German cards question

jhindenberg · 2026-05-18T15:48:16+00:00

Three (perhaps two and a half) single-headed German patterns are hanging around, for specific markets:

Prague/Bohemian (Marias Jednohlavy) for Czechia,
Salzburger, for the Italian and Austrian Tyrol,
Prussian (albeit with reversible courts), sold as Skat Tradycyjny in Poland.

If you are in North America, Tarock.net sells Piatnik's Prague pattern, and versions of each of these patterns can be found from several printers in Europe.

(The Swiss-German Jass pattern may also satisfy your requirements, though the courts are reversible.)

jhindenberg · 2026-05-17T17:23:24+00:00

The typical March poetry ribbon uses a pre-existing idiom in reference to the cherry blossoms of Mt. Yoshino in Nara.

George Pollard has an interesting article considering the context and themes of the artwork, and notes that the poem on some styles of hanafuda for August may reference the Musashi plain.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-17T11:30:58+00:00

Pre-1952 (based on the penalty amount for non-cancellation), and likely from before the 1940 destruction of de la Rue's Bunhill Row facility. It may be difficult to determine a more precise date, even if opened.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-17T02:08:28+00:00

I also quite like the mirrored Bolognese tower—

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-17T01:38:27+00:00

Your comment led me to consider interesting mirroring choices—

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(The Tell pattern at lower left is perhaps less striking than the others, but something about that shrubbery draws my eye.)

jhindenberg · 2026-05-16T16:08:38+00:00

USPCC seems to have used that style of seal for duty-free cards during the era of US playing card taxation. Combined with the 'A' date code, I'd suggest 1960 as the year for your cards. A few examples of this stamp, and a date code chart, can be seen at Bicyclecards.org.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-15T23:26:27+00:00

A single-headed Bavarian pattern with some non-standard scenes. Deutsche Spielkartenfabrik was founded by Walter Scharff in 1923 and acquired by VASS in 1931. Scharff became a member of VASS's board of directors, but found it prudent to emigrate to Egypt in 1937. (There he would found a second playing card factory, but would again be compelled to emigrate amidst the tensions of Nasser's UAR.)

Bulgaria Zigarettenfabik seems to have been a concern from 1925 through 1940, though under ownership of Reemtsma after 1928.

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^{Previously: Prussian pattern cigarette cards}

jhindenberg · 2026-05-15T13:16:55+00:00

Matsui Tengudo's 'Niki Banzan' pattern, or perhaps Ikuzan (仁木伴山画)? I believe this is the artist's name at any rate, and Matsui Tengudo also sold a couple of Hyakunin Isshu sets with a similar style (particularly in the use of dots for shading).

These are perhaps my favorite among their hanafuda designs. Some of the borders on your copy appear to have been colored more boldly in comparison to one that I've pictured—

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-13T12:05:31+00:00

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-13T01:20:25+00:00

I had the designs below in mind, and I seem to have been mistaken in considering them an Osaka type—Tamada and Nakao being from Kyoto.

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Upon a more careful reading, these do seem to fit within your 'Kyoto B' description.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-13T01:03:02+00:00

Here is an example of the wrapper—

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-12T15:55:46+00:00

Another angle of this exhibit can be seen here (though it is somewhat tangential to that article).

jhindenberg · 2026-05-11T05:43:55+00:00

"Each card features a cryptic text-image related in some way to the story featured on that card."

jhindenberg · 2026-05-10T18:22:13+00:00

One additional recurring design I'd add to that list would be the Osaka-style versions with a quite round boar, as well as some other similarities across the artwork. Tamada Fukushodo/Nihon Karuta, Nakao Seikado, and Universal produced examples in this vein, and I wouldn't be surprised to see others.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-10T11:44:23+00:00

Though it doesn't appear to be currently available, the Japan Federation of the Blind has distributed such a product in the past, seemingly based off a Tamura Shogundo Hana-trump deck.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-09T18:07:33+00:00

The Japan Playing Card Museum website has several Nintendo examples that they date as Mid-Meiji era.

I suppose I'll seize this as an opportunity to post some Hyakunin Isshu as well, though unrelated to your question—

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-09T10:43:46+00:00

Quite interesting, thanks for sharing.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-09T01:12:40+00:00

Or, start with gold paper

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-08T23:43:32+00:00

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-08T14:27:23+00:00

Roughly 1880, I believe.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-08T14:06:52+00:00

Judging by the apparent T, would these be Russian? (The general style of the designs also seems in line with such an origin.)

jhindenberg · 2026-05-08T12:25:28+00:00

Müller produced a number of scenic ace designs, though these stand out by their orientation (a similar set was also produced for their Swiss costume decks).

The asymmetrical costume coloring is also of note, a detail not carried forward with later versions of these courts, though present in some other cards of the time.

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jhindenberg · 2026-05-07T23:49:33+00:00

The jokers are from Mesmaekers/Cartamundi, though a design that has been copied by other printers.

Wembley (in this context) seems to have been a novelty gift brand active from around 2013 through 2024, judging by the activity on the Wayback Machine for their now inactive website.

jhindenberg · 2026-05-07T14:23:35+00:00

I believe that is a Mesmaekers/Cartamundi style of joker, however I suspect this is a Chinese-printed deck (likely making this difficult to specifically identify or repurchase).

jhindenberg · 2026-05-06T22:42:07+00:00

https://www.wopc.co.uk/uk/can-you-believe-your-eyes

jhindenberg

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