Indian Head Playing Cards Sealed Double Deck

[patack]

Indian Head Playing Cards Sealed Double Deck

I really don't want to break the seal on these cards.
Anyone know who made them?
Any idea how old.

Never saw a set quite like this.
Thanks.

[patack]

Forgot to include the outside of the box

[Don Boyer]

They look like an inexpensive little bridge-sized set - are the cards bridge sized (2.25" wide and 3.5" tall)?

Assuming the packaging to be correct and the decks are made in the US, they're aren't many possible choices as to who made them - and most of those choices would today be owned by USPC!  They lack tax stamps, so they're not older than 1965.  The overall design has a 1960s/early 1970s vibe to it.

Here's a list of some US manufacturers other than USPC that were in operation in the late 1960s and early 1970s.  It could be any one of them, or it could be some smaller company not listed here that I'm not aware of.

• Arrco (later acquired by USPC)
• Brown & Bigelow (later acquired by Standard Packaging, then by Saxon Industries, finally by USPC; owner of Stancraft and Hoyle brands)
• Gemaco (later acquired by USPC, then sold to GPI due to antitrust issues)
• Hoyle (later acquired by USPC)
• Liberty (founded in 1970)
• Paulson (later acquired by GPI)
• Western Publishing (later acquired by Liberty)

Cartamundi existed as of 1970, but didn't have any offices in the US until 1994 and didn't start US manufacturing until 1996, so "MADE IN U.S.A." would not have appeared on any of their decks.


Can anyone else help with identifying these?  The jokers might help, but I don't recognize them.  The packaging is also fairly unique, not something I've seen before, especially from a US company.

[patack]

Good morning, Don.

What an interesting post. 
Forgive me for overlooking posting the size of the cards.  Yes, they are 2.25” x 3.50” tall.
Now I am more than a bit curious and want to break open a deck, or post as an auction and drive Bridge Players crazy with curiosity as well. 
Aside from the mfg of the cards, the fact that there are Indian heads on both decks is also interesting.  Perhaps they were made for some special organization. 
I love the packaging and was surprised to hear that you had not seen one before either.
I wonder why there was no mfg on the package.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.  I hope this prompts others to guess as well.
All best,
Pat

[Don Boyer]

Good morning, Don.

What an interesting post. 
Forgive me for overlooking posting the size of the cards.  Yes, they are 2.25” x 3.50” tall.
Now I am more than a bit curious and want to break open a deck, or post as an auction and drive Bridge Players crazy with curiosity as well. 
Aside from the mfg of the cards, the fact that there are Indian heads on both decks is also interesting.  Perhaps they were made for some special organization. 
I love the packaging and was surprised to hear that you had not seen one before either.
I wonder why there was no mfg on the package.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.  I hope this prompts others to guess as well.
All best,
Pat

If the deck was created as a special print run for some Native American organization or some other group, odds are they would have been much more up front about advertising the organization on the packaging or the cards somewhere.  The back was likely just some interesting design choice, juxtaposing something old (an "Indian" head design) with something new (a modern, minimal, sleek design aesthetic).  Bridge sets such as this were and still are exceptionally common, though less so today than they used to be - companies making bridge sets are always looking for appealing designs of all types, anything that will help sell a few extra decks.

Don't be surprised that I haven't seen such packaging before - I'm relatively young compared to many collectors of this type of deck and my knowledge of vintage and antique decks is minuscule compared to many in the field.  I know tidbits, they know volumes.

It's fairly common for smaller, "no-name" companies to leave any branding off of their merchandise.  Unbranded goods are more easily placed in a larger variety of retail settings.  Companies making low-end goods intended to sell cheaply (like this two-deck set) would be competing not on name-brand recognition but on price alone.  As a kid, I'd see sets like this in drug stores and stationery stores sitting side by side with more common poker decks like Bicycle, Hoyle, Aviator, Bee, etc. - they were usually the same price as a single poker deck by itself.

All things considered, it looks more like this set is a "turquoise in the rough" rather than a diamond.  In your shoes, I might go ahead and crack open a pack - I'm the kind of guy who likes to play with his toys!  It's not likely a very valuable set in the first place, so opening at least one of the decks isn't likely to have a significant impact on the value as long as the cards are kept in new condition.  Even then, you might find greater value in actually using them than in watching them "appreciate" on a shelf somewhere in your home.  You can get great pleasure not only from playing with them but from handling a little piece of history.

[andrew daugherty]

It's a Liberty double deck bridge set. The unusual box was common for the company's advertising decks in the 70s and 80s. Those are definitely Liberty jokers as well. I have no idea about the "Indian head" logo though.

[Don Boyer]

It's a Liberty double deck bridge set. The unusual box was common for the company's advertising decks in the 70s and 80s. Those are definitely Liberty jokers as well. I have no idea about the "Indian head" logo though.

...and now I know what an old Liberty joker looks like!  Thanks!

It seems way too subtle to be an advertising deck - you'd think it would have the name of the product somewhere in big letters.  I could only imagine them going with a "logo only" look if the logo was something HUGELY known, like the Nike swoosh, the McDonald's golden arches, Shell's yellow seashell on a red square or the AT&T blue "Death Star."

[patack]

Great news, Andrew, and thanks for posting.

Now that we know it's Liberty, I am on the hunt for the Green Indian Head information.  Btw, I use the term "Indian Head" with no intended disrespect to Native Americans.  I believe it appropriate with reference to the design.

Andrew... do you have any idea what they call that type of packaging.

Don... I see your point about the lack of logo or company name.  I wonder if there was an insert under the cello wrapping that had that information.

About Liberty Playing Cards:
Liberty Playing Card Company is a Texas-based company which produces custom-made playing cards. Liberty was started in 1970 in Chicago. In late 70's it moved down to Arlington, Texas.

In late 1980s all of the playing card assets of Western Playing Card Co. (Western Publishing) brands such as Guild, Colortone, Invincible, Imperial, Boulevard, Western, Whitman etc. were acquired.

Usually, they make regular playing cards except that the backs have business logos on them. In 2003, they produced the most-wanted Iraqi playing cards for the United States government. They also made a set of cards parodying the most wanted Iraqi cards, which featured US government officials.

Also... in case no one has this link:
Playing Cards Publishers and Manufacturers
http://www.guntheranderson.com/cards/manuf.htm

I think I am going to write Liberty and see if they can answer the question about the Green Indian Head.

Until again...
My thanks.

[patack]

Well, Liberty Playing Cards told me the same thing that you did, but didn't recognize the company.  I'm sure they spent no time looking or thinking about it either

[andrew daugherty]

I don't know the name of the packaging, but I have only seen it on Liberty advertising decks.

The other joker should be red.  The spade ace should have a script "Liberty" logo. My decks like this have Liberty's original face cards on them, not the Western publishing designs. The numbers on the pips appear to be a combination  of older USPC and Brown & Bigelow styles. Look at the 3s, 5s and 7s for example.

As for the logo on the back, perhaps it is from an insurance company or bank, well known in its sales territory by just the symbol.  It is a good one for a repeating and reversed color design as you see here. 

[patack]

Thank you, all, for your help.

All best,
Pat

[Don Boyer]

I think I am going to write Liberty and see if they can answer the question about the Green Indian Head.

Until again...
My thanks.

It's unlikely that Liberty will know - they were purchased by the company now better known as Gambler's Warehouse.  GW has a PCF Agent account on this forum.  They own the assets of the original Liberty, but the odds that they kept the records going that far back, especially when the company moved from Chicago to a Dallas suburb, are exceedingly small.  It's practically impossible that anyone presently working at the company was an employee at the time this deck was made, either, so no one there would know anything about it.

Part of the reason why the Hochman Encyclopedia stops (for the most part) around 1950 with a few exceptions is that there was a veritable explosion of decks being made since that time compared to what was being made before, both by major companies expanding their product lines and by smaller companies trying to squeeze into the marketplace.  By the time this deck was made, the market was utterly flooded with decks from a wide variety of companies - we're lucky to even be able to narrow it down this far!  I'm not saying it would be impossible to learn more, just exceedingly difficult and harder as time goes on, but for the handful of people with personal knowledge like "andrew daughtery".

[patack]

Thanks for all that great information. 

I'm happy that it was determined to be Liberty and the mystery will continue.

Thanks again to all who helped in solving this mystery.

All best,
Pat