AN IMPROVEMENT IN PLAYING-CARDS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Seedhouse, of Netherton near Dudley in the
County of Worcester, Engineer, for an Invention of AN IMPROVEMENT IN
DIVING CARTO
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Seedhouse at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd September 1883.
EDWARD SEEDHOUSE of Netherton near Dudley in the County of Worcester,
Engineer, "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PLAYING-CARDS,"
"
This Invention has for its object the improvement of what are commonly known
as playing-cards or cards having devices on them and used in games, the improve-
ment rendering such playing cards capable of being shuffled or intermixed in an
easier and more expeditious manner than is possible with playing-cards as at
present manufactured.
There are various methods all more or less imperfect of shuttling or intermixing
adopted by persons when playing with cards one plan sometimes employed being
that of dividing the pack or set of cards into two smaller packs or packages and
by bringing the edges of one package against those of the other and by working
and manipulating them the cards of oue package are pushed among and inter-
mingled with those of the other package. With playing-cards as at present made
this plan has various objections such as for instance the aptitude of the cards to
become locked or turned and to bend, and especially the difficulty of the operation
in consequence of the cards being of uniform thickness.
By this present Invention all such objections to this plan of shuffling are
removed, and it is rendered the easiest, most expeditious and certain method of any
at present employed. The Invention therefore consists in making playing-cards
with some part or parts of them thicker than at the edge in the case of circular
cards or the edges or some part of the edges in other cards. The edge or edges of
the cards are preferably made as thin as is consistent with their being of the
requisite strength and stiffness, whilst the thickened part (or parts) is hardly
perceptible in the single card but in the aggregate when the cards are packed
together the thickened parts prevent the thin edge or edges of the cards from
coming into close contact and when the cards are thickened near their middles the

page_text: holding tightly of one side near the thin edge or one of the thin edges of the pack
or part of the pack causes the edges on the other side to open or diverge from one
another. Consequently when a pack of cards is separated into two portions for
the purpose of shuffling, and each of the two portions are held as above described
and the opened or divergent edges of each portion of a pack are brought together,
the cards of one pack or portion of the pack are easily pushed among and intermixed
with those of the other, and by repeating the operations the effectual shuffling and
intermixing of the cards is speedily and conveniently accomplished in a manner so
simple as to render it possible for even a child to quickly perform what has
hitherto been a somewhat difficult and tedious operation and has also required some
little skill and practice. Another advantage gained by the Invention is that it
renders it difficult when the cards are shuffled in the improved manner hereinbefore
described for the cards of a pack to be improperly manipulated by the shuffler so
as to favour cheating or dishonest practices.
The Invention is obviously applicable to cards other than playing cards which
require rapid and easy intermixture or shuffling.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edward Seedhouse in the Patent Office on the 22nd March 1884.
EDWARD SEEDHOUSE, of Netherton, near Dudley, in the County of Worcester,
Engineer, "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PLAYING CARDS,"
My said Invention has for its object the improvement of what are commonly
known as playing-cards, that is to say, cards having devices on them and used in
games, the improvement rendering such playing cards capable of being shuffled or
intermixed in an easier and more expeditious manner than is possible with playing
cards as at present ordinarily manufactured:
There are various methods all more or less imperfect of shuffling or intermixing
adopted by persons when playing with cards, one of the methods sometimes
employed being the following one;
The pack or set of cards is divided into two smaller packages or portions and
by bringing these two portions of the divided pack edge to edge and working and
manipulating them, the cards of one package or portion are pushed between and
intermingled with those of the other package or portion. With playing cards as
heretofore usually made this plan has various objections such as for instance the
aptitude of the cards to become locked or turned and especially the difficulty of the
operation in consequence of the cards being of uniform thickness.
My Invention is designed to obviate such objections to the said plan of shuffling
and with cards made according to my invention, shuffling whether by the above
method or by other methods is materially facilitated as is also the operation of
dealing.
According to my Invention playing cards are made with some part or parts of
them thicker than the edge in the case of circular cards or than the edges or parts
of them in other cards. The edge or edges of the cards is, or are, made (by
preference) as thin as is consistent with their being of the requisite strength and
stiffness. The thickened part, or parts, is, or are, hardly perceptible in a single
card but in the aggregate when all the cards are packed or placed together the
thickened parts prevent the thin parts of the cards from coming into close contact,
when at rest, but the holding tightly of the pack or of a portion of the pack at a
point where the thin parts are juxta-posited causes the edges at other parts to open
or diverge from one another. Consequently when a pack of cards is separated into
two portions for the purpose of shuffling and each of the two portions is held as
above described, and the opened or divergent edges of each portion of the pack are
brought together, the cards of one portion of the pack are easily pushed between
and intermixed with the cards of the other portion of the pack, and by repeating
the operation, the effectual shuffling and intermixing of the cards, which has
hitherto been a somewhat difficult and tedious operation and has also required
some little skill and practise, is speedily, easily and conveniently accomplished.
When other methods of shuffling are adopted cards made according to my invention
will interleave more readily than those made of uniform thickness. Furthermore
with cards made according to my Invention and shuffled in the manner hereinbefore
described the cards of a pack cannot readily be improperly manipulated by the
shuffler so as to favour cheating or dishonest practices.
Any suitable method of manufacture may be adopted in the production of cards
with a part or parts thicker than the remainder, according to my Invention as
above set forth. Thus the thickening may be produced by introducing, during the
process of manufacture, strips or other pieces of paper between the layers of material
intended to form the respective surfaces of a sheet of card to be subsequently
divided into playing cards. Or it may be produced by passing the length or

page_text: portion of card intended to form a number of playing cards between rolls arranged
in pairs, one or both of the rolls of each pair being formed with suitable very
slight depressions corresponding to the thicker parts of the cards to be cut from
such length or portion of card so that where these depressions occur the card will
not be so much compressed and consequently at these parts the cards will be
thicker than at other parts.
Having now particularly described my said Invention and the manner of
performning the same I have to state that I do not restrict myself to the precise
details herein described but that what I believe to be novel and original and clim
as the Invention secured to me by and in terms of the hereinbefore in part recited
Letters Patent is:-
The manufacture or formation of playing cards with a part or parts thicker than
the remainder of the card substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore
described and set forth.
In Witness whereof I the said Edward Seedhouse have hereunto set my hand
and seal this nineteenth day of March in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight bundred and eighty four.