Bicycle Playing Cards is a brand of playing cards. Bicycle playing cards were first manufactured by the United States Printing Company in 1885. In 1894, the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) incorporated as an independent entity from the other Russell & Morgan printing concerns. At that time, the Bicycle ace of spades first referenced the numerical designation, 808. After years in Cincinnati, Ohio, USPCC is now based in Erlanger, Kentucky. "Bicycle" is a trademark of the company and is generally recognized as the USPCC's flagship brand of playing cards.

The name Bicycle was chosen to reflect the popularity of the bicycle at the end of the 19th century. Indeed, most Bicycle back designs feature bicycles or, in some cases, bicycle parts, such as the chain, pedal, saddle, or handlebars. During the early years of the horseless carriage (1898-1910), automobiles were also featured on Bicycle decks.

Design Bicycle cards follow the pattern of the French deck, containing 52 cards (13 in each of two red and two black suits), and include two jokers. The Bicycle trademark is printed on the ace of spades. Current decks contain two advertisement cards as well.

Bicycle playing cards are sold in a variety of back designs, with the "Rider Back" design (No.63) being, by far, the most popular. They are available with standard indexes in poker size (), bridge size (), and pinochle decks, "Jumbo Index" decks and Lo Vision cards that are designed for the visually impaired. Other types of cards with varying backs, sizes, colors and custom designs are produced for magic tricks and as novelty and collector's items.

Numbered back designs 82 different historic back designs have been produced by USPCC and sold under the Bicycle brand. Many were produced for a short period of time, and most are now obsolete and sough-after by vintage playing card collectors. What follows is a complete list of these designs.

+ Bicycle playing card back designs No. Name Year(s) soldNotes 1 Acorn 1891–1943Reissued under "Heritage Design Series" 2012; also sold in UK (gold gilded) 2 All Wheel 1907–1917 3 Angel 1893Two variants produced 4 Arizona Plaid 1906–1911Two-color back design (red/green, blue/brown) 5 Auto #1 (Locomobile) 1901–1904 6 Auto #2 (Locomobile) 1904–1913Also sold in British market 7 Auto #3 1913–1917Also sold in British market 8 Autobike No. 1 1902–1906Reissued 2017 (red, blue) 9 Autobike No. 2 1906–1913 10 Autobike No. 3 1907–1917Reissued 2015 as "Back No. 9" (brown, green); also sold in UK 11 Autocycle No. 1 1901–1906Reissued 2016 (green, purple) 12 Autocycle No. 2 1906–1919Also sold in UK 13 Automobile No. 1 1903–1919 14 Automobile No. 2 1913–1935 15 Big Gun 1918"War Series", army; inventory destroyed; reissued 2011 (red, blue) 16 Bird 1891 17 Chain 1908–1910Exclusively sold in UK; two-color back design (black/brown, blue/brown) 18 Chainless 1899–1917Reissued 2010 as "Heritage Series" (blue); reissued 2016 (red, blue) 19 Club 1917–1969Similar to Bee No. 92 20 Colorado Plaid 1906–1911Two-color back design (red/green, blue/brown, blue/black) 21 Cupid - Sod 1894–1896One-way design; reissued mid-2000s 21 Cupid - Crosshatch 1894–1943Narrow version for pinochle 1918; reissued 1997 (red/gold, no box); reissued 2012 (red); reissued 2013 as "Heritage Design Series" (red); reissued as "Vintage Design" (red, blue) 22 Cyclist No. 1 1898–1908 23 Cyclist No. 2 1908–1917Gaff card ("STUNG!") produced by Presto Publishing and Novelty Co. 24 Cyclecar 1914–1917 25 Diamond Plaid 1906–1908 26 Dreadnaught 1918"War Series", navy; inventory destroyed 27 Eagle 1927–1943Minor redesign in 1928; reissued as spades-specific deck 1995 (blue, red); formerly offered under Capitol #188 brand 1908–1928 28 Emblem 1890–1943One-way back design; minor redesign in 1892; pinochle-specific version sold in Canada; "music deck" produced 29 Expert 1895–1943Similar to Old Fan (#57); also sold in UK; reissued 2012 in Canada, distressed (green), 2013 in US, distressed (red, blue, green) 30 Flying Ace 1918"War Series", air force; inventory destroyed 31 Handlebar 1908–1910Exclusively sold in UK (gold gilded); two-color back design 32 Invincible (Conqueror) 1918"War Series", marines; inventory destroyed 33 Lantern No. 1 1898–1906 34 Lantern No. 2 1906–1939 35 League 1888–1960Likely refers to the League of American Wheelmen; minor redesign 1893; reissued 1980s; reissued 1990, "No. 71 Rummy" two-deck set (purple, red) 36 Oak Leaf (Leaf) 1947–1949Originally created as non-Bicycle "Uncle Sam" deck during World War II, ft. unbranded Ace of Spades, joker; Consolidated Card Co., Bee No. 154; reissued 2014 as "Leaf Back" on Kickstarter (red, green) 37 Lotus 1885–1943Also sold in UK (gold gilded); 60-card "music deck" by Helen Parker Ford created 1927; Krupp's promotional version created 38 Margin Snowflake 1910–1917 39 Margin Star No. 1 1893–1907(?)Philip Morris two-deck reproduction "Marlboro Texan No. 45" created 1984; not to be confused with Russell and Morgan No. 45 "Texan" 40 Margin Star No. 2 1907–1912 41 Margin Star No. 3 1912–1917 42 Margin Tri-Plaid 1912–1917 43 Mobile No. 1 1901–1906 44 Mobile No. 2 1906–1913 45 Mobile No. 3 1913–1917 46 Model No. 1 1895–1907Features League of American Wheelmen logo; similar to Racer No. 1 47 Model No. 2 1907–1927Used as throw-out card by Eugene Laurant; reissued as two-deck euchre set in 1991, called "Mountain Bike" design 48 Motor No. 1 1901–1907 49 Motor No. 2 1907–1917Also sold in UK; knockoff produced by C. L. Wüst in Germany, 1907–1927 50 Motorcar 1906–1917 51 Motorcycle No. 1 1901–1907Also sold in UK; copyright 1900 52 Motorcycle No. 2 1914–1917 53 Motorette No. 1 1901–1907 54 Motorette No. 2 1907–1917Also sold in UK 55 Nautic 1919–1943Earlier sold under Army and Navy No. 3032, 1908 (red, blue, green, brown); modified design used 1924 by Peruvian Estanco de Naipes (re law no. 4936); Universal Playing Card Co. version called "Buffalo" 56 New Fan 1891–1980Minor revision 1894; also sold in UK (gold gilded), Cuba; reissued 1960s as bridge-sized Congress cards (blue, pink); reissued 1990s (red, blue); reissued 2012 by Dan and Dave (red, blue); reissued 2011 by Coterie1902 (black/white, white/black); reissued as "Vintage Design" 57 Old Fan 1885-1894Possibly first Bicycle back design used; Anglo-Japanese style design; "music deck" produced 58 Pedal 1899–1917Reissued 2010 as "Heritage Series" 59 Pneumatic No. 1 1894–1908Also used as Ide High Art Wheel promotional design 60 Pneumatic No. 2 1908–1939 61 Racer No. 1 1895–1906(?)Possibly produced only through 1898; similar to Model No. 1; Krupp's promotional version created for 1891 Columbian Exposition 62 Racer No. 2 1906–1970Similar to No. 41 Vanity Fair transformation deck back design; major reissues 1980s, 1990s; pinochle version created 63 Rider 1887–presentOne-way back corrected c. 1893; also sold in UK (gold gilded), Canada, Cuba; fireproof version produced for NASA 1970s; other varieties include Playboy (red, blue). 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Christmas-themed cards, WWII-era aircraft spotter cards 64 Saddle 1908–1910Exclusively sold in UK; two-color back design 65 Safety 1892–1943Euchre-specific versions produced; "music deck" produced 66 Snowflake 1904–1918Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918 (red, blue) 67 Sprocket No. 1 1899–1905 68 Sprocket No. 2 1905–1917Variant Sprocket No. 2a has five rings (one-way design) instead of six 69 Stag 1927–1943Sold under Capitol No. 188 brand 1908; similar to Sportsman, Dougherty "Outing" 70 Star Plaid No. 1 1906–1907(?)Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918 (red, blue) 71 Star Plaid No. 2 1907–1932 72 Tangent No. 1 1895–1907Tangent No. 1a features larger center wheel, reversed wings 73 Tangent No. 2 1907–1939Design went from 3 wings to 4. 74 Thistle 1891–1931Features the Brownies by Palmer Cox; two versions, one with grass in background, other with brick; "music deck" produced 75 Tri-Plaid 1905–1943Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918 (red, blue); line thickness may vary; used as throw-out card by T. Nelson Downs 76 Tri-Tire No. 1 1898–1905Features logo of League of American Wheelmen; also sold in UK 77 Tri-Tire No. 2 1905–1927Redesigned to be two-way; used as throw-out card by the Lingermans 78 Twig (Coral) 1907–1908Called "Coral" 1904(?) 79 Western Plaid 1914–1932Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918 (red, blue) 80 Wheel No. 1 1887–1907Subtle design changes over time 81 Wheel No. 2 1907–1943Features four-winged wheel (two-way design) instead of three-winged82Leaf1885Sometimes called "Oak Leaf"

Significance in American wars World War I

Toward the end of World War I, the United States Playing Card Company produced four "War Series" decks under the Bicycle brand to represent each of the branches of the U.S. armed services: Flying Ace for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, Dreadnaught for the Navy, Invincible (aka Conqueror) for the Marine Corps, and Big Gun for the Army. The decks were printed in 1917, and apparently only given an extremely limited release before being withdrawn from circulation. It is unknown why the decks were not circulated, but one theory is that they were intended to be distributed to the troops overseas, and USPCC destroyed their inventory of the War Decks when Armistice was declared in 1918. Only a handful of these decks exist today.

World War II During World War II, cards were produced that could be peeled apart when submerged in water. Portions of a large map could be drawn on the inside surfaces, and the halves were then reassembled to form an innocuous-looking deck. These cards were supplied to POWs for use in escapes. At least one example of such a deck is known to exist, and is on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC. Modern reproductions have been sold in limited editions.

Vietnam War The company provided crates of ace of spades cards for U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. It was erroneously believed that the Viet Cong regarded this particular card as a symbol of death and would flee at the sight of it. In actuality, it initially meant nothing to the Viet Cong, but the belief that the enemy was afraid of the cards improved the U.S. soldiers' morale. The origin of the cards is attributed to a letter written by a Lt. Charles W. Brown in early 1966 to Allison F. Stanley, the President of the United States Playing Card Company. Brown had read remarks from Congressman Craig Hosmer of California that the Viet Cong held superstitions of bad luck with pictures of women and the ace of spades. The Bicycle design of this card featured an image of the Goddess of Liberty combined with the spade.

Upon conferring with other lieutenants, Brown asked for 1,000 aces of spades for his company to leave for the enemy to find, as an indication that American troops had been in the area. Stanley was sympathetic to the soldiers and pulled cards from the production line to send free of charge. The story was reported by several news outlets, including the Stars and Stripes; as a result, more units began to request cards.

The symbol was eventually included in the official psychological warfare operations, and thousands of special decks containing only aces of spades were donated by the card company to soldiers that purposely scattered them throughout the jungle and villages during raids.

Similar cards were produced during the Gulf War in 1991, immediately prior to the invasion of Iraq by US forces. Due to the short duration of the conflict, these cards never saw battle.

See also Bicycle Casino, a Bicycle-branded video game

References

External links

Bicycle Playing Cards for Collectors: https://bicyclecards.org/