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.

I am picturing below, five photos of a recently discovered "magic" deck called The Wizard's Pack of Playing Cards, issued by Adams and Company, 25 Bromfield Street, Boston, MA., that is not in the Hochman Encyclopedia. Both the front of the OB and the inside front cover of the accompanying 8-page booklet of directions state "Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by Adams & Co., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington." The first photo is of the front of the original box and the second photo shows the rather plain Ace of Spades. The third photo shows the KH which clearly indicates that this deck was manufactured by Dougherty. The cards are square cornered with no indices and the fourth photo shows the pattern back design. The cards measure 2 15/32" x 3 9/16" but, as is indicated in the instruction booklet, the deck has been taper cut (very subtly) so that one end is approximately 1/32" shorter than the opposite end, thus, enabling the user to perform a variety of tricks with these cards. The fifth photo shows the opening two pages from the booklet of directions. I found it interesting to note that later in that decade, The Waterproof Playing Card Co., would have their place of business several doors down at 50 Bromfield Street but Adams & Co. had already relocated to No. 4 Pearl Street in Boston by 1874. Although the name Adams was quite well known in Boston, I also had to wonder if there was any connection between the Adams who issued this deck and the famous S.S. Adams in N.J. who issued the many different marked decks some 50 years later.

This posting is an attempt at clarifying some of the numbers that often appear on various Aces of Spades among the many brands issued by NYCC. I found this information in a couple of mint decks that still contained the accompanying slips of paper inserted into their respective boxes. This represented one of the ways in which NYCC tried to improve their customer service and guarantee satisfaction.
The first two photographs show the front and back of one of these slips that indicate which sorter at the factory assembled the deck and placed it in it's OB. You will note the numbers "9" on the front and the stamped number "84" on the back. This slip was inserted into a NYCC deck with their celebrated Angel back and a tax stamp dated 1899 so this was the practice at around that time.
The third photograph shows a slip of paper that was inserted into a deck of Triton brand playing cards. Although the tax stamp for this deck is intact, the red cancellation is indistinct and so I cannot identify the date which would tell us when NYCC instituted this new practice of identifying which sorter handled any given deck.
The fourth picture shows the Ace of Spades where we can see the stamped numbers "5 8 4" in the lower right hand corner representing the new way of identifying which sorter handled this deck. Unfortunately, I am unable to determine the significance, if any, of the printed number "713" at the base of this card.
The fifth picture shows the wonderful back design for this deck entitled "Flower Dance" which shows a performer adorned in what appears to be colorful Japanese attire compete with handfuls, and a hat full, of flowers. If anyone can determine when this design was issued then we can determine the circa date when NYCC changed their method of identifying which sorter handled which deck and what measures would have been called for when the incorrect deck was returned to them for replacement.

Given that the "From The Patent Files" page in this month's edition of Card Culture pertains to this deck, I thought the timing was right for me to provide some additional information about this interesting WWI deck whose W24 listing is found in Chapter 20 on page 221 of The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards by Tom and Judy Dawson. Readers of this post should also visit Dave Seaney's informative website fpopc.weebly.com and click on the title "Freedom Playing Cards" shown in the left-hand Menu column in order to provide a point of reference.

I have 3 examples of this deck in my collection and each one of them is different. The first deck appears to have been made by USPC as it has a USPC "10-4-17 7 CENTS" overprint on the tax stamp (TS). I am not an authority on tax stamps, when and how long they were used, but I do find it odd that this TS has a cancellation date that is earlier than the patent date of December 18, 1917 for this deck. This deck also comes in a much plainer OB than the one shown on the fpopc website (please see 1st photo shown below). I found it interesting to note that the top and bottom of this OB state "Ivory Trade Mark" referring to the finish. This is also found on the ends of selected OB's for Bicycle playing cards. This deck has the reversible "Statue of Liberty back with rays" in blue (please refer to the fpopc website for a picture of this back in red). The Ace of Spades is also much plainer than the more decorative ace shown in the encyclopedia and on the fpopc website (please see 2nd photo shown below). As an aside, the other 3 aces in the deck are all standard. The court cards, which repeat in each suit, all show the patent date but are slightly different renditions of Uncle Sam for the kings, Lady Liberty for the queens and a soldier only for the jacks instead of both a soldier and a sailor (please see remaining 3 photos shown below). The reader is encouraged to compare these courts to the ones shown on the fpopc website in order to note the subtle differences. The accompanying joker is the one with the donkey on the dock in between a soldier and a sailor which is already shown on the fpopc website at the top of that article. All of this would seem to indicate that this example is the earliest of the 3 in my collection.

The second deck is the exact same deck which is shown in the article on the fpopc website with the exception that the backs are the same as the one shown in the Card Culture article, but in blue. Again, the 3 aces other than the spade ace are standard. This deck appears to be slightly later than the first deck as it has a TS with a rare cancellation of "L.P.H. 6-9-19" in black with an 8 Cts. overprint in red. This would seem to indicate that this particular deck was manufactured by the short-lived (1 year) Logan Printing House of Chicago. The top and bottom of the OB state "Rapid Shuffle" and "Super-Glaze" respectively. I have only found the "Rapid Shuffle" phrase used on decks made by Midland PCC and their related companies and, strangely, Independent Card Corporation of Johnstown, PA. This deck comes with the "world sweeping away the crowns" joker which does not have the patent date on it and is already shown on the fpopc website as well as on page 13 of the second edition of the supplement to the encyclopedia. The cards also appear to have a linen-like finish.

The third deck is the same as the second deck as far as the designs found on the Ace of Spades, court cards and joker but this back design in red is the same as the one shown in the Card Culture article. The wording on the OB is also identical but these cards have a smooth finish. Based upon the printing on this TS, this deck appears to be the latest of the 3 in my collection. Unfortunately, the cancellation is way off-center but I can make out the numbers 1, 2 and 5 and the letters M, P and Co. which would seem to indicate that this deck was made by Midland PCC but at what address and in what year, I am unable to state with any degree of certainty.

This must be quite a rare deck of cards as it is not fully described in Chapter 33 - Novelty Playing Cards from the Hochman Encyclopedia. I shall attempt to provide greater clarity regarding this deck here. First, the designer of this deck has his name misspelled in the encyclopedia as Castleton. It is, in fact, George Frederick Castleden who was a British-born artist who ultimately moved to New Orleans around the time of WWI and opened his own studio at 622 St. Peter St. This address appears on the sides of the OB (please see first picture of back of OB below). Second, the correct name of these cards is not Mardi Gras cards but, instead, Vieux Carre Playing Cards. The term "Vieux Carre" means Old Square in French and is the French Quarter, the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans and a popular tourist destination. This deck is so titled because, to quote from the extra joker (please see second picture below), it is "A souvenir of the Old French Quarter of New Orleans, sketched from existing sites of historic and romantic interest by the noted artist Geo. F. Castleden in collaboration with Lewis A. Clapp." Each of the 52 cards contains an oval scene in black for the spades and clubs and in red for the hearts and diamonds. Samples of 3 of these cards are shown below followed by the court cards from the diamond suit. The court cards in the major suits, spades and hearts, are identical, showing the Mardi Gras King and Queen, while the jacks show a pirate. The court cards in the minor suits are also identical and essentially the same as the major suits but there are slight changes made to them. The following is a list of the scenes shown on each pip card.

AS - The Cabildo
2S, 2H - Duelling Oaks - City Park
3S, 3H - Stairway - House of the Two Sisters
4S, 4H - Old Louisiana State Bank
5S, 5H - Court of the Lions
6S, 6H - Madame John's Legacy
7S, 7H - Courtyard - Arts and Crafts
8S, 8H - The French Market
9S, 9H - Courtyard - Le Petit Theatre
10S, 10H - Pirate Alley

AH - Saint Anthony's Alley

AD, AC - Gen'l Jackson's Residence
2D, 2C - Jean Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
3D, 3C - Doorway - The Absinthe House
4D, 4C - Courtyard - Gov. Claiborne's Res.
5D, 5C - The Napoleon House
6D, 6C - Old Mortgage and Deeds Bld.
7D, 7C - Saint Louis Cathedral
8D, 8C - The Paul Morphy House
9D, 9C - The Haunted House
10D, 10C - Courtyard - The Cabildo

As can be seen from this list, the scenes on the pip cards are repeated with the exception of the Ace of Spades and the Ace of Hearts making a total of 21 different scenes from the French Quarter plus the 3 different court cards. The card backs show a reversible image of Jackson Square with a one-way title Vieux Carre. There is an accent over the letter "e" in "Carre." The backs came in either red or blue. The entire deck would have consisted of 54 cards in total with a joker and an extra joker but, sadly, my deck lacks the joker. Should any other user of this website have an example of this deck in their collection, I would love to see a picture of this card. This deck was printed in New Orleans by Tropical Prtg. Co., Inc. in 1930 and is copyrighted by G.F. Castleden on 12-1-30. Mr. Castleden also published a series of postcards showing his artwork of various views of the French Quarter which he sold to tourists.

In the words of Monty Python, "...and now for something completely different." Today, I thought I would share pictures of 3 original playing card costume designs all signed and dated "Wilhelm 88". I acquired these some time ago, not knowing what they were, but appreciating their beauty, artistic skill and playing card theme. In trying to figure out what these were, I was aided by some very small wording around the central spade pip shown on the spade figure which read "Theatre Royal Drury Lane". I looked up both this theater and the artist's name online and discovered that Wilhelm was the name used by a well-known English costume designer originally born as William Charles John Pitcher in 1858. He created numerous costume designs for many dramatic productions and for several different theaters. These 3 pieces, then, are original costume designs from 1888 but I do not know for what production. The Victoria & Albert Museum has a similar beautiful piece, signed and dated the same, in it's collection for the role of the Queen of Spades in the December 1888 Theatre Royal Drury Lane production of the English children's tale and pantomime, Babes in the Wood which, as serious playing card collectors know, has it's own American deck listed as SE1 in the Hochman encyclopedia which commemorates the 75th performance of this show at the Boston Theatre on January 10th, 1893. I have been unable to determine, though, whether these 3 designs are for characters in that same production. Although these images look like jacks or knaves to me, they are entitled "10 Spades", "Diamonds 10" and "10. Halberdier Pages Clubs", respectively. Obviously, the character with what appears to be a sandwich board featuring the 10 of Diamonds without indices makes the most sense to me in relation to it's title. The back of each of these 3 pieces has names and numbers written in pencil but, again, I cannot determine if these represent additional playing card characters or actor's names from that specific production. The other thing that I also do not know here is whether or not there exists an image for a heart character so that all 4 suits might be represented. Be that as it may, I find them to be particularly beautiful and a worthy addition to any collection.

Once again, I am taking the liberty of assigning a new reference number to a deck that features what I believe to be a previously unknown variation of the Ace of Spades. Despite the obvious differences, this "new" deck seems to be a variation of the NY27a listing found in Chapter 5 of the Hochman Encyclopedia concerning The New York Consolidated Card Company. This deck must also date from around 1849 as it, too, has Philadelphia printed at the bottom of the card and "American Manufacture" printed in the ribbon, although each in a different typeface. There is also no mention of New York or the Samuel Hart name on this second generic Ace of Spades. The other differences between NY27a and my proposed NY27aa are 15 stars versus 13 stars with different style rays (similar to the treatment found on the Ace of Spades for NY30) and "Phila. Card Manufactory" versus "Philada. Card Manufactory" placed differently around the central spade pip. The encyclopedia states that NY27a came with the familiar Hart Faro courts which are identical to NY27 but this deck comes with the unusual one way courts found in the Charles Bartlet U14 deck and the Samuel Hart NY24 deck. The second photo shows the back design which is a green diamond plaid.

I thought I would share a picture of the original box for this possibly unique deck (front and back of the OB are the same image) as well as show a picture of the frequently found NYCC Best Bower, thus, clarifying the description that appears in the Hochman encyclopedia which states that the NY49 joker was issued with this deck but does not mention which one. The back design is their "celebrated Angel back" in red. This back design also appears on the back of their wonderful pop-up advertising calendars for 1899 & 1900. I cannot explain why this was issued as a "Seconds" deck. It is conceivable, given the significance of the number 35 with NYCC, that this apparent "anniversary" version of the Saladee Patent deck (NY44) was deliberately issued 35 years later utilizing their Squeezer brand which is, coincidentally, number 35. This same number also appears prominently on the front of their fabulous "Here's a Miss Deal" trade card, copyright 1884, which has the clever rhyme on the back relating to "The Game of Whist."

In the absence of a baseball season, so far to date, due to the extraordinary circumstances the country finds itself in these days, I thought I would delve into one of my favorite series of decks issued by the Willis W. Russell Card Co. under their Rustlers brand, known as "The Base-Ball Boys". I intend to provide some information that may not have previously been known and I shall also pose some questions to those who peruse this website in the hope of obtaining even more knowledge in this regard. This series of 6 decks, each featuring a different baseball player on the back in a different pose, comes in blue, red and green. The reference number in the Hochman encyclopedia is SE16. Each deck was put up in it's own unique tuck box printed in the same color as the card back found within, which showed the title of the series and a miniature of the card back contained within. What I find most interesting is that each back design comes with it's own unique phrase printed below the miniature picture on the box. I have 3 pictures below for 3 of the poses while a fourth pose and phrase is shown on page 14 of the 2nd edition of the Supplement & Price Guide to the Hochman encyclopedia in 2004. Here is a list of the 6 poses and the known accompanying phrases for each.

Catcher standing behind a base as if preparing for the next pitch or play - "At the Home Plate"
Outfielder with both hands raised as if preparing to catch the ball - "Getting to Safe Hands" (this pose is shown in the supplement)
Pitcher with both arms raised behind his head as if preparing to deliver a pitch - Unknown
Fielder bent over with both hands lowered as if preparing to field a ground ball - "Shoot it Right This Way"
Fielder bent over with right hand on knee and left hand with ball in glove - Unknown
Fielder with right arm raised and ball in hand as if preparing to throw the ball - "Take a Look at This One"

No matter the pose shown on the card back, each deck has the same joker which is the picture of the catcher and his accompanying phrase and copyright date underneath. The familiar "R" logo corner indices found on most Russell jokers is cleverly formed by 4 baseball bats and a baseball. One question I have for this audience is "Does anyone have original boxes for the remaining 2 poses so that we can identify their respective phrases and, thus, finally have a record of all 6 of them? I have shown the 2 poses below in red, for which I am missing their phrases.

I also have a 1910 baseball schedule for the Cleveland team issued by the Plain Dealer newspaper. The encyclopedia shows a schedule for the Washington team from the same year issued by the Washington Herald newspaper. My second question is "Does anyone have a baseball schedule card from this series for any of the other 6 teams from 1910? It is important to note that although the Rustlers brand has a copyright date of 1906, "The Base-ball Boys" variation actually has a copyright date of 1910 which might help to explain why the two known baseball schedules are both from that year.

It has also been stated in the encyclopedia that "We cannot determine if these photos represented particular players, or just players fielding different positions."  I noticed that the team name on the players' uniforms says "Ludlow" and so I wondered if there ever was such a team and, sure enough, to my pleasant surprise, there was. Interestingly it was not in New Jersey where the Russell factory was located. I believe the players shown on the card backs from this series are real ball players from the 1910 Ludlow, Kentucky team. I am unsure as to whether they were a minor league team or a semi-pro team. I found a photograph of this team on the website entitled nkyviews.com and I believe that the outfielder pose is the player shown on the left and the fielder preparing to throw the ball is the player shown as the second from the right. I do not know how to import a photo from one website to another so interested readers will have to go to the cited website to see it for themselves. I am unable to match, to my satisfaction, the faces from the remaining 4 poses to any of the others shown in the team photograph. I also do not have the necessary internet research skills required to unearth the actual identities of the players and so I shall leave that task, again, to interested readers.

A while ago, I had shown four seldom seen original boxes from the National Card Co. because I thought the designs on them were beautiful. It was also interesting to note that the front and back of each box was different. Today, I am presenting four seldom seen original boxes from the Bay State Card Co. because I think their designs are attractive, although not quite in the same class as the National boxes. It is unfortunate that the same designs shown here are repeated on both sides of the box and so there is not as much artistic effort on display in these instances.
The Colonial No. 20 brand is referred to in the Hochman encyclopedia under the SU23 listing in the Standard Playing Card Co. chapter whereas the Four-In-Hand No. 22 brand is referred to under the SU24 listing in the same chapter. The Judge No. 97 brand is referred to under the SU28 listing, also in the same chapter, and two different boxes issued for this brand are shown in the second photo. This brand was also issued with a later, much less visually interesting, box with only wording on it and no accompanying artwork, therefore, it is not shown here.

In the "And now for something completely different" department, I thought I would share a few early movie advertisements that used playing cards to promote them.
The first two photos show the front and back of a two card folder that uses the two red queens to promote a couple of 1920 shows. The Queen of Hearts shows Madge Kennedy appearing in a stage play called "Cornered". The accompanying Queen of Diamonds shows Mitzi (Hajos) appearing in a musical romance called "Lady Billy".
The third photo shows the front and back of a Jack of Spades used to advertise the 1922 silent comedy film "Dr. Jack" starring Harold Lloyd.
The fourth photo shows the front and back of a King of Hearts used to advertise the 1925 silent romantic comedy film "The King on Main Street" starring Adolphe Menjou.
The fifth photo shows only the back of a standard Goodall style King of Hearts (Le Roi de couers) used to advertise the French version of the 1932 American movie "No Man of Her Own" starring Clark Gable.
These are just a few examples of how playing cards could be cleverly used by imaginative promoters to get the public interested in seeing their shows. It may also have been no coincidence that Bridge was quite popular during this particular time period.

The four photos below show, in order, two different original boxes for this brand (a telescope case for the gold edged version and a tuck box for the plain edged "seconds" version); a sample card and the standard King Henry VIII joker for this brand; followed by the 6 known back designs for this brand that are in my collection. If anyone else has any additional back designs to share for this brand, I would appreciate seeing them posted on this website. The variation of the fencing lady with the brown border shown in the center of the fourth photo also comes in a black border but I consider that just a color variation and not a separate back design.

In a continuing effort to provide additional information above and beyond what has already been provided in the Hochman Encyclopedia, I am presenting photos of the front and back of the original box plus a comparison image of the later Picket brand which uses the same number 515.
I am also showing, apparently for the first time, an image of the joker together with the Ace of Spades and the back design.