History of Bridge

The early history of cards

How cards were manufactured

Who's faces are those, anyway?

Is numerology associated with cards?

Birtch heralds a legacy before Bridge

Bridge enters the 20th Century

Cards used to tell future, and make money, too.

The origin of playing cards was in China, where paper was invented, dates back to around the year 1120.   Originally, cards were used for fortune telling and gambling.  Cards were introduced into Italy and Spain around 1370, probably coming from Egypt.  Tarot cards, used for fortune telling, were introduced in Italy in 1440
 

Not everyone was amused by cards
(believe in Santa Claus!)

In 1432, Saint Bernardo warned the "Faithful" that cards were invented by the Devil, later picked up by the English Puritans -- often regarded a "The Devil's Picture Book".  By 1495, Henry VII issued a Decree forbidding his servants from playing cards except during the Christmas Holiday.
 

The government sees cards as a money-making
opportunity.

No wonder the Ace of Spades looks distinctive.

Later, Elizabeth the First levied a tax on the manufacture of playing cards, which generated significant revenues for the Crown. By the era of Queen Anne, card playing was in full swing.  Men preferred Piquet, women loved Ombre, while the Clergy and Country Squires played Whist.  Have you ever wondered why the Ace of Spades looks so distinctive?

Well, it was the official stamp of certification to indicate that the proper English tax was paid on that deck of cards (the Stamp Office kept the only stock of pre-stamped Aces of Spades) -- the card manufacturers were forbidden to produce that Ace.  This tax hung around all the way onto 1960, yet the unique look of the Ace of Spades still is found on most decks.
 

Initially, cards were expensive

By the late 1400's, Suits began to appear on cards (the Suits -- Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs are know as the French National Suits) -- the first three Suits are presumably adapted from the German Leaves, Hearts and Hawk Bells.  Over the next 200 years, the Suits became standardized.  Due to the intricate designs on the "face" cards, the cost to purchase  playing cards was originally quite expensive (due to the hand painting) although that didn't keep the "commoners" from using them.  Demand by the populous led to mass production using a technique using the woodcut.  The card designs were carved on woodblocks, then inked and printed on paper.  These papers were then glued to blank card stock.  Around the mid-1400's, the French incorporated suit signs and flat silhouettes in only black and red colors.
 

Faces on cards endure a political agenda.

Eventually, the French began using ordinary stencils, which could be cheaply produced. Thus, the cost-effective French cards were widely used in England and the United States.  For some time, the designations on the "face cards" varied, but when the French accepted Napoleon as their leader, they reinstated the notion of the King and Queen.  However, Napoleon didn't care for their medieval look, believing they should be "archaeologically correct".  So an artist was assigned to design authentic costumes on the cards.  But Napoleon's cards weren't liked by the masses so the medieval cards resurfaced.
 

Did you realize you have held "majesty" in the palm of your hand?

By 1860, Europeans as well as Americans accepted card rank naming convention, markings on the faces that declared their values.  As far as the "faces" themselves, the French invented two patterns:

The Rouennais pattern originated in the 1400's.  While the French gave up the Rouennais pattern, it was exported to England which was subsequently used in the United States.  Note - not all sources agree on who is represented on the card faces.

The Parisian pattern was also introduced around this time and, despite some minor modifications, became France's standard deck of cards.

Kings are the "Big Boys"

The faces on the Kings were based on historical Rulers:

Alexander the Great, the Macedonian General lead from Greece-India (wearing a costume embroidered with a lion)

David, the King of Israel (the Psalmist, standing by a Harp)

Julius Caesar, the Dictator of Rome (his robe displays Roman eagle)

Charles the Great (Charlemagne), the founder of the Roman Empire (carrying a Globe, the Emperor of the Christian World)
 

Queens were mysterious.

The faces on the Queens are not quite as clear:

Rachel was based on the matriarch, described in the Book of Genesis

Pallas was a warrior goddess (Minerva)

Argine has a someone convoluted background. Some believe Argine is based on an anagram of the Latin word for Queen (Regina)

Judith is believed to refer to the wife of Louis I, or perhaps a reference to Isabelle, wife of Charles VI.  Others feel Judith simply refers to the Judith described in Apocrypha that slew General Holofernes and his invading Army.
 

Jacks were "hands on" fellows.

The Jacks, or "Knaves" as they are sometimes referred to, are:

La Hire, the Comrade-In-Arms from the Joan of Arc

Hector, the Prince of Troy

Ogier, the loyal Knight from Charlemagne

Judas Maccabee, which led the Jewish rebellion against Syria
 

A bit of ancestry.

Looking at the characters  by segment, we see:

Jewish:     David, Judith and Judas Maccabee

Greek:      Alexander, Argeia and Hector

Roman:     Caesar, Pallas and Aulus Hirtius

Christian:  Charlemagne, Rachel and Ogier
 

A touch of numerology.

Some believe that the 12 Honors of the deck refer to the 12 signs of the Zodiac or the 12 months of the year.  They say the two colors (Red and Black) refer to the Solstice and Equinox phases.  They see the four Suits as the four Seasons, the entire pack of 52 cards representing the 52 weeks of the year, and the 13 cards in each Suit being the same as the weeks in each quarter of the year (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall).
 

Birtch was the
predecessor to Bridge.

Bridge was derived from Russian Whist, called Biritch, meaning an announcer (players "announce or herald" their auction).  Books on Whist date back to the mid-1700's.  The first book was written by none other than Edmond Hoyle, titled Short Treatise
 

The first President of the United States, George Washington, enjoyed Bridge. In fact, he enjoyed small wagers on the game, apparently to make it more exciting
 

In 1857, the English began playing Whist in a "duplicate" method to eliminate most of the luck associated with the deal of the cards.  In 1883, American's began playing inter-club matches.
 

In 1891, a duplicate tray was invented, used to hold the cards separately so players could replay the identical cards.  The idea was to eliminate chance and provide a true test of skill.  The boards were originally called the Kalamazoo tray.
 

Bridge is born.

By 1893, Bridge was introduced in New York, using formal rules that were recently printed by Henry Barbey.

Early accounts indicate that in 1903, some of the British civil servants stationed in India created a method of bidding the trump suit, coined "auction bridge." A later account dates auction bridge back to 1894, with Turkish or Russian origin from Plevna during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878
 

Then in 1925, the American multi-millionaire Harold Vanderbilt, introduced exciting scoring bonuses in Bridge (while on a cruise ship).  With this change, auction Bridge became known as "contract bridge".
 

In 1931, Ely Culberton wrote the number one and two book sellers of any book, titled The Culbertson Summary and the Blue Book.
 

Incidentally, a regular deck of playing cards is 8.9cm long x 6.3cm wide.  But since Bridge players hold 13 cards, the Bridge card is 8.8cm long x 5.7cm wide.
 

So, let's take a peek at what Bridge is all about in

The Objective Of Bridge – Elementary Scoring