Redheads
These unusual and striking playing cards were published sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s by the iconic Australian brand of matches, Bryant & May. Whilst the same court card images are used in each suit, the numeral cards employ matches arranged geometrically instead of the normal pips.
Redheads Match Poker Playing Cards, c.1975-80

These unusual and striking playing cards were published sometime in the late 1970s or early 1980s by the iconic Australian brand of matches, Bryant & May. Whilst the same court card images are used in each suit, the numeral cards employ matches arranged geometrically instead of the normal pips. It is believed that at the time they were just beginning to be distributed, a copyright dispute arose and all decks were ordered to be destroyed. Happily just a few somehow managed to escape destruction. A similar series of match box tops was published around the same time.

Above: Redheads Match Poker Playing Cards published by the Australian match producer Bryant & May, c.1975-80. Images courtesy Barney Townshend.
• Also from Australia: Sutherland's Coon Cards • Enchanted Journey • MusoDeck.

By Barney Townshend
Member since October 06, 2015
Retired Airline Pilot, interested in: Transformation Playing Cards, Karl Gerich and Elaine Lewis. Secretary of the EPCS. Treasurer of the IPCS.
Related Articles

Boddingtons Bitter playing cards
Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.

AKA M5 Motorway
Promotional playing cards for the Hungarian M5 Toll Motorway between Budapest and Röszk.

Pathé Marconi
Special promotion pack for French record company Pathé Marconi.

ViVa Bourg
A distinctive deck of cards for a specific promotion.

Dancing
“Dancing” playing cards manufactured by Nintendo for Torii Dance School, Osaka.

Agent Provocateur
Branded lingerie collection in a pack of pin-up playing cards.

Shin-Tōmei Expressway Opening Commemoration
Promotional playing cards for the Shin-Tōmei Expressway, a major Japanese expressway that opened in ...

Copechat Paramount Sorting System
Preserving the past: a specimen deck showcasing edge-notched cards and their ingenious sorting syste...

Heartsette by Herbert Fitch & Co, 1893
A glimpse into a busy print and design office in late Victorian London.

Intersigma
A Czech advertising deck for a company dealing with pump technology.

IG Chemie Papier Keramik
Promotional pack designed by Karl-Heinz Schroers for a German trade union with comical bears on the ...

More Menthol Filter Cigarettes
Elongated cards with designs by Wong Yui Man advertising More cigarettes.

Jockey Club de Buenos Aires
Spanish-suited pack by Chas Goodall & Son Ltd for the Jockey Club, Buenos Aires.

Leadmill playing cards
Promotional pack for an arts centre in Sheffield with designs by Martin F. Bedford.

Pride playing cards
Pride playing cards designed by Phil Constantinesco

The Millenium Tarot: Tarot of the Four Worlds
First Australian Tarot, designed by Mary Susan Chamberlain, with artwork by Ziba Vilmanis-Westenberg...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days