Hi all, Those cards sound like props for a magic trick. Fan the cards one way and one set of numbers appears. Fan them upside down and another set appears. Here is an example of such cards in use: http://magic.about.com/od/libraryofsimpletricks/ss/110608cards.htm Travis On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 2:06 PM, bobbie <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Has anyone ever come across playing cards that have one number and suit > printed on the top half of the card (for example, a two of hearts with 1 > heart printed in the center of the top, and an 8 of spades printed on the > bottom half with 4 of the spades printed)? > > Does anyone know the story behind such playing cards? I have come across > three of them that were in a box that contained family memorabilia from the > late 19th and early 20th centuries. > > Thanks. > > Bobbie Scott > Programs Manager > Sherburne History Center > Becker, MN > > ========================================================= > Important Subscriber Information: > > The Museum-L FAQ file is located at > http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed > information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message > to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "help" (without the quotes). > > If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to > [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read > "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). > -- ================================== Travis Nygard [log in to unmask] http://www.haa.pitt.edu/graduate/nygard.html http://arthistoriansatwork.blogspot.com/ ================================== ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).