Today I will share a deck from my collection that you might not have seen too many times. It has an interesting history and a great art deco look. It was apparently featured in a book on Art Deco playing cards by Uwe Volker Segeth, but I don't have a copy of the book. If you do, perhaps you could share some additional information. Almost everything I know about this deck I learned here:
http://www.dxpo-playingcards.com/xpo/deck-month/pages/deck-10-12.htmThe deck was a special edition for the 5th US Army, made in 1945 by Vannini from Florence, Italy. On the back design there's a red bull skull, which can also be found on one of the jokers. This skull refers to the 34th "Red Bull" Infantry Division, which was only one of the Divisions of the 5th US Army. The liberation of Florence came on August 4, 1944. But the war in the whole of Italy officially ended on May 2, 1945, when the last German troops surrendered and the Division had reached the French border.
As you can see in the pictures below, the court cards are fantastic! Even better, one of the jokers features Hitler and Mussolini waving the white flag of surrender. Check them out:
EDIT: I forgot to mention the period writing on my decks' blank card- helps date the deck...