, and they carry the marked Madison deck for about $10. I grabbed one of each and used my Cashback and Prime account. They will be here ostensibly Thursday - likely Friday and I paid nothing, or used part of a credit on file.

The automatic deck is easy to find information about, but the nifty, star and others - not so much. I will chase down a few links and see what I turn up.

Don, is there any way to mid the title to "DeLand Nifty" as opposed to Steamboat #220? I fixed the OP, but can't change the title.

[Don Boyer]

I immediately knew that it was marked - see OP. Do you know the "secret sauce"? IHNI what to do to decode, but I'm certain that a lengthy inspection would reveal...

DeLand was fond of using a clock pattern - 1 through 12 for values (outer ring), 1 through 4 for suits (inner ring), and a card with suit but no value was a king.  Each circle represented a card in the deck (or at least 52 of them did), and you could use the markings to figure out what card was where.  There's a pattern to it, I'm sure, but it's not impossible to figure out.  The stack order would be a little trickier to suss out, but it's just a matter of learning to read the markings.  If you compared two cards, you'd probably get it all in no time.

Don, is there any way to mid the title to "DeLand Nifty" as opposed to Steamboat #220? I fixed the OP, but can't change the title.

If you change the title of the first post, you change the title of the entire topic.  The new title will appear the next time you load the page.

[Mike Ratledge]

Aye, Don.  The clocks all are similar on "Nifty", "Dollar", "Star", etc, but not the same.  I'll mess with it a bit when I have a little time to spare: time is at a premium at the moment.  This was so obviously marked it was an easy spot, and I've found the "Dollar" decoder online, as you noted it's still printed as "S S Adams $100 deck" but made in China as opposed to the ones formerly made by USPCC.  That one's pretty straight-forward, as the 'clocks' indicate spades in the top center, diamonds left second row, hearts right center row (2nd down) and club in the 3rd row center.  As far as reading the next card, how many left in the deck, etc - that all depends on you having the proper stack, and I'm pretty certain it's the same for all the DeLand decks.  I believe someone already pointed out Theodore DeLand actually made the plates himself for these, and since they are single-color, it's an easy (??) but maybe slightly time-dependent trick to work it out - but of course being able to flip the cards around and see what you're looking at should make it almost trivial, I suspect.  I've seen that $100 Deck (still branded as S S Adams) for sale for under $6 on Amazon in red or blue, and it's a stripper deck, so I wouldn't be surprised to find this one is tapered although it does not appear to be.  Of course, it could be a very subtle taper.  I found a 4-page PDF scan of the original instruction (I'm told the modern decks printed in China don't get into the stripper much) are quite complete for the currently still available deck, but if you look at the backs back in the OP, it's not a large clock face like that one, it's more of a circle with pointers inside type marking.  I'm sure I'll figure it out and when I do I'll put together a PDF file using Acrobat to detail the "DeLand Nifty" decoder ring.

[Don Boyer]

Aye, Don.  The clocks all are similar on "Nifty", "Dollar", "Star", etc, but not the same.  I'll mess with it a bit when I have a little time to spare: time is at a premium at the moment.  This was so obviously marked it was an easy spot, and I've found the "Dollar" decoder online, as you noted it's still printed as "S S Adams $100 deck" but made in China as opposed to the ones formerly made by USPCC.  That one's pretty straight-forward, as the 'clocks' indicate spades in the top center, diamonds left second row, hearts right center row (2nd down) and club in the 3rd row center.  As far as reading the next card, how many left in the deck, etc - that all depends on you having the proper stack, and I'm pretty certain it's the same for all the DeLand decks.  I believe someone already pointed out Theodore DeLand actually made the plates himself for these, and since they are single-color, it's an easy (??) but maybe slightly time-dependent trick to work it out - but of course being able to flip the cards around and see what you're looking at should make it almost trivial, I suspect.  I've seen that $100 Deck (still branded as S S Adams) for sale for under $6 on Amazon in red or blue, and it's a stripper deck, so I wouldn't be surprised to find this one is tapered although it does not appear to be.  Of course, it could be a very subtle taper.  I found a 4-page PDF scan of the original instruction (I'm told the modern decks printed in China don't get into the stripper much) are quite complete for the currently still available deck, but if you look at the backs back in the OP, it's not a large clock face like that one, it's more of a circle with pointers inside type marking.  I'm sure I'll figure it out and when I do I'll put together a PDF file using Acrobat to detail the "DeLand Nifty" decoder ring.

Well, I haven't actually seen a DeLand deck face-to-faces since 1990.  I think they were being made by USPC in Cincinnati at the time, I'm not sure.  I know that the deck has also frequently been seen with a giant Arrco Ace of Spades.  It would be a shame indeed if the modern DeLand decks are being made at a factory doing the work to "dollar store" standards.

[Mike Ratledge]

The Squeezer deck looks different from any Ace I've seen based on memory [I'm in Indiana with no references]. Have to research it! Cool.

Tom, we're you able to chase down any information on the Ace? I found another (Pinochle) Squeezers deck and it came in today. I'll make a separate post about that one...

[52plusjoker]

The Squeezer deck looks different from any Ace I've seen based on memory [I'm in Indiana with no references]. Have to research it! Cool.

Tom, we're you able to chase down any information on the Ace? I found another (Pinochle) Squeezers deck and it came in today. I'll make a separate post about that one...

I haven't seen it before - your deck from 1927 I think. Found the same Ace being used today for this deck - [Lee Asher website - http://www.leeasher.com/store/playing_cards/bulldog_squeezers_red.html

[Mike Ratledge]

The very light (in yellow) "F" date code tells me it was made in 1924, but you can't say for certain when it hit the streets, of course.  That is indeed the identical ace that is used in the reproduction on Lee's website.