French-Suited Playing Cards

At one time, the king of hearts represented Charlemagne, the king of Diamonds was Julius Caesar, the king of clubs was Alexander the Great and the king of spades was King David from the Bible. These identities, along with special designations for the other court cards, were bestowed by the French who were instrumental in making playing cards popular.

Although the international pack, based on Anglo-American designs, is known throughout the world, most European countries also have their own distinctive designs of French-suited playing cards. Also, in many places games are played which use fewer than 52 cards or multiple packs, and in some regions packs are printed specially for local games. Following are some examples of various packs.

• 24 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 in each suit -- Packs of this composition are available in Germany and Austria for Schnapsen or 66, and in Poland for Tysiac.
• 32 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each suit -- This type of pack is widely used in Europe - for example in the national games of France (Belote), Germany (Skat) and the Netherlands (Klaverjas). In central and eastern Europe, it is used for Preference, for example in Russia and Austria.
• 33 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each suit plus a six of hearts -- This pack is used in the Netherlands for Pandoeren.
• 36 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6 in each suit -- This is the standard pack used in Russia for Durak and other games. A pack of the same composition is used in the western part of Switzerland for Jass.
• 40 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 in each suit -- This is used for games of Italian, Spanish or Portuguese origin, when these are played with French suited cards. Examples include Tressette, Calabresella, Scopa and Briscola in Italy, Sueca in Portugal, the classic game of l'Hombre, several Latin American games including Truco and Cuarenta, and some North American games such as Conquian.
• 63 card pack: in addition to the usual 52 cards, all suits have 11's and 12's and red suits have 13's; the 63rd card is a joker -- These cards are made in Australia and the USA for playing the 6-player version of 500.
• 48 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9 in each suit - two copies of each card -- Packs of this composition are used in northern Germany for Doppelkopf and in the USA for Pinochle.
• 64 card pack: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7 in each suit - two copies of each card -- This pack was used in Britain for the game of Bezique, and in France for the equivalent game Bésigue. (Both are closely related to Pinochle).
• Multiple 52 card packs with jokers -- These are predominantly used for Rummy games, including Canasta and its many variants.
• Packs with extra suits -- There have been many experiments with adding a fifth and sometimes also a sixth suit of 13 cards to the standard pack. These extra suits often have a new color (green or blue) and various suit marks such as crowns, stars and rackets have been used. Generally these were made for adaptations of existing games, especially Bridge and Poker; for example considerable efforts were made in the 1930's to popularize a 5-suited Bridge game with a 65 card including a suit of crowns. None of these 20th century attempts to extend the pack have attained lasting popularity with card players. The only extended French-suited pack in general use is the Tarot pack, which was invented in the 15th century and converted to a French-suited form in the 18th. Today French-suited Tarot cards are widely used in France and in Central Europe (where they are also known as Tarock pack).

Americans began making their own playing cards around 1800, and soon invented and/or adopted practical refinements: double-headed court cards (to avoid the nuisance of turning the figure upright), varnished surfaces (for durability and smoothness in shuffling), corner indices (to facilitate easier identification), and rounded corners (which avoid the wear that card players inflict on square corners).

In the 1860s Americans also invented the Joker. During this same period, cycling — on unicycles, bicycles, and tricycles — was taking the country by storm. It was also in the latter part of the decade that Russell & Morgan, the forerunners of the United States Playing Card Company, decided to produce a line of cards of the highest quality. Employees were asked to suggest an attractive name for the new product, and a printer, "Gus" Berens, offered "Bicycle." His idea was enthusiastically accepted, and the Rider Back made its debut in 1887. Since then, while the Bicycle brand has featured dozens of different designs, the Rider Back has never gone out of production.

Today, people all over the world are familiar with the traditional red or blue back showing cupid astride a two-wheeler. The brand has become synonymous with quality and is still "the world’s favorite playing card."