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So I bought a deck of cards today.





I looked up the code it says 1942, 1962.

but the stamp confuses me. This is the one that matches but it says it was used from 1924-1929. the code and stamp don't really line up.



can anyone help me dating this deck.

if you look closely you can what looks like a 1 in the center of the stamp.
so it could be this stamp

but it's not marked by the same people.

This is not a USPCC dating code so I think the chart we have will not apply.

The stamp does look like the one but with a darker center so if that's right - between 1940 - 65.

It seems to be marked with W P L which would be the Western Printing & Lithography Company, later known as Western Publishing. This company printed children's books (Little Golden Books) and family entertainment items like playing cards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Publishing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

Finding out what the time span was for the name of the company as "Western Printing & Lithography Company" may help you pinpoint the date better.

The text on the card box looks rather 1950's.

Thats the stamp I based my Americana seal off of:

@New Collector 83
In Hochman's Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards There are 2 decks by the Western Playing Card Company with that ace of yours. One in 1920, their very popular Golf brand, and another in 1933. This apparently became their standard ace. (The one in 1920 was listed under an earlier company name - Midland Playing Card Company.) Was there a joker with the deck?

In Hochman's they were still unsure of the origins of WPCC but it would seem to be linked to the Western Printing and Lithographing Company, which started at an earlier date of 1906 (under a different name), Since their tax stamps bear those initials. I am looking into it further and will post if any results may help with dating your deck. These companies changed names a lot.


@Russell
I always thought that was a great looking seal. Do you think you will re-use it on any future old style decks? Did you consider it for the Hornet deck?

Sorry to hijack...
I am working on a few other seals, one will be on the next Heritage Collection deck.

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Back on topic!

One-pack tax stamp, used until 1965.

Western/Whitman's standard ace, used from the 1930s through the early 60s.

Your miniature deck is likely late 1950s-early 60s based on the box graphics and the ace.

Happy collecting.

Andrew

dazzleguts wrote:@New Collector 83
In Hochman's Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards There are 2 decks by the Western Playing Card Company with that ace of yours. One in 1920, their very popular Golf brand, and another in 1933. This apparently became their standard ace. (The one in 1920 was listed under an earlier company name - Midland Playing Card Company.) Was there a joker with the deck?

In Hochman's they were still unsure of the origins of WPCC but it would seem to be linked to the Western Printing and Lithographing Company, which started at an earlier date of 1906 (under a different name), Since their tax stamps bear those initials. I am looking into it further and will post if any results may help with dating your deck. These companies changed names a lot.

yes there are jokers but they're weird.



never seen the second one say extra joker.

The World Web Playing Card Museum is a great resource and they use the jokers as a visual aid to cataloging decks. Here is your specific deck - scroll down to No. 199:

http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/decks03/d01752/d01752.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

I am finding these things out as we go along but as is usually the case Andrew has beat me to it with his more extensive experience. It's good to see this very helpful UC member at the new location.

ok so according to that its from the 1930's or just somewhere between 1930-1965


That site is cool. I dated some other decks.

It is very cool and I have used it many times to identify decks. So often in fact that I started thinking I should throw in those decks I have which were not in the museum yet, to give something back.

If you are interested in contributing to the Museum, and are sure you have something he doesn't already have, Alexander Sukhorukov sent me the following specs:

"I use cards with 300 dpi, quality = high, wide 4 cm for drawings, old and interesting decks, and 3 cm for photos (tourist, animals etc.).
If pip-cards are standard and without inscriptions I use only s10, h9, d8 and c7 as examples."

I believe he always wants the court cards and jokers, and the card back and box, if he doesn't have them.


On your Miniature pack - the text has a post WWII feel and is probably 1950s (I showed it around a bit). The one pack tax stamp was issued 1940 - 1965. In the museum I believe he arranges things so the oldest decks come first and proceed down to the most recent. Yours cover the middle ground. Wish we had something more exact.

By the way I looked at the example court card images posted at the bottom of the museum page. Nice colours. Are yours like that?

NO the coloring is different. I'll post some pics in a bit.

Here are the spades

the hearts

The clubs

here are the Diamonds.