Thank you VERY much Richard for contributing to this discussion
I believe your red slip case deck is the prototype deck used as review copies, or "the batch from which review copies were issued." There is no evidence of any address before this for University Books, and their oldest known catalog that appeared at this time had New Hyde Park listed as their location. It strongly appears that immediately after the first batch of cards and PKtTs were printed (in color) the company moved and the first catalogs were printed and boxes (maroon slipcases) were stamped.
To date, all of the known red maroon slip cases have the NHP location stamped on them, but a handful of decks have the vanity cards (and advertising card for the PKtT with the 101 W. 31st street address. This is not unheard of in business of course, but very curious, as if UB was a visionary company, wanting the very best for its decks and not getting it in time. By sheer coincidence I have just endured possibly a similar experience:
I set about creating an exact replica of the 1909 and 1910 decks for my research team and students. Just a few decks mind you, as I have no desire to start making and selling tarot cards. I spared no expense within the bounds of sanity to create a perfect replica, but one different enough to avoid fraudulent eBay sales (I changed the backs from blue to brown - but I did not alter the art like everyone else has). Now comes the problem . . . Chinese New year was swiftly approaching, and all of my negotiations on Alibaba were going nowhere. It was a giant cluster**** of insanity. Finally I had to wait for Chinese New Year to begin, endure, and end before I could resume looking for a company to design a worthy box. What that means is that the decks sat for over 3 months "gathering dust" whilst I sought out a box manufacturer for the decks.
It is not impossible that something similar happened to UB; specifically, that their decks sat in limbo for a time while they found the right box manufacturer, or possibly some internal squabbles in the company about top lift boxes versus slip cases, and possibly even tuck boxes (the usual business squabbles: cost vs quality, and profit margin).
UB was always innovating. You can see it in the inconsistency of their product. They were always tinkering with things, trying out new ideas. Knowing this, it makes it believable that their vision was a bit scattered or inconsistent; leading to the mess we have today.
The catalog that I have, that came to me with the 1959 first (known) edition/first printing (I am referring to this as the "A" variant because there are several now; all distinct) lists 37 different books for sale. It is an 8 page catalog with 6 pages of listings. The back cover is decorative, so they most likely had no more than 35 titles at this time (they were not pressed for space or they could have continued the listings on the back cover). But this catalog has the NHP location, so there is doubt as whether it was representative of their first offerings. The "A" version of their PKtT lists only 17 items on their dust jacket (which could be a pace limitation issue). The PKtT interestingly enough was #18 in their catalog, and the deck #19. I really should go through each item in that catalog and find the earliest UB pub date of each to see if any of them is post-1959. That could help me date the catalog. What greatly concerns me is that each book (but sadly not the deck - which could be a clue) has a picture next to the description. Wouldn't you know it but the PKtT has an all white cover with black ink. This stands in stark contrast to the oldest known PKtTs from UB that have the red/white dust jacket. Perhaps the one in the photograph was a one-off prototype.
"Arrrgh!"
The "B" version (also presumably 1959, but now in NHP also lists each of their offerings by # (1., 2., 14. . . .) but skips numbers and goes from #4 to #33. I am thinking that this printing offered their best-sellers, as only the most salacious topics were listed here.
Then there are other versions that have differences, including thickness, even when every other aspect of the book is exactly the same (page count, page numbering, bookblock printing, similarity of ad pages). And . . . I just checked my "A" version and sure enough it says 101 W. 31st on the inside flap, and on the back lists NHP. :-(
So the PKtTs are a mess, but so much so that they might shed light on the decks they are associate with. I hope this preamble didn't bore anyone to death. I sincerely believe that a careful examination of these PKtTs will reveal a lot about the chronology of the decks.
As to the Hillside address and 5 digit zip code. After talking to other deck owners I have found that the 4 digit zip code appears to be a misprint that happened once on the boxes, and possibly not on the first run. It need to make sense that the 4 digit zip code represents the first print run of tuck- boxes, but I have no evidence to back that up. The pink/black inked advertisement card for the UB PKtT that appears in the tuck box versions lists the Hillside Avenue address and a zip code of 11040. The box that that deck (of mine) came in says 1104. But the
other tuck box lists a zip code of 11041 and had printing on the inside of the box (similar to the backs of the cards, including the pink ankhs).
So, after all of that (and everything above), I would like to propose a starting point of possible lineage/deck+book+catalog timeline. Please feel free to tear this apart:
1) University Books ("UB") is formed on West 31st street and prints a short run of decks and books. SPECULATION: Perhaps, like any other business they quickly outgrew their original location, or the rent was just too high, having dumped a large investment into super-premium printing of decks, books, and boxes.
2) UB moves to New Hyde Park ("NHP"), or maybe that is where their print shop (or warehouse) always was, and they just "lose the fancy office." This would explain the dual address listing on the first (known) PKtTs.
3) The first decks are released with the W 31st address in the very first black and white vanity card and advertisement card for their PKtT, BUT the NHP location stamped on the sides of the maroon slipcases.
4) At this time the first PKtTs ("A") versions are released. No ad pages. Possibly the catalog I have with 35 listings (up to #37) is included. This catalog came to me with this copy.
5) Then the second run of PKtTs comes out: same green end papers, but with different dust jackets and catalog listings in the back. These ad pages are numbered, and they go up to item #42. Interesting to me is that they skip numbers, but have a listing 11 and also an "11 a"; companion books by Montague Summers.
6) At this time I think the second run of decks in maroon slipcases were released, with "catalog cards" listing numbered entries for sale.
7) After that tuck box decks with the zip code typo 1104 and no price on the back of the box. This deck came with a pink/black ink ad for the PKtT and the Hillside address with the zip code 11040. The ad was a coupon for $2.50 off the PKtT.
ALSO, this deck came with a white LWB - I believe this is the first LWB ever printed. It had a white cover.
On a side note, this LWB uses the
same exact font and cover layout that Tarot Productions used in 1968 for the "accurate color tones" deck by Frankie Albano. This smacks of Tarot Productions blatantly lifting the "yellow box" idea and the LWB exactly from UB - a few years later. SPECULATION: Given how Causeway and Merrimack seemingly used UBs images, it may be that someone from UB broke off to do their own thing.
Note #2: During this time print quality varied wildly, with the burgundies and reds becoming shocking purple, and the blues becoming so intense as to hurt the eyes. This was not accidental. This is a dramatic shift in colors that had to be intentional.
8) These were followed by an identical tuck box with the zip code correction on the box, the price below it, and pink printing on the insides of the boxes. I have no evidence of LWBs for these decks as of yet. It is possible this box/deck actually came first, as the colors are less jarring.
9) Later, Citadel Press reprints the deck and issues the advertisement card for the PKtT with an address in New Jersey, but this advertisement card is black ink only. No word on LWB or PKtT.
10) Back to the PKtTs. The 1966 version proclaims itself the "3rd printing," and claims that the two previous printings were in 1960 and 1962.
10a) The point above goes a long way to explain the shift from green end papers ("A" and "B" editions) to the undated ("C") edition which had white end papers and ad pages and listings that were unnumbered.
If you read this far I apologize to your brain.
I might have to rectify this timeline a bit. It is late and I wrote this all in one sitting.