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[Chuqii] KEM collection and lots of antique and vintage decks from all over

Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2015 4:23 pm
by Chuqii
It's been a good quarter for my KEM collection. 4 new 1st gen Neillite cases, two new clamshells, one new box and some awesome cards (Cameo (C342), Seascape (C87), Kent (C342), Pinochle (C140) and the one I still haven't found a name for, Cosmic Gas Earth (C140). The business card is actually one of the cards from the Pinochle deck.

Update 4/23/15 - Cosmic Gas Earth is actually Stratosphere
1st gen - Neillite x4 (1024x683).jpg
KEM - cs (1024x683).jpg
KEM - Pinochle CG Earth - C140 (1024x683).jpg

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 9:59 am
by Eoghann
Cool! Do you collect Kem exclusively?

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 11:12 am
by dazzleguts
I like the backs on those last 2 sets a lot. The patterned one is almost psychedelic looking.
Kem also used a very particular green that I like. I think my own more ordinary Kems have that same green.

Like Eoghann I'd like to know if Kems are your focus. We haven't had a lot of collectors who stick to brands, except Bicycle of course :ugthink:

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 10:47 pm
by Chuqii
I do collect mostly KEMs, specifically KEMs from 1935 to around 1945. Here are some of my other cards from that period. I'll post some more cards and cases soon, along with some period advertising I've been able to track down. These backs are Dance, Carnations, Club, Cameo and Regency.

5 of 6.jpg

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2015 11:32 pm
by Eoghann
I only have one Kem deck. It's a variant of the red and blue set you have up top. We don't get many Kem collectors around these parts. Love to see more. :)
That Pinocle back is great.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 2:34 pm
by dazzleguts
Thankyou for showing those Chuqii. I have a few of the Club backs, in brown and green. They showed up at the local thrift store, in the original boxes, and some with the cardboard sleeve around the boxes. I figured they must be common?

Dan, did your double deck come in the clamshell box?

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 4:01 pm
by Eoghann
Nah, it wasn't a cool clamshell box. :(
It was an individual deck with a box similar to Chuqii's yacht set.

Chuqii: how do you find out the names for the decks? Do you have some reference books or websites?

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 1:31 pm
by Collector
What are those "4 new 1st gen Neillite cases"? Can you tell more about them?
Nice decks.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 2:29 pm
by Chuqii
I get most of the names for the backs from newspaper advertising from the 30s and 40s that I researched. Below is one example from the Los Angeles Times.

The Club backs were one of the first KEM designs. They made them for decades, so there are a lot of them out there.

When KEM cards were first sold in 1935, and through about 1939, they came in the kinds of cases shown in the picture. The bottom of the cases is stamped "Neillite," which is a plastic similar to Bakelite. I call these 1st gen since they were the first. The 2nd gen cases are the Bakelite ones with the elongated KEM logo, but no emblem or circle on the top, as seen in the ad. THe 3rd gen are the ones with a more squarish KEM logo with a crown above it.
1941-03-16 - LA Times - six.jpg

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 2:59 pm
by Eoghann
Information! Thanks for it! Mighty interesting. :)

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:25 pm
by dazzleguts
Very Succinct and informative Chuqii. We have a thread in the Knowledge Base area of UC that talks about dating Kem decks, as well as another thread in that area that is more generally "How to Date a Deck of Cards". Neither of them covers this aspect of the early KEM boxes and dates like you have here. Thank you.

I would love to find one of those Pinochle back decks. :drool:

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 7:21 am
by Mike Ratledge
Chuqii wrote:It's been a good quarter for my KEM collection. 4 new 1st gen Neillite cases, two new clamshells, one new box and some awesome cards (Cameo (C342), Seascape (C87), Kent (C342), Pinochle (C140) and the one I still haven't found a name for, Cosmic Gas Earth (C140). The business card is actually one of the cards from the Pinochle deck.
Very nice! Those pre-1940 Neillite (with silver circular emblem) are hard to find...

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Tue Apr 21, 2015 12:01 pm
by Chuqii
MORE OLDER KEM CARDS
Clipper Ship (C342), Duchess (348), Streamline (C1041), Fawn, Gamecock (C443)

6 more.jpg

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:22 am
by dleiber
Nice cards and boxes! I love KEM cards. Those were the cards we got to use at my grandparents' and parents' houses when we'd play bridge. Fond memories.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2015 5:27 pm
by Chuqii
Two more for the collection.
Newest KEM cards - backs and aces (565x800).jpg
Newest KEM cards - backs and aces (565x800).jpg (350.2 KiB) Viewed 98674 times

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Sun May 03, 2015 11:48 pm
by Chuqii
Here are some WWII-era KEM cards in a cardboard case with a notice about wartime conditions. This is a Gamecock deck. Cellophane is a bit ratty, but still has one tax stamp.
WWII cardboard box w notice.JPG

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 12:26 pm
by dazzleguts
Chuqii, is the Kem without a date on the ace a very early deck? Interesting backs.

I never thought of plastic as being a rationed material during the war. I know Monopoly games substituted wood tokens for the metal ones since metal was scarce.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Mon May 04, 2015 1:16 pm
by Chuqii
Yes, the ace with no date is from one of the earliest KEM decks from 1935 when the company started. The only other place I'd seen an ace with no date was in a Cameo deck in the online version of the Cary Playing Card Collection at Yale - http://brbl-legacy.library.yale.edu/car ... ecCARY.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 12:55 pm
by dazzleguts
The link gave me an error message:
"Your query could not be processed. Please re-form your query and try again."
and I couldn't seem to bring up the online version of the collection any other way.

Perhaps you have an access that I don't?

**edit
I was able to get into the Cary Playing Card Database. The first 2 or 3 results of every search I try so far shows broken unviewable images - do you get that too Chuqii?

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 6:41 pm
by Chuqii
I'm getting that message, too. Try this link to the search page:

http://brbl-legacy.library.yale.edu/car ... efault.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'm getting images on my searches. If you are not, then I've no clue (browser? anti-virus blocker? java?)

Then type in KEM for Maker and that should work. Then have some fun exploring the rest of the database.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Wed May 06, 2015 12:20 am
by dazzleguts
Thanks Chuqii.
I made it to the search page before but the searches were bringing up many broken images. I'll try it again tomorrow with a different browser.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:57 pm
by Collector
I enjoy this KEM thread.

Re: [Chuqii] Latest additions to my KEM collection

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 8:16 am
by Chuqii
Came across this deck on ebay. I'd never seen the back before, so I scooped it up. Also, I'd never seen a KEM deck with Brown & Bigelow branding on it.

By the partial tax stamp, I place it between 1940 and 1964, but after that things get fuzzy. The "Keep Your Kem Cards CLEAN" card mirrors the text and format of the earliest KEM Playing Cards, Inc. decks from 1935-1937 (see last pic), but they changed the format a bit and squeezed in Brown & Bigelow Remembrance Advertising on the bottom. Also uses the "KEM Playing Cards, Inc." company name in the copyright, but that name was not in use after 1937. I am sorely tempted to open it up and check the Ace of Spades to get the date of the deck. My guess is early 40s.

Anyone have any theories about this deck and how KEM and Brown & Bigelow would have been working together?
KEM-B&B back.jpg
KEM-B&B back.jpg (232.38 KiB) Viewed 93417 times
KEM-B&B CLEAN card.jpg
KEM-B&B CLEAN card.jpg (170.39 KiB) Viewed 93417 times
1936 - Keep Your Kem Cards CLEAN.jpg
1936 - Keep Your Kem Cards CLEAN.jpg (130.33 KiB) Viewed 93417 times

Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 9:20 am
by Chuqii
Curiosity got the better of me, so I went ahead and opened the deck. Given that the cards were a bit out of order, I'm guessing I was not the first to open it.

The Ace was no help, since it has no date, but it is the first KEM Ace i've seen with Brown & Bigelow stamped on it. The deck also has considerable red ink transfer and bleed - you can see how the red ink bled through on the King of Spades.

As far as I know, the red ink bleed was only as issue on the earliest KEM decks. And as Don Boyer pointed out over at The Playing Card Forum, companies like to be sure their correct name is on the decks. So the KEM PLAYING CARDS, Inc. would signal between 1935 and 1937 which is consistent with the ink bleed.
KEM-B&B - Ace - Spade King front and back.jpg

Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection

Posted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 10:27 am
by Mike Ratledge
The decks with no date codes are 1935-36. Two and weird three digit codes are 1936-1939 in MMY (last digit of the year, preceded by one month digit except for 10=October, 11=November & 12=December. In January 1940, they started using a "normal" MYY three digit code for January through September or MMYY four digit code for October to December decks. I have seen a few 36 & 37 decks with single and two digit codes that I have no clue what they mean, and a few that just make no sense and don't fit this pattern at all, some with a single letter instead of all numeric.

Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 3:57 pm
by Chuqii
I've been running out of pre-WWII KEMs to collect, so I'm dabbling in other decks. Here's a great condition double deck set of Eagle 5 bridge cards sealed with tax stamps, circa 1939. Check out those awesome eagles.
Eagle Five Suit cards - mine.JPG
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Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:05 pm
by Chuqii
I also picked up a set of the miniature cadets, c.1920 (I think).
USPCC Cadets - 1920ish.JPG
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Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:16 pm
by Chuqii
I was able to pick up a few more 1st generation KEM Neillite card boxes - Seascape and two versions of Cameo.
1st gen - Neillte x3.JPG
1st gen - Neillte x3.JPG (123.87 KiB) Viewed 93341 times

Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection

Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:25 pm
by Chuqii
Also picked up these DALE plastic playing cards at the local antique mall. Never heard of them before. These are from late-50s, early-60s.
Dale Plastic Playing Cards - mine.JPG
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Re: [Chuqii] KEM collection and more

Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:28 pm
by DragonSoul
Thanks for all of the info on KEM decks.

That's also a really nice find on the Eagle set!