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 Star Plaid No. 1 to a collection.

A collector friend writes, “I have a sample book that probably represents the 1918 edition, based upon the latest back design copyright of 1917. What I found interesting here is that Star Plaid No. 1, Snowflake, Tri-Plaid and Western Plaid were all available simultaneously under both Bicycle and the Army & Navy #3032 brand, all in red and blue.” (This also calls into question the end date, above)