Naipes Chinita by Vigor S.R.L.

Naipes CHINITA Spanish-suited playing cards manufactured by Vigor S.R.L., Buenos Aires, 1955

Naipes Chinita was one of Vigor's brands of standard Spanish-suited playing cards, alongside Naipes Barcelonesa, La Estrella and La Española. Decks contain 40 cards.

Left & right: Naipes Chinita in green or brown wrappers, manufactured by Vigor S.R.L., c.1955. In both cases the company's capital value is quoted as $ 1,000,000 Pesos. The Spanish word 'Chinita' means an Asian girl who looks mixed of two or more races, for example, Philippine with Chinese blood.

Above: the court cards from Naipes Chinita are based on those of Segundo de Olea (Spain) which had been imported into Argentina since the 19th century.

Above: quality control slip from Naipes Chinita, c.1955.

Above: tax band from Naipes Chinita, c.1955.

The Patent Office Registration documents, dated 22nd June 1955, show the original designs for Naipes Chinita. By holding these up to the light, we can read beneath the white labels on the sample card and wrapper the name of Igor Domicelj (c.1950-55), who was the company's predecessor, operating at the same address.

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.