Standard and Non-standard Playing Cards

Above: standard playing card, 1700

Above: standard playing card, 1865

Above: standard playing card, 1935

Above: standard playing card, 1965

Standard Playing Cards

Standard playing cards are those in which the court card figures are based upon traditional designs whose features do not change much over time. Players recognise the cards immediately and expect to use these for everyday card games. The number cards are arranged clearly and logically. Standard packs are made by most manufacturers, although there may be different standard patterns in different regions within a country. There are also several different national suit-systems, alternative court card hierarchies as well as the number of cards in a pack.

The illustrations (right) show how English playing card designs have evolved from full length figures, with square corners and no indices, to double-ended ones, with the addition of indices, although the same basic designs are always discernible.

During the 19th century the court cards were often flipped horizontally so that the pip sign and index lie at the top left-hand corner, to make fanning the cards more convenient.

By around 1880, rounded corners had become the accepted norm in England. The Printer and Stationer of January 1880 reported that "… it appears that most of our card manufacturers make round cornered cards now - their convenience being undeniable." However, square cornered cards were still produced until around the turn of the century.

"Life is a pack of cards.
Childhood's best cards are hearts;
youth is captured with diamonds;
middle age is conquered by a club,
while old age is raked in by the insatiable spade."

One standard pattern in particular enjoyed great success and was widely imitated - the Paris pattern. Derivatives of several other French regional patterns also became new patterns in many European countries  more►

Above: the Paris pattern gave rise to many local variants in other European countries.

Non-Standard Playing Cards

Non-standard playing cards are those in which the court cards, pip cards, aces and/or jokers have deviated from the traditional, 'standard' pattern and have been stylised, decorated or re-designed. For example, fantasy historical court cards, humorous cartoons, decorative aces, and so on. Sometimes the court cards are representations of political personalities. A pack of cards may be produced to honour a royal commemoration, a new tourist attraction or the next millennium. Sometimes the shape of the cards is different. These types of card are a distraction to serious card players, but often sought by collectors.

Above: non-standard English playing cards, c.1820-1999. Not so easy to recognise at first glance.

With the covergence of digital technologies towards the end of the 20th century, the cost of producing custom playing cards, i.e.non-standard, fell whilst old-fashioned technologies became obsolete. Small custom print runs became feasible with photoshopped artwork inserted easily into the printing. Thus from this point onwards non-standard cards have become cheaper to produce and are now more prevalent than standard ones.

Children’s Card Games with Advertising

Sales incentives - from the collection of Rex Pitts

These packs sit at the overlap of cards, commerce and the small printed material made around play. They were often distributed as sales incentives, and the packaging itself – wrappers, labels and instructions – can be as informative as the cards, showing how a game was marketed, dated and intended to be used. For related articles, see ephemera and advertising.