Thomas Creswick, 16 Skinner Street, Snow Hill, London

Thomas Creswick was a paper-maker and wholesale stationer who first entered the card business in 1812. Standard woodblock & stencil playing cards were produced from c.1820 onwards, following the traditional designs, including smaller-sized piquet packs and a special non-standard pack featuring historical kings and queens of various nations in c.1830 (shown below). Advertisements of the day mentioned that Creswick took great pains to make cards which slip easily in the hand whilst also introducing improvements in the manufacturing process. Duty Aces of Spades were registered from c.1820, and an exportation Ace of Spades in 1828.

Above: standard pack of English playing cards with 'Garter' Ace of Spades manufactured by Thomas Creswick, c.1825

Below: pack produced by Thomas Creswick in c.1830 with 'Old Frizzle' Ace of Spades depicting historical Kings and Queens of various nations. The Kings and Queens are unnamed but are evidently meant to represent actual people. The King of Clubs is Henry VIII.