Lithuanian playing cards

Published August 25, 2026 • Updated August 25, 2026

depicting Lithuanian culture, from pink cold soup to the Gediminas Tower, each card tells a story.

A pack inspired by Lithuanian culture, produced by Make Heads Turn, a Lithuanian company based in Vilnius. Each of the 54 cards depicts a different aspect of Lithuanian everyday life. Not being sufficiently knowledgeable about the country, it has proven difficult to appreciate the significance of certain images, but having returned recently from a brief visit and with a little research, the rationale for inclusion can be identified. They include:

Cold beet soup (4D); Lithuania's national bird, the white stork (3C); the Hill of Crosses (5D); Vilnius Orthodox cathedral (5C); a basketball – Lithuania’s most popular sport (6C); the Gediminas Tower in Vilnius (8H); the Vilnius TV Tower (8D); acorns – the Oak (Ąžuolas) - revered in local folklore as a symbol of strength (9H); amber – nicknamed “Lithuanian gold” (10D); the cornflower or rugiagėlė - the national plant (QD); blueberries – the most common berry in the country (KS); the Chanterelle Green mushroom – representing the beloved cultural tradition of foraging (AH). In addition, there are some general everyday images (e.g. a police car, jar of honey, chess pieces, etc). See the box

Lithuanian playing cards produced by Make Heads Turn, Vilnius

Lithuanian playing cards produced by Make Heads Turn, Vilnius. artist not credited, undated.

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By Peter Burnett

United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022

I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.

• Russian Playing Cards

Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.

Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.