Win, Lose Or Draw (Deck 1) [Brown & Bigelow]

“Win, Lose or Draw,” the double bridge-sized deck set featuring art by Earl MacPherson and manufactured by Brown & Bigelow in 1945, was a sensation at the time and remains one of the iconic pin-up decks of the golden age. It reportedly sold 168,000 orders in just four months. Luckily for the contemporary collector, this also means full decks with original packaging and including the 1945 calendar card are relatively plentiful on the secondary market. The set came in a box that is designed to look like a vintage book; no doubt many of these sets went undetected while shelved between real books. There is a poem on the inner box as well as a different one on the joker. The poems and images, taken together, tell a story; the brunette is pictured on one card as drawing unsuccessfully to a straight flush, and is resignedly taking down her shoulder straps. The same girl on the second deck, though topless, is more confident as she boldly draws a hidden ace of hearts from her waistband. Unlike similar Brown & Bigelow projects of the era, the cards themselves are not printed with promotional advertising, but the outer box is embossed with the custom promo copy.