SOIMCA
SOIMCA - Sociedade Impressora Caxiense - is an important playing card manufacturer in Brazil. It was established by Nelson Soares in Caxias do Sul, in the south of Brazil, by 1955.
Sociedade Impressora Caxiense
Rua Moreira Cesar, 1666, Caxias do Sul - Baralhos Pingüim
SOIMCA (Sociedade Impressora Caxiense) is an important playing card manufacturer in Brazil. It was established by Nelson Soares in Caxias do Sul, in the south of Brazil, by 1955. Its “Pingüim” brand is very popular. In 1993 SOIMCA asked the artist Gertre to design a new Spanish-suited pack, inspired on the Castilian pattern; they tried to introduce these into players’ circles but they were not well received. The designs were traded with COPAG and nowadays are used by COPAG as its Spanish-style cards for exportation. In 1999 SOIMCA jointed forces with COPAG, transferring its machines to Manaus.
Above: new Spanish-suited playing cards designed by Gertre in 1993, 48 cards, published by SOIMCA. The designs were not well received by card players.
Above: different editions of SOIMCA's traditional standard Spanish-suited playing cards, “Baralho Tipo Espanhol”, Catalan pattern, with female horse-rider on the Four of Cups.
Above: “Pingüim” brand Anglo-American type playing cards with advertising reverse for Chevrolet / General Motors, 1983. The trade mark penguin Joker has been used, along with the internationally accepted copy of Fournier's large index Anglo-American courts.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
View ArticlesCurator 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.
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SOIMCA
SOIMCA - Sociedade Impressora Caxiense - is an important playing card manufacturer in Brazil. It was established by Nelson Soares in Caxias do Sul, in the south of Brazil, by 1955.
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