John Waddington Ltd
During the 1930s The Ormond Printing Co. Ltd produced playing cards for the Irish market with a distinctive ace of spades, joker and court cards. In 1935 the firm was acquired as a manufacturing facility for Waddington’s cards in Eire.
Ormond Printing Co. Ltd
During the 1930s The Ormond Printing Co. Ltd produced playing cards for the Irish market with a distinctive ace of spades, joker and court cards. In 1935 the firm was acquired as a manufacturing facility for Waddington’s cards in Eire.

Radio Banker
Radio Banker by John Waddington Ltd for Marconiphone Co Ltd.

Beaver!
The Game of Beaver designed by G E Studdy and published by John Waddington Ltd in 1927.

My Word
My Word “The last word in card games” designed by Michael Kindred and Malcolm Smith, published in 1980 by Waddingtons.

Crown the Queen
Crown the Queen card game invented by Elaine Burton, c.1953.

Pooltella
Pooltella cards by John Waddington Ltd, the cards that simplify football pool forecasts, 1930s.

Queen’s Silver Jubilee 1977
Queen’s Silver Jubilee playing cards designed by Susan Rae for John Wadddington Ltd, 1977

Barribal patience
Waddington’s Patience Cards from the Barribal Series, c.1929.

Little Demons
“Little Demons” playing cards illustrated by Wayne Anderson, c.1970

Waddington’s 1940 Trade Brochure
Waddington’s 1940 Trade Brochure.

Michelin Tyres, c.1970
Michelin Tyres by Waddingtons, c.1970.

English Electric Valve Company Ltd
Special pack made for the English Electric Valve Company Ltd Chelmsford, 1989.

When three brands merge...
After De la Rue factories were bombed in 1940 their cards were printed by Waddingtons. In 1962 Waddingtons and De la Rue combined forces to form the Amalgamated Playing Card Co.

Shakespearean
Shakespearean Playing Cards designed by Frederick Colin Tilney, made by John Waddington Limited c.1925.

100 Pipers
100 Pipers Scotch Whisky promotional deck, Waddingtons P.C.Co., c.1973. Includes a Tarot pack offer.

Help Yourself Society
The “Help Yourself” Society was formed in 1927 to run fundraising activities for hospitals.

Bobs y’r Uncle
“Bobs y'r Uncle” nursery rhyme card game designed by Frank H. Simpson for John Waddington Ltd. in 1935.

Beautiful Britain Series
The ‘Beautiful Britain’ series depicting seaside and country resorts was produced by John Waddington Ltd for the Great Western Railway and London and North Eastern Railway between 1924-1939.

Lexicon
The summer of 1932 saw the introduction of Lexicon, when a small edition was produced and sold to test the market.

Manchester United
Deck produced for Manchester United Football Club published in 2006.

Hello Kitty
Waddington’s “Hello Kitty” themed deck produced in 2009.

Waddingtons Aces of Spades, 1970 onwards
Waddingtons Aces of Spades, 1970 onwards

Souvenir of Scotland
52 Selected Views of Scotland produced for United Cigar & Tobacco Co. Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland by Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd.

S. Salomon & Co Nr.154
Nr.154 Holmblads made by John Waddington Ltd specially for S. Salomon & Co., Copenhagen

Historical Characters
“Historical Characters” playing cards printed by Waddington’s for Thermawear Ltd, 1994

Cheers & Tears
Cheers & Tears by John Waddington Ltd, 1963.

Kon-Vex Playing Cards
Waddington’s introduced a series of unusual shapes in the early 1950s.

Hoover Ltd Playing Cards
Vintage cartoon courts and ace of spades specially designed for Hoover Limited, with full colour back showing the Art Deco style Hoover factory at Perivale, manufactured by Waddington's Playing Cards, c.1930.

41: A Guide to Dating Playing Cards
Dating is a particularly tricky but very interesting problem to tackle and there are many pitfalls.

Artex No.111
No.111 by Artex is a copy of Waddingtons standard designs, c1962.

Ferguson Happy Families
Ferguson Happy Families card game was produced by Ferguson Electronics and printed by John Waddington Ltd in c.1960.

28: How to Analyze and Differentiate Playing Card Plates (De La Rue, Waddington and the Berlin pattern [französisches Bild])
My interest in postage stamp variants led me to apply the same principles to playing cards.
![28: How to Analyze and Differentiate Playing Card Plates (De La Rue, Waddington and the Berlin pattern [französisches Bild]) 28: How to Analyze and Differentiate Playing Card Plates (De La Rue, Waddington and the Berlin pattern [französisches Bild])](http://www.wopc.co.uk/core/cache/wopc/thumbs/var/www/wopc.co.uk/htdocs/images/blog/2015/10/JS_D1-D2-D3.71cb0cdb.jpg)
Whot
Whot was invented by William Henry Storey in 1935. It comes from the days when friends and family played indoor games by the fireside.

Ormond Printing Co. Ltd
During the 1930s The Ormond Printing Co. Ltd produced playing cards for the Irish market with a distinctive ace of spades, joker and court cards. In 1935 the firm was acquired as a manufacturing facility for Waddington’s cards in Eire.

17: Waddington, Including Some of Their Less Common Packs
John Berry's two-volume work on the Waddington archive and collection is a very comprehensive presentation of the history of the firm, but there are some items missing from it which I include here.

14: Back Designs
A few examples of the many interesting back designs.

7: Brands and Packs
The introduction of brands commenced during the late 19th century as a development of the old qualities: Moguls, Harrys, Highlanders and Merry Andrews.

Cir-Q-Lar
Cir-Q-Lar Playing Cards. In 1929 John Waddington Ltd commenced the production of circular cards and these were very popular.

Siriol Clarry
Playing cards designed by Siriol Clarry

Holmblads No. 121
Holmblads No. 121 made by John Waddington, England, for Denmark

John Waddington Ltd, early type
John Waddington Ltd, early type Ace of Spades and court cards, 1922-30.

Waddington’s Playing Cards
John Waddington Limited was a leading producer of playing cards and card games in the UK during the period 1922-1995. The company had been founded in the nineteenth century by Mr John Waddington and Wilson Barratt as Waddingtons Ltd.

Amalgamated Playing Card Co., Ltd
Agreement had been reached between Waddington's and De La Rue during the second world war for Waddington's to manufacture playing cards for De la Rue. Thus the Amalgamated Playing Card Company was born but it remained an unofficial name for many years.

Waddington’s “Envoy“ Series
Waddington’s “Envoy“ Series.

Waddington’s “Flying” Series, 1933
Waddington’s “Flying” Series, 1933.

Waddington’s Encore Series
Waddington’s Encore Series 1933.

Waddington’s Classic and Wildlife Series, 1933
Waddington’s Classic and Wildlife Series, 1933.

Waddington’s Varsity Series
Waddington’s Varsity Series.

Waddington’s Sporting Series
Waddington’s Sporting Series, 1933.

Waddington’s Cir-Q-Lar Playing Cards
Waddington's Cir-Q-Lar Playing Cards, c.1930

Waddington’s Sporting Birds Series 1933
Waddington’s Sporting Birds Series 1933.

Barribal Series
William H. Barribal (1873 - 1956) was a London artist who created the Waddingtons 'Barribal' playing cards series, which are avidly collected today.
