Gejus van Diggele's Blog (6)

Collectors of playing cards are so much focussed on the size and the shape of packs that they spot them everywhere, in a split second. Psychologists have a name for it: selective perception. We see everything but we notice primarily items reflecting to what is in our mind. So if you like blond women you will see them everywhere, more than someone who prefers dark ladies. And when you think about playing cards often, you will immediately notice playing cards if they are somewhere within the reach… Continue

The story behind secondary use cards is not always complicated or profound. It will not come as a surprise to you that playing cards also have been secondarely used for playing games. Take for instance this card from the 18th century. Lacking a 4 of diamonds but having one 5 of diamonds too many, it was apparently decided to transform the 5 of diamonds into a 4 of diamonds: one of the diamonds on this card was scratched away to replace the missing card. The upper left diamond is also a bit scrat… Continue

My collection of secondary used playing cards includes all kind of invitations. Ball invitations from the USA (more about that interesting subject in a later blog), invitations for musical events, for evenings of card playing, for dinners, for business meetings, for a political hearing (see my previous blog), for funerals and for Holy Masses to commemorate a deceased person. However the most unusual invitation that I have is this one. It is French, 18th century, and it is a very intriguing, gall… Continue

Who will be the new American president? Even in the Netherlands it is part of daily news. In 1724 an election took place in Ireland for a government position as Manor in the town of Mullingar. The loser, John Nugent, declared that the election had been unfair, since the winner was not a resident of Mullingar. Playing cards were used to invite people to attend the hearing of the Election Committee on January 21, 1724. The playing card and the printed lawsuit by John Nugent were kept by his relat… Continue

To some people I collect junk. Pieces of paper(board) not mend to be kept and collected. True ephemera. I consider reused playing cards as real treasures. Some items I get for free, for most of them I have to pay. Still the monetary value is irrelevant. In Dutch we have a say: "Het is net wat de gek er voor geeft". I try to translate it for you: "It is just what the crazy man likes to pay for it". Last year I visited the Dutch collector Bonney Branttinga in his old farm house in Wildervank, the… Continue

They tell about the technique that they are made with, about the style and taste of their era. But also about the thriftiness in the past, as single cards from incomplete decks were used for just about anything one can do with paper: they were written or drawn upon, overprinted, but also cut, rolled or pleated and glued or pinned to something. Stationery paper was rare and expensive and playing cards were relatively cheap, had a handy format and a certain firmness. The cards were sold in paper… Continue