What deck have you had the longest?

[Teemu]

Hmmm, I do not remember. Either it was the simple RWS, or the "Kabbalistisches Tarot". The RWS was of much more use to me than the other.

[Chariot]

Definitely the plaid-back RiderWaiteSmith deck which I got in the mid-1970s.  It was my only deck for several years until I also got the Hanson-Roberts deck as a 'lighter' version of RWS, to use to read for people who were frightened of the RWS symbols. (A friend of mine at the time had The Aquarian Tarot, which I almost bought, but never quite did.  It was attractive, but wasn't quite 'me.') I still  have both my original RWS and Hanson-Roberts decks, and still use them.  I also got the Motherpeace Tarot around the same time as the Hanson-Roberts, but I quickly gave it away, as I couldn't get used to the round shape and the non-RWS cards and meanings.  I was still just learning, and couldn't be bothered trying to cope with half-turned cards and yet more symbols.

All of the other decks I now own have entered my collection since I moved from the USA to Scotland in 1986.  By then, of course, there were many more decks available to buy, and many more places to buy them. What WAS missing in the 80s and 90s, though, were YouTube flip-through videos!  So I bought quite a few decks I didn't really like, once I got them out of the box.  I've probably given away twice as many decks as I've kept over the years.  I certainly love YouTube flip-throughs!   They have kept me from making lots of recent buying mistakes.

Edited Sunday at 08:20 PM by Chariot

[fire cat pickles]

Mine is a Dali deck I got when I was 18, for $88. I remember the price because I bought it in '88. Lots of eights... .

[jupiter]

A plain German edition RWS that I bought in my hometown's bookstore when I was about 13/14, and a Cosmic Tarot from the same shop.
They're both still in great shape... I'm 37 and working on getting into great shape.

[geoxena]

On 2/25/2025 at 1:41 PM, geoxena said:

RWS, with the plaid backs - my first tarot deck, bought in the late 70s.  It was my only deck until 2013, after I found Aeclectic and learned about others.  

 

 

I see I already posted about mine, but I feel the need to correct what I wrote.  I did know about other decks before I found AT.  I remember I was obsessed with the Salvador Dali deck.  I had seen it at a store called Enchantments in the East Village, NYC, sometime around 1985, but it was far beyond my budget at $100.  At the time, I had just moved to the city with very little money and didn't have a phone for over a year because I couldn't even afford that.  I'd also heard about the Motherpeace deck from a close friend who really liked it, but it didn't appeal to me.  Then, during the 90s, I was taking workshops with some people on various topics and attended one on trusting your intuition.  They used the Voyager tarot deck for some of the exercises, so I then became obsessed with that one.  But I just hung onto my first RWS and didn't start buying more until after finding AT.  The first one I bought after that was the Neuzeit Tarot, off of eBay in 2013 for about $10, which I only knew about because of AT's forums.  That one is dated 1982 and I still have it, so it's the deck I've owned for the 2nd-longest time.  I love its psychedelic weirdness. 

 

Anyway, reading this thread again made me pull out my old RWS, which I rarely ever use anymore.  I had to take a picture of the copyright because I couldn't remember which printing it was and I need new glasses, so a picture makes it easier to see.  I'm still not sure if I bought in the late 70s or early 80s.  It has definitely yellowed, and the edges are soft, but it's still very useable.

 

Edited yesterday at 05:23 PM by geoxena

[Libra 58]

My first deck that I bought was "Tarot of the Cat People" by Karen Kuykendall and that was in December 1992.

I still have it and it will soon be 33 years old!😊

It still is in a fine shape, can hardly see that I have used it for daily practise for a year!

[laforza76]

@Libra 58 Me too! It's well-worn at this point, and warped with very discolored edges. Even though I no longer use it regularly, I absolutely treasure this one-- as gregory says, The first one is special. Plus, it's honestly ready to retire-- I can't imagine who would want it! It's still such a pleasure to peruse though: pull cards, say hi to old freinds, consult, etc.. The art is so beautiful.