Not much to say, other than "THOSE LOOK REALLY COOL!"
The middle box appears to be of a more modern design - but by modern I'm talking about as much as a century old or more, but not earlier than about 1870 (for reasons you'll see in the next paragraph). Guessing on the style of art and methods used to make it, I'd venture a guess that it's from the first half of the 20th century.
The other two are modeled after a card design that were in common use before the 1870s and were still made in decreasing amounts into the early 20th century. It was in the 1870s that innovations such as corner indices, double-headed court cards and rounded corners started coming into use, as well as the creation of the Joker card. It's entirely possible that those other two boxes are 19th-century creations. The style of the Ace of Spades on the bottom piece is definitely "old school."
Thanks Don. I am learning so much from this forum already.
I have a couple more boxes. One is a mystery to me. I will post pics later today.
These are some of the things I really love to see.
As a card collector, it's not ALL about playing cards to me. It's not only the art or the new or original concepts. It's the history, the story they tell and the places and times that these items bring to mind. It's the unusual, the absurd, the nuance. It's owning my own ecclectic piece of a place, a time or an idea.
My collection is my mausoleum. I could never break it down or categorize it into one aspect. Its the entirety of it that makes it all special to me. I am well aware that it makes me a hoarder of some sort but to me that is no dirty word. I hoard these just as I would hoard knowledge. I gain something from it.
Thank you for sharing. You have some really nice pieces there.
Glad you enjoy them Will.
As all of my cards and magic tricks belonged to my late father, they all "tell a story", some of which I am still to discover. My daughter and I learn more about her granddad and other related history each time I bring them out.
It's funny you mention "hoarding". I think about it a lot. My mother still is, and my father was, what I call a "high-quality hoarder". He collected many things especially antique carpentry tools and books, magic, dice and cards to name a but few things. He was also a gadget freak who could tell you the intricacies of anything. We had 6000 ft2 of "stuff".
Now, while I am sure my father enjoyed collecting all of his "hoard", cards and all. He spent the last years of his life with terminal cancer, regretting the time he had put into his hobbies and not into his family. My mother still continues to collect, yet my sister, brother and I are the absolute opposite. Personally, I realize how much better my father's life would have been without all his material possessions, but with more of his family's time.
When he passed, my mother's collecting became much worse to the point that my sister and I (both with our own families) reached the point of despair. It brought my mother no happiness and almost drove our families apart.
Now as much as I love my father's collections and the memories that are tied to them, deep down I still question how much benefit we really gain from our hoards. It's kind of a catch 22 for me, I want to keep many things because they were my father's, but I don't because of what it took away from his life. Don't get me wrong my dad led a life that most could only dream of, but when it came down to it, and when he realized that his time was finite, he questioned what really brought him more happiness.
Every collector has their own story and their own reasons for collecting. My story was shaped by my father. The collections that he left continue to shape me and my family.
There is a bright side to this though...My down-sizing will inevitably make your hoards bigger, and your lives more fulfilled................Or will they? The answer to that, only you know! lol
**Edit** It would seem that since this post I have caught the card bug and it only took a week! Anyone know if there is such thing as Card collectors anonymous? Is it in my blood or did I catch it? lol
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