Editing Playing card (section)

==History==
=== China ===

[[Image:Ming Dynasty playing card, c. 1400.jpg|thumb|upright=0.5|Chinese [[printing|printed]] playing card {{Circa|1400 AD}} found near [[Turpan]]]]

{{further|Chinese playing cards}}

Playing cards were most likely invented during the [[Tang dynasty]] around the 9th century, as a result of the usage of woodblock printing technology.<ref>{{Harvnb|Needham|1954|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_1_Introductory_Orientations#page/n177/mode/2up 131–132]}}.</ref><ref name="wilkinson">{{cite journal|last=Wilkinson | first=W.H. | title=Chinese Origin of Playing Cards | journal=[[American Anthropologist]] | volume=VIII | issue=1 | year=1895 | pages=61–78 | doi=10.1525/aa.1895.8.1.02a00070 | url=https://zenodo.org/record/1448960 | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="lo 2000 390"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Needham|2004|p=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_4-1_Physics_and_Physical_Technology_Physics#page/n379/mode/2up/search/dominoes 328]}} "it is also now rather well-established that dominoes and playing-cards were originally Chinese developments from dice."</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Needham|2004|p=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_4-1_Physics_and_Physical_Technology_Physics#page/n383/mode/2up 332]}} "Numbered dice, anciently widespread, were on a related line of development which gave rise to dominoes and playing-cards (+9th-century China)."</ref> The reference to a leaf game in a 9th-century text known as the ''Collection of Miscellanea at Duyang'' ({{lang-zh|s=杜阳杂编|p=Dùyáng zábiān}}), written by Tang dynasty writer Su E, is often cited in connection to the existence of playing cards. However the connection between playing cards and the leaf game is disputed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Works titled 杜陽雜編 |url=https://ctext.org/searchbooks.pl?if=en&searchu=%E6%9D%9C%E9%99%BD%E9%9B%9C%E7%B7%A8 |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=Chinese Text Project}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Theobald |first=Ulrich |date=2012-09-30 |title=Duyang zabian |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Novels/duyangzabian.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=ChinaKnowledge.de: An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lo |first=Andrew |date=2000 |title=The game of leaves: An inquiry into the origin of Chinese playing cards |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/game-of-leaves-an-inquiry-into-the-origin-of-chinese-playing-cards/FCDF32E1461700E7617AAD4AA1750D56 |journal=Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=389–406 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00008466 |s2cid=159872810 |via=Cambridge University Press|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Parlett |first=David |title=Chinese Leaf Game: Did the Chinese really invent card games? |url=https://www.parlettgames.uk/histocs/leafgame.html |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=Historic Card Games}}</ref> 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 [[Wei Baoheng|princess's husband]].<ref name="lo 2000 390"/><ref name="zhou 1997 18">{{cite journal|author=Zhou, Songfang|title=On the Story of Late Tang Poet Li He|journal=Journal of the Graduates Sun Yat-sen University|year= 1997|volume= 18|issue= 3|pages=31–35}}</ref>{{sfn|Needham|Tsien|1985|p=131}} 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.{{sfn|Needham|2004|p=329}} The [[Song dynasty]] (960–1279) scholar [[Ouyang Xiu]] (1007–1072) asserts that the "leaf" game existed at least since the mid-Tang dynasty and associated its invention with the [[List of Chinese inventions#Printing|development of printed sheets]] as a writing medium.<ref name="lo 2000 390">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0041977X00008466| title = The game of leaves: An inquiry into the origin of Chinese playing cards| journal = Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies| volume = 63| issue = 3| pages = 389–406| year = 2009| last1 = Lo | first1 = A. | s2cid = 159872810}}</ref>{{sfn|Needham|2004|p=329}} 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.<ref name="Parlett">[[David Parlett|Parlett, David]], "[https://www.parlettgames.uk/histocs/leafgame.html The Chinese "Leaf" Game]", March 2015.</ref>

Other games revolving around alcoholic drinking involved using playing cards of a sort from 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.<ref name="Parlett"/>

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 the actual cards.<ref name="Parlett"/>

[[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,<ref name="wilkinson" /> 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]]'', 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 [[suit (cards)|suit]]s: 9 in [[Cash (Chinese coin)|coin]]s, 9 in [[string of cash coins (currency unit)|strings of coins]] (which may have been misinterpreted as sticks from crude drawings), 9 in [[myriad]]s (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{{sfn|Needham|Tsien|1985|p=132}} with Chinese to mark their rank and suit. The suit of coins is in reverse order with 9 of coins being the lowest going up to 1 of coins as the high card.<ref>[http://www.themahjongtileset.co.uk/money-suited-playing-cards/ Money-suited playing cards] at The Mahjong Tile Set</ref>

=== Persia ===

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 card]]s of [[King (playing card)|king]] and [[Vizier#Playing card rank|vizier]] and the bottom ten being [[pip card]]s. Some decks can contain 8 suits to make a 96-card deck, like the deck for [[Ganjifa]]. Half 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 Sultanate|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.<ref>[http://i-p-c-s.org/faq/basics.php Playing card basics] at the [[International Playing-Card Society]] website</ref>

=== Egypt ===
[[File:Mamluk kanjifah cards.png|right|thumb|upright=1.5|Four Mamluk playing cards]]
By the 11th century, playing cards were spreading throughout the Asian continent and later came into Egypt.{{sfn|Needham|Tsien|1985|p=[https://archive.org/stream/ScienceAndCivilisationInChina/Needham_Joseph_Science_and_Civilisation_in_China_Vol_5-1_Chemistry_and_Chemical_Technology_Paper_and_Printing#page/n165/mode/2up/search/Egypt 307]}} The oldest surviving cards in the world are four fragments found in the [[Keir Collection]] and one in the [[Benaki Museum]].{{efn|The designation of "oldest surviving cards" is complicated by the forms of the historical objects: Some may be less "card-like" and more akin to scaps of parchment.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Nosowitz |first1=Dan |title=Playing Cards Around the World and Through the Ages |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/history-of-playing-cards |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en |date=13 July 2020}}</ref>}} They are dated to the 12th and 13th centuries (late [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]], [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]], and early [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluk]] periods).{{sfn|Dummett|1980|p=41}}

A near complete pack of Mamluk playing cards dating to the 15th century, and of similar appearance to the fragments above, was discovered by [[Leo Aryeh Mayer]] in the [[Topkapı Palace]], [[Istanbul]], in 1939.<ref name="bifao38">{{Citation|title=Le Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale|last=Mayer|first=Leo Ary|url=http://www.ifao.egnet.net/bifao/38/|year=1939|volume=38|pages=113–118|access-date=2008-09-08|postscript=.}}</ref> It is not a complete set and is actually composed of three different packs, probably to replace missing cards.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Berry |first=John |title=Mamluk Problems |journal=The Playing-Card |publisher=The International Playing-Card Society |publication-date=December 2001 |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=139 |issn=0305-2133}}</ref>  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'' 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 ''[[Tumen (unit)|tuman]]'', which means [[:wikt:myriad|"myriad"]] (10,000) in the Turkic, Mongolian, and [[Jurchen language|Jurchen]] languages.<ref>Pollett, Andrea "The Playing-Card", Vol. 31, No 1 pp. 34–41.</ref> Wilkinson postulated that the cups may have been derived from inverting the Chinese and Jurchen ideogram for "myriad", {{lang|zh|{{linktext|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 [[Aniconism in Islam|religious proscription in Sunni Islam]], though they did bear 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#Games|ganjifa]], and old European card games like [[ombre]], [[tarot card games|tarot]], and [[Spoil Five|maw]].<ref>[http://cards.old.no/1500-mamluk/ Mamluk cards]. Cards.old.no. Retrieved on 2015-05-10.</ref> A fragment of two uncut sheets of [[Moorish]]-styled cards of a similar was found in Spain and dated to the early 15th century.<ref>Wintle, Simon. [http://www.wopc.co.uk/spain/moorish/index Moorish playing cards] at The World of Playing Cards. Retrieved 22 July 2015.</ref>

Export of these cards (from Cairo, Alexandria, and Damascus), ceased after the fall of the Mamluks in the 16th century.<ref>[http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards64.htm The Mamluk Cards]. L-pollett.tripod.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-10.</ref> The rules to play these games are lost but they are believed to be [[trick-taking game|plain trick games]] without [[trump (card games)|trump]]s.<ref>[http://www.pagat.com/notrump/ No trump trick-taking games] at [[pagat.com]]</ref>

=== Spread across Europe and early design changes ===
{{See also|Tarot}}
[[Image:Knave of coins - Italy 2 deck.png|thumb|upright|right|Knave of Coins from the oldest known European deck ({{circa|1390–1410}})]]
[[File:Pietro_Longhi_-_Card_Players_-_KMSst426_-_Statens_Museum_for_Kunst.jpg|thumb|350px|Card players in 18th Century Venice, by [[Pietro Longhi]]]] 
Playing cards probably came to Europe from the East, specifically those used by the [[Mamluk Sultanate|Mamluks]] in Egypt, and probably arrived first in Spain since the earliest European mention of playing cards appears in 1371 in a [[Catalan language]] rhyme dictionary which lists ''naip'' among words ending in ''-ip''. According to [[Trevor Denning]], the only attested meaning of this Catalan word is "playing card".{{sfn|Denning|1996|p=14}} This suggests that cards may have been "reasonably well known" in [[Principality of Catalonia|Catalonia]] (now part of Spain) at that time, perhaps introduced as a result of maritime trade with the Mamluk rulers of Egypt.<ref>Ferg, Wayland & Wayland (2007), p. 117.</ref>

The earliest record of playing cards in central Europe is believed by some researchers to be a ban on card games in the city of [[Bern]] in 1367,<ref name="Peter F. Kopp 1973 pp. 130">Peter F. Kopp: Die frühesten Spielkarten in der Schweiz. In: Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 30 (1973), pp. 130–145, here 130.</ref><ref>Timothy B. Husband: The World in Play. Luxury Cards 1430–1540. Metropolitan Museum of Art 2016, S. 13.</ref> but this source is disputed as the earliest copy available dates to 1398 and may have been amended.<ref name="Hellmut Rosenfeld 1975 pp. 179">Hellmut Rosenfeld: Zu den frühesten Spielkarten in der Schweiz. Eine Entgegnung. In: Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und Kunstgeschichte 32 (1975), pp. 179–180.</ref><ref name="trionfi.com">{{cite web| url = http://trionfi.com/0/p/01/| title = Early Prohibitions of Playing Cards (Trionfi.com)}}</ref>{{sfn|Dummett|1980|pp=11-13}} Generally accepted as the first Italian reference is a [[Republic of Florence|Florentine]] ban dating to 1377.<ref name="Peter F. Kopp 1973 pp. 130"/><ref name="Hellmut Rosenfeld 1975 pp. 179"/><ref>[[Detlef Hoffmann]]: Kultur- und Kunstgeschichte der Spielkarte. Marburg: Jonas Verlag 1995, p. 43.</ref> Also appearing in 1377 was the treatise by [[John of Rheinfelden]], in which he describes playing cards and their moral meaning.<ref name="trionfi_p10">{{cite web|title=Johannes of Rheinfelden, 1377 |website=Trionfi |url=http://trionfi.com/0/p/10/ |access-date=2015-09-28 |language=en}}</ref>  From this year onwards more and more records (usually bans) of playing cards occur,<ref>Wilhelm Ludwig Schreiber: ''Die ältesten Spielkarten und die auf das Kartenspiel Bezug habenden Urkunden des 14. und 15. Jahrhunderts''. Heitz, Straßburg 1937.</ref><ref name="trionfi.com"/> first appearing in England as early as 1413.{{sfn|Depaulis|2013|pp=165–169}}

Among 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-suited|Latin decks]].<ref>[[Donald Laycock]] in ''Skeptical—a Handbook of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal'', ed [[Donald Laycock]], [[David Vernon (writer)|David Vernon]], [[Colin Groves]], [[Simon Brown (author)|Simon Brown]], Imagecraft, Canberra, 1989, {{ISBN|0-7316-5794-2}}, p. 67</ref> As [[polo]] was an obscure sport to Europeans then, the polo-sticks became batons or cudgels.<ref>[http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards77.htm Andy's Playing Cards - The Tarot And Other Early Cards - page XVII - the moorish deck]. L-pollett.tripod.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-10.</ref> In addition to Catalonia in 1371, the presence of playing cards is attested in 1377 in [[Old Swiss Confederacy|Switzerland]], and 1380 in many locations including [[Florence]] and [[Paris]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trionfi.com/0/p/01/|title=Tarot and its history|website=Trionfi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://trionfi.com/0/p/02/|title=Tarot and its history|website=Trionfi}}</ref><ref>J. Brunet i Bellet, ''Lo joch de naibs, naips o cartas'', Barcelona, 1886, quote in the ''"Diccionari de rims'' de 1371 : ''darrerament/per ensajar/de bandejar/los seus guarips/joch de nayps/de nit jugàvem'', see also [http://trionfi.com/0/p/28/ le site trionfi.com]</ref> Wide use of playing cards in Europe can, with some certainty, be traced from 1377 onward.<ref name="Banzhaf">{{Citation |last1=Banzhaf |first1=Hajo |title=Il Grande Libro dei Tarocchi |year=1994 |publisher=Hermes Edizioni |location=Roma |language=it |isbn=978-88-7938-047-8 |pages=16, 192}}</ref>

In the account books of [[Joanna, Duchess of Brabant|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".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guiffrey|first=Jules|date=1871|title=Recherches sur les cartes à jouer et sur leur fabrication en Belgique depuis 1379 jusqu'à la fin du XVIIIe siècle, par Alexandre Pinchar.|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/bec_0373-6237_1871_num_32_1_446412|journal=Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes|volume=32|issue=1|pages=198–199}}</ref> 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 the painting of three sets of cards.<ref>Olmert, Michael (1996). ''Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser & Curiouser Adventures in History'', p.135. Simon & Schuster, New York. {{ISBN|0-684-80164-7}}.</ref>

From about 1418 to 1450<ref name="trionfi20">{{cite web|url=http://trionfi.com/0/p/20/|title=Early Card painters and Printers in Germany, Austria and Flandern (14th and 15th century)|website=Trionfi}}</ref> professional card makers in [[Ulm]], [[Nuremberg]], and [[Augsburg]] created printed decks. Playing cards even competed with devotional images as the most common uses for [[woodcut]]s in this period. Most early woodcuts of all types were coloured after printing, either by hand or, from about 1450 onwards, [[stencil]]s. These 15th-century playing cards were probably painted. The [[Flemish Hunting Deck]], held by the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], is the oldest complete set of ordinary playing cards made in Europe from the 15th century.<ref name=label>{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/475513?=&imgno=0&tabname=label |title=The Cloisters Playing Cards, ca. 1475–80 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] |access-date=19 May 2015}}</ref>

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 the German suit symbols. A combination of Latin and Germanic suit pictures and names resulted in the French suits of {{lang|fr|trèfles}} (clovers), {{lang|fr|carreaux}} (tiles), {{lang|fr|cœurs}} (hearts), and {{lang|fr|piques}} (pikes) around 1480. The ''trèfle'' (clover) was probably derived from the acorn and the {{lang|fr|pique}} (pike) from the leaf of the German suits. The names {{lang|fr|pique}} and ''spade'', however, may have derived from the sword ({{lang|fr|spade}}) of the Italian suits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://trionfi.com/0/p/16/|title=Early Playing Cards Research|website=Trionfi|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> In England, the French suits were eventually used, although the earliest packs circulating may have had Latin suits.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jducoeur.org/game-hist/seaan-cardhist.html|title=The Introduction of Playing-Cards to Europe|work=jducoeur.org}}</ref> 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 a seated "[[King (playing card)|king]]", an upper [[marshal]] that held his suit symbol up, and a lower marshal that held it down.<ref>[http://i-p-c-s.org/history.html History of Playing-Cards] at [[International Playing-Card Society]] website</ref><ref>Wintle, Simon. [http://www.wopc.co.uk/history/earlyrefs Early references to Playing Cards] at World of Playing Cards.</ref> The latter two correspond with the [[Ober (playing card)|''Ober'']] and [[Unter (playing card)|''Unter'']] cards still found today in [[German playing cards|German]] and [[Swiss playing cards]]. The Italians and Iberians replaced the {{lang|de|Ober}}/{{lang|de|Unter}} system with the "[[Knight (playing card)|Knight]]" and [[Jack (playing card)|"{{lang|it|Fante|nocat=y}}" or "{{lang|es|Sota|nocat=y}}"]] before 1390, perhaps to make the cards more visually distinguishable.

In England, the lowest court card was called the "[[Knave (playing card)|knave]]" which originally meant ''male child'' (compare German {{lang|de|Knabe}}), so in this context the character could represent the "[[prince]]", son to the king and queen; the meaning ''servant'' developed later.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barrington|first=Daines|author-link=Daines Barrington|title=Archaeologia, or, Miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity|volume=8|year=1787|publisher=[[Society of Antiquaries of London]]|page=141}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford English Dictionary|edition=2|year=1989|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, England |chapter=knave, n, 2|title-link=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> [[Queen (playing card)|Queen]]s 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 the king.

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 of England|Charles I]]; the Company received [[Livery company|livery status]] from the [[Court of Aldermen]] of the [[City of London]] in 1792.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://makersofplayingcards.org|title= A Brief company history|website=www.makersofplayingcards.org|access-date= 7 December 2020}}</ref> The Company still exists today, having expanded its member ranks to include "card makers... card collectors, dealers, bridge players, [and] magicians".<ref name="wcmp">{{cite web |title=Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards |url=http://www.makersofplayingcards.co.uk/ |website=Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards |access-date=24 September 2019}}</ref>

During the mid 16th century, Portuguese traders introduced playing cards to Japan. The first indigenous Japanese deck was the {{lang|ja|[[Karuta#Early Karuta|Tenshō karuta]]}} named after the [[Tenshō (Momoyama period)|{{lang|ja|Tenshō|nocat=y}} period]].<ref>[http://l-pollett.tripod.com/cards9.htm Andy's Playing Cards - Japanese and Korean Cards]. L-pollett.tripod.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-10.</ref>

=== Later design changes ===
[[File:Portuguese-style Maltese card game with dragons. Ace of Coins.jpg|thumb|right|Card from a deck showing edge indices, 1693]]
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 a pack with edge indices and Latin suits was printed by Infirerra and dated 1693.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Denning |first1=Trevor |last2=Schirò |first2=Joseph |title=Maltese Dragon Cards |url=http://www.i-p-c-s.org/publications.html#journal |journal=The Playing-Card |publisher=International Playing Cards Society |issn=0305-2133 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=34}}</ref> 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 a large diffusion.<ref name="HochmanEncyclopedia"/>

[[File:Girl with Cards by Lucius Kutchin, 1933.jpg|thumb|left|''Girl with Cards'' by [[Lucius Kutchin]], 1933, Smithsonian American Art Museum]]
This was followed by the innovation of reversible court cards. This invention is attributed to a French card maker of [[Agen]] in 1745.{{Dubious|Early double-headed face cards|date=September 2024}} 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 the 18th century. In Great Britain, the pack with reversible court cards was patented in 1799 by Edward Ludlow and Ann Wilcox.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tregear |first=Michael |title=Book Reviews: British Patents, Design of and Games with Playing-Cards. |journal=The Playing-Card |publisher=International Playling Card Society |publication-date=June 1999 |volume=27 |issue=5 |pages=209 |issn=0305-2133}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Burke |first=Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7yNMvYReI0C&dq=editions:LCCN07015364&pg=RA3-PA402 |title=Annual Register |date=1801 |pages=402 |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cooper |first=Michael |title=The Wheelers: A Family of Card Makers and Card Forgers? |journal=The Playing-Card |publisher=International Playing Card Society |publication-date=August 2002 |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=22 |issn=0305-2133}}</ref>

Sharp corners wear out more quickly, and could possibly reveal the card's value, so they were replaced with rounded corners. Before 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.<ref name="NYUCollection">{{Cite web |title=Playing card and game collection: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids |url=https://findingaids.library.nyu.edu/nyhs/pr115_playing_cards_games/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=NYU Special Collections Search Portal |language=en-us}}</ref>

[[Image:Imperial Bower.png|thumb|right|upright|An early [[Joker (playing card)|Joker]] by Samuel Hart, {{Circa|1863}}]]
The [[United States]] introduced the [[joker (playing card)|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, the highest trump card is the Jack of the trump suit, called the ''right bower'' (from the German ''[[:de:Bube (Spielkarte)|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''.<ref>{{Citation |last=Parlett |first=David |author-link=David Parlett |title=The Oxford Guide to Card Games |year=1990 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-214165-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordguidetocar00parl/page/190 190] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordguidetocar00parl/page/190 }}
</ref> The name of the card is believed to derive from ''juker'', a variant name for euchre.<ref name="uspchist">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070826144858/http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/briefhistory.html US Playing Card Co. – A Brief History of Playing Cards] (archive.org mirror)</ref><ref name=beal_joker>Beal, George (1975). ''Playing cards and their story.'' New York: Arco Publishing Comoany Inc. p. 58</ref> The earliest reference to a joker functioning as a [[wild card (card games)|wild card]] dates to 1875 with a variation of poker.<ref>{{Citation |last=Parlett |first=David |author-link=David Parlett |title=The Oxford Guide to Card Games |year=1990 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-214165-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxfordguidetocar00parl/page/191 191] |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordguidetocar00parl/page/191 }}</ref>

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.<ref name="NYUCollection"/>

===Modern-era manufacturers and artists===
[[File:Nintendo former headquarter plate Kyoto.jpg|thumb|Company name plate at the original headquarters of Nintendo]]
The Japanese video game company [[Nintendo]] was founded in 1889 to produce and distribute {{Nihongo|[[karuta]]|かるた||from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] {{lang|pt|carta}}, 'card'}}, most notably {{Nihongo3|'flower cards'|[[wikt:花札|花札]]|[[hanafuda]]}}.{{sfn|Sheff|1999|p=14}} ''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]]-run gaming parlors in Kyoto. Other card manufacturers had opted to leave 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 production|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 the cards, which impacted sales due to the low replacement rate.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=16}} As a solution, Nintendo produced a cheaper and lower-quality line of playing cards, {{transliteration|ja|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.{{Sfn|Gorges|2015a|p=17}}