Playing cards and glass dice from the Old West

[celestial]

Enjoy.

 

[celestial]

 

[Shangas]

Wow, those are some OLD cards, alright! The dice are cool.

 

[celestial]

Thanks, Shangas.

 

[celestial]

Hmm, I thought there would be more interest than this...

 

[Shangas]

I wonder when it was that playing cards showed up with numbers on them, as well as symbols?

 

[celestial]

I don't know man. It's a good question though.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The late 1870s. They were called "squeezers," because you could "squeeze" your cards close together in your hand and still see what they were. The term remained in use into the middle of the 20th century, and there are still brands of cards that use it today.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Are those dice glass or ivory? They were usually ivory or bone.

 

[celestial]

Hmm, I think you're right. They were sold as glass, but I think they're probably too thick to be so... Well, it's a good thing that I didn't have to get them radiated then!

 

[Shangas]

Is it possible those dice are milk glass? They certainly don't look like any ivory I've ever seen.

 

[vitanola]

Those appear to be molded of Milk Glass. Quite common in the 'Eighties and 'Nineties. By the turn of the century "French Ivory" or "Ivorene" had taken the place of glass for cheap dice.

 

[Shangas]

I was told that "French ivory" was a euphemism for celluloid being passed off as ivory. Is that true? Or is it a completely different material?

 

[celestial]

Thanks for that info, vitanola. They don't feel like bone at all.

 

[celestial]

One compliment, and it was from an Australian... LOL Classic.