Detektiv Fuk

Published April 02, 2015 • Updated February 24, 2025

‘Detektiv Fuk’ card game from Czechoslovakia.

‘Detektiv Fuk’ card game

‘Detektiv Fuk’ card game from the former sovereign state of Czechoslovakia in Central Europe, depicting the detective in various intrepid actions, clearly ‘on the ball’, often smoking his pipe whilst solving mysteries for his multi-millionaire clients.

Above: ‘Detektiv Fuk’ card game, depicting the detective in various intrepid actions. 1940s.

Note from Marek Brejcha

This game was produced by “Josef Chroust / Nakladatelství dětských her”. Although there is no description of the manufacturer, it can be clearly identified by the logo with a beetle in a diamond - the manufacturer's surname "Chroust" is the Czech name for the common cockchafer (Melolontha melolontha). The manufacturer is discussed in detail in Petr Kruml's article in the Ročenka Clubu sběratelů hracích karet 2016 (Yearbook of Club Collectors 2016).

Several editions are known as the box design changed over time. The above source shows that the production of Josef Chroust's company is documented in the 1930s and 1940s. Very probably it ended in 1948 in connection with the communist coup in our country. The official closure of the company took place in 1955. It is believed that the name change on the box occurred after 1939 in connection with the Nazi occupation and the need to remove the "enemy" mark on this product.

Above: 3 versions of the box cover (without major changes to the cards).

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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.

1983

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Detektiv Fuk

‘Detektiv Fuk’ card game

Note from Marek Brejcha

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