Bring object 'out of' Class?

[dave]

Hello,

I'm currently on the class section of my self-taught journey and have a 
question about classes:  is it possible to bring a object created 
inside the class definitions outside the class so it can be accessed in 
the interpreter?

For example, right now I'm working (within Allen Downey's Python 
Programmer book) with creating a 'hand' of cards.  I want to be able to 
deal to 'x' amount of cards to 'x' amount of hands and then be able to 
manipulate those hands afterwards.  I'm not sure if even what I'm 
asking is possible or if I'm getting ahead of myself.

As always, thanks for all your help.  My learning is greatly enhanced 
with everyone's input on this board.  Please feel free to 
comment/critique the code...

Here is the section of code that deals hands (but doesn't do anything 
past that):

    def deal_cards(self, num_of_hands, num):
        '''deals x amount of cards(num) to each hand'''
        for i in range(num_of_hands):
            handname = Hand('hand%d' % i)
            self.deal(handname, num)
            print '::::%s::::' % (handname.label), '\n', handname, '\n'



and here is the all of the code:

#!/usr/bin/env python

import random

class Card:
    """represents a playing card
    attributes: rank, suit"""

    def __init__(self, suit=0, rank=3):
        self.suit = suit
        self.rank = rank

    suit_names = ["Clubs", "Diamonds", "Hearts", "Spades"]
    rank_names = [None, "Ace", "Two", "Three", "Four", "Five", "Six", "Seven",
                  "Eight", "Nine", "Ten", "Jack", "Queen", "King"]

    def __str__(self):
        #prints card in format: Rank 'of' Suit#
        return '%s of %s' % (Card.rank_names[self.rank],
                            Card.suit_names[self.suit])

    def __cmp__(self, other):
        #evaluates which card is ranked higher by suit/rank
        #arbitrary definition. depends on the card game
        card1 = self.suit, self.rank
        card2 = other.suit, other.rank
        return cmp(card1, card2)


class Deck:
    """represents a deck of cards. 52 card, 4 suits, 13 cards/suit"""

    def __init__(self):
        self.cards = []
        for suit in range(4):
            for rank in range(1, 14):
                card = Card(suit, rank)
                self.cards.append(card)

    def __str__(self):
        res = []
        for card in self.cards:
            res.append(str(card))
        return '\n'.join(res)

    def pop_card(self):
        '''removes a card and returns it to another object'''
        return self.cards.pop()

    def add_cards(self, card):
        #adds a card to an object
        return self.cards.append(card)

    def shuffle(self):
        '''must import random, shuffles the deck'''
        random.shuffle(self.cards)

    def sort_deck(self):
        self.cards.sort()

    def deal(self, hand, num):
        '''moves cards from one object to another'''
        for i in range(num):
            hand.add_cards(self.pop_card())

    def deal_cards(self, num_of_hands, num):
        '''deals x amount of cards(num) to each hand'''
        for i in range(num_of_hands):
            handname = Hand('hand%d' % i)
            self.deal(handname, num)
            print '::::%s::::' % (handname.label), '\n', handname, '\n'




    class Hand(Deck):
    """child class of Deck. Represents a hand of cards"""

    def __init__(self, label=" "):
        self.cards = []
        self.label = label