National Card Co., Indianapolis & New York (c.1886-1894)

The National Card Co. was formed in c.1886 by Samuel J Murray, who as a young man had worked in England in Charles Goodall's playing card factory. In 1881 he moved to Cincinnati and became an employee of Russell & Morgan playing card manufacturers. In 1886 he left Russell & Morgan and moved to Indianapolis to establish the National Card Company.

All playing card manufacturers produced their own verion of the Steamboat brand, usually towards the bottom of the range.

Illustration: National Steamboats #9 manufactured by the National Card Co., c.1886. 52 cards + 'Watermelon' Joker. Click the image to see another (possibly earlier) example with slight differences in details of the costume decoration.

The National Card Co. Aces of Spades state 'Indianapolis & New York'. The plant was located at 5th and Eggleston in Indianapolis, whilst offices were at 221-227 Canal St., New York City.

Above: Apollo #33 c.1890s, with baseball back design featuring N.C.Co monogram and larger indices.

In 1894 the National Card Co. was merged with the United States Printing Co. as a key component in the formation of the United States Playing Card Company. From c.1900 the name of the U.S. Playing Card Co. was placed at the bottom of the Ace of Spades in addition to the National Card Co. name and most of the National brands remained in production by the USPCC.

Above: the National Card Co's 'Aladdin' playing cards manufactured by The US Playing Card Co for the Estanco de Naipes del Peru, 1940s. The legend "Estanco de Naipes del Perú" is printed either on the box (left-hand example) or on the ace of spades, joker and reverse (right-hand example). The price of 2.50 Soles Oro is also overprinted on the box.