WHAT THE SMURF?
Or, perhaps I should say "What the Schlumpf?"
[size=150]==========[ SchlumpfSkat ]==========[/size]
You see, when Belgian artist Peyo's Smurfs first appeared in print back in 1958 (the same year in which
I first appeared!), they were not called Smurfs, but Stroumpfs. "Stroumpf" was a word Peyo and a friend used when they could not remember the actual word for something).
"Stroumpf" was translated into Dutch (and later, into English) as "Smurf", and into German as "Schlumpf".
The above deck, "Schlumpf Skat", is a German Skat deck - Skat being a card game popular in Europe (particularly in countries where German is the primary language).
Skat decks contain 32 cards (the 7,8,9,10,J,Q,K and A in all four suits, with no jokers).
To explain this thread/topic's title:
In comics and animated films, Smurfs use the word "Smurf" to mean LOTS of different things, and we are often left to decide what they really mean from context.
In the animated seties
The Smurfs, it was sometimes used to let the writers imply naughty language, as in "You can just go to Smurf!" or "What in the Smurf do you think you are doing?"
A while back, as a nod to the old cartoon show, moderators of the UnitedCardists board configured that board so that most "swear" words were automatically replaced with the word "Smurf". Seeing a post with the word "Smurf" in it was a sign that the writer of the post had, most likely, tried to use a "naughty" word.
So, when I saw this deck, I knew that I had to get it, and post about it there!
ETA: The deck has German indices BDK instead of JQK. B = Bube, D = Dame, K = Koenig.
Another deck I recently added to my collection is this miniature Peanuts deck:
[size=150]==========[ Peanuts ]==========[/size]
Hallmark published this deck in the late 1960s - early 1970s, with a dozen or so different backs.
One such deck, with a different back, was the very first deck I ever purchased - in 1968, when I was only ten years old - and was the start of my obsession for decks with custom/non-standard courts.
I misplaced that original deck many years ago, but have purchased several others in that series, mostly through eBay.
Little did my mother know that when she spent the 75 cents (I think it was) to buy me that deck, she was planting the seed for what, 45 years later, has grown into a 2,200+ decks obsession/addiction!
Here's another, with a different back:
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