PIN-UP & EROTICA
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This deck is a reproduction of a deck that was published ca. 1870. The reproduction was published by Pieter Meffert Antiquariaat from Amsterdam as "Erotic Playing Cards from the Biedermeier Period" in 1979. The deck consists of 52 cards and comes in a box. The cards have no indices or numbers and have blank backs.

TRANSLUCENT PLAYING CARDS

At first sight these playing cards look like normal playing cards with pictures of Kings, Queens and Jacks in the common style of this period. But it is an example of a special printing technique, that was possible because playing cards were usually made of three layers of paper. The front and back were printed, but in between there was a layer of paper to make the card a little firmer and prevent the shining through of the printed layers.

In these so-called "translucent" decks the top and the middle layer have been printed and the third -blank- layer is used for the back. The printing on the middle layer will only be shown when the cards are held against the light. Suddenly the depicted courts reveal their hidden and forbidden passions. 

And held against the light all the numbercards show their secret contents too. Here we show only a few examples, as it is a time consuming process to get the pictures visible on screen.

The original translucent decks are rare and collectible items for other than playing card collectors too. We can only afford the reproductions that were made.