Plug Cut

GRAVELY & MILLER TOBACCO CO

[Fancy Playing Cards].

Publication Danville, Gravely & Miller, c1887.

Description 52 chromolithograph playing cards with one joker and one extra card, blue advertisement to versos.

Dimensions 98 by 57mm (3.75 by 2.25 inches).

]References Van den Bergh pp.186-187.

The Maker

During the 1870s, the town of Danville in Virginia had become a thriving economic centre due to the establishment of several tobacco factories. Among these was that of Gravely & Miller, a company that started up producing “plug-and-twist” chewing tobacco, but by 1885 had branched out into regular smoking tobacco. The firm never seems to have expanded beyond regional supply, and was fairly short-lived.

The Cards

To obtained a complimentary deck of cards in nineteenth century Virginia, the eager smoker simply had to send back 50 packages of Gravely & Miller’s Tobacco Company products to the manufacturer. “Return 50 tin tags taken from any brand of Gravely & Miller’s tobacco to Gravely & Miller Danville, VA, by mail And they will send you in Exchange for same a complete Deck of these Fancy Playing Cards”. The scarcity of the deck today could be taken to indicate the failure of this innovative marketing technique.

In total the deck shows 14 different images, with the cards of equal value sharing the same picture, and the joker presenting one more. They show women in a variety of different poses, often in low-cut clothing that would have been considered quite scandalous during the late nineteenth century. Similarly remarkable is the fact that the advertisements on the back of each card shows two young children, with the slogan “Smoke and Chew, Kids Plug Cut tobacco”.

109 Worshipful Company Of Makers Of Playing Cards

[Jeu des Reynes Renommées].

Publication

London, Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards, 1887.

Description

52 engraved playing cards, with booklet.

Dimensions

88 by 54mm (3.5 by 2.25 inches).

References

Hargrave pp.181-182; van den Bergh p.125.

The Maker

The Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards was founded by Royal Charter in 1628, to stem the flow of foreign playing cards that was putting London card-makers at risk. In exchange for a complete ban on all imported cards, a tax was levied at a rate of one farthing per pack. In 1882, at a feast held to mark the inauguration of the Company’s new officials, each liveryman was given a commemorative deck of cards, a tradition that has been continued ever since.

The Cards

The present deck is a reproduction of a deck that was published around 1644 by Jean Desmarests, with engravings by the famous Stefano della Bella. The deck was published in book form together with three other decks: ‘Jeu des Roys de France’, ‘Jeu de la Geographie’ and ‘Jeu des Fables’. The edition produced over two centuries later by the card-makers guild was very limited, made only “for distribution to the lady guests of the Master and Wardens of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards at the summer meeting of the Court of the Company, July 2, 1887”. Accordingly, examples are exceedingly rare.

Desmarests’ deck was chosen for reproduction because of its title, ‘Jeu des reynes renommées’ (‘The game of famous Queens’) which was thought by the Company to fit nicely with the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria. Each card shows an engragved depiction of a female ruler, ancient and modern, mythological and historical, accompanied by several lines of French text briefly explaining her rule. The suit mark and value of the card is shown in one of the upper corners.

PASTOR, Edouard [El Barco].

Publication

Valencia, Vidua de Ismael Haase, c1888.

Description

48 chromolithograph playing cards, printed blue advertisement to chocolate factory to verso).

Dimensions 110- by 77mm (4.25 by 3 inches).

References Van den Bergh p.200-201.

The Makers

The El Barco chocolatier led Valencia’s chocolate industry in the late nineteenth century, and was particularly well known for its ornate tin boxes and collectable stickers and playing cards with which its products came. These were printed by a variety of lithographers, including Simeon Durá, J. Esteller and the widow of Ismael Haase. The name of the later is found on many of the present cards, but the Nine of Clubs also identifies J. Esteller as the lithographer.

The cards were designed by illustrator and artist Edouard Pastor, whose name also appears on the Nine of Clubs. Pastor was also responsible for another deck of cards during the previous decade, which were produced by Durá.

The Cards

One of the most notable features of the present deck is its size, with the cards all being considerably larger than average. This allows for highly detailed images, with each whimsical scene integrating the four traditional Spanish suits of coins, cups, clubs and swords. The Twelve of Coins, for instance, shows a cigar-smoking man with a comically large and round head, while the Six of Cups shows a medieval feast at which the participants are all raising their cups in a toast.

With the exception of the Aces, each card features a miniature version of the standard playing card, which is itself sometimes incorporated into the scene. The value of each card is also written in text along the lower edge.

KINNEY BROTHERS [Harlequin Cards].

Publication

New York, Kinney Tobacco Co., 1889.

Description

52 chromolithograph playing cards and one joker.

Dimensions

88 by 63mm (3.5 by 2.5 inches).

References

Hargrave p.365; van den Bergh pp.176177; Yale 460/USA269.