Dielo playing cards

Perhaps more than other regional patterns, Four Seasons pattern packs lend themselves to being modified. This one is very definitely a product of its time. In 1957, Czechoslovakia was a Socialist Republic, whose ideals and values are clearly represented here. Heroic workers and peasants on the Obers and Unters sit alongside female representations of the four seasons in their folkloric costumes with titles in Slovak. Meanwhile, the Kings are nothing more than caricatures, with their silly noses and – in one case – a ridiculously long moustache. The publisher’s name can be found on the 7 of Bells, with various small vignettes on the other numeral cards.

Above: ‘Four Seasons’ pattern made in Czechoslovakia by Obchodni Tiskárny, Prague, 1957. 32 cards in tuck box. Size: 64 x 105 mm.

It is mentioned on the box that these cards are suitable for playing Mariáš, one of the most popular card games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

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