B-Deck
“B-Deck” scurrilous playing cards poking fun at a former UK prime minister.
This pack was published at or around the same time as the W Deck, c. 2004. While the W Deck cards poke fun at President George W. Bush, this is effectively the British equivalent. The B-deck similarly superimposes the face of Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister (1997-2007) on a multitude of different, scurrilously inappropriate and often glamour photographs on each of the 54 cards. Among the representations Blair is shown as a clown, glamour model, bathing beauty, baby, various Hollywood actresses, Queen Elizabeth and many others. On the ace of spades his name is purposely misspelt as Bliar – a reference to the Blair’s claims that Saddam Hussein had developed weapons of mass destruction and had ties with al-Qaeda. The pack was printed by Carta Mundi. See the box►
Above: “B-Deck” playing cards poking fun at a former UK prime minister, printed by Carta Mundi, c. 2004/5
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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