It's a new one on me. But a good excuse to take a closer look at these everyday objects.
Suicide Kings – The King of Hearts is typically shown with a sword behind his head, making him appear to be stabbing himself. Similarly, the one-eyed King of Diamonds is typically shown with an axe behind his head with the blade facing toward him. These depictions, and their blood-red colour, inspired this nickname.
Playing cards are thought to have first appeared in China and arrived in Europe some time towards the end of the fourteenth century. Many different types of deck existed - estimates from Columbia University suggest that there are at least 6,000 different types of historical deck - but the 52 card pack we know today was created by the French. They introduced four suits - hearts, clovers, pikes, and tiles - but by the time they reached England, the clovers had become clubs, the tiles became diamonds and the pikes became spades.
Playing cards really took off with the advent of mass printing and the founding of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards in 1628, which regularised the pack. Then, in the eighteenth century, manufacturers began rounding the corners of cards and printing at the edges, indicating the card type and value. Players could then hold a fan of cards in one hand.
During the 19th century, they began designing double-headed cards so that the cards could be readily identified whichever way up they were (and because players might accidentally reveal that they hold a Court Card if they flipped them the right way up). Each suit includes three Court Cards (or Face Cards) called the King, Queen and Knave/Jack. The original Chinese cards did not have Court Cards - they first appeared when playing cards reached Persia. But, even then, they didn't originally have images of people on them. Islam forbids idolatry so they featured fancy calligraphy that named the cards as malik (king), nā'ib malik (viceroy or deputy king) and thānī nā'ib (second or under-deputy).
When the cards arrived in Europe it was an easy transition to create the King and Queen but there was no equivalent for the third ranked card so the Knave was introduced. A knave was a servant with no specific job role - unlike stable-boys, cooks, footmen etc. As the result, a Knave was also known as a Jack-of-all-trades, which is why we also call the card a Jack. In some non-French packs, the Jack is known as the Knight, Valet, Peasant or Bower.
The court cards, surprisingly, all have names:
King of Spades - David
Queen of Spades - Pallas
Jack of Spades - Ogier
King of Hearts - Charles
Queen of Hearts - Judith
Jack of Hearts - La Hire
King of Clubs - Alexandre
Queen of Clubs - Argine
Jack of Clubs - Lancelot
King of Diamonds - Cesar
Queen of Diamonds - Rachel
Jack of Diamonds - Hector
Each suit also includes Pip Cards, numbering from one to ten. The card with one pip is known as an Ace. The fanciful design and manufacturer's logo commonly displayed on the ace of spades began under the reign of James I of England, who passed a law requiring an insignia on that card as proof of payment of a tax on local manufacture of cards.
The Joker card - there are usually two per deck - is the most recent addition and originated in the United States during the Civil War, and was created as a trump card for the game of Euchre.
Certain cards have acquired nicknames over time.
One-eyed Jacks – the Jack of Spades and the Jack of Hearts are depicted in profile - so only show one eye - , while the other two are shown in full or oblique face.
One-eyed Royals – are the King of Diamonds - the other three Kings are shown in full or oblique face - plus the One-Eyed Jacks.
The King of Diamonds is sometimes referred to as The Man with the Axe. This is the basis of the trump 'One-Eyed Jacks and the Man with the Axe'. Poker may be played with wild cards, often 'Aces, Jacks, and the King with the Axe'.
The Ace of Spades, unique in its large, ornate spade, is sometimes said to be the Death Card or the Picture Card, and in some games is used as a trump card.
The Queen of Spades usually holds a sceptre and is sometimes known as The Bedpost Queen, though more often she is called the Black Lady. She is the only Queen facing left.
There are, as mentioned, many other different types of packs - the most well-known being the Tarot pack, which we'll look at another day.
But what's always fascinated me is that the standard pack can also be used as a calendar. There are 52 cards that correspond to the 52 weeks of the year and four suits that match the four seasons. There are 12 Court Cards to represent the months of the year or 13 cards in each suit could be said to represent the 13 full moons per year in the Lunar Calendar. And there are 365 pips in a full deck (taking the Court Cards at their numerical value there are 364 pips. The joker is counted as the 365th pip.).
Isn't that extraordinary?
Anyone fancy a game of Chase The Ace?
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