RWS Deck Post-1970 Publishing History

[Abrac]

I emailed the Stamford Public Library about US Games and got a reply from a librarian this morning, "I find US Games in the phone book beginning with the 1988-89 edition."

Just wanted to share this as it now makes it possible to refine the dates for the 38 E. 32 St. address. 1980-1990 wasn't far off.

[rwcarter]

Originally Posted by Teheuti

1971-? Weiser edition:
“Before U.S. Games Systems Inc. put a copyright on Stuart R. Kaplan's "little white book" (the enclosed instructions, and not the actual Tarot and/or the art by Pamela Colman Smith), Weiser was working with Rider & Co. of London selling this deck in America. Weiser has their name on the famous yellow box, and their own edition of the "little white book" too.” (thanks to Fulgour Prentice on aeclectic & amazon).

I've managed to procure two of the Weiser decks. Both say

MADE IN SWITZERLAND
EXPRESSLY FOR
SAMUEL WEISER, INC.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10003

on the top flap.

One has no blank cards and the other has 2 blank cards. Both have LWBs with Weiser as publisher, but copyright 1971 by USG. (See attachment.)

I have a third deck that says US Games Systems Inc on the top flap, but it has a LWB that lists Weiser as the publisher (as per the attachment). So I know that a very likely explanation to this anachronism is that Weiser and USG LWB got mixed up at some point in this deck's past. But does anyone else have either a Weiser deck with USG LWB or USG deck with Weiser LWB?

Rodney

[Bhavana]

I only have newer versions of the RW - but just won this on ebay - not a rare find, but I have been wanting a non glossy RW deck with the old style font, and this one has NO COPYRITE on the cards...the LWB has a Park Ave NYC address on it. So I think $9.95 is a decent price for it.. ($6 for shipping)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/190664862111...#ht_623wt_1185

[Abrac]

Good find. Definitely a great deal for $9.95.

[Bhavana]

Originally Posted by Abrac

Good find. Definitely a great deal for $9.95.

yeah, I thought so too, and was really surprised to log on to ebay the day after the auction ended, and see that no one jumped in and "sniped" me at the last second...guess it was my lucky day!

There are 2 RW decks on Etsy right now for $10 each - only pics of the front box are shown, but neither has the little copyrite symbol at the end of the deck title...so they are at least somewhat older. One is missing the LWB, and the seller has not put any other info about the decks - but if anyone is interested, it's a very low price, might be worth checking into.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/96943490...arot-deck-1971

http://www.etsy.com/listing/96943573...ref=v1_other_1

[Bhavana]

Originally Posted by Abrac

Good find. Definitely a great deal for $9.95.

Turned out to be one of the best deals ever - the cards are in like new condition!

[gyanarthi]

first of all, thanks for this historical thread... I've been trying to date a couple Tarot decks that were left over from my bookshop that closed in 1980... the rider deck is printed by AGMuller, the LWB indicates 34th printing by the number line and US Games in Stamford CT (same as on the box). Are they from '71?

[rwcarter]

Originally Posted by gyanarthi

first of all, thanks for this historical thread... I've been trying to date a couple Tarot decks that were left over from my bookshop that closed in 1980... the rider deck is printed by AGMuller, the LWB indicates 34th printing by the number line and US Games in Stamford CT (same as on the box). Are they from '71?

Welcome to Aeclectic, gyanarthi! Per the first post in the thread, if there is a Stamford, CT address on the LWB then the deck was printed sometime after 1990 as that's when USG moved to CT. The cards would have the 1971 copyright on them, but they wouldn't have been printed in 1971.

[gyanarthi]

Originally Posted by rwcarter

Welcome to Aeclectic, gyanarthi! Per the first post in the thread, if there is a Stamford, CT address on the LWB then the deck was printed sometime after 1990 as that's when USG moved to CT. The cards would have the 1971 copyright on them, but they wouldn't have been printed in 1971.

Hi rwcarter... and thank you... I saw that stamford post before I posted my query. I was "absolutely certain" that the unopened decks were from my first bookshop (68-80) and that I never had occasion to order new merchandise in my later shops. But I just checked and found old invoices from 89-92 indicating that I had a number of orders from New Leaf distributors so I probably did. "Absolutely certain" memories I've found are neither always absolute or certain. I've got a big box of loose cards that we used as replacement cards for folks in the old shop... that'll be fun to go through... thanks again... bennett