A Closer Look: Bicycle Rider Backs--Anniversary Edition

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I haven't posted much card art lately, but I'm rectifying that this week with five new Bicycle sets. I found them at B.J.s Wholesale Club, of all places, as part of a "Limited Edition 125th Anniversary Design Collector's Set." (Hey, it's their name, not mine.)

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For about $12, you get 5 decks plus Bicycle's Official Rules of Card Games, a 300+ page book which makes the whole package a pretty good value.

The centerpiece of the set is a reproduction of the original Bicycle cards, first produced in 1885. These are pretty widely available, but I'd never bothered to pick up a deck. The picture at the top shows you just what the first Bicycle Rider Back looked like. The bicycle implied a great deal to a late 19th century audience: freedom, travel, technology.

For the reproduction set, Bicycle even changed the card faces a bit, reducing the corner markings to their original size.

Also included is a reproduction of the original Joker, named the "Best Bower," (also known as the "Benny" or "Imperial Bower"). In Euchre, the "Best Bower" is the top-ranked trump, indicated by either the Joker or the Two of Spades.