shep
Let me tell ya about our 2008 trip out west...
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Local Playing Card Company Selling 'Iraq's Most Wanted' Decks
Thu Apr 24,12:38 PM ET Add Local - WLWT ChannelCincinnati.com to My Yahoo!
A local playing card company is printing up hundreds of thousands of cards that until now could only be seen on television.
They are meant to help the media and troops identify top-ranking Iraqi officials, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Evelyn Robertson reported Wednesday.
Originally, the government had 200 decks of the cards printed, but the public demand has grown so much that the a huge order has been dealt to the Norwood company that has been known for playing with history, Robertson reported.
The printers are running overtime at the United States Playing Card Co., and, as a result, so are the quality-control guys. They're making sure that the pictures of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and the other 52 most-wanted members of the Iraqi regime look just like the originals printed by the U.S. Defense Intellegence Agency, Robertson reported.
"It was a very smart thing the DIA did," company spokesman George White said. "They adhered the names and photos of the guys they wanted to capture to something everyone knows. Everyone's got a deck of 52 cards."
USPC has helped carry a national tradition in Cincinnati since 1867. In additon to those Bicycle and Hoyle playing cards many use, the company has helped out the U.S. government for decades, Robertson reported. One memorable contribution by the company was a map of escape routes out of Germany that was printed in between the card faces in case troops were captured in World War II.
"We shipped the decks of Bicycle into the prisoners of war in Germany," White said. "If they soaked the cards in water, and actually pulled them apart and then put the cards back together, (it would) recreate the escape route map."
The company also made spotter cards during the same war to help troops recognize military aircraft, Robertson reported. White called the effort the secret weapon of the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese were superstitious, and didn't like the Ace of Spades or statues of women. This was many a calling card for U.S. troops, and it was reproduced as a morale booster at the request of desert storm troops.
For now, it's unclear where about 500,000 decks of Iraq (news - web sites)'s most wanted will go, but the company is glad for the chance to play another historic role, Robertson reported.
The cards go on sale to the public Thursday at the company's Norwood headquarters, and at its Web site.
Thu Apr 24,12:38 PM ET Add Local - WLWT ChannelCincinnati.com to My Yahoo!
A local playing card company is printing up hundreds of thousands of cards that until now could only be seen on television.
They are meant to help the media and troops identify top-ranking Iraqi officials, WLWT Eyewitness News 5's Evelyn Robertson reported Wednesday.
Originally, the government had 200 decks of the cards printed, but the public demand has grown so much that the a huge order has been dealt to the Norwood company that has been known for playing with history, Robertson reported.
The printers are running overtime at the United States Playing Card Co., and, as a result, so are the quality-control guys. They're making sure that the pictures of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and the other 52 most-wanted members of the Iraqi regime look just like the originals printed by the U.S. Defense Intellegence Agency, Robertson reported.
"It was a very smart thing the DIA did," company spokesman George White said. "They adhered the names and photos of the guys they wanted to capture to something everyone knows. Everyone's got a deck of 52 cards."
USPC has helped carry a national tradition in Cincinnati since 1867. In additon to those Bicycle and Hoyle playing cards many use, the company has helped out the U.S. government for decades, Robertson reported. One memorable contribution by the company was a map of escape routes out of Germany that was printed in between the card faces in case troops were captured in World War II.
"We shipped the decks of Bicycle into the prisoners of war in Germany," White said. "If they soaked the cards in water, and actually pulled them apart and then put the cards back together, (it would) recreate the escape route map."
The company also made spotter cards during the same war to help troops recognize military aircraft, Robertson reported. White called the effort the secret weapon of the Vietnam War. The Vietnamese were superstitious, and didn't like the Ace of Spades or statues of women. This was many a calling card for U.S. troops, and it was reproduced as a morale booster at the request of desert storm troops.
For now, it's unclear where about 500,000 decks of Iraq (news - web sites)'s most wanted will go, but the company is glad for the chance to play another historic role, Robertson reported.
The cards go on sale to the public Thursday at the company's Norwood headquarters, and at its Web site.
