Russian Criminal Playing Cards

New boxed 54-card deck of Russian Criminal Playing Cards. Each of the four suits in this standard 2.5 x 3.5-inch set is reproduced from a different DIY deck hand-made by an incarcerated Russian criminal during the 1980s. Because Soviet-era wardens forbade card playing, prisoners were obliged to fabricate their own personal card sets on the sly, using everyday materials sourced from prison life. For example, these cards were produced with hand-cut stencils and inked with substances like soot and blood.