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Published August 29, 2017 Updated June 08, 2022

Trinidad Carnival Playing Cards

“Allfours Carnival Playing Cards” designed by Gabby Woodham, Trinidad, 1995

1995 Africa Trinidad and Tobago Gabby Woodham Amerindian Art & Design Carnival Ethnic & Indigenous Souvenir Add to Collection

Trinidad’s lively street carnival can be felt in this deck designed by Gabby Woodham and published as “Allfours Carnival Playing Cards”. Allfours is a popular Trinidadian card game and championships are held on a yearly basis. Each suit depicts diverse decorative patterns and inhabitants of Trinidad, presenting a wide range of ethnicity, religion, and culture: clubs show the Amerindians from South America. diamonds depict Afro-Trinidadians. spades show Indo-Trinis [pronounced ‘Trin-ees’] and hearts portray present day Trinis. See the Box

“Allfours  Carnival Playing Cards” designed by Gabby Woodham, Trinidad, 1995 “Allfours  Carnival Playing Cards” designed by Gabby Woodham, Trinidad, 1995

Above: “Allfours Carnival Playing Cards” designed by Gabby Woodham, Trinidad, 1995. The deck was printed in Canada. Images courtesy Rex Pitts.

“Allfours  Carnival Playing Cards” designed by Gabby Woodham, Trinidad, 1995
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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

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.


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