Hello,
Check my aged tarot deck. It didn't take long and taught me a lot about aging a prop. I will be making my second attempt soon. I am showing it to the community for some constructive criticism and some fresh ideas.

MMM Sorry I don't see anything?

Is this the Tarot version of the invisible deck? lol ..... pic didn't post. I like to age pictures.

Weepinwill what do you use to age pictures coffee or tea ....or invisibel ink ;-)

I've been trying to age tarot cards with very limited success. It's too hard to get through that coating.

I'll be watching this thread with great interest.

David

Remember how we used to prep a deck for Fans and Fan Productions? Softening a deck for back palms?

Prepping and Aging a Tarot deck is not dissimilar.

Step one however is to take one of the advertising cards, and give it a good curl on the table edge from two directions. Note the card stock. Some will not develop ‘creases’ under the coating. Don’t use decks that crease under the finish or bed as opposed to curl. (you’ll know what I mean).

Lo Scarabeo & USG usually use acceptable card stock. Cheaper decks like the Vargo Gothic <http://www.tarotgarden.com/database/dbsearchengine.php?view_title=vargo>
will crease and look ‘cheap’. (Okay so luddite can't link)

Work the deck to soften it. Your granny would have softened it through use.

Step two is the Tea stain method, which is difficult to get to work with many modern decks. It’s all about the finish; some decks will never ever take to staining or aging of any kind (Fournier Tarot de Marseille is a great example or the 2006 USG printing of the Dowson Hermetic).

When you find a deck worth aging, (lets say a nice 70’s printing of the Swiss 1JJ (brown plaid back, French titles, no laminate finish); dunking cards in tea will cause the unsealed edges to absorb excess liquid, causing edge swell – not good.

Brew some nice strong American style tea (boil two cheap black tea bags until you’re bored) and let cool. Either wipe on with a soft cloth and allow to air dry, or use a hand spray bottle. Let air dry.

I’ve seen a few ‘aged decks’ where the card faces and backs were lovely. However one cannot ignore the card edges. Even more important than the card faces and backs, is the edge of the deck. Nice bright edges make the aging of the faces look cheap and wrong. If you age the deck edges, it will help detract from even a Fournier piece of crap.

Find yourself a friend who still smokes. We don’t care what they smoke as long as it is not cigar or pipe tobacco, cigarette tobacco ash works best, as it contains the least amount of odorants. Cigar or pipe ashes sometimes have non-entropic odorants. You want a goodly amount of ash…I hate to get halfway through a job just to roll another cigarette to finish it…

Dampen a sponge. Wring the water out. Get a black paste on one corner of the sponge. Take your deck (as a block) and apply the black paste to the four sides of the deck. Wipe off the excess. But not too much.

While it’s still slightly damp, begin to reverse faro shuffle your deck. It should transfer ‘black’ to the tops and bottom of the faces and backs of the cards, and frankly, soil them (which is what we're doing in the first place). The harsh blackness on the deck edge will wear down rather quickly and leave you with a beautiful deck you stole from granny’s coffin (“Please mom, one last kiss. I’ll never see her again!”)

Alternatively, you could pay $8,000 for a Pam A, or $1000+ for a Dusserre Dodal and have an instant heirloom…

Which one

A week or two in the ground takes off the coating and provides a distinctive crinkle. (Or, you can go for the sandpaper if you choose. My personal favorite is to scuff it on concrete a couple times with my shoe. Makes it look more abused.) Then go for a strong, hot, cup of tea and soak 30 minutes at a time. Let dry a little and inspect to see if aged enough. Afterwards, if the aging was a success you add sugar and drink the tea and if it wasn't a success you still add sugar and drink the tea. No sense wasting a good 50 cent cup of tea after destroying a $20 deck of cards.

As for the invisible ink, I only use that on cadavers when I want to play, 'Now you see them, now you don't' with the family members at the wake.

This aging might seem simplistic and not as detailed and creative as some methods, but give it a try.

I’ve had some luck, and results, with a rather fast and easy method that’s had a good result for the swiftness and simplicity.

First, I take a somewhat rough sponge pad (like those for scrubbing pans) or a brillo type pad, and quickly rough the front and back surface of the card (only slightly really.)

Second, with a cotton rag I rub in brown paste wax shoe polish front and back.

Third, after a very few minutes of drying, with a clean cotton rag I buff off most of the polish, leaving it slightly heavier near the very edges of the cards.

Last, I sort of bend and crimp the corners of the cards, and sometimes rough the edge of the entire deck with the same rough pad I used before.

This takes under an hour, and as I said, the results while not perfect are acceptable.

Try the technique out on a few of the “extra jokers” from a regular deck of cards till you get the knack for speed and appearance.

Magically,
Walt

My original 70's 1JJ hardly needs artificial aging. It's been a few years since the 1970's, man

Sorry, here it is.
Shamsiel

Looks pretty good to me.

Can we see the back, please?

Nice !

sure.

I am looking for a bizarre yet victorian looking tarot to age as my second project. Anyone has any ideas? I like a few tarot cards but am a little bit cautious because I do believe in the paranormal (please don't flame me for that!). But Tarot Cards look better aged IMHO. Any creepy and victorian looking tarot sets out there?

Next time I will fade a little less. And maybe stain more. What do you think?
Respects,
Shamsiel

A few things I avoid because of Tabu !

This is obviously just a personal opinion, but I think faded and yellowed looks more authentic than stained and/or damaged. This is why I have such difficulty aging decks. I find that water damage, stains and dirt are very easy to accomplish. But it has been much harder to get authentic looking age yellowing and fading.

As for Victorian era, I would be tempted to go with an Ettilla deck. Here is one example:
http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/book-of-thoth-etteilla/

Best luck to you!

Head over to The Tarot Garden, and in the upper left, click on Advanced Search. On the advanced search screen, find catagories and choose "Historical Reproductions". While the Etteilla Tarot was popular on the continent from the late 1783-1850, it was not as prevalent as the Besançon and its derivatives, the Soprafino, or any TdM (especially the Dodal or the Noblet).
Even though the RWS is considered a Victorian era deck (first published in 1909) it’s actually post-Victorian.
Further, you really wish to seek a deck with non-English titles. Bi-lingual and English language cards are definitely post 1886 when the Golden Dawn began hijacking French occultism to market their fictional based movement.

Shamsiel,

Please, please, PLEASE tell me what deck that is!!! I'm creating a tiled surround for an arched doorway in my house and I NEED THAT DECK!!! Haha. Thanks!