Dougherty's Indicator No. 50 Deck From 1900 in the Original Box

I lucked upon this antique pack of Dougherty's Indicator No. 50 Playing Cards at an estate sale that I had originally gone to for the sole intent of purchasing Tarot cards that I was going to resell. After procuring the lesser pack that I wanted I spied a dozens of packs of vintage and antique playing card decks, coming home with a dozen of the best ones.

Since they are shrink wrapped I assumed that these were reproductions but after asking card historian and expert Jason McKinstry on Instagram he believes that they are the real deal from 1900 as the tax stamp suggests but with the caveat that some savvy collector put the protective wrap on the box knowing full well what he had. I have mixed emotions on the matter since I'm not inclined to open a sealed pack and even if the shrinkwrap isn't original the stamp seems to be as it was when issued.

The cards apparently look something like these.

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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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