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  home   >   collection   >   Kimberley's Royal National Patriotic Playing Cards

Between c. 1892 and 1905, David Kimberley & Sons, Birmingham, produced at least five editions of this pack, with differing illustrations but the identical themes. This is the second or third edition, between c. 1893 and c. 1899. The maker's copyright notice is on the Ace of Diamonds.

The pack shows famous (or supposedly typical, the Jacks) people from four nations from the time or before on the court cards:

Clubs:	Germany, with Emperor Wilhelm I as King and Empress Augusta as Queen
Spades:	France, with Emperor Napoleon III as King and Empress Eugénie as Queen
Hearts:	the United States of America, with George Washington as King
Diamonds:	Great Britain, with Queen Victoria as Queen and her husband Albert as King

The Jacks are soldiers from the respective country.

The Aces show the flags of the corresponding country. The back is typical for most (or all?) of the editions, it shows clocks in different places of the world - but I cannot see that they are all supposed to show the respective time to noon GMT -- that is not correct.