The World War II Spy History of Bicycle Playing Cards

Of the roughly 94,000 U.S. soldiers who became prisoners of war in Germany during World War II, an especially unfortunate several hundred wound up in a camp called Oflag IV-C, better known as Colditz Castle, a 12th-century stone fortress built atop a 250-foot cliff in Saxony. The Germans believed that escape from Colditz was impossible. But it was possible, thanks to Bicycle playing cards. Unbeknownst to the Wehrmacht, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (precursor to the CIA) and British Special Operations Executive had secretly commissioned the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC) to create top-secret Bicycle-brand decks—spirited in by the Red Cross—where the cards could be peeled apart to reveal miniature maps of Germany. These map decks incited no fewer than 316 escape attempts. Today, only two of the decks are believed to have survived—one is in the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.—so forget about finding it on eBay. The good news is that Bicycle makes just about every other variety of deck imaginable, from the $4.99 Standard to the Disney Mickey Mouse black and gold deck ($12.99), a limited edition produced to mark the entertainment behemoth's centennial this year. Perhaps it’s a measure of how digital games have nibbled away at playing cards’ once indomitable dominion that a legendary brand has had to turn heads with decks themed not only after Disney characters, but also (at one time or another) Back to the Future, Peanuts, Hello Kitty, Ford tractors, Jaws, dinosaurs, Vikings, firefighters and the architectural wonders of the world. And that’s just a sampling. “We want to make sure that we serve all communities,” is how vice president of marketing and global insights Masha Ievseieva explained it. And with 56% of Americans saying they like card games, that seems like a sensible approach. But thematic variety isn’t Bicycle’s only differentiator. Since its first cards rolled off the presses in 1881, Bicycle has made the de facto American deck—“exceptional and affordable playing cards,” as one card site put it. “Bicycle has been the brand of choice not just for the social players, but also for magicians around the world—Copperfield, Blaine—who choose Bicycle because of the consistency of the quality,” Ievseieva said. “And Bicycle has the air-cushion finish.” That’s really what it’s called. Patented in 1950, the feature relies on tiny indentations in the laminated paper stock that create air pockets above them, allowing the cards to glide across one another. The resulting ease of play is one reason Bicycle remains the bestselling card brand in America—certainly among ordinary players at home, where card games might well be the sole pastime that a grandparent and kid can be equally good at. Odds are, air cushioning didn’t matter much to the POWs in Colditz Castle, ever on the lookout for those secret map decks. And just for the record, with those maps in hand, 32 soldiers made it back to Allied lines. Here's the deal The USPCC makes everything from poker chips to cribbage boards and card brands, including Tally-Ho, Bee and Aviator. But the Bicycle brand established—and still anchors—the company. In 1881, Russell, Morgan & Company—which had been printing labels and theater posters since 1867—polled its employees for a suitable name for its inaugural line of playing cards. The prevailing suggestion was Bicycle, based on cycling’s increasing popularity. In a clever nod to both the era and the brand name, company artists rendered the jokers as kings riding bicycles. Full house for the mouse It’s not easy to keep a 142-year-old brand fresh, not least because a 52-card deck must adhere to standard playing card conventions or nobody will use them. One way Bicycle has mixed it up is with its special collections—notably ones themed after popular franchises—that not only add variety to the product line, but also speak to the collector community. “All licensed decks are, by design, limited editions,” Ievseieva said. The latest edition, licensed from Disney, features far more than Mickey. There’s a Disney Princesses deck, where the face cards include Moana, Belle and Cinderella, while a Disney Villains deck sports Cruella, Scar and Ursula—who is, as one might expect, a queen. The long play Bicycle’s secret map deck that helped POWs escape Nazi Germany (1) was just one of the endless playing card varieties made by the USPCC at its Norwood, Ohio, factory (2). More recent ones have included the Back to the Future deck (3) and this one-off deck made in 1971 (inset) for NASA’s Skylab astronauts.

Perspective

Some World War II POWs Escaped With Help From Bicycle Playing Cards

Shuffled by sharks and snuck in by spies, this deck has been the standard American since 1881

Robert Klara

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Robert Klara