Hearts of London
Hearts of London for British Heart Foundation 1994.
Hearts of London playing cards designed by Vicki Hill and illustrated by Wendy Guttridge for the British Heart Foundation, 1994. The cards double as “Happy Families” with 12 of the City of London Livery companies represented, plus the four aces representing officials of the City of London. The idea of the game is to collect members of the City of London's Livery Companies. Families are made up of Masters, Liverymen, Freemen & Apprentices of each company. The thirteenth family consists of the Lord Mayor, Lady Mayoress, Swordbearer and Macebearer. See the Box►
FOOTNOTE - by Roddy Somerville
1994 was the year in which Christopher Walford became Lord Mayor of the City of London. It is his face which is featured on the tuck box and on the Ace of Spades, while his wife, Anne, appears on the Ace of Hearts. I helped Anne to get the pack produced early on in Christopher's year as Lord Mayor. It had a dual purpose - to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation and also to be given at events and ceremonies during his year at which a gift had to be presented. The pack was available with either a red or a black back, featuring an old view of the Mansion House, the building which acts as the Lord Mayor's home during his year in office. Sir Christopher Walford (knighted 1995) was a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards, the first person ever to be elected Lord Mayor whose mother company was the WCMPC. As a further note, many members of the WCMPC took part in the Lord Mayor's Show in 1994. I was one of them - dressed, or should I say disguised, as a King of Spades!
By Matt Probert
Member since March 02, 2012
I have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.
Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.
Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of cards.
I describe my self as a playing card archaeologist, using detective work to identify and date obscure packs of cards discovered in old houses, flea markets and car boot sales.
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