Tangent No. 1
Introduced in 1895. Discontinued in 1907. Tangent No. 1 is an attractive decorative back design that is easiest to find in its US8d iteration. Scarce in US8b and hard to find in US8c. The two cards shown on the top of the page (lefthand side on a laptop), featuring a larger wheel in the center […]
Star Plaid No. 2
Introduced in 1907. Discontinued in 1932. Singles appear now and again, but decks are extremely rare. Red singles also seem to be more scarce than blue.
Star Plaid No. 1
Introduced in 1906. Discontinued in 1907. Star Plaid No. 1 had one of the shortest runs in the Bicycle playing card family. It should come as no surprise, then, to know that the design is exceedingly rare. Finding a sample card from a salesman’s sample folder or book may be the only way to add […]
Stag
Introduced in 1927. Discontinued in 1943. Stag is surprisingly hard to find paired with its original box. Decks usually go for over $100 when they surface in that condition. A collector friend writes, “In my 1908 sample book, Stag and Eagle backs are both shown as being offered under the Capitol #188 brand which, according to Hochman, […]
Sprocket No. 2
Introduced in 1905. Discontinued in 1917. Sprocket No. 2 is slightly less common than its predecessor, Sprocket No. 1, but complete decks are still relatively easy to find. The first two cards on the left, above, represent a variant of the Sprocket back that is not listed in Mrs. Robinson’s Bicycle Playing Card pamphlet. We […]
Sprocket No. 1
Introduced in 1899. Discontinued in 1905. This design is not hard to find in US8b or US8d. Less common in the later US8c version.
Snowflake
Introduced in 1904. Discontinued in 1918. It’s hard to believe this design ran for fourteen years; the only singles I have seen are from salesman’s sample books. I have one complete red deck, which is the only one I’ve ever seen. While there is occasional repetition of some of the little odd-shaped dots and patterns, […]
Safety
Introduced in 1892. Discontinued in 1943. This attractive back design had a very long run. Easily found in red or blue, at least in later issues, but quite rare in green and brown. The only example I have seen in US8aa is a blue 32 card euchre deck (without a box). Steve Bowling reports that […]
Saddle
Introduced in 1908. Discontinued in 1910. This is a rare deck, and one of three two-tone designs that were released solely in the United Kingdom. The other two designs are Chain and Handlebar. According to Mrs. Robinson, each of these designs was manufactured in only a single print run, which would certainly contribute to their […]
Rider
Introduced in 1887, and continuously produced since that time. On top of being the most frequently used deck for casual card games, the Rider back is also very popular with collectors, cardists and magicians. Unlike some other long running designs, the Rider back has hardly changed since the beginning. I say “hardly” because Jan Summers, […]