Amos Whitney Inventory
Amos Whitney Factory Inventory. What it was like inside an 18th century playing card factory...
Amos Whitney Factory Inventory
What did an 18th Century Playing Card Factory look like?
Amos Whitney (1766-1804) was a playing card manufacturer from Boston, USA. An advertisement dated October 1799 offered Superfine Columbian, Harry the Eighth and Merry Andrew Playing Cards for sale. The following list of the items sold at auction following the death of Amos Whitney give us an insight into the equipment which was used inside a playing card manufacturing workshop:
From the above list of equipment we learn that several types of blocks were used for printing English or American, Spanish and French-type cards, and that some blocks were made of brass. The others may have been woodblocks. There were pasting brushes and painting brushes. Also, cutting machines were used, probably similar to the big scissors apparatus which can be seen in the illustration. From the above it is possible to reconstruct the processes that went into the making of cards of that time, including the pigments for the colours. It is also interesting to compare this with the earlier descriptions of the Rotxotxo Workshop Inventories, Barcelona and Thomas de la Rue's Innovations in Playing Card Printing →
Until the latter end of the 18th century playing card backs were left plain white. The problem with this was that card backs became easily marked during play, and would thereby become recognisable by an opponent. It was expensive to buy another new pack, so spoilt cards would be returned to the workshop for cleaning. Some playing card manufacturers began to print repeating geometric patterns of stars or dots on the reverse of the cards to minimise this problem, and we can see that Amos Whitney used types for printing the backs of cards. Marbled or mottled backs were also produced. During the 19th century more elaborate designs appeared, and ultimately... advertising.
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.
Related Articles
Woodblock and Stencil Jack of Hearts
A limited edition art print of the Jack of Hearts 1984 woodblock joker.
Woodblock and Stencil Joker
A limited edition art print of the 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 King of Diamonds
A limited edition art print of the King of Diamonds 1984 woodblock joker.
Music playing cards
Portraits of 13 classical music composers.
Star Trek II • The Wrath of Khan
This deck is a vibrant photographic tribute to "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan," one of the most be...
Norfin® Trolls
Troll dolls with gaudy hairstyles in a multitude of different costumes.
Impressionist Art Cards
Details of 13 paintings by 8 different Impressionist artists on elongated cards.
Safety playing cards
Safety playing cards designed to reinforce the “Think and Be Safe” concept.
Politicards 2016 & Politikids 2016
Politicards™ 2016 & Politikids 2016: twin decks of satirical playing cards produced by Peter Green f...
K Deck
“K Deck” political playing cards, USA, c. 2004.
Tuxedo playing cards
Stylish ‘Tuxedo’ playing cards with animal faces created by Natalia Silva, USA, 2016.
The Deck of Hillary
‘The Deck of Hillary’ with quotes and photographs of Hillary Clinton, USA, 2003.
Shakespeare playing cards: Insults
Shakespeare Insults playing cards with portraits by Jan Padover, USA, 2005.
Shakespeare playing cards: Quotes
Shakespeare playing cards: Quotes, the first volume of a double set published by Prospero Art of San...
Old Testament playing cards
Old Testament playing cards with illustrations by Jan Padover, USA, 2012.
Politicards 2008
Politicards ’08 with caricatures cast as characters from classic movies, USA.
Starz behind bars
Starz behind bars playing cards with mug shots of the rich and famous under arrest, USA, 2003.
House of Cards: Deck of Bush
House of Cards: Deck of Bush playing cards presenting reasons not to re-elect President Bush for a s...
Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort whiskey playing cards, USA.
Holy Trinity Church playing cards
Holy Trinity Church commemoration playing cards, USA, 2011.
Batman® playing cards
Characters from Batman: The Animated Series on a pack issued in 1992.
FDR New Deal Deck
Facsimile of ‘FDR New Deal Deck’ of 1934 re-published by Bill Schroeder, USA, 2010.
Gay / Really straight Republican hypocrites
Gay / Really straight Republican hypocrites, USA, 2008
Politically Wild John McCain
“Politically Wild John McCain” published by Newt’s Playing Cards, USA, 2008.
Mohegan Sun playing cards
Mohegan Sun playing cards published by Gemaco for Mohegan Sun casino.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! playing cards
Strange facts from Robert Ripley’s ‘Believe It or Not’ books, in the form of cartoons.
Undressed deck
Undressed deck created by Edi Rudo and Néro Catineau, USA, 2020.
Fate fortune telling cards
Fate fortune telling cards published by Merrimack Publishing Corporation, USA.
Politicards 2004
Politicards 2004 with satirical cartoons by the award-winning illustrator Peter Green, USA.
Politicards 1971
Politicards 1971 for the presidential election in which Richard Nixon won a landslide victory.
Politicards 1996
Politicards ’96 with satirical caricatures on every card by Peter Green, USA.
Politicards 1984
Politicards 1984 with caricatures by Donald Gates, published by the Kamber Group, USA.
Politicards 1980
Politicards 1980 in which Ronald Reagan defeated the incumbent Jimmy Carter, with caricatures by Kei...
Card Tricks
Stereotypical representations of gay men and men they most admire, in a 1981 pack from San Francisco...
Royal flash playing cards
Royal flash playing cards with non-standard suits, USA, 1974.
Ms. playing cards
‘Ms. playing cards’ promoting votes for women, USA, 1975.
Old Met playing cards
Old Met playing cards published by the Metropolitan Opera Guild, USA, 1986.
Don Quixote playing cards
Don Quixote playing cards designed by Nam Tibon, USA, 2016.
Calaveras De Azúcar
Calaveras De Azúcar playing cards produced by Natalia Silva, USA, 2017.
52 Ways to talk about adoption
‘52 Ways to talk about adoption’ family-centred playing cards produced by the Center for Adoption Su...
Russian folk art playing cards
Russian folk art playing cards produced by Natalia Silva, USA, 2017.
Trump playing cards
Trump playing cards produced by the Godesky brothers, USA, 2016.
Winstanley Geographical cards
Facsimile of Winstanley’s Geographical cards produced by Harold & Virginia Wayland, 1967.