World War II
Airplane Spotter

This deck was originally produced in 1943 as a learning aid for American Civil Defense guards to recognize airplanes by their silhouette. In the dark night sky, it pays to be able to recognize friend and foe, and to raise the alarm for the right ones. This reproduction deck was published in 1990 by U.S. Games Systems, and has recently been reissued.

The deck is simple and useful, being simply the images of fifty-two airplanes in silhouette, viewed from top, side and front. At the bottom of each card is the nationality, type and name of each plane. With so many images together, it's a lot easier to study the differences between each plane, and to be able to look for those tell-tale signs that identify friend from foe.

The deck comes without real jokers, but there are two other non-valued cards to make up the difference. These cards contain advice from the makers about how to maximize the strategic benefit from the cards, while using them to play ordinary card games. They suggest no particular game, but rather lots of exposure, accompanied by careful study of the cards in your hand. They also suggest holding "pop quizzes" to test and cement the knowledge of the individual players. They stress that knowledge of airplanes is useful, even if you're not the designated Airplane Spotter in your Civilian Defence group.

All images © 1990, U.S. Games Systems, displayed here for commentary, analysis and appreciation only.