A Brief History of the Playing Card
In the account books of Joanna, Duchess of Brabant there is an entry dated May–,-79 which reads, “Given to Monsieur and Madame four peters, two forms, value eight and a half moutons, where with to buy a pack of cards”. Trying to familiarize a novice’s awkward fingers with what must be one of the most popular and widely known games, takes a while. Through film and fiction if not in real life it is one of the most popular modern online and high-tech casino games. In the giddy atmosphere of first live games one may never realize that the glossy polygons with the unruly freak-show of royal Siamese twins have not in fact always been as they seem to have been.
Central Asia seems to be where the first playing cards originated from. A 10th or 11th century record of paper dominoes is the first known reference to cards. It is printed to represent all of the 21 combinations of a pair of dice, used in other games in China. Artifacts from the 9th century China are the earliest found. The first use of straight writing paper instead of paper rolls is associated by scholars with the first straight-sheet paper cards and the earliest book printing.
In quite modern form, playing cards were likely introduced in the late–th century into Europe by Egyptian Mamelukes. Consisting of 52 cards, four suits (polo sticks, coins, swords, and cups), and three court cards which depicted abstracting design rather than persons, this was the typical Mameluke deck. Only wealthy Europeans could, at the time, afford the hand-made cards. Around–00 the technique of applying woodcuts (used until then to decorate fabric) to paper and mass production followed suit. There are records of professional card makers in the period between–18 and–50. Currently, one of the most flourishing world-wide industries is card production.
In the 15th century the number and style of suits varied; some decks had five suits with hearts, bells, leaves, and acorns which were standard suits in Germany. These are still used today for a distinctive set of card games in Southern Germany. Besides the standard deck, I remember the German suits from my childhood. Because of their relative pictorial richness, I preferred these, particularly the golden nut and greenish cupules of the acorn suit. Perhaps a gift imported into Asia, Kazakhstan from German relatives.
In the early games if the “kings” were the highest card, by the–th century the “ace” (from the Latin word meaning lowest unit of currency) began to acquire the ability to turn highest card, with the “two” being lowest. During the French Revolution this was a popular mode when the lower classes rising above royalty was vital. Likewise a revolutionary would prefer to play cards with the innovative design of Liberties, Equalities, and Fraternities rather than ones with kings and queens. With Napoleon coming to power the classic design returned.
In the’th century a reversible double image in court cards was introduced. Although the earliest designs were America, a French card maker of the late’th century is attributed the invention. The French government prohibited the idea. To prevent players from reversing their court cards during a session was the purpose, as this would reveal their hands to the opponents even the non-observant ones.
The author of this article plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Full Tilt Poker. He is also a contributer at Rakeback Solution.