Jules Verne: Collecting - Playing Cards

Page last updated: August 19, 2003

Playing Cards
Grimaud (1978) / Cocoa Puffs / Whitehall (1991)

Grimaud, France (1978)
In 1978, on the occasion of the opening of the Jules Verne Museum in Nantes and for the 150th anniversary of Jules Verne's birth, a deck of 54 playing cards was designed. (54 = 2 Jokers + 52 cards (full deck))
The images on the Aces, and the Royal cards were images representing either characters or machines in Jules Verne's books.

The breakdown is as follows:

Backs of the Cards:	Jules Verne's Study
Jokers:	Jules Verne, holding up a dumbell with one end the Earth and the other end the Moon. He is resting his elbow on a stack of books, whose spines show the titles: CINQ SEMAINES EN BALLON LE CAPITAINE HATTERAS DE LA TERRE A LA LUNE VOYAGE AU CENTRE DE LA TERRELES ENFANTS DU CAPITAINE GRANT 20,000 LIEUES SOUS LES MERS LE TOUR DU MONDE EN 80 JOURS NORD CONTRE SUD LE DOCTEUR OX MICHEL STROGOFF UN CAPITAINE DE 15 ANS MATHIAS SANDORF LES 500 MILLIONS DE LA BEGUM LES TRIBULATIONS ... (the title is not complete for this one) To the right of the stack, is a scene of a volcano exploding, and 2 men on a raft in rough seas. (on one of my 2 jokers, this scene is missing and a blank square is shown!)
Spades	Clubs	Hearts	Diamonds
on the spade itself is an image of fire	on the club itself is the image of thesea (wavy lines)	on the heart itself is an image of the night sky (stars and the moon)	on the diamond itself is an image of the compass points (La Rose des Vents)
Ace (1): the Nautilus (20,000 Leagues ... )	Ace (1): the Albatross (Robur the conquerer)	Ace (1): the Victoria (5 Weeks in a Baloon)	Ace (1): Space Capsule (From the Earth to the Moon)
King (R): Nemo (20,000 Leagues ... )	King (R): Phileas Fogg (Around the World in 80 Days)	King (R): Michael Strogoff (Michael Strogoff)	King (R): Keraban (Keraban the Terrible)
Queen: Mistress Branican (Mistress Branican)	Queen: Mistress Aouda (Around the World in 80 Days)	Queen: Nadia (Michael Strogoff)	Queen: Mary Grant (Children of Captain Grant)
Jack (V): Conseil (20,000 Leagues ... )	Jack (V): Passepartout (Arount the World in 80 Days)	Jack (V): Nab (Mysterious Island)	Jack (V): Paganel (Children of Captain Grant)

The cards shown here, are the French version, with the grey/green backs
(the English version, has a brown back)

Cocoa Puffs Authors Game (date unsure)
(This item was noticed on eBay.com)

A miniature deck of cards, measuring 1 inch x 1.5 inch, for a game of "Authors" which is like "Go Fish".
The authors represented on the cards are:

Jack London
Louisa May Alcott
Jules Verne
Herman Melville
Edgar Allen Poe
George Elliot
Rudyard Kipling

There are 4 cards for each author, and the deck includes rules cards.

The reverse design, is "Sonny" the Cocoa Puff bird.

This was most likely a "prize" inside a box of Coacoa Puffs.

Whitehall, USA (1991)
A card game called Science Fiction Authors, is produced by Whitehall Line of Yarmouth, Maine, copyright 1991. The game consists of a regular deck of 52 cards, with each suit containing an identical set of authors.
The 2 of each suit (spades, clubs, hearts, diamonds) has the image of Jules Verne, with 4 titles of his books listed.
The books listed are:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Around the World in Eighty Days
A Journey to the Center of the earth
The Mysterious Island

Other authors represented in the deck include:

Frank Herbert, J R R Tolkien, H G Wells, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Roger Zelany, Gordon Dickson, Ursula K Le Guin, Robert Heinlein, C S Lewis & Piers Anthony
(Note: The deck of cards is very poorly made)

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