Boddingtons Bitter playing cards
Cool-looking courts advertising Boddingtons Bitter, originally brewed in Manchester.
Even though the same set of designs has been used on the court cards in each suit, this pack has a smart look. There are cool-looking queens and jacks drinking pints of bitter near the dartboard, while the kings feature a beer pump handle advertising Boddingtons Bitter alongside a full pint. A swan¹ is seen drinking from a pint glass on the Jokers. All the designs are double-ended. The promotional back design is in the familiar colours associated with Boddingtons Bitter, namely yellow and black. Brewing of what was popularly called “The Cream of Manchester” used to take place in Manchester but production was moved in 2004 to Samlesbury, Lancashire. • See the box
Above: Boddingtons Bitter playing cards made by Carta Mundi, Turnhout, Belgium, 1996. 52 cards + 3 Jokers (2 black, 1 red) in tuck box. Size: 67 x 97 mm.
¹ We cannot find a reference to swans in any Boddingtons advertising campaign; the choice of imagery is puzzling. Does anyone know the reason?
By Roddy Somerville
France • Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
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