Vues et Caractères Suisses No.228

Due to the growth of tourism in Europe during the 19th century came the demand for souvenirs. What could be nicer than to take home pictures of the places you had visited and the people you had seen. Photography was either unavailable or in its very early stages of development so pictures on playing cards became an interesting and novel souvenir which also had a practical use. The alps became an important destination for tourism which in turn gave playing card factories the opportunity to sell their products to tourists in the region.

Dondorf was one of the important makers to make Swiss souvenir playing cards in the third quarter of the 19th. century. The pack shown below was named 'Vues et Caractères Suisses' (Scenic views & Swiss costumed figures) No.228, produced from about 1868 until 1885 (according to Braun). The aces show two views of typical Swiss destinations while the court cards depict figures dressed in traditional costumes from the different cantons within Switzerland. The cards are square corners and printed in colour lithography. The factory name is shown on the Jack of Clubs. The back depicts a lady with a goat sitting above the Swiss national emblem. There is another version known of this pack which, although very similar, does not have the factory name and has a simpler back with a single colour tartan pattern. It is probably a pirate version by an unknown maker. I only have a cut down version in my collection, but Roddy Somerville has kindly sent scans of his copy which are shown below.

Dondorf produced a different Swiss souvenir pack at the start of the 20th century which is much more common and produced over a long period. It can be seen here.
Other factories such as C.L.Wüst of Frankfurt and Muller of Schaffhausen also produced Swiss souvenir packs of a similar type. You can see some examples here, here and here.

Below: The reverse of the cards and the box.

Below: The anonymous version (with the permission of Roddy Somerville)

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References:
- Braun Band 4, 1991. BD1868/2 page 52
- KJ Schultz/Stolzenburg. Dondorf Spielkarten Kat.Nr. 33

The first pack shown shown is from the collection of Paul Symons ©