An All Things Albano RWS Thread

[katrinka]

Greetings!  I was recently fortunate enough to acquire a 1968 mini Albano Waite.
I almost didn't. It looked too clean, too new, the price was too low - IOW, too good to be true.
I wasn't looking for an investment ("Accurate color tones!") just a good 1968 Albano ("NewColor Deluxe Edition").
When I saw this deck on ebay, I immediately jeered it as a bootleg. So much gratitude to @Rodney for giving me *just* enough encouragement to roll the dice:

It arrived this morning. As new-looking as the photos on ebay.
Go through the deck - check. Cards are all there.
Colors - check. Box, check. But is it a scanned bootleg?
One thing really bugged me: the sides are nubby. Like the cards were perforated and punched out rather than cut the regular way, but as it turns out, that means it's real.

 

You can see a little scrap of paper still clinging to the lower right of the Page of Cups:

 

 

It's normal. Rodney assures me it is, and there's this: http://www.tarotforum.net/archive/index.php/t-259634.html

 

If I ever manage to get a standard sized 1968 Albano Waite, will it also have nubs, I wonder?

 

I seriously love the Albano Waite. It has a certain Lance-Loud-At-The-Chelsea cachet. And somewhere in the depths of youtube, you can find a wonderful old early 70's reading from An American Family. I can't find it anymore. It's the one where Mrs. Loud visits Lance at the old Chelsea Hotel in NYC. IIRC, one of his friends reads for his mom. If anyone can find the link, it would be much appreciated. 💖

It's a wonderful deck. Nubs and all.

 

 

 

[53rdspirit]

I instantly fell in love with the Albano-Waite backs in the 1990's sometime when I watched this video (narrated by Christopher Lee *swoon*):

Albano-Waite @ 18:18.

 

At the time, I had no idea what deck it was so I searched the metaphysical shops of South Street, Philadelphia, hunting for those white-backed cards with the gold sun. I eventually found them and it started my quest to collect all versions. I still can't make myself part with my collection. 

[katrinka]

I never knew that video existed! Love the spookiness of it. Tarot is such an everyday thing to us, we often forget how uncanny it is!
I wish I could find that An American Family episode. If you watch the whole series, the reading is quite accurate (of course). It made a huge impression on my little early teens brain. RIP, Lance. 😢

 

All versions? Do you have that big Majors only one? 💓
 

[Decan]

It's a bargain, you're lucky!

It happened to me recently for a Art Deco deck (gypsy cards). The price wasn't exactly too low but not that expensive either, and with regard to what happens with the cards these days... I thought, well it's likely a fake.

It arrived yesterday (I tried nevertheless), and honestly nothing suspect, and I looked closely at the cardstock, the image definition (one time I bought a fake and the image definition wasn't correct). So okay! Fine!

Enjoy your good fortune too!

[Flaxen]

Congrats @katrinka! What a brilliant find. Love the Albano-Waite. 

[gregory]

8 hours ago, katrinka said:

 

If I ever manage to get a standard sized 1968 Albano Waite, will it also have nubs, I wonder?

 

I'll go look.....

 

ETA. Yes.

Edited June 26, 2020 by gregory

[katrinka]

7 hours ago, gregory said:

I'll go look.....

 

ETA. Yes.

Thank you!

Side note: a couple more 45 rpm records have appeared on youtube since I blogged this: https://fennario.wordpress.com/2019/06/03/frankie-albano-please-call-home/

 

No Frankie Valli-style vocals on these. They're more like something Dion would do.
 

 

 

And, if the record guy is indeed one and the same as the Tarot guy, we have a photo. As for the text, I couldn't tell you if there's any truth to it or not. It has a little of that "cooked up by the PR department" flavor, but who knows? Life is strange. 😉

[gregory]

I was always given to believe that Frankie was a musician, so....

[53rdspirit]

16 hours ago, katrinka said:

All versions? Do you have that big Majors only one? 💓

Yes, I do. After reading some of the links provided here, I see there is a 22-card majors-only "regular" size I didn't know about. 

[Margo23]

On 6/25/2020 at 7:27 PM, katrinka said:

Greetings!  I was recently fortunate enough to acquire a 1968 mini Albano Waite.
I almost didn't. It looked too clean, too new, the price was too low - IOW, too good to be true.
I wasn't looking for an investment ("Accurate color tones!") just a good 1968 Albano ("NewColor Deluxe Edition").
When I saw this deck on ebay, I immediately jeered it as a bootleg. So much gratitude to @Rodney for giving me *just* enough encouragement to roll the dice:

It arrived this morning. As new-looking as the photos on ebay.
Go through the deck - check. Cards are all there.
Colors - check. Box, check. But is it a scanned bootleg?
One thing really bugged me: the sides are nubby. Like the cards were perforated and punched out rather than cut the regular way, but as it turns out, that means it's real.

 

You can see a little scrap of paper still clinging to the lower right of the Page of Cups:

 

 

It's normal. Rodney assures me it is, and there's this: http://www.tarotforum.net/archive/index.php/t-259634.html

 

If I ever manage to get a standard sized 1968 Albano Waite, will it also have nubs, I wonder?

 

I seriously love the Albano Waite. It has a certain Lance-Loud-At-The-Chelsea cachet. And somewhere in the depths of youtube, you can find a wonderful old early 70's reading from An American Family. I can't find it anymore. It's the one where Mrs. Loud visits Lance at the old Chelsea Hotel in NYC. IIRC, one of his friends reads for his mom. If anyone can find the link, it would be much appreciated. 💖

It's a wonderful deck. Nubs and all.

 

 

 

I also Luv the 1968 Albano Waite Tarot deck regular. I had a deck and bought it off of Ebay.  It had so much energy it was crazy!!!! I did a deck interview and the deck wanted to tell the story of what was going to happen in my life. And it wasnt good. I decided not to read with it anymore an sold it to  an antique shop in California.  The other weird thing was the devil card was the last card i pulled with the deck. In the pics of the place that was selling it the Devil card was the first pic they took of the deck. 

 

I dont remember any perforated edges on the cards. 

 

I do still have my 1968 All Majors Albano Waite. Their great to study with. 

 

I kinda wish i hadnt sold the deck because i only got like $160 for it and now the bidding starts at like $200 for a regular size deck in the 1968 Albano Waite deck. 

💜