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109-595: The United States Playing Card Company ( USPC , though also commonly known as USPCC ) is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards . It was established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in its current incarnation in 1885. Its many brands include Bicycle , Bee, Tally-Ho, Champion, Congress, Aviator, Aristocrat, Mohawk, Maverick, KEM, Hoyle and Fournier . It also produces novelty and custom playing cards, and other playing card accessories such as poker chips . For decades

218-535: A Catalan language rhyme dictionary which lists naip among words ending in -ip . According to Denning, the only attested meaning of this Catalan word is "playing card". This suggests that cards may have been "reasonably well known" in Catalonia (now part of Spain) at that time, perhaps introduced as a result of maritime trade with the Mamluk rulers of Egypt. The earliest record of playing cards in central Europe

327-435: A gaff deck (contained in a mirrored-art box) with an assortment of unusually altered cards that can be used with regular cards for tricks. Starting in 2019, Bicycle started a "Games by Bicycle" division to enter into the hobby board game market, with party games and light strategic games using playing-card sized cards. These include Tattoo Stories, It's Blunderful, and Shuffle Grand Prix. Subject to certain guidelines,

436-579: A trick-taking game , which dates to the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). Fifteenth-century scholar Lu Rong described it is as being played with 38 "money cards" divided into four suits : 9 in coins , 9 in strings of coins (which may have been misinterpreted as sticks from crude drawings), 9 in myriads (of coins or of strings), and 11 in tens of myriads (a myriad is 10,000). The two latter suits had Water Margin characters instead of pips on them with Chinese to mark their rank and suit. The suit of coins

545-480: A "6 handed" 60-card rummy deck which includes 11-spot and 12-spot cards, as well as one joker. Eventually 500 decks also included 2 13-spot playing cards for the hearts and diamond suits, bringing up the total number of playing cards to 62 (excluding the joker). When introduced, 500 brand playing cards came in Ivory or Air-Cushion finish and were available in four back designs - Bid, Full-House, Griffin, and Swastika (which

654-596: A Spanish art teacher called Emilio Soubrier and a painter called Diaz de Olano to design a new brand of playing cards. That was going to be the first brand of his famous Spanish playing cards. In 1880 he changed his work place to a bigger one in Fueros street. Next years he travelled a lot of times to France to improve his manufacture. In 1889 he won a prize in the Exposition Universelle of Paris. One year later he decided to change his actual playing cards to

763-694: A blue seal, while cards in Kentucky typically feature a black seal, and to this day Norwood produced cards are still sought after by magicians, cardists, professional gamblers, and collectors. The company offers several brands of playing cards, including: The Aristocrat brand was created in 1915 by the Russell Playing Card Company of New York, which was acquired by the USPC in 1929. It was best known for its higher quality of card stock and varied but always intricate scroll work, in particular

872-744: A brief return to self-ownership from 1994 to 2004, it would be acquired by Jarden which was in turn purchased by Newell Brands . In June 2019, Newell sold USPCC to Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi , including its two plants in the United States and Spain. The USPCC currently produces cards in Erlanger, Kentucky and at its Fournier factory in Vitoria, Spain . In 2009, the USPCC closed down its long-time factory in Norwood, Ohio and relocated across

981-606: A colorful jester whose face (repeated atop his scepter) is an optical illusion . The USPC purchased Hoyle Products from Brown & Bigelow in 2001, and unlike most of its other playing card company acquisitions, has kept a few of the popular Hoyle brands in print. Since production was taken over by the USPCC, Hoyle playing cards are also produced in an all-plastic version. KEM cards were first manufactured in 1935. Unlike most playing cards which are made from plastic-coated paper , KEM cards are made entirely from cellulose acetate and are waterproof. USPC purchased KEM Cards in 2004. After

1090-399: A diamond pattern and could optionally have casino logos added to the backs. Aristocrat was discontinued as a retail brand in the mid-1980s, but continued to be sold directly to casinos. Out of print for over thirty years, original Aristocrat cards were reprinted in 2017, and are currently still in production. Introduced in 1927 in commemoration of Charles Lindbergh 's trans-Atlantic flight in

1199-462: A generic brand for limited-run, giveaway or promotional/advertising decks. They also were used to fill boxes of cards primarily sold for export or for military or institutional use. Budget brands such as Caravan, Torpedo, Mohawk, Battle Axe, Uncle Sam, and Tuxedo were generally filled with Aviator cards, and a few of these brands are still sold in other countries. Bee is a casino card brand also sold at retail. Bee playing cards were first manufactured by

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1308-522: A hobby or for monetary value. Playing cards were probably invented during the Tang dynasty around the 9th century, as a result of the usage of woodblock printing technology. The reference to a leaf game in a 9th-century text known as the Collection of Miscellanea at Duyang ( Chinese : 杜阳杂编 ; pinyin : Dùyáng zábiān ), written by Tang dynasty writer Su E, is often cited in connection to

1417-469: A joker functioning as a wild card dates to 1875 with a variation of poker. Playing cards were also some of the earliest products to be sold in packaging. Early card packs were sold in paper sleeves held closed with a string. The 19th century saw the apparition of progressively more complex cardboard packaging, with tuck-flap boxes becoming common by the end of the century. Cellophane wrappers were common by 1937. The Japanese video game company Nintendo

1526-459: A large diffusion. This was followed by the innovation of reversible court cards. This invention is attributed to a French card maker of Agen in 1745. But the French government, which controlled the design of playing cards, prohibited the printing of cards with this innovation. In central Europe ( Trappola cards) and Italy ( Tarocco Bolognese ) the innovation was adopted during the second half of

1635-603: A large variety of low-end and budget-priced cards, which the USPC acquired in 1987. Like Maverick, Streamline cards are produced by outsourced manufacturers. Tally Ho was originally a product of Andrew Dougherty, one of the earliest American card manufacturers, introduced in 1885, the same year Bicycle was introduced. Dougherty's company was acquired by the USPC in 1907, bringing Tally-Ho into its assortment. Dougherty would then be merged with New York Consolidated Card Company and Standard Playing Card Company to form Consolidated-Doughterty. Tally-Ho cards come in two back designs, known as

1744-521: A lightened sentence. Because of the long history and wide variety in designs, playing cards are also collector's items. In 1911, the New York Times described May King Van Rensselaer 's playing card collection of over 900 decks as the largest in the world. According to Guinness World Records , the largest playing card collection comprises 11,087 decks and is owned by Liu Fuchang of China. Individual playing cards are also collected, such as

1853-570: A logo added to the various colored backs. Until 2010, Bee cards were also sometimes printed in a smooth finish, with a back known as "No. 35", which features worm-like squiggle patterns. Unlike Bicycle cards, Bee cards usually have borderless backs, making the facing of any card that is even partially revealed clearly visible. However, the standard diamond back of the card is very regular and low-profile compared to other back designs, which simplifies " bottom dealing " and some other forms of sleight-of-hand. Bicycle Playing Cards (stock No.  808) are

1962-583: A new deck of cards which had 12 different colours. After the changes he won a lot of prizes in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona etc. In 1916 Heraclio Fournier died in Vichy . He had no male descendants and because of that his grandson Félix Alfaro Fournier became the owner of the company. Félix started a playing card collection. In 1970, after buying the cards of Thomas De la Rue , he opened a museum called " Museo Fournier de Naipes ". In 1948 Naipes Heraclio Fournier company

2071-520: A pack with edge indices and Latin suits was printed by Infirerra and dated 1693. However, this feature was commonly used only from the end of the 18th century. The first American-manufactured (French) deck with this innovation was the Saladee's Patent, printed by Samuel Hart in 1864. In 1870, he and his cousins at Lawrence & Cohen followed up with the Squeezers, the first cards with indices that had

2180-575: A partnership with Encore Software announced that they are launching the 2012 Hoyle product line - Hoyle Card Games 2012, Hoyle Casino Games 2012 and Hoyle Puzzle & Board Games 2012. Though the years, USPCC has acquired many smaller playing card manufacturers, beginning in 1894 when it absorbed the Standard Playing Card Company of Chicago, the Perfection Playing Card Company of Philadelphia, and

2289-524: A regular 52-card deck as the popularity of Euchre waned. Russell & Morgan then set out to fill their catalog with brands at price-points that sat between their existing lines. These early brands included Tourists ( No.  155) which were marketed as between Tigers and Sportsman's in quality, Capitol ( No.  188) which sat between Sportsman's and Bicycle, the casino-oriented Squared Faro ( No.  366), unenameled cards called Texan ( No.  45), double-enameled Treasury ( No.  89), and

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2398-583: A seated " king ", an upper marshal that held his suit symbol up, and a lower marshal that held it down. The latter two correspond with the Ober and Unter cards still found today in German and Swiss playing cards . The Italians and Iberians replaced the Ober / Unter system with the " Knight " and " Fante " or " Sota " before 1390, perhaps to make the cards more visually distinguishable. In England,

2507-618: A single subsidiary called Consolidated-Dougherty which continued to produce brands from all three predecessors, including Aristocrat, Bee, and Tally-Ho. Further acquisitions came towards the latter 20th and early 21st century, including an international expansion with the purchase of longtime Spanish card maker Naipes Heraclio Fournier in 1986, Arrco Playing Card Company in 1987, Hoyle Products in 2001, and KEM Playing Cards in 2004. The USPCC would itself be acquired several times during its history, starting with Diamond International in 1969, Jessup & Lamont in 1982, and Frontenac in 1989. After

2616-466: A talented young inventor from New York named Samuel J. Murray , whose patented inventions increased the output of cards at the company's Norwood, Ohio plant fourfold and cut labor costs by 66 percent. Murray also created a two-sided enameling machine. The USPCC has historically supported wartime soldiers, starting with the inexpensive Canteen brand of cards during the Spanish–American War and

2725-549: A textured 'air cushion' finish for improved handling. Bicycle cards are sold in poker and bridge widths, with additional deck configurations for use in other games such as pinochle , rummy , euchre , and canasta . Back designs include the standard 'Rider' back, similar 'League' back and 'Maiden' back, the 'Vintage' back modeled on the original card design, and many specialty designs. Back colors include traditional red and blue, along with black, silver, and pastel colors. Face designs include standard, jumbo index, low-vision cards for

2834-633: A total of 32 cards. It is popular in France, the Low Countries , Central Europe and is used to play piquet , belote , bezique and skat . Values in Russian 36-card stripped deck (used to play durak and many other traditional games) range from 6 to 10. It is also used in the Sri Lankan, whist -based game known as omi . Forty-card French suited packs are common in northwest Italy; these remove

2943-465: A two-year hiatus, USPC resumed KEM card production, which continues today. KEM cards are available to the consumer (usually at specialty game shops) with various back colors and designs in both poker and bridge sizes. In 2007, KEM bridge cards (using Bicycle artwork) were adopted as the official cards of the World Series of Poker . Maverick was Hoyle's budget brand when it was acquired by USPC with

3052-666: A velour covered box with a pull-out tray. Each Congress deck consists of the 52 standard cards, two jokers (which feature an image of the United States Capitol ), and an information card describing bridge scoring. Although single decks are available, Congress cards are more frequently sold in coordinated sets of two decks to facilitate the common bridge practice of alternating decks between hands. Early Congress cards came in three variations: Poker size (1881–1922), Whist size (early 1900s to 1922), and bridge size 1922-on). From 1881 to around 1900, decks featured Lord Dundreary as

3161-481: A waterproof smooth aluminum oxide finish. They are primarily produced for export along with Aladdin playing cards, for usage in humid regions of Asia. Original production halted in 2009 with the closure of the Norwood factory due to quality control issues at the Kentucky plant and resumed sporadically after 2011. One of the first four brand of cards introduced by the company in 1881, when it was still known as Russell, Morgan, and Co., Sportsman's (stock No.  202)

3270-648: Is a non-existent title so it may not have been in the earliest versions; without this rank, the Mamluk suits would structurally be the same as a Ganjifa suit. In fact, the word "Kanjifah" appears in Arabic on the king of swords and is still used in parts of the Middle East to describe modern playing cards. Influence from further east can explain why the Mamluks, most of whom were Central Asian Turkic Kipchaks , called their cups tuman , which means "myriad" (10,000) in

3379-608: Is believed by some researchers to be a ban on card games in the city of Bern in 1367, but this source is disputed as the earliest copy available dates to 1398 and may have been amended. Generally accepted as the first Italian reference is a Florentine ban dating to 1377. Also appearing in 1377 was the treatise by John of Rheinfelden , in which he describes playing cards and their moral meaning. From this year onwards more and more records (usually bans) of playing cards occur, first appearing in England as early as 1413. Among

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3488-406: Is highly automated. Large sheets of paper are glued together to create a sheet of pasteboard ; the glue may be black or dyed another dark color to increase the card stock's opacity . In the industry, this black compound is sometimes known as "gick". Some card manufacturers may purchase pasteboard from various suppliers; large companies such as USPCC create their own proprietary pasteboard. After

3597-408: Is in reverse order with 9 of coins being the lowest going up to 1 of coins as the high card. Despite the wide variety of patterns, the suits show a uniformity of structure. Every suit contains twelve cards with the top two usually being the court cards of king and vizier and the bottom ten being pip cards . Some decks can contain 8 suits to make a 96-card deck, like the deck for Ganjifa . Half

3706-638: Is inconclusive as to which, however the Italian-suited cards are closest in appearance to the Mamluk cards and the Spanish design appears to be simplification. The polo sticks depicted in one of the suits used by the Mamluks were modified by the Italians into ceremonial batons; these were changed in the Spanish design to wooden clubs. The earliest European mention of playing cards appears in 1371 in

3815-467: Is still very popular in France, central and Eastern Europe and Italy. Customised Tarot card decks are also used for divination ; including tarot card reading and cartomancy . Asia, too, has regional cards such as the Japanese hanafuda , Chinese money-suited cards , or Indian ganjifa . The reverse side of the card is often covered with a pattern that will make it difficult for players to look through

3924-461: Is then split into individual uncut sheets , which are cut into single cards and sorted into decks. The corners are then rounded, after which the decks are packaged, commonly in tuck boxes wrapped in cellophane . The tuck box may have a seal applied. Card manufacturers must pay special attention to the registration of the cards, as non- symmetrical cards can be used to cheat. Airlines have produced playing cards to give to passengers since

4033-578: The Spirit of St. Louis , Aviator playing cards (stock No.  914) feature a bordered, monochrome back design of predominantly circles. Aviator cards are less expensive compared to Bee and Bicycle as the card stock is thinner and has a smooth finish, unlike the textured "air-cushion" finish used in many of the company's premium brands. Until the late 1980s, the Aviator Ace of Spades and Joker carried no specific branding. Aviator cards were often used as

4142-600: The Albert Field Collection of Playing Cards, an archive of over 6,000 individual decks from over 50 countries and dating back to the 1550s. In 2018 the university digitized over 100 of its decks. Since 2017, Vanderbilt University has been home to the 1,000-volume George Clulow and United States Playing Card Co. Gaming Collection , which has been called one of the "most complete and scholarly collections [of books on cards and gaming] that has ever been gathered together". Journals and magazines dedicated to

4251-773: The Metropolitan Museum of Art , is the oldest complete set of ordinary playing cards made in Europe from the 15th century. As cards spread from Italy to Germanic countries, the Latin suits were replaced with the suits of leaves (or shields), hearts (or roses), bells, and acorns. France initially used Latin-suited cards and the Aluette pack used today in western France may be a relic of that time, but around 1480, French card manufacturers, perhaps in order to facilitate mass production, went over to very much simplified versions of

4360-656: The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (in 2008), Delaware's Department of Correction , the Florida Department of Law Enforcement , and Rhode Island 's Department of Corrections , among others. The Indiana Department of Correction sells cold case cards in prisons, and in 2024, Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers created cold case playing cards, distributing 2,500 decks. Among inmates, they may be called "snitch cards". Prisoners with information may be motivated to come forward in order to receive

4469-466: The stamp duty like the ace of spades in England, the ace of clubs in France or the ace of coins in Italy are also collectible as that is where the manufacturer's logo is usually placed. Typically, playing cards have indices printed in the upper-left and lower-right corners. While this design does not restrict which hand players hold their cards, some left-handed players may prefer to fan their cards in

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4578-520: The "bank note" back, which resembled the design of United States currency notes at the time it was introduced, as Russell had acquired the playing card business of the American Bank Note Company in 1914. While the cards sold to the public carried the unique scroll-work, Aristocrat also produced the "Club Special" line of Aristocrat cards specifically for casinos. These were similar to Bee cards in that their backs were borderless with

4687-507: The "fan" back and the "circle" back, typically in traditional red and blue. Due to the unique finish, known as "linoid", and the distinct designs, they are popular for card flourishes . In addition to exporting cards produced within the United States, the USPCC produces some brands specifically for international markets. The 500 (or Five Hundred) brand was originally created by the National Playing Card Company as

4796-403: The "leaf" game existed at least since the mid-Tang dynasty and associated its invention with the development of printed sheets as a writing medium. However, Ouyang also claims that the "leaves" were pages of a book used in a board game played with dice, and that the rules of the game were lost by 1067. Other games revolving around alcoholic drinking involved using playing cards of a sort from

4905-520: The '45 Texan, was in print for over 120 years. These playing cards, unlike most, were borderless, and featured a scene of Texas palmetto leaves, with a star in the center. The cards also were unique, as they were slightly asymmetrical. Whilst originally printed in the United States, the Texan No. '45, in later years, was a Canadian-exclusive brand of playing cards. Unlike some other brands, the Texan brand

5014-418: The 18th century. In Great Britain, the pack with reversible court cards was patented in 1799 by Edward Ludlow and Ann Wilcox. Not being registered card-makers, they worked with printer Thomas Wheeler to produce a French-suited pack using this patent, which was first sold in 1801. Sharp corners wear out more quickly, and could possibly reveal the card's value, so they were replaced with rounded corners. Before

5123-448: The 1920s, with the practice reaching a zenith in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the practice has become less common in recent decades. Delta Air Lines has created several series of decks, with several featuring art by Daniel C. Sweeney, John Hardy, and Jack Laycox. Gambling corporations commonly have playing cards made specifically for their casinos. As casinos consume many decks daily, they sometimes resell used cards that were "on

5232-460: The 8s through 10s like Latin-suited decks. 24-card decks, removing 2s through 8s are also sold in Austria and Bavaria to play Schnapsen . A pinochle deck consists of two copies of a 24-card schnapsen deck, thus 48 cards. The 78-card Tarot Nouveau adds the knight card between queens and jacks along with 21 numbered trumps and the unnumbered Fool . Today the process of making playing cards

5341-628: The Arrco brand by implementing a new easy-to-handle plastic coating for his decks. While Arrco sustained sales of a variety of budget and lower quality playing cards throughout the later half of the 20th century, the Regensteiner family sold Arrco to USPC in 1987. The USPC discontinued the Arrco brand in 2011. One of the first five brands of cards introduced by the company in 1881, when it was still known as Russell, Morgan, and Co., Army and Navy were originally two separate brands although they shared

5450-577: The Asian continent and later came into Egypt. The oldest surviving cards in the world are four fragments found in the Keir Collection and one in the Benaki Museum . They are dated to the 12th and 13th centuries (late Fatimid , Ayyubid , and early Mamluk periods). A near complete pack of Mamluk playing cards dating to the 15th century, and of similar appearance to the fragments above,

5559-509: The Bicycle brand can be licensed from USPC. The Hoyle brand was originally produced by the Brown & Bigelow Company in 1927, and was the main competitor to USPC's Bicycle brand for over 70 years. The cards proved such a success that Brown & Bigelow's card division was renamed Hoyle Products in 1975. Hoyle's shell back design is well-recognized, but Hoyle's most iconic figure is its Joker:

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5668-459: The Bicycle brand name to distribute special-edition decks featuring unique artwork. They have also taken advantage of USPC's acquisition of KEM's plastic card technology to sell all-plastic versions of their cards ( No.  2100 is the all-plastic version of their No.  1). The Arrco Playing Card Company of Chicago began operations in 1927 under the name Arrow Playing Card Company. Arrow's founder, Theodore Regensteiner , helped popularized

5777-640: The Enquirer Job Printing Rooms division of the newspaper The Cincinnati Enquirer . Among their printed lithographs were advertisements for performances of Edward Owings Towne's Other People's Money . The company began printing four brands of playing cards in 1881: Tigers ( No.  101), Sportsman's ( No.  202), Army and Navy (both No.  303, and also offered in a deluxe version with gold edges as No.  505), and Congress ( No.  404 and with gold edges as No.  606). Their fifth brand, introduced in 1883,

5886-458: The German suit symbols. A combination of Latin and Germanic suit pictures and names resulted in the French suits of trèfles (clovers), carreaux (tiles), cœurs (hearts), and piques (pikes) around 1480. The trèfle (clover) was probably derived from the acorn and the pique (pike) from the leaf of the German suits. The names pique and spade , however, may have derived from

5995-613: The National Card Company of Indianapolis in the 1880s. The stock number is "1001," although there is also a "1002" version, which is identical except that the 1002 features gilded edges. There is also a "1004" variant, which had no indices in the corners. At least four different back designs were produced, but it is unknown how many were produced, or for how long. Aladdins were retained and marketed by USPCC after USPCC acquired NCC. They are produced by USPCC today primarily for export. The cards are said to be designed to withstand

6104-561: The New York Consolidated Card Company in 1892, hence the number "92" on the Ace of Spades; the USPC acquired the company two years later, but it continued to operate independently, even after merging with Andrew Dougherty and Standard Playing Card Company to form Consolidated-Dougherty. Standard Bee playing cards have a diamond back, typically blue or red although casinos frequently use customized Bee cards featuring

6213-719: The New York Consolidated Card Company. The New York Consolidated Card Company, Andrew Dougherty and Standard Playing Card Company were all eventually bought out and merged to form the Consolidated-Doughterty branch of the USPCC. Squeezer playing cards are printed with the Cambric Finish of Bee playing cards. Squeezer playing cards traditionally came in several back designs, but only the two most popular (the famous Bulldog and Angel Back) are still printed. Unlike most other USPCC cards, these cards are only printed occasionally. The Texan No. '45, originally printed as

6322-643: The New York Consolidated Card Company. The latter was the maker of the Bee brand and innovators of the "squeezer" card indices in the corners, which became a standard element of playing cards worldwide. Acquisitions continued in 1907 with the purchase of Andrew Dougherty, adding the Tally-Ho brand, and in 1929 with Russell Playing Card Company, adding the Aristocrat brand. In 1930, New York Consolidated, Andrew Dougherty, and Standard Playing Card Company were merged into

6431-552: The Ohio River to Erlanger. Playing cards produced between 2009 and 2012 at the Erlanger factory had various quality control issues including mis-centering of art and card handling quality. For example, several playing cards produced in 2010 were "sticky", meaning they did not separate, fan, and perform well. This created a demand for Norwood produced playing cards on the market. Playing cards produced in Norwood typically featured

6540-584: The Pickett brand during World War I . During World War II , USPCC manufactured spotter cards so soldiers could identify enemy units and cooperated with the U.S. Government in creating clandestine decks given to POWs; these cards could be moistened and peeled apart to reveal escape maps. In May 2011, Marc Hill was named president of The United States Playing Cards Company. In October 2011, the United States Playing Card Company in

6649-537: The Spanish–American War in 1898. They were of a low quality so as to be inexpensive and easily bought by the soldiers. It was discontinued shortly after the war. In World War I , the stock number was reused for Picket , another inexpensive brand which was again printed for sale to soldiers. Printing of Picket ceased after the Armistice. Congress was the most expensive of the first four brands introduced by

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6758-548: The Tang dynasty onward. However, these cards did not contain suits or numbers. Instead, they were printed with instructions or forfeits for whoever drew them. The earliest dated instance of a game involving cards occurred on 17 July 1294 when the Ming Department of Punishments caught two gamblers, Yan Sengzhu and Zheng Pig-Dog, playing with paper cards. Wood blocks for printing the cards were impounded, together with nine of

6867-636: The Turkic, Mongolian, and Jurchen languages. Wilkinson postulated that the cups may have been derived from inverting the Chinese and Jurchen ideogram for "myriad", 万 , which was pronounced as something like man in Middle Chinese . The Mamluk court cards showed abstract designs or calligraphy not depicting persons possibly due to religious proscription in Sunni Islam , though they did bear

6976-401: The USPC's flagship brand of cards, introduced in 1885. The typical Bicycle deck is a standard deck of cards consisting of 52 traditional French-suited playing cards, two jokers and two advertising cards. The Bicycle trademark is printed on the ace of spades. The type number of a Bicycle deck can be found both on the bottom of the deck box and on the stone of the joker artwork. Bicycle cards have

7085-500: The United States and other countries have created decks of cards that feature photos, names, and details of cold case victims or missing persons on each card. These decks are sold in prison commissaries , or even to the public, in the hopes that an inmate (or anyone else) might provide a new lead. Cold case card programs have been introduced in over a dozen states, including by Oklahoma 's State Bureau of Investigation , Connecticut 's Division of Criminal Justice (five editions),

7194-641: The West is the French-suited , standard 52-card pack , of which the most widespread design is the English pattern , followed by the Belgian-Genoese pattern . However, many countries use other, traditional types of playing card, including those that are German , Italian , Spanish and Swiss-suited . Tarot cards (also known locally as Tarocks or tarocchi ) are an old genre of playing card that

7303-434: The [casino] floor". The cards sold to the public are altered, either by cutting the deck's corners or by punching a hole in the deck, to prevent them from being used for cheating in the casino. Casinos may also sell decks separately as a souvenir item — one notable example is Jerry's Nugget playing cards , released in 1970. Police departments, local governments, state prison systems, and even private organizations across

7412-445: The account books of Johanna, Duchess of Brabant and Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg , an entry dated May 14, 1379, by receiver general of Brabant Renier Hollander reads: "Given to Monsieur and Madame four peters and two florins, worth eight and a half sheep, for the purchase of packs of cards". In his book of accounts for 1392 or 1393, Charles or Charbot Poupart, treasurer of the household of Charles VI of France , records payment for

7521-399: The actual cards. William Henry Wilkinson suggests that the first cards may have been actual paper currency which doubled as both the tools of gaming and the stakes being played for, similar to trading card games. Using paper money was inconvenient and risky so they were substituted by play money known as "money cards". One of the earliest games in which we know the rules is madiao ,

7630-554: The card backs. The playing cards feature the Arrco styled court cards. Stud playing cards of all ages are widely sought after by cardistry enthusiasts and magicians due to their excellent handling. The Stud name was discontinued briefly and replaced by "Play Right", but the name change was not popular. Even less popular was the unusual indexing (Red decks were standard size, and blue decks were jumbo size). In 2019, Walgreens stopped ordering Stud playing cards in favor of Theory11 designed cards. Squeezer brand cards were originally printed by

7739-494: The cards, which impacted sales due to the low replacement rate. As a solution, Nintendo produced a cheaper and lower-quality line of playing cards, Tengu , while also conducting product offerings in other cities such as Osaka , where card game profits were high. In addition, local merchants were interested in the prospect of a continuous renewal of decks, thus avoiding the suspicions that reusing cards would generate. Columbia University 's Rare Book and Manuscript Library holds

7848-461: The company in 1881, when it was still known as Russell, Morgan, and Co. Congress was printed under two stocks: their standard No.  404 and the deluxe No.  606 which had gold edges. In modern use, the Congress brand is used for contract bridge and canasta cards and accessories. Congress cards are available in a wide assortment of pictorial back designs, and are typically housed in

7957-619: The company was based in Norwood , Ohio , but as of 2009, the USPC is currently headquartered in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Kentucky . In December 2019, the United States Playing Card Company became a subsidiary of Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi . The company was founded in Cincinnati in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and originally specialized in printing posters for traveling circuses. The company took its name from partners A. O. Russell and Robert J. Morgan, who together with James M. Armstrong and John F. Robinson Jr. purchased

8066-564: The constant humidity and heat of Singapore. They are produced with a "smooth finish" and an "air-cushion" finish. Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. manufactures many different sets of playing cards, most for sale in Europe. Fournier cards are also common choices for casinos around the world. In addition to their signature No.  1 Spanish playing cards , they also produce poker cards (the No.  18 line), tarot cards, and specialty cards. Since their acquisition by USPC, Fournier has also made use of

8175-400: The desired imagery is etched into printing plates , the art is printed onto each side of the pasteboard sheet, which is coated with a textured or smooth finish, sometimes called a varnish or paint coating. These coatings can be water- or solvent-based, and different textures and visual effects can be achieved by adding certain dyes or foils, or using multiple varnish processes. The pasteboard

8284-582: The early patterns of playing card were those derived from the Mamluk suits of cups, coins, swords, and polo sticks, which are still used in traditional Latin decks . As polo was an obscure sport to Europeans then, the polo-sticks became batons or cudgels. In addition to Catalonia in 1371, the presence of playing cards is attested in 1377 in Switzerland , and 1380 in many locations including Florence and Paris . Wide use of playing cards in Europe can, with some certainty, be traced from 1377 onward. In

8393-644: The existence of playing cards. However the connection between playing cards and the leaf game is disputed. The reference describes Princess Tongchang, daughter of Emperor Yizong of Tang , playing the "leaf game" in 868 with members of the Wei clan, the family of the princess's husband . The first known book on the "leaf" game was called the Yezi Gexi and allegedly written by a Tang woman. It received commentary by writers of subsequent dynasties. The Song dynasty (960–1279) scholar Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072) asserts that

8502-507: The face cards but the number of cards per deck, the use of numeric indices, or even minor shape and arrangement differences of the pips can be used to distinguish them. Some patterns have been around for hundreds of years. Jokers are not part of any pattern as they are a relatively recent invention and lack any standardized appearance so each publisher usually puts its own trademarked illustration into their decks. The wide variation of jokers has turned them into collectible items. Any card that bore

8611-559: The highest trump card is the Jack of the trump suit, called the right bower (from the German Bauer ); the second-highest trump, the left bower , is the jack of the suit of the same color as trumps. The joker was invented c. 1860 as a third trump, the imperial or best bower , which ranked higher than the other two bowers . The name of the card is believed to derive from juker , a variant name for euchre. The earliest reference to

8720-413: The joker and the backs were solid color borders with gold (and sometimes copper) colored ink, called “lacquer backs”. In 1899, pictorial backs became the norm. Between 1897 and 1904, the jokers were a black and white image of the back design. Rambler playing cards (Stock No.  23,) are another brand of playing cards that were originally produced by National Card Company. They feature gilded edges and

8829-916: The king. Packs of 56 cards containing in each suit a king, queen, knight, and knave (as in tarot) were once common in the 15th century. In 1628, the Mistery of Makers of Playing Cards of the City of London (now the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards ) was incorporated under a royal charter by Charles I ; the Company received livery status from the Court of Aldermen of the City of London in 1792. The Company still exists today, having expanded its member ranks to include "card makers... card collectors, dealers, bridge players, [and] magicians". During

8938-550: The lowest court card was called the " knave " which originally meant male child (compare German Knabe ), so in this context the character could represent the " prince ", son to the king and queen; the meaning servant developed later. Queens appeared sporadically in packs as early as 1377, especially in Germany. Although the Germans abandoned the queen before the 1500s, the French permanently picked it up and placed it under

9047-486: The market not wanting to be associated with criminal ties, but Nintendo founder Fusajiro Yamauchi continued, becoming the largest producer of hanafuda within a few years. With the increase of the cards' popularity, Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce to satisfy the demand. Even with a favorable start, the business faced financial struggle due to operating in a niche market , the slow and expensive manufacturing process, high product price, alongside long durability of

9156-476: The mid 16th century, Portuguese traders introduced playing cards to Japan. The first indigenous Japanese deck was the Tenshō karuta named after the Tenshō period . Packs with corner and edge indices (i.e. the value of the card printed at the corner(s) or edges of the card) enabled players to hold their cards close together in a fan with one hand (instead of the two hands previously used). An early example of

9265-513: The mid-19th century, British, American, and French players preferred blank backs. The need to hide wear and tear and to discourage writing on the back led cards to have designs, pictures, photos, or advertising on the reverse. The United States introduced the joker into the deck. It was devised for the game of euchre , which spread from Europe to America beginning shortly after the American Revolutionary War . In euchre,

9374-719: The opposite direction. Some designs exist with indices in all four corners. French decks come in a variety of patterns and deck sizes. The 52-card deck is the most popular deck and includes 13 ranks of each suit with reversible "court" or face cards. Each suit includes an ace , depicting a single symbol of its suit, a king, queen, and jack, each depicted with a symbol of their suit; and ranks two through ten, with each card depicting that number of pips of its suit. As well as these 52 cards, commercial packs often include between one and six jokers, most often two. Decks with fewer than 52 cards are known as stripped decks . The piquet pack has all values from 2 through 6 in each suit removed for

9483-415: The original Mamluk deck, while Latin and Germanic decks average fewer. Latin decks usually drop the higher-valued pip cards, while Germanic decks drop the lower-valued ones. Within suits, there are regional or national variations called "standard patterns." Because these patterns are in the public domain , this allows multiple card manufacturers to recreate them. Pattern differences are most easily found in

9592-515: The painting of three sets of cards. From about 1418 to 1450 professional card makers in Ulm , Nuremberg , and Augsburg created printed decks. Playing cards even competed with devotional images as the most common uses for woodcuts in this period. Most early woodcuts of all types were coloured after printing, either by hand or, from about 1450 onwards, stencils . These 15th-century playing cards were probably painted. The Flemish Hunting Deck , held by

9701-418: The ranks on the cards. Nā'ib would be borrowed into French ( nahipi ), Italian ( naibi ), and Spanish ( naipes ), the latter word still in common usage. Panels on the pip cards in two suits show they had a reverse ranking, a feature found in madiao , ganjifa , and old European card games like ombre , tarot , and maw . A fragment of two uncut sheets of Moorish -styled cards of a similar but plainer style

9810-509: The rest of Hoyle Products in 2001. It was introduced in 1959, during the run of the popular Maverick TV series. Unlike most USPC current product lines, Maverick is now being printed by outsourced manufacturers. Streamline is a low-end brand, similar to Maverick, with a bordered monochrome back and a smooth plastic-coated finish. Streamline came to the USPCC from the Arrco Playing Card Company, longtime manufacturers of

9919-455: The same two stock numbers: their standard No.  303 and the deluxe No.  505 which had gold edges. The two brands were then merged into the single Army & Navy brand in 1884. True to the name, the Joker and Ace of Spades of these brands tended to feature American military imagery, which changed over the years of its production. Stock No.  515, Canteen was issued during

10028-401: The subject of playing cards include: Contemporary playing cards are grouped into three broad categories based on the suits they use: French, Latin, and Germanic. Latin suits are used in the closely related Spanish and Italian formats. The Swiss-German suits are distinct enough to merit their subcategory. Excluding jokers and tarot trumps, the French 52-card deck preserves the number of cards in

10137-433: The suits use reverse ranking for their pip cards. There are many motifs for the suit pips but some include coins, clubs, jugs, and swords which resemble later Mamluk and Latin suits. Michael Dummett speculated that Mamluk cards may have descended from an earlier deck which consisted of 48 cards divided into four suits each with ten pip cards and two court cards. By the 11th century, playing cards were spreading throughout

10246-540: The sword ( spade ) of the Italian suits. In England, the French suits were eventually used, although the earliest packs circulating may have had Latin suits. This may account for why the English called the clovers "clubs" and the pikes "spades". In the late 14th century, Europeans changed the Mamluk court cards to represent European royalty and attendants. In a description from 1377, the earliest courts were originally

10355-460: The time of their introduction, Steamboat cards were available for as little as 5¢ a pack). Until the 1990s when the cards had a cardstock change, Steamboat was the company's least expensive line of playing cards. The cards had a price increase as the original 999 stock was replaced with Aviator and Bicycle 808 stock. Steamboat cards were offered with an Air Cushion finish until 2009 when the United States Playing Card Company moved to Erlanger. Stud

10464-529: The top-of-the-line Ivory ( No.  93). A series of Skat decks were also briefly offered to appeal to German immigrants, featuring either German or American faces. Business boomed and in 1891 Russell, Morgan, & Co. changed its name to the United States Printing Company. The playing card business was successful enough that it was spun off as a separate business in 1894, as The United States Playing Card Company. Morgan recruited

10573-485: The translucent material to read other people's cards or to identify cards by minor scratches or marks on their backs. Playing cards are available in a wide variety of styles, as decks may be custom-produced for competitions, casinos and magicians (sometimes in the form of trick decks ), made as promotional items, or intended as souvenirs , artistic works, educational tools, or branded accessories. Decks of cards or even single cards are also collected as

10682-666: The visually impaired, and a 'PokerPeek' design on their pro-series decks that simplifies looking at hole cards. Novelty 'Big Bicycle' cards that are four times the normal bridge card size, and mini-sized cards are also available. Bicycle playing cards are commonly used by magicians in card magic and flourishes due to their ordinary appearance. The USPCC has released look-alike card designs under stock number 809 called Mandolin-backs and Maiden-backs for use in producing marked decks . In addition to specialty decks specifically designed for magic, cardistry or purely aesthetic reasons, USPC also make other kinds of non-standard card decks, such as

10791-564: The world record collection of 8,520 different jokers belonging to Tony de Santis of Italy. Naipes Heraclio Fournier Naipes Heraclio Fournier S.A. is a playing card manufacturer based in Vitoria , Spain with a factory in Legutio . It has been owned by the United States Playing Card Company since 1986, which was acquired by Belgium –based Cartamundi in 2020. Heraclio Fournier González ,

10900-562: The youngest son of French-Spanish industrialist Lazaro Fournier and Paula González, went to work with his brother Braulio Fournier in the family's factory. Their business, called Fournier Hermanos, developed a new type of playing card. After splitting from the company, Heraclio moved to Vitoria-Gasteiz and in 1870 created a lithography factory called "Naipes Heraclio Fournier" focusing on playing card manufacturing, and later printing stamps and books. In 1875 Heraclio created new printing ways and new graphic models. Two years later he worked with

11009-480: Was an exclusive house brand of the Walgreens drug store chain. They were originally produced by the Arrco company, and used the primary Arrco casino export card stock, Stock 21. When acquired by the USPCC in 1986, Stud playing cards stopped being printed on Arrco stock and were printed on the linen finish Aristocrat stock. They feature a "stud" horse on the tuck case, ace of spades, and jokers, as well as windmills on

11118-474: Was discontinued likely due to association with the Nazi Party). Originally it was stored in an ornate hard tuck case with gold lettering. Around the 1970s the fancier tuck cases were phased out. Sometime during the 1990s the unique box art was changed to a plainer design that says "500 Playing Card Game". It is currently produced and sold mainly for export to Australia. The Aladdin brand was first produced by

11227-540: Was discovered by Leo Aryeh Mayer in the Topkapı Palace , Istanbul , in 1939. It is not a complete set and is actually composed of three different packs, probably to replace missing cards. The Topkapı pack originally contained 52 cards comprising four suits: polo-sticks, coins, swords, and cups. Each suit contained ten pip cards and three court cards, called malik (king), nā'ib malik (viceroy or deputy king), and thānī nā'ib (second or under-deputy). The thānī nā'ib

11336-670: Was found in Spain and dated to the early 15th century. Export of these cards (from Cairo, Alexandria, and Damascus), ceased after the fall of the Mamluks in the 16th century. The rules to play these games are lost but they are believed to be plain trick games without trumps . Playing cards probably came to Europe from the East, specifically those used by the Mamluks in Egypt. The cards arrived first either in Italy or Spain. Historical evidence

11445-468: Was founded in 1889 to produce and distribute karuta ( かるた , from Portuguese carta , 'card') , most notably hanafuda ( 花札 , 'flower cards') . Hanafuda cards had become popular after Japan banned most forms of gambling in 1882 but largely left hanafuda untouched. Sales of hanafuda cards were popular with the yakuza -ran gaming parlors in Kyoto. Other card manufacturers had opted to leave

11554-531: Was still printed after the move to Erlanger. After being in print for over 120 years, the production ceased. Stock No.  101, Tigers was the first brand published in 1881 and the cheapest of the earliest four brands. Its name comes from the tiger that appeared on the joker. After the introduction of the Steamboat line, the importance of Tigers was diminished. It was discontinued around 1930. Playing card The most common type of playing card in

11663-411: Was the bargain-priced Steamboat ( No.  999) which competed with other cheap steamboat -themed decks offered by other companies. In 1885, they began printing Bicycle cards ( No.  808), which would become their most popular line and their only early brand that is still in regular use today. A 32-card Euchre deck called Cabinet ( No.  707) was introduced in 1888, but would be changed to

11772-592: Was the best playing card manufacturer in Spain. In 1986 the company United States Playing Card company bought Naipes Heraclio Fournier. Nowadays the company sells 16 million packs a year. It sells them to many casinos around the world, being one of the most important playing card manufacturers in the world. In 1986 it was acquired by the US Playing Card Company, entering a conglomerate where other brands such as Bicycle, Aviator, Bee and KEM are located. In 1993, it continues to increase its presence in

11881-445: Was the highest-end brand of playing cards originally produced, featuring hunting and fishing themes. The card backs featured game animals, whilst the ace of spades and jokers featured hunters, guns and hunting dogs. Production of these cards continued until 1936. The fifth brand of cards introduced by the USPC (stock No.  999, introduced in 1883), this brand was introduced to meet a growing demand for inexpensive playing cards (at

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