Dundreary Jokers

 Alas, despite my 19 Congress decks from around 1900, I do not have an original Congress deck with a Dundreary joker.  I do have a used Dundreary joker with some charming markings on it.

Lord Dundreary was the joker for Congress decks from 1881 until the late 1890s. Dundreary was a popular character from “Our American Cousin” played on Broadway by Edward Askew Sothern. Lord Dundreary who first appeared in 1858, was a good-natured brainless pretentious British aristocratic character.

I recently bought an homage deck created by Jackson Robinson and Kings Wild. It was apparently designed in a 24 hour competition in 2020. It is a limited edition and is for sale by Kings Wild. 

There's a joker with the insightful, indisputable, and profound Dundrearism: "No Matter where you go in life, there you are."  Actually, that sounds familiar. Maybe I've said it or at least thought it. My wording, which I offer to people who seem embarrassed by their situation is: "Well, you are where you are." Or, "it is what it is."

Be that as it may, here's the notable cards in the Lord Dundreary Monocle Deck.

There's the eye card which I can't decide if it counts as a joker or not. Why didn't they put the word joker on it and save me the agony of deciding?

Oct 2023 - Auction action update. There was a nice old deck, late 1800, in the 52 Plus Joker auction. Good condition. I decided to bid on it since I really wanted a real Dundreary deck and joker. I decided to bid up to $500.  The bidding ended up being me and the Congress Guy. I dropped out at $475. So I'm still looking.

Read about:

My 19 ~1900  Congress decks of cards
My Congress Jokers
Famous Historic Americans