
We invite you to explore this exciting and vibrant aspect of our social history with us and see how things have changed over the years. Whatever your interest in cards, you'll find something interesting here. If you wish to make a contribution just get in touch►
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Georg Kapfler
Antique deck of old Bohemian playing cards of the German type manufactured by Georg Kapfler and dated 1611.
Hundertjahrkarte
A new ‘medieval look’ is intended to suggest the power and virtue of the German character.
Delta Playing Cards
Delta playing cards are a modern art concept deck invented by Professor M. R. Ali, an artist operating under the company name of “Artology Internation...
The Steamboat Brand
The theme of steamboats navigating up and down the Mississippi also extended to the cotton plantations alongside the river and to African American peo...

Georg Kapfler
Antique deck of old Bohemian playing cards of the German type manufactured by Georg Kapfler and dated 1611.

Hundertjahrkarte
A new ‘medieval look’ is intended to suggest the power and virtue of the German character.

Delta Playing Cards
Delta playing cards are a modern art concept deck invented by Professor M. R. Ali, an artist operating under the company name of “Artology Internation...

The Steamboat Brand
The theme of steamboats navigating up and down the Mississippi also extended to the cotton plantations alongside the river and to African American peo...
Artists & Designers
The History of Playing Cards

Playing cards arrived in Europe the late 14th century and rapidly became a part of popular culture. Antique playing cards are like a visit to the local museum and evoke images of past eras and ways of life and also demonstrate archaic technology or production methods. So what do the oldest surviving playing cards look like?

Portuguese Type Cards made in Belgium
Portuguese Type Playing Cards made in Belgium, c.1878.

Moorish playing cards
These two uncoloured, uncut sheets of early Moorish playing cards were formerly preserved in the Instituto Municipal de Historia in Barcelona.

Provence Pattern
The 'Provence' pattern contains figures which go back to the fifteenth century.

Antique Swiss Playing Cards, c.1530
The Swiss national suit system of shields, acorns, hawkbells and flowers originated sometime during the fifteenth century.

50: Joseph Reynolds
A presentation of my database of Reynolds cards.

57: China 3
A third and final look at some Chinese cards.

19: 19th Century Breaks With Tradition - Unusual Versions of the Standard English Pattern
The centuries-long tradition of English court cards was subject to misinterpretation and in some cases a desire for individuality. Here are some examples of breaks with that tradition.
United Kingdom

Pooltella
Pooltella cards by John Waddington Ltd, the cards that simplify football pool forecasts, 1930s.

Picture Rummy
Picture Rummy by R. Turner Ltd, 1937.
United States of America

Indicator No.50
No.50 appears at the bottom of the Ace of Spades and the cards have corner indices and miniature suit symbols in the corners.

Friendly Felines
‘Friendly Felines’ playing cards designed by Azured Ox, 2017.
Spain

Inspector Gadget
The Adventures of Inspector Gadget quartet game published by Fournier in 1983.

Maciá Pattern
Maciá Pattern
Latin America Conosur

Buena Suerte Cartomancy
Buena Suerte Cartomancy cards published by Difusora S.A., Argentina, c.1975

Naipes Estrella Antigua
Naipes Estrella Antigua, La Cubana, S.A. (Fabrica de Naipes El Aguila), Mexico, c.1960.
Japan

Hana Fuda - Japan
Hana Fuda playing cards hand-made by Patricia Kirk, 2003

Uta Garuta
These cards are basically a poetry anthology (the Hyakunin Isshu, or 百人一首), transposed onto cards.
China

Mad Jack Miracle Pack
Mad Jack Miracle Pack by Chu’s Magic (Tobar) 1999.

Hong Kong
Playing Cards from Hong Kong. A large proportion of the world's souvenir and pin-up playing cards originate from Hong Kong.
Explore Collecting Themes
Advertising Collecting Themes

Closely following the development of visual advertising in general, such as on labels, packaging and posters, advertising playing cards are used in pubs and cafés and are a popular publicity item. Some packs are widely distributed, others are more exclusive. In some cases single cards are collected from inside the advertised product to complete a full set.

Estudio Negrin PIRELLI, c.1960
Estudio Negrin playing cards for PIRELLI, made by Orestes A. Cappellano S.R.L., Buenos Aires, Argentina, c.1960.

Capel Vinos
Advertising playing cards for Capel Vinos S.A., manufactured by Naipes Comas, 2001.

Titicaca ® Playing Cards
Each card in this novelty deck, subtitled “Funny Card”, carries information about a prestigious or popular brand.
Art & Design Collecting Themes
Design Caricatures Abstract Cartoon Celtic Deco Jugendstil Renaissance Rococo SurrealismThe playing card calls for artistic treatment and although the constrained size imposes some limitations there is an almost bewildering wealth and variety of designs in playing cards and their tuck boxes. The serious player requires design to be unobtrusive so that aesthetic considerations remain in the background. However, with modern manufacturing technology more eye-catching designs are becoming popular as gifts, collectibles and for their attractive appearance.

La Mariée du Mardi-Gras
La Mariée du Mardi-Gras, published by Jeux et Jouets Français. Paris, early 1900s.

Periquito y Tontín Dominoes
Periquito y Tontín Dominoes, featuring Feliz and Bonzo, 1920s.
Card Games
Collecting Themes
Games
Childhood
Currency
Educational
Happy Families


The games we play mirror the world we live in, like popular art. There was a time when friends and family played indoor games by the fireside and enjoyed countless hours of pleasure and amusement. Children don’t play card games so much because they prefer computer games, the ultimate excitement. Antique and vintage card games offer documentary evidence, as well as nostalgic memories, of the social interaction, fashions and stereotypes of bygone days and are a study in social anthropology.
French card games are mostly Jeux des Sept Familles. German games are often pleasing on the eye, and they seem to favour quartet games. USA love quartets of world worthies like authors, painters, composers. Games are not simply an escape from the real world, they are also educational and provide a place to process what it all means.

Countries of the World
“Countries of the World” published by H.P. Gibson & Sons, Ltd, c.1939.

Find Out
Find Out mystery card game based on the Find Out books by Enid Blyton, published by Pepys, 1958.

Pierre l’Ebouriffé
Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-1894) wrote the Struwwelpeter stories in 1847 for his son Carl. The stories quickly became famous and were translated into many languages...

Hello Kitty
Waddington’s “Hello Kitty” themed deck produced in 2009.
Oracle, Divination & Tarot Collecting Themes
The art of interpreting divine omens - augury or reading karma - have since ancient times been integral to political, civic and religious life.
More recently, Cartomancy and modern esoteric tarot packs have been produced in a wide variety of conceptions and involve use of imagination and intuition to assess one’s thoughts and feelings from the view point of the symbolic images and numbers.
It is possible for an object to be construed as a game in one context, and as something other than a game in a different context.
Tarot, originally a 15th century card game, has evolved into a popular system of personal mysticism, self-exploration and spirituality more►

Art Deco Gypsy Oracle
Art Deco fortune telling deck published by Piatnik, 1936.

Tarocco Piedmontese, Buenos Aires c.1900
Tarocco Piedmontese by Fabrica de Naipes La Primitiva, Moreno 248, Buenos Aires c.1900

Rider Waite Tarot early editions
Rider Waite Tarot early editions

Thomson-Leng Tarot
The Thomson-Leng Tarot Cards were issued by the publishers of women's magazines during the 1930s. The cards are loosely based upon the Rider-Waite tarot.
Transformation Collecting Themes
The best-known fantasies with playing cards are the ‘Transformation’ cards. Hand-drawing ‘transformations’ onto a pack of ordinary playing cards, with the suit symbols forming part of the overall composition, became a popular pastime 200 years ago and a test of skill in drawing. A great deal of ingenuity is required in their design. The earliest printed sets were published at the start of the 19th century, often published in the form of an almanac or sometimes known as ‘metastasis’, and these became a fashionable and entertaining novelty.
In the strict sense of the word ‘Transformation’ the pips should be in their standard positions and form part of, or fit into, the overll image portrayed on the card.

Eroticartes
Eroticartes with drawings by Pino Zac, 1983.

Inky-Dinky Playing Cards
A series of four decks designed by John Littleboy.

Cartes Recréatives
Cartes Recréatives is a set of Transformed playing cards designed by Armand-Gustave Houbigant (1790-1863) and first published by Terquem et May, Metz, in 1819.
Magic & Conjuring Collecting Themes

Serpentine
‘Serpentine’ Playing Cards published by Legends P.C.Co., 2014.

Mad Jack Miracle Pack
Mad Jack Miracle Pack by Chu’s Magic (Tobar) 1999.

Ridley’s Magic Trick Cards
Ridley’s Magic Trick Cards, 2011.

Dragon Fanning Deck
This set of cards published by DP Group Ltd (Japan) allows the performer to create different fans
Recent Changes

Bicycle Butterfly
Bicycle Butterfly playing cards from RSVP Magic with artwork by ‘Lotrék’ and printed by USPCC, 2012.

Dutch costume playing cards
Dutch costume playing cards made for the Dutch market in the second half of the 19th century.

Naipes Siluv, Valparaiso, Chile, 1931
Naipes Siluv, Valparaiso, Chile, 1931

Naipe Infantil by Plasticos Pardo M.R.
Naipe Español Infantil miniature children's playing cards with suit signs of ice creams, baseball bats, swords and suns, manufactured in Chile by Plasticos Pardo M.R.

Mapocho
Naipes Marca Mapocho, Santiago de Chile.

Chilean Playing Cards
Naipes Chilenos ~ Early Chilean playing cards were based upon Spanish models.

Naipes Sonia
Spanish-suited playing cards manufactured in Chile by Imprenta y Litografía Universo S.A., Valparaiso, Chile.

Neue Deutsche Spielkarte
Neue Deutsche Spielkarte (Reformkarte) conceived by Dr. Timon Schroeter, 1883.