This deck vies with Karin Koal for the first “self-teaching” deck. Karin’s deck came out in 1972 and we have no exact date for the publication of the first Merrimack deck (still working on it though), so it is a horse race to determine whose nose crossed the line first. Still, this is the first Waite-Smith clone deck to feature keywords on each card. The fact that these images were lifted directly from University Book’s deck, which was later bought out by Lyle Stuart to become Citadel Press only makes things more complex and intriguing. Folks, if you thought the mystery of who was doing what to whom ended With the Art, Sam, and Pam “art” show, boy howdy do we have a surprise for you tonight! The legacy of the University Books, Inc. clone of the original Rider decks fractured into decks and books published by Merrimack, Citadel Press, Carol Publishing, Lyle Stuart, Causeway Press, Kensington Publishing, B. Shackman, and even U.S. Games Systems. It is like a mosaic of broken stained glass fragments scattered across a church floor—and in some ways just as sad.

Needless to say, this predates the so-called “Quick & Easy” cheater deck that allows untrained readers to fraudulently pose as professionals who can charge ridiculous amounts of money to fuck up their client’s future with bad advice and vague predictions.

Additional Notes on Merrimack Publishing’s Legacy

To understand the strange afterlife of the Merrimack tarot, it helps to look at the broader output of Merrimack Publishing as a company. Long after the tarot deck was produced, Merrimack continued issuing a wide range of inexpensive vintage-style reprints, ephemera, paper goods, and “nostalgia kitsch” well into the 1990s. These items show the company’s ongoing business model: low-cost reproductions, public-domain imagery, and small gift-shop style products.

A sampling of Merrimack’s non-tarot releases over the decades:

• 1965 – Costumes of the Antique World:
  http://www.amazon.com/Costumes-Antique-Merrimack-Publishing-Company/dp/B000H596DU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1442331652&sr=8-2&keywords=Merrimack+publishing
• 1990 – Christmas Reproduction Children’s Book:
  http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Reproduction-Childrens-Merrimack-Publishing/dp/B00Z6RYNR8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1442331652&sr=8-4&keywords=Merrimack+publishing
• 1995 – One Thousand Railroad Logos:
  http://www.amazon.com/Merrimack-Publishing-Presents-Thousand-Railroad/dp/B00XNZWZPC/ref=sr_1_26?ie=UTF8&qid=1442331806&sr=8-26&keywords=Merrimack+publishing

Additional ephemera & card sets:
http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Victorian-Gift-Note-Cards-Envelopes/dp/B00I91LM22/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1442331652&sr=8-9&keywords=Merrimack+publishing
http://www.amazon.com/Greetings-Reproduction-Original-Vintage-Postcard/dp/B00P5ESMBA/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1442331652&sr=8-12&keywords=Merrimack+publishing

CARD SETS (non-tarot):
http://www.amazon.com/Great-Composers-Musical-Card-Vintage/dp/B011ZFHFOM/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1442331652&sr=8-16&keywords=Merrimack+publishing

These examples show the breadth of Merrimack’s catalogue: reprints, educational curios, holiday items, novelty decks, and Victorian-style gift cards. Merrimack never positioned itself as an esoteric publisher, but rather as a producer of decorative, affordable, mass-market paper goods. The tarot was simply one item in a long line of low-cost reprint products.