Playing Card Brands from Around the World

The Story of Pepys Games by Rex Pitts

The famous Bicycle© playing cards were first introduced by Russell & Morgan Printing Co in 1885. More recently the brand has been open to private designers since the early 2000s.

Moguls (often printed as Great Mogul) is one of the traditional British “quality” names found on tax wrappers and later on card boxes. First registered in London in 1741, it came to represent the top grade in the familiar hierarchy of named qualities—above Harrys, Highlanders, and Merry Andrews—as a shorthand for relative quality and price. The name was widely adopted by different makers in Britain and abroad, and is frequently encountered on packs made for both domestic sale and export.

A subsidiary of Brown & Bigelow was established in 1927 to bring Hoyle products to the retail market. The Hoyle brand was acquired by the United States Playing Card Company in 2001.

Card games produced in Germany by Oppenheimer und Sulzbacher.

Highlanders 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 sat within a recognised hierarchy—below Moguls (or Great Moguls) and Harrys, and above Merry Andrews—serving as a shorthand for relative grade and price. These names originated as registered makers’ signs within the regulated, tax-administered London trade, and they fed directly into the late-19th-century shift from “qualities” to modern brand naming.

The Aladdin brand, originally created by Samuel J. Murray at the National Card Company before its 1894 merger with USPCC, produced playing cards inspired by Middle Eastern themes and exported to markets including Peru and Thailand.

One of the outstanding and most popular packs made by the Turnhout cardmakers was the Bongoût type. Special scenic Aces could be added to packs according to the client’s preferences.

Harrys is an English quality name found on tax wrappers and later on card boxes, used as a recognised grade designation rather than a single fixed design. The name appears to have begun as ‘Henry VIII’ before being shortened, and by the late 19th century it sat within the familiar hierarchy of named qualities alongside Moguls, Highlanders, and Merry Andrews. Makers sometimes distinguished sub-grades—Woolley & Co’s “Second Harrys”, for example—while the terminology itself persisted into the early 20th century and was also echoed by some early American manufacturers.

Difusora S.A is a distributor of smokers' materials. Around 1970-80 they also distributed "Minifusor" playing cards.

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.

Hustling Joe is a United States Playing Card Co. brand name best known from the comic semi-transformation pack Hustling Joe No. 61, first issued in Cincinnati in 1895. The original was produced in two 1895 issues—commonly distinguished by the colour of Joe’s costume on the Ace of Spades—and the name has since been revived for later facsimile editions.

Naipes Argentinos 'La Partida' y 'Aparcero' published by Obsequios Empresarios Argentinos, Santa Fe.

"Naipes Condor" Chilean playing cards, with Chilean symbolism on the suit signs.

Good Pals was founded in 2021 by James Kiernan, initially as an apparel brand before expanding into limited-edition playing cards. The project positions its decks as personal, artist-led editions, framed by the motto "Good Pals - A Testimony to Life & Friendship through Collectable Art".