RARE Bridge Set

[BullGill]

Found this at the goodwill for $1.89 !!   

I am trying to get some experienced opinions on it before I sell it. I have an idea what it is worth but do not know how much the rarity factors in. Only thing I could find mentioning it on the net is from some college paper that referenced an image of it and said it was 1950's.

[Don Boyer]

I really couldn't speak to the value of such a set - but you are correct in that it's an interesting find!

If it's from the Fifties, than the two USPC decks are in the correct period - for the Ace of Spades coding, S was the letter code for decks made in 1953 and T for 1954.  The other possibilities would be 1933/34, which is doubtful considering the materials used to make the card holders, or 1973/74, also doubtful because companies were using ZIP codes in their addresses by then and this doesn't have any that I've spotted.

The Ace of Spades code wasn't used on the pair of "V 3" decks.  USPC never issued decks with a "V" for the AoS code because it could be confused for a Roman numeral five, so the decks were a different manufacturer.  I'd venture a guess that they might be made by Arrco, as this company shares the same hometown as Arrco did before they were bought up by USPC a few decades later.

[TheBadJoker]

Just an interesting asside. My parents were best friends with the Max and Elaine Glazer and Max Glazer just happend to be the owner of Arrco Playing Card Co. Oh, if I knew then what I know now.

[52plusjoker]

Can't look back Larry!!!
The decks are all made by USPC - in one case generic Ace with name and in the other case a generic Ace without the name. The cards are not worth much - maybe $5 a deck maximum. The box is interesting with the duplicate boards, scorers, etc and adds additional value. I think the set is from the 1930's - the cards may be original or may have been added later after the originals were worn out.