COMIC CARDS
F. H. (Frederick Henry) Lowerre
His Hochman Playing Card Encyclopedia mention appears as such;
T3 ECLIPSE COMIC PLAYING CARDS, F. H. Lowerre, NY, 1876. This deck was the first original transformation deck to be published in the United States. The Ace of Spades is striking and bold with the name of the deck printed on it. The comical court cards are framed in gold and the crowns of the Kings and Queens are also gold. Gold accents appear throughout the deck making it striking as well as unusual. Despite its beauty, it has, in the view of many, some faults, being not as artistic as many of its European predecessors. The themes are not as clever and there are many suit signs that are unused in the overall design. However, it is a rare deck and a gem in any collection. This is the first transformation deck to be issued with a Joker.
Frederick was born in New York City in 1844 to William and Catherine (Wagstaff) Lowerre. His father was a very successful lawyer and owned a lot of property around town. The oldest son, A. W. (Alfred Wagstaff), was a lawyer in his father’s business but Frederick was not. He does not appear to have been overly ambitious in his early life. He did work as a clerk and collector in the law firm but lived at home until he was thirty-one.
In 1875 he met a girl from Chicago that had moved in a couple doors down from him. Her name was Lelia Gertrude Andrews and she is living with her widowed mother. Things moved quickly and they got married the following January. The couple moved into their own place and Leila’s mother joined them.
A year later Frederick’s life takes a big change when his father dies. His father’s Will, in very long lawyer-type wording, spells out in detail what each of his children get. Frederick is to receive 1/6th of everything. Only his sister, Emeline, gets more because she is unmarried (And she never does). Her father leaves her an extra $25,000 ($600,000 in today’s money). His sister Catherine had died just a few months earlier and her father had quickly added a codicil to change the Will from 1/7th for everyone to 1/6th. Even though he provided for all the grandchildren Catherine’s husband sued for a bigger slice. It did him no good to sue a lawyer’s family. Son A. W. saw to that.
Now Frederick has money and by the next year he is in the card business. Possibly since he grew up while Samuel Hart’s transformation cards were popular in New York that gave him his idea. At the time Transformation cards were known as humorous and comic cards and Eclipse Comic cards came to be.
His Hochman Playing Card Encyclopedia mention appears as such;
T3 ECLIPSE COMIC PLAYING CARDS, F. H. Lowerre, NY, 1876. This deck was the first original transformation deck to be published in the United States. The Ace of Spades is striking and bold with the name of the deck printed on it. The comical court cards are framed in gold and the crowns of the Kings and Queens are also gold. Gold accents appear throughout the deck making it striking as well as unusual. Despite its beauty, it has, in the view of many, some faults, being not as artistic as many of its European predecessors. The themes are not as clever and there are many suit signs that are unused in the overall design. However, it is a rare deck and a gem in any collection. This is the first transformation deck to be issued with a Joker.
Frederick was born in New York City in 1844 to William and Catherine (Wagstaff) Lowerre. His father was a very successful lawyer and owned a lot of property around town. The oldest son, A. W. (Alfred Wagstaff), was a lawyer in his father’s business but Frederick was not. He does not appear to have been overly ambitious in his early life. He did work as a clerk and collector in the law firm but lived at home until he was thirty-one.
In 1875 he met a girl from Chicago that had moved in a couple doors down from him. Her name was Lelia Gertrude Andrews and she is living with her widowed mother. Things moved quickly and they got married the following January. The couple moved into their own place and Leila’s mother joined them.
A year later Frederick’s life takes a big change when his father dies. His father’s Will, in very long lawyer-type wording, spells out in detail what each of his children get. Frederick is to receive 1/6th of everything. Only his sister, Emeline, gets more because she is unmarried (And she never does). Her father leaves her an extra $25,000 ($600,000 in today’s money). His sister Catherine had died just a few months earlier and her father had quickly added a codicil to change the Will from 1/7th for everyone to 1/6th. Even though he provided for all the grandchildren Catherine’s husband sued for a bigger slice. It did him no good to sue a lawyer’s family. Son A. W. saw to that.
Now Frederick has money and by the next year he is in the card business. Possibly since he grew up while Samuel Hart’s transformation cards were popular in New York that gave him his idea. At the time Transformation cards were known as humorous and comic cards and Eclipse Comic cards came to be.
The Bookseller
August 1877
“The Eclipse Comic Playing Cards, advertised in another column, are very neat and attractive. The pack contains the usual number of fifty-three, including the “Joker”, with the spots identical with those of ordinary playing cards. The new feature consists of comic figures in bright colors and gold, there being different designs for each card. They are quite amusing in design, are well executed, and there is nothing in them to offend the most sensitive taste. They are unique and pretty as well as amusing.”
Frederick uses S. W. Green to print his playing cards. Mr. Green had been in business with John A. Gray but had recently split with him. Mr. Gray was a “drunkard”, according to a law suit with him, and ruining the business. In 1879 Gray sues Green and Henry Burr, a silent partner, for thousands of dollars owed on new equipment they bought when starting the business. Green wins but gets out of the business and Burr and Green’s son continue printing the Eclipse cards until 1883.
The cards sold then for “a very moderate price” of about 52 cents a pack or over $13 in today’s prices.
August 1877
“The Eclipse Comic Playing Cards, advertised in another column, are very neat and attractive. The pack contains the usual number of fifty-three, including the “Joker”, with the spots identical with those of ordinary playing cards. The new feature consists of comic figures in bright colors and gold, there being different designs for each card. They are quite amusing in design, are well executed, and there is nothing in them to offend the most sensitive taste. They are unique and pretty as well as amusing.”
Frederick uses S. W. Green to print his playing cards. Mr. Green had been in business with John A. Gray but had recently split with him. Mr. Gray was a “drunkard”, according to a law suit with him, and ruining the business. In 1879 Gray sues Green and Henry Burr, a silent partner, for thousands of dollars owed on new equipment they bought when starting the business. Green wins but gets out of the business and Burr and Green’s son continue printing the Eclipse cards until 1883.
The cards sold then for “a very moderate price” of about 52 cents a pack or over $13 in today’s prices.
In 1884 we find that Frederick changes careers again. He is now operating a business of “Patent Articles and Specialties” at 25 East 14th. He has also received a patent for a bottle stopper he invented. It is advertised as “The Perfection Bottle Clip” and “especially adapted to Champagne, Ale, Porter, Sparkling Wines, Mineral Waters or Aerated beverages of any sort.” He continues this line of work until 1890.
By 1890 Frederick has moved across the East River and is living in Brooklyn. He has now become the President of the Coney Island Surface Railroad operating in Gravesend next to Coney Island. How he got into this line of work is unknown. I have been unable to find any connection of him to people associated with this company. During this time he was also back to his inventing ways and patents a nursing bottle holder. (U. S. Pat. No. 530,434)
By 1896 he left the railroad business and he spent the last ten years of his life in advertising and real estate in Brooklyn. In 1906 he died suddenly from inflammation of his heart muscles and renal failure.
Frederick’s creation of the first original American designed transformation deck, even if rather crudely drawn, was still a beautiful deck. This deck brought the style back to life and inspired transformation decks for decades to come.
By 1896 he left the railroad business and he spent the last ten years of his life in advertising and real estate in Brooklyn. In 1906 he died suddenly from inflammation of his heart muscles and renal failure.
Frederick’s creation of the first original American designed transformation deck, even if rather crudely drawn, was still a beautiful deck. This deck brought the style back to life and inspired transformation decks for decades to come.