Scruffy Mutts
‘Scruffy Mutts’ dog-themed playing cards, United Kingdom, c.1998.
This pack was printed c. 1998-2000 by Cartamundi for The Little Dog Laughed Ltd., a company specialising in dog-related stationery. The same card in each suit shows a drawing of a dog (various breeds) in a variety of different poses or activities. Each dog is named (Muck magnet, Fatboy Jack, Smiffy, Archie, etc.), and a humorous caption is given beneath each image intended to explain the name or describe the activity. Including the two identical jokers a total of 14 images are presented. A bridge scoring card is included in the pack. See the box
Above: ‘Scruffy Mutts’ playing cards printed by Cartamundi for The Little Dog Laughed Ltd, United Kingdom, c.1998.
By Peter Burnett
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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