The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-07-03
ALL ABOUT PLAYING CARDS.
HOW THEY ARE MADE, AND FACTS
As TO THEIR ORIGIN \
What n Visit to n Large Factory Dts
ana the beautiful Work Put on Them.
FROM hs st. Lowis 6io1,.Dsmoe

what . Visit TO n Largo Factory Ms.
eiored-The Cards Used hy tho Ancients
ana the beautiful Work Put on Them.
From hs 81 LoI. 6,o1,- Democrat.
~ suppose you know, little or nothing about
the manufacture of PLAYING cards, II may.
try, albne producos ON, nm average over 10000
So snying. the good humored manager pro.
ceedod tn escort his visitor through one OF the
You V mSs iAi Know he g." Continued. the. in
addition to being practical cardmaker am
m .nthnsastie Gnd
To- give yen lnito illegal education In cards
i lie ' stop ned before n table. around which
number Of girls were busy FASTING together
iss %snsSss S M
re@uisite Consistency. Tho FASTING finished.
surface Becomes 'u Quite 's smooth. Then comes
the printing; There ara woodeuts Of all the
the ten-spot. Cards are printed like postage
stamps. In sets. The printing Is done neon on
sp sszSa GssNfRas guar
divided into rows Of oblonC ilgpqres. upon eae9,
customary 'h Insignia Of the King Of diamonds.
An odd resemblance ut once struck the visitor.
and then ut the cards. The manager laughed.
Don. Don't !, they se2m like 50 many portraits OF
myself ne asked - 49,, ~
that. instead oi their being made to look like
me. have ACTUALLY grown TO resemble them
years in the business began gradually to as:
sumo tho outward semblance OF tho king Of
my beard more curly There may have been
q Psychological reason for the Transportation.
e sepS S my fh KING
as he is the best looking King, Dc i. not object
proceeded 70 show how the paper printed with
prepared layers of cardboard party OF boys
and girls were busy With this operation, N While
Issued iiattened and rolled.
The cardboard is next dried before quick
to the enamelling room. to which; II you
please. we VII aceomnany it will take +. th II;
the diamond persuasion. and so feel a deep
interest in their welfare There arc fifty kings :s
jected MS, faulty and thrown Into the
clos and be tapped BY - the icSeiied fingers
Of eontemplative beauty; Some; again. may
hands IS Of desperate men. for whom they may
win or lose fortune. Who can say what will
be the future OF any Of these kingsi | know 2
millionaire who keeps Jack Of hearts framed
and glazed in his sumptuous library to remind
him OF the night when that same card lost him
alone. and thus made him what he is. i also
know poor fellow who to his dying day pre-
is s IN o
game which cost him the last remnants Of his
patrimony. But this is mere moralzing. and
The, room in quest ion was a long apartment,
In which sat a number Of young women and
that carried by the manager. with thin coats Of
enamel This process finished; q long roller.
ike the ordinary h keshs a pon
smooth and even. As he watched the slender
hands Of the girls speeding to and fro with
not help thinking what excellent practice 1t
was for making pastry.
lying" observed the manager. and next
>omes the most troublesome part Of the
work. The enamelled back SKI has to be divided
covered, with u printed design. All designs
care must be taken in, the engraving to repro
duen the minutsst lines and curves Our
ee s 70 dessn caas Saef
y hard nowadays to get an original design.
heard pts
left. Designs are of every sort and color.
Some Of them hem are real works Of art The
those OF London and Paris. usually. prefer
cards with plain backs Of red or white: but the
popular taste iayors rich ornamentation and
sh mns large beck and
When the backs are printed" he contin-
rolled. and pressed. until there remaina i no
tsSsmelance Of IL; crease on either side. II Is
pR the and nSs
ly rounds Off their edges At this stage they
are GonsdfEed finished and ready for the
Tho manager led tho way into well lighted
room. where half a dozen men sat studying
FIJI eass or bSSy
various stages Of excellence. and from n1 these
the packs are chosen. We have several differ
ent grades of cards. for, each OF which the man
ufacturer has y special name. lust as tobacco
::iloGuis.' whiie the next best, are techni caIly
less valuable Kinds. such as Andrews Har.
lequins;' &c. When Il complete pack has been
ssa i S ea4s g
then ready for use. That Is MI the informa-
on yin need II modern card
tory my museum vii be An appropriate place
into an argument. the adornment OF which
esiiinss We're literally papered With oard s u
every value and description, Some, OF them
r xssa e rn s the yhs s n dis
artists. Around the walls. about midway be-
cards marked with the autographs Of
noted mon. Here was the. concise hand
evc.y palace Of chance from Monte Carlo
g. Ean Francisco. Here an artist had signed
his name IN picturesque characters. Here
actor. or tho bold signature Of a business man
the posscssor Of millon All those men, the
manager stated. had chosen their favorto or
mascot cards. and nearly half Of these
"mascots" We're aces.
In the four corners of the room stood cabi-
nets containing the treasures OF the coll ection.
1T Is. very hard" explained the manager
IS he displayed old German: English. and
cient specimens. As you see. have a respecta-
bic number OF modern Ones which will have
to satisfy for tho present.
Technically Innocent.
Prom the De,r,at Tree P,Y
Tho JuIpc of Wnstarn cnurf D,. not