Cyclist No. 1
Introduced in 1898. Discontinued in 1908. Cyclist No. 1 is a pleasing design, examples of which appear for sale with some regularity (see a detail of the design, below). This back design is easier to find in its US8d iteration, and blue decks are offered for sale more frequently than red ones. Finding any Cyclist […]
Colorado Plaid
Introduced in 1906. Discontinued in 1911. This is one of several Bicycle decks issued in two-color back designs – red & green and blue & brown (sometimes blue & black). It is a very rare deck; even singles are difficult to find. For a similar design released simultaneously, see Arizona Plaid. Note: The righthand image, […]
Chain
o fIntroduced in 1908. Discontinued in 1910. This is the rarest of the three two-tone designs that were released solely in the United Kingdom. I have never seen a complete Chain deck, only singles. All three of the designs are scarce, each having been printed in a single print run according to Mrs. Robinson. The […]
Automobile No. 1
Introduced in 1903. Discontinued in 1919. Not uncommon in red and blue, but extremely rare in green and very rare in brown. I have only seen singles of the latter colors in salesman’s sample folders. But, a fellow collector contacted me recently to let me know that he has a complete brown deck in its […]
Auto No. 2
Introduced in 1904. Discontinued in 1913. Like Auto No. 1, this deck was also called Locomobile for the early part of its run. Click on “US8d” above for more information, and see the Auto No. 1 page for some history on the Locomobile Company of America. In her pamphlet for Bicycle playing card collectors, Mrs. […]
Acorn
Introduced in 1891. Discontinued in 1943. Acorn is one of the early Bicycle back designs that features the League of American Wheelmen logo of the Bicycle wheel with three wings. Please see the League Back page for more information. Pictured below is a set of four colored Acorn backs. These were produced by a British […]
All Wheel
Introduced in 1907. Discontinued in 1917. A graphically pleasing composition of early wooden automobile wheels (not bicycle wheels). A rare deck. While the first release date is 1907, I do have an early deck with a “J” date code on the joker, which corresponds to 1906. Depending on what time of year it was printed, […]
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, […]
Motor No. 2
Introduced in 1907. Discontinued in 1917. Thus, Motor No. 1 was replaced by Motor No. 2, a much less interesting back design, but one that still features an early automobile motor. As with Motor No. 1, this back design is rare in either color, and especially rare in blue. One of the Bicycle back designs […]
Mobile No. 2
Introduced in 1906. Discontinued in 1913. A similar, but not identical, automobile to Mobile No. 1 is featured. A rare back design; complete decks are particularly hard to find. Mobile No. 3 uses the same frame and background with an updated automobile.