{"id":6629,"date":"2022-06-17T05:27:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-17T05:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.com\/blog\/\/blog\/?p=6629"},"modified":"2024-04-15T10:28:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T10:28:53","slug":"the-history-of-playing-cards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.com\/blog\/2022\/06\/17\/the-history-of-playing-cards\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Playing Cards"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
Playing cards are arguably the greatest gaming invention ever, simply perfection in the form of a deck of 52 cards.<\/p>\n\n
Songs have been written about just about every playing card you can think of, including the Joker, the Ace of Spades, the Jack of Hearts, the Queen of Diamonds, and more. Cards have tracked down Saddam Hussein\u2019s henchmen, singled out the volunteer, and confounded audiences in the hands of a skilled magician.<\/p>\n\n
They fit in your pocket. They entertain. They bring strangers together. They are an essential tool in the armoury of any casino \u2013 both online and offline. Poker<\/a>, baccarat<\/a>, Caribbean stud<\/a>, and blackjack<\/a> are just a few examples of what happens when you combine some ingenuity with a deck of cards.<\/p>\n\n The precise origins of the first playing cards are undefined. Most academics believe that China is probably where the first gaming cards came from. Dice and tokens have history stretching back to thousands of years BC because they are (obviously) not made of paper.<\/p>\n\n As with most inventions, the medium was the key. Woodblock printing on both cloth and paper was commonplace during the Tang dynasty, in 7th<\/sup> century China. The first reference to a \u2018leaf game\u2019, thought to be played with paper sheets, was in 868 AD. What the game and its cards looked like is lost forever.<\/p>\n\n The first specific reference to printed cards was on July 17, 1294 AD. In a court report, two players were arrested; nine cards, and the woodblocks used to print them, were impounded. Even the earliest cards followed a \u2018court\u2019 structure; with high cards represented by kings, queens, and vizier. They trumped the humble pips.<\/p>\n\n Playing cards first appeared in Europe in the 14th<\/sup> century. At this time, they were hand painted, luxury, goods; imported into Spain and Italy by Islamic Mamluk dynasty merchants, who controlled the trade routes between Asia and the West.<\/p>\n\n Card games rapidly became the chosen pastime of the upper classes. Highly fashionable, they were the medieval equivalent of the very latest, state-of-the-art, gaming console.<\/p>\n\n As wood block printing techniques improved, becoming faster and more efficient, more cards were produced, slowly and surely finding their way along the inland European trade routes.<\/p>\n\n The generic heart, diamond, club, and spades format is thought to have evolved because of its visual simplicity and ease of printing. Stencils were used to create the patterns and the icons are easily recognised. Six hundred years later, they are still in use. If it ain\u2019t broke\u2026<\/p>\n\n The oldest playing cards still in existence – or fragments of them at least – date back to between the 12th and 13th centuries and are thought to have come from the Middle East and Egypt. The oldest full pack to survive the ravages of time is known as the ‘Cloisters Pack’ (also known as the ‘Flemish Hunting Pack’) of oval-shaped cards. These date from between 1465 and 1480, originate in the Netherlands, and are currently on display in ‘The Cloisters’, an Upper Manhattan location of the Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a>. Instead of the familiar hearts, clubs, spades and diamonds the symbols on these cards (shown below) are hunting-themed horns, dog collars, dog leashes, and nooses. Other than this, the cards are certainly recognisable as such even to modern eyes.<\/p>\n\n Up until the arrival of playing cards, board games usually limited play to two people, and dice games \u2013 lacking any real intellectual stimulation \u2013 nearly always involved gambling. Card games could be played for fun and in a group. They were also popular with women.<\/p>\n\n Card games inevitably led to more gambling. European governments faced the challenge in a variety of different ways. In France, the Palace of Versailles was turned into a giant, revenue-generating, card-playing casino<\/a>, following the advice of King Louis XIV\u2019s finance minister Cardinal Mazarin.<\/p>\n\n Other legislations banned the manufacture of playing cards completely or made their production a state monopoly. In the UK, the 1765 Stamp Act meant that every deck was stamped. The tax stamp appeared on the Ace of Spades, indicating tax had been paid. This is thought to be why this card is often highly decorated.<\/p>\n\nOrigins of Playing Cards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
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Shuffling Into Europe<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
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The Oldest Playing Cards in the World<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
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A New Deal<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n
Top Deck<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n