Excellent deck of cards made by United States Playing Card Co., c.1942, featuring a wonderful Joker. They came to me housed in a “Kreko Club” box, but I do not think they are “Kreko Club” cards. The Joker and Ace of Spades of this deck are shown by the Dawson/Hochman Encyclopedia as belonging to the “Triumph” brand of USPC cards. The Ace shown for “Kreko Club” cards is completely different. On the other hand, it should be noted that the box has 1 pack tax stamp canceled by USPC, and at some point Gibson, the original maker of “Kreko Club” cards, was bought by USPC. It may be that USPC discontinued the “Kreko Club” brand, but had some unused “Kreko Club” boxes that it filled for a period of time with “Triumph” decks. Also, the listing for “Triumph” cards in the Dawson/Hochman Encyclopedia describes them as a “wide” deck, and the cards of this deck are bridge size, not wide.

In any event, the deck has 52 suited cards, plus the terrific “Triumph” Joker, plus an “Extra Joker” labeled as such, plus an extra card with USPC advertising. The cards are bridge size, measuring 89mm x 57mm, and come in the “Kreko Club” box noted above.

The cards are in excellent condition, “as new” or nearly so. The box is in good to very good condition, structurally intact and relatively clean, but with shelf wear and some kind of abrasion running vertically on the back.

Reference: Dawson, The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, p.107, US57

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