Hi I just acquired what I think is a very nice deck - for the US Army and clearly issued during wartime as there is a paper slip advertising war bonds.  Pack is high quality with gold edging.  Made by USPC Co. with a congress card (but not 'Congress' on the AS).  The file scan shows the main details.

Does anyone have any info (?date) for example were these sent out to troops?

Thanks in advance
Paul

Hi this is my first go at the history.



L-R and top row first
Faucil, France, 16th cent., lovely drawing.
Unknown found with Hewson, around 1680, France or England.
McEvoy, 1765, England.  Design now much cruder.
Hall, 1815, England, this is very standard full length card of the era.
Samuel Hart USA, 1850, quite similar to Hall.
Levy, USA 1865 two ended
Eagle USA 1877 note experimental indexes
Union USA 1875 although old, these are instantly recognisable to modern eyes

A bit more history about the Foord family [their real name although they used "Ford" on their Aces].
Jazaniah Ford produced playing cards from 1793 until 1832.
Joseph his brother also made cards from 1811 to 1814.
Jazaniah Seth Ford, a son of Jazaniah, made cards after his father's death from 1832 until 1839
Nathaniel Ford made decks from 1839 until 1847.

Wondering how /from where we know the Fo(o)rd family production dates?

A little more about the cards:
The AS clearly says "NATH.L FORD & CO" - this is not very clear in the image as posted.
The cards all have the same simple back design and similar soiling/ heavy wear, which helps confirm they belong together.
I don't know the previous owner (who presumably wrote the note about their origin): I bought these from "Cartorama".

Sorry I should have read your posts chronologically 

HI This is my first go at a post - fingers crossed etc.
I have had a go at illustrating 10 really early US Makers - roughly from 1805 to 1850
The rest is in the file attachment - pictures with notes - and its meant to be self explanatory...

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TEN EARLY AMERICANS

These are the oldest American manufacturers represented in the Plainbacks collection.

The brief notes reflect extensive research in Gene Hochman's original Hochman Encyclopedia and in the latest version by Tom and Judy Dawson.

I have noted the Hochman type for each deck and much information will be found in the related Encyclopedia entry.

As ever, dates are best guesses. The code after the name is the reference on Plainbacks, where more of the cards are shown.

1805? John Casenave, 174
A lovely early American deck. John Cazenave of New York is listed among the "unknown makers" in Gene Hochman's original encyclopedia - that is, although his survived, no examples were known. However, a Casenave wrapper was a later discovered by Hochman and it showed an Ace of Spades, enabling this maker's cards to be identified. See Hochman type U33. Although very early, the style would become typical of the early US makers.



1816 J Y Humphreys, 168
Cards of great character! Humphreys was from Philadelphia, and produced a number of set of different designs in the period up to 1825. See U29.



1820 Thomas Crehore I3
Thomas Crehor(e) was from Dorchester Mass, and created another style that was set to become an American standard - perhaps because they are very clear and bold designs. The Type is U3.



1830 Caleb Bartlett, I77
Bartlett of New York ha a design similar to Crehore above. Before Independence cards would have been imported from England ... the generic American Manufacturer label on the Ace was commonly used by early American makers to show they are not imports. The Hochman type is U8.



1835 Geo. Cook, I90
Another pack looking like Crehore. Again the American Manufacturer label is used, and here note Excelsior on the Ace of Spades which A. Dougherty also used on early cards. Cook is not well known and does not appear in the Hochman.



1840 L.I Cohen I2
This is an early example by Cohen - the business that was destined to become the New York Consolidated Card Co. These cards resemble Casenave above. Type is NY4.



1840 Nathaniel Ford I47
The Ford family are one of America's oldest makers and this is Hochman type U1. Based in Milton, Mass. the family made cards from perhaps 1811 to 1860. A moving yellow post-it note by a previous owner, says: Benj. Libby 24th Maine. Cards found with his effects.



1840 Emporium I56
This is one of the first manufacturers to adopt a brand name (as opposed to just the maker's name). This is a rare maker and little is known about the manufacturer - see U34.



1845 American I61
Another anonymous American Manufacturer Ace, in fact these were early examples by Samuel Hart (later also part of New York Consolidated Card Company). See U14.



1844 Carmichael Jewett & Wales I55
This is a lovely bright deck, similar in style to contemporary English cards by Hunt and their successors Bancks. This could be a copy; perhaps there was a business association ... perhaps the English were exporting in disguise?!