Survival Playing Cards

Published August 23, 2004 • Updated August 24, 2020

Survival Playing Cards for outdoor emergencies by Environs Inc. 1974.

Survival Playing Cards - essential knowledge of how to survive any outdoor emergency without panic - published by Environs Inc. in 1974. As well as regular suit symbols and denominations, each card features a safety tip on anything from snake bite to what not to eat. Don’t take chances. See the Box►

Survival Playing Cards by Environs inc. 1974

Above: cards from Survival Playing Cards by Environs Inc., Hood River, Oregon, 1974. 52 cards + 2 jokers + table of contents in box.

Survival Cards for South East Asia

No maker’s name but side of box is inscribed “GTA 21-7-1, 1 Apr. 1968”. This was published in the middle of the Vietnam War obviously for US troops to guide them if they were lost in the jungle. The cards cover topics such as purification of drinking water to avoid illness, poisonous snakes, insects and pests, edible animals, fruits, etc. 56 cards with no suit symbols or denominations. See the Box►

Above: cards from Survival Playing Cards for South East Asia, 1968. 56 cards in box.

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many. His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service. Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.