Death Cigarettes
‘Death Cigarettes’ anti-smoking playing cards, USA, 1985.
This pack of anti-smoking cards which gives 52 reasons not to smoke cigarettes was produced by Weedon Enterprises, San Luis Obispo, California in 1985. The same black-and-white cartoons are repeated in each suit, but the hearts and diamonds suits have had splashes of red added to them. Beneath each cartoon is a different reason not to smoke. This pack, together with its sister pack Death on drugs, was part of the series Death playing cards by the same publisher. See the box►
Above: ‘Death Cigarettes’ playing cards produced by Weedon Enterprises, United States, 1985.
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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