Merry Andrews

Merry Andrews is one of the traditional British “quality” names found on tax wrappers and later on card boxes, used in England from the 1700s into the early 1900s. By the late 19th century it typically sat at the cheaper end of a recognised hierarchy—beneath Highlanders, Harrys, and Moguls—serving as a shorthand for relative grade and price. The name began as a registered maker’s sign within the regulated, tax-administered London trade (the form “Merry Andrew” appears on wrapper proofs of 1746), and later fed into the wider shift from “qualities” to modern brand naming. As with many long-running brands, the label alone does not guarantee a fixed set of faces or aces, so the pack’s specific make-up often needs to be identified separately.