King of Spades Invitation Postcard

As previously mentioned, the practice of sending invitations to social gatherings on the back of a playing card stretches back at least several hundred years. So it's only natural that it would extend to the postcard craze at the turn of the 20th century.

This card from 1908 is an invitation for both dinner and dancing though the participant seemingly wrote this one as a feel-better card for a person who was suffering from rheumatism and seemingly couldn't join the festivities.

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Atlasnye Russian Playing Card Deck

This Atlasnye (Атласные) (Russian word for "satin") Ace of Diamonds from a Russian playing card deck is based on a design by the Russian painter Adolf Iosifovich Charlemagne (1826-1901) (Адольф Иосифович Шарлемань) from1862. Although the original deck seemingly had 52 cards this vintage one that I purchased from Ukraine recently only has 36. I will post the entire deck as time permits.

The Satin Ace

Playing Card Marginalia

I'm completely obsessed with cards that have fortunes written on their face. This card that I recently purchased, which is indicated to be a Ten of Diamonds, has the definition written out to be "Treachery. Subterfuge. Duplicity." on one end and the other "Confidence. Security. Honor. Good Faith." While this differs from Wenzell Brown's definition the card also looks more Tarot than playing card to me in the guise of the Ten of Swords. Other instances which I've encountered are more in line with the standard deck of cards. There's a really nice example of a cartomancy self-learner deck on Etsy but the exorbitant Canadian shipping costs are stopping me from biting on the pack. It's nothing special in the way of vintage and antique cards and realistically I could create my own from my supply of vintage decks with a fountain pen if needs be. Though, knowing myself, I'll produce something like I did below on the spur of the moment after having ...

cardomancy

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