Vintage 1960s German Charles Eames Wolkenkuckuckshaus (House Of Cards) Deck

Description

Vintage 1960s German Charles Eames Wolkenkuckuckshaus (Cloud Cuckoo House) "House of Cards" Deck
Complete deck; cards in pristine condition; box is sturdy but shows some wear, including where it had been taped closed; includes instructions in German (translated below)
Manufactured by Ravensburger Spiele (Ravensburg Games), Western-Germany
Standard-sized cards measure 2 1/4" by 3 1/2"; the box measures 5 3/4" by 4 1/4" with cardboard insert to cradle the deck
Deck is complete with 54 picture cards, each with a unique photograph of what Charles Eames and his wife called "good things." Pictures include everything from the mundane (spools of thread, pills, pins, crayons, vegetables, buttons, candy) to the old and exotic (antique toys, ethnic dolls, elaborate tassels, mounted moths, historic coins). On the back of each card is a gold asterisk. Also included is an information card about Charles Eames on one side and a "prescription" on the other; and a "title card" that shows some suggested card structures on the opposite side. And finally,
a tri-fold leaflet that illustrates the basics in using the cards, some additional information on Charles Eames, and pictures of even more possible structures. All 56 cards (54 picture cards plus 2 info cards) have six notches cut around the periphery for construction purposes.
From eames.com:
“The Eames ‘House of Cards’
was a diversely creative toy which, typical of the Eames’s designs, aimed at children and adults alike. There were two packs produced. The first, in 1952, consisted of the ‘pattern deck’ which contained fifty-four cards with a wide variety of textured and/or colored patterns on the one side and a black asterisk on the other. The second set, produced later, utilized photographs in place of the colored finishes, thus giving it its name of ‘picture deck’. Both sets of cards had 6 slits in them, two on each side and one at each end which allowed the cards to slot into each other, enabling them to create a vastly diverse architectural adventure, especially after the two decks were combined. The Eames cards were printed by the American Playing Card Company and distributed by Tigrett Enterprises and were produced until the company folded in 1961… The ‘House of Cards’ also appeared in Europe through the German company Otto Maier … who produced them under licence [sic] from Tigrett.”
Translation of text on box:
[on top of lid]
Cloud Cuckoo House
Otto Maier Publishing Ravensburg
Published under an agreement with Tigrett Enterprises
A building game with cards from Charles Eames
[in red circle on sides of box]:
play well
awarded good toy by the working committee
Translation of "info" cards:
[The "title" card]
CLOUD CUCKOO HOUSE
A building game with cards
Design and layout by Charles Eames
Otto Maier Publishing House Ravensburg
Ravensburg Games
published under an agreement with Tigrett Enterprises
[opposite side of "title" card, with illustrations over blue and pink rectangles]
CLOUD CUCKOO HOUSE
BUILD these and many other ENCHANTING STRUCTURES from the cards
It's that simple
[card with paragraph over blue and pink rectangles] "Charles Eames is an important American artist and architect who became world famous for the furniture, household appliances, industrial forms, houses, films and toys he designed. One of his most endearing works is the "house of cards", the "Cloud Cuckoo House", a collection of fantastically colorful images from all over the world. Well-known and familiar, but also magical and strange shapes and colors delight and enchant young and old. The cards are provided with notches, so that you can slide them into each other and connect them in a variety of ways. This game is an appealing and irresistible invitation to nice people of all ages to build their own little fantasy world out of lots of wonderful cloud cuckoo houses. We cordially invite you to join us!"
["prescription" on opposite side]
Dr. Charles Eames
Practical Psychologist
Prescription for Manager
1 pack
Cloud Cuckoo House
Ravensbürg Games
No. 16.530
To calm the nerves
"Ravensburg games" are available in every good
specialty store. Brochure and proof of suppliers gladly free of charge by the
OTTO MAIER PUBLISHING HOUSE RAVENSBURG
Translations of tri-fold leaflet
["inner" side]:
Instructions for the
CLOUD CUCKOO HOUSE
"Each card has 6 notches, which are placed in such a way that the cards can be joined together in many different ways. In these pictures we show 6 such ways:" [see illustration of black card with notches and 6 ways of joining cards]
"Here is a simple example:" [see illustrated instructions on building a tower]
"Join upright cards evenly
Slide flat cards into each other"
[below that, in black] "Charles Eames is an important American artist and architect, who became world-famous for the furniture, household appliances, industrial forms, houses, films and toys that he designed in a way that was as functional and beautiful as it was original. For the first set of his card game he collected charming and colorful pictures from all over the world, showing objects that are well known and familiar to us, that "we are homesick for"; but also enchantingly strange things: Chinese rag rug, East Indian marionette, Portuguese jewelry bag, Indian doll, clock hands, medicine pills. In the second set of the game we also find many beautiful colors and shapes: fabric patterns, wallpapers, binding papers, cut-out sheets. The resulting collections have already delighted countless young and old people in many countries around the world."
Translations of tri-fold leaflet
["outer" side, in blue boxes]:
"These pictures show some of the many constructions you can make from these cards."
"If you dab some all-purpose glue on the joints, you will get a permanent decoration for your home."
"You will find many other enchanting possibilities when you invent your own constructions with these cards."
Examples shown: wall, cube, construction, building, city, tent, church, ring, bridge, house, high-rise, airplane hangar, windmill, stadium, tower, dome, arcade, labyrinth