1935 Pack of Glendale Playing Cards: The Bok Singing Tower

I've been purchasing a ridiculous amount of playing cards because I'm a hoarder of such collectible things and as long as I continue to keep selling other such items for ludicrous amounts on eBay I shall continue in this manner until I topple over.

These were bought for $5 at an antique mall in Northville, Michigan yesterday along with another Congress pack which shall be highlighted at some point.

I had assumed that with a name like Glendale that the card maker would be from California and that the Bok Singing Tower would follow suit but I was wrong on at least the latter portion of that supposition. The tower is in Florida and ironically enough there is a town in the panhandle of the state named Glendale. Since there is nothing online about the company I won't speculate further.

Era-wise these cards date to 1935 according to the International Contract Bridge Score card, which also serves as a second Joker, included with the set. Unfortunately, the explication card for the Singing Bok Tower has a different shot of the scenery. Which may or may not be intentional.

As for the Ace of Spades and Joker, the Ace is numbered A 4968 and is your typical filigreed Ace of Spades while the Joker has an eagle perched up a crest with "Joker" running middle to top on an angle within a diamond shaped framing.

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A Card Within a Card: 3 Jokers and Theirs

As ruminated upon in a previous post here are three more Jokers who are depicted wielding other cards within their own. The first one is openly presenting the Ace of Spades while concealing three others with a mere Diamond peeking out over one corner of the trumvirate. On the second Joker, from a Scandinavian deck, The King of Diamonds is figured prominently as the Joker leans upon it. His poppet Joker is also holding an Ace of Hearts. What it all means would depend on the manufacturer and artist, I suppose. The last specimen from Longfield Games features an Ace of Spades as the Joker stands upon a depiction of the world as a globe which seems almost 3/4 there but not quite whole. All interpretations of this and the preceding ones would be mere speculation and without knowing the artist and his source inspiration it would mainly be a stab into the void. Which is basically what this entire blog consists of.

Tart Rhymes

I came across this excellent booklet from The U. S. Playing Card Co. on Instagram and then tracked down its source to eBay where I took advantage of the generous photos on the listing and saved them in e-book form because it's the right thing to do for posterity's sake. The booklets contains a very short sequence of rhymes that make for one bizarre folktale that wouldn't cut it in today's cancel culture. Also displayed in the small booklet are some card packs produced by the company which is very helpful towards dating the cards for novices who don't have access to the company's historical records.

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