Swiss Album patience

Swiss Album patience, C.L. Wüst (Frankfurt), c.1900

Responding to the rise of tourism in Europe, Wüst, together with Müller and Dondorf, were in the forefront of the manufacture of souvenir packs featuring costumes of Swiss cantons with scenes on the aces. The result portrays Switzerland as a romantic and charming destination. The manufacturer's monogram 'C.L.W.' is visible inside the little six-pointed star on the jack of clubs.

Above: Swiss Album patience No.90 manufactured by C. L. Wüst (Frankfurt), c.1900, with a different landscape on the reverse of each card inside a decorative oval frame. The court cards depict costumed figures along with shields from the cantons and the aces are scenic. 52 cards in box.

REFERENCES

Shaw, Martin & Symons, Paul: Playing cards from the factory C.L.Wüst, Frankfurt, Germany (1811-1927), Catalogue of the exhibition held at the Nationaal Museum van de Speelkaart, Turnhout, Belgium, 23 September-31 December 2005.

By Simon Wintle

Member since February 01, 1996

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Curator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.