The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards

I'm writing this article for people interested in getting a little deeper into collecting historical (anything before say 1960) American playing cards. I have some fantastic news. There is a fantastic resource which serves as the ultimate guidebook to American playing cards. This invaluable resource is known as The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards. Here's the basics:

What is it?  The contemporary Hochman Encyclopedia was printed in 2000 in both hardback and softback by American Game Systems. Judy and Tom Dawson are the authors.  In addition, a digital version, the  second edition, was published in 2014. 

There are 33 chapters in  Hochman. The first chapter is about Collecting Playing Cards and the second chapter is about the organization of the Encyclopedia. I personally am greatly pleased to see that the Hochman Encyclopedia - like my website - takes the question of taxonomy and organization very seriously.  The chapter explains the organization of the Encyclopedia like this:

Chapters 3 to 15 cover standard decks with the earliest manufacturers in the earlier chapters

Chapter 16 is new material containing a brief history of Canadian manufacturers and listing of known Canadian decks

Chapter 17 deals extensively with advertising decks

Chapters 18 and 19 deal with the old Volume II categories of transformation and insert decks

War and political categories are covered in Chapters 20 and 21

Chapter 22 covers the entertainment category

Chapters 24 to 27 deal with exposition, souvenir and railway decks

Chapters 23 and 28 to 33 cover the remaining categories of the old Volume III which are bridge/whist, non-revoke, colleges and unions, fortune telling and tarot, oddities, etc. 

Hochman Descriptions and Coding System - Hochman has a coding system so that each deck that it catalogs has a unique code.  These codes are widely used in the card collecting community. Here are two example entries from the digital version (which has more color than the printed one):

History of Hochman -  The origins (Again, I'm quoting or paraphrasing) go back to 1976 when Gene Hochman published Part I and Part II of The Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards. These two volumes constituted a comprehensive, illustrated listing of certain categories of known non-standard American playing card decks. Gene  published Part III in 1978, Part IV in 1979 and Parts V and VI in 1980 and 1981. These four books were a prodigious effort.

Around 1989, Gene Hochman asked Tom & Judy Dawson if they would help rewrite the encyclopedia and arrange the publishing with Stuart Kaplan of US Games. Hochman passed away in 1994 while the massive revision work was underway. In 2000, Tom and Judy Dawson published the Encyclopedia consolidated into one volume through US Game Systems and this new edition became the go-to resource for all collectors of vintage or antique American playing cards.  In 2004, a supplement and price guide was published.  In 2014, Tom and Judy published an updated digital version with more color images, more data and information, and incorporated the 2003 supplement.

What's Available and How To Buy It

The Digital Second Edition is available from the Conjuring Arts Research Center for $17.99.
A hardcover first edition is available from Amazon for ~$30 or in softback (used) for ~$40.
American Game Systems' website says that they are sold out of the Encyclopedia but have the 2003 supplement and price guide available for $9. (Usability note on the digital version. It is published in the  .pub format which I find awkward. I converted it via a free online site to a PDF for simplicity of use).

The Future - There has been an enormous amount of research in the last decade so that most collectors agree that Hochman is ready for an update. I would mention than an update would require significant collaboration just as the original and the updates of Hochman were - if their forwards are to be believed - massive collaborations of different researchers, collectors, and collaborators.  It is unclear who might lead the next update effort and how it might work. If anyone is eager and able to take it on, I would be willing to help.

 Tom and Judy Dawson were royalty in the playing card world due to their creation of the modern version of the Hochman Encyclopedia.   Tom and Judy Dawson were collectors of antiques and playing card ephemera for over 40 years.  Before his retirement as a Certified Public Accountant, Tom was a senior partner at the accounting organization Deloitte. Judy pursued  her interests in the areas of antique collecting, gardening, and home design, in addition to having raised their six children. 

Tom and Judy served as officers of 52 Plus Joker, a club for those interested in antique American and International playing cards. Judy also edited the club's quarterly publication, Clear the Decks, for pretty much forever. Sadly, Tom passed away a few years ago. In 2017, the Cary Collection using funds from the Mary Flagler Cary Fund  acquired the playing card collection of Tom and Judy Dawson. 

The Doyenne, The Queen: Judy Dawson with John Edelson
at the 2023 Annual Conference of 52 Plus Jokers in Cleveland

Other articles collectors should read about  resources for card collectors:

First of all this website is mostly about how I organize a very large (many thousands) joker collection.  I've published a visual taxonomy.  Check it out.

• Resources for card and joker collecting that I find useful. Facebook groups, museums, websites, books, publishers, and other collectors. But above all, the Hochman Encyclopedia and the World of Playing Cards website.
• The USPC Company Joker Poster and my ambition (obsession?)  of getting all 72 of them.
  
• Joker Displays that I've framed and put on the wall.
• My inquiry into the emergence of the joker  in the 1860 and 70s in the USA. Also, my Old American Jokers Organized by Publisher. Eg Perfection,  Dougherty , ARRCO, or Standard. 
•  I'm particularly focused on the Matching Jokers by Congress, published 1898-1904. 
• The Mechanics of my Joker Collecting
• Other joker collectors that I've met f2f: Dan Nordquist ; Joop, Fred, Ronald, and Jelle, and a bit about me. And an article about attending the 2023 52PlusJoker Conference in Cleveland and the 2024 in Niagara Falls.
• Portrayals of African Americans on Playing Cards and Rory 

Jokers: Performers with Cards

These jokers feature showman who are using playing cards as a primary prop.  They seem to mostly be from Europe, Belgium, and The Netherlands.  There are other articles about performing without playing cards (there's a complete different section if they are dancing or if they are juggling with cards or juggling without cards).

The joker collection is primarily organized by visual themes. This section will start with a few examples of Performers with Cards, then there is a listing of all the jokers in this section. There are thirteen pages with nine featuring jokers with performers using cards or when the performer is dressed as a card.

I particularly like this next joker with a king with marionettes of a king on his knee before the queen. It's from 1910 and is known as the Bee French Whist #68 NY65. P63. 

Here are the pages of jokers with performers with playing cards. 

In this first page
R1C1 (Row 1, Column 1) is the joker from De Lands Automatic Playing Cards. N2. S.S. Adams. Asbury Park, NJ. 1918. P301

R1C2: 

Here are some related types jokers that you really must see. So quick through quickly and continue your tour!

1. Dancing with or without jesters wands 
2. Performing with cards or without cards  
3. Juggling things 

   

   Juggling Jesters

4. Juggling cards  
1. Scatterman variations
5. Sitting - Forward vs Sideways
6. Standing Jesters 
7. Head Shots or Busts. On a stick, heads, hands no wand, hand with a wand  
8. Fighters! ie Jokers with swords, etc
9. Clown Jokers 

Perfection, Jokers, and Decks from the late 1800s

In 1885 or maybe a year earlier, the Perfection Playing Card Company emerged with an office first in Philadelphia, then in New York. Its independent life was to end only nine years later. I find their creative contribution compelling during their short life.

 Their first known deck is copyright 1885, PU1. The second is PU1a c1886, also Philadelphia.  I have neither the PU1 nor 1a, joker nor deck.  My collection is not perfect.  Here (imaged from Hochman) are the the first two Perfection jokers and decks noting again, that I do not have these (whereas most images on the site are from my collection).

Was this joker by Perfection in 1885 the first one to have people-on-the-moon?

PU1 TIP-TOP #350, Philadelphia, c1885 (Image from Hochman)

PU1a TIP-TOP #350, Philadelphia, c1886 (Image from Hochman)

My collection includes the following three Perfection decks although they're not in Perfect condition:

One PU2 TIP-TOP #350, Philadelphia, c1887. This is the middle deck below.
Two PU4 LEADERs #325, New York, c1890. These are the decks on the far left and right below.

The PU2 is in an old leather case but other than that, the deck is is fine shape including the gold edges. Looking more closely at my PU2 below, this joker and ace of spades exactly match the Hochman example of PU2. Notice the charming comment by the Jolly Joker: "HERE WE ARE AGAIN".  This Perfection joker is particularly important to me because it's also part of my effort to collect all the jokers on the Card Museum Joker Poster (Row 5, Column B). The Joker Poster Key has it listed as the Hartford Safety Bike. Perfection Playing Card Co. c 1895.

BUT, my deck identification is based on the jokers and Hochman  asserts that the jokers were used promiscuously across different decks: the decks were more defined by their aces of spades. So let's look more closely.

Perfection Playing Cards PU2 TIP-TOP #350, Phili c1887

Here are my two PU4 decks., both of which are pretty worn. 

Perfection Cards PU4 LEADERs #325, NY c1890 Little Joker

 

Perfection Cards PU4 LEADERs #325, NY c1890 Uniformed Joker

Here are five Perfection jokers that I have (I don't have these decks).   PU3, three PU4s, and a PU10 from 1885, 1890, and 1890.  (YES. My note in the photograph should have said PU3...). The backs are shown below them.

 

I also have this advertising deck in my collection. Because the joker character is so similar to the jack in the box joker PU2 above, I include it here as part of asking if there was a direct link or just a ripoff. Since the ace of spades is so different, I think it's not formally related. But there is no info that I can find about Cobb Mfg Co of Boston or Regal Tailoring.

Perfection seems to have been started in Philadelphia in 1895 or slightly earlier, then moved to New York. The owners were Henry M. Rosenbaum, Edward Stern, and Charles Dittman.

Perfection's life as an independent corporation ended in 1894 although it continued as a brand until 1915 within the corporation. The digital Hochman explains:

On July 20th 1894, the Perfection Playing Card Co. of New York, now under the management of Messrs. Charles Dittman, Bertram Grossbeck and George F. Jones, agreed to sell the business to a group consisting of USPC (50%), NYCC (25%) and Andrew Dougherty (25%). Their desire was to keep Perfection intact and conducted as a separate business, under the control of the three firms that contributed to its purchase. As USPC eventually absorbed all of the companies participating in the purchase of Perfection, we can sum up by saying “Perfection was absorbed by USPC in 1894."

Sources:

Rod Starling on WOPC: https://www.wopc.co.uk/usa/perfection  
Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards. Digital Version.

Les Figures du Fou at the Louvre in Paris this winter

The fine art scene in Paris is on my mind. Specifically, I'm trying to figure out whether the Louvre's temporary exhibit about court jesters includes the portrayal of jesters on joker playing cards 

Background: Some friends of mine visiting Paris last month sent me this picture, which is announcing an exhibit at the Louvre art museum in Paris about art portraying  court jesters from the Middle Ages and Renaissance period.  (If you have seen the exhibit, I'd like to hear from you hopefully, to add your insights into this article).

The Louvre Promoting the Jester Exhibition

As a joker collector, I would like to see it but alas, the exhibit is only up until February and I have no plans to go to Paris until April 2025.  I could make an additional trip over to see it but I'll do it only if I know it deals with subject matter that I care about.  

First step in the research, I went online and bought this little book about the exhibit from Amazon. I learned that the exhibit was co-curated by Elisabeth Antoine-König and Pierre-Yves Le Pogam.

Figures du Fou Catalog of Exhibition

I also ordered this 456 page catalog which has not arrived yet, also from Amazon.

And I added the book to one of my bookshelves that deals with jokers and card collecting.

I've tried to decipher what the exhibit it about both from online materials and the catalog. 

Online, I found a video of Elisabeth Antoine-König, a curator of the collection who discusses how the modern day superhero Joker is a relatively faithful representation of the court jesters and fools of the Middle Ages and Renaissance era. .

 

Louvre Promotional Video 

I was hoping that the exhibit would document how the court jester became the primary character on the joker card and how that was transmitted into contemporary media as the Joker character who appears in the modern superhero world.  The history of the joker  on playing cards is a particular interest area of mine. I also hoped they might be able to shed some light on how the Fool entered the tarot deck.

An Early Court Jester Themed Joker

The Figures du Fou catalog focuses entirely on historical presentations of the Fool through  the great art of the bygone era. Here's some pages:

This first image above of course has been reprised and put on a lot of jokers. I have documented this relationship between some jokers and the painting by Jan Matejko of Stańczyk, the prescient sad court Polish jester.

A Modern Joker Based on Jan Matejko's Painting

A few insights from the articles and videos
The fool's wand is a mockery of the king's scepter.

To see through one's fingers is a French expression which equates to the English metaphor of looking away or refusing to see something. 

I am looking forward to learning more about his exhibit. Anyone? I'm john  at edelson.info

Related articles on this site:

The Invention of the Modern Joker

The Yale Cary Collection of Cards and Related Ephemera
My Visit to The Playing Card Museum in Paris - July 2023
My Visit to the Founier Card Museum in Vitoria Gastiez Spain - July 2024
Resources for Card and Joker Collecting that I find Useful

How to Organize a Collection of Ten Thousand Jokers!

Information on the Exhibit
Louvre Article on the Exhibit

CodeArt Article 

The American Card Lovers Club: 52 Plus Joker

 I started getting involved with  The 52 Plus Joker Club around 2021 and I wish I had started earlier. Fun, community, and educational. And it's cheap to join. I think $25 per year. What do you get for that $25 investment?

1.    A printed magazine: Clear The Decks. This arrives quarterly and is a fabulous read.  I can also leave it around the house to remind everyone what type of guy I am!

2.  The 52Plus Joker Forum. A good old-fashioned forum with threaded discussions where you can look up what people said last week, month, and year. I really miss the forums: most of them were destroyed by Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

3.  Auctions! I think they've done two a year recently.  One is purely online: the other is online and in person at the conference. At the conference, there is both a live and a silent auction. I have both bought and sold.

4. Conferences Annually: You bet! Every year in October, about 200 quirky friendly people get together. Most seem to have a magic background. There are card artists. Card designers. Cardistry people. Designers. Producers.  And vendors.  And many different types of collectors. I've now been to both to the 2023 and 2024 conferences and I intend to go every year going forward.

5. A second magazine: Card Culture. This one is purely online. 

6.  First chance to buy the annual Club deck which is unveiled and sold at the Conference. The 2024 deck was likely the best deck of all time. Here's me at the 2024 Niagara Falls Conference with the designer, Elettra Deganello

My advice: Click thru right now and join the 52 Plus Joker Club!

Other related articles:

The 52Plus Joker 2023 Conference in Cleveland

Resources for Card and Joker Collecting that I find Useful

The Yale Cary Collection of Cards and Related Ephemera
My Visit to The Playing Card Museum in Paris - July 2023
My Visit to the Founier Card Museum in Vitoria Gastiez Spain - July 2024

How to Organize a Collection of Ten Thousand Jokers!

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