A Brief History of Playing Cards
Did you know that at one time, the kings of hearts represented
Charlemagne, the king of diamonds was Julius Caesar, the king of clubs
was Alexander the Great and the king of spades was David from the Bible?
These fascinating identities, along with special designations for other
court cards, were bestowed by the French who were instrumental in bringing
the pleasures of card play to people in Eureope and the New World.
However, the earliest playing cards are believed to have originated
in Central Asia. The documented history of card playing began in the 10th
century, when the Chinese began using paper dominoes by shuffling and dealing
them in new games. The cards had suits of coins and strings of coins -
which Mah Jong players know as circles and bamboos (i.e. sticks). Playing
cards entered Europe from the Islamic empire, where cups and swords were
added as suit-symbols, as well as (non-figurative) court cards. It was in
Europe that these were replaced by representations of courtly human beings:
kings and their attendants - knights (on horseback) and foot-servants. To
this day, packs of Italian playing-cards do not have queens - nor do packs
in Spain, Germany and Switzerland (among others). There is evidence that
Islamic cards also entered Spain, but it now seems likely that the modern
cards which we call Spanish originated in France, ousting the early
Arab-influenced designs. In those days, cards were hand-painted and only
the very wealthy could afford them. With the invention of woodcuts in the
14th century, however, Europeans began mass-production.
English playing-cards are known and used all over the world -
everywhere where Bridge and Poker are played. In England, the same
pack is used for other games such as Whist, Cribbage, Rummy, Nap and
so on. But in other European countries games such as Skat, Jass, Mus,
Scopa, and Tarock are played, using cards of totally different
face-designs many of them with roots far older than English cards.
It is from the french designs that the cards we use today are
derived. France gave us the suits of spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts,
and the use of simple shapes and flat colors. French cards soon flooded
the market and were exported in all directions. They became the standard
in England first, and then in the British Colonies of America.
Americans began making their own cards around 1800. Yankee ingenuity
soon invented or adopted practical refinements: double-headed court cards (to
avoid the nuisance of turning the figure upright), varnished surfaces (for
durability and smoothness in shuffling), indexes (the identifying marks placed
in the cards' borders or corners), and rounded corners (which avoid the wear
that card players inflict on square corners).
American also invented the Joker. It originated around 1870 and was
inscribed as the "Best Bower", the highest card in the game of Euchre. Since
the game was sometimes called "Juker", it is thought that the Best Bower card
was referred to as the Juker card which eventually evolved into Joker. By the
1880's, certainly, the card had become to depict a jocular imp, jester or clown.
Many other images were also used, especially as Jokers became vehicles for
social satire and commercial advertising. Similarly, the backs of cards were
used to promote ideas, products and services, and to depict famous landmarks,
events-- and even fads.
During this same period, cycling-- on unicycles, bicycles, and
tricyclces-- was taking the country by storm. It was also in the latter part
of the decade that Russell & Morgan, the forerunners of the United States
Playing Card Company, decided to produce a line of cards of the highest
quality. Employees were asked to suggest an attractive name for the new product,
and a printer, "Gus" Berens, offered "Bicycle". His idea was enthusiastically
accepted, and the Rider Back made its debut in 1887. Since then, while the
Bicycle brand has featured dozens of different designs, the Rider Back has
never gone out of production. Today, people all over the world are familiar
with the tradtitional red or blue back showing cupid astride a two-wheeler.
The brand has become synonymous with quality and is still "the worlds favorite
playing card."
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