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Playing Card Chat ♠ ♥ ♣ ♦ => A Cellar of Fine Vintages => Topic started by: Bruce on November 25, 2025, 08:18:31 PM

Title: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Bruce on November 25, 2025, 08:18:31 PM

I found this cool printing plate for a Bicycle 86 Rider Back tuck box. It's especially cool to me because I collect Bicycle cards and my wife is a printer. We both appreciate it from different perspectives.

There are a few questions that I'm hoping to get help with.

1) Dating it. It's a two color box, I'm guessing 70s but not sure. The boxes I've found that look like possibilities, also have a gold outline around the front of the box and I'm not sure if they would have used a three-color process which would have required two additional plates and not just one.

2) What are the notches at the top and bottom? I thought it may be intentional when they are taken out of service.

3) Once I figure out what boxes this printed, I'd like to find 2 example in excellent condition (one red, one blue) to include in the display when I get it matted and framed.

Any help is appreciated.

Bruce

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Chuqii on November 27, 2025, 01:34:53 AM

Yours is a good guess. Dates to between 1972 and 1980. Full address went on the side of the tuck around 1972, and bar code went on bottom of tuck around 1980. No bar code, so pre-1980.

Hope that helps.

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Bruce on November 29, 2025, 08:11:15 PM

Thanks, Chuqii.

That's about as far as I got. What I haven't been able to find is a box that came from a plate like this. I haven't been able to find anything with the plain "86" on the box, only text like "Bridge".

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Chuqii on December 01, 2025, 12:27:16 AM

I found these in eBay, and they may be in that time frame. Because the tuck box is three color, I think there would be different plates for each color. The plate you have has all the main color, but has the big blank space where the big spade pip and the Bridge Size wording would go from a different plate in a different color.  UPDATED with pic of 86 on top of tuck box

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Bruce on December 02, 2025, 08:06:22 PM

Wow! I think that's it. Every deck I looked at on eBay had Bridge on the top instead of 86.

Thanks!

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Chuqii on December 03, 2025, 03:01:13 PM

You are welcome!  We are you able to buy the decks?

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Bruce on December 03, 2025, 07:00:09 PM

Yes. The seller sent me pictures of the other sides and I bought the pair. No I just need to find one unsealed so I can get the date and use a couple singles in the display.

Title: Re: Bicycle Tuck Box Printing Plate
Post by: Bruce on January 23, 2026, 04:43:13 PM

I got so excited that I missed a detail and those decks are not a match. The one side panel has The U.S. Playing Card Co. but is missing Cincinnati OHIO 45212. Bummer