Playing Cards the Jigsaw Puzzle Way

 

Playing Cards Item # 931



Hi Puzzlers,

Last night our country elected to keep our 44^th President in office.  The final election brings with it an end to all the political campaigning.  Hurray!  But, I have to admit some of the campaigning was entertaining.  It really reminded me of the card game poker.  Like a poker player, each politician must know when to take a hit, to hold, to bluff or when to fold.  Politics and politicians, like cards and the games played with them, have been around for centuries.

No one knows exactly when or where playing cards originated but many speculate they came from China. This speculation is based in the fact that China was the first to develop paper and because of ancient documentation dating back to the 12th century which describes paper money cards. This deck was comprised of four suits of coins and numbered 1-9. It is believed that the cards not only served as instruments to play the game but as the bet/wager itself.

Cards of this type, dating back to the 8th century, have reportedly been found in Persia and everywhere in the Arabian Peninsula. Scholars believe the cards traveled to Europe with merchants and gypsies during the mid 14th century. The decks consisted of 52-cards, four suits (Swords, Cups, Sticks and Coins) and were numbered 1-10. The royal cards included a King, Deputy King and an Under Deputy. All cards including the royals were decorated with geometric patterns.

European cards were made by craftsmen and ornately designed by hand by trained artists.  

Cards of this time were a luxury only the wealthy could afford. But, by the end on the 14th century advancements in printing techniques made cards more affordable to the general public. The Europeans were the first to put human faces on the royal cards and in doing so the cards characters began to take on more familiar titles such as kings and queens.

During the 15^th century a deck of cards could have as many as 56 cards or as little as 48.  Players from around the country debated for decades about the best number of cards for optimum play.  Finally at the end of the century the 52 card deck was deemed the best number to play with.

The French were the first to begin producing cards with suits that included Diamonds, Hearts, Clubs and Spades.  A typical card deck had three royal cards with a King, Queen and Knave along with the lower numbers from 1-10.  The back of the cards were left plain.  Unfortunately, this made the cards easy to mark and cheat with.  To prevent cheating and to extend the life of the cards many manufactures started to print repeating patterns on the back of the cards.

The reversible royal cards made their debut in Agen, France in 1745. These reversible cards replaced the full length images of Kings, Queens and Knaves with a double headed waist version that did not need to be turned upright. 

In the 1800’s American printers began gearing up to print playing cards on the first mechanized printing press and a new dilemma made itself apparent.  The abbreviated “K” for King would be easily confused with the “Kn” for Knave.  To remedy this The Knave, who played the “Jack of Trumps” in an old English card game called “All Fours”, was renamed “Jack”.

By the 1860’s card playing was making its way to the four corners of the globe.  New games were emerging every day and a number of popular games required an extra trump card.  In 1865 Samuel Hart names this trump card the “Joker”.  The Joker is the all powerful royal that fixes any and all problems.

Let’s hope that the politician have a Joker up their sleeve that can fix any and all problems too!

Happy Puzzling!