What Can You Do With This Information?

My research started because I was trying to identify the makers of several different card brands. As I searched more I uncovered the connection between brands with different names which led me to a common card maker. For instance, these two cards I noticed when I was doing my story on the Longley brothers...

J. J. Levy (left) and Paper Fabrique of Cincinnati (right)
J. J. Levy was also the only maker to have two sets of curls on the King's left side

​This connection led me to comparing more court card designs and then discovering the marks on the hilt of the sword.

Since then, I have also found that when I find a brand that only has a business address and no known manufacturing factory the maker's mark will tell me who printed them. The court card design will further prove the connection.

The card on the left is from Knickerbocker Playing Cards of Albany, New York, The one on the right was used by Goodall of England and Victor E. Mauger of New York City that was a former representative of Goodall playing cards. Knickerbocker did not have a card factory in Albany only a business address.

Then there were several cases where the brand had a factory but used another company's design. Like Willis W. Russell. When he left U. S. P. C. he used the same court card design and facing pattern as an early Russell & Morgan pattern.

Willis W. Russell (East Coast maker but Western Facing Pattern) used a Russell & Morgan early design.
​Even the maker's mark was the same.

American Playing Card of Kalamazoo, Michigan, bought the rights to Globe Playing Card of Middletown, Ohio, when they failed so you will see similarities there also.

National Playing Cards of Indianapolis, Indiana, has the same court cards and a similar maker's mark as Russell & Morgan. Why? Because the company founders (Samuel J. Murray, August Crucius and Robert H. McCutcheon) all were from Russell & Morgan who also owned 30% of the stock.