THE DECKS

In no particular order I present some of the decks in my possession which I have accumulated without rhyme or reason:

The George Bush Crooked Deck

As in George W. Bush. Obviously meant as a political slam but to my way of thinking the last 10 or 15 Presidents have been Illuminati bastards so the differences are cosmetic towards the ruination of America. The fact that they are slanted is the novelty that I was going for in these. Not quite oblique enough to be crooked cards but I've got that aspect covered as well. See below.

The Mozart Deck

This is part of a two deck multi-color set with the other slab still remaining in its factory sealed shrinkwrap. I originally started buying cards for the lithograph artwork and it is still a big draw in picking the right deck.

 

The Cat and Canary Deck

Any deck with a cat which isn't preposterous will be procured at a low price. I've always loved cats and they are fond of me as well. The fact that this fancy cat is attempting to kill the canary makes it all the more appealing.

The Sony Tape Deck

I was on the fence with this Sony Tape deck but the fact that I've looked it over a dozen times at a local thrift store where goth girls work and play obscure alternative music and The Joker resembles a clown eventually wore down my resistance. 

Detroit's 250th Birthday Deck

Antique Detroit photographs on vintage playing cards are a no-brainer for pickings and picked I did several years ago and would again. Were somebody to believe in past lives this deck would be a perfect foil for such beliefs with a local flare. Myself? To quote the poet who gave voice to the the boar: "I believe in my tusks."

The Gypsy Witch Deck

The aesthetics are everything in this deck and the added lore of witchcraft and predictive lithography on most of the cards adds to the mystique. It'll be interesting to see if they match or clash with the selected book texts.

The Virginia Slims "Baby You've Come a Long Way Deck

Although one of my favorite thrift store finds due to the alternate art in this deck, it does pose a particular problem as it is feminist and thus all of the male face cards, save for the Joker as shown, are depicted as female. Will this affect the draw with ambiguity between the sexes or is this the transgender dream deck? Even though the Joker is frivolous, the remaining face cards in the deck are exquisite.

The Crooked Deck Deck

These are what the Bush Cards would be if they had a soul. Of course, copyright and trademark laws probably protected against such a duplication so it makes sense that they weren't krinkle-cut as these classic cards. Even the Joker gets a more frivolous look on this wavy, surrealistic suit of cards, with the "f" almost casting a pictorial euphemism all its own.

The Best-Ever Deck

As stated in a forthcoming "reading" this is a throw-away deck sans Jokers which I only picked up because I hadn't brought cards and was doing a quick remote reading. Of course, when I say quick and remote I mean that in simplistic terms since all of my readings will be short in person since I feel that a personal interaction mars the intent of what I'm trying to accomplish. Which is a reading devoid of everything except randomness. Any sort of interaction offers insight to the Reader. I want none as I prefer the cards do all the thinking and talking. These early readings are mere practice and thus why I am using myself and people that I know as guinea pigs.

The Valet Deck

These are a vintage deck with a great generic retro box that exudes mid century modern, as grotesque as that term is. Beyond the box there is both a full-color Joker and a black and white version which serves an aesthetic purpose as well as it interjects an intuition factor into the quotient depending on which card appears in a spread.

 

The Baron Barclay Deck

This deck has a generic simplicity to it that I couldn't pass up for 40 cents. It had a brother pack with a blue motif that I passed out of simple loyalty to the more traditional color of red.

The Russian Deck

I have no clue who manufactured this deck since the writing is in Russian but they appear to be some sort of centennial motif celebrating 100 years of something. Since they were produced in 1967 the magic year for the celebration would be 1867. I have no intention of looking into the matter at present but since I wanted a Russian deck to honor our time of intolerance and this was the cheapest one available on eBay and have an excellent design, I went with it.

The Generic Rectangle Deck

The only reason that I opened this formerly sealed pack was that I purchased seven more in the same condition on the cheap. The Joker holding the Three of Hearts is an affect that I've not seen before, though I can't say that I was in hot pursuit of unique Jokers previous to this endeavor.

The Tool Chemical or Vanity Joker Deck

The vanity of The Joker in this deck makes one forgive the advertisement on the obverse. That Hoyle made them swings the pendulum back towards corporatism but the 4 onion chip fingers and the selfsame replica on the skewer puts in back in the realms of folk art and makes us forgive any company allegiance.

The Dun Huang Deck

I figured that it couldn't hurt to have a totalitarian pack among my assorted decks. As with most of them this was purchased on the cheap and in sealed condition. I opened them because they seemed neither vintage nor brand new and in that middle ground likely worthless in the general scheme of collectibles. The Joker is a bit disappointing but also different than all in my possession so that's a boon.

The LōVISION deck

Bought for the novelty of the engorged card font and symbols for the seeing impaired and the trademarking of such. Why the hell is the angel on the obverse on a pogo stick or am I just imagining that? Google clarifies that it the branding of the Bicycle Card and the angel is actually ride a bike, naked. Weird nonetheless.