The card types and dates are detailed and illustrated in M H Goodall,
Minor British Playing Card Makers of the Nineteenth Century.
Volume I: W H Willis & Company, 1996.
The book contains substantial further information...
For a description of terms, see notes at the bottom of the table
| Maker | Type | Dates | Corners | Courts | Turned | Indices | plainbacks | Notes |
| Willis | CS1 | c1867 | Square | Double | - | - | - | CS = Charles Steer, paper makers and printers. The business became Willis's card making business. CS is used by Whitaker and Perry -See their design BW3 |
| Willis | WL1 | 1867-1885 | Both | Double | - | - | M22 | - |
| Willis | WL1a | 1873-1885 | Round | Double | - | small | - | - |
| Willis | WL2 | 1875-1887 | Square | Double | Turned | - | - | - |
| Willis | WL2.1 | 1875-1887 | Square | Double | Turned | - | - | New design - cut down crowns, rounded frame |
| Willis | WL2.1a | 1882 |
Round | Double | Turned | Triplicates | - | Turned courts don't work well with triplicate indices! Hence WL3 a year later. |
| Willis | WL2.1b | 1887 |
Round | Double | Turned | - | - | Patience card variant, Red/Black, Woolley AS. |
| Willis | WL3 | 1883 |
Round | Double | Turned |
Triplicates | M14 | Full length courts at the corners of this double-ended design - this has everything! |
Corners Square or Round:
Rounded corners were introduced to help prevent wear, most makers adopted these from circa 1875
Courts:
Full are traditional figures with legs see P1
DE = double ended, eg M50 (Unturned) M15 (turned left)
DE4h=Double ended with "four hands"! (see KS, KH, KD on M2)
Turned:
blank = unturned, T=Turned, TR=Turned right
In the traditional full-length pattern six pips are placed left (the four kings, JS, QH) and six right.
It became convenient to "turn" 6 courts so all 12 pips are left (or occasionally all 12 are on the right.)
These "turned" courts pre-date the use of indices and serve a similar but more basic purpose.
For Examples see M50 (Unturned) M15 (Turned: Pips all on left)
Indices:
blank=none, A or 1 means with index and "A" or "1" shows ace format
Corner indices conveniently convey the cards to a player without widely fanning the hand.
When indices came in, various experiments were tried.
See these examples...
Index Inside Frame M23
'Eureka', 'Index Pips' or 'Dexter' - indices in suit signs see M40
Triplicates - full cards reproduced in corners! M14 and an earlier US set I8
Modern indices - these Goodall cards M9 from c. 1900 start to seem familiar!
Ace of Spades
The Willis cards all use the same Ace of Spades (see the links in the table above).
The only modification is the addition of a corner index for the decks that have them (including the triplicates).
