Goodall’s Wüst house pattern playing cards
Goodall’s Wüst house pattern playing cards with scenic aces of Brazil.
At first glance you may think this is just another standard house pattern pack made by C.L. Wüst of Germany. The court cards are exactly the same as those used by Wüst in their first house pattern and the scenic aces are also the same as those used on some of their packs. However, nothing could be further from the truth ! This pack was printed by Charles Goodall & Son in about 1890 and sold as Whist cards No. 54 by their agent F.M Brandon, using the same No.54 which Wüst used on similar packs.
Although the court cards and aces are the same as those from Wüst the colours are somewhat muted and the Goodall name appears on the jack of clubs. The reverse is also the same as one used by Wüst but now with the Goodall name at one end and the name of the agent Brandon on the other end. The wrapper, of which I only have a photocopy, shows a scene of London replacing the scene of Frankfurt on the Wüst wrappers.
This pack has created much speculation about the possibly of an alliance between Goodall of London and C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany but until now no evidence has been found to confirm this. Mike Goodall was also unable to find any information about any collaboration between the two factories. The fact is that Goodall produced two other packs which were the same or similar to Wüst. You can see a later version here.
If any reader has more information about a possible Goodall - Wüst collaboration I would be most interested to hear about it.
Below: The reverse and a photocopy of the wrapper
References: Catalogue of Playing Cards from the factory C.L.Wüst, set 81. Shaw/Symons 2005,
All cards shown are from the collection of Paul Symons ©
By Paul Symons
Member since February 01, 2016
I'm British but I have now lived in the Netherlands for more than 50 years and am still enjoying every minute of it. I started collecting playing cards in the early 1980’s after speaking with my neighbour who was at that time a croupier in a casino. I started with just collecting jokers, but that soon led me to complete packs of cards and eventually to specialising in old and antique playing cards, particularly those of C.L. Wüst of Frankfurt, Germany. I am presently the Dutch representative of the I.P.C.S. and the auctioneer at the IPCS conventions.
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