I just caught wind of these today from someone on our Instagram and knew I had to share the word about these beautifully made playing cards. A Newfoundland Deck of Playing Cards is designed by Graham Blair Woodcuts. These would make for a great Christmas gift this season, or for anyone who loves playing cards.

The Newfoundland Deck of Playing Cards is as it sounds, a very Newfoundland themed deck that includes mummer-themed jokers and bilingual explanation cards. The back of the cards feature a beautiful blueberry-patch themed print, and on the flip-side you’ll find an array of characters that seem all too familiar.

The cards you’ll find inside are of the following design…

DIAMONDS (summer fishing): A cod for the Jack is matched with a fisherman King holding a jigger and a fish fork, and a Queen bearing a wooden salt shovel and a split cod ready for salting; they are all pictured against the rolling waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

HEARTS (fall hunting): A hunter King and caribou Jack roam the boreal forests, while the Queen gathers wild blueberries with a berry rake or “comb.” Newfoundland’s provincial flower – the pitcher plant – is scattered about on the ground.

CLUBS (winter sealing): A hakapik-wielding sealer King is paired with a Queen brandishing a rolling pin and cradling a seal-flipper pie, a traditional meal for sealing families. A heavy snow is falling in the background.

SPADES (spring shearing): Once found across the island of Newfoundland, a sheep waits to be shorn by the King, who holds a pair of blade shears. The Queen gets ready to knit using a finished ball of wool. Tall lupins flower in the background.

THE JOKERS are Newfoundland mummers, revelers who disguise themselves at Christmastime and visit the homes of friends and family, who offer food and drink and try to guess their identities. One mummer plays an accordion and wears Groucho Marx glasses, and the other holds a noisy ugly stick and has snatched Nan’s bra to wear over their coat!