937 Lifebuoy Playing Cards

[Chuqii]

Got this box of 937 Lifebuoy cards in a lot of cards I purchased off ebay, but I don't think the cards in the box are original.  Far as I can tell, the cards are from an old Russell Torpedo deck.  I was thinking maybe Lifebuoy was a generic Russell product, but the tax stamp on the Lifebuoy box looks to be N. Y. C. C. Co.  The only other LifeBuoy deck I was able to track down was a 938 LifeBuoy, but it has an S.P.C. Co. tax stamp.  Any ideas on the history of these decks?

Also, does anyone know around when the Aviator box changed from prop plane to jet?

Thanks for the help.

[Don Boyer]

Well, what I know about Torpedo was that it was one of a series of brands that USPC started using as "generics" - they'd put whatever cards were lying around into them as a way of getting rid of excess stock.  Mohawk and Caravan were two similar such brands - is it possible that Lifebuoy was one as well?  The Torpedoes I purchased, of relatively modern origin, were packed with Aviators - The only cards that would have been cheaper would be either Streamlines or Mavericks, and I wouldn't give Mavericks as a party favor to five-year-olds they're so poorly made.

I think part of the history of these generics is that they were at one time actual brands with unique backs but that for some reason or another got discontinued, so rather than throw away the tuck boxes, they filled them with whatever they had that was of acceptable quality and sold them as a bargain deck.

[Chuqii]

I get your point on being filled with what is available, but it seems strange to me to have a Russell deck in a NYCCC stamped box.  And why a SPC stamp on the same named box around the same time? 

[andrew daugherty]

Since all these companies eventually became "sisters" under USPC, perhaps one maker's cards went out under another's tax stamps. We saw a related situation with the tax stamp differing from the designer/owner of Democracy brand playing cards in another posting.

Also: The jet replaced the Lindbergh Spirit of St. Louis silhouette on Aviators in the middle 60's. The side graphics on the boxes changed, too. No more checkerboard-like design. The box design would not change again until the late 80's.

I have found Aviators or the older USPC generic in Torpedo boxes. Also Aviators: Mohawk, Tuxedo (Osco/Jewel), Planet, Target, King, Draw, Derby, Red Cross military care package decks and numerous discount and drug store brands.

Chris Turner
52 Plus Joker member

[Chuqii]

Don't know why I didn't check this before.  The tax stamp indicates 1924-1929, but the Ace of Spades code starts with a "U", indicating 1915, 1935, or 1955.  So I'm concluding these are not the original cards for this box.  Mystery of the tax stamp / card conundrum solved, question of what was in this box to begin with - ongoing.

[Don Boyer]

Don't know why I didn't check this before.  The tax stamp indicates 1924-1929, but the Ace of Spades code starts with a "U", indicating 1915, 1935, or 1955.  So I'm concluding these are not the original cards for this box.  Mystery of the tax stamp / card conundrum solved, question of what was in this box to begin with - ongoing.

It's possible that the cards were manufactured in 1915 but either never packaged for sale or simply not sold until between 1924-1929.  Either that, or the letter code wasn't correct - Tom's told me that while it's a good rule of thumb, it's not always the golden law of the land when it comes to these things and that sometimes they don't jibe with the expected pattern.  I don't think it was common to cello-wrap cards in that time period, so it's possible that either the cards in box or in sheet form sat on a shelf for a while at the factory before finally getting the tax stamp and going to retail.  They might have saved the stamp application until the last possible moment, not knowing when they'd be sold and what stamp/tax would be in effect at the time, plus some localities had tax stamps as well - and if the pack was sold for military use or to another country, there might have been no tax at all.

There's a few oddities about that pack of yours, but nothing that isn't somehow explainable in some manner.