THE RUSSELL & MORGAN PATTERNS
I accidentally discovered these patterns when my son, aka "The Congress Guy", created a page about court cards on his Congress 606 website. (You can find his site on my "Stories" page) Russell & Morgan left us information on when some of their brands were created and connections to others.
Russell & Morgan first started out with one way cards that were copies of an Andrew Dougherty design.....
But, they quickly switched to the popular two way cards with a Western pattern for decks between about 1881 and 1883. These were similar to the English maker Charles Goodall which Victor E. Mauger's designs were based on. This now lends credence to Mauger's statement that he got Russell & Morgan into card making.
Goodall Victor E Mauger R&M
Then about 1883 they created their own version of a Western pattern by flipping the Jack of Diamonds to face to our right until around 1894.
Before and after
Then between about 1894 and 1897 they flip the Jack of Diamonds back to a normal Western pattern. Was this brought about because of Russell & Morgan now becoming the United States Playing Card Company on July 2, 1894?
In 1897 they change everything with a new symbol on the hilt and a new court card design. Was this still part of the expansion in the company?
You can read all about the history of Russell & Morgan by clicking on this link...............