Bicycle Playing Cards

Bicycle Playing Cards is probably the best-known brand of playing cards. Bicycle playing cards were first manufactured by the United States Printing Company in 1885. In 1894, the United States Playing Card Company incorporated as an independent entity from the other Russell & Morgan printing concerns. At that time, the Bicycle ace of spades first referenced the numerical designation, 808. After years in Cincinnati, Ohio, USPCC is now based in Erlanger, Kentucky. "Bicycle" is a trademark of the company and is generally recognized as the USPCC's flagship brand of playing cards.
The name Bicycle was chosen to reflect the popularity of the bicycle at the end of the 19th century. Indeed, most Bicycle back designs feature bicycles or, in some cases, bicycle parts, such as the chain, pedal, saddle, or handlebars. During the early years of the horseless carriage, automobiles were also featured on Bicycle decks.

Design

Bicycle cards follow the pattern of the French deck, containing 52 cards, and include two jokers. The Bicycle trademark is printed on the ace of spades. Current decks contain two advertisement cards as well.
Bicycle playing cards are sold in a variety of back designs, with the "Rider Back" design being, by far, the most popular. They are available with standard indexes in poker size, bridge size, and pinochle decks, "Jumbo Index" decks and Lo Vision cards that are designed for the visually impaired. Other types of cards with varying backs, sizes, colors and custom designs are produced for magic tricks and as novelty and collector's items.

Numbered back designs

82 different historic back designs have been produced by USPCC and sold under the Bicycle brand. Many were produced for a short period of time, and most are now obsolete and sough-after by vintage playing card collectors. What follows is a complete list of these designs.

No.	Name	Year sold	Notes
1	Acorn	1891–1943	Reissued under "Heritage Design Series" 2012; also sold in UK
2	All Wheel	1907–1917
3	Angel	1893	Two variants produced
4	Arizona Plaid	1906–1911	Two-color back design
5	Auto #1	1901–1904
6	Auto #2	1904–1913	Also sold in British market
7	Auto #3	1913–1917	Also sold in British market
8	Autobike No. 1	1902–1906	Reissued 2017
9	Autobike No. 2	1906–1913
10	Autobike No. 3	1907–1917	Reissued 2015 as "Back No. 9" ; also sold in UK
11	Autocycle No. 1	1901–1906	Reissued 2016
12	Autocycle No. 2	1906–1919	Also sold in UK
13	Automobile No. 1	1903–1919
14	Automobile No. 2	1913–1935
15	Big Gun	1918	"War Series", army; inventory destroyed; reissued 2011
16	Bird	1891
17	Chain	1908–1910	Exclusively sold in UK; two-color back design
18	Chainless	1899–1917	Reissued 2010 as "Heritage Series" ; reissued 2016
19	Club	1917–1969	Similar to Bee No. 92
20	Colorado Plaid	1906–1911	Two-color back design
21	Cupid - Sod	1894–1896	One-way design; reissued mid-2000s
21	Cupid - Crosshatch	1894–1943	Narrow version for pinochle 1918; reissued 1997 ; reissued 2012 ; reissued 2013 as "Heritage Design Series" ; reissued as "Vintage Design"
22	Cyclist No. 1	1898–1908
23	Cyclist No. 2	1908–1917	Gaff card produced by Presto Publishing and Novelty Co.
24	Cyclecar	1914–1917
25	Diamond Plaid	1906–1908
26	Dreadnaught	1918	"War Series", navy; inventory destroyed
27	Eagle	1927–1943	Minor redesign in 1928; reissued as spades-specific deck 1995 ; formerly offered under Capitol #188 brand 1908–1928
28	Emblem	1890–1943	One-way back design; minor redesign in 1892; pinochle-specific version sold in Canada; "music deck" produced
29	Expert	1895–1943	Similar to Old Fan ; also sold in UK; reissued 2012 in Canada, distressed, 2013 in US, distressed
30	Flying Ace	1918	"War Series", air force; inventory destroyed
31	Handlebar	1908–1910	Exclusively sold in UK ; two-color back design
32	Invincible	1918	"War Series", marines; inventory destroyed
33	Lantern No. 1	1898–1906
34	Lantern No. 2	1906–1939
35	League	1888–1960	Likely refers to the League of American Wheelmen; minor redesign 1893; reissued 1980s; reissued 1990, "No. 71 Rummy" two-deck set
36	Oak Leaf	1947–1949	Originally created as non-Bicycle "Uncle Sam" deck during World War II, ft. unbranded Ace of Spades, joker; Consolidated Card Co., Bee No. 154; reissued 2014 as "Leaf Back" on Kickstarter
37	Lotus	1885–1943	Also sold in UK ; 60-card "music deck" by Helen Parker Ford created 1927; Krupp's promotional version created
38	Margin Snowflake	1910–1917
39	Margin Star No. 1	1893–1907	Philip Morris two-deck reproduction "Marlboro Texan No. 45" created 1984; not to be confused with Russell and Morgan No. 45 "Texan"
40	Margin Star No. 2	1907–1912
41	Margin Star No. 3	1912–1917
42	Margin Tri-Plaid	1912–1917
43	Mobile No. 1	1901–1906
44	Mobile No. 2	1906–1913
45	Mobile No. 3	1913–1917
46	Model No. 1	1895–1907	Features League of American Wheelmen logo; similar to Racer No. 1
47	Model No. 2	1907–1927	Used as throw-out card by Eugene Laurant; reissued as two-deck euchre set in 1991, called "Mountain Bike" design
48	Motor No. 1	1901–1907
49	Motor No. 2	1907–1917	Also sold in UK; knockoff produced by C. L. Wüst in Germany, 1907–1927
50	Motorcar	1906–1917
51	Motorcycle No. 1	1901–1907	Also sold in UK; copyright 1900
52	Motorcycle No. 2	1914–1917
53	Motorette No. 1	1901–1907
54	Motorette No. 2	1907–1917	Also sold in UK
55	Nautic	1919–1943	Earlier sold under Army and Navy No. 3032, 1908 ; modified design used 1924 by Peruvian Estanco de Naipes ; Universal Playing Card Co. version called "Buffalo"
56	New Fan	1891–1980	Minor revision 1894; also sold in UK, Cuba; reissued 1960s as bridge-sized Congress cards ; reissued 1990s ; reissued 2012 by Dan and Dave ; reissued 2011 by Coterie1902 ; reissued as "Vintage Design"
57	Old Fan	1885-1894	Possibly first Bicycle back design used; Anglo-Japanese style design; "music deck" produced
58	Pedal	1899–1917	Reissued 2010 as "Heritage Series"
59	Pneumatic No. 1	1894–1908	Also used as Ide High Art Wheel promotional design
60	Pneumatic No. 2	1908–1939
61	Racer No. 1	1895–1906	Possibly produced only through 1898; similar to Model No. 1; Krupp's promotional version created for 1891 Columbian Exposition
62	Racer No. 2	1906–1970	Similar to No. 41 Vanity Fair transformation deck back design; major reissues 1980s, 1990s; pinochle version created
63	Rider	1887–present	One-way back corrected c. 1893; also sold in UK, Canada, Cuba; fireproof version produced for NASA 1970s; other varieties include Playboy. 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Christmas-themed cards, WWII-era aircraft spotter cards
64	Saddle	1908–1910	Exclusively sold in UK; two-color back design
65	Safety	1892–1943	Euchre-specific versions produced; "music deck" produced
66	Snowflake	1904–1918	Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918
67	Sprocket No. 1	1899–1905
68	Sprocket No. 2	1905–1917	Variant Sprocket No. 2a has five rings instead of six
69	Stag	1927–1943	Sold under Capitol No. 188 brand 1908; similar to Sportsman, Dougherty "Outing"
70	Star Plaid No. 1	1906–1907	Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918
71	Star Plaid No. 2	1907–1932
72	Tangent No. 1	1895–1907	Tangent No. 1a features larger center wheel, reversed wings
73	Tangent No. 2	1907–1939	Design went from 3 wings to 4.
74	Thistle	1891–1931	Features the Brownies by Palmer Cox; two versions, one with grass in background, other with brick; "music deck" produced
75	Tri-Plaid	1905–1943	Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918 ; line thickness may vary; used as throw-out card by T. Nelson Downs
76	Tri-Tire No. 1	1898–1905	Features logo of League of American Wheelmen; also sold in UK
77	Tri-Tire No. 2	1905–1927	Redesigned to be two-way; used as throw-out card by the Lingermans
78	Twig	1907–1908	Called "Coral" 1904
79	Western Plaid	1914–1932	Also sold under Army & Navy #3032 brand 1918
80	Wheel No. 1	1887–1907	Subtle design changes over time
81	Wheel No. 2	1907–1943	Features four-winged wheel instead of three-winged
82	Leaf	1885	Sometimes called "Oak Leaf"