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Historic Ships

Published May 22, 2015 Updated May 29, 2022

“Historic Ships” quartet game from Czechoslovakia illustrated by Jaromír Vraštil.

Czechoslovakia Obchodní Tiskárny Jaromír Vraštil Education Navy Shipping Card Games Quartet

“Historic Ships” quartet

“Historic Ships” quartet game from Czechoslovakia illustrated by Jaromír Vraštil with text information edited by Vladimír Hulpach. Each image shows a design well-fitted to the confines of a rectanglar playing card along with concise information. The game has a clear educational merit as the illustrations would capture the young players’ imagination whilst the facts give the basis for rational learning.

Historic Ships quartet game from Czechoslovakia illustrated by Jaromír Vraštil

Above: “Historic Ships” quartet game manufactured by Obchodní Tiskărny, Czechoslovakia, illustrated by Jaromír Vraštil. 32 cards in box. Images courtesy Rex Pitts.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

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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