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Amalgamated Meat Cutters Playing Cards, circa 1952

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America
Title
Amalgamated Meat Cutters Playing Cards
Dates
circa 1952 (inclusive)
Quantity
52 playing cards (1 folder) ; 2 x 3 1/2 in.
Collection Number
PH1318
Summary
A collection of 52 playing cards featuring images and short biographies of union leaders
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Request at UW

Additional Reference Guides

Languages
English
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Historical Background

The Amalgamated Meat Cutters and Butcher Workmen of North America (AMC) was a labor union that represented meatpackers and butchers in Chicago. The group was chartered by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) in 1897 by AFL president Samuel Gompers. The AMC is most famous for a strike it held in 1904 where 18,000 workers left their posts on July 12 out of a demand for higher wages. The strike escalated when union members assaulted replacement cattle workers. Police were called to protect the cattle workers, whose involvement spurred a riot involving 4,000 union members. The union members were eventually defeated and signed a contract with meatpacking company president J. Ogden Armour on September 6, 1904. These riots are referenced in Upton Sinclair's novel, The Jungle . The AMC eventually merged with other unions, such as the International Fur and Leather Workers Union, the National Agriculture Workers Union, and the Packinghouse Workers of America. The group exists now as the United Food and Commerical Workers (UFCW) after a merger with the AMCBW in 1979.

Brown and Bigelow, Co. was established in 1896 by Herbert Bigelow and Hiram Brown. The company earned its fortune selling calenders, most famously of pin-up girls and prints by American painters such as Norman Rockwell and Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. In 1927, Brown and Bigelow began printing playing cards and eventually bought the rights to the Hoyle brand.

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Content Description

A deck of 52 playing cards printed by Brown and Bigelow in 1952. Each card features an image of an important union figure and a brief biography. The backs of the cards feature an illustration of the AMC building in Chicago. Each playing card has been cropped so that card value and suite is excluded. The set does not include the 2 jokers or the original box

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

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Administrative Information

Processing Note

Processed by Martin Sloot, 2015.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographic prints

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)


2015 (Last modified: 4/11/2018)

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