Joker

Ace of Spades

Card Back

The card game of Tarock, while extremely popular in many parts of Europe, has never really caught on in the United States. This highly unusual pack, published in 1922 by August Petryl & Son, was evidently an attempt to spark interest in the game stateside by designing a Tarock pack of a singularly American character.

King of Spades

Queen of Spades

Knight of Spades

And American it is, throughout: from the American Indian chiefs and women portrayed on the kings and queens, to the white riders and scouts on the knights and valets, from the picturesque scenes of American Indian life and legend on the trumps, to Uncle Sam on the Joker.

Were there any doubt, the box reads:

King of Hearts

Queen of Hearts

Knight of Clubs

Valet of Clubs

The deck is also a no-revoke deck, with black clubs, yellow diamonds, pinkish-red hearts, and (of course) green spades. Miniature versions of the card images serve in all four corners as indices (hard to make out in these scanned images, but amazingly clear on the cards themselves).

1 of Trumps

7 of Trumps

9 of Trumps

19 of Trumps

While they failed to create a strong interest in Tarock within America, Mr. Petryl and his son succeeded spectacularly at creating a beautiful and distinctive pack of cards which every playing-card collector would love to have in his or her collection.