1979 Army Aircraft Recognition playing cards

[Will W.]

  I recently picked this deck up for next to nothing at a local Estate Sale.  The box is in less than perfect condition but still not too bad.   All the cards are in perfect condition, still in original order, never shuffled.
  As I'm want to do I began to research them which has led me to discover the other military recognition cards from this same era. I was curious if anyone has come across any of them, including the first edition of this deck. 
  Also, I am curious if anyone has ever seen or have any knowledge of any of the original 200 decks of the Iraq Most Wanted cards that were printed in the DIA print shop. The cards were simple cardstock, without a plastic coating or rounded corners, and all were sent to Kuwait before the invasion.

[Don Boyer]

  I recently picked this deck up for next to nothing at a local Estate Sale.  The box is in less than perfect condition but still not too bad.   All the cards are in perfect condition, still in original order, never shuffled.
  As I'm want to do I began to research them which has led me to discover the other military recognition cards from this same era. I was curious if anyone has come across any of them, including the first edition of this deck. 
  Also, I am curious if anyone has ever seen or have any knowledge of any of the original 200 decks of the Iraq Most Wanted cards that were printed in the DIA print shop. The cards were simple cardstock, without a plastic coating or rounded corners, and all were sent to Kuwait before the invasion.

Often with a vintage deck, you're lucky to have a box at all! 

I don't think spotter decks such as this came into being until World War II.  Until then, there wasn't quite so many aircraft to spot, nor was there a large enough military to need them.  I'd wager that USPC made the first such decks, but yours is a much later issue, Cold-War era, and looks more like a cheaper contractor was used for the work.  You know our government - where everything is made by the lowest bidder!

I have heard of a few manufacturers for the Iraq War decks.  Liberty, USPC, maybe a few more.  Not sure you're going to find ones made by the Defense Intelligence Agency all that easily, though.  They were probably produced only as prototypes so they'd know what the finished product should look like after manufacturing and they could test them out a little in practical conditions to determine their design's usefulness.

[goonie]

I have a 1942 pack. It was called "The Green Pack". The 4 views are the suits and games without values would be played. Jokers show all 4 perspectives.

[sae2111]

I bought a deck for my dad for Christmas. We've always been into aircraft, and he quite enjoyed them. I think it's an interesting concept.

[Don Boyer]

I have a 1942 pack. It was called "The Green Pack". The 4 views are the suits and games without values would be played. Jokers show all 4 perspectives.

Honestly, I'd have a tough time playing ANYTHING with that deck.  There are extremely few games out there that don't use a card's value in one way or another, relying on suits alone.

I traded a deck with John Rock several months ago to get a spotter deck of his.  It's a 1940s deck, WWII issue, and the cards have the Bicycle Rider Back design on them.

[goonie]

Honestly, I'd have a tough time playing ANYTHING with that deck.  There are extremely few games out there that don't use a card's value in one way or another, relying on suits alone.

That's exactly what I thought. I guess you could always play "snap" lol

[52plusjoker]

I think these were made primarily for aircraft recognition and not to play games with. Others like the Coke decks were dual-purpose.

[torcams]

Did I hear Coke deck?

[Don Boyer]

I'm convinced that the Coke spotter deck is a reproduction, as in not used during WW2.  There's something a little odd about it, in terms of anachronistic information.

The planes on the cards shown are without doubt World War II-era.  America might have continued using B-17s for a short while after the war, but I'm pretty certain that the Japanese were no longer using or building Zeroes during the American occupation after the war, just as the Germans (East or West) no longer produced any planes with a swastika on the tail.

The descriptive card that the deck comes with mentions "United Nations and Enemy Aircraft" as well as the position of Aircraft Spotter in "your Civilian Defense Organization."  The UN didn't exist during the Second World War, having been formed in 1948.  I'm not sure when American CDOs were created, but I'm somewhat sure they're also post-WW2, coinciding with the craze to build bomb shelters for defense against nuclear attack - a weapon used only in the final weeks of the war.

The next major conflict that the US was involved was the Korean War, as part of a larger UN force, in which Japan and Germany didn't participate and Italy only provided hospitals and ambulances for the UN - none of those nation's aircraft would be designated as enemy aircraft.  It's unlikely that a current aircraft spotter card deck at any time after WW2 would have any of the enemy planes shown on the cards in your photos.

Mind you, I'm not saying you're doing something fishy - I'm saying that Coca-Cola must have mixed up some of their information when they put this deck together.  It can't be an original from the war because of the mention of post-war organizations that previously didn't exist.  It's kind of interesting, when you think about it.

[52plusjoker]

USPC definitely printed this deck during WWII - 1942 to be precise. It is W33 in the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards [click link http://shop.conjuringarts.org/store/pc/BOTH-the-Hochman-Encyclopedia-and-2015-Price-Guide-in-ePub-format-52p1180.htm#.VNiytPnF98E to purchase digital Second Edition]. I think the wording United Nations referred to the Allies. It is possible that W33 was reproduced at some time by one of the Coca Cola collector clubs for a meeting. The wide version came with two backs, the one shown and the one below [narrow version pictured]. It also came with two different perspectives - the second showing a silhouette view which is W32 in Hochman. Finally, it came in a narrow version, W34.

[Don Boyer]

I'm starting to see my confusion.  While the UN itself wasn't a formal entity until October of 1945, the "Declaration of United Nations" spelling out which countries were fighting the Axis Powers, was sign in the beginning of January 1942.  Hence, why the term would appear before the entity itself.  Planning for it began as early as 1939.

[52plusjoker]

I'm starting to see my confusion.  While the UN itself wasn't a formal entity until October of 1945, the "Declaration of United Nations" spelling out which countries were fighting the Axis Powers, was sign in the beginning of January 1942.  Hence, why the term would appear before the entity itself.  Planning for it began as early as 1939.

That's interesting. I just assumed it was a made up name at the time.