Arthur Lee & Sons Ltd

Published August 11, 2015 Updated May 09, 2023

Advertising deck produced for Arthur Lee and Sons Ltd of Sheffield by Thomas De la Rue around 1958.

1958 United Kingdom De la Rue Aces Advertising Engineering

Arthur Lee & Sons Ltd

Advertising deck with special ace of spades produced for Arthur Lee and Sons Ltd of Sheffield by Thomas De la Rue around 1958. The pack was sealed with a De la Rue security stamp and also featured the multi-colour joker. The back design cleverly mimics steel plate and is enhanced by silver edges to the cards.

Advertising deck produced for Arthur Lee and Sons Ltd of Sheffield by Thomas De la Rue around 1958

Above: Advertising deck with standard courts produced for Arthur Lee and Sons Ltd of Sheffield by Thomas De la Rue around 1958. The cards are silver-edged (steel edged?) and wrapped in cellophane, with a De La Rue security stamp.

avatar
307 Articles

By Matt Probert

Member since March 02, 2012

I have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.

Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.

Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of cards.

I describe my self as a playing card archaeologist, using detective work to identify and date obscure packs of cards discovered in old houses, flea markets and car boot sales.

Related Articles

1996 Boddingtons Bitter playing cards

Boddingtons Bitter playing cards

Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.

2000 AKA M5 Motorway

AKA M5 Motorway

Promotional playing cards for the Hungarian M5 Toll Motorway between Budapest and Röszk.

1999 OXO Faces of the Millennium Dinner

OXO Faces of the Millennium Dinner

Twentieth-century personalities promoting a millennium dinner at the Oxo Tower in London.

1970 Pathé Marconi

Pathé Marconi

Special promotion pack for French record company Pathé Marconi.

1991 Kids Fun Box playing cards

Kids Fun Box playing cards

Colourful cards for children with four non-standard suits connected with the natural world.

1980 Tangle Foot Ale

Tangle Foot Ale

Badger Brewery Tangle Foot strong ale advertising pack.

1970 ViVa Bourg

ViVa Bourg

A distinctive deck of cards for a specific promotion.

1970 Dancing

Dancing

“Dancing” playing cards manufactured by Nintendo for Torii Dance School, Osaka.

1891 Scientific Whist

Scientific Whist

“Scientific Whist” : standard cards with instructions for play on the faces by Chas Goodall & Son, 1...

1985 Agent Provocateur

Agent Provocateur

Branded lingerie collection in a pack of pin-up playing cards.

2012 Shin-Tōmei Expressway Opening Commemoration

Shin-Tōmei Expressway Opening Commemoration

Promotional playing cards for the Shin-Tōmei Expressway, a major Japanese expressway that opened in ...

2021 Nimbus playing cards

Nimbus playing cards

Mike Steer’s weather-themed pack with suits in four colours and backs for cardistry.

2025 Agatha Christie and Playing Cards revisited

Agatha Christie and Playing Cards revisited

Agatha Christie uses card-play as a primary focus of a story, and as a way of creating plots and mot...

2006 The Decadent Deck

The Decadent Deck

Studies in the eroticism of the female body by Inge Clayton.

1893 Historic Shakespeare

Historic Shakespeare

“Historic Shakespeare” playing cards featuring Shakespearean characters by Chas Goodall & Son.

1925 Copechat Paramount Sorting System

Copechat Paramount Sorting System

Preserving the past: a specimen deck showcasing edge-notched cards and their ingenious sorting syste...