Hart's Squeezers #352

[soonerhart]

I joined the forum to find out about theses cards that I have had for years. Any info would be appreciated. I have searched and seen other pictures but I can't find the basics, like how old are they and how much are they worth. They are Hart's No. 352 Squeezers with back No. 58. The box is open but the cards are still sealed in the wax paper.
Thanks for any info you can offer.

[Don Boyer]

I hope you don't mind, but I moved your post to "A Cellar of Fine Vintages," our vintage deck forum.

You have a FINE specimen of a deck there.  I can't tell in the photo, but judging from size the tax stamp compared to the deck, I'm guessing those are miniatures?  I've only ever seen this deck design in poker size, and there was a reprint of the back made a few years ago by the U.S. Playing Card Company (USPC).

Squeezers was a popular term for cards with indices, back when the index was first developed.  You could "squeeze" the cards together in your hand and still know what you were holding.

The back design itself has an interesting history.  It pictures two bulldogs, "Trip" and "Squeezer" chained to their respective doghouses, with a moon smiling in the background and that quote, "There is a tie that binds us to our Homes."  It's designed to commemorate a rather famous act of collusion between two companies!  In the early days of the indexed playing card (which came about roughly in the 1870s), New York Consolidated Card Company had their "Squeezers" brand, with a letter and a suit symbol in the upper left corner when rotated either way, while A. Dougherty had their "Triplicates" brand, with miniature images of the entire card in the upper left corner when rotated either way.  Rather than duke it out, fighting for market share, they colluded to split the market, with Squeezers dominating in one half of the country and Triplicates in the other.  (I forget which had which, but based on the placement of the dogs in the image, I would guess "Trip" had the North, "Squeezer" had the South.)  The date on Trip's doghouse, 1877, is the date the agreement was finalized.

It didn't last for very long, however - Russell Morgan Printing became the USPC in 1891, bought NYCC in 1894, bought Dougherty in 1907, merged the two into Consolidated Dougherty Co. in 1930 and absorbed them into the parent company in 1962.

Now, while your deck does say "The N.Y. Consolidated Card Co." on it, that's no guarantee that the deck was made while the company was still independent or at least an independent division of USPC.  To this day, USPC still makes Tally Ho Playing Cards with the A. Dougherty brand name on them, despite the company no longer existing under that name for the past 85 years.  The tax stamp makes me think it's not older than my estimate of early 1940s - but then again, I'm assuming it's a "1 Pack" stamp and not something else, because it's not fully intact.  In fact, as I look closer, it could also be the "10 cents" wide stamp, in used from 1929 to 1940.  The cancellation appears to say "C.D.C.", which would be Consolidated Dougherty, which existed from 1930 to 1962.

OK, gathering my thoughts and based on all this observation, I'd say you have a "Depression Era" deck, made between 1930-1940, assuming that's a 10 cents stamp.  If it's a 1 Pack stamp, it's likely sometime in the early to middle 1940s at most - I don't think they were still packaging cards like this by the 1950s.  Under no circumstances was the deck made later than 1962.

[soonerhart]

Don, thanks for the very thorough reply. The stamp does say CDC. I'm not sure what miniatures would be so I am attaching a photo with a ruler. I have had these cards since the early '90s and if they are worth anything I will leave them sealed in the wrapper, but if they are not worth much I am wanting to open them. Do you know what they are worth sealed vs. unsealed? Happy 4th!
 

[HankMan]

that looks like standard poker size to me 

I will leave the price to someone else, I am not an expert at that

[Lee Asher]

I'd say they are worth more in the wrapper, but it depends on your buyer. Nice find by the way!

[Don Boyer]

Must have just been my eyes - the stamp seemed so large on the box.  But it's indeed poker sized - length 3.5 inches, width 2.5 inches.

As long as the wrapper is intact, you can plainly state the cards are in unused condition, in which case they're probably more valuable.  The opened tuck box wouldn't have a very big bearing on the value, I would think - people do like an intact box with an intact tax stamp, but in this case, the wrapper demonstrates the cards have never been handled.  It the box were somehow deteriorated, that might ding the value down just a little.

[andrew daugherty]

The embossed Squeezers seal on the glassine paper further validates Don's date estimate.  Similar seals are found on new Congress and Bicycle decks of the same period. Also, the split across the box accommodates the "Back No. 58" card so a buyer would know what design is in the box. That would indicate the maker likely sold other poker card designs with this same box.  The split is more common on bridge deck boxes from all the major manufacturers of the day, USPC included. 

USPC made Squeezers with this back until the early to mid 90s. Angel backs (and probably others) also used the name in more modern days. The latest Squeezers are on par with Bicycle or Bees, have the less-frilly Samuel Hart ace, the usual USPC face cards and the Tally Ho joker. 

Chris Turner

[soonerhart]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know the value?

[Rob Wright]

I picked up a deck like this last year at the convention for $50. Mine is not wax sealed, and not quite as good tuck.

[Don Boyer]

I picked up a deck like this last year at the convention for $50. Mine is not wax sealed, and not quite as good tuck.

This one isn't wax-sealed, either.  I think it's just an embossed sticker or stamp.  Unlike this seal, the old wax seals USPC used to use were monochrome.

I can't specifically find an entry in the Hochman's Price Guide for this deck.  The closest equivalents I could find in the Encyclopedia were NY49 and NY50, which came in a few varieties.  The Ace of Spades, however, would seem to be the one used for some varieties of NY50.  In mint condition (and these look pretty mint to me, based on the photo), a pack of "Hart's Squeezers" would fetch $20, but a pack of "Hart's Squeezers #351" would fetch $200.  Yours is probably closer in value to the latter than the former, I would guess, but how close, I couldn't say.  If your deck is a new, previously unknown variety, maybe it's worth more than even that, but that's something a person like Tom Dawson would know far better than I would.

[soonerhart]

You are correct Don, it looks like a sticker is keeping it sealed.
Thanks

[52plusjoker]

I'd estimate they are worth about $50-75 in this condition and still sealed. This is NY57 in Hochman Encyclopedia.

[Don Boyer]

I'd estimate they are worth about $50-75 in this condition and still sealed. This is NY57 in Hochman Encyclopedia.

You're far better than me at finding those details.  It does look like a really good deck, in great condition.

[Rob Wright]

I picked up a deck like this last year at the convention for $50. Mine is not wax sealed, and not quite as good tuck.

This one isn't wax-sealed, either.  I think it's just an embossed sticker or stamp.  Unlike this seal, the old wax seals USPC used to use were monochrome.

My oops, I meant sealed in the paper(it looks like wax paper)

[soonerhart]

Thanks guys!