deck-17-04


Getting up early is not one of Joop's favourite things, but there were 2 major collectors bourses early this month and both brought him some good finds, but alas nothing for our collection. This month there was Kings Day too, when there		are free markets in towns and cities all over the country. Although the weather forecast was cold with showers and sunny spells, which kept Joop from getting up early, it was dry all day. But for Joop it was too late to go out.... so no finds there.

Fortunately there's always the internet, but Ebay brought us only a few new decks to add. So it was a very short shortlist this month and already in the beginning of April we had received a deck that had been somewhere on our wish list for years. It is a little soiled, but we got it at a very fair price. Still it was already clear that a really good find was needed to surpass this deck this month and none came along.

This transformation deck was published by Tiffany & Co from New York in 1879. The deck was designed by C.E. Carryl (name on AS) and his designs of the courts are humorous. Each suit represents a certain country and the designs of the courts are probably meant to be illustrative for that country. On the Jacks the colours or design of the national flag is made part of the design.


The Spades represent Germany, see the imperial emblem on the Jack. Maybe the King and Queen mean to illustrate that Germany was a cripple and sick country at that time. The immigration of Germans into the US was at a high in those days. And what was their favorite pass-time according to C.E. Carryl: smoking their traditional pipes and playing their "hoom-pah-pah" music.


The USA is depicted as the land of milk and honey or in this case jam and cookies. A warning finger of the queen towards the king and yes, his figure seems to be quite obese already. The starred and striped jack reminded us of a Wall Street banker... enjoying a cigar while raking in the money.

The illustrated AS shows the name of the deck, publisher and designer. The other aces are already done in transformation style.

Their humorous designs are here meant to seduce you to click them and see the rest of the pip cards. Each transformed card has a caption...... ENJOY!


Ah, the English.... so recognizable. Dad has been in the pub just a little too long and the (Victorian) wife is not too pleased about that. And what do they enjoy when they're sober: their bulldogs and a good pipe.


The designer must have thought that the French are musical people: the king playing his banjo and the queen joining in with her castanets. But the jack shows the true interest of most French people: enjoying good food. He's holding a cock, one of the French national symbols, while studying a menu.

The deck consists of 52 cards.
No joker was issued with this edition.

Tiffany has published a reprint
by Fournier (with joker) in 1974.

The deck came in a partial box.