The World of Playing Cards Logo

Electrical Mah Jong

Published December 04, 2015 Updated May 09, 2023

Electrical Mah Jong was produced by De La Rue for The Western Electric Company Ltd in 1924 for the Wembley Exhibition.

1924 United Kingdom De la Rue Engineering Telecommunications Card Games Mahjong

De la Rue & Co Ltd already produced conventional Mah-Jongg sets with bone and bamboo tiles, but this ‘Electrical Mah Jong’ card game was produced for The Western Electric Company Ltd in 1924 for the Wembley Exhibition, at which they had a stand, showing old radios, cables and telephones of the period from 1875 to 1924. At that time the Western Electric Company was a major player in the advancement of International Communications, producing over half the world’s telephones and a wide range of components, cables, wireless and receiving apparatus, some of which are illustrated on the cards below  more →

See: the boxthe score card.

Suits symbols are Phones (P), Radio Valves (R) and Cables (C). Winds are East, South, West, and North. Dragon Cards are Arial (Red), Earth (Green), and Ether (White). Red Honour Cards are Periods - 1875, 1898, 1918, and 1924. Green Honour Cards are Symbols - Western Electric Company Limited London, WEC, Quality First Cables and Telephones, and Western Electric Modern Domestic.

Cards from ‘Electrical Mah Jong’ produced by De La Rue for The Western Electric Company Ltd in 1924

Above: cards from ‘Electrical Mah Jong’ produced by De La Rue for The Western Electric Company Ltd in 1924. 148 gold edged cards plus 4 scoring cards.

avatar
774 Articles

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.


Leave a Reply

Default Avatar
Your Name
Just now

Create account to comment Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here. Your comment here.


Related Articles

2010 Typographic Playing Cards

Typographic Playing Cards

Typographic Playing Cards designed by Jim Sutherland, c.2010.

1812 76: Transitions: Hunt & Sons

76: Transitions: Hunt & Sons

Styles change and technology develops. This means that it's possible to see transition periods in th...

1953 Simpson (Piccadilly) playing cards

Simpson (Piccadilly) playing cards

Innovative advertising pack for Simpsons of Piccadilly designed by André François.

1998 Scruffy Mutts

Scruffy Mutts

‘Scruffy Mutts’ dog-themed playing cards, United Kingdom, c.1998.

2006 Covered bridges playing cards

Covered bridges playing cards

Historical covered bridges with photography by Bill Miller, 2006.

1995 Iroha Karuta for Hino City

Iroha Karuta for Hino City

Special version of Iroha Karuta, a traditional Japanese matching game, made for Hino City, Tokyo.

1990 Iroha Karuta

Iroha Karuta

Traditional Japanese matching game played mainly by children.

1974 O-Shlemiel card game

O-Shlemiel card game

O-Shlemiel card game with Yiddish words and phrases.

1989 Hamlet Cigars

Hamlet Cigars

Advertising deck for “Hamlet mild cigars”, a Benson & Hedges product.

Heathen Divinities

Heathen Divinities

Handmade playing cards from the British Museum depicting classical Greek and Roman gods and goddesse...

1968 1968 Worshipful Company Pack

1968 Worshipful Company Pack

Commemorating the Games of the XIX Olympiad, Mexico, 1968 (Master: Michael J. Amberg).

2006 Royal Britain

Royal Britain

Pack devised by Pietro Alligo depicting English monarchs from Alfred the Great to Elizabeth II.

Hand-drawn set of 52 playing cards

Hand-drawn set of 52 playing cards

An imaginatively hand-drawn set of 52 playing cards by an amateur artist, 18th century.

2004 Famous Faces playing cards

Famous Faces playing cards

Images of the great and the good to be found in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

2013 Go Go Gorillas!

Go Go Gorillas!

Go Go Gorillas! charity playing cards sponsored by the Eastern Daily Press and the Norwich Evening N...

Moguls, Highlanders and Merry Andrews

Moguls, Highlanders and Merry Andrews

Discover the historic origins and evolution of card naming and quality designations like ‘Moguls’ an...