The United States Playing Card Company (USPC, though also commonly known as USPCC) is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in its current incarnation in 1885. Its many brands include Bicycle, Bee, Tally-Ho, Champion, Congress, Aviator, Aristocrat, Mohawk, Maverick, KEM, Hoyle and Fournier. It also produces novelty and custom playing cards, and other playing card accessories such as poker chips. For decades the company was based in Norwood, Ohio, but as of 2009, the USPC is currently headquartered in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Kentucky.

In 2019, the United States Playing Card Company became a subsidiary of Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi.

History The company was founded in Cincinnati in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and originally specialized in printing posters for traveling circuses. The company took its name from partners A. O. Russell and Robert J. Morgan, who together with James M. Armstrong and John F. Robinson Jr. purchased the Enquirer Job Printing Rooms division of the newspaper The Cincinnati Enquirer. Among their printed lithographs were advertisements for performances of Edward Owings Towne's Other People's Money.

Playing cards The company began printing four brands of playing cards in 1881: Tigers ( 101), Sportsman's ( 202), Army and Navy (both  303, and also offered in a deluxe version with gold edges as  505), and Congress ( 404 and with gold edges as  606).

Their fifth brand, introduced in 1883, was the bargain-priced Steamboat ( 999) which competed with other cheap steamboat-themed decks offered by other companies. In 1885, they began printing Bicycle cards ( 808), which would become their most popular line and their only early brand that is still in regular use today. A 32-card Euchre deck called Cabinet ( 707) was introduced in 1888, but would be changed to a regular 52-card deck as the popularity of Euchre waned.

Russell & Morgan then set out to fill their catalog with brands at price-points that sat between their existing lines. These early brands included Tourists ( 155) which were marketed as between Tigers and Sportsman's in quality, Capitol ( 188) which sat between Sportsman's and Bicycle, the casino-oriented Squared Faro ( 366), unenameled cards called Texan ( 45), double-enameled Treasury ( 89), and the top-of-the-line Ivory ( 93). A series of Skat decks were also briefly offered to appeal to German immigrants, featuring either German or American faces.

Business boomed and in 1891 Russell, Morgan, & Co. changed its name to the United States Printing Company. The playing card business was successful enough that it was spun off as a separate business in 1894, as The United States Playing Card Company. Morgan recruited a talented young inventor from New York named Samuel J. Murray, whose patented inventions increased the output of cards at the company's Norwood, Ohio, plant fourfold and cut labor costs by 66 percent. Murray also created a two-sided enameling machine.

The USPCC has historically supported wartime soldiers, starting with the inexpensive Canteen brand of cards during the Spanish–American War and the Pickett brand during World War I. During World War II, USPCC manufactured spotter cards so soldiers could identify enemy units and cooperated with the U.S. Government in creating clandestine decks given to POWs; these cards could be moistened and peeled apart to reveal escape maps.

In May 2011, Marc Hill was named president of The United States Playing Cards Company. In October 2011, the United States Playing Card Company in a partnership with Encore Software announced that they are launching the 2012 Hoyle product line - Hoyle Card Games 2012, Hoyle Casino Games 2012 and Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games 2012.

Acquisitions Through the years, USPCC has acquired many smaller playing card manufacturers, beginning in 1894 when it absorbed the Standard Playing Card Company of Chicago, the Perfection Playing Card Company of Philadelphia, and the New York Consolidated Card Company. The latter was the maker of the Bee brand and innovators of the "squeezer" card indices in the corners, which became a standard element of playing cards worldwide.

Acquisitions continued in 1907 with the purchase of Andrew Dougherty, adding the Tally-Ho brand, and in 1929 with Russell Playing Card Company, adding the Aristocrat brand. In 1930, New York Consolidated, Andrew Dougherty, and Standard Playing Card Company were merged into a single subsidiary called Consolidated-Dougherty which continued to produce brands from all three predecessors, including Aristocrat, Bee, and Tally-Ho.

Further acquisitions came towards the latter 20th and early 21st century, including an international expansion with the purchase of longtime Spanish card maker Naipes Heraclio Fournier in 1986, Arrco Playing Card Company in 1987, Hoyle Products in 2001, and KEM Playing Cards in 2004.

The USPCC would itself be acquired several times during its history, starting with Diamond International in 1969, Jessup & Lamont in 1982, and Frontenac in 1989. After a brief return to self-ownership from 1994 to 2004, it would be acquired by Jarden which was in turn purchased by Newell Brands. In June 2019, Newell sold USPCC to Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi, including its two plants in the United States and Spain.

Production

The USPCC currently produces cards in Erlanger, Kentucky, and at its Fournier factory in Vitoria, Spain. In 2009, the USPCC closed down its long-time factory in Norwood, Ohio, and relocated across the Ohio River to Erlanger.

Playing cards produced between 2009 and 2012 at the Erlanger factory had various quality control issues including mis-centering of art and card handling quality. For example, several playing cards produced in 2010 were "sticky", meaning they did not separate, fan, and perform well. This created a demand for Norwood produced playing cards on the market. Playing cards produced in Norwood typically featured a blue seal, while cards in Kentucky typically feature a black seal, and to this day Norwood produced cards are still sought after by magicians, cardists, professional gamblers, and collectors.

Primary product lines

The company offers several brands of playing cards, including:

Aristocrat The Aristocrat brand was created in 1915 by the Russell Playing Card Company of New York, which was acquired by the USPC in 1929. It was best known for its higher quality of card stock and varied but always intricate scroll work, in particular the "bank note" back, which resembled the design of United States currency notes at the time it was introduced, as Russell had acquired the playing card business of the American Bank Note Company in 1914. While the cards sold to the public carried the unique scroll-work, Aristocrat also produced the "Club Special" line of Aristocrat cards specifically for casinos. These were similar to Bee cards in that their backs were borderless with a diamond pattern and could optionally have casino logos added to the backs. Aristocrat was discontinued as a retail brand in the mid-1980s, but continued to be sold directly to casinos.

Aviator Introduced in 1927 in commemoration of Charles Lindbergh's trans-Atlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, Aviator playing cards (stock  914) feature a bordered, monochrome back design of predominantly circles. Aviator cards are less expensive compared to Bee and Bicycle as the card stock is thinner and has a smooth finish, unlike the textured "air-cushion" finish used in many of the company's premium brands. Until the late 1980s, the Aviator Ace of Spades and Joker carried no specific branding. Aviator cards were often used as a generic brand for limited-run, giveaway or promotional/advertising decks. They also were used to fill boxes of cards primarily sold for export or for military or institutional use. Budget brands such as Caravan, Torpedo, Mohawk, Battle Axe, Uncle Sam, and Tuxedo were generally filled with Aviator cards, and a few of these brands are still sold in other countries.

Bee

Bee is a casino card brand also sold at retail. Bee playing cards were first manufactured by the New York Consolidated Card Company in 1892, hence the number "92" on the Ace of Spades; the USPC acquired the company two years later, but it continued to operate independently, even after merging with Andrew Dougherty and Standard Playing Card Company to form Consolidated-Dougherty. Standard Bee playing cards have a diamond back, typically blue or red although casinos frequently use customized Bee cards featuring a logo added to the various colored backs. Though Bee playing cards are generally sold in poker width, an uncommon "narrow" (bridge) size is also available. Until 2010, Bee cards were also sometimes printed in a smooth finish, with a back known as "No. 35", which features worm-like squiggle patterns. Unlike Bicycle cards, Bee cards usually have borderless backs, making the facing of any card that is even partially revealed clearly visible. However, the standard diamond back of the card is very regular and low-profile compared to other back designs, which simplifies "bottom dealing" and some other forms of sleight-of-hand.

Bicycle

Bicycle Playing Cards (stock  808) are the USPC's flagship brand of cards, introduced in 1885.

The typical Bicycle deck is a standard deck of cards consisting of 52 traditional French-suited playing cards, two jokers and two advertising cards. The Bicycle trademark is printed on the ace of spades. The type number of a Bicycle deck can be found both on the bottom of the deck box and on the stone of the joker artwork. Bicycle cards have a textured 'air cushion' finish for improved handling.

Bicycle cards are sold in poker and bridge widths, with additional deck configurations for use in other games such as pinochle, rummy, euchre, and canasta. Back designs include the standard 'Rider' back, similar 'League' back and 'Maiden' back, the 'Vintage' back modeled on the original card design, and many specialty designs. Back colors include traditional red and blue, along with black, silver, and pastel colors. Face designs include standard, jumbo index, low-vision cards for the visually impaired, and a 'PokerPeek' design on their pro-series decks that simplifies looking at hole cards. Novelty 'Big Bicycle' cards that are four times the normal bridge card size, and mini-sized cards are also available.

Bicycle playing cards are commonly used by magicians in card magic and flourishes due to their ordinary appearance. The USPCC has released look-alike card designs under stock number 809 called Mandolin-backs and Maiden-backs for use in producing marked decks. In addition to specialty decks specifically designed for magic, cardistry or purely aesthetic reasons, USPC also make other kinds of non-standard card decks, such as a gaff deck (contained in a mirrored-art box) with an assortment of unusually altered cards that can be used with regular cards for tricks.

Starting in 2019, Bicycle started a "Games by Bicycle" division to enter into the hobby board game market, with party games and light strategic games using playing-card sized cards. These include Tattoo Stories, It's Blunderful, and Shuffle Grand Prix.

Subject to certain guidelines, the Bicycle brand can be licensed from USPC.

Hoyle