Clown Jokers

I use to be irritated by clown jokers. I thought they should have jesters on them. But through the years, my sensitivities have changed and I'm now a big fan of clown jokers. Which is good since I have a ton of them. Specifically 160 not counting the 44 joker heads which now have their own section (Updated 8/2023)

This first set is classic old clown jokers of which three are on the Joker Poster printed by the Playing Card Museum.

Want details on which ones from above are in the Joker Poster? The clown with the banjo or mandolin (top center) was first made by King Press c1937.  It's  MSN51 King Press, P159 of Hochman and also appears as Imperial King Press. NJ c 1935. The parachuting clown (top row right) is in the top row of the poster and is a USPCC special edition circa 1950. The clown with the goose and the balloon (bottom center) is another USPCC special edition c 1935. Hoffman SU9, P139.

Above, the top left joker above is a Standard Playing Card Joker from the Auction Bridge deck c1910. P139 in Hoffman, SU8, and Joop's Oct 2023 Joker of the Month.  

This next page has the circus clown in the top row middle. He is on the joker poster. Top row, column h. To his right below is the soldier clown on the top right. He is on the joker poster, 4th row, last column. In the second row left below is theatric clown (with the halo and blacks thorns shooting up) who is on the poster in the 5th row, column D. Next to him, middle row middle spot below is a lady clown who is on the poster in the bottom row, first column.  Here's this information about the jokers on that page that are on the joker poster in tabular form (it looks great on a computer screen, not so good on mobile phones).

Below    My nickname        Joker poster Description                            Copyright    Poster Position

R1C2    Circus Clown        Waldorf #240. A Dougherty, NY                 c1909           1-H    

R1C3    Soldier Clown        EE Fairchild, Rochester, NY                     c1940            4-I
R2C1    Theatric Clown    Godey Ladies, USPC for NASCO.             c1935            5-D
R2C2    Lady Clown        Criterion Playing Card Co for John High Co    c1932        8-I

I just learned from the FB Joker Collectors club (from Matt Schacht and Ronald Kruijmel) that the middle row jokers below on the left and right are Canadian. WWPCM

These clowns are a mixed lot. Three of them are Bob Terwilliger of Simpsons fame: is he of slumming   by hanging out with these clowns?

I tried to group the clowns with similar painted-on faces. Frankly, I'm struggling to figure out what my subcategories are going to be as this section keeps growing.

My clowns with balloons section!  It was just today (Aug 2023) when I realized that row two, column 1 and 3 are different.  Look at the child's pants color.  BTW, this sort of difference is fun for me to find. It means paying attention to details in a way that I find satisfying.  In contrast, in the pages below this one, there are 13 different baggies. But the differences tend to be the indices or whether it is labelled plastic coated or not. I find looking at those fine differences very tedious. Thoughts?

Baggy old clown has 13 variations on the next two pages.

Mixed in with Baggy Clown, here's five tossing around all sorts of nonsense.

More juggling clowns.

Some clowns can balance on a ball upside down!

Some clowns can stand on balls and spin plates and juggle. Lets group these clowns together.

This page now troubles me.  There are three in the middle row which I'm now thinking are miscategorized and should be in the clown heads / busts section. sigh. No rest for the weary.

Here's some classic old clown jokers or modern ones in the vintage style that are no long in this section. They are in the clown heads and busts section. Still, I'll leave them here for your convenience.

 The two clown heads in the middle row are from a Steamboat deck made by Novelty Playing Cards in 1935 (which I know because he's 5H on the Joker Poster). Notice that there are drumming clowns but my rules are that they go in the clown section, not the drummers.

 

 Where else can you find clowns in this collection?

the clown heads and busts section

Riding   unicycles.

In the clown / jester section of the two headed (topsy) section.

Some are in the heads section. My rules over whether clown heads go there or here is not yet consistent. sigh. Somedays I just can't seem to muster the time or energy and a reorg seems a trauma, tedium, or terror. Other days it seems like fun. I'll wait until it feels like fun to get to it. 

Liquor and Drinking Advertising Jokers

 This page has been obsoleted by the splitting of liquor into a beer and a liquor section.

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Advertising on playing cards has been around a long time. Here's a look at my collection of advertising jokers for liquor. There's also plenty for beer (Pilsor and Heinkein below). Not many ads for wine

This next page of jokers combines three big themes in jokers and cards: girls, liquor, and advertising. (not all of them but I'm working on it).

A sweet combination of old and new and different drinks.

Jokers and Bottles: straight and to the point.

Some light colored liquor in this picture.

Sweet mixed drinks and help with recipes!

The top row here speaks to my heart and pallet with Guiness (my drink of choice) and absinthe (when I want to walk on the wild side!)

More sweet drinks and beers (I now realize that I could reorganize this section).

Here are the jokers with advertisements on them:  

1. Casinos 
2. Cigarettes,  Liquor and Drink,  Desserts and Candy  
3. Coca Cola Jokers        
4. Cars  
5. Public Interest Messages
6. Logo type jokers, Geometric Designs  
7. Ads   63      Text based jokers 150
8. Jokers promoting playing cards

Gasoline, Cars, Trucks, Vans, and Other Road Vehicle Jokers

 Here are all the joker advertisements for gasoline, oils, automobiles (cars), trucks, vans, and other road vehicles.

This section borders material in the collection in the travel-vehicles-cars and motorcycles joker section.  Here are the other advertising joker sections:  

1. Casinos 
2. Cigarettes,  Liquor, Beer, Text jokers for drinks 
3. Desserts and Candy 
   
4. Coca Cola Jokers      
   
5. Cars 
   
6. Public Interest Messages, space science and technology
   
7. Logo type jokers, Geometric Designs Jokers featuring "Joker" 
   
8. Ads         Text based jokers
   
9. Jokers promoting playing cards , Ads for brands of playing cards

Desert and Candy Jokers

 Here are those delicious jokers with candy (mostly M&Ms) and other desserts.

Here are the jokers with advertisements on them:  

1. Casinos 
2. Cigarettes, Liquor and Drink,  Desserts (this article)  
3. Coca Cola Jokers    
4. Cars 35
5. Public Interest Messages
6. Logo type jokers, Geometric Designs 162
7. Ads   63      Text based jokers 150
8. Jokers promoting playing cards

Cigarette Ads on Joker Playing Cards

When I start thinking about smoke-filled rooms with people drinking and smoking, I imagine that  cigarette and cards seem like a natural historical fit. So would cards and beer. But in fact, I probably have more Alice In Wonderland or Peanuts jokers that I have of cards advertising tobacco products. And I have way more Star Wars jokers than any of them.  I could speculate why. 

However, here are my 27 jokers advertising cigarettes.  First, five old nice ones. I think I have a deck for each of them.

 I made some pretty fine distinctions in listing the three versions of the St Michel joker.  There's a version of that where, instead of listing 2 billion sold, they cite only 1500 million. The only guy with a copy of that which I've heard of is Ronald Kruijmel. And here's their backs. 

Advertising jokers 

1. Casinos 
2. Cigarettes,  Liquor, Beer, Text jokers for drinks 
3. Desserts and Candy 
   
4. Coca Cola Jokers      
   
5. Cars 
   
6. Public Interest Messages, space science and technology
   
7. Logo type jokers, Geometric Designs Jokers featuring "Joker" 
   
8. Ads         Text based jokers
   
9. Jokers promoting playing cards , Ads for brands of playing cards

Car and Motorcycle Joker subsection of vehicles in Travel Section

Car and Motorcycle Jokers: vehicles: Travel. This article on the 64 vehicles like cars, buses, motorcycles, and chariots was updated Oct 2023. (The original article had 41 jokers in Feb 2021)

The vehicle subsection of the travel section is organized into: 

1. Vehicles: Sea,  Flying (translations too), Trains, Cars & Motorcycles 
   
2. Bicycle Jokers, Skater Jokers, Unicycle Jokers 
   

Other parts of the travel section include:

1. American places and Americana,  Congress Jokers 

Sometimes I wonder if I should combine this with the advertising section that deals with gasoline and cars since the distinction between them is pretty gray...