New Discovery - Two Narrow Decks

[tobyedwards]

It is rare that I have occasion to mention narrow decks, however, the two that I am presenting today are worthy of being introduced to those who visit this website, as neither currently appears in the Hochman Encyclopedia.

The first photo shows two original tuck boxes, one of which is for a new brand called Cameo by The Independent Card Corporation of Johnstown, PA, circa 1926. I show this deck as a response to the note in the encyclopedia under the MSW89 listing which states that "... it is surprising that this company did not leave a mark of more success." Given the dates of activity for this manufacturer, it is entirely logical that we should discover a narrow-sized deck made by them during a period of great popularity for the game of bridge. As a collector, I am delighted to have found it in Mint Sealed condition but, unfortunately, this prevents me from sharing anything more than the design of the original box, as I shall not be the first to break the tax stamp, which also happens to be covering the corresponding brand number. It may also be the case that, despite producing a quality product, the short-lived existence of both this company and the O.K. Playing Card Co. of Tulsa, OK was due to the advent of the Great Depression.

The other original box shown in the first photo is of another new narrow deck called Whist Club # 42 issued by North American Card Co. of Chicago, IL with a copyright date of 1897 on the Ace of Spades which is shown in the second photo together with the joker and the back design. The Ace of Spades is from Hochman L26, the joker is from Hochman L27 and the wonderfully different standard court cards, three of which are shown in the third photo, are from Hochman L25.

[Don Boyer]

It is rare that I have occasion to mention narrow decks, however, the two that I am presenting today are worthy of being introduced to those who visit this website, as neither currently appears in the Hochman Encyclopedia.

The first photo shows two original tuck boxes, one of which is for a new brand called Cameo by The Independent Card Corporation of Johnstown, PA, circa 1926. I show this deck as a response to the note in the encyclopedia under the MSW89 listing which states that "... it is surprising that this company did not leave a mark of more success." Given the dates of activity for this manufacturer, it is entirely logical that we should discover a narrow-sized deck made by them during a period of great popularity for the game of bridge. As a collector, I am delighted to have found it in Mint Sealed condition but, unfortunately, this prevents me from sharing anything more than the design of the original box, as I shall not be the first to break the tax stamp, which also happens to be covering the corresponding brand number. It may also be the case that, despite producing a quality product, the short-lived existence of both this company and the O.K. Playing Card Co. of Tulsa, OK was due to the advent of the Great Depression.

The other original box shown in the first photo is of another new narrow deck called Whist Club # 42 issued by North American Card Co. of Chicago, IL with a copyright date of 1897 on the Ace of Spades which is shown in the second photo together with the joker and the back design. The Ace of Spades is from Hochman L26, the joker is from Hochman L27 and the wonderfully different standard court cards, three of which are shown in the third photo, are from Hochman L25.

Regarding the sealed deck, I have heard of collectors that would carefully open the BOTTOM of the tuck box in order to examine the cards, then replace them and reseal the box to make it appear as it did out of the factory.  Another option, as this is sealed with a tax stamp with a moisture-activated adhesive, would be to steam the stamp to allow you to open the box from the top without damaging the seal, then either leaving it opened or resealing it if you've preserved the order and condition of the cards exactly as they were discovered.

Some collectors might cry out that this would be sacrilege in terms of insuring that the cards are absolutely pristine and may even feel this would reduce the deck's value at resale, were the opening to be discovered, but I would argue in a case like this that it might be worth it because of the utter rarity of this particular deck.  While modern card collectors are for the most part firmly of the opinion that an opened deck is worth less than an identical but sealed and new one, vintage and antique collectors tend to be a little less fussy about these things, to a degree - it's most often the case that an older deck is discovered in opened and used (perhaps even heavily used and abused) condition; rarely like new, even more rarely still sealed.  How many (or more accurately, how very few) other examples of this deck even exist, regardless of condition or whether the tuck box is sealed?  It could be one of the last if not the last example known, and I think it would be a shame for it to not be documented and shared with the collecting world.