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Early Cards & Card Games Compare our prices! Similar reproduction cards sell for as much as $7.00 to $9.00 Save $6.00 by ordering our complete Period Cards Collection   Collating decks of our period playing cards on a slow day at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. For fun, click on the picture for a quick video of the work in action
Free card games booklet! Buy all our three historic playing cards (French, German & English) and we'll give you a free copy of our booklet of early card games (a $5.00 value). $15.00 + $3.00 shipping (within the U.S. Ask about international shipping) td>   Quantity	Printed here in Minnesota Learn more about the history of playing card printing
NEW Satirical 16th Century German Cards Now available! Nicknamed the "poop deck" by some historical hobbyists, this will be our own replica of a satirical deck of cards dating from 1545 and designed by the German artist Peter Flötner. It used traditional German suits as well as "unter" and uber" figures rather than jacks and queens, and omits aces. 48-card decks were commonly used for a trick-taking game "Karnoffel." It was played mostly by the lower classes, and some naughty or satirical images on this deck reflect the game's lower class origins (the name Karnoffel itself translates as "hernia") It includes several satirical images such a monk vomiting, scenes of farting, spanking and "excreting". The back are blank as was most common for early playing cards. $5.00 + $1.34 shipping (within the U.S. Ask about international shipping)   Quantity	Printed here in Minnesota Includes an insert with the rules for the game Karnoffel. There are three or four different surviving examples of this deck. The cheapest versions were simply black & white, but we have hand-colored our master copy inspired by a watercolored version, but left the backs blank as was most common with early playing cards in order to keep them affordable. More info about this deck
16th Century French Cards This is a reproduction of a deck dated to 1567 that is based on a set of face cards by Pierre Marechal of Rouen, France. The cards of Rouen are significant because many were produced for export to Britain. English merchants are even said to have bought them for re-export to other countries. In 1628 England banned the importation of cards, and English printers have been shown to have used Rouen face cards as inspiration for their own cruder, more stylized decks which have become the standard motifs still used in many modern decks. This a full 52-card deck without jokers (Jokers were not added until the 19th century.) The backs are blank as was most common on early cards. $5.00 + $1.34 shipping (within the U.S. Ask about international shipping))   Quantity	Printed here in Minnesota Buy three of our French decks and get our booklet of card games for free! Available Wholesale   Quantity
Jost Amman 16th Century German Cards Dating to 1588 this 52-card deck is based on one of the most significant works of Jost Amman, one of the more prolific artists of the German Renaissance. German printers experimented with a wide range of suit symbols, this deck uses Books, Jars, Printers' Ink Pads and Cups. As was common in German cards, there are no jacks and queens, but rather the German equivalents of an “unter” (“under” with the suit sign at the bottom of the card), an Ober (“over” with the suit sign at the top of the card) and kings on horseback. It also features a female figure as the 10 of each suit. The backs are blank as was most common on early cards. $5.00 + $1.34 shipping (within the U.S. Ask about international shipping)   Quantity	Printed here in Minnesota Learn more about this deck watch our video describing the symbolism behind the illustrations on this deck Buy three of our German decks and get our booklet of card games for free! Available Wholesale   Quantity
18th Century English Playing Cards A reproduction of a deck from about 1750. The initials “HC” on the King of Hearts provide a clue as to who made the original printing blocks. The classic style of this deck makes it a good representative of decks used in both Britain and the U.S.A. from the early 18th century up to the late 19th century. Although jokers were not used until the 1800's, we have included jokers inspired by the face cards for games that require them. The backs are blank as was most common on early cards. Appropriate for Re-enactors from Restoration England to American Civil War. $5.00 + $1.34 Shipping (within the U.S. Ask about international shipping) )   Quantity	Printed here in Minnesota Available Wholesale To insure they are useable by a wide range of reenactors (and help keep the cost low) we have specifically avoided recreating a period wrapper, or tax stamp so they are not tied to any one era. Buy three of our English decks and get our booklet of card games for free!   Quantity
American Civil War Era Cards A facsimile of a deck of cards originally printed by Lawrence and Cohen, they include square-cut corners and two ace of spades (The original blue-colored ace with an American eagle, and a more standard-looking ace for people who find the original one confusing) They come packaged in a box printed with a facsimile of the original 1-cent tax stamps with an1864 cancellation mark. $6.00 + $1.51 shipping.(within the U.S. Ask about international shipping))   Quantity Civil War Cards	These are a great compromise for people who want a period looking deck, but want the durability of a modern coated deck. They have a coating but with a matte finish so they are not as shiny as some plastic coated decks. Although they are based on an American deck, very similar cards were printed both in England and America. In fact, many early American card printers learned their trade in London, or imported the printing plates from England Buy three of our Civil War Era decks and get our booklet of card games for free!   Quantity
Booklet of Period Card Games We have written our own booklet of games to accompany our period playing cards. We tried select games that do not appear in most standard collections of card games, and are fairly easy to learn -even for non-card players. We have come up with a dozen games that are all documented in Europe prior to 1700, and included a brief history of playing cards in Europe. $5.00 + $1.00 shipping.   Quantity	Printed here in Minnesota
Tarot Cards & Games Two of the most important Tarot decks in history
15th Century Visconti Tarot Believed to be the earliest, and most complete surviving tarot deck. It was commissioned by the Visconti family who were the Dukes of Milan in the 1450's. The face cards and Major Arcana on this beautiful decs have gold foil backgrounds. Contrary to popular belief, tarot cards were used for games long before they were used for fortune telling. They were the ancestors to modern trump, or trick-taking games. We also include our booklet with a short history of Tarot cards, and six of the earliest surviving Tarot games. Visconti Tarot with our Tarot Game Booklet $25.00/deck + $2.55 shipping (within the U.S.)   Quantity	Full Sized Version Back in Stock! To read more about the Visconti Tarot see this book on Amazon
Tarot of Marseille Based on the original 18th century design. Lower-class tarot cards have not been found dating to the origin of Tarot games. The Tarot of Marseilles may be the surviving eamples that are closest to the decks that may have been used by the common people during earlier centuries. We also include our booklet with a short history of Tarot cards, and six games that can be played with them. Tarot of Marseilles $25.00/deck + $2.55 shipping. (within the U.S.)   Quantity
Kama Sutra Tarot This is a modern deck since there is no historical association between tarot cards and the Indian work. The Kama Sutra only consists of 64 images, but the publisher commissioned Indian artists to create 78 designs to complete a unique full tarot deck inspired by the Indian erotic work. As with our other Tarot decks, we include our booklet of Tarot games. Kama Sutra Tarot $25.00/deck + $2.55 shipping.   Quantity
Tarot Games and History Tarot cards were used for playing card game long before they were used for divination. So we've written A booklet with a short history of them and included six games including the earliest surviving tarot games dating to the 17th century. The booklet is included FREE if you order either of the Tarot decks above $5.00 + $1.34 shipping .	Printed here in Minnesota
Other Historic Tarot Decks
Period Cards Collection Save $6.00 over ordering our cards separately One of each of our reproduction playings cards plus your choice of one of our Tarot decks. 1 English deck, 1 French Deck, 1 German Deck, 1 Civil War Deck 1 Tarot Games Booklet, 1 Early Card games Booklet Your Choice of Tarot deck Save $6.00 compared to ordering them separately $45.00 + $6.00 shipping Qty: Period Card Set w/Visconti Tarot Qty: Period Card Set w/Tarot of Marseille .

Other Cards
Kama Sutra Cards A reproduction of a deck of Indian playing cards. The original deck is about 250 years old, and was hand-painted on thin slices of ivory with images of sexual positions from the Kama Sutra. The original art has been digitally re-touched and printed on modern playing card stock. A standard deck of 52 cards plus 2 jokers. Kama Sutra Cards $10.00/deck + $1.51 shipping.   Quantity	Check out our other naughty historic products
Fancy Playing Cards! This is a modern design, but the costuming and portrait-like designs on the face cards are so beautiful we couldn't resist carrying this deck imported from Austria. "Luxury" cards $10.00/deck + $1.51 shipping.   Quantity