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.
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