Tankerwille cards

[Stepanov]

On Modern Magic I find mention about De La Rue and Tankerwille cards. De La Rue easy find, but what about Tankerville cards? English pattern.

Oleg Stepanov.

[Pete Biro]

http://www.sherlock-holmes.org/atlas/lo ... _club.html

[Stepanov]

Good site. But what about cards?
Oleg Stepanov.

[Philippe Billot]

Hi, Oleg

Which page, please ?

[Stepanov]

Originally posted by Philippe Billot:
Hi, Oleg
Which page, please ?

Modern Magic. Chapter II. The Cards. Page 11.

"Among cards of English make, some of the best for the purpose are the small cards
of the French pattern made by De La Rue & Co. for use in France, and those known as the
'Tankerville' cards, both imported by Peck & Snyder, 124 Nassau Street, New York City,
which are thin, well made, and of small size, but of the English pattern."
But this is American edition. I am not good on English, but I suppose here is error. On first English edition should be somethink like:
"Among cards of English make, some of the best for the purpose are the small cards
of the French pattern made by De La Rue & Co. for use in France, and those known as the
'Tankerville' cards by Banks, which are thin, well made, and of small size, but of the English pattern."
Oleg Stepanov.

[Philippe Billot]

Now, I understand why I can't find these references.
I have the eleventh Edition (1901) and in this, there are no mention of De La Rue and Peck & Snyder.

Excerpt :

"The adept in sleight-of-hand should accustom himself to the use of every description of cards, as frequently none but the ordinary full-sized playing cards may be available. Where, however, the choice is open to him, he should use in the actual performance of tricks, cards of a smaller and thinner make.
The common French cards answer the purpose very well. Many English manufacturers now make cards of French pattern, which are small, thin, and, as a rule, of better quality than the imported article.
American cards may be used when they are not too wide, this being a serious drawback for sleight-of-hand purposes.
In any case, it is well to use only the piquet pack of thirty-two cards (the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes being removed), the complete whist pack being inconveniently bulky."

[Marco Pusterla]

Hi!
in the fourth English Edition (London 1882), the text is as follows:

"The adept in sleight-of-hand should accustom himself to the use of every decription of cards, as frequently none but the ordinary full-sized playing cards may be available. Where, however, the choice is open to him, he should use in the actual performance of tricks, cards of a smaller and thinner make. The common French cards answer the purpose very well. Among the cards of English make, some of the best for the purpose are the small cards of the French pattern made by De La Rue & Co. for use in France, and those known as the "Tankerville" cards, made by Bancks Brothers, of Glasshouse Street, which are thin, well-made, and of small size, but of the English pattern. In any case, it is well to use only the piquet pack of thirty-two cards (the twos, threes, fours, fives, and sixes being removed), the complete whist pack being inconveniently bulky for sleight-of-hand purposes."

Hope this helps, ciao!
---
Marco Pusterla - http://www.mpmagic.co.uk/

[Stepanov]

Thanks. This is very much help me. I still do not find that cards on Internet but name of street new for me...
Oleg Stepanov

[Bill Palmer]

Hello Oleg:

You may find some clues about Bancks Brothers or Hall and Bancks, who produced the "Tankerville" cards at the following link.
http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/playing-cards/a ... pades.html

You might also wish to contact the International Playing Card Society.

The internet is great for finding clues, but when you go for certain specific things, it isn't much help.

[Stepanov]

Thanks for interesting page.
Especially was interesting to see how little foreigners know about Russia - under the title Modern Russian pack presented professor Charlemange pack of 1862. :-)))))

Stepanov Oleg.

[Bill Palmer]

This group (The International Playing Card Society) is really not as useful as I hoped they would be.

I e-mailed them with a question about the "Tankerville" cards.

Here's the reply I got:

Tankerville sounds like Tancarville, a place-name in Normandy now famous
for its suspension bridge, "le Pont de Tancarville", built in 1955-59.
http://www.sequana-normandie.com/tancarvi.htm

But we are far from playing cards... And I guess Professor Hoffmann had
never heard of "le Pont de Tancarville"...

Sorry this doesn't ring any bell in my mind.
If I come across something relevant I'll let you know.
(I'll ask a few magicians if they know.)

They didn't even do a Google search.

[Stepanov]

Thanks for your attempt. You are so kind. Looks like my search not interesting here. I ask crazy questions and nobody can help. :-))) Peoples like standart questions answers for what well known. :-)))

Oleg Stepanov.

[Bill Palmer]

Oleg:

Your questions are not crazy. However, it appears that the "experts" with the International Playing Card Society aren't expert enough for your needs.

I'll keep digging!

[Marco Pusterla]

Oleg,
I've been looking around for "Tankerville" but found nothing. The only couple of things I found was that an Anthony Banks was the Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards in London for the year 1822-23. I haven't got any further information on him or his activity.

De La Rue is a famous name of card makers in France and Holland since the XVI century, but I don't know how relevant this is to your research.

(from: "Playing Cards", by W. Gurney Benham, Ward, Lock & Co. - London 1931)

[Stepanov]

Thank yours very much.
Looks like it was standard for every country thing - when we know that something famous in the World, and want explain for neighbor, we add to this information what famous on our city or country. When somebody ask me who are Marlo or Vernon, I answer - Americans Akopyan, and Wilson or Kellar - Americans Kio.
If Bancks was realy popular - we can read about them.

Oleg Stepanov.

[Bill Palmer]

One thing to remember is that playing cards are actually a fairly esoteric subject, compared to things like Russian history or baseball. The internet is not the main repository of information on the subject. There are many books on the history of playing cards that may never find their way to the internet.