Boulogne-sur-Mer Chamber of Commerce
Boulogne-sur-Mer Chamber of Commerce & Industry playing cards illustrated by James Hodges, c.1974.
Boulogne-sur-Mer Chamber of Commerce & Industry playing cards illustrated by prolific designer James Hodges, 1974. The cards feature aspects of the coastal town economy on the four aces and 12 court cards: the commercial port, tourism and the beach, the herring fishing industry and busy ferry terminal, with seagulls on the jokers.



Above: Boulogne-sur-Mer Chamber of Commerce & Industry playing cards illustrated by James Hodges, c.1974. 52 cards + 2 jokers + Bridge scores card. Images courtesy Rex Pitts.
A revised edition
There is a second (probably later) edition of this pack in which a number of the designs have been changed. Shown below are the cards which have been redrawn, including the back design. The other cards remain the same. In addition, the inscription on the Ace of Clubs now reads simply “Grimaud” instead of “B.P. Grimaud” - Roddy Somerville.


By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)
Member since January 30, 2009
View ArticlesRex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many.
His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.
Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service.
Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.
His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.