Vintage 5 suit decks (esp. USPCC eagles)

[ecNate]

I stumbled on this today, wondering if anybody has more details or has a deck?  Yes, I'm aware of alternate suit decks (many of them), including 5 Crowns and Star Deck.  These Eagle ones look awesome though, curious what the tuck looked like.  The modern ones might have the same function, but the eagle suit look is just super.

In 1938 there appeared a five-suit deck, having the usual 52 cards of the standard deck plus a complete fifth suit. In the United States this fifth suit was green, called EAGLES, and marked by an appropriate symbol; in England it was blue, called ROYALS, and marked by a crown. A five suit Bridge game was widely played for some months, but was soon forgotten. Five-suit poker made a better game, but can seldom be played today because the cards are no longer generally on sale.

Morehead, Albert H. The Pocket Book of Games: 150 Most Popular Card Games, Dice Games, Word Games, Party Games, Board Games, Gambling Games. New York, NY: Pocket Books, Inc., 1944. Print.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suit_(cards)#Five-suit_decks

[Nurul]

It's probably best to post this in the vintage section of the forum. People who visit more over there would probably be able to advise you a little better

[ecNate]

It's probably best to post this in the vintage section of the forum. People who visit more over there would probably be able to advise you a little better

Can a mod move it for me?  Otherwise I can do a copy/paste later, but then it will be cross posted.

[Don Boyer]

I vaguely recall seeing this deck in Tom's collection, though I could be mistaken.  There seems to be very little that ISN'T in Tom's collection, or at least wasn't in Tom's collection at some point in time.

I enjoyed reading about some of the other "bonus-suited" decks in the Wikipedia entry you linked to.  I recall a boxed game variant called Wizard, but I think that was actually a deck with an extra value rather than an extra suit.

[ecNate]

I recall a boxed game variant called Wizard, but I think that was actually a deck with an extra value rather than an extra suit.

I actually just picked that up a few weeks ago - http://www.amazon.com/The-Original-Wizard-Card-Game/dp/0913866687/

Card quality is horrible, but acceptable for mass market games like this.  It's basically just a variation of Oh Hell (aka Oh Pshaw, Up and Down the River, etc) as it simply adds new high trump of wizard and low cards of Jester which is where the extra cards come from.


Related, here's a list of alternate suit decks - http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/173496/item/3562832

[52plusjoker]

There are dozens of vintage/antique American decks with different suit signs. See the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards - especially chapters on War, New Suit Signs, Non-Revoke and Novelties. The Encyclopedia will soon be released in electronic form at a reasonable price. Details will be posted within the week.

[variantventures]

That's fascinating.  There is a 17th Century (16th?) German deck held in the Louvre that uses Latin suits AND has an additional 5th suit: Shields bearing an eagle.  I'm working with an artist on a 15th Century French deck and it has a complete set of figures for an extra court.  Unfortunately we don't know what the suits would have been because none of those survived.

[Worst Bower]

That's fascinating.  There is a 17th Century (16th?) German deck held in the Louvre that uses Latin suits AND has an additional 5th suit: Shields bearing an eagle.  I'm working with an artist on a 15th Century French deck and it has a complete set of figures for an extra court.  Unfortunately we don't know what the suits would have been because none of those survived.

I believe you are referring to this deck from the 15th century.

[variantventures]

You are correct.  There's some doubt as to the dating (as the website makes clear) but 15th Century does seem to be the strongest case.

[Worst Bower]

You are correct.  There's some doubt as to the dating (as the website makes clear) but 15th Century does seem to be the strongest case.

I think it comes from the mid-15th century just as the old Mamluk suits were transitioning to the current German/Swiss suits.

In my opinion, the earliest (Christian) European deck would have elements of this, the Morisca/Italy 2 deck, and the Moorish deck. Based on what Johann of Basel recorded in 1377, we can possibly reconstruct it.

Each of the four Mamluk suits should have ten ranks of pip cards, an Unter, an Ober, and a seated and crowned king, all male of course.