Parlour Artifact No. 1 – Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Playing Cards
The St. Andrews Rectory’s parlour is home to numerous artifacts that catch the eye. Some of the parlour artifacts are tiny in size. Because of this, it is only fair to give them the spotlight by introducing the most intricate ones through this blog and social media. Henceforth, we are pleased to introduce the Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Cards as the first parlour artifact. Many people in the Victorian era focused on overfilling their parlour, and so, some households might have regarded these cards as an artifact in their possession, just as we do now – the parlour artifact.
Chas Goodall & Son Card Producing Company
Chas Goodall and Son was founded by Charles Goodall in the Soho district of London, England, in 1820. By 1890, Chas Goodall and Son was a very well established company which manufactured an immense number of playing cards.
Meanwhile, in time for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897, commemorative card designs became more elaborate and the colour palette diversified. Most importantly, the chromolithography method was used to achieve high quality colour prints, typical for card making of the time.
While Chas Goodall was the original founder, the company eventually became a family business when Charles’ sons got involved. However, with no successor and difficulties in running business after the First World War, Chas Goodall & Son had to merge with another company. Subsequently, Chas Goodall & Son merged with De La Rue, a similar and competitive card producing company. The merger happened in 1922, just over a century after Chas Goodall and Son emerged. If only Chas Goodall and Son knew that a deck of their cards would become a highly praised parlour artifact at a Canadian museum!
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Foreground: Queens Elizabeth (face) & Victoria (reverse)
Background: Original Pull-off Box
Depicted Nobles
| Face | Suite | Noble |
| Jack | Heart Diamond Spade Club | Edward, Prince of Wales Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester George, Prince of Wales Edward, The Black Prince |
| Queen | Heart Diamond Spade Club | Eleanor, Queen of Henry III Elizabeth, Queen 1558-1603 Charlotte, Queen of George III Philippa, Queen of Edward III |
| King | Heart Diamond Spade Club | Henry III, King 1216-1272 Henry VIII, King 1509-1547 George III, King 1760-1820 Edward III, King 1327-1377 |
The reverse shows the portrait of H.M. Queen and reads “Victoria 1837-1897.”
Equally important are the card faces, which represent the portraits of the monarchs and nobles of the previous longest reigns in English history, dressed in the attire of the period.
Provided that the parlour is home to many Victorian era artifacts, to spot a tiny deck of cards poses a challenge, but it is not impossible, of course!
Parlour artifacts are awaiting for your visit!
Parlour Artifact Series
Follow this link https://www.standrewsrectory.ca/parlour-artifact-pewter-trinket-box/ to learn more about another parlour artifact – Pewter Trinket Box.