Article: 011645

Country: Germany

Manufacturer: Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkartenfabriken A.G., Altenburg.

Sample book „Helvetia Cartes à jouer“. 25 leaves, complete. 140x241mm. Circa 1940.
Sample book, held on the left by 2 paper clips. Shortly before selling his Deutsche Spielkartenfabrik to VASS in 1931, Walter Scharff had founded Wasco AG in Ennetbaden (Canton Aargau, Switzerland), which distributed playing cards under the Helvetia brand. Wasco remained in existence until 1936, when Walter Scharff was forced to emigrate. The brand name Helvetia went to VASS. Our sample book shows on 25 sheets 153 backs of advertising cards, 6 packagings and 5 inserts, embodying the production numbers 2327 to 2455. They are all labeled by hand in ink, some with the name of the client („Bendigsen, holmblad...“), otherwise with „Pik.“ (probably for Piquet, 32 cards), „Bridge“, „Gaigel“, „Tapp“, „Pr.“ (Prussia pattern), „Chemn.“ (Chemnitz, Saxony pattern), „Bayr.“ (Bavaria pattern)... A box with Christmas motif for Auto Union is dated 1940. Nice kaleidoscope of all sorts of German companies.
Covers somewhat damaged, folding mark and (repaired) marginal tear at the front cover, very good conservation inside.

$ 396.21