18th Century Playing Cards
From their origin in China, to the great courts in Europe and beyond, the history of playing cards is as diverse as the four winds. Whether used for pleasure, high-stakes gambling, educational purposes or even fortune telling, card playing has historically crossed every social and economic class we know. For example, in 1392, the royal treasurer to Charles the VI, King of France, ordered three games of cards “for the diversion of our lord, the King.” By the early 15th century. The four suits, as we know them today, appeared when the French knight Lahire invented a game of knights and chivalry, which he called Piquet. The four suits, which the French also decided should be in two colors, red and black, were modeled after the four pillars of medieval life. Hearts would represent the church; diamonds, the vassals, or merchants; clubs, the husbandmen, or agriculture; spades the military or knights themselves.
Later on, with the invention of printing, rare hand painted cards available only to the wealthy evolved into a past time for the masses. First brought to America by the Spanish, the Indians of the Southwest painted cards on deerskin or sheepskin in the Spanish style. The French colonists brought playing cards to New French (New Orleans), the English to Virginia, and the Dutch to New Amsterdam (New York). Even the Plymouth Colony recorded card playing in 1633. By the 18th century, the sale of playing cards in American was so profitable, that even Ben Franklin enter the playing card printing business. The bad news was the King George of England, specifically targeted playing cards with the Stamp Act, which later helped spark the American Revolution against England. It is well known that George Washington played “Wisk” for money, Thomas Jefferson also was a betting man when it came to cards. However in 1777 at Morristown, recognizing the dangers of gambling, General Washington issued a General Order forbidding “all officers and soldiers playing at cards, dice or any games”. As you now know, playing cards hold a great deal of history. So the next time you have a break between playing sessions, stop and take a close look at your cards and observe some world history right in your own hands.
