Hey, Card Players!
Who doesn’t love sitting down to play a game of Speed, King’s Corner, Crazy Eights, or any other number of card games from a zillion options! Bringing a deck of cards to summer camp is a great, simple way to pass some time in your cabin, breaking the ice and learning a bit about the new friends you’re making. Playing cards have become commonplace—a gaming staple found in the majority of American households.
But how old are these popular devices of entertainment? And where did they come from? Let’s check out the history of playing cards and see what we can learn about them.
It’s pretty common knowledge that our current-day deck of cards contains 52 cards split into four suits in red and black (along with two Joker cards). But things weren’t always so matter of course. In fact, the typical playing deck has made a great number of versions throughout the hundreds of years of its invention.
Playing cards first show up on historical record in Western Asia during the 14th Century, though they’re likely much older. We cannot know just how old as the fragile nature of paper cards don’t last through the ages. Super portable, playing cards traveled across the land spreading like wildfire.
New cultures would take the concept of playing cards and create their own version as you can see in the image to the right. They progressively became something that resembles the typical deck of cards that we know and love today.
Keep an ace up your sleeve with a deck of cards at summer camp and enjoy downtime with a card game or two! Card games are a great way to make friends fast. Enjoy some fun with friends and cards. As always, thanks for reading, Camp Folks!
- John