1775 America - Colonial Playing Cards

An arduous journey and labor of love. Hand Drawn from originals, that were made in the 1770s; and that deck is housed at the British Museum (cat# 1896,0501,583,1-36).

Just finished the first print run, 8/14/2026, very pleased.

Originally these cards were created using hand carved wood blocks for printing and stencils for adding color onto pasteboard. The deck was a piquet deck of 36 cards. This current deck is a full deck of 52; plus jokers that were not introduced until the 1800s (invented in the USA).

But it is the Jokers that I created for this deck that make it so American. These jokers (the most powerful cards) are based on the jacks or lowly knaves. The "Fool" is known as the wanderer in Tarot, like those first folk to pickup and move thousands of miles to the new colonies. And the "Idiot" here is represented by the knave who takes power. Creating the concept of the individual as the responsible party. The jokers may not have existed during colonial times but these jokers were apart of that Revolution!