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There are many sites on the Web concerning playing cards, consequently the Museum does not intend for the pages in this section to be exhaustive about the subject. Rather, the focus (as in other sections of the Museum Website) will be upon the Museum's collection of playing cards. The Museum has over 250 decks of playing cards and objects related to card games in its collection.
The subject of playing cards is quite diverse since there is considerable information available - information spanning a number of centuries and from many different regions of the world.
The Museum has used the help of a number of people to provide the content for this section of the Website. David Galt of the United States (a collector of playing cards and a long-time member of the "Game and Puzzle Collectors Association") contributed some preliminary information and reviewed an early draft of this section. Eugen Bruhin of Switzerland (also a collector of playing cards) in viewing certain pages placed on the Website, clarified some of the information we offered about the various suits on European decks of playing cards, and we used his information to revise certain pages. Joop Muller of the Netherlands (who maintains an elaborate Dutch Website about playing cards) did a very detailed analysis of the revised pages we placed on the Web and sent us considerable information which enabled the Museum to modify incorrect information and add additional information to the pages in this section. Jinhee Chung of Korea (a graduate student at the University) was instrumental in clarifying the differences between certain Asian decks in the collection.
This page is a Table of Contents to this Website section on playing cards. Information is divided into a number of topics. On the menu are two topics "History of Playing Cards" and "About Playing Card Suits". Both of these items are of a general nature and are offered as background information. The following list concerns specific objects in the Museum Collection. Click on a topic in the list below to be taken to a page about that topic.
National & Regional Decks
(in the Museum collection)
Special Purpose Decks
(in the Museum collection)
Objects Related to Playing Cards
(in the Museum collection)
Objects Related to Specific Card Games
(in the Museum collection)
Last update November 21, 2006