Hoi Polloi
1972 independent alternative to Rider-Waite before modern commercial standardization.
creator unknown · 1972
Find a copy →We link out and never sell decks. Buying through links may earn us a small commission.
The record
The year is 1972; the place, New York City. And as the giant of the tarot world we now know as US Games is busy trying to obtain copyright for the Rider-Waite-Smith (RWS) tarot, one small, independent company is releasing its own version of the deck. Named simply The Tarot, it is the last commercially-produced tarot to use Pamela Colman-Smiths drawings before US Games becomes the only company legally allowed to do so. Thirty-five years on and the Hoi Polloi Tarot, as it is now known (after Hoi Polloi Inc., the company that made it), is an acid-bright reminder of how times have changed. The colourful graphic style of the Hoi Polloi couldnt be more different to Pixies detailed illustrations but theres no doubt that the composition and contents of each card were lifted directly from her work under Arthur Waites instruction in 1909. Try that now, and youd most likely find yourself in court. But despite the obvious copying, there are subtle differences between the two decks, mainly in what the Hoi Polloi lacks. There is no stained glass window in the 4 of Swords, for example, and no garden leading to distant mountains in the Ace of Pentacles. The figure in the 5 of Cups is cryin
The cards
