Original RWS vs Radiant

Aunty Anthea

Teheuti said:
Thanks for your list of current RWS decks. However some of the categories can be broken down even more

• the regular RWS (usually in the yellow box,) - Variations due to printer & print run.
This is based on a 1910 "Pamela A" with the brown "crackle back" pattern. Has been printed in four sizes: Mini, Pocket, Standard, Giant.
- c. mid-60s to around 1975: Rider & Co, London, in association with Waddington Play Card Co., Ltd., printed by AGMueller (no copyright on cards). Blue lift-off box. Clarity excellent; blacks tend to be a little sharper & blacker, but can vary!
- c. 1968?: Weiser distribution of Rider deck.
- c. 1968: US Games, NY (no copyright on cards - usually well printed, but not as good as the best Waddington ones). AGMueller printer.
- c. 1975: US Games added copyright to each card - AGMueller printer. Brightness & sharpness varies from print run to print run.
- c. ?: Italian printer. Lettering by PCS is changed to a standard print font. Garish.
- c. ?: China/Japan printer? At some point the lettering by PCS is back. Quality returning.

• c. 1960s on - Merrimak Publishing - interpretations printed on cards. Two sizes: Tiniest & standard.

• c. 1930-1970?? - the de Laurence Tarot deck. Printed in two colors: black and (red, orange, yellow, etc.) which varied over the years. A rip-off deck and Waite's book published under the de Laurence name.

• There are other modern reproductions of the 1909 deck published in Europe with sales restricted to certain countries: Lo Scarabeo, Turin and Uitgeverij Schors, Amsterdam.

• The "Original" RWS. Muddy.

• the Centennial Smith-Waite (a different attempt to reproduce one of the first decks,)
This is a reproduction of the 1909 "Roses & Lilies" back that came in a red box with Waite's Key to the Tarot. Some cards show slightly more of an original image that was trimmed in the 1910 version. It was quickly printed in order to be sold at the Arts & Crafts Christmas fair and the card stock proved defective - separating into layers. Purchasers were offered an exchange for the deck we generally call "Pam A".
- The 2009 standard size edition. Slightly muddy in its attempt to look old.
- The 2015 "tarot in a tin" edition. Smaller and brighter in color. (I like it; shuffles well!)

• the Albano Waite (brightly colored but not changing any details,)
- Created by Frankie Albano. First published 1968 ((Los Angeles: Tarot Productions, Inc.). Found in three sizes: standard, mini, Majors only-Deluxe Edition-extra large. Also, posters made of some of the cards.
- US Games began publishing (date?). The colors are over-bright and too shiny - garish.

• the Universal (redrawn/recolored but closely following the RWS.)

• Radiant (both (redrawn/recolored but closely following the RWS)
- Similar decks printed in China include "Mystic Fortune Teller Tarot Cards" Forum Novelties, and "Tarot" Encore Sales.

• Diamond Tarot - RWS images in an elaborate border.

• The Golden Tarot - redrawn & recolored.

• Quick & Easy Tarot - interpretations printed on the cards.

There are some other RWS exact or close reproductions from other countries.

W O W

I had absolutely no idea there were so many

Yelell

Teheuti said:
Thanks for your list of current RWS decks. However some of the categories can be broken down even more

Zillions practically. Get caught up in every variation and countries they were all printed in and there's no end

Don't forget about the Fronteras Deck - I searched out and bought that one because I was determined to have yet another variation - so ugly with the tan and mustard. What was I thinking

http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/images/LargeImages/FronterasFool.JPG

Richard

While Albano didn't change any of the RWS detaile, s/he did add a few details. For example, the swords in the Albano have three jewels in the guard. More important is the Rainbow added to Temperance. It represents the bow of Sagitttarius, which is the zodiac sign of Temperance. The occult rainbow differs from a natural rainbow in that the order of the colors is reversed.

As for the German and French titles, they "should" be in English, but I am not a purist.

As for Frankie Albano, s/he is the mystery of the Albano. No one seems to know who s/he is, not even the gender. (In the song Frankie and Johnny, Frankie is a she.) It is possibly hidden away in the archives of the Builders of the Adytum. We do, however, know the source of the coloring scheme s/he used.

Teheuti

Richard said:
While Albano didn't change any of the RWS detaile, s/he did add a few details. For example, the swords in the Albano have three jewels in the guard. More important is the Rainbow added to Temperance. It represents the bow of Sagitttarius, which is the zodiac sign of Temperance. The occult rainbow differs from a natural rainbow in that the order of the colors is reversed.

As for the German and French titles, they "should" be in English, but I am not a purist.

As for Frankie Albano, s/he is the mystery of the Albano. No one seems to know who s/he is, not even the gender. (In the song Frankie and Johnny, Frankie is a she.) It is possibly hidden away in the archives of the Builders of the Adytum. We do, however, know the source of the coloring scheme s/he used.

Thanks for the additional details, Richard.

Frankie Albano is a mystery MAN - definitely male.

This was reported on TarotL many years ago:

"It was 1972 and I was in a cafe in Arcata California called the International Peasant where my partner was a cook. We all sat around a table drinking great coffees and teas when someone brought out a deck of cards..........the Albano-Waite deck. All of a sudden everyone was talking about what sounded like a whole lot of superstition. Tales of Frankie Albano changing the colors on the deck back to the original and somehow forbidden colors and then one of his buisness partners had been murdered and another disappeared...the Tarot factory in Arcata had burned and basically they had stopped making the cards. So, at that time the Albano-Waite deck was out of print. No one wanted to 'play cards" but me.......the story only made them more fascinating to me, not less. So....the owner of the cafe who was now the owner of the Tarot printing company...gave them to me. I started reading them that night. It wasn't until about two ..possibly three years later that I found out there were books on the subject...) (embarassing to admit that). On a final and what I think is a very interesting note....I just recently heard online that Albano is missing...has also disappeared and cannot be found."

See this site for an extended discussion of the deck: http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/Albano.html

I received a letter years ago from someone writing for Frankie's son, Dan (living in England), who never met his father (but knew he had created the deck). They were looking for information about him. I did get his birth date from them: Frankie Joseph Albano- 14-06-1938. Born- New Galilee- Penslyvainia (sic!).

A Frankie Albano appears in some ads as a psychic in London and later in Los Angeles.

I found him listed as being on a TV or radio interview show in London in 1977. The only reference to him was: "Frankie Albano is a clairvoyant who claims to be able to offer a psychic view of personal problems."

Aunty Anthea

Yelell said:
Zillions practically. Get caught up in every variation and countries they were all printed in and there's no end Don't forget about the Fronteras Deck - I searched out and bought that one because I was determined to have yet another variation - so ugly with the tan and mustard. What was I thinking
http://home.comcast.net/~vilex/images/LargeImages/FronterasFool.JPG

Now I understand your signature:

"I have some paperwork to catch up on. If I'm not back in two days, organize a search and rescue team!"

You stand a good chance of being buried alive beneath a pile of tarot cards :joke:

Richard

Teheuti said:
......Frankie Albano is a mystery MAN - definitely male......

Thanks for clearing up the matter of Albano's XY chromosome configuration. Among other things, this solves the problem of finding the correct personal pronoun. ("S/he" is a fake word, and the widely accepted "they" is a misuse of the plural.)

I really wonder what happened to him.

decan

After all, I am going to use for a while the Smith-Waite Centennial. Afterwards I will see if I adopt it as my main Tarot or if I come back to the Universal Waite.
The Universal has attractive colors and the pictures on each cards are nice and clear, but with regard to some faces expressions I am a little bit dissatisfied: the faces of the Hierophant and the Magician, but especially the of Empress and the Emperor (I find there is something strange about their eyes...).

Actually I recognize that faces expressions are important for me. As well the back of the cards in the centennial is very pleasant ; but well, we don’t read the back of the cards

Original RWS vs Radiant

Aunty Anthea

Yelell

Richard

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Teheuti

Aunty Anthea

Richard

decan