Bicycle B1616 Rider Deck

[hosspapa]

Trying to confirm date on Bicycle RIDER deck.  This deck was found in a pre-war Selchow & RIghter Co. Cribbage game .... and I'm trying to determine if this is the original deck.

Images of Ace of Spades and box are attached.  Thank you in advance for any information / advice

Ace of Spades has B1616 date code.
Box has the following details:
AIR-CUSHION FINISH on the bottom
POKER on the top.
MADE IN U.S.A. on one side.
THE U.S. PLAYING CARD CO.  CINCINNATI, OHIO 45212 on the side.
"We claim ....." on the tuck flap.

[andrew daugherty]

Likely a 1976 issue or thereabouts, given the date code and the Cincinnati mention on the side of the tuck.

The blue font of the date code corresponds with the font and color used in the 70s. A later “B” would have been printed in black. 

Earlier tuck boxes said “U.S. Playing Card Co.” on the side without the mention of Cincinnati and the zip code. No tax stamp appears here to put it pre-1965. No bar code on the bottom of the tuck puts it pre-1983.

It’s an educated guess. Enjoy the cards just as the cribbage player did.

[Dufus]

Likely a 1976 issue or thereabouts, given the date code and the Cincinnati mention on the side of the tuck.

The blue font of the date code corresponds with the font and color used in the 70s. A later “B” would have been printed in black. 

Earlier tuck boxes said “U.S. Playing Card Co.” on the side without the mention of Cincinnati and the zip code. No tax stamp appears here to put it pre-1965. No bar code on the bottom of the tuck puts it pre-1983.

It’s an educated guess. Enjoy the cards just as the cribbage player did.

Sounds about right..... I think you meant post-1965 though.

[skinny]

I'm on board with 1976 as well.

(To me, "No tax stamp appears here to put it pre-1965." means "No tax stamp appears here which would have put it pre-1965." I see the potential ambiguity, though.)

[Don Boyer]

In addition to all of the above, there's also the fact that there's a ZIP code anywhere in any address on the box.

Postal codes - a city name followed by a number - came into use by the US Postal Service in 1943.  ZIP codes were a later invention, introduced in 1963, as was the standardized two-letter state abbreviations we commonly use today.  They became mandatory for use on certain classes of mail in 1967, and in 1983 they introduced the "add-on" ZIP+4 codes, further parsing one's location to a single set of digits.  Companies like USPC would likely have started using ZIP codes on their packaging around 1967, and certainly not earlier than 1963.  ZIP+4 codes aren't as commonly used on packaging but they're out there - I just haven't seen USPC use them on their deck boxes yet.

Little details can sometimes help in dating a deck!