Exhibit Playing Cards

Issuing Company: Exhibit Supply Company
Country of Issue: USA
Year of Issue: 1928
Color/B&W: One color
Number of Cards in Set: 64
Card Size: 3 3/8" x 5 3/8"
Issued as insert with what product: Came out of coin-operated arcade machines

Notes: Checklist incomplete. Cards can be found in multiple colors.

There were at least two different sets of Exhibit playing cards with movie star pictures issued. The easiest way to tell them apart is that one set has a 1928 copyright line at the bottom of the fronts and the other does not.

Exhibit cards were issued in multiples of 16 and a deck of playing cards is 52 cards. To fit a deck of playing cards into an Exhibit card set, there would have to be at least 64 cards in the set. That seems to work for the 1928 copyright set, with 52 regular cards, 8 joker cards, and 4 poker hand royal flush cards making up the 64-card set.

Things get a bit more complicated after that. There is a second set of movie star playing cards with no copyright line. That makes 52 cards. There are no jokers or royal flush poker hands with that set. There are a bunch of cards showing 4 playing cards on one card, at least some of which were probably issued with this set. There is also a group of at least 8 cards showing 10 playing cards on one card, though the cards shown on those cards are from the 1928 set. I haven't sorted all these out yet to figure out which cards were issued with which set, so I'm just going to checklist these in separate groups for now.

Thanks to Dan Calandriello and Lee Barrie for help with this checklist.

Click on the picture above to view picture checklists for this set.


Playing Card set with 1928 Copyright Line on Fronts

Cards from this set can be found with Postcard backs containing the standard triangular coupon at the bottom left on the backs. Cards from this set can also be found with blank backs. All the cards are men except the four Queens, which show women.

2 Clubs – Jack Donovan
3 Clubs – Wm. S. Hart
4 Clubs – Wm. Farnum
5 Clubs – Jack Padjan
6 Clubs – Fred Gilman
7 Clubs – Fred Humes
8 Clubs – Bud Osborne
9 Clubs – Tom Santschi
10 Clubs – Jack Perrin
Jack Clubs – Jack Hoxie
Queen Clubs – Donna Cowan
King Clubs – Ken Maynard
Ace Clubs – Jack Holt

2 Diamonds – Bob Curwood
3 Diamonds – Billy Sullivan
4 Diamonds – Antonio Moreno
5 Diamonds – Dustin Farnum
6 Diamonds – Roy Hughes
7 Diamonds – Bill Cody
8 Diamonds – Yakima Canutt
9 Diamonds – Bob Reeves
10 Diamonds – Newton House
Jack Diamonds – Buddy Roosevelt
Queen Diamonds – Betty Compson
King Diamonds – Hoot Gibson
Ace Diamonds – Buck Jones

2 Hearts – Pee Wee Holmes
3 Hearts – Jack Luden
4 Hearts – Buffalo Bill Jr.
5 Hearts – Fred Church
6 Hearts – Bob Custer
7 Hearts – Edmund Cobb
8 Hearts – Art Acord
9 Hearts – Neal Hart
10 Hearts – Tex Maynard
Jack Hearts – Bob Steele
Queen Hearts – Ruth Roland
King Hearts – Tom Tyler
Ace Hearts – Fred Thomson

2 Spades – Col. Tim McCoy
3 Spades – Glen Hunter
4 Spades – Lefty Flynn
5 Spades – Don Coleman
6 Spades – Ted Wells
7 Spades – David Butler
8 Spades – Roy Stewart
9 Spades – Buzzy Barton
10 Spades – Bill Desmond
Jack Spades – Wally Wales
Queen Spades – Helen Holmes
King Spades – Leo Maloney
Ace Spades – Tom Mix

Royal Flush - Clubs
Royal Flush – Hearts
Royal Flush – Spades
Royal Flush - Diamonds

Joker Clubs – Pete Morrison
Joker Clubs – Fred Humes
Joker Diamonds – no name listed
Joker Diamonds – Jack Mulhall
Joker Hearts – Bob Steele
Joker Hearts - Carlos Mier
Joker Spades – Richard Holt
Joker Spades – Tom Tyler


Playing Card set with no copyright line

Cards from this set contain Postcard backs with no triangular coupon at the bottom left on the backs.

2 Clubs – Buddy Roosevelt
3 Clubs –
4 Clubs –
5 Clubs –
6 Clubs –
7 Clubs – Harry Carey
8 Clubs –
9 Clubs –
10 Clubs –
Jack Clubs – Billy Sullivan
Queen Clubs – Bob Steele
King Clubs – Tom Mix
Ace Clubs – Buck Jones

2 Diamonds -
3 Diamonds –
4 Diamonds –
5 Diamonds –
6 Diamonds –
7 Diamonds –
8 Diamonds –
9 Diamonds –
10 Diamonds –
Jack Diamonds – Fred Humes
Queen Diamonds – Wm. S. Hart
King Diamonds – Ted Wells
Ace Diamonds – Bob Custer

2 Hearts -
3 Hearts –
4 Hearts – Yakima Canutt
5 Hearts –
6 Hearts –
7 Hearts –
8 Hearts –
9 Hearts –
10 Hearts – Tim McCoy
Jack Hearts – Fred Gilman
Queen Hearts – Roy Stewart
King Hearts – Monte Blue
Ace Hearts – Jack Hoxie

2 Spades -
3 Spades –
4 Spades –
5 Spades – Fred Humes
6 Spades –
7 Spades –
8 Spades –
9 Spades –
10 Spades –
Jack Spades – Wm. Desmond
Queen Spades – Jack Holt
King Spades – Sam Tyler
Ace Spades – Ricardo Cortez


Cards showing 10 playing cards on one card

Cards from this group show playing cards from the 1928 copyright set, though there is no 1928 copyright line on these cards. These cards have Postcard backs containing the standard triangular coupon at the bottom left on the backs.

10-card panel – Top row: A K J 10 Joker Clubs; Bottom row: A K J 10 Joker Hearts
10-card panel – Top row: A K J 10 Joker Spades; Bottom row: A K J 10 Joker Diamonds
10-card panel – Top row: A Spades, 8 Clubs, 4 Hearts, 5 Spades, Joker Spades; Bottom row: A Diamonds, 5 Clubs, 8 Hearts, 9 Spades, Joker Diamonds
10-card panel – Top row: King Spades, Jack Diamonds, A Clubs, Queen Hearts, Jack Spades; Bottom row: A Hearts, King Clubs, Queen Spades, 10 Clubs, King Hearts
10-card panel – Top row: 2 Clubs, 3 Clubs, 4 Clubs, 5 Clubs, Queen Clubs; Bottom Row: 6 Clubs, 7 Clubs, 8 Clubs, 9 Clubs, Joker Clubs
10-card panel – Top row: 2 Diamonds, 3 Diamonds, 4 Diamonds, 5 Diamonds, Queen Diamonds; Bottom row: 6 Diamonds, 7 Diamonds, 8 Diamonds, 9 Diamonds, Joker Diamonds
10-card panel – Top row: 2 Hearts, 3 Hearts, 4 Hearts, 5 Hearts, Queen Hearts; Bottom Row: 6 Hearts, 7 Hearts, 8 Hearts, 9 Hearts, Joker Hearts
10-card panel – Top row: 2 Spades, 3 Spades, 4 Spades, 5 Spades, Queen Spades; Bottom row: 6 Spades, 7 Spades, 8 Spades, 9 Spades, Joker Spades


Cards showing 4 playing cards on one card

Cards from this group show playing cards mostly from the playing card set with no copyright line, though there are cards shown that are not in that set, sometimes even with two playing cards of the same number and suit on the same card with different stars shown. These cards have Postcard backs with no triangular coupon at the bottom left on the backs. The Lola Todd card is interesting as there are no other women shown on any of these cards that have been seen so far. This group is probably incomplete as there are most likely more of these cards out there.

4-card panel - Top row: 2 Diamonds Arnold Grey, 4 Diamonds Buzzy Barton; Bottom row: 3 Diamonds Bill Cody, 5 Diamonds Leo Maloney
4-card panel - Top row: 4 Clubs Lola Todd, 2 Spades Don Coleman; Bottom row: 3 Spades Neal Hart, 5 Clubs Rex Bell
4-card panel - Top row: 6 Clubs Jack Padjan, 5 Spades Fred Humes; Bottom row: 7 Clubs Harry Carey, 4 Spades Buffalo Bill Jr.
4-card panel - Top row: 6 Diamonds Art Acord, 6 Hearts Ken Maynard; Bottom row: 7 Diamonds Art Mix, 7 Hearts Ben Corbet
4-card panel - Top row: 8 Diamonds Tom Mix, 8 Diamonds unknown; Bottom row: 8 Hearts unknown - 8 Hearts Wm. Desmond
4-card panel - Top row: 8 Diamonds Lon Chandler, 8 Diamonds Lon Chandler; Bottom row: 8 Hearts Wm. Desmond - 8 Hearts Wm. Desmond
4-card panel - Top row: 8 Clubs Wm. S. Hart, 8 Clubs unknown; Bottom row: 8 Spades Ted Wells, 8 Spades unknown
4-card panel - Top row: 9 Diamonds Jack Osterman, 3 Hearts Rex Lease; Bottom row: 10 Diamonds Hoot Gibson, 2 Hearts Ronald Colman
4-card panel - Top row: 9 Diamonds Wally Wales, 9 Diamonds Wally Wales; Bottom row: 9 Diamonds Wally Wales, 9 Diamonds Wally Wales
4-card panel - Top row: 9 Hearts Fred Thomson, 5 Hearts Will Rogers; Bottom row: 10 Hearts Tim McCoy, 4 Hearts Yakima Canutt
4-card panel - Top row: 9 Spades Wally Wales, 3 Clubs Tom Mix; Bottom row: 10 Spades Jack Perrin, 2 Clubs Buddy Roosevelt
4-card panel - Top row: 10 Clubs Gary Cooper, 6 Spades Pee Wee Holmes; Bottom row: 9 Clubs Bob Curwood, 7 Spades Jack Donovan
4-card panel - Top row: 10 Hearts Key Maynard, 4 Hearts Joe Cobb; Bottom row: Jack Hearts Rex Lease, King Hearts Tom Tyler
4-card panel - Top row: Queen Clubs Bob Steele, Q Spades Jack Holt; Bottom row: Queen Clubs Bob Steele, Q Spades Jack Holt
4-card panel - Top row: Queen Hearts Roy Stewart, Queen Diamonds Wm. S. Hart; Bottom row: Ace Hearts Jack Hoxie, Ace Diamonds Bob Custer
4-card panel - Top row: King Diamonds Ted Wells, Jack Diamonds Wm. S. Hart; Bottom row: King Hearts Bob Steele, Jack Diamonds Fred Gilman
4-card panel - Top row: King Diamonds Ted Wells, Jack Diamonds Fred Humes; Bottom row: King Hearts Monte Blue, Jack Diamonds Fred Gilman
4-card panel - Top row: King Clubs Roy Stewart, Jack Clubs Bob Steele; Bottom row: 10 Spades Ken Maynard, 4 Spades Joe Cobb
4-card panel - Top row: King Clubs Tom Mix, Jack Clubs Billy Sullivan; Bottom row: King Spades Tom Tyler, Jack Spades Wm. Desmond


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