Playing-cards

Application filed February

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Rego F. Thomas, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Tompkinsville, in the county of Rich5 mond and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Playing-Cards, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains to a deck or pack 10 of the well known playing cards bearing conventional characters and divided into four suits, to-wit: spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds. In the use of these cards, in some games, the jacks of corresponding color 15 become a “right bower” and a “left bower”, respectively, and the suits are then deprived of these cards as jacks or as of ordinary jack value.

The purpose of my invention is to pro20 vide a deck or pack of the playing cards with two additional cards to be used exclusively as “right bower” and “left bower” respectively and to thereby allow all the jacks in the suits to retain their customary 25 jack-value or their value as ordinary jacks; in this way the several suits are not deprived of the cards which have commonly been used as bowers and consequently are left complete. The object of my invention is there30 fore to provide a deck or pack of cards in which the suits are always complete, the cards for “right bower” and “left bower” being cards added to the deck and used as bowers regardless of the color of the trumps. 35 The invention will be further understood from the detailed description hereinafter presented, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pack or 40 deck of cards, shown as partly spread open, embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a face view of one of the additional cards provided by me and which is lettered to indicate that the card is the “left 45 bower”, and

Fig. 3 is a corresponding view of the other additional card provided by me and which is lettered to denote that the card is the “right bower”.

In the drawings, 10 designates a pack or deck of playing cards which, except as con-

2, 1920. Serial No. 355,883.

cerns my invention, are of customary character embodying the known suits of spades, clubs, hearts and diamonds, as usual, and in this instance said pack or deck contains, 55 shuffled among the other cards, two special added cards 11 and 12, respectively, shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 3. The several cards of the pack, except cards 11 and 12, require, by reason of their antiquity, no special de- 60 scription and may be recognized by the pips or spots thereon.

.Cards 11 and 12 are additional to the pack of cards and do not deprive the suits of any of their cards, and these cards 11, 12 may 65 have any suitable distinguishing characters thereon representing their value in the games to be played as “bowers” or “left bower” and “right bower” respectively. For convenience the card 11 may bear the 70 letter “L” denoting “left bower” and the card 12 the letter “R” denoting “right bower”. .The cards 11,12 serve as substitute bowers for the jacks or other cards commonly used, as bowers and their presence 75 leaves said jacks or said other cards in the suits to be played as of their face value, all of the suits thus being left complete and the cards 11, 12 serving at all times as of bower value regardless of the trump color. 80

The purpose of my invention is, therefore., to provide a deck or pack of cards containing the usual suits with two additional cards of bower value and to be used as bowers and as means for leaving all the cards of 85 the several suits in the pack to be played as of their usual face value. I regard my invention as improving the usual deck of playing cards and increasing the pleasure to be had in the playing of the same. 90