Standard Swedish Pattern

Published September 16, 2010 • Updated July 04, 2023

Standard Swedish type playing cards manufactured by J.O. Öberg & Son, Eskilstuna, 1929.

Standard Swedish Cards

Standard Swedish type playing cards manufactured by J.O. Öberg & Son, Eskilstuna, 1929. Where Sweden had traditionally produced playing cards based on the French 'Paris' pattern, more recently these have been replaced by newer designs, as shown below, which were perfected by Öberg and have become the new 'standard' pattern used in Sweden. The Ace of Hearts has the manufacturer's stamp and a tax stamp. The indices E, Kn, D and K are usually seen on Scandinavian cards. The detail from the box (above right) shows a number of exhibition medals, the earliest of which is dated 1897.

Standard Swedish playing cards manufactured by J.O. Öberg & Son, Eskilstuna, 1929

Above: Standard Swedish type playing cards manufactured by J.O. Öberg & Son, Eskilstuna, 1929. The court cards in each suit are colour-coordinated and the indices are: E, Kn, D and K.

Standard Swedish playing cards manufactured by J.O. Öberg & Son, Eskilstuna, 1943

Above: Öberg & Son standard Swedish pattern, 1943.

Öbergs Spelkort Nr 390 Turist, 1956

A dual set of tourist playing cards by Öbergs, dated 1956. The two designs are entitled "Reindeer in Lappland" and "Midwinter".

Above: Öbergs Spelkort Nr 390 Turist, 1956. Images courtesy Matt Probert.

Standard Swedish pattern by Heráclio Fournier S.A., Spain, 1986

Standard Swedish playing cards manufactured for the Swedish market by Heráclio Fournier S.A., Spain, 1986

Above: Standard Swedish type playing cards manufactured for the Swedish market by Heráclio Fournier S.A., Spain, 1986.

Standard Swedish pattern by Ferd Piatnik & Sons, Vienna, 1997

Above: Standard Swedish type playing cards manufactured for the Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden by Ferd Piatnik & Sons, Vienna, 1997.

Swedish pattern by Carta Mundi

In this example of the Swedish pattern by Carta Mundi, the courts have been given a make-over, but keeping a traditional (conservative) appearance.

Above: Swedish pattern by Carta Mundi. Images courtesy Matt Probert.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many. His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service. Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.