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Russell & Morgan American Playing Cards - Tigers #101 American Playing Cards

Playing Card collecting is a hobby that treats playing cards as collectibles or artwork to be sought after and preserved. Playing cards have been known since the mid-1300's, and it is a safe wager that almost since that time there have been people who were fascinated enough by the card images, artistry and folklore surrounding the cards to collect them.

Playing cards manufactured in the United States are very popular with American collectors as they are very much part of the history of printing and lithography in the United States, and often depict historical events, social trends and advertising for the common products of the era.

Playing Cards have brought, and still bring, much pleasure, easement of boredom and relief of tension to an ever-increasing multitude of people throughout the world. Such a long continuing service surely deserves a respectful salute.

Emerging Popular American Collectibles

The 1800s’ printing advancements brought new forms of ephemera, common objects designed for brief use: from postage stamps (circa 1840) to magazine ads to poster art. Plus other "cards" – postcards, greeting cards, etc., all in colorful Victorian era graphics. With companies like United States Playing Card Company leading the way in printing American decks, playing cards became a popular US hobby. Up through the 1940s many small trading groups were active, and several, of Illinois and Wisconsin, led to the early 1950s chartering of Chicago Playing Card Collectors Inc.

American Playing Card Collecting Societies

File:52plusj.gif

52 Plus Joker Logo

Playing card collectors gathering to look at playing cards

There are a number of official societies currently in operation that promulgate the hobby of collecting playing cards within the United States of America. Two of these are essentially American clubs, albeit with many overseas members - 52 Plus Joker and the Chicago Playing Card Collectors (CPCC). While both societies focus on collecting playing cards, many CPCC members prefer to collect single playing cards rather than full decks like members of the 52 Plus Joker club.

American Playing Card Collecting

Hochman as it is commonly known has become the industry standard in identifying and organizing playing cards produced in the Americas.

It is a reference book for early American playing cards, a complete cataloging of all United States and Canadian playing card makers as well as details, types, and brands of playing cards from the late 1700s to the early 1930s and is well known for its categorization of non-standard playing cards such as Souvenir, Magic, Railway, Whist/Bridge, Advertising, etc.

Souvenir Donkey Playing Card

White Pass & Yukon Route Railway Playing Card

Howard Thurston Throwing Playing Card

Schlitz Malt Liquor Advertising Playing Card

This reference book for American playing cards, was originally completed in several small volumes by Gene Hochman for American playing cards, and later re-written, supplemented and published in 2000 by Tom and Judy Dawson.

The origins of this book go back to 1976 when Gene Hochman published Part I and Part II of the Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards. These two volumes constituted a comprehensive, illustrated listing of souvenir, transformation and certain categories of other known non-standard American playing card decks. Gene went on to publish Part III in 1978, Part IV standard playing cards in 1979 and Parts V and VI in 1980 and 1981 respectively, these last two adding many listings to the listings in the first four volumes.

Descriptions For Grading American Playing Cards

Like any collectible, condition plays an important role in desirability and thus in value. The following is a method of playing card grading developed by Mr. Gene Hochman at the time of writing the original volumes of the Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards which has stood the test of time.

Playing Card Conditions	Grade in which Playing Cards are found
As Issued:	A complete deck, in mint condition, with all cards, jokers and extra cards contained in the original packaging when first distributed for sale. It might be unopened or carefully opened for examination, but the box and/or wrapper will still be intact.
Mint:	A complete deck showing no signs of use. Normally all cards would be present as would the original box in mint or near mint condition. The inside wrapper might not be there.
Excellent:	A complete deck that has been occasionally used, but still in first class condition. Gold edges would still be intact and you would be proud to use this deck in your game.
Good:	A complete deck showing signs of repeated use, but still usable. There would be no serious creases or bent/broken corners. The deck would not be swollen or misshapen and would fit comfortably into the original box.
Poor:	A deck not good enough to fit into one of the above categories. It likely would have at least one of these serious faults - bent or broken corners, bad creases, heavy soiling, etc.
With Faults:	A deck in one of the good to Mint categories, but with serious faults such as a missing or damaged card or a damaged, incomplete or missing box.

The Supplement & Price Guide (Second Edition) shows values for all decks listed in the Encyclopedia under three of the above grading conditions – Mint, Excellent and (Very) Good. Prices for decks in the other categories can be interpolated from those shown. For example, a deck that is 'as issued' would command a premium over the mint price. Conversely a deck that is poor would be worth less that a 'good' one, and one with faults would likely be subject to a significant discount.

Acquiring American Playing Cards

There are many, many styles and types of playing cards and many very old cards have somehow survived, so, starting a collection is not difficult.

One of the first places people start looking to grow their playing card collection is with decks found lying around the house or decks offered by friends and family. Although these decks may be complete, in good condition and of interest, because they have been played with and not properly stored, such decks are often of little value, but fun to collect. Fortunately, most collectors have less interest in “value” but collect for the variety of colours, back designs, stock differences, finishes, etc. of the cards they can find. One can usually accumulate a significant collection in quite a short period of time. A careful look in second hand shops, flea markets, antique centers and stores, paper, antique and ephemera shows will almost always turn up likely additions. Large numbers of relatively recent decks, often still in 'as issued' condition, may be easily obtained efficiently and inexpensively. Rare and old playing cards can also be obtained, but these can be very expensive and harder to procure. Adding cards of value to a collection might require the purchasing of high quality old and unusual playing cards, from a reputable dealer, online or at the annual conventions put on by the collector clubs and societies.

See also

• Playing card manufacturers
• United States Playing Card Company
• Cary Collection of Playing Cards
• archaeology awareness playing cards
• Jerry's Nugget playing cards
• most-wanted Iraqi playing cards
• List of popular collectibles
• Antiquities
• Collectible
• Memorabilia
• Souvenir

External Links

• 52 Plus Joker Playing Card Society
• Chicago Playing Card Collectors Website
• The International Playing Card Society
• American Antiquarian Organization
• Online database of playing cards and card games
• A short interview with playing card experts Tom and Judy Dawson, as they casually talk about how to grade your own playing card collection.

References

Category:Collecting Category:Playing cards Category:Ephemera Category:History of card decks Category:Goods manufactured in the United States