07/23/2026
Ladies and Gentlemen… I give you Royal Depth Control-American Beauty. I’m warning you… look away if you do not want to catch the virus that is vintage mahjong collection. RDC-AB by A&L Manufacturing is THE gateway drug.
I have a problem with all things A&L and RDC. The set I learned on, my Mama’s, is an RDC, so for a myriad of reasons Royal Depth Control remains my favorite vintage brand. I know, I know… there’s Met Games, E.S. Lowe, Ten Flowers, Monobridge, and don’t get me started with Bone & Bamboo, but STILL, in my extremely humble opinion, A&L made mahjong magic.
The original A&L factory was located at 9 Florence Street (yep, that’s where 9 Flo came from) in Brooklyn, NY. It belonged to Alphonse and Lucky Lodato. In the 1970s, A&L and the RDC brand was purchased by Crisloid. Today Crisloid is owned and operated by Alphonse and Lucky’s great nephew, Jeff Caruso, who, along with a superb team, caries on the proud tradition of exceptional craftsmanship, outstanding design, and extraordinary service that his great uncles began.
In the next few weeks, I’m gonna sell a few of the sets I have duplicates of on the Ozark Mah Jongg website… not this one… American Beauty is staying right here in the studio ready for groups in Northwest Arkansas to pop in and play on her. Stay tuned for some beautiful vintage sets ready to make their way to new homes.
