Collecting the Jokers from the US Playing Card Poster

 In 1991, the US Playing Card Museum published a poster featuring 72 jokers.

In December of 2020, I decided to collect the 72 jokers on this poster. I now have 65 of the 72. These last seven are increasingly difficult to find (or afford).  As far as I know (and please tell me if you know better), I have more of these than any other collector in the world.   

Missing Cards. If you have any of the ones that I'm missing, even as part of a whole deck, I'm highly motivated. to buy or trade for them. Please contact me.  john at edelson dot info. Here's the seven that I am totally missing and there are a few where I have a version but not exactly the one on the poster (ie 6H).
2C - X-Ray Playing Cards Co. NY c 1940
3D Perfecto Americana. Atlas Playing Card Co. NY. c 1925 
3E Chess deck. Unknown. C 1900
5G Steamboat (marked Deck).  Novelty Playing Card Co, Chicago 1935
7E Marked Cards. Brooklyn Playing Card Co. NY. 1896
8E Piatnik, Vienna, Austria c 1949
8I Clown Cigarettes. USPC 1925

Here's the poster and my status- or ambitions - in collecting them, row by row.  These cards are as new as 1988 (Adobe deck) or as old as 1895 (Hartford Playing Card Co). While most are American, there are jokers from Argentina, England, France, Austria, and The Netherlands. Some are classic joker designs, others are just a little... cheesy (IMHO). While a large number are from the USPC, there are also jokers from other major and minor card publishers. In the case of the Adobe deck, both jokers appear in the poster.  Who picked these jokers and why?

The USPCC Joker Poster. 1991

First row. I have them all. One hundred percent.

Row 1 from the Poster

Jokers from my Collection

What are they (per poster key)? - Where are they in my Collection?
1A Universal Playing Card Company. London c. 1940 - Jester / entertaining / with cards 
1B Fastmail. Standard Playing Card Co. Chicago c 1905 - Americana / folk
1C Northbrook Playing Cards Co. c 1965 - Topsy / jesters
1D Spanish American War, Army Edition. Samuel Hart (NYCC) 1898 - Jesters / standing
1E Virginia Slims. USPC for Philip Morris, 1984 - Busts / jester heads (with no hands)
1F Mogul Clubs #15. A Dougherty, NY - Clown
1G Special Edition. USPC c 1950 - Clown
1I Waldorf #240. A Dougherty, NY c 1909 - Busts / With Hands / With Cards

Row 2. I'm missing X-Ray.

Poster Row 2

Jokers from my Collection Row 2

2A Arrco Playing Card Co, Chicago, c 1975 - Busts / jesters on a stick

2B USPC for Barton Playing Card Co. C 1960 - Busts / jesters on a stick / Jack-in-the-boxes

2C X-Ray Playing Cards Co. NY c 1940 - I do NOT have this one. 
2D Special edition, USPC 1935 - Topsy / jesters / with wands

2E Modiana. Trieste, Italy. c 1950 - Busts / hands no wands or cards

2F Special edition. USPC. 1935 - Clowns

2G Kalamazoo Playing Card Co for Metropolitan Playing Card Co, NY c 1905 - Busts / no hands

2H Adking USA for Pacific Telephone Yellow Pages. c 1960 - Jesters

2I Western Publishing - Topsy / Jesters / Western

Row 3 - Missing two: Perfecto Americana and Chess Deck.

Poster Row 3

Jokers from my Collection - Two More to Get!

3A  Kennedy Kards, Humor House Inc. 1963 - Animals / people / American politics 

3B  Nagpal #708.  A. Dougherty NY for export. 1925 AD12 - Busts / Hands
3C USPC for EW McCarroll Co. Pittsburgh c 1925 - Clowns

3D Perfecto Americana. Atlas Playing Card Co. NY. c 1925 - ??? NO
3E Chess deck. Unknown. C 1900 - ??? NO

3F B Dondorf, Frankfurt, Germany c 1895 - Busts / Hands but no wands or cards
3G A Dougherty, c1905. AD37. Hochman P77 - Topsy / jesters and clowns

3H Eclipse Comic Book Playing Cards. EH Lowerre. First original American Transformation deck. 1876 - Kept with deck

3I Bengal. American Playing Card Co. Kalamazoo Paper Box Co, c. 1895 - Sitting / forward  

Row 4 - I have them all. One hundred percent.

Poster Row 4

Jokers from my Collection - Row 4 - Complete! (out of order)

A  Commemorative. 150th anniversary of M.E.R. Russia. 1967 - Topsy / Jesters

B Imperial King Press. NJ c 1935. MSN51 - Clown

C Bicycle Cyclist #1 USPC 1898Bicycle (took photo of wrong one!)

D Presidents Deck. USPC for Smith Western. Oregon 1971 - Political

E Crooked Deck. Arnold Freed Novelty Co, 1969 - Bust

F Charter Oak. N American Card Co, Chicago, c 1900 - Americana

G. Viscount. Japan for M & M sales. - Advertising / Design / Joker word in the middle

H Special Edition. USPC for Kreko Club. 1936 - Topsy / Jesters

I EE Fairchild. Rochester NY, c 1940 - 

Row 5 - I'm missing the Novelty Playing joker, B&W seated jester.

Poster Row 5

Jokers from my Collection - Row 5 - One Missing 

 
5A Remembrance. Brown and Bigelow, St Paul, MN c 1970 -

5B Hartford Safety Bike. Perfection Playing Card Co 1895 -

5C Bee. USPC c 1980  
5D Godey Ladies. USPC for NASCO. c 1935

5E Adobe Deck. Adobe Systems Inc, Mountain View, VA 1988 - Display cabinet with deck

5F. Piatnik, Vienna, Austria, c 1951 -

5G Steamboat (marked Deck).  Novelty Playing Card Co, Chicago 1935

5H. Special Edition. USPC for Kreko Club, 1936 - 

5I Bearings Magazine (Bicycles). USPC. 1910 -

 

Row 6 - 100% (although my Russian one is a little too colorful)

Poster Row 6

Jokers from my Collection - Row 6

6A  Amstel Whist. Netherlands. 1935 - Animals / monkeys and bears. Note this monkey is holding a jesters wand with Punch on the head. The monkey is the same used by Brooke Soap Advertising.

6B  American Bank Notes Co, NY c 1930 -  Old Valuable Vault (or Animals / lions)

6C Glendale USPC. c 1935 - Jesters / dancing with wand
6D Bier Smoking Tobacco. USPC 1934 - Sitting
6E ARRCO Playing Card Co, Chicago, c 1963 - Busts / jester heads with no hands

6F Fanfare Cards. EE Fairchild, Co, Rochester NY c 1940 - Jesters / Dancing / to the left
6G Coca-Cola. USPC. 1945 - Advertising / Coke

6H Russian Rococo style. c 1935 - NOTE: Mine is colored so not original. Jesters / standing
6I Adobe Deck. Adobe Systems Inc, Mountain View, VA 1988 - Display cabinet with deck

 

Row 7 - Missing a 1896 Brooklyn Playing Card joker from marked deck.

Poster Row 7

Jokers from my Collection - Row 7

7A Goodall, London England C 1900 - Sitting / Cross Legged

7B Unknown American Maker 1935 - Cards

7C  Fact and Fancy. Designed by Dick Martin for Chicago Playing Card Collectors, Inc 1961 - Walking / No wands no cards

7D  P.H. Ale-Portlager. USPC 1907 - Clown / head - YES - THIS IS A MISTAKE! NEED TO REDO!
7E Marked Cards. Brooklyn Playing Card Co. NY. 1896 - NEED IT

7F  Art Colo. Justo Rodero E Hijos SAIC Argentina, c 1970 - Sitting / facing sideways?

7G Hustling Joe Transformation Deck USPC 1895. Jester / performing / cards

7H De la Rue. London England. Designed by Jean Picart le Doux. 1957 - Topsy / Jesters

Row 8 - A Piatnik joker and a USPC clown joker are missing. (Should I slip in another piatnik...)

Joker Poster Row 8

Joker Collection Row 8

8A Criterion Playing Card C o for John High Co, 1932 -

8B Grimaud, Paris, France for Neiman Marcus. 1966

8C Black and White Scotch Whiskey. TDC American c 1975 -

8D Fairplay. A Dougherty, NY c 1910

8E  Piatnik, Vienna, Austria c 1949

8F Bridgeway. ARRCO Playing Card Co, Chicago c 1951

8G Kem Plastic Cards, NY c 1963

8H Red, White and Blue Playing Cards (No-revoke deck). Independent Playing Card Co. Johnstown PA 1926 -

8I Clown Cigarettes. USPC 1925

All Together Now.... Oops, too hard
I started to try to lay out all the rows of all the jokers for one big group picture.  Four rows is all I got done before I ran out of time, patience, and space. Still, I'll share it.  It's a real test - which I largely fail - of my organizational ability to fetch (and then return) all these jokers into their spots in the joker collection. I did it above row by row and that exhausted me. 

These are the jokers from the bottom four rows of the poster. 

USPC Joker Poster - Bottom Four Rows Recreated

Why this poster and these jokers? 

Facebook Discussion summary. Allen Potter says there were two posters published by the USPCC in 1991. It coincided (or maybe was in honor of) a joint convention that year between 52 Plus Joker and the Chicago Playing Card Society. The three archivists / museum curators - Van Jones, Ron Decker, and Margery Griffith - insinuated they might have created it to lure Andrew Potter (a collector) to the 1991 Conference. The other poster is a diverse collection of cards from tarot to conventional, all suits, face cards and numbered.  

Id' be very interested in any information about how they picked this hodge podge of jokers.

This article obsoletes two previous articles on this topic: Poster Jokers I have and Poster Jokers that I don't have.

Other articles you might want to read:

The Matching Congress 606 Jokers, 1898-1904
Old Decks that I've bought
Displays of Old Decks
Americana Themed Jokers
American Folklore Mysteries from 1800s on Jokers
The Playing Card Museum Joker Poster - Can they all be found?
The 52 Plus Joker 2023 Conference
Meeting Joop, Fred, Jelle, and Ronald in 2023 and Dan in 2020