The Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1931, 1929-07-18

battlements of house" are like the figures which
we see i'll the paintings and tapestries of that
time. Incidentally. the meaning of the name for
this card has changed greatly through the years.
In those days the term of knaye was used in the
same way as the French varlet or valet and
meant merely a son or young servant Later it
came to mean rogue and from that meaning
our present term, jack, is supposed to have COME
It was probably jaekanapes, originally, which was
derived from Jaeka-napes, "naipes' being the
Spanish word for cards.
Card playing grew in great favor In England
during the reign of Henry VII and the king him.
self was an addict. Among his private expenses
are several entries for money at cards. His
daughter was also fan and of James ~ and his
bride it is written; "the Kynge came prvly to the
said castell and entered within the chammer with
a small company where he found the Queene
playing at Cardes." When English royalty was
overthrown and the commonwealth came into
power cardplaying fell under the stern dspleasure
of the Puritans But under the gay rule of
Charles II 1t was again in favor Moreover, be-
sides the playing cards with the conventional
suit signs find many other early English cards
bearing curious pictures, political satres of the
day which served much the same purpose as the
cartoons and comic strips of the present time. In
view of the recent revival of the Beggars Opera
in this country it is interesting tc note thai one
pack of English playing cards was adorned with
songs from that famous composition. (Figure
No. 81 1t is also curious to find that, despite the
Puritan disapproval of playing cards, one of the
well-known card makers of that period was L.
Hewson, who was a son of Cromwes general
"Hewson, the cobbler"
The practice of printing upon the cards many
other things besides the figures of the various
suits had great vogue in Europe during that
time For instance Cardinal Mazarin in an
effort to interest the young prince, who later be-
came Louis XIV, in his studies, arranged for sew
eral sets of playing cards. each bearing some
geographical or historical information. One set
was illustrated with the pictures of famous
queens and short biographical sketches and an
other with symbocal figures of the different
countries and short description of that country.
There was also a heradic series illustrating the
various coats-of-arms of the nobility, another
illustrating the famous military operations of
the period and another adorned with various
neurological figures Among the English cards of
this period were some in which the different suits
bore the portraits of kings and queens Of various
countries. Another was devoted to illustrated
proverbs; another to Aesops fables, another
showed scenes from the Monmouth Rebellion and
still another scene illustrative of the reign of
Queen Anne This practice continued down to
the Nineteenth century. One set of French cards
Indue III 1914 FeleCleu the WdT-llke spirit OF the
Napoleonic era (Figure 81, being illustrated pic
lures of soldiers upon whose banners appeared
the suit signs nd numbers. Another sci of 1880
bore the music Of famous dances of the time and
still another of that period showed the work of
famous caricatursts. The same thing was being
done in England where the playing cards bore
such designs as money tables, the multiplication
tables, maps of the various countries the signs
of the Zodiac, portraits of all the kings of Eng
land and various other educational features
Since England became a card-playing nation
within comparatively short time after playing
cards were introduced into that country, 1t was
only natural her colonies should follow the lead
of the mother country SO America, too has be-
come a card-playing nation, perhaps the greatest
in the world. The reason for that statement is
this: last year there printed in this country
52OO0000 packs of cards. This means 100000
a week All down through the ages man has
played at cards. SO America is simply following
the tradition and In this us In many other
things, she leads the world