The Devil Card from the Hoi Polloi Tarot Deck

While I don't believe in fortune telling the concept is intriguing enough for me to have spent considerable time studying the methodology and even doing a dozen and a half "readings." That said, Tarot cards just don't do it for me. It comes across as a Dungeon & Dragons or Lord of the Rings sort of board game to me. Whereas cartomancy via playing cards resonates with me due to the general historical symbolism which has morphed but retained much of its early intent.

Regardless, I'll still buy and collect Tarot decks because I like cards and printed matter in general. Here is The Devil card from the 1972 Hoi Polloi Tarot deck partial set that I bought yesterday for a reasonably cheap price of $9. From what I've read the deck is basically a neon technicolor counterfeit rendition of the standard Rider Waite tarot deck with some attributes whitewashed from the palette. I plan to post the entire partial deck in due time.

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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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