Rufford Playing Cards
Rufford playing cards is one of several brand names used by Boots for their stationery department, and probably the most popular.
Rufford playing cards is one of several brand names used by Boots for their stationery department, and probably the most popular. Rufford playing cards came in several different styles of box, ace of spades and jokers over the years, all specially manufactured by Thomas De la Rue & Co. Some editions were linen grained, some had gold edges. As a rule the back designs were decorative patterns and did not advertise Boots. Rufford refers to the estate in the village of Rainworth, near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, the site of a coal mine named Rufford after the estate. The Boots products were named after areas of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, so another card brand was Chatsworth and yet another was Pelham, also in Notts. Boots was based in Nottingham.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
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