Update on my bibliography of Professor Hoffmann’s card-game booklets: Today I submitted the book to the printer. (I am not ready to predict when I will have copies for sale.)
I already discussed the variations in the back-designs of two packs of Goodall’s “Historic” playing cards, in the preceding post. At this time, I want to address briefly certain differences between the two queens of diamonds. I probably could have selected any two court cards from the packs and made a similar comparison.
Mike Goodall discusses certain variations within the various packs in the “Historic” (“costumes of four reigns”) packs in Chas. Goodall & Son: The Family and the Firm 1820-1922. Mike mentions small and large indices, presence of a joker, different aces, and “modified courts” (suits changed around), and also the different back-designs, and gilt edges versus no gilt edges, and patience size versus usual size.
One of my packs has a blank card. Well, it isn’t totally blank, but it does not represent any specific card. The other has neither a joker nor a blank card. From Mike’s list, one might infer that the joker is usually not present. In cases where a joker is not present, I do not know whether a blank was always included originally.
At the moment, I don’t think I’ll go into many differences, whether real or imagined. But I’ll show a “head” from each card.
And here are the other two heads, from the other end of the cards.
The top image in each set above is from the TOP card below. It should be immediately evident from the foregoing, as well as from the images below, that the coloration of the top card is more vivid, more intense, and probably more contrasty than the bottom card. The colors of the bottom card are moderated and far more subtle.
I guess that’s it. Your reaction will either be, “It’s absurd to point to such differences,” or, “That’s awesome — the two queens are demonstrably different!”
—Tom Sawyer
August 6, 2017
A blog about card-game booklets published by Charles Goodall & Son during the period 1868 to 1922 