A New Year’s Greeting

Not a pack of playing cards, but a New Years greeting in the form of 12 court cards, each one representing a month of the year. The comical looking courts are loosely based on those of the English pattern but have attributes and expressions representing the month in which they are shown. The reverse side of each card shows the appropriate sign of the zodiac and has a saying in German on each end of the card. The sayings are all representative of the month. You can have fun translating the four card backs shown below.

The cards, which are slightly larger than normal (102 x 65 mm), come in a slim decorated cardboard slipcase which tells us that the cards were presented by Wilhelm Eckel of Offenbach who was a representative of the Bauerschen Gießerei (German Type Foundry) which existed from 1887 until 1972. This set is probably from the 1960's. The card images were drawn by Fritz Kredel and wood engraved by Willi Seidl. The case and backs were designed by Veronica Gruber. An interesting curiosity !

Below: both slides of the slip case

All cards shown are from the collection of Paul Symons ©