Introduction to collecting Playing Cards.

Swap cards are mostly from a deck of normal playing cards. Collectors take one of each design or pattern from the deck for their collection. Usually there are a pair, but sometimes there may be four decks in a box, with different colours or pictures in each deck. Sometimes there is no 'pair' for a card, if just one pack was produced by the manufacturer, using the same pattern for the entire deck of cards. (Swap cards were also produced by Coles and Woolworths in the 1950's. These are now rare, and highly valued among collectors.)

A matching pair of cards can be the same design with variations in colour, or different pictures with the same kind of border to show they are a pair. There may even be four varieties of the one pattern in different colours. The subjects on the front of cards are endless. Some collectors only save a certain topic, such as animals, or just one kind of animal. Old fashioned or vintage-style pictures such as crinoline ladies and Old Masters paintings are popular. Other collectors specialise in Jokers or Aces.

In 1956, Coles Stores produced four separate sets of cards to commemorate the Olympic Games in Melbourne. There are 28 cards in each set, with flags of the competing nations, flora, fauna, industry, and sporting events pictured on them.

Friday 18 March 2016

Anyone here?

It has been two and a half years since I posted anything here, and one or two people have commented, but not recently, so I think it is time this blog was closed.  

Saturday 28 September 2013

Australian Coles cards. 1956 Olympic Games

Here is the first lot of my Coles collection - the cards brought out to commemorate the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. Sorry the images are crammed so close together. It took me ages to photograph the pages, then when I got them onto the hard drive I discovered I had the camera on the wrong setting and the pictures were too big. So I had to reduce each one manually, and then when I posted them here I selected another wrong format so all the photos ran in together - grrrr! If you click on them it will bring the picture closer/make it larger for you to see. I'll see if I can improve on this with the next lot. I've photographed everything in the album but there is too much to post all in one hit, so I'll put some more up in a day or so.

Tuesday 24 September 2013

A note to my blog visitors!

Hi Julie and the other visitors to this blog - and thank you for your comments. Sorry I've been so tardy about continuing to post here, but having just read your comments from earlier this month, I've taken out my albums again and will get busy scanning in the next day or so. I have recently put all my Coles cards in one album, so I may do some cutting and pasting with the blog, and make new posts with the Coles cards so they are all together. Wish I could get hold of that Coles card catalogue! I used to be in the Card collectors society but dropped out a few years ago because I couldn't justify buying any more cards after my collection got into the thousands :-o Thanks again - I'll be back soon! Gina

Thursday 18 April 2013

Coles Cards - Melbourne 1956 Olympics

I've had some readers express interest in Coles cards, particularly the ones commemorating the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956.  So my next post will consist of photos of these cards.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Is anyone still out there??

I think I've done my dash this time....left it far too long for any of the original readers to stay with me.  I've made a final ditch effort, and have been photographing the rest of my cards, ready to post here on a regular basis, but if nobody is left to read it, I won't bother!  Most people seem to have gone on from blogging to Facebook these days, but I won't be going there.

Sunday 31 March 2013

What category would you like to see?

So.....below I've just posted an update on my cats cards, and all the horse cards I've got.
I've just flipped through my albums and am wondering if I will ever get all my cards on here?  Perhaps a blog wasn't such a good idea - they do have limits, and I'm a bit surprised that I haven't well and truly exceeded them over the 10 years I've been blogging!  But this blog might be the proverbial straw....

I have many more vintage (well, all my cards are vintage!) cards that come under the category of 'People',  including royalty, artists/paintings, dancers, Asian, and so on.  If I still do have anyone reading this, you might like to leave a comment saying which categories you would like to see.  I've just about 'done' the animals, but there is also ships and boats, flowers, places, objects....take your pick!  It would make it a lot easier for me to focus if I knew what readers wanted to see.

Horses swap cards.

I was never a big collector of cards with horses on them, preferring cats and dogs, but they still manage to creep into the collection over time!