John Waddington Ltd, early packs c.1922-25

The first packs produced by John Waddington Ltd were printed by direct lithography with images transferred by hand onto stone. However, at this time, direct lithography was changing over to offset lithography and the plates of the early court cards were frequently re-drawn and differences in the outlines and colouring can be detected in different editions.

Above: two examples of early packs manufactured by John Waddington Ltd, c.1923-25, showing the early court card designs. The upper example has four indices and plain white faces with an advertising reverse for Preservine Soap. The lower example, with a geometric pattern on the reverse, has two indices and the faces and hands are coloured pink. These court cards were soon re-designed - see below.

Above: the early Ace of Spades continued to be used with a new version of the court cards for a few more years until it was replaced with an updated design. The new court cards are reminiscent of American designs by USPCC. The indices are now in a serifed typeface. The printing plates of these early court cards frequently wore out and were re-drawn so that slight differences in the outlines and colouring can be detected in different editions.

Above: an anonymous Ace of Spades with an elaborate design was also used by John Waddington Ltd around this time (c.1925) for packs with pictorial backs or for advertising packs. The above specimen has gold edges and depicts a hunting scene on the reverse. The box is titled "Hunting".