Deutsche Nutzpflanzen

Published August 29, 2020 Updated July 19, 2022

Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938.

1938 Germany Advertising Food & Cooking Medical & Pharmaceutical Nature & Environment Quartet

The 36 cards in this promotional card game are beautifully illustrated showing fruits and crops with vignettes suggestive of health and vitality. Kali were manufacturers of fertilisers hence the inscription on the card backs “Kalidünger Erntebringer” meaning “Kali fertilizer Increases your earnings” - along with a bundle of ears of corn and two crossed hammers. The final set of four cards showcases their products for soil improvement. See the Rules

Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938
Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938
Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938 Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938 Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938 Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938 Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, 1938

Above: Deutsche Nutzpflanzen - Quartett game promoting Kali brand crop fertilizer, Kali-Industrie, 1938. 36 cards . Rules on the back of the box.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

Member since January 30, 2009

Rex'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.

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