New York City souvenir
New York City souvenir playing cards with 53 different views of interest, USA, 1915.
Published by the United States Playing Card Company in 1915, this souvenir pack shows oval photos of the 53 principal views of interest. The background colour varies according to suit: spades have a pink background; diamonds – a green background; hearts – a blue background; and clubs – an orange background. There is one joker, portraying the Obelisk, and the card reverse shows the Statue of Liberty, surrounded by a white border. See the box►
Above: New York City souvenir playing cards published by the United States Playing Card Company, USA, 1915.
See: Hochman encyclopedia of American playing cards, p. 258, no. S37.
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.
Related Articles
Sannois dans les étoiles
Celebrities and buildings associated with Sannois, a commune in the suburbs of Paris.
Visite Mexico
Promoting Mexican tourism with 54 different photographs in full colour.
Get Decked
Black and white cartoons devised by Sam Wagner with help from artist Lindsay Bevington.
Baraja de Juan Martín Zamorano
Deck inspired by El Pendón de los Zamorano, a military pennant dating from 1501, published by Priego...
Beowulf
Jackson Robinson's Beowulf playing card deck inspired by the Old English pagan poem.
Keith Haring playing cards
Energetic graffiti images by the American artist Keith Haring.
The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot
Marty Yeager’s original Tarot of Meditation from 1975, republished later by U.S. Games Systems, Inc....
Adobe Deck
The first digitally-produced deck of cards.
Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.
The UCR Deck
Giant-size cards designed by Thomas Sanders to advertise courses and facilities at UCR.
Fredericks & Mae playing cards
A rainbow pack from the design team of Fredericks & Mae and Benjamin English.
The Glasgow Pack
Issued to celebrate Glasgow’s reign as European City of Culture in 1990, with city views and works o...
Baraja Turística del País Vasco
Basque poker deck of 55 cards published by Fournier with scenic views of the Basque Country.
Red Hat Society playing cards
Society that encourages women in their quest to get the most out of life.
Mountain Dream Tarot
Groundbreaking Tarot created by Bea Nettles, using photographs and photo montage.
English Heritage
52 different colour photos of historic sites managed by English Heritage.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
