Source
CosmoVerdeOP•

All of these listed on eBay claim to be from the 70s. I can't find any direct information about them to verify when they were made but I did find this source which claims that B&L stopped making cards under any other name than Hoyle (they had other brands) in 1975.

None of this really verifies that they're from the 70s though since USPCC still has their name on Bycicle cards. If anyone has more information I'd love to hear it!

I figure I scratched three itches in one deck. Chicago themed, uncommon and vintage.

They did this style of oil painted back for multiple destinations and there's a second style (which looks newer to me) for Chicago and other destinations too.

Edit: seems like 1959 might be when they introduced this logo and font. The font changed in the mid 70s. source . I'm going to keep looking into this so again, this doesn't exactly date the deck but it does continue to paint the image that the deck is pretty old. Super cool that they're in new condition and the box was one of the better ones I saw.

Edit 2: I won't link the listing because reasons but here’s an image of an Arizona deck. If anyone is a Doug Stanhope fan he might get a kick out of it since he loves Delta and lives in Bisbee.

Edit 3: all of the aces have the same jet on them. It appears to be a L-1011 TriStar. It appears it went into service in 1972. Delta first flew them in December of 1973 and retired them in 2001. According to that same source Delta planned on adding service to Chicago in early 1974. That said, I'm assuming 'adding service' means adding more service to an area they already fly to since this talks about a runway collision involving a Delta plane in ‘72. However, this deck is an advertisement. Reasonably we can assume it was used in the push to increase their presence in Chicago.

To me this establishes that this deck was no older than from 1974 and no newer than 2001 (when they retired the jet). However, the font screams 70s and they seemed to want to advertise increased service to Chicago so I'd still pin it as sometime between 1974-1980.

Edit 4: I discovered that these card backs (as well as the alternate style that I'm going to research next) are based on actual artwork. Jack Laycox painted this particular Chicago scene in 1974. So I've confirmed that for sure they aren't older than that. Other cities were painted in 1976 and I did see that the actual advertising posters were dated 1976 as well. He probably finished the whole project in '76 and then the campaign went underway.

Here’s a screen shot from the Delta Flight Museum's Facebook page that says the posters were used from 1975-1986 (which... Seems like a long time...)

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