Greetings PCF and 52+J members!!
I’ve been a 52+J member for a few weeks now, but am just now getting around to my official introduction!
My name is Scott Kruse, and I am a high-school English teacher in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. I’m about a 1-hour drive from Toronto. I’m 48 years old.
My interest in playing cards began over 20 years ago, when I began dabbling in card magic. Naturally, I gravitated to Bicycle and Bee brands (basically all that was available in the mid-90s!) for their superior handling!
I drifted away from card magic somewhat as other goals and interests took over. A few years ago, I re-discovered card magic/manipulation: that’s when I became a collector!!
At first, I bought a few cool decks to add variety to my humble magic ‘performances’. Eventually, I began collecting modern decks for their own sake. I still believe that modern decks have the most dazzling tucks: they display beautifully!
Recently, though, I started to collect vintage and antique decks. This is where my interest now rests - though I still back interesting modern decks on Kickstarter! I recently joined 52+J to learn more about antique collecting, and to hopefully acquire some ‘new’ antique items for my collection! I don’t have much to trade yet, but that is changing!!
I don’t really have a ‘specialization’ yet, though I seem to gravitate towards standard American poker decks pre-1930. I love old Bicycle and wide Congress decks - who doesn’t? I also collect some singles, especially rare Bicycle backs and antique aces-of-spades.
Now that the school year is over, I finally have time to get active on the forums! I want to thank Steve Bowling and Lee Asher for encouraging me to join 52+J, and for welcoming me aboard! I hope to meet Judy Dawson soon (I love your encyclopedia!!!)
To finish, I’ll try (first attempt!!) to post some pictures of one of my antique decks that also reflects my Canadian nationality: a c.1900 Ocean to Ocean Canada souvenir deck - notice that there are only 9 provinces! Geographically, the image closest to me is the 7 of spades - Hamilton mountain, about 60 kms away!
Happy Carding!
Scott “Kruser” Kruse
(Pronunciation guide: ‘Kruse’ rhymes with ‘booze’!)
OOOPS! ... Photos are too big!! ... Here are the links:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Q0OJRTNZq-Q1cxbHNTREI0YjA/view?usp=sharinghttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_Q0OJRTNZq-eHhXVnMwc0p3WTA/view?usp=sharing