Ever since the dawn of civilization,
man has always been searching for something to entertain him, and
different games and sports have been invented for the gratification
of the human race. One of the oldest and perhaps the most popular
entertainment man has invented is the playing cards. Because China
is the oldest civilization in Asia, they began playing cards as
early as the 10th century, and by then they were using paper
dominoes to play on the manner of trading and shuffling.
It didn’t take too long for neighboring countries to catch on. The
Muslims on that same continent were starting to play the same
principles of the game. During this time playing cards had a picture
that was hand drawn, or painted by hand, and these were works of art
that only royalties and wealthy people in the society could afford.
By the 1400s, Europeans began contributing to the evolution of the
playing cards by creating innovative versions of it complete with
carvings and wood, and thus the start of thriving entertainment
begin in Europe.
The French simplified the looks of the playing cards; they are the
ones who gave us the ensemble of the hearts, diamonds, club and the
spade. Their role in this time created a straightforward look of the
cards along with its games that made it flourish among the masses.
The French re-invented playing cards, make them easy to manufacture,
which made them affordable and simple.
It didn’t take too long for the Europeans and the Americans to
recognize the French peoples’ contribution, and they too embraced
the standard that became set in card playing and manufacturing.
Over the years innovations have been continuously improving the
looks and the quality of cards and card playing. Americans also
contributed some of the innovations we see today in modern card
playing. The 1800s were the time when Americans were becoming fond
of the cards; we see in the old western movies that the most popular
entertainment among the cowboys in the wild west are playing cards.
Deals, issues and controversies were being settled using a card
games, and mavericks earned their living playing cards and winning
gambles. Saloons, bars and taverns offered card playing as a form of
entertainment along with whiskeys. American creativeness contributed
innovations such as the rounded corners of the playing cards, the
twin-headed image on the card, and the lacquer finish of the card
for a crisper shuffling and safe coating, and even the “joker” that
we find in our modern card today.
Businessman also find themselves on the growing popularity of the
playing cards; they used to place printed advertisements on the back
of the cards to sell their goods and services. During that era the
leading manufacturer of playing cards was the company Russell and
Morgan. And during that time, alongside the playing cards people are
fond of the new invention of bicycles and unicycles. As they were
starting out on their playing cards, they asked their staff for some
suggestions on the brand name of the cards, and impromptu one of
them suggests the name “bicycle,” being the fad in those days, from
then on the suggested name has been passionately considered and
thus, the brand “Bicycle” was born on 1887. And today the Bicycle is
the most popular brand of playing cards in the world; its red and
blue back color is identified with quality playing cards.
Blackjack history is covered in depth on this site about casino
blackjack, and it is an interesting read even if you don't play
often.
