I thought we’d have a bit of fun in tonight’s post. I was searching the web for ideas for interesting topics to write about here and came across various bits of trivia. I hope you enjoy learning these odd facts about our favorite form of entertainment.
Did you know that the term "Dead Man’s Hand" had its basis in the American West? Wild Bill Hickok was playing poker at the time of his murder in 1876. His hand had the two black aces and the two black eights (his fifth card was a diamond face card but which one is a matter of argument). Ever since then, the aces and eights combination has been called the "Dead Man’s Hand", especially when the cards are all black.
You know the "Dogs Playing Poker" prints that you can still find today – those tacky ones that your wife really doesn’t appreciate? These were painted by an American artist named C.M. Coolidge around the turn of the century – the last century.
Did you know that slot machines (fruit machines for the Brits) were invented over a hundred years ago? The originals had cards instead of the fruit that came to be associated with later versions. The first three-reel slot was created in 1899 by Charles Fey and he called it the Liberty Bell. The new style machine caught on like wildfire and for many years these types of games were called bell machines.
Playing card decks have a lot of symbolism hiding in them. The one that our modern card decks are based on was created in France in the 15th century. The kings represented real leaders from history: spades was for King David of the Bible, clubs was for Alexander the great, diamonds represented Julius Caesar and hearts stood for Charlemagne. The suits were also symbolic of the great past civilizations.
