By Country

13: Some North American Cards

I deal with some of the US makers in more detail on other pages, but here is a brief introduction.

26th Yankee Division

“26th Yankee Division Playing Cards” was designed by Alban B. Butler, Jr and printed by the Press of the Woolly Whale, New York, in 1933.

Here I want to take another widely copied design and see how individual variation by the copier can take the original design through a lot of changes. I shall take the three USPCC designs: US3 (wide), US3.1 (bridge) and US4 (wide). To the best of my knowledge these are no longer used in the US, except perhaps for special productions, as in the retro market.

4 Seasons Playing Cards

4 Thrones Solitaire Game by Kurt Bieg

A fresh and minimal pack and iPhone app designed for solitaire games.

40 Years of Fear Jaws Playing Cards

This special pack celebrates the 40th anniversary of the film Jaws.

42: Andrew Dougherty

Andrew Dougherty was one of the biggest American card-makers in the 19th century.

43: The United States Playing Card Co.

The United States Playing Card Co. (USPCC) represents an amalgamation of all the major American card-makers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries

8-Bit Mafia and 8-Bit Werewolf by Michael Scott

This pack created by Michael Scott has been inspired by retro 8-bit pixel games from the 80s and 90s.

A Look Back with Hope for the Future

“A Look Back with Hope for the Future” by Rod Starling

About Emily Arkin

African Art

“African Art” Playing cards by John J. Beckvermit III, 1994

Age of Dragons

Age of Dragons by Anne Stokes, 2017.

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland playing cards designed by Sasha Dounaevski, 2018.

American Bank Note Company

The American Bank Note Company was a long-established firm producing national currency, finely engraved stock certificates and other security printing, including postage stamps. Like others before them they entered the playing card market, but only to pull out again after a short time, c.1908-1914.

American Skat

These decks were produced in various grades for the German immigrant population and feature the German eagle and the German and American flags intertwined. There were two versions: one with German faces and one with American faces.

Amos Whitney Inventory

Amos Whitney Factory Inventory. What it was like inside an 18th century playing card factory...

Andrew Dougherty 1848-1930

Andrew Dougherty was born in Donegal in Northern Ireland in 1827. He started his playing card business in New York in 1848.

Andrew Dougherty c.1850

The idiosyncratic courts used in this deck were used by several other U.S. manufacturers, including Crehore and Hart, and continued into the early 1900s in Faro decks.

Angry Birds UNO

Angry Birds UNO manufactured in China, 2003

Anheuser-Busch

The Kings show American admirals and the Jacks have different officers at each end. The Queens are “Our Colonies”. Advertising appears on the Ace of Spades and ‘Uncle Sam’ Joker, the back and the box. The medals on the Aces suggest awards.

Anheuser-Busch Army & Navy

This deck is commonly known as the “Anheuser-Busch Spanish-American War deck”, issued at the end of the war.

Anne Stokes Collection

Anne Stokes Collection playing cards, 2010.

AO MATU Playing Cards by Nastya KFKS

A custom deck with magnificent characters, illustrations and tropical design. Inspired by the nature of the Polynesian islands. Wild and truly unique.

Apache cards by Tonto Naipero

Apache rawhide playing cards by ‘Tonto Naipero’, c.1871

Army & Navy

Andrew Dougherty’s Army & Navy deck from the Civil War era, c.1865. The cards have no indices and are printed in red/blue/black only with a green/red back pattern.

Army & Navy No.303

Over the years eight different Aces of Spades were used with this brand and the Joker was also modified several times. The brand was eventually phased out in 1931.

Army No.303

The Joker is particularly persuasive, whilst the Ace of Spades has a battle scene involving artillery, with Navy ships in the distance and the statue of the goddess of Freedom in the middle.