Brown & Bigelow, Stancraft, RCI, TDC
By Ken Lodge
Member since May 14, 2012
I'm Ken Lodge and have been collecting playing cards since I was about eighteen months old (1945). I am also a trained academic, so I can observe and analyze reasonably well. I've applied these analytical techniques over a long period of time to the study of playing cards and have managed to assemble a large amount of information about them, especially those of the standard English pattern. About Ken Lodge →
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Woodblock and Stencil Queen of Clubs
A limited edition art print of the Queen of Clubs 1984 woodblock joker.
Woodblock and Stencil Jack of Hearts
A limited edition art print of the Jack of Hearts 1984 woodblock joker.
Woodblock and Stencil Joker
A limited edition art print of the 1984 woodblock joker.
Woodblock and Stencil Jack of Clubs
A limited edition art print of the Jack of Clubs 1984 woodblock joker.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! playing cards
Strange facts from Robert Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ books, in the form of cartoons.
Official World’s Fair Souvenir, USA, 1964-6
Official souvenir pack showing 52 coloured exhibits from the New York World’s Fair, 1964-6.
Alaska scenic playing cards
Alaska scenic playing cards featuring scenes of Alaskan life, USA, c. 1960.
What can we learn from mini-booklet advertisements?
Over the years I have collected a large number of mini-booklets and pocket guides offering rules and...
Alabama Crimson Tide 1972
Photos of American football players representing the University of Alabama in 1972.
The Place of the Fool
This paper considers three questions relating to the Fool-card in the tarot-pack.
Kuhn Khan
There is little information available about the early twentieth century card game Kuhn Kahn. It firs...
Poker Patience
Poker Patience, according to an early 20th century author, was "introduced so recently as the autumn...
Piquet: the game and its artifacts
Piquet may be the oldest card game which is still played today with origins going back to early 16th...
The Personalities and Books which shaped the game of Whist, 1860-1900
All the books described here are from Tony Hall's own collection, put together over years because of...
Majority Calling and Value Bidding in Auction Bridge; a little bit of history
The centuries-old game of Whist mutated through various stages into Contract Bridge as we know it to...
Goodall & Son Patience Boxed Sets
Goodall & Son produced a huge variety of Patience Boxed Sets at different times and for different co...
The Evolution of Whist and Bridge Boxed Sets, 1870s – 1930s
Boxed sets of cards, markers, scorers and rule booklets have been around for many decades. Some of t...
Bezique Markers, 1860-1960
Bezique is a two-player melding and trick-taking game. Dr. Pole introduced Bezique to England in 186...
Trip or Trap
Fighting drug abuse in the flower power era using humour and ridicule.
Vargas Girls
‘Vargas Girls’ paintings by Alberto Vargas in a deck of cards published by Creative Playing Card Co ...
Hamm’s Beer
Hamm’s Beer promotion deck with bear cartoons by Frank M. Antoncich 1968.
Maya Deck
The Maya Deck produced by Stancraft for Hoyle, 1976.
RCI Playing Cards
RCI Playing Cards, a 20th century playing-card maker of Minneapolis, 1969-1985.
TDC Inc.
“TDC Inc.: a 20th Century American Playing Card Maker” by Michael Cooper.
Eastern Airlines and Ryder Trucks by Hoyle
Dual advertising deck for Eastern Airlines and Ryder Trucks, produced by Hoyle, 1983.
Stancraft “Split Deck”
Stancraft “Split Deck”, 1979.
Nu-Vue for TWA
Nu-Vue playing cards by Brown & Bigelow have novel courts and a special tint which are promoted as “...
Binary Playing Cards
Promotional deck for Honeywell Computers by Brown & Bigelow c.1968 with the cards marked in binary n...
Remembrance
“Remembrance” playing cards, courtesy of the American Legion, manufactured by Brown & Bigelow, c.194...
Michie Tavern Museum
Historic Michie Tavern Museum playing cards by Brown & Bigelow.
Diamond Playing Card (DPC Ltd)
Diamond Playing Card (DPC Ltd).
Stancraft
Stancraft Playing Cards were manufactured by Brown & Bigelow of whom they were a subsidiary.
Hoyle
A subsidiary of Brown & Bigelow was established in 1927 to bring Hoyle products to the retail market...
Submarine Cards
Lighting in submarines involved wearing red goggles to preserve night vision for viewing instrument ...
Shipman’s Guide: early card-packs and the Arcana
In late medieval Europe, among the various forms of card-sets that were tried, two were apparently f...
Michael Scot's rebus figure of "Juppiter" as prototype for the tarot pack's "Magus”/”Bateleur”
A precursor for the 'Bateleur'/'Magus' included in the major arcana of our tarot pack.