[kem-collector] Kem Playing Cards

[Cards-NJ]

One of my favorite decks. I hosted a poker game from the Moneymaker years until recently. A friend bought me a deck of Monacos for the game and I got hooked on KEM collecting.

[Cards-NJ]

Another one of my favorite designs. These were advertised as "poker" decks when I bought them but I dont think they are a named design.

[Cards-NJ]

My Yacht Clubs

[Cards-NJ]

These came in a KEM box. Both decks are sealed but I'm not even sure if they are KEM

[Cards-NJ]

Hennessy Congnac

[kem-collector]

Does anyone know what these KEMs are? Borderless casino decks?

Casino Circle-Back style that is borderless. I would assume this back style is one of a list that casinos can choose from pre-designed by Kem. They can add their logo to the deck or not - and choose a border or not.

[kem-collector]

Another one of my favorite designs. These were advertised as "poker" decks when I bought them but I dont think they are a named design.

IMG_20200724_215036.jpg

This is another of the Kem-designed Casino backs I see on the occasional Casino or Commissioned deck. I know that Kem has a back named "poker" from way back in the day but I have never been able to find a picture of it. Here is a deck I have from Kem for Six Card Charlie Gambling Hall, which uses that same back.

six card charlie.jpg (268.84 KiB) Viewed 17715 times

[kem-collector]

Some updates with new additions to the Kem collection.

America's Cup '92

Binion's Horseshoe WSOP

Butterflies (red deck)

Christmas

[kem-collector]

Galaxy

Hunting Dogs

Plumes

Poker Casino Back

[kem-collector]

Sands Hotel Casino Reno

Siamese Cats

Tapestry

USS Missouri

[kem-collector]

These two are unknown to me. If anyone has any information on a name or an article about them, let me know please.

[kem-collector]

So, some new decks arrived today. Most are not from the Kem Consumer line, but one is.

Kem Dogs

[kem-collector]

The next pile are all commission/contract decks for corporations/companies/casinos.

American Contract Bridge League

Bago

Binion's Downtown Las Vegas

First National Bank - Kokomo, Indiana

Hennessy Cognac

Palace Station

poker casino back

Ronald Searle

[kem-collector]

And the last one for awhile..

Zurich-American Insurance Companies

[drboone]

In addition to red and blue, are there two different green shades in the Flamingo pattern? Or am I just seeing bad color balance in photos?

[Chuqii]

Definitely two different shades of green, and, if you look closely, you can see the images are colored differently along the wings.

[drboone]

Thanks!

[drboone]

The card stock of the KEM Christmas I just received seems thinner than other decks I have. Am I imagining things?

[drboone]

It turns out that there are two Barnes & Noble back "colors". It's subtle enough (or I'm blind enough? ) that I didn't see it until the deck arrived. Anyway, kem-collector only had one pictured, so here are both together.

[Honeybee]

Inverted can appear very similar - you don't need to go to specsavers

[alecjacobryan]

I see you have dated the WWII small cadet cards "C102" as October of 1942 using a single digit of "2" for the year and "10" for the month. I also see that you have dated your Stratosphere cards "C140" using "40" for the year and "1" for January, as well as dated another card that has "C89" as August of 1939. Why would KEM use a single digit for the year in 1939 (C89), change their dating system to a 2-digit year in 1940 (C140), and then revert back to a 1-digit year in 1942 (C102)?

I just purchased a set on eBay (which I actually haven't received yet but I'm posting the listing pictures), that are marked "C141". The listing said 1941 cards. The paperwork included with the cards says, "Poughkeepsie, NY." KEM did not move to Poughkeepsie until 1946. In addition, it appears that the black Bakelite cases in 1941 held the cards vertically and had an elongated KEM on the top of the box, while this case holds the cards horizontally or flat. And again, why would KEM use a 2-digit year in 1941 and then revert back to using a 1-digit year in 1942 (since we know the "C102" WWII cards are likely from 1942. I believe the cards I bought to be circa 1950's. Possibly the "1" meaning 1951? And that would make your Stratosphere "C140" cards 1950, maybe?

I don't think the codes with the letter "C" follow the same conventions as the KEM cards with the 3 or 4 digits to left of spade.

Interestingly, I found for sale online a set of Fawn with "KEM Playing Card, Inc." and an asterisk in front of an A (*A) as the date code. Since, according to Chuqii's article posted here: viewtopic.php?p=223876#p223876, they didn't start using date codes until 1937, and they changed the name to "KEM Sales Corp" later that same year, these cards can only be from 1937. Have you ever seen an asterisk in front of the date code on any other cards? Posting a couple pics from the listing below.

CameoAceofSpades.png (416.3 KiB) Viewed 443 times

[Honeybee]

Does that AoS have totally unacceptable registration or what (or is it just the photography)

[Chuqii]

In all of my research, the ”C” in the date code is always late-1930s or early 1940s. As for the Stratosphere deck, that was only made for a few years in the early 1940s, so no way it could be 1951.

Single deck boxes are always flat. It was only the double deck box where cards were stored upright. In the 1940s the single deck boxes were cardboard, so i think your card box is not original to the cards.


As to the Poughkeepsie inspection, Western Publishing produced KEM cards for KEM. When KEM moved to Poughkeepsie, they bought the Western plant at the site, which may be where KEM cards were already being produced. So the cards could have been inspected in Poughkeepsie even before KEM moved there. (Or the inspection slip is original to the later date box and not the deck. Happens sometimes.)

We will never know why the date codes changed like they did, but other evidence such as period advertising establishes that the “C” was only used in late 1930s and early 1940s.

The Asterix A card is a new one for me. Never seen one like that before.