Rx Almanac Playing Cards by Meadowlark Pharmacy

The team at Meadowlark Pharmacy is back with a fascinating deck series, Rx Almanac Playing Cards. This new deck continues the pharmacy theme and is designed to look like a vintage pharmacy almanac of the mid-1900s, with advertisements of medications along with other types of items from milk to bird seed.

The face cards display pages from the almanac and the tuck box would be the leather cover of the almanac. All the illustrations are hand-illustrated by Italian designer Elettra Deganello. There are two editions of The Rx Almanac Playing Cards: Volume I and Volume II available on Kickstarter.

Volume I feature a tuck box made of high-quality red core paper colored with black ink, copper hot foil, white-hot foil, and embossing. It features an artwork of a hand carrying a gold mortar and pestle emblazoned with the “Rx” symbol. You will notice the meadowlark bird standing by the rim of the mortar. The vibrant red color can be found on the interior of the box.

Volume II features an even more elaborate design. It is designed as a deck encased in a book box case. The tuck box is made of high-quality white paper with black ink and letter pressing – it resembles the Title Page of the Almanac. The book box is made of high quality wrapped around cardboard to resemble a book – there is the usage of teal ink, gold, and silver hot foil on the artwork. It has a magnet to keep the box close to keep the deck safe. 

The card design features a two-way back design. The artwork on the back shows a resemblance to a vintage deck design – an opened book with the “Rx” symbol on both sides with a banner that shows the deck title and producer name and meadowlark birds clinging on the banner. On the top and bottom side is a shelf with books. Volume I will have a vintage color scheme, using the colors of dark brown and copper metallic ink. Volume II will have a brighter and more fun color scheme, using the colors of teal and gold metallic ink. 

The artwork for the faces are completely customized. The Aces feature enlarged pips, with the Ace of Spades showcasing the detailed illustration of the pharmacy almanac. The Numbered Cards featured slightly customized pips – a few of the pips will have a golden outline on them. Volume I’s red suits will be presented in classic red, while Volume II’s red suits will be presented in teal. There are a few of the Number cards in Volume II that feature detailed illustrations of product advertisements complete with promoting texts and models trying out the products.

The royals featured two-way illustrations of more product advertisements – from promoting soothing syrup to milk. Notice the text banners that break out of the border, providing opportunities to connect them with the other cards. Volume II will feature very interesting connecting artworks.

The Jokers featured a diptych artwork of jesters along with monkeys entertaining the spectators, promoting the “Crazy Monkey”

The cards will be produced by Legends Playing Card Co with Viper Finish. Pledge starts from $15 for Volume I and $22 for Volume II on Kickstarter.