I wanted to show a couple of different advertising decks for the Key Route which was a ferry service from Oakland to San Francisco that began in 1903.
The first deck was produced by USPC a year or two after this beginning and it was issued using their Treasury No. 89 brand. It featured the Hochman US18e Ace of Spades (shown on page 97 in the encyclopedia), plain edges, a unique joker with the fine print "US" indices showing the "S.F. Ferry Building" and a special back design showing what may have been their first ferry boat named the "Yerba Buena" (please see the first two photos below). The third photo shows the special advertising slipcase that housed this deck.
The second deck was produced by NYCC several years later after the company had apparently grown and it was issued using their Squeezers No. 35 brand. I have shown the Ace of Spades (please see the fourth photo), which is not shown in Hochman, although it must be one of the variations described under the NY49 listing and the "standard" joker which is usually associated with their Mascotte No. 69 brand (Hochman NY56). This deck also came with plain edges but features a completely redesigned back (please see the fifth photo) that now shows their enlarged fleet of five ferry boats. They are the San Francisco (featured in the center), the Yerba Buena, the Claremont, the Fernwood and the San Jose. Unfortunately, I do not have the original box for this deck and so am unable to either show or describe it to the viewers of this website.
These decks make a nice complement to any steamship advertising section of one's playing card collection.
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