Not According To Hoyle

Pretty much everyone who has an interest in playing cards has heard the expression “according to Hoyle“. Edmond Hoyle’s writings also included backgammon and chess, but Hoyle was best known for his written works on the rules and play of card games. However, in the 1940s (or thereabouts), premium advertising company Brown & Bigelow produced a play on the Hoyle name and slogan with their “Not According To Hoyle” playing cards. These cards, with their silhouetted female form on the front, hinted at “breaking all the rules”.

The cards inside featured a risque pinup, who appears to be losing her bra in a game of strip poker.

These are not the only such risque cards ever made. Not by a long shot. There are vintage playing cards featuring naughty illustrated pinups, like Vargas, all the way to retro playing cards featuring photographs of lusty, explicit nudes. I think I like the “Not According To Hoyle” strip poker cards best of all though. You?