Version française

These pages have been put together by the International Playing-Card Society for those who are curious about playing-cards. We hope you find our society of interest too; further information is given in the IPCS section below.

Playing-Cards

Playing cards are common, everyday objects which we take for granted. Yet they have a history of use in Europe which goes back to the late 1300s; their design is a strange mixture of fundamental changes as well as aspects which haven't changed since medieval times. They are found in almost every corner of the globe.

The design of the standard English playing-card is now well known throughout the world because of the spread of card games like bridge and poker. If these are the only sort of playing-cards you have come across you may think that there is only one basic design for the faces of cards, with just the design on the back varying.

Patterns

You would be wrong! The English pattern is not the only design; most countries have their own designs, popular locally, which you may not have seen. These are very often far more colourful than the English one and beautifully printed. The composition of the pack often changes with the game which is being played; a Swiss players sitting down to play jass expects to find 36 cards in their pack, German skat players use 32 cards, while the dealer of French Tarot has to cope with 78 large cards in their hand. In many parts of the world, different suit systems sre in use, rather than the familiar hearts, clubs, diamonds and spades! And of course, packs are designed and printed especially for children's games-such as Old Maid and Black Peter.

Here are more details about the world of playing-cards. Warning; viewing these pages will involve downloading many images - you may wish to skip this section if you are on a slow link.

Games

There have been thousands of games invented and played since the late 14th century when playing-cards first came to Europe. Some of the games became very popular and remained so for many years before being forgotten, unless they were recorded in literature. Some of today's popular games have changed little over several hundred years. Playing cards is still a popular pastime; look at the postings to the newsgroup rec.games.playing-cards.

Research

It was not until recently that the origins of such ephemeral things as playing-cards were the subject of rigorous research. History has left us some fascinating puzzles to sort out, with clues waiting to be pieced together from records of tax collectors, trade directories, church proclamations banning idle diversions and uncut sheets of cards found inside ancient books taken to be rebound. While some of the basic facts about the history of playing-cards have been clearly established, many others are still matters of speculation and debate. Answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about playing-cards are available from http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/playing-cards/faq.html and http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/playing-cards/tmfaq/tmfaq.html. Here, on the other hand is a collection of unsolved problems.

The International Playing-Card Society

Perhaps you recall a game from your childhood and you want to relearn it to teach your own children. Maybe you have been on holiday and have seen an unfamiliar game being played with an unusual pack of cards and wondered how to find out the name and rules of the game, and where you might buy similar cards. Would you like to start collecting these often cheap and colourful reminders of different times and different countries? Maybe you would like more in-depth answers to the questions asked above. In that case the International Playing-Card Society may be for you.

The International Playing-Card Society has been working for over 25 years to understand the development of playing-card designs and games. It numbers around 350 members world-wide and is run by a members' elected council. Our members range from beginners through to expert in their fields with all aspects of playing-card activities represented-games players, collectors and those interested in the historical aspects of playing-cards. The society serves its members with its journal (The Playing-Card, published four times a year) plus other published material. You can view a sample issue of The Playing Card (PDF 2Mbyte). There is an annual Convention, which was held in London, UK in 2003 (here are some pictures by Simon Wintle), in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 2004 and in Turnhout, Belgium in 2005, at Issy, near Paris, France in 2006, at Ravenna, Italy in 2007 and in Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2008. The 2009 Convention will take place in Toronto, Canada. Local meetings offer further opportunities to trade packs and exchange information with fellow members - there are details of some future meetings on the calendar page. Members receive a detailed membership list, regularly updated. In many cases they can pay subscriptions in their local currency to our Area Representatives. Alternatively, annual subscriptions can be paid online by PayPal.

Want to know more? Enquiries can be sent to the IPCS Secretary Ann Smith , or you can join the society by filling in our on line application form.

OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL PLAYING-CARD SOCIETY 2006-2007

PRESIDENT	Walter Haas
VICE PRESIDENTS	Robert Kissel
	Christopher Rayner
CHAIRMAN	Thierry Depaulis
DEPUTY CHAIRMAN	Michael Goodall
SECRETARY	Ann Smith -
TREASURER	Barney Townshend -

COUNCIL MEMBERS

HONORARY FELLOWS

PAST PRESIDENTS