In 1911, for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, the German card game factory Dondorf developed sketches for cards with figures in costumes, replicating the costumes of the participants in the famous ball in the Winter Palace of St. Petersburg in 1903.

5 comments

1. I had a deck of cards with these images, they are really cute. Never expected to see them on Reddit though.

2. [removed]

3. Extreme income inequality, always a sign of long-term social stability.

4. For those who don’t know, the ball celebrated the 290th anniversary of the ruling dynasty, and the costumes were inspired by the 17th century, the times before Peter I westernized Russian fashion.

   I think it’s still the second most popular card style in Russia after the Charlemagne deck, although the English pattern (the one with the suicide king and one-eyed jacks) has been growing in popularity.

5. man !!! I have this game package