Friday 16 March 2012

The international pattern VI- Dal negro

Dal negro - "Poker 36" - 36c.
In our journey through the internatioal patterns, we shall now proced towards cards made by European makers. The most famous of these is the belgian cartamundi, but I shall now show a  very curiosus deck made by the Italian maker Dal negro.
  This deck is  unusual, for it does not have 52 cards in it. Rather, it has 36 cards, breaking to 9 cards in each suit, viz;
     6 ,7 ,8 ,9 ,10 , Jack  Queen,  King , Ace
In  europe, as some of my readers may know, it is normal to have decks to contain less than 52 cards, but it is very unusual to have a deck of the international pattern treated as such. One can only wonder what games are played with it. 

The deck aside,  the cards are not very unusual.
I note the similarity to the waddingtons deck ( see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html)
II- note the ace of hearts. it bears a little stamp that bears the makers name. this feature is perculiar to european makers.
III- note the Jack of clubs. along the middle of the figure, is a band that bears the maker's name. This feature is almost never found in Englush made cards, save the earliest ones.



Thursday 15 March 2012

The international pattern V- "Stud" ( USPCC)

"Stud" ( USPCC)- 52c. + 2 jokers
Another american deck!. This deck is primarily distributed through the Walgreens pharmacies in the US. However, you may obtain some decks online from retailers of cards.
The deck's smoothness and ease of shuffling is the subject of legend, but more interesting features interest us here;
I -The design of the courts is markedly diffrent from all the other makers, being slightly more ornate.
II- Again, there are indexes in only 2 corners.
Compare; http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html

 

Wednesday 14 March 2012

The international pattern IV- Anon (2)

International pattern ( anon ) - 52 c. +2 jokers (lost)
The following deck is very much a curiosity. The courts are the standard international pattern, printed in 3 colours, but note where the suit signs are placed. On an ordinary deck , all the suit signs are located on the top left corner. In this deck, however, on five of the twelve courts, the suit sign is placed on the top right corner.
This feature is found in the most antique of cards, right up till the late 19thc. , where all the suit signs were shifted to the top left
compare ; http://plainbacks.com/F1-F10/Slide10.JPG
and  http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html


The international pattern- III- Ramblers ( USPCC)

In the third part of this series, We shall now investigate the cards as they are used in America.

"Ramblers No. 23"- (USPCC) 52c. + 2 jokers.
 The deck of cards here varies substantially from the Waddingtons deck ( see http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html).
I-  the cards use the wider, "poker"format ( 6.7 x 8.7 cm) , which is used by almost all the US card makers
II the designs are somewhat simpler than the waddingtons ones, but still use the same four colours.
III the indexes are in only 2 corners.
  It would be perhaps of interes to note that the courts used in this deck are identical to those used in the more famous "bicycle"decks.

Tuesday 13 March 2012

The international pattern II - anon

International pattern,( anon) 52c. + 2 jokers (lost)
Now, we shall now come towards the second part of our series on the international pattern ( the first part is at http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html), in which we shall see another variant of this pattern, by a unknown ( east asian?) maker

Note the following variations from the waddingtons deck ( http://anthonylesq.blogspot.com/2012/03/international-pattern-part-i.html)

I the court cards have been simplified somewhat
II only three colurs have been used- Red, black, and yellow. This is presumabably for reasins of economy
III the indexes are in only 2 corners, probably for the reason stated above.

Monday 12 March 2012

The International pattern part I - waddingtons

It can be said that the international pattern is the most commonly used type of playing card today. The pattern itself is a version of the cards that were [and still are] used in england today.
In this article, and those that follow it, I shall showcase some versions of this pattern, and compare them.
The first deck , (which we shall compre all the other decks with) is made by Waddingtons.

"Number 1" ( waddingtons) - 52c. + 2 jokers

The following deck very much speaks for itself. However, note the following features;
I - the cards are in the slim "bridge: format - ( 5.8 x 8.8 cm) , as opposed to the slightly wider "poker"format - ( 6.7 x 8.7 cm)
II- the cards are printed in 4 colors- Blue, Red, Yellow, and Black.
III-there are indexes in all 4 corners.