Scientific American
‘Scientific American’ playing cards depicting 19th century illustrations of inventions.
The publisher of this attractive non-standard pack of Scientific American playing cards is unclear. First, “Rufus Porter Enterprises” is prominently shown on the side and base of the tuck box, while “Scientific American, Inc.” is displayed equally prominently. While they may perhaps be co-publishers, it is possible that the former is part of the latter as Rufus Porter (1792 – 1884) was the founding publisher and editor of the magazine Scientific American as well as inventor, painter, writer, teacher and more.
The 52 suited cards and 2 Jokers display 19th century illustrations of inventions that were subjects of stories that appeared in 19th century Scientific American magazines, and there is an extra card that gives the names of the inventions depicted. The same designs are used for the same values in all four suits (i.e., 4 Kings the same, 4 Queens the same, etc.), and so there are a total of 14 original designs, including the Jokers.
NOTE: Founded in 1845, Scientific American is the oldest continuously published magazine in the USA. Originally it was a magazine that focused on inventions and technological progress, though today it is regarded as the leading authoritative publication for science and technology in the general media.
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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