John Sterling - Distigráfica S.R.L.

John Sterling was a distributor of various French or Spanish-suited budget brands of playing card in Argentina, often published anonymously or in association with Distigrafica S.R.L. Some of them may have been printed in China. Decks often include a lute-playing joker.

Above: ESSO Shop playing cards printed in red/yellow/black by John Sterling, 1999. 52 cards + 2 jokers + extra card in box.

Above: various playing card brands published by John Sterling.

Spanish suited cards

Many budget-grade decks are sold anonymously to avoid licensing or because they verge on obscenity.

Above: Diego Maradona football deck published by John Sterling / Distigráfica S.R.L., 2000. 48 cards + 2 jokers in box. The two jokers have the lute player as index signs but otherwise the pack is completely anonymous.

Above: Naipes Para Ellos published by John Sterling / Distigráfica S.R.L., c.2005. 48 cards + 2 jokers in box. In the same format as the above example, both jokers have the lute player index sign but otherwise the pack is completely anonymous.

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.