InQuest 14 - 68 - Cardboard Nirvana
appear until 1813, when a German
company issued a deck celebrating
a recent battle. They used portraits
of the monarchs and generals from
the winning side for the king and
jack cards, and printed their faces
on both the tops and bottoms so
the card looked the same no mat-
ter which way you held it. Before
then, face card pictures had heads
at the top and waists at the bot-
tom; if you got dealt a mess of these
cards and they happened to be
upside-down, the odds were good
you'd absent-mindedly turn them
right side up, tipping off everyone
at the table in the process.
Another innovation, the joker,
made its first known appearance
in 1857, courtesy of Samuel Hart &
Co. of New York. It was introduced
as a novelty item. The term "joker"
has come to mean any extra card
included with a standard deck.
It's Not Your Turn,
Genghis. Put The
Little Fishie Back in
The "Lake."
company issued a deck celebrating
a recent battle. They used portraits
of the monarchs and generals from
the winning side for the king and
jack cards, and printed their faces
on both the tops and bottoms so
the card looked the same no mat-
ter which way you held it. Before
then, face card pictures had heads
at the top and waists at the bot-
tom; if you got dealt a mess of these
cards and they happened to be
upside-down, the odds were good
you'd absent-mindedly turn them
right side up, tipping off everyone
at the table in the process.
Another innovation, the joker,
made its first known appearance
in 1857, courtesy of Samuel Hart &
Co. of New York. It was introduced
as a novelty item. The term "joker"
has come to mean any extra card
included with a standard deck.
It's Not Your Turn,
Genghis. Put The
Little Fishie Back in
The "Lake."
By now you're probably wonder-
ing what the heck card players have
been playing for the past 1,000
years. Did the emperor's concubines
sit around saying, "Okay, Texas
seven card stud, Alabama rules,
deuces and snowmen wild," before
they dealt? Or did Genghis Khan
get that maniacal, blood-curdling
glint in his eye as he stared across
the table at his opponent and said,
"Go fish"?
The original Chinese card games
were probably derivations of existing
dice and board games, but as time
went on new games were invented
just for cards. An early Persian game
called âs-nâs was the original col-
lect-cards-by-suit-or-kind game. Vari-
ations of âs-nâs have been popular
for centuries, including such favorites
as poker, gin, go fish and so on.
ing what the heck card players have
been playing for the past 1,000
years. Did the emperor's concubines
sit around saying, "Okay, Texas
seven card stud, Alabama rules,
deuces and snowmen wild," before
they dealt? Or did Genghis Khan
get that maniacal, blood-curdling
glint in his eye as he stared across
the table at his opponent and said,
"Go fish"?
The original Chinese card games
were probably derivations of existing
dice and board games, but as time
went on new games were invented
just for cards. An early Persian game
called âs-nâs was the original col-
lect-cards-by-suit-or-kind game. Vari-
ations of âs-nâs have been popular
for centuries, including such favorites
as poker, gin, go fish and so on.
Poker fans who think Hoyle is
some big expert on the game and
who buy all those According to Hoyle
books are in for a big surprise: It's
impossible to play poker according
to Hoyle. Hoyle died in 1769,
decades before poker was invented.
Edmund Hoyle was an English attor-
ney who wrote about card games
that are now almost unheard of, like
whist and piquet. The companies
that publish According to Hoyle books
are using his name the same way
dictionary publishers use the name
"Webster." Think about it: Just
because your dictionary has an entry
for "McNugget" doesn't mean
Daniel Webster ever heard of one.
Poker originated in the gam-
bling rooms of 19th century Mis-
sissippi riverboats. The earliest
mention of the game is from 1834,
when it was still played with only
20 cards: aces, 10s and face cards.
As poker evolved, it gave birth to
a number of saloon-based offshoots
in which players gambled for
drinks. These games, rum poker
and gin poker, eventually became
known as rummy and gin. Game
designers, take note: There's still
room for piña colada poker, tequila
popper poker, and vomit-in-
your-friend's-car-on-the-way-home
poker. Eternal fame can be yours.
The blackjack family of games,
which includes baccarat and
chemin-de-fer, dates at least as far
back as 1490 when baccarat was
introduced to the French court of
Charles VIII. War - the card game,
some big expert on the game and
who buy all those According to Hoyle
books are in for a big surprise: It's
impossible to play poker according
to Hoyle. Hoyle died in 1769,
decades before poker was invented.
Edmund Hoyle was an English attor-
ney who wrote about card games
that are now almost unheard of, like
whist and piquet. The companies
that publish According to Hoyle books
are using his name the same way
dictionary publishers use the name
"Webster." Think about it: Just
because your dictionary has an entry
for "McNugget" doesn't mean
Daniel Webster ever heard of one.
Poker originated in the gam-
bling rooms of 19th century Mis-
sissippi riverboats. The earliest
mention of the game is from 1834,
when it was still played with only
20 cards: aces, 10s and face cards.
As poker evolved, it gave birth to
a number of saloon-based offshoots
in which players gambled for
drinks. These games, rum poker
and gin poker, eventually became
known as rummy and gin. Game
designers, take note: There's still
room for piña colada poker, tequila
popper poker, and vomit-in-
your-friend's-car-on-the-way-home
poker. Eternal fame can be yours.
The blackjack family of games,
which includes baccarat and
chemin-de-fer, dates at least as far
back as 1490 when baccarat was
introduced to the French court of
Charles VIII. War - the card game,
that is - is even older; Charles VI was
cuckoo for it, which helps explain
why he was known as Charles the
Fool. Actually, Charles the Big Card-
Slapping Baby is more like it.
And Then
Commercialism Set In
Trading cards have their roots in an
odd 19th century playing card cus-
tom. Before manufacturers started
printing on both sides of cards, it
was common to use the plain
white backs as scratch paper. If
you paid a visit to someone's
house, for instance, and they
weren't there, a servant would
offer you a stack of cards on which
to leave a note. Eventually people
decided to stop wasting playing
cards and instead had calling cards
printed up with their names on
them. Businesses started making
similar cards, called trade cards
(sort of like our modern business
cards), and by the 1850s collec-
tors were busy stuffing shoe boxes
full of every trade card they could
get their hands on. Sound familiar?
cuckoo for it, which helps explain
why he was known as Charles the
Fool. Actually, Charles the Big Card-
Slapping Baby is more like it.
And Then
Commercialism Set In
Trading cards have their roots in an
odd 19th century playing card cus-
tom. Before manufacturers started
printing on both sides of cards, it
was common to use the plain
white backs as scratch paper. If
you paid a visit to someone's
house, for instance, and they
weren't there, a servant would
offer you a stack of cards on which
to leave a note. Eventually people
decided to stop wasting playing
cards and instead had calling cards
printed up with their names on
them. Businesses started making
similar cards, called trade cards
(sort of like our modern business
cards), and by the 1850s collec-
tors were busy stuffing shoe boxes
full of every trade card they could
get their hands on. Sound familiar?
In the 1880s, tobacco compa-
nies started putting cardboard rect-
angles in cigarette packs to keep
the packs from being crushed dur-
ing shipping. Someone then hit on
the idea of turning the cardboard
into a promotional tool by putting
a picture on one side and a cigarette
ad on the other, making it into a
collectible trade card. Early cigarette
card series featured flags, birds,
presidents, fruit and, of course,
baseball players.
The first baseball cards were
made in 1886 by an obscure New
York company named Goodwin.
Action photography didn't exist
back then, so Goodwin had play-
ers go into a studio and pose in
nies started putting cardboard rect-
angles in cigarette packs to keep
the packs from being crushed dur-
ing shipping. Someone then hit on
the idea of turning the cardboard
into a promotional tool by putting
a picture on one side and a cigarette
ad on the other, making it into a
collectible trade card. Early cigarette
card series featured flags, birds,
presidents, fruit and, of course,
baseball players.
The first baseball cards were
made in 1886 by an obscure New
York company named Goodwin.
Action photography didn't exist
back then, so Goodwin had play-
ers go into a studio and pose in
front of a backdrop, pretend-
ing to hit or throw a base-
ball dangling from the
