Full Hand Deck Made in Australia circa 1915
SKU:
£75.00
£75.00
per item
Dating and assigning a manufacturer to Australian cards prior to 1932 is quite difficult. Then - due to the tax dept realising they were missing out!- manufacturers were allotted a fraction number they had to display on their packs somewhere, usually on the box lid or sides. The four most prolific makers at that time were, Reed Paper Products: Sands & McDougall: Spicer: & Hudson/Valentines whose symbols were 1/4 1/3 2/3 & 3/3 respectively However I believe there are certain clues that enable us to date this deck. It was probably made by one of the very early Australian makers, Detmold, in about 1915 to18, or very soon after the 1st WW. When Australia was just beginning to rebel against the mother country twelve thousand miles away. It is the irreverent nature of the deck that leads me to think this. For a start the emu and kangaroo are on the wrong sides of the Coat of Arms and there are no images or references to GB at all. The Ace and the Joker also stick their nose up to convention and the box confirms Australia's rebellious nature at the time as the terms "Full Hand" & "Squeezers" are blatant copies taken from the names of American decks. 52 + 1 nice condition overall and very unusual.