National Card Co.
The National Card Co. was formed in c.1886 by Samuel J Murray, who as a young man had worked in England in Charles Goodall's playing card factory.
The National Card Co., Indianapolis & New York (c.1886-1894)

The National Card Co. was formed in c.1886 by Samuel J Murray, who as a young man had worked in England in Charles Goodall's playing card factory. In 1881 he moved to Cincinnati and became an employee of Russell & Morgan playing card manufacturers. In 1886 he left Russell & Morgan and moved to Indianapolis to establish the National Card Company. The National Card Co. Aces of Spades state 'Indianapolis & New York'. The plant was located at 5th and Eggleston in Indianapolis, whilst offices were at 221-227 Canal St., New York City.
Early National Card Co brands include: Steamboats, Crescent, Apollo and Rambler.
Steamboats No.9
All playing card manufacturers produced their own version of the Steamboat brand, usually towards the bottom of the range. There doesn't appear to have been any patent, copyright or trademark restriction on the “Steamboats” brand.

Above: National Steamboats #9 manufactured by the National Card Co., c.1886. 52 cards + 'Watermelon' Joker. Click the image to see another example with slight differences in details of the costume decoration, more akin to Goodall's designs.

Above: Superior Steamboats No.9, c.1886. Although the Steamboats brand was the bottom of the line quality-wise with all makers, this particular deck is gold edged! Note that the typeface for the indices has changed, but the colourful Joker is the same see more. Image courtesy Rod Starling.
All National brands were available with gold edges, and the brand number on the box was one higher on gold edged decks.
Crescent No.44 & 45

Above: Crescent #45 playing cards by the National Card Co., c.1886-1890 with an artistic landscape on the back. The box states that the deck is in the “Crescent Art Series”. Image courtesy Rod Starling.
Apollo No.33

Above: Apollo #33 early 1900s, with baseball back design featuring N.C.Co monogram and larger indices. The deck has USPCC turned courts, not National ones. Even though USPCC was formed partly by National, they used their own courts for several years.


Above: Apollo #33 issued by the United States Playing Card Company who were continuing to publish the former National Card Co brand, 1926. The Ace of Spades has some small differences in the design. The Joker features Brownies as were popularized at the time by Palmer Cox, a writer of children's stories. Images courtesy Rod Starling.
Right: the box Click to zoom →
1886 saw the ongoing production of several new brands introduced by the National Card Company including Owls, Arrows, Aladdin and Columbia. In that same year the American Federation of Labor was founded and the Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbour. The structural engineer of the statue was Gustave Eiffel.
In 1894 the National Card Co. was merged with the United States Printing Co. as a key component in the formation of the United States Playing Card Company. From c.1900 the name of the U.S. Playing Card Co. was placed at the bottom of the Ace of Spades and on the box, in addition to the National Card Co name, and most of the National brands remained in production by the U.S.P.C.C.
Full House Poker No.555
Full House Poker No.555 was patented on 30 June 1896 and was the first example of a deck carried through into USPCC’s range. Earlier examples of the deck have the words “Patent Applied For” rather than the actual date of the patent on the ace of spades and box.

Above: National Playing Card Company No.555 “Full House” deck. It is interesting to note that the word “Poker” was added on the box in addition to referencing the 11 and 12 spots. It looks like the manufacturer wanted to make it clear that the additional spot cards did not render the deck unusable for the game of Poker. The USPCC version of “500” deck had 11, 12 and 13 spot cards wrapped separately from the 52 regular cards which again suggests an effort to retain the integrity of the regular deck for all games. The whole idea of additional spot cards was ill-conceived because if the additional spot cards are used for some games and not for others, they will show different grades of wear from the rest of the deck and will therefore be identifiable during play just from that factor alone. Not a good idea. (Click image to zoom). Courtesy Rod Starling.
Aladdin No.1001

Above: the National Card Co's Aladdin No.1001 playing cards manufactured by The US Playing Card Co for the Estanco de Naipes del Peru, 1940s. The legend Estanco de Naipes del Perú is printed either on the box (left-hand example) or on the ace of spades, joker and reverse (right-hand example). The price of 2.50 Soles Oro is also overprinted on the box. The Aladdin brand is still being manufactured by USPCC with the standard contemporary USPCC courts.
Skat No.8

Above: Skat 8 playing cards by the National Card Co., c.1895. The back design features hunting paraphernalia, possibly a response to USPCC’s “Sportsmans” and Dougherty’s “Outing” brands. This beautifully engraved Ace of Spades was also used for Pinochle #300. Image courtesy Rod Starling.
Columbia No.133 & 134


Above: Columbia #134 Whist playing cards by the National Card Co., c.1895. Image courtesy Rod Starling.
Right: the box Click to zoom →
REFERENCES
Dawson, Tom & Judy: The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, U.S. Games Systems Inc., 2000
Seaney, Dave: thenationalcardco.weebly.com►
Starling, Rod: Shuffling Along with History, in 'Clear the Decks', the Newsletter for 52 Plus Joker (edited by Judy Dawson), September 2010

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
Founder and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.
Trending Articles
Popular articles from the past 28 days
Related Articles

Woodblock and Stencil Jack of Hearts
A limited edition art print of the Jack of Hearts 1984 woodblock joker.

Woodblock and Stencil King of Diamonds
A limited edition art print of the King of Diamonds 1984 woodblock joker.

Woodblock and Stencil Queen of Clubs
A limited edition art print of the Queen of Clubs 1984 woodblock joker.

Woodblock and Stencil Jack of Clubs
A limited edition art print of the Jack of Clubs 1984 woodblock joker.

House of Tudor
Randy Butterfield's House of Tudor playing cards feature detailed art in a high-quality collectible ...

Albano-Waite® Tarot
Recoloured version of the Rider/Waite/Smith tarot produced by Frankie Albano, 1968.

Branle playing cards
‘Branle’ playing cards inspired by a 12th-century dance, produced by Noir Arts, USA, 2015.

Umbrella Academy playing cards
Umbrella Academy playing cards created by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá, USA, 2019.

Mardi Gras playing cards
Mardi Gras playing cards illustrated by Dave Edgerly, USA, 2015

Romeo and Juliet playing cards
Romeo and Juliet playing cards illustrated by Belgian artist Virginie Carquin 2016.

Morgan-Greer Tarot
Based on the knowledge, wisdom and interpretation of Paul Foster Case and Arthur Edward Waite.

Jane Austen playing cards
Jane Austen playing cards published by Prospero Art, USA, 2013.

75: Early American cards
An overview of some of the early cards made in the United States.

Fox Lake Playing Cards
A Magician’s Perspective.

Murphy Varnish pack
Reproduction of the 1883 Murphy Varnish transformation pack, USA, 2019

New Palladini Tarot
“The New Palladini Tarot” by David Palladini published by U.S. Games Inc., in 1996.

The Aquarian Tarot Deck
The Aquarian Tarot Deck illustrated by David Palladini, published by Morgan Press, Inc., 1970.

Pendleton playing cards
Pendleton playing cards inspired by indigenous American artwork, USA, 2019.

Aztec Codex playing cards
Aztec Codex playing cards illustrated by Emmanuel Valtierra, USA, ©2015.

Linweave Tarot
The Linweave Tarot is actually an elaborate set of paper samples from the Pulp, Paper and Board Divi...

Map of the world in full bloom
Map of the world in full bloom, USA, 2017

Know your deplorables
Photographs of political and media figures associated with the Presidency of Donald Trump (2017-2021...

Historic Early Aviation
Reproductions of cigarette cards from 1910 on the subject of the early days of aviation.

The Age of Dinosaurs playing cards
Dinosaurs from different ages and locations, with artwork by Virginijus Poshkus.

3-D Dino Cards
Lenticular images of different, unnamed dinosaurs on all-plastic cards.

Tarot of the Unknown
Inspired by the Halloween Cartoon “Over the Garden Wall”.

Dino Deck playing cards
A different dinosaur for each of the four suits, two printed in red and two in blue.

Eclipse Comic playing cards (reproduction)
Eclipse Comic playing cards is a reproduction of the first transformation pack printed in the USA in...

Old West Guns
Old West Guns playing cards containing information about firearms from the Old West, USA.

Centennial Olympic Games playing cards
Centennial Olympic Games playing cards celebrating the centenary of the modern Olympic Games, 1896-1...

Y-ME playing cards
Works by 54 American artists in aid of a breast cancer charity.

Malam playing cards
Malam playing cards created by Michael Muldoon, USA, 2015.

Netter playing cards
Anatomical playing cards published by Elsevier, USA, 2017.

Star Wars: a New Hope
‘Star Wars: a New Hope’ playing cards to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film Star Wars, USA, ...

American President Lines
American President Lines shipping souvenir playing cards, early to mid-1950s.

Royal Hawaiian playing cards
Royal Hawaiian playing cards published by the Royal Hawaiian Playing Card Company, Honolulu.

Official World’s Fair Souvenir, USA, 1964-6
Official souvenir pack showing 52 coloured exhibits from the New York World’s Fair, 1964-6.

Buffalo soldiers
“Buffalo soldiers” playing cards commemorating African American military men who helped change the f...

Century of Progress
‘Century of Progress’ Exposition playing cards produced by Western Playing Card Company, USA, 1933. ...

Bicycle Negro League Baseball Museum
Bicycle Negro League Baseball Museum souvenir playing cards, USA, 2012.

New York City souvenir
New York City souvenir playing cards with 53 different views of interest, USA, 1915.

Disney Villains Tarot Deck
The Disney Villains tarot deck by Insight Editions emphasises iconic villains, merging traditional t...

Nation’s capital souvenir playing cards
Nation’s capital souvenir playing cards published by the United States Playing Card Company, USA, 19...

California souvenir playing cards
California souvenir playing cards, USA, 1898 and 1907.