The Fat Pack
A vastly expanded pack with 8 suits for playing traditional or new games, devised by Roger Howard Butler Clough.
This pack is exactly what it says on the box – fat! Many five- and six-suited packs have been produced over the years but an eight-suited one is more of a novelty. In addition to the standard suits, the four additional ones are Roses (red), Axes (black), Tridents (black), and Doves (red). To give the pack some cohesion, the three court cards have exactly the same heads in each suit, adapted from a standard King, Queen and Jack of Hearts. Furthermore, the clothing on the courts is decorated with the appropriate suit sign but always in the opposite colour to the suit itself, i.e., red decoration on the black suits and black decoration on the red suits. This gives them the appearance of wearing jockey colours. There are five Jokers. No rules are included. See the box►
Above: The Fat Pack devised by Roger Howard Butler Clough and published by The Fat Pack Playing Card Company, Eastbourne, UK, c1999. Printer unknown. 104 cards + 5 (identical) Jokers + 1 extra card in tuck box. Size: 57.5 x 88 mm. © Roger Howard Butler Clough / July 1999.
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.
Activity for The Fat Pack
Sign in to comment or save this article.
Related Articles
Mini One Deck
One small pack for playing card games, chess, checkers, domino games, dice games, and for use as pok...
Songs with Flute accompaniment
Eighteenth century English engraved cards with music for voice and flute.
Famous Faces playing cards
Images of the great and the good to be found in the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Hand-drawn transformation cards, c1875
A complete set of hand-drawn transformation cards from c1875, using a standard De La Rue pack.
Laughing Made Easy
a Victorian card game published by D. Ogilvy.
Dutch Court playing cards
Games & Print Services’ version of the Dutch pattern.
Golden Charades
Drawn by Bernard Cookson, the clues, riddles and puzzles on these cards could have won the solver a ...
Guildhall Art Gallery playing cards
54 different paintings from the collection of the Guildhall Art Gallery, London.
Hollywood Greats playing cards
18 stars in black and white from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Guinness World Records Cards
52 Guinness World Records Cards published by if, Pickering, UK, 2011.
Country Definitive Playing Cards
Modern British regional postage stamps on a set of playing cards.
Soroptimist International Scotland South Region
Celebrating 100 years of Soroptimist International, 1921-2021.
Stainless steel playing cards
Out-of-the-ordinary set in an unusual container.
Pentacards
A five-suited set of playing cards published by Fleet and Case Games Ltd., Rainham, Kent, UK, c.1980...
The Jovial Cards
Publicity items for a group of entertainers, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK, 1911.
Waddington’s “Silkette” Playing Cards
Cards made by John Waddington Ltd. for the Madras Club, Chennai (formerly Madras), India, c.1930.
Highland Hospice
54 different personalities from the city of Inverness published by the Highland Hospice.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Edinburgh Festival Fringe programme covers from 1956 to 2016 published by Winning Moves UK Ltd.
Sky
Sky card game published by Geo. Wright & Co, London, c.1905.
501 playing cards by Alf Cooke
“Five 'o One” playing cards, a version of the Dondorf Rhineland pattern, manufactured by Universal P...
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 60 days
