Blue Box Rider Waite RWS

[Debra]

http://www.manteia-online.dk/frame.htm

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. It's a shame.

 

[gregory]

Indeed. But I'm not sure I agree with Holly when she says they stoppped independently publishing the Blue Box around 1972. Maybe she's speaking for the USA? I remember distinctly in the early 80s in UK bookshops seeing the two-part blue box. Maybe even the odd tuck-box. Who knows? But that was the box which you got when you bought the RWS. I remember seeing the yellow box later. All I can say is that there were new Blue Box RWS decks in shops in the UK at least as late as 1983 and if they stopped printing them in 1972 that's a very long time for stocks to last...

Holly is now enthusiastically looking into all this; no doubt she will be back ! But people in the UK weren't buying that much then - I well recall the sort of time it suddenly kicked off.....

http://www.manteia-online.dk/frame.htm

Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. It's a shame.

ETA - it's that bit with the frame thing; it always works for me as long as I remember that bit !

 

[Aerin]

My Traveller's 2 part blue box is much smaller than my other 2 part blue box - well, it is pocket sized.

It's my favourite. I got it in a minor bidding war on ebay and I'm glad I did.

If you see one, grab it is my advice. Very cute.

 

[Le Fanu]

Holly is now enthusiastically looking into all this; no doubt she will be back ! But people in the UK weren't buying that much then - I well recall the sort of time it suddenly kicked off.....

Just out of curiosity, when do you think it was? I went out of the loop mid-80s.

 

[gregory]

They were still hard to find when we came back to live over here in 1983..... though I didn't know about Mr Somerville in Edinburgh at that point..... He may have....

And there were HEAPS around by 1987.

 

[coredil]

Thanks a lot missy for posting the pictures of the blue tuck box.
The collector in me enjoys all these informations a lot

@aerin
Would you mind to tell the dimensions of the cards of your Traveller's?
I searched for this deck since years but could never get one
I have several mini without copyright but in the US Games yellow box.

Best regards

 

[Aerin]

I'll dig it out, not just now (watching Popstar to Opera Star)... but it is approximately half the size of the "normal" blue box RWS.

I was quite surprised I managed to get it on ebay uk, haven't seen one since but that's not to say they don't come up.

ETA: The box is 3" long along its longest side. Hope that helps...

 

[strings of life]

Also, a photo of the actual auction for posterity's sake!

I looked at the LWB. It looks authentic. I wonder if this "blue tuckbox" was a very rare version!

I just bid and won a blue box on ebay, thanks to this obsessive thread.

For $35, I am happy as can be.

And, the one I bought looks like a tuck box like missy's based on her photos; I will let you know as soon as I see it in person. But, from the looks of it, it has the same bottom with the white area for a price, etc. The bottom looks different from all of coredil's photos, specifically this one that shows the bottoms.

Here is the photo from eBay and a screen shot from the auction.

The description was: "Tarot Cards, the authentic pack of 78 cards, 1971 second edition, the only authorised edition, conceived by A.E.Waite and drawn by P Colman Smith, published by Rider & Company. All 78 cards plus 2 blanks and a small stapled guide booklet, these are almost as new as they've never been used, the outer box has a little wear but it's clean and complete.
Feel free to collect."

 

[missy]

You were the one who beat me, then! (I was bidding, also!) Congratulations!

 

[Teheuti]

The original 2-part blue box with World on the front says on side:
"The original and only authorised edition of Tarot Cards
"Rider & Co • 3 Fitzroy Square • London W1
"in association with Waddington Playing Card Co. Ltd."
& on other side:
"Printed by AG. Muller & Cie • Switzerland"

The box end says:
"First edition 1910
"Reprinted many times to 1939
"Second edition 1971"

The booklet is not by Kaplan and it was published, as such, through at least 1972.

These cards originally came without the copyright on the bottom right of each card, but the copyright was soon added. The print job seems to be a little sharper and the blacks are blacker than most.

I didn't realize that a smaller "Traveller's" size was published this far back, nor have I ever seen the tuckbox.