Cyprus Souvenir
Cyprus souvenir playing cards showing scenes alluding to ancient history and myths.
Cyprus Souvenir playing cards
Cyprus is a small island in the Mediterranean with a vast amount of history. In mythology, Cyprus was the birthplace of the Ancient Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite, who sprang from the sea foam near its shores. Cyprus is also home to what may be the world’s oldest wine. The island has a long and fascinating history where idols, ruins and temples, graves and goddesses are the fabric of everyday life.
Above: Cyprus souvenir playing cards showing scenes alluding to ancient history and myths.
By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009
Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many. His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service. Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.
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