"CARTAS GITANAS" fortune-telling cards | |
Published by Vigor S.R.L., Buenos Aires in the 1950s. The leaflet informs that these cards have been a jealously guarded secret amongst fortune-tellers for centuries, handed down from mother to daughter, but are now being made available to the public. Instructions are given for reading the cards, as well as how to select winning lottery numbers, roulette stakes or horse races. |
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Above: the designs on the top halves of the Cartas Gitanas are based on nineteenth century Austrian "Rural Scenes" Tarock cards (type II, see similar example below). Scenes include musicians, horsemen, couples, courtships as well as rural or exotic scenes, all reproduced in this Argentinean descendent! The court and 'consultant' cards are also derived from the Austrian prototypes. |
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Below: instruction leaflet, inner wrapper and tuckbox showing various symbols alluding to luck, fate and hidden wisdom being disclosed through cartomancy. |
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