The Rider Waite Tarot deck for example has a water theme in which if you rearrange the cards based on water then it forms a lake and water system (which could reference a real place such as a church on a lake or water system in one of any number of countries). It also may reference deaths of historical figures in the trumps such as a Richard the Lionhearted from the chariot card or Richard the III children in the tower of London. There's all sorts of depth in the meaning of the cards - I wonder if it was either an example of claiming that someone had someone else killed or whether it was a hint on how it happened.
Similarly for the Thoth Tarot deck (possibly?). There may be references to physical locations or (for example) the hierophant and Cambridge's Venn Diagram glass windows or Temperance and Munich's glockenspiel (which have a similar color scheme and when you see them side by side you can see the analogy to the woman having gears in her chest).
The Mexican tarot seems similar but I don't know much about it historically. One of the things that I find interesting about it is that many of the cards seem to be repeated, such as the bird and death.
What other historical decks are there? Has anyone been working on one?
One weird fact - "it is better not to say anything and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt" - abraham lincoln - and the fool and strength cards - and rider waite was published in 1909, so that must have been a nod to an audience that knew or used the tarot in the Americas before it was commercially printed. Meaning around 1860 it was popular or known.