History of Card Games

1. History of Card Games V102.01

3. First Playing Cards Playing cards existed in China before 1000 AD. Such cards would have been narrow slips of paper, essentially dominoes with dots imitating the different combinations possible with the throw of two dice. Paper was in fact the original material for dominoes; wood and ivory came later. Domino cards are still known, as is another early Chinese type: money cards, so called because the suit signs are Coins and variations (Tens of Coins, Myriads of Coins.) The use of coin emblems may have derived from the association of cards and money in gambling.

4. Introduction of Cards into Europe Islamic cards were introduced into southern Europe about 1350. The suit signs—Coins, Cups, Swords, Sticks—were variously adapted. The Polosticks, still unfamiliar to Europeans, were changed to Scepters, Batons or Cudgels. (Note that one of our own suits is called "Clubs.") An early Swiss report, c. 1377, says that Europeans experimented with different kinds of courts, sometimes as many as six (King, Queen, Knight, Lady, Valet, Maid). "Moorish" card, 14th century (?) (Instituto Municipal de Historia, Barcelona)

7. Evolution of German Cards Among the early card makers of Europe, surely the Germans were the most imaginative in revising and multiplying suit signs and courts. German cards also tended to be decorated with lively scenes and caricatures. The German national pattern finally settled on four suits (Leaves, Hearts, Acorns and Hawk Bells) from which the Queen was banished. German deck, Nüremberg, 1813

8. Evolution of Tarocco Divinatory Tarot cards by Etteilla, Paris, 1789 Italian card makers preserved the Queen, along with a King, Knight and Valet, for use in a new game, c 1420, called Tarocco. Also added were a wild card (the Fool) and 21 special cards, mystical symbols that served as trumps. Among the Florentines, the trump suit expanded until their Tarocco totaled 97 cards. The game spread northwards, called Tarot by speakers of French. The Tarot did not acquire its modern use by fortune tellers until the 1780s when French scholars interpreted the old Italian symbols as "hieroglyphs" from ancient Egypt, the reputed source of Western magic and occult philosophy.

10. Evolution of Cards - French French card makers, c. 1470, invented the familiar suit signs of Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds (which the French call Spearheads, Hearts, Trefoils and Squares). The first three are presumably adapted from the German Leaves, Hearts and Hawk Bells. The first European cards were hand-painted and therefore reserved for the nobility who could afford to hire special designers and craftsmen. Popular demand led to mass production through the new technique of the woodcut. Designs for whole sheets of cards were drawn and carved on woodblocks, then inked and printed on paper, finally separated and glued on cardboard.

13. Early French Suits Paris pattern, double-ended, 1806 JUDAH HECTOR OGIER LA HIRE Jack ARGINE RACHEL PALLAS JUDITH Queen ALEXANDER CAESAR DAVID CHARLES King Clubs Diamonds Spades Hearts

14. Suits and Patterns – Swiss French

15. History of the Saxony Pattern

16. Suits and Patterns - Italian

17. Suits and Patterns – Spanish

20. The Joker Joker by Victor Mauger, New York, 1875 The Joker seems to have its origins in a special card used in a particular form of Euchre. In this game, which began in Alsace-Lorraine, two Jacks of the same color are designated as being especially powerful. When immigrants carried the game to the US, they also brought some of the specialized German terms, such as Bauer (= Jack). Euchre players still speak of their two highest cards as "the left and the right Bauer," but the key word is envisioned as "Bower". Americans added to the Euchre deck a card even higher than the designated Bowers. It was called the Imperial Bower or the Best Bower. This was the genesis of the Joker.

21. Evolution of the Joker After the introductions of the Best Bower into Euchre, Americans equipped other card games with an extra card (usually as a wild card). Perhaps this is the stage in which the extra card became known as the Joker—meaning one that changes character or pops up unexpectedly. Designers would have tried to create some new imagery for this wild card. The choice of a jester is logical, not only because of his unpredictable behavior, but because he complements the court cards. In Europe, after all, the royal court really was home to jesters, jugglers and other entertainers. Nevertheless, it is certain that the Joker card itself was not a European invention. It is one of America's most picturesque contributions to the history of playing cards. Joker by Andrew Dougherty, New York, 1875

23. The Joker The most common representation of the joker is a “ Fool ”.

24. The Joker The stick can be often seen on Joker cards.

25. The Joker Sometimes the Joker plays a musical instrument.

26. The Joker Sometimes the Joker plays a musical instrument.

27. The Joker The Joker is sometimes seen as a female.

28. The Joker The Jokers especially in non-standard games can have a special design that has only little if any resemblance with the fool.

30. Depict famous people US-Elections 1963. John F. Kennedy and other persons of the Kennedy-Clan, also politicians from the democratic party.

31. Advertise products Left: Original Pattern slightly modified, king holds beer glass in hand; Right: Pattern newly designed, but nevertheless you can see the Bavarian Pattern shimmering through.

32. Advertise products Two examples for advertising in free spaces on the card picture Left: Tobacco ad from the 1930s Right: Ad for the newspaper "Der neue Landfreund" ca. 1980

33. Non-Standard Cards In this game not only the court cards were redesigned, also the suit symbols were changed Theme is the "Honey Barrel" a fairy tale by Lew Ustinow; advertisement for the theatre Altenburg-Gera.

34. Non-Standard Cards Here the courts are only stylized. These cards were drawn by the artist Sonia Delaunay.

35. Non-Standard Cards This card game represents the four elements. But they do not appear as the four suits; they are ranks (king = earth, queen = water, jack = air and Joker = fire).

36. Non-Standard Cards The Michelin-Man as playing card court.

37. Souvenir Cards Left Example: View of the Canary Islands; right: model trains

38. Educational Card Games

44. Variations on Card Games

45. Fortune Telling Cards

46. Tarot Cards

47. Card Trivia Why are Jacks called Jacks ? In the game of All Fours, jack is the name of the point awarded for winning a trick containing the knave of trumps. The word jack also had 'a common man' as one of its meanings. At first jack was considered a lower class term [ref. Dickens's Great Expectations , 1861; Estelle says mockingly of Pip "He calls the knaves, jacks, this boy!"] but it gained acceptance while knave became obsolete. Modern English usage has knave now left with just one of its original meanings—a scoundrel.

48. Card Trivia Why does the Ace rank greater than the King? There may at one time have been a political undertone, in that people wanted to see a king overthrown by the most humble peasant, in a card game if not in real life.