Schweizer Trachten

Above: From the collection of Barney Townshend.

Patience-size packs of these cards were also issued with a single joker after c.1906.

Above: Schweizer Trachten (Costumes Suisses) patience size (43mm x 65mm), after 1906. From the collection of Matt Probert.

Addendum - courtesy Roddy Somerville.

Sometimes it is only after collecting cards for many years and gathering together several versions of the same pack that one is able to make interesting – and perhaps even startling – discoveries. Such is the case when I began to look closely at the Dondorf Swiss Costumes Patience cards which I have in my collection.

The pack illustrated which belongs to Matt Probert must be the one which bears the number 189 in the Dondorf range. This we know from the size of the cards (43 x 65 mm). Packs made before 1906 had 2 mm indices, while those made after 1906 had 3 mm indices. The indices could be in German, French or English. Packs without any indices are also known.

A larger version of the same Patience cards was produced between 1908 and 1933. This carried the number 190 in the Dondorf range. I have three versions of no. 190 (and there are probably more):

1. Indices 3 mm. “B. Dondorf G.m.b.H. / Frankfurt a/M.” on the Jack of Clubs. Black and white Joker. Backs: Swiss flag and edelweiss with white border. Size: 48.5 x 73 mm. “No. 190 PATIENCE-KARTEN” on the side of the box.

2. Indices 3 mm. “B. Dondorf G.m.b.H. / Frankfurt a/M.” on the Jack of Clubs. Coloured Joker. Backs: Swiss flag and edelweiss with white border. Size: 49 x 75 mm. “PATIENCE-KARTEN No. 190” on the side of the box (note the reversal of the wording). (I have a double set of these cards, in their original paper wrappers , with a leaflet in German and in their rather splendid green and gold double hinged box which bears the number 190 on the underside. This was no doubt one of the last of these sets to have been produced, probably c.1930).

3. Indices 2 mm. “B. Dondorf, G.m.b.H., Francfort s/M / B. Dondorf, G.m.b.H., Frankfurt a/M.” on the Jack of Clubs. No Joker. Backs: Swiss flag and edelweiss with no border. Size: 49 x 75 mm. “No. 190 WHIST-KARTEN” on the side of the box.

This last pack is the mystery one. There is no mention of Patience anywhere on the box. The back design is unusual in not having a border. This version is not listed in Franz Braun’s catalogue of Dondorf packs.¹

All of this goes to show that one needs to be vigilant when acquiring sets of cards which were produced over many years. Many different editions may exist and it can be difficult to put them in date order.

Reference

Braun, Franz. Schriftenreihe “Spielkarten” – Band 4: Die Spielkartenfabrik B. Dondorf. Köln, Germany: Franz Braun; 1991. pp. 82-83, BD 1897/1.