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The Daily Insight Hub

Which company started manufacturing playing cards?

Author

Daniel Santos

Updated on January 09, 2026

Company Overview The Ace Card Company is one of the oldest manufacturer of plastic playing cards in India. The company has been printing playing cards since 1960.

Who designed the back of playing cards?

For nearly 500 years, the backs of cards were plain. But in the early 19th century, Thomas De La Rue & Company, a British stationer and printer, introduced lithographic designs such as dots, stars, and other simple prints to the backs of playing cards. The innovation offered advantages.

Why were playing cards taxed?

The tax stamps that were placed on playing card decks can give you insight into the year a deck was manufactured or sold. In addition, tax stamps were sometimes used until the stamps had run out, so card decks can actually have been made later than the tax stamp indicates.

Where are playing cards from?

Playing cards first appeared in Europe in the 1370s, probably in Italy or Spain and certainly as imports or possessions of merchants from the Islamic Mamlūk dynasty centred in Egypt. Like their originals, the first European cards were hand-painted, making them luxury goods for the rich.

Are Kem cards still made?

After a two-year hiatus, USPC restarted KEM card production, which continues today. KEM cards are available to the consumer (usually at specialty game shops) with various back colors and designs in both poker and bridge sizes.

What is the oldest card brand?

The United States Playing Card Company
The United States Playing Card Company (USPC, though also commonly known as USPCC), established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in its current incarnation in 1885, is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards….United States Playing Card Company.

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How much did a stamp cost in 1765?

The 2-shilling 6-pence stamp paid the tax on a variety of contracts, leases, conveyances, protests, and bills of sale, as well as conveyances of real property of more than two hundred acres but not more than 320 acres.

Is there a tax on playing cards?

Yes, truly. The humble deck of cards was taxed (not forgetting dice as well). In reality they had been taxed since the late 1500s, but in 1710 the English Government dramatically raised the taxes on them, which the manufacturer was then liable for.