De Makerij (The Makershop)

A brand-new museum lab

Transforming a sheet of paper into a fully-fledged playing card involves many steps and painstaking craftsmanship. The Makershop, the new museum display at the Museum of the Playing Card, provides a unique insight into the various processes a playing card-in-the-making undergoes. Besides printing the cards, the finishing is of great importance: cutting, rounding the corners, glossing, gilding and packaging. After all, playing cards are used intensively and have to stand up to a lot of wear and tear during their lifetime. Paper finishing plays a crucial role in the ultimate quality of playing cards. The 19th-century Turnhout paper manufacturers were quite inventive and were constantly looking for ways to make their cards more durable. A typical Turnhout innovation, for example, is the 'overwax’ technique, whereby a protective coat of polish is applied to the cards.

Besides the production of playing cards, The Makershop also focuses on the role of the typesetter or typographer. Working by hand and with extreme precision, they arranged lead letters side by side to print words and sentences. Their choices between capitals, lowercase letters, serifs, margins and interline spacings made typesetters not just seasoned craftsmen but true artists in their own right.

Next to The Makershop, you can enjoy a small, periodically shifting focus exhibition highlighting a particular aspect of the rich museum collection. The first edition 'Turnhout's Triumph' shows that the playing card industry depends on much more than technology alone. Before Turnhout became the playing card capital of Belgium - and far beyond - Brussels boasted that title. However, revolutions, changing borders and a healthy dose of chance caused an upheaval in the period 1750-1850. Sample books, documents and special card games illustrate how the Brussels and Turnhout workshops flourished.

With The Makershop, the Museum of the Playing Card sets the tone for the future. The display takes you through the fascinating history of the paper and playing card industry and encourages children and adults to try hands-on work for themselves. 
Come and see, feel, smell and, above all, experience for yourself in this brand-new museum lab.