"complete set of tarot cards with instructions"

RichardG

I find I'm softening with age....Merrimacks are fine.
They may not be the prettiest, nor the oldest.
Not official, not authentic, not approved of....

Sure, they may not offer any of qualities that discerning Aeclecticians like us demand of a real deck.....but, well, Merrimacks don't actually hurt anybody now, do they. (Well, maybe they hurt my eyes, a little.)

But I, too, will buy myself a Merrimack, one day.
And it will sit neatly between University Books and Albano-Waite.
And I will never ever look at it.
And that's OK.
 

RichardG

Spooky.

And then synchronicity stepped in.
ONE day after my previous 'love love love' post, during a nonchalant wander around eBay, a perfect Merrimack pack (complete with instructions and paper layout map) presented itself.

I forwarded an offer and secured the 70's vintage deck it for $15.
It's interesting how decks can find you, isn't it?
 

RichardG

Mine all mine!

And at LAST I own a Merrimack deck !
I love the card backs more than anything. They're Gorgeous.
And I immediately recognize the flouro blue Swords as being a copy of the University Books RWS.
For mine this dates the Merrimack 1960 S deck as being from...well....the 1960's.

Yes, the keywords are utterly wretched.
And I'll never ever read using this deck.

Judging by what others have said, I thought this may be the deck I wished I'd never bought.
But no. Still NOTHING is worse than the Belgium 1993 'Original Rider Waite Tarot Deck'.