North America

Cards from far off lands and bygone days!
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dazzleguts
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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

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The Distant Early Warning (DEW) Card Deck
Marshall McLuhan
1969

DEW in box small.jpg
Here is a funny, often punny, deck of cards dedicated to creative thinking. It was released as part of Marshall McLuhan’s “DEW-Line Newsletter.” The newsletter was produced from 1968 to 1970, put together in New York by Eric McLuhan and Eugene Schwartz from copy mailed to them by McLuhan.
DEW courts spades small.jpg
DEW pips spades small.jpg
Published through the Human Development Corp. the “DEW-Line Newsletter” came in different forms, such as a record or slides, often including pre-released chapters from McLuhan books.
DEW courts hearts small.jpg
DEW pips hearts small.jpg
The newsletter was initiated by New York publisher Eugene Schwartz, at the height of “McLuhan-mania.” The cards were designed by McLuhan, his eldest son Eric, Harley Parker and George Thompson.
DEW courts clubs small.jpg
DEW pips clubs small.jpg
The card deck was intended to stimulate problem-solving and thinking, in a manner that later came to be known as "thinking-outside-the-box". The instructions direct the player to think of a personal or business problem, shuffle the card deck, select a card and then apply its message to the problem. (Unfortunately my deck is missing the instructions.)
DEW courts diamonds small.jpg
DEW pips diamonds small.jpg
The deck reflects McLuhan’s vision of the artist in a time of rapid social and technological change:

“I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it,” - from his 1964 book "Understanding Media".
DEW jokers_back small.jpg
The actual Distant Early Warning Line was a Cold War construct. There were three lines in all and the main one Stretched 3,000 miles across arctic Canada, at approximately the 69th parallel, as a chain of 63 integrated radar and communication stations. Completed in 1957, the DEW Line was intended to provide advance warning of imminent air attacks on Canada and the United States, and was operational into the late 1980s. A few of the stations were kept and upgraded to become part of the North Warning System.[/color]
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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

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Arrowhead for Casino Regina
First printed 1995


Originally printed by Gemaco in 1995, under license from the Benjamin Greenfield Corporation, the face designs of these cards have been used by many First Nations casinos. This particular deck was made for Casino Regina. Regina is the capital city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The deck consists of 52 cards, 2 jokers and an information card.

The jokers are a blend of coyote, fox and wolf...in the Native American belief that many lessons are taught through the coyote as trickster.

Arrowhead jokerbackECace small.jpg
Arrowhead jokerbackECace small.jpg (94.27 KiB) Viewed 5712 times
Each court card of the Arrowhead deck graphically illustrates the Wampum, Amulets, hair styles, textile patterns, and weapons of one of many First Nations from throughout North America. The designs also remain true to traditional courts, using the correct head, hand, and staff/weapon positions found in most playing cards. The artwork is by G & H Assoc.

Each suit is dedicated to, and based upon, a particular region's Nations:

Spades: - Northeastern Algonquian
Hearts - Southwestern
Arrowhead spades_hearts small.jpg
Clubs - Northwestern/Great Basin
Diamonds - Great Plains
Arrowhead clubs_diamonds small.jpg
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Re: North America (wap)

Unread post by BlueToy »

Are the DEW decks hard to come by and expensive? Because I'm really digging them. :D
-Ly

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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

I bought mine off ebay for about $25. Don't see them come around often used. You can buy a set from his son for $65. He has them in all the colours - green, red, black, blue, or brown - and the instruction sheet is included. Here is the site. You have to scroll down close to the bottom of the page to get the cards.
http://ericmcluhan.com/bookshop/
If you do get them I'd love to see the instruction sheet - posted here would be great. I'll be gone for a month so perhaps I'll see them here when I get back.
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Re: North America

Unread post by BlueToy »

dazzleguts wrote:I bought mine off ebay for about $25. Don't see them come around often used. You can buy a set from his son for $65. He has them in all the colours - green, red, black, blue, or brown - and the instruction sheet is included. Here is the site. You have to scroll down close to the bottom of the page to get the cards.
http://ericmcluhan.com/bookshop/
If you do get them I'd love to see the instruction sheet - posted here would be great. I'll be gone for a month so perhaps I'll see them here when I get back.
Thanks for the link! WIll have to save up for that $65 one - that's not cheap!
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Re: North America

Unread post by Jock1971 »

Marguerite Plying Cards #130. Produced by A Dougherty c.1910 (Hochman AD40)
The cards come in a 2 part telescopic box which opens sideways, the cards are gilded with a Linoid finish and measures 57mm x 89mm (2.5 in x 3.5 in)
IMG_0001.jpg
All information provided by the Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards.
A fine quality whist size card originally made with special backs often a floral design. Eventually the brand was changed to make Narrow named cards to compete with Congress #606W made by U.S.P.C. The cards were similar in most respects to this braand ,which is not suprising as they were, by then, the same company.
IMG_0002.jpg
The Narrow named backs were usually flowers, but Scenic views, People and Animals were also made. Some of the titles had several variations and most came in more than one colour combination.
IMG_0003.jpg
Thanks for looking at my cards :D -jase-
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Re: North America

Unread post by Jock1971 »

TWA advertising deck printed by Brown & Bigelow. Date mid 1960`s
IMG_0001.jpg
NU-VUE (Hochman MSN21) was one of Brown & Bigelows brands during the 1960`s and featured "The Modern eye-saving concept in playing cards". The cards have "Redi-slip" finish and are Germ-proofed by COROBEX.
IMG_0002.jpg
IMG_0003.jpg
Thanks for looking at my cards :D -jase-
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Re: North America

Unread post by Jock1971 »

MOHEGAN SUN Casino Cards by GEMACO cancelled with a hole through center of the pack.
IMG_0001.jpg
These unique cards created exclusively for Mohegan Sun depict early twentieth century Mohegans wearing authentic regalia. The jokers show the Mohegan Mask worn by Chief Harold Tantaquidgeon (1904-1989) and Chief Matahga (1862-1952) to frighten away evil spirits, and the court cards feature Native Americans who were well known throughout Indian country for their traditional ways.
IMG_0002.jpg
Spades (winter) King-Chief Matahga/ Burrill Fielding 1862-1952
Queen-Loretta Fielding Shultz 1900-1982
Jack-Roland B. Harris 1903-1957
Hearts (spring) King-Osgood Fielding 1894-1946
Queen-Jennie Meech 1885-1963
Jack-Lloyd Gray 1892-1957
IMG_0003.jpg
Clubs (autumn) King-Chief Occum/ Lemuel Fielding 1859-1928
Queen-Sarah Teecomwas 1812-1898
Jack-Roscoe Skeesucks 1884-1950
Diamonds (summer) King-John Tantaquidgeon 1865-1949
Queen-Myrtice Fielding 1892-1953
Jack- Peegee Uncas/ Julian Harris 1872 1941

Thanks for looking at my cards :D -jase-
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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

I've got to look for these ones. They are cousins to the "Arrowhead" deck.
Thanks for showing them Jase.
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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

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Unisex
Early 1980s


This is a rare Canadian deck of non-standard playing cards which was printed by Richmond of Toronto. It was published by the Unisex Playing Card Co. of Scarborough (a part of the city of Toronto in the province of Ontario), a publishing company which was probably created specifically for this deck. It features “unisex” designs on double ended court cards and jokers, with a male figure at one end and a female figure at the other.
Unisex_spadeshearts_small.jpg
The trademark proceedings for the card designs, by Benincasa Designs of Ontario, were apparently abandoned in 1982. The feel of the graphics is very 1960s so these may have been originally drawn closer to that time, and only actualized in the 1980s, but that is pure speculation on my part.
Unisex_clubs_diamonds_small.jpg
The 52 card deck, plus Jokers, also includes 2 extra cards which give a brief history of playing cards. Here is a description taken from the Canada section of the history:

"Same suits with face card changes to reflect today's values without losing historical charm.
--Royalty card has King and Queen as equals - replaces King in old deck.
--Nobility card is second in value - replaces Queen
--Gentry card also has male and female - replaces the Jack"
Unisex_jokers_pips_small.jpg
The cards are bridge sized, measuring 90mm x 59mm. The original box, which I was lucky to find with it, has a circular opening on one side that allows the central design of the ace of spades card to be seen.

Here is the box with a card back. The other side of the box has a card back glued to it. The top flap of the box is printed with the text "We've changed the names not the games!", probably referring to the changed court card names.
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Unisex_box_back_small.jpg
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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

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Gong Hee Fot Choy
U.S. Games Systems. Inc.
c. 1982
(originally 1935)
GongHeeFotChoy_box_small .jpg
GongHeeFotChoy_box_small .jpg (95.93 KiB) Viewed 4757 times
This deck references Chinese culture, but only indirectly, and is really just an example of someone exploiting a culture(s) that is not their own. It's the product of Margaret Ward, a mystic and world traveler who spent much of her life chasing down the arts and traditions of fortune telling in almost every country. The Gong Hee Fot Choy fortune telling system (which insists on calling itself a game) was originally published in 1935, and she describes it as a synthesis of the many divination systems she came across in her various travels, especially of China. The Chinese name means "Greeting of Riches," but she doesn't offer much of a reason of why the name was chosen, except to say that it gives "a small token of my appreciation of these marvelous people."
GongHeeFotChoySpadesDiamonds_small.jpg
The suits have a general theme running through them and you can clearly see why Ward says that the odds in her system are three to one in favor of good over bad.

"The HEARTS represent LOVE and FRIENDSHIP; anything of a personal nature.

The DIAMONDS represent FORTUNE and RICHES, and papers of any kind.

The CLUBS represent LUCK, WISDOM and BUSINESS.

The SPADES represent the UNPLEASANT THINGS of life."
GongHeeFotChoyClubsHearts_small.jpg
The deck featured here is actually completely secondary to the system, which was designed to be able to work with any standard deck of playing cards. The key to the system is the instruction book, which contains a few quick instructions on how to lay out a tableau, and dozens of pages about how to read each card in each position. Included with the book is a folded paper poster for laying out the cards. It shows thirty-two rectangles, called houses, each of which corresponds to a particular card in the layout.
GongHeeFotChoyJokersBackAce_small.jpg
This information was found at http://www.guntheranderson.com/cards/feb97/gong.htm where Mr. Anderson provides much more detail on the book, and the divination system it describes, than I have included here.
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Re: North America

Unread post by flashcards »

Interesting. The name implies a Chinese themed deck while all the courts (except perhaps the hearts and King of Diamonds) show Japanese style clothing and hair styles.
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Re: North America

Unread post by dazzleguts »

Yes, I agree that's puzzling, and that's part of the reason this deck is in the North American thread. On the website I linked to in the posting, Gunther Anderson mentions a similarity to Piatnik's Japanese costume deck. He mentions "George R. Bennett's Chinese designs on the court cards and joker", but I couldn't tell if he was referring to the Piatnik deck or the Gong Hee Fot Choy? Neither of which fully applies really.

*edit*
Sorry I read too fast that first time. Have amended my post accordingly.
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