Playing Cards, part 4: colourful packs

I have been collecting playing cards for around fifty years. This pack, from Sweden, is one of the first I had. It shows famous Kings and Queens of Sweden, with soldiers of the appropriate era as the Jacks.

This next pack was made by Piatnik of Vienna for the anniversay of Shakespeare's birth, and features the Wars of the Roses,with the red suits as the Lancastrians and the black as the Yorkists; so we have Henry VI as King of Hearts, Henry VII as King of Diamonds, Edward IV as King of Spades and Richard III as King of Clubs, togther with their Queens and ministers or soldiers. The Jokers are executioners! The modern suits hace been ingeniously fused with the old tarot suits of Cups, Swords, Money and Clubs. 

This is another pack I bought back in thee 1960s, which features English Kings, Queens and famous people. It was produced by Piatnik: the quality of the printing is amazing!

Another very beautifully-printed pack, this one by Fournier, featuring the native peoples of North and South America.

There are many packs featuring the two World Wars. This is a French pack illustrating the armies of the Western Front in the First World War, with the Kings as generals (Foch, Hindenburg, Haig and Pershing), the Queens as nurses and the Jacks as soldiers ("Fantassins" in French)

These are from a pack called "Jacob's Bible Cards", with names given in English and Hebrew.

And to end on a light-hearted note: the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, with a different girl on each card! 

Nowadays a great many packs like these can be found, and they are cheap and colourful things to collect.