The Personal Gift
For All Ages
10844 Deerwood Dr. SE
Lowell, MI 49331
(616) 897-5672
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Company History

While I was growing up, my dad worked as the cafeteria manager of the high school as well as holding the position of Township Clerk. Holding two jobs left him little time during the week to interact with his family even though his family was the most important aspect of his life.

He compensated for the lack of family time during weekdays by putting his family first on weekends and during the summer when his school job was over.

From an early age when I was too young to hold cards in my hand without help until I graduated from high school, I doubt if there were more than a dozen weekends when our family didn't gather around the table for an hour or two of playing cards.

Halfway through our game, there would always be a ten minute break while my dad would make popcorn or my mom would make cocoa from scratch or fix us each a glass of pop and some ice cream.

I don't remember what we talked about while we were playing cards, but because of the huge amount of time that my parents spent with us, they had the time to teach us the values that were important to them. The important thing to me was the fact that I knew that we were so important to our parents that they always put time with us above everything else.

Taking turns, working together, and treating each other with respect came naturally as we absorbed our parent's caring and respectful attitudes toward each other and to us.

As a result of these experiences, I see games as a way to build strong family values.

In 2002, this appreciation for games was combined with my belief that Christmas presents should be made and not just bought off the shelf.

I decided to make a card game for my niece without realizing how difficult the project would be. I started working on the game in September but didn't figure out how to make the cards in time for Christmas.

I had lost my job as an engineer for Johnson Controls shortly before Christmas when hundreds of employees were laid off due to poor sales in the auto industry. Engineering jobs were pretty scarce in Michigan so when I finally did figure out how to make playing cards, I decided to turn my knowledge into a business.

I started Photo Playing Cards at the end of January, 2003.

Over the years, I've gone through about a dozen printers, 3 laminators, a variety of paper cutters and corner rounders, and three die cutting machines. All of this experience has enabled me to make a lot of improvements in my process.

I now use a high end laser printer that I've customized to accept playing card stock that's about three times heavier and far stiffer than the printer was designed for.

The cards are laminated with a special, ultra clear platic coating that only about 1 1/2 thousandths of an inch thick on each side. The cards are then stamped out four cards at a time and put in clear plastic cases that allow easy viewing of the cards right through the case.