Playing Cards

Last night I was sorting through my playing card collection, which I haven't touched in ages. Well, starting to sort through it... these pictures barely scratch the surface:


Fig. 1  Some older card decks, all of them red and most of them pinochle.


Fig. 2  "International Aircraft Silhouettes" spotter cards. "This special pack of spotter playing cards has been prepared to assist you in learning the characteristics of United Nations and Enemy Aircraft." Original World War II vintage, not a modern reprint.


Fig. 3  Forcolar cards, ©1947. "Here we present, in line with the 600-year-old evolution of the playing card, the latest, most practical and easiest reading card in the world." Spades are black, clubs green, hearts red, and diamonds yellow, with indices in all four corners. Forcolar cards were obviously only a passing fad, but I see them turning up fairly often in second-hand shops.


Fig. 4  Some'r'set cards. Publisher: Andy's Place, Minden, Nebr. No, these are not Rook cards, and they are not fraction cards! Rather, these cards are based more or less on dominoes. I have quite a number of Some'r'set decks, of differing composition and design— several of them from Nebraska, one (which actually seems to be older) made by Parker Brothers, and one (evidently the oldest of all) by the Some'r'set Card Co., Chicago.


Fig. 5  Uncut sheet of Spanish playing cards. On the back: "Banque Commerciale du Maroc." I got these at a place where I used to work: we would get pallets of role playing games in, with these sheets in between the layers on the pallet.