Dating Kem™ decks & why unreal 1935 or 1947 dates so often?

Guides on terminology, manufacturing, templates, processes and more.
User avatar
Mike Ratledge
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 5496
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 4:25 pm
Collector: Yes
Player: Yes
White Whale: OG USPCC Vanity Fair [mint]
Decks Owned: 7800
Location: Awendaw/McClellanville (Charleston county) S.C.
Has thanked: 1911 times
Been thanked: 760 times

Dating Kem™ decks & why unreal 1935 or 1947 dates so often?

Unread post by Mike Ratledge »

Anybody that watches eBay and other sites knows that you see Kem decks all the time shown as "1935" & "1947", when they obviously are not that old. Why? Pretty simple, really, and I am going to give most people the benefit of the doubt, and say it's an honest mistake. Sometimes it is not, but most of the time, it probably is.

Here's the thing: every deck of Kem branded cards made from 1935 until 2004 when they got absorbed by USPCC has the same Ace of Spades. It looks like this one:
Ken_AoS.jpg
Ken_AoS.jpg (74.69 KiB) Viewed 6766 times
Notice the date of the copyright - ©1935. In most cases the Ace of Spades contains a 3- or 4-digit date code in the MMYY (or MYY) format for Month and Year. This AoS from a 'newer' upright case is from January, 1954. Sometimes that code is under the left lobe of the spade, sometimes the right.

Sometimes you'll see them advertised as 1947. Again, simple explanation. Check the replacement card put in every Kem deck made from 1947 to 1970's:
tmp_20140516_184327-11670568245.jpg
Sure enough - every single deck or pair at least has a card with "COPYRIGHT 1947" on it.

One last thing. You see an awful lot of claims that the case is Bakelite. Bakelite itself is rare, collectable and expensive. Do they all come in Bakelite cases? Of course not. Again, here's the visual cues:
tmp_20140516_184042-11689733473.jpg
The spread out K E M wide spaced letters IS indeed Bakelite! The small KEM centered on the box is not, so the two on the left are Bakelite and the one on the right is not.

Later cases came in more simple and plain black flat plastic cases, and even later in slip cases similar to Congress brand decks. Those were used after USPCC bought the company, but before 2004 when it was merged into Congress (more or less).

I'll take a shot in the dark and say that Bakelite was used from 1935 to 1950'ish, similar plastic cases in the same shape until about 1965, the simpler black plastic flat cases until about 1980 and the slip cases until 2004. Decks from this last period are "few and far between". Are those dates perfect? Certainly not! Are they close? You bet!

Last thing: how much are they worth? It varies too widely to say for sure, but Bakelite is the first publicly available plastic, a phenolic brittle plastic, which is why they are chipped or broken easily. The case itself is worth $25-$30. The card decks? Hard to say - in general they made a lot of them, not always, but most of the time. Some aren't worth much, some are worth $50-$100 and a few odd examples are worth more, up to $250, but that is truly unusual - most are in that $50-$75 range if they are in the old Bakelite case. Newer ones, generally less.
>Mike<
"You can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself"
They say "Ignorance is bliss". Obviously, some people are much happier than others...

Members are encouraged to
Show Us Your Cards!


Our UC2021 Decks entitled
"Odd Fellows"
by Lorenzo Gaggiotti / @Stockholm17
Coming soon: AKA
«Eighth Annual Decks»


UC members help maintain Portfolio52
THE Playing Card Database Online
Contact ecNate for details and access


UC2019 "Seventh Annual Decks"
by Montenzi Design
Funded 207% on KS: HERE


>>> UC Deck Sales <<<


Insert disclaimer here...
All information posted as fact is accurate at the time of posting to the best of my knowledge.
User avatar
dazzleguts
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 1499
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 4:32 pm
Collector: Yes
Player: Yes
White Whale: Das Kartenspiel Des Oberdeutsc
Decks Owned: 885
Has thanked: 210 times
Been thanked: 142 times

Re: Dating Kem™ decks & why unreal 1935 or 1947 dates so oft

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Great rundown Mike!

Here's a link to some more KEM dating info. It doesn't cover the boxes like you have here, but it has some interesting info, especially at the end of the article. This link is also posted in the "How to Date a Deck of Cards" thread.

http://www.ebay.com/gds/Vintage-Kem-car ... 173/g.html

*edit*
The Deland's are all dated that way as well, with 1913 on the boxes and backs no matter when they were actually issued. Even the later printings by Arrco.
Worldwide Time Machine

"Cards from far off lands and bygone days!"
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests