Air Cushion Cards by USPCC

Here's a typical Bicycle joker. 

Below, the close up photo below highlights the texture of the cards.   See the little dimples in the finish? That is what the US Playing Card Company calls  Air Cushion which is what makes the cards slide against each other so smoothly. 

The cards don't fly, they aren't Air Jordans. They are Air Cushion.

I learned from a Facebook post on 3/19/2025 by Jason McKinstry of Paper Empires fame (and I quote):

The United States Playing Card Company filed a Trademark application for Air-Cushion finish on February 19, 1907, and was approved on May 19th. The new trademark appeared in the 1907 annual publication of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. From 1907 until after 1910, the USPC would advertise Air-Cushion as a "new" finish as it was tested across many brands. Of course, none would become more famous than Bicycle No. 808, where the brand the finish became almost synonymous. 

Want to know a lot more about the modern finishes on decks? Check out this article on card finishes by Legend Playing Cards 

The close up picture above was initially taken to highlight a subtle difference between the previous Bicycle Joker Playing card. There are three differences between the two cards pictured above.

One. The top one has a registered trademark, an R in a circle. ®  The bottom one has a registered copyright on it. A C in a circle. © What's the difference? Well, a copyright has to do with ownership of the intellectual property. It is meant to protect property rights.  A trademark has to do with not confusing the public. It has to do with keeping the consumers from being misled.  Isn't intellectual property law interesting?

Two, the top one has 808 on the milestone. That's the Bicycle product line.  The 88 on the bottom one means the corner indices on the cards are much larger. Good for the alte kakers (old people).

Three, the graphics are also different. Look at the exact lines on the milestone for instance.

From here, you can choose what you want to learn more about:

Bicycle Jokers
Unicycle Jokers
The US Playing Card Company

More history perhaps?

To see my other articles about American historical jokers.  Here are some early American card-makers.

Dougherty  
NYCC jokers
USPC Jokers including Bicycle, Congress  
National Card Company,
Kalamazoo, and Perfection too
Also: The History of the Joker, the Ace of Spades, and the Stamp Act