go directly to the surprise...

the JOKERS of the

SPEELKAARTENFABRIEK "NEDERLAND"

Three types of jokers can be distinguished:

1) The standard company joker. They came with standard company decks.

2) The special company joker. Accompanied the special company decks.

3) The special advertising jokers. Came with special advertising decks.

-1-

the company jokers

The "SPEELKAARTENFABRIEK NEDERLAND" has had several "standard" company jokers during the years of its existance.

company joker I

The oldest SN joker is "the little devil"

This weird character carrying a balloon was used from ca 1912.

other variations: and

company joker II

Shortly afterwards, from ca 1913 until ca 1925 "the little farmboy" was used

Variations of this more friendly looking kid:

(the caption on the first joker reminded us to "only play with Dutch playing cards")

An early variation of this joker has the "horseshoes" in two corners:

company joker III

Between 1920 and 1925 the "monkey joker" began a long career with lots of variations. They can be seen with several decks on expo. The oldest ones have horseshoes in the corners. There are variations with "THE JOLLY JOKER" and "JOKER" under the figure. With the Trianon deck (SN16) the word "JOKER" was placed next to the monkey's head. In the New Liberty deck (SN13) the manufacturer has put his name vertically next to the monkey. Later black stars were put in the corners.

a rare red-starred variation

standard company jokers -2- JOKER XPO'S
special company jokers special advertising jokers

last update: 15/03/2005