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The Mysterious History of Playing Cards

Playing cards has been the greatest pastime since time immemorial. Whether you play with family or friends, there is no better way to spend an afternoon than playing card games. Looking at the historical aspect, the past of playing cards and its invention in particular, is shrouded in mystery. There is no written account of where playing card games actually began, however, it is a general belief that playing cards developed over time in different parts of the world. The playing cards, circa 1470-85 are said to be the oldest known hand-painted deck of cards. The highest ever price paid for a deck of cards was $143,352, by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City at Sotheby’s London, in Dec 1983.

Some researches and historians believe that cards originated in China, as paper was a product of Chinese invention. The earliest evidence is ‘domino cards’, where it is said that Emperor Mu-Tsung played cards on New Year’s Eve with his wife, this was in 969 A.D, however, the playing cards used today have no real resemblance to domino cards.

There is some evidence which says that playing cards may have originated in the Arab world, and migrated to Europe through travelers sometime in 1370s. Early references mention the game being introduced by a ‘Saracen’ a term used to describe people living in deserts, other than Arabs. Cards were introduced in Italy around the same time, going towards the northeast, and slowly spreading to the rest of Europe.

In most parts of Europe playing cards was considered gambling, as many games involved money. Many ordinances and laws were passed to stop people from playing cards, the reference to which has been seen in the historical account between 1367 and 1378, which refers to card games being banned in Europe.

As time progressed, the look, style and design of the cards changed and different suit systems were introduced. The major suit systems had different symbols; these were Latin, Germanic and French, where each set of symbols represented their culture. The look of playing cards, however, has changed several times between 1400s to the 19th century, to evolve into its present form. In the Renaissance period, when art became popular, there were many artists that showcased their art in the form of paintings on the cards. The inspiration for this was taken from Tarot cards, which had a symbol or picture on one side.

The playing cards arrived in United States sometime in 1800s. The look of the cards was also changed due to development of new games and their popularity. It was the Americans who invented new cards like Joker, an extra card that is used in some games developed in America. They also introduced the indexing system of cards, where numbers were printed on upper-left and lower-right corner of the playing cards, to make it easier to sort.

With the advent of internet, online card games have become very popular, where many websites offer free games. Some games don’t even need a download and the players can play directly on the browser. Playing cards have come a long way from being blank on one side to the customizable cards available in an online game. Whether you play alone or with friends, playing card games is here to stay.

This article was written by Alexis.

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