Thank you for sharing your research.

hi,Chuqii

There is not much I alone can do.
I think the industry of researching Playing Cards is fragile.
I believe that we should all complement our history before our current generation ends.
If we do not do so, we may not be around for the next generation.

I will share with you all what I can.

*Supplemental Explanation

I forgot to write this here.
I'm not very good at explaining things.

There is one more important point.

That is that the CODE 'A' found in the standard deck is listed on the joker as far as I know.

The main reason I focused on the Fireside Game Company is to find out when 'when CODE'A was printed on the Ace of Spades' started.

It is possible that the Ace of Spades in the standard deck may have been printed on the joker because of the design elegance of the design.

If that is correct, it may be really hard to find CODE 'A' in the 1898 standard deck.

Or it may not exist.

With this in mind, I began this research.

as a result,
The USPCC's establishment of a dummy company between 1895 and 1900 was, for me, the savior of'for CODE  studies'.

If the dating code printed on the EDICATIONAL GAME SERIES proves to be correct, I think it will be possible to identify other decks that were previously unclear.

(Of course not all.)

I'm pretty sure the USPCC CODE didn't start in 1904'G', as indicated by'Hochman Code', but in 1898'A'.

With this, I feel that all the Dating code problems that started with'TIGER No.101' and were interrupted have been resolved.

EDUCATIONAL GAME SERIES was produced under three company names: Fireside Game Company, Cincinnati Game Company, U.S. Playing Cards Company.

There are small reasons why I looked at this brand to identify the USPCC CODE "A".

That is the difference in the color of the ink.
I think that EDUCATIONAL GAME SERIES was manufactured until the latter half of the 1920s, but the color of the print changes between the first edition, the second edition, and the third edition.

However, the initial dating code had some uncertainties such as the USPCC company name, TAX STAMP, and index design, and it was not possible to conclude that it was completely correct.

And I thought it was because I was paying attention only to the standard deck.

That's why I changed my perspective.

in order to fully identify the code.

At the beginning, the code was printed on the joker. See image

The image is USPCC CODE "A" decks.

(Images courtesy World of Playing Cards - www.wopc.co.uk)

supplement

The current dating code has been elucidated and published until 1899.
as a matter of fact,
The date of manufacture was also mentioned on the deck before 1898, before the company name changed.


Even after it was written on the card, at the beginning it was only a one-digit or two-digit number, not a CODE with an alphabet.

However, we believe that we changed to USPCC CODE because the number of production increased due to the expansion of the factory and the acquisition of other Playing Cards companies.


So the 'dating code' started right after the USPCC was founded.
It has been a 'USPCC rule' since its foundation.

And that's something that a lot of people, if a collector or a researcher, have noticed.

Please check it out and make a decision.
You can find aces with dating codes by searching the net.

However,
Apart from these, I think you should continue to look for the code "A" in the bicycle brand.

In a deck made by'Fireside Game Company'
I couldn't find the code on the deck before 1898.

As will be described later, I think that this is definitely a Dating Code because the continuity and regularity can be confirmed firmly.



'Nationalities' card game published by the Fireside Game Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, c.1897.

'Chestnut Burrs' card game published by the Fireside Game Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, c.1896.


Images from World of Playing Cards,
Quotes from past ebay etc.

Fireside Game Company changed its name to Cincinnati Game Company from 1900 to 1901, but the series seems to have survived and been in production.

I can see the USPCC code on the ace of spades on this deck, but it is "N", so I guess it was made in 1910.

'Fireside Bible Game' (No.1124)
published by The Fireside Game Co., Cincinnati, USA, 1899.
CODE"B"

(Images courtesy World of Playing Cards - www.wopc.co.uk)

When I saw this, I thought, 'The beginning code A might start with an exceptional deck.'.

After that, I decided to leave Bee and BICYCLE brand and look for it from a different perspective.

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preamble
I think things start with exceptions.

New discoveries and inventions are seen as "eccentric" because they are outside the realm of common sense.
That can't be helped, so I don't care.

How are you?

my name is Touya Yabuhashi, a Playing Cards researcher living in Japan.


In the USPCC CODE, I found the code of "A" which corresponds to 1898, which has been considered to be nonexistent for a long time, so I contacted you.

 "GAME OF ARTISTS Playing Cards"(1897~1900)
The code for this PlayingCards is "A".
This brand was produced for only a few years. The image deck is therefore considered to be a proof produced in 1898.

Could you check this, please?
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Fireside Game Company (fl. 1895 -1900) of Cincinnati, Ohio was active from 1895 to 1900. During this period it issued 31 different card games, each numerically identified starting with, Strange People, game number 1100. With regard to our cartographic interests only game no. 1110, Population features maps. The organization appears to have been a subsidiary of the United States Playing Card Company intended to promote 'Educational Games.' After 1900 or so the company was renamed The Cincinnati Game Company.