De Land’s Nifty playing cards
De Land’s Nifty playing cards published by S. S. Adams Co, c.1930.
De Land’s Nifty playing cards published by S. S. Adams Co, c.1930. Theodore L. De Land Jr. (1873-1931) was an early pioneer in the use of marked and preordered card decks. Secret markings on the backs of otherwise perfectly normal cards enabled anyone to perform mysterious magical tricks with minimal knowledge of sleight of hand. He sold his card business to S. S. Adams in 1918 who then proceeded to re-publish five styles of De Land’s cards until around 1940. This example uses the clock system of back markings, the second clock from top-left is the key.
Above: De Land’s Nifty playing cards published by S. S. Adams Co, c.1930, with baseball ace of spades and specially marked backs. 52 cards + joker + instruction leaflet in box. According to the Hochman Encyclopedia the court cards were re-designed in a quirky style by Adams and decks issued after 1925 had the title omitted from the ace of spades when the baseball design was introduced.
REFERENCES
Dawson, Tom & Judy: The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, U.S. Games Systems Inc., 2000 [page 301].
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
View ArticlesCurator 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.
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