15 Gutenberg

Printed playing cards were used in China from an early date, probably the ninth century. Cards were an early subject of printing because they were popular with all classes and thus demanded reproduction in quantity, and they require standardized backs so that the contents of the face cannot be known. In Europe too cards were one of the earliest applications of printing, “doubtless because of the early and widespread use in the East,” in the judgment of Tsien Tsuen-Hsuen. “Probably they were brought to Europe by the Mongol armies, traders, and travellers.”¹⁶ Helmutt Lehmann-Haupt has produced evidence indicating that Gutenberg (who is said to have begun his career as an goldsmith) created copper engravings for playing cards prior to developing his printing press, apparently working in association with the artist known as the Master of the Playing Cards.

Here

14 what? cups? chalices?

There are actually many variations of the suits. I find it interesting that I’ve always thought there are only the spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts in a deck (made popular by the French). This site has a picture of the variations.

Heavy Metal Madness

Check out the beautiful German cards and the intricate Egyptian cards.

13 cardverts

Advertisements on cards started in America. The company design is usually placed on the back of the cards or incorporated into the front of it. Some of the more popular collector’s advertising themes include breweries, shipping lines, and household products. Naturally, the style of advertising on playing cards changes over the decades, not only due to changing technologies, but also fashions and taste.

Cardverts

12 cards as art

In the medieval times, when playing cards were invented, it was something highly prized. It was a form of art in itself :

‘The earliest playing cards were hand-painted, often gilded, and designed to be beautiful objects. Packs of cards were mentioned in wills and inventories, and given as wedding presents, so would have been considered valuable and precious. Not only were cards gilded and painted in many colours, and not merely decorated with ornamental patterns, but often the designs themselves showed great artistic skill, harmony of colour and grace of forms.’

Now, we see the mass production of these cards. But we don’t even buy them or hold them in our hands. We play poker online, solitaire etc etc. The designs are heavily repeated with the exception of the Joker, Ace of Spades and of course the box the cards are boxed into. (Also, not forgetting the intricate designs of the back of the cards.)

Of course, there are designer cards in the 20th and 21st century, beautifully crafted as well. But is there a possibility of these cards reaching the audiences? (Those who would most likely handle these cards are probably casino-goers or designers themselves.)

What I really like about this site are the explanations on how the cards were designed, crafted and printed. The beautiful patterns, effort, level of skill is amazing. Even in the past, there was this great divide, the cheap rudimentary packs versus the handmade, expensive packs. How the bourgeouis treated these cards as part of a luxury, like an art, is very interesting. Because ultimately, unlike a e.g. painting, these cards were made firstly for playing and rough handling.

WOPC – World of Playing Cards

11 stagnant

At the moment, I have a few drafts pending for completion and publication but my mind has been stagnant for a while and this post is basically to help sort out my ideas. The final artwork to be delivered confuses me; my ideas are jumbled. I feel like what I’ve learnt about the spade is difficult to express in a piece so that it says what I want to say.

My most initial idea consists of a house of cards – this is my mind map. I created a house, the foundations being the cards that were produced from France, then it spreads over to Europe and Asia and then finally America. Basically it’s like a house of influence. French decks are the most influential but America’s Bicycle Cards are the most widespread. This is a very theoretical map I guess. My problem with this is that as a final artwork, I would be subject to a lot of copyright issues as I would need to use the original card images that I found. Also, I wasn’t very comfortable because it wasn’t just about the spade; it was about the world of playing cards. It wasn’t specific enough, wasn’t showing what I wanted to show.

Looking at where my research has led me, I noticed that I am very into meanings of the spade. I find that I constantly try to figure out what it means to different people because to me, when I first started this project, I just saw 1) a spade, 2) a suit of a deck of cards. The most interesting to me was the information I stumbled across about its connotations of death. As part of a deck of cards, I would think that it should be related closely to luck and indeed it was but even then there were underlying layers. The ace of spades was considered the highest ranking card in the deck – one reason was that the spade represented the military (swords). And in war, it was referred to as a card of luck that some soldiers had taken this card, stuck them into the bands of their helmets before charging into the battlefield. Again it was used in the Vietnam war except, this time used as a warning for Viet Congs when these cards were placed upon massacre victims – this is the fate that will befall you. While this acted as a proUS troop, it didn’t matter much to Viet Cong as they didn’t have this psychological connotation of the ace of spades as a sign of death. I found other meanings of the spade symbol as well as personality traits releated to tarot.

What I am thinking of is a set of spades, around13 pieces, set on dog tags (reminder of military), almost like a set of cards – but on each tag will be a fortune (or misfortune) together with the same/similar spade. The point is : humans try to create meanings into everything including the spade. And the meaning, if you believe in them, regardless of whether it’s true or not, shapes your mind. This is true in the war, and I am pretty sure true of tarot readings as well as personality tests. Your belief is what drives you.

10 tell it like it is

My search for the spade yielded some literary results. This phrase ‘call a spade a spade’, is actually quite complex. It actually just means telling things like it is, call a spade a spade.  I focused on searching for this and found several links. One of which is this. The link explains the origin of the phrase and explains the political correctness of it. Apparently, the phrase has been around for thousands of years but only recently, in the 2oth century was it considered to have some racial sentiments.

‘Spade meaning ‘a black person’ is far more recent; it is first found in the early twentieth century. It derives from the black color of the suit of spades in a deck of playing cards. ‘

Oh dear. There’s even an Australian slang for this phrase which is more… rude. Though it’s probably not just Australians who use it like that.

‘The point here with the terms ‘spade’ and ‘shovel’ is that they are used to refer to the same tool. The term ‘spade’ would be used by someone of more refined character, and a ‘shovel’ by someone with fewer social graces. This appears to be a notion peculiar to Australia, perhaps arising from the British use of the term ‘spade’ and the notion in Australia that the English are generally cultural snobs.

Brit: I say, dear chap I wonder if you’d be kind enough hand me that spade..
Aussie: Spade? It’s a fucking shovel!’

9 meanings

I stumbled upon a site that discusses tattoos and was pleasantly surprised to find this forum about the spade. This discussion started when someone asked the meaning of the ace of spade he tattooed  ’on my left hand, between my thumb and 1st digit, usually where you find the jail house cross.’ Does anybody have any idea of the meaning?

He received a couple of responses I find interesting.

‘the spade is the symbol for the thief. even so, i hope you’re not one.’ – saint one

‘although the word spade today is mostly used as a synonym for a shovel,the suit in playing cards is more likely derived from the greek word for SWORD (spatke). as a suit in a deck of playing cards spades are assoiated with fighting,destiny,and death.in the tarot deck they are actually the pictorial sign for sword’  – erlich

‘im 17 years old and getting a spade tattoo, in world war 2, soldiers had the spade painted on there helmet as a symbol of good luck, seemed to work for us because we defeated the germans, hope it works for me and i would like to honour troops that gave their lives.’ – aaron ‘kick ass’ clayton

‘Someone close to me in the military just had the Ace of Spades tattooed on his shoulder and then took his own life. Is there a symbolism in this or is this just coincidental?’ – Foxfan

I haven’t really found a concrete evidence of the ace of spades used as a symbol of luck during the war. Though, I have found several mentions of it. Most of all, there is this heavy undertone of Death about the ace of spades.Also, the symbol of a thief? I had no idea. I have to research a bit more. My guess is that some RPG games make this connection and if so, it would have its roots in tarot. I could be wrong.

Another forum on the site reveals other interesting things:

‘the ace of space on your arm means that you “always got an ace up your sleeve”‘ – hearnoevil55@hotmail.com

‘each symbol of the deck stands for something in american culture, it was i believe started by the immigrants. Spade was for the millitary, probably cause the ace of spades was considered the highest card in the deck, Club stood for the working class, the civilians who broke there back to get us to where we are today, the heart stood for the church, and the diamond was a symbol of the ruling class the elite bastards who pulled themself to power using the backs of the working class.’ – yesisaidoi@yahoo.com

‘Hey, my Grandfather had the black spade tattoo on his arm and he was in WWII. I asked him before he died what it meant and he said.. Grave diggers union. ANybody know about any Canadian uses? ie..?’ – Lee

‘Doesn’t Ace of Spade means woman who loves black men?
I heard Ace of Spade Tattoo is used on woman’s body to indicate her sexual desire for black men only…………..please correct me if I am wrong.Thanks’ - Big_Booty_Mona

I think I’ll go search for this grave digger union among other things.