Marie Ryley posted this great article on Facebook about the history of the joker, the ace of spades, and taxes on decks of playing cards. Reposted here with permission and my images of my cards added.
Note that I wrote another article on the invention of the joker.
I like it since a common question is: What do we know about the earliest joker playing cards?
The Joker is a playing card found in most modern card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades). The Joker originated in the United States during the civil war and was created as a trump card for the game of Euchre. It has since been adopted into many other card games where it may function as a wild card.
The card is unique in that it lacks an industry-wide standard appearance. No card in the American deck has inspired more characters and uses than the Joker card. By the mid-1870s, the card depicted a jocular imp, jester or clown. Many characters were also employed, and the blank card became popular for politics, social satire, and advertising.
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| The Joker Lacked "An industry-wide standard appearance", thanks to the fates! |
In the 20th century, the Joker card inspired the creation of the Batman character in the comic books of the 1940s. Later, various movies represented the Joker as a notorious character who was a humorous, and sadistic trickster. In 2006, portrayed in a wickedly humorous manner, the joker was rated as number one on Wizard Magazine’s “Greatest Villains of All Time.” For card collectors, the joker card is the most coveted card in the deck due to the variety of styles and incarnations.
Currently, there are claims that the word “Jucker” influenced the establishment of the word “Joker” in Euchre. What one card historian made as a suggested origin of the joker has now turned into almost a certainty for many readers and some writers. For example, a Wikipedia article on the Joker playing card erroneously states, “It is believed that the term “Joker” comes from [the word] Jucker…”(2) However, no proof has been provided with references to substantiate this claim.
Euchre was America’s National Card Game from about 1850 to 1910, so its history should be updated as best as we know it. In introducing games or variants of games, it has been said that apparent genius generally amounts to nothing more than the changing or blending of one or two concepts into the game of consideration (i.e., Euchre). The same applies to the creation of the Joker card in Euchre.
This article will detail how the wild card, the Jack of Clubs, coupled with the extra 'blank card' added to American decks of cards, developed into the Joker as we know it today.
SPADE ACE The ornate design of the ace of spades, common in packs today, stems from the 17th century, when James I and later Queen Anne imposed laws requiring the ace of spades to bear an insignia of the printing house. Stamp duty, an idea imported to England by Charles I, was extended to playing cards in 1711 by Queen Anne and lasted until 1960.
Over the years a number of methods were used to show that duty had been paid. From 1712 onwards, one of the cards in the pack, usually the ace of spades, was marked with a hand stamp. In 1765 hand stamping was replaced by the printing of official ace of spades by the Stamp Office, incorporating the royal coat of arms. In 1828 the Duty Ace of Spades (known as "Old Frizzle") was printed to indicate a reduced duty of a shilling had been paid.
The system was changed again in 1862 when official threepenny duty wrappers were introduced and although the makers were free to use whatever design they wanted, most chose to keep the ornate ace of spades that is popular today. The ace of spades is thus used to show the card manufacturer's information.
The exact design of the ace card was so important, it eventually became the subject of design patents and trademarking. For example, on December 5, 1882, George G. White was granted US design patent US0D0013473 for his design. His ace design was adorned with male and female figures leaning onto the spade from either side.
Note - all the pictures are from the AmusedbyJokersAmI collection.
For more info on the history of the joker from this website:
What do we know about the earliest joker playing cards?
Dougherty
NYCC jokers
USPC Jokers including Bicycle, Congress
National Card Company,
Kalamazoo, and Perfection too
The History of the Joker, the Ace of Spades, and the Stamp Act
Congress 606 Matching Jokers - 1898 - 1906
Will trade 6 jokers for 4 of yours, sight unseen, if you send yours in a stamped, self-address envelope. Or I will sell a six joker set for two dollars, if you send me a stamped, self-address envelope. I have several brand-new decks, so consider this an open-end trade until removed. Message me to receive my address. I like sexy jokers or known cartoon characters, but I'm not too fussy about trading. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7421366234590111&set=g.844674595551677
ReplyDeletehttps://cardshistory.com/joker-card-history.htm Joker, the extra card found in every modern card deck today is believed to be dating back to the 1860s. It is believed that the card was invented by American players who decided to introduce a trump card while changing the rules of the game. The joker has been known by several different names in the past centuries, like the jolly joker or the best bower.
ReplyDeleteIt was around 1863 that jokers were first included in card packs in America. However, they reached quite late in England and other European countries. In earlier eastern card decks there were no Jokers or any other cards equivalent to it in the Indian Ganjifa cards or the Chinese Dominoes. In several Japanese decks, an extra card can be found with a pattern of a demon but these are quite different than Jokers.
The origin of the name
new jokerAccording to various scholars, the name Joker evolved from the German name Juker which was used for the Euchre game in Germany. The joker was first mentioned in the 1886 book, Euchre: How to Play it. The Railway Euchre game which is described in the book uses an extra card, which is the joker.
Another theory is that the name could have been derived from Poker, where it was mentioned first in the 1875 book American Hoyle. Both Euchre and poker spread in America at the same time, so it is still not clear for which game the Joker was first used. In the 1880s the Joker was first represented as a court jester or a clown. In a Tarot deck, the fool in the Trumps is quite similar to the Joker. Both of these cards have quite a lot in common, in terms of appearance as well as their function in a game. In a tarot deck the Fool is often used as the highest value trump. In other cases the Fool can be played at any time that a player wants but cannot win. The Fool had been a part of the tarot deck since 1400s but the Joker has only been recently introduced. So even though the image of modern day joker might have been inspired from the Fool, their origins are totally different. In a French 52 card deck, the Joker has only been added quite recently.