Crescent Moon Jokers

I have a charming set of decks where the jokers feature ladies sitting on the crescent moon. They're known as Moon Fairies. Let's start by taking a close look at three decks published in the late 1800s that I have where the joker features a lady sitting on the moon.  

Three Moon Fairy Decks from the late 1800s

Here is a close-up of the National Card Company NU11 joker from 1886.

Moon Fairy, National Card Co
NU11 Crescent #44 1886

 National Deck with Cat Back
NU11 Crescent #44

As background on my collection, these Moon Fairies are a subsection inside the sitting section of my joker collection. Specifically, they are a subsubsection inside the "sitting sideways" subsection.

Another very old favorite of mine is my Congress Moon Fairy Joker, a venerable piece of American card and joker history. This Moon Fairy joker was one of the first "matching" Congress decks (which means the joker matched the back of the deck, a pattern they used 1899-1904) published by  USPC. I believe it dates from 1899 

Congress Moon Fairy Joker 

I also have two decks with a slightly later version of this Congress joker distinguished by not having the word Joker on the joker.  

Two Congress Moon Fairy Joker Decks
Generation 2 Jokers, ie Doesn't say "Joker"

The Moon Fairy deck (and hence the 52PlusJoker logo) is based on an 1891 painting by the German Herman Kaulbach.

Moon Fairy by Herman Kaulbach, 1891

Click to know more about the source art of the Congress Matching Mythological Jokers or about   about Congress Matching Jokers generally? Here's the back of my first Moon Fairy joker.

But the oldest antique moon fairy joker that I know about is my 1885 joker PU1 Tip-Top #350 by Standard Playing Cards from my collection.

PU1 TIP-TOP #350, Philadelphia, c1885

That's my set of 1800s moon fairy jokers. Very cool, right? Once again:

One of my most beautiful modern jokers and decks is the one designed by Elettra Deganello for the 2024 Club Deck of the 52 Plus Joker Club.

Elettra Deganello for the 2024 Club Deck of the 52 Plus Joker Club.

Elettra Deganello, Card Designer Extraordinaire with a fanboy (me!) at the 2024 52Plus Conference

One of the many reasons that this deck and joker are so treasured is because of how it echoes the 52 Plus Joker logo of a Crescent moon joker holding a joker wand.  In the January 2019 issue of Card Culture #48 (on Page 11), our Editor-in-Chief and President Lee Asher explains the humble origins of the logo of the 52 Plus Joker Club and how Judy Dawson picked it and Alex Chin updated the artwork from these jokers (below).

I have these two extremely old jokers, one of which is the model for the 52 Plus Joker logo.

Steamboat, Standard Playing Cards,
Crescent Playing Cards, 1900 SU15

Betty Boop has her own Betty Boop article on this blog. Here she is on a crescent moon.

Betty Boop on the Moon

I call this moon rider: Witchie.

This NuVue crescent moon joker was one that I encountered a lot when I started collecting back in the 1970s. I think it was because it was the standard joker on most airline playing card decks (which were free to passengers back then) and so I collected them often. BTW, if you want a cheap thrill, next time you are on a plane and the attendant is of a certain age and asks you want you want (what she really wants to know if you want water or a coke), tell her you'd like a deck of playing cards.  It seems to transport them back to a different era and it takes them awhile to recover and smile and perhaps ask "And has it really been 40 years since you've flown?"

 Confused Am I, isn't this unnatural?!?  This joker troubles me since the crescent moon is facing opposite all the others.  Does that happen?

More about the joker above. This joker was  featured by Joop Muller as the Joker of the Month, June 2020. Since his research and knowledge is so deep and thorough, I'll quote: 

So here she is, sitting on the moon holding up a drink, surrounded by stars and some light brown nebula's. No, she's not in the best condition. The back shows a goose in flight and advertises Miller High Life, "the champagne of bottle beer". So that's probably in the glass she's holding. Google brought some more information. Apparently this logo is called "Girl on the Moon" and there have been at least 5 versions of her. This version would have been in use in the 1950's. I think it's safe to say that the joker was made in the US, but couldn't put a maker to it. Nevertheless...... cheers!”

Here are the ensemble shots of 63 jokers updated 10/2023. (Up 26% from 50 in 2/21).

The top left and top right joker below deserve a comment. They are the jokers from the 52 Plus Joker 2023 Club deck. I bought three decks, kept two unopened, and am greatly enjoying the open deck which is gorgeous with sweet foil applied all over the packaging and cards.

Plus there are four more topsy turvy crescent moon jokers. There are two where they have musical instruments and are drinking. (Only one is shown).

 

And there two (only one shown) in which they just have an instrument but nothing to drink.

Here are two cards where the back features a crescent moon. I only have the singles and I'd love to know (or have) the joker if it also has a crescent moon on it.

What to look at next, I suggest the:

Christmas Jokers

Clown Jokers or

Alice in Wonderland Jokers

Standard Playing Cards who had the very first crescent moon joker.
the source art of the Congress Matching Mythological Jokers a
Congress Matching Jokers

Perfection Playing Cards from the Late 1800s

Pin Up Joker Playing Cards - Harder Core

It is with mixed feelings that I share my racier jokers. Of course, if this offends you, move on. There are lots of other joker pages to look at which don't raise hackles or questions (and there are some others that do that deal with race).  I sort of agree with you on these being in poor taste but I'm an equal opportunity joker collector.

My Pin Up Girlie Glamour Jokers (ie erotica and porn) is now (as of last 2020) split into bikini girls (the essentials covered), illustrations,  old fashioned,  Asian, and harder core. You are now entering the harder core section. 

This item is from the  girlie joker illustrations:  it's classy, subtle, a little hot, and funny.  It's probably all reproductions of the original deck, it's something to research.

Heh, if this section is really not your thing but you like jokers, here's some ideas of where you might go next.

 Standing jokers - All FULLY Clothed.
Jokers who are dancing
Jokers doing tricks or performing.
Jokers who are juggling.
Jokers who are simply a head or head and torso.

And then back to the modern world and a series of girls-gone-wild, bourdoir photography, These is one from  the  bikini girls  section(the essentials covered)

Annother example is from the  illustrations girlie section. 

Vargas Girl Jokers

This next one feels very 1980s to me.  It's in the old fashioned  section.

This hottie illustrates the  old fashioned joker erotica ,

If you've made it this far, I'm assuming you are not too offended by pornographic jokers.  So, lets get a little more explicit. Ready for some B&B? (buttocks and boobs?)

Buttocks

Boobs

So those are my pin-up jokers, the naughty jokers, the girlie jokers, the erotic jokers, the porn jokers, the glamour shot joker playing card jokers. As mentioned, These girlie jokers come in many different levels of artsy-ness, explicit-ness, or porn-ness. And there are some boys too!  

Here is a quick overview of the harder core erotic joker section  (updated Feb 2018).

I wonder if Google treats blogs with "explicit" images in some ways that might trigger a series of reactions that might hurt my site.

I'd be surprised if any of the images that I have left up trigger problems with the rating of the site by the search engines and other arbitrators of websites.  But then, what do I know?

Ironically, this section is kept in the same album with the Christmas jokers (complete with angels and cherubs!)

One famous pin up type girl who is not in this section is Betty Boop. I have two Betty Boop jokers but I'm not sure where they should be classified, take a look at Betty Boop jokers and read about here role as a feminist icon.

Joker Nicknames from Dan's Childhood

In the summer of 2018, I had an extended business trip to Chicago. I remembered that there was a joker collector on the Facebook group in Chicago. I contacted him and we met. So far, Dan Nordquist is the only other joker collector that I've met face to face.

Dan is charming, very knowledgeable about the history of jokers especially the early American jokers, and has a wonderful collection particularly of early American jokers.  But what struck me most was his story that he had started collecting jokers as small kid along with all the other kids in the neighborhood. The other kid - who I subsequently met online - was Gair Linhart And since they talked about jokers and started seeing the same designs over and over again, they gave them nicknames.  

I asked him if he could remember the nicknames and whether he minded if I shared. Here they are:

He called this joker: Head. 

Comedy Head Joker

Another anecdote that I found interesting that he shared was about his "little gang of 5th and 6th grade joker collectors" and I quote:

We decided to canvas the entire neighborhood for decks that had interesting jokers.  We told everyone whose doorbell that we rang that we were gathering old and maybe "stale" decks for an old folks home.  We discovered a few new Jokers this way ( such as "Livingston" ) and although we initially were just using the old folks thing as a pretext, we ultimately did give almost everything we found ( lacking a  few Jokers ) to a real old folks' home.  Now we are all "old folks" ourselves!

Candy:

Hand

Picker

Shovel Player

Jockey

Donkey Clown

Throner

Canadian

Voodoo

Baggie

Mardi Gras

Plaque

S Rider

Pirate

Pinwheel Joker by Western Publishing

And Old Pinwheel.

I like the idea of a bunch of neighborhood kids ringing bells, asking for decks for an "old folks home", and then opening the deck and saying: "Durn, just another Old Pinwheel."  It somehow reminds me of my childhood where I collected cards and coins with my brothers and we would go to local banks to get an entire pound as a bag of either copper, thrupences, or sixpences. But that's another story.

In subsequent conversations with Dan, I've become impressed by his range of collections, his deep knowledge on early American jokers, and his background with other collectors.  For instance, he talked with Gene Hoffman (Of Hoffman Encyclopedia fame) shortly before his demise. 

Click for an Overview of the Types of Playing Card Jokers

Or here is some info and pictures of jokers with masks!