Blue Ribbon 323 - Cinncinnati, OH - Unopened

[af3421]

Hi there. I'm new to the forum and don't know much about vintage playing cards. I did, however, recently come upon these four packs of unopened Blue Ribbon 323 playing cards made by the U.S. Playing Card Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm wondering if someone can share some information about these cards. Interested in history/background, possible date of production, estimated value, etc.

Any help would be much appreciated. I searched the forums but didn't come across too much...if I missed a previous post, please let me know.

[andrew daugherty]

Blue Ribbon is a classic USPC brand. Based on the modern seal, I would place these decks as made in the late 70s or early 80s before USPC discontinued the brand in the purge that may also have included the Aristocrats. The rosette back is another classic going back to the early twentieth century. These cards have a special ace, standard jokers and the usual USPC court cards. I last bought new Blue Ribbons in a game store in Louisville in 1990. The box had a bar code, IIRC, and the cards dated to the mid 80s.

These are rare finds today, especially sealed. Long out of print. They would handle no differently than Bees or Bikes of the same period. Original sale price was also in the Bee and Bike range, $2.75 at that store in 1990. 

Chris Turner
aka Andrew.

[Don Boyer]

Nice find you have there!

I know just a little about Blue Ribbons, all of it found by researching it after reading your post!  They're often associated with the Aristocrat brand - the various backs for both deck brands originated with the American Banknote Company.

These may only barely be vintage.  USPC started using the company seals instead of tax stamps in 1965, and they didn't switch from the liquid-activated adhesive stamps to the sticker seals until sometime in the 1980s, I think.

A timeline for you - a history of the Blue Ribbon brand, uncovered by a little poking around the Internet:

1881 - Russell & Morgan Co. is founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, printing (among other things) circus posters.
1894 - After a few name changes, Russell & Morgan became the United States Playing Card Co., better known today as USPC.  By this time, they are focused exclusively on printing and selling playing cards.
1905 - Willis W. Russell Card Co. is founded in Milltown, New York.
1908 - American Banknote Company of New York City expands into the playing card business.  They're noted for some exquisite engraved designs resembling the intaglio printing found on many currencies of the day.
1912 - W.W. Russell merges with the newly founded Russell Playing Card Company from the same town, doing business under the newer company's name.  In that same year, the Aristocrat brand is created by Russell.
1914 - Finding the playing card business less profitable than originally thought, American Banknote sells off its playing card business to Russell PCC.  They now own those really nice back designs ABNC created and start using them for their Aristocrat decks.
1916 - While not completely certain, I believe that this is the year that Russell PCC created the Blue Ribbon brand, using more of the ABNC-created designs for the backs.  Early printings of the decks are copyrighted 1916 on the tuck box.
1929 - Russell PCC is sold, becoming a division of USPC.  The company name is still in use for several years thereafter - a common practice for USPC when acquiring some of the companies they've purchased.
1980s - USPC discontinues the Aristocrat brand.  I'm not certain, but it's possible that Blue Ribbon was also dropped in that same era.
2010 - USPC creates a reprinted version of the Aristocrat decks, using dark red and metallic gold inks and a slightly redesigned Ace of Spades.

Assuming all this research is correct, you may have among the last decks of Blue Ribbons printed, likely made within five years or less of the brand being discontinued.  What I uncovered seems to dovetail nicely with what Chris Turner knows about them.

[52plusjoker]

A couple of date adjustments to Don's post. Willis W Russell started the Blue Ribbon brand in 1907 [wide cards]. Russell Playing Card Co. produced a narrow Blue Ribbon c1912 and slightly different versions over the years until USPC started putting their name on the brand in the mid-1930's. See Hochman Encyclopedia RU8, RU8a, RU8b and RU8d

[af3421]

Thanks for info/background! The store where I purchased these has/had probably 7-8 more unopened packs. Are these of interest to you all as collectors? If so, what's the value of a deck? (Or is it more of a potential trade piece?)

Not sure I'll go down this road, as I'm not (currently) a playing card collector. I do appreciate cool vintage/old items, however.

Thanks again.

[Lee Asher]

These may only barely be vintage.  USPC started using the company seals instead of tax stamps in 1965, and they didn't switch from the liquid-activated adhesive stamps to the sticker seals until sometime in the 1980s, I think.

One more adjustment... I believe (and this is still up for debate) USPC switched over to those sticker seals in 1976. This corresponds with Mr. Turner's correct assessment of the date.

[Don Boyer]

These may only barely be vintage.  USPC started using the company seals instead of tax stamps in 1965, and they didn't switch from the liquid-activated adhesive stamps to the sticker seals until sometime in the 1980s, I think.

One more adjustment... I believe (and this is still up for debate) USPC switched over to those sticker seals in 1976. This corresponds with Mr. Turner's correct assessment of the date.

Good - I'd been looking for a more precise date on when that occurred!  Now I just need to find the date they started using UPC codes on their decks...

[Mr.parangot]

I don't remember the price, but I was surprised when i saw them on eBay for around 100$ each. So if you know the store you should get those decks No guarantee for the price though, but i remember it being high.