Interesting Bicycle Facts...

[Josh Clarke]

From Wikipedia:

"During World War II they produced cards that when submerged in water could be peeled apart and both halves had a map on the inside. When all the cards were put together it made a large map. These were supplied to POWs so if they escaped they would have a map. The company provided crates of Ace of Spades cards for U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. It was erroneously believed that the Viet Cong believed the card to be a symbol of death and would flee at the sight of the Ace. In actuality the Ace meant nothing to the Viet Cong, however the belief did improve the U.S. soldiers' morale. Thousands of decks of these Aces were shipped to Vietnam where the Aces were purposely scattered throughout the jungle and villages during raids."

The cards peeling into a map is an amazing idea!
Ace of Spades = symbol of death ... silly US government.
Could you imagine cards spread all through the jungle? "Ok soldiers! We're gonna play a game with the Viet Cong. It's called 52 Million Card Pickup!"

I thought these were interesting facts and I wanted to share them with you all.

 

[MagicSpider]

I looked up that article on Wikipedia a couple months ago. If you want to be a true card nerd you must memorize that article.

 

[drorange]

good old wikipedia what would we do without it

you can still by those cards where every card is an ace of spades it is in a box marked secret weapon

 

[dasuprememep]

Those cards are called a one way force deck............pssh.

 

[The Dark Angel]

US Soldier: Pick a card, any card.
*Ciet Cong soldier picks Ace of Spades*
SOldier: Oooh, looks like I have to kill you now, sorry!

 

[hijackedmagic]

also, the 52 cards in the deck symbolize the 52 weeks in a year, and if you add all the cards together, including court cards, it equals 365 for the 365 days in a year

 

[Deryn]

also, the 52 cards in the deck symbolize the 52 weeks in a year, and if you add all the cards together, including court cards, it equals 365 for the 365 days in a year

i don't get it

 

[Monkeyofmanipulation]

He means adding:

2 of spades, 3 of spades, 4 of spades...and so on. Inlcuding the aces and the court cards which represent:
1
11
12
13.

of every suit to total to 365
- number of days in a year.

also the four suits represent the four seasons.

Summer
Spring
Winter
Autumn
(not in that order )

But no one knows which season represents which suit....

Ok i don't know is what i mean.

hope this helped!

-Jon

 

[Deryn]

ahhh... a lot of people think 808 is the area code for Cincinnati but in fact its an area code for Hawaii

 

[clarrus]

I tried this and it works. If you submerge the Guardians under water, they peel apart and if you organize the whole deck like that, it's a map to Dana Raiker's house, yup....they fused into one person.....

 

[phrozunsun]

also, the 52 cards in the deck symbolize the 52 weeks in a year, and if you add all the cards together, including court cards, it equals 365 for the 365 days in a year

as soon as i read that i knew there was something wrong because any set x four suits would end in an even number....it adds up to 364 though, close enough.

 

[Andlat]

also, the 52 cards in the deck symbolize the 52 weeks in a year, and if you add all the cards together, including court cards, it equals 365 for the 365 days in a year

Uhh... I got 364, and I checked it like ten times.

 

[clarrus]

Uhh... I got 364, and I checked it like ten times.

I think you guys forgot the jokers. One joker for 365, and 2 jokers for 366, a leap year. There is an article on Gennii Magazine about it, when i get some time, i'll put it up here. It goes even deeper in-depth about how the 4 kings were like Cesar, Napolean, King Louis?, and Clarrus. There are more facts etc.

 

[Deryn]

He means adding:

2 of spades, 3 of spades, 4 of spades...and so on. Inlcuding the aces and the court cards which represent:
1
11
12
13.

of every suit to total to 365
- number of days in a year.

-Jon

I only got 364.. numbers 1-13 add up to be 91x4=364.. and don't say "the 365th day is the leap year day" because the 29th of February adds an additional day to make it 366 days.. .. this year isn't a leap year and it came out to be 365. What am I missing?

EDIT: thanks Clarrus

In addition: Did you know (with the acception of leap years) the year begins and ends on the same day?

 

[clarrus]

Ok while my car is warming up lemme put in an excerpt from the magazine article.

"The expertise of artisans and the ingenuity of the human spirit are wedded in the mysterious deck of cards,..." blah blah blah " The duality principle of life is symbolized by the colors red and black - day and night, good and evil, etc. The court and spot cards represent the heirarchy underlying the organization of primitive and civilized societies. The four suits symbolize the four seasons, the 13 caards in each suit represent the 13 lunar cycles eacy year, the 12 court cards correspond to the 12 months of the Gregorian calendar (1582), the 52 cards are the 52 weeks in the year, the sum of all the pips equals 365 (364 plus one for the Joker, and a second Joker for leap years!), the number of days in a year. It is particularly curious that, if you spell out the names of all 13 values, from ace to king, dealing one card for each letter, the final card of the deck will be dealt on the "g" of King. More astonishing still, this works even if you are spelling the words in French, Swedish, Dutch, or German (in Card College Volume 5, pp. 1253, you will find a piece called "The history of playing cards" that uses this idea as the plot for what I think is an interesting effect). There is no evidence that the inventors of cards intended these characteristics, though the Alsatian master Ingold explained in his Das guldien spiel that the 52 cards represented the 52 weeks of the year and the four suits corresponded to the four sins of humanity. Thus compelling myth, which should not be construed as an accurate analysis of the original allegorical meaning of cards.
In 14th century Spain, the four suits represented the four dominant principles of the prevailing society..."

It goes on saying Diamonds stood for gold, hearts stood for church, spades for nobility, and clubs for political power. The French call the suits the same thing Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, and Clubs.

Then it goes on about tarot cards and etc. Hope this helps.......

 

[Josh Clarke]

ahhh... a lot of people think 808 is the area code for Cincinnati but in fact its an area code for Hawaii

Yeah I used to live in Cincinnati. The area code is definately not 808. It's 513.

I wish they wouldn't have closed down The Playing Card Museum. It was an amazing tour AND they'd give you two packs of Bikes at the end!

 

[Josh Clarke]

From USPlayingCard.com:

Did you know that 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 fascinating identities, along with special designations for the other court cards, were bestowed by the French who were instrumental in bringing the pleasures of card play to people in Europe and the New World.

The earliest playing cards are believed to have originated in Central Asia. The documented history of card playing began in the 10th century, when the Chinese began using paper dominoes by shuffling and dealing them in new games. Four-suited decks with court cards evolved in the Moslem world and were imported by Europeans before 1370. In those days, cards were hand-painted and only the very wealthy could afford them, but with the invention of woodcuts in the 14th century, Europeans began mass-production

It is from French designs that the cards we use today are derived. France gave us the suits of spades, clubs, diamonds and hearts, and the use of simple shapes and flat colors helped facilitate manufacture. French cards soon flooded the market and were exported in all directions. They became the standard in England first, and then in the British Colonies of America.

Americans began making their own cards around 1800. Yankee ingenuity soon invented 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), indexes (the identifying marks placed in the cards’ borders or corners), and rounded corners (which avoid the wear that card players inflict on square corners).

Americans also invented the Joker. It originated around 1870 and was inscribed as the "Best Bower," the highest card in the game of Euchre. Since the game was sometimes called "Juker," it is thought that the Best Bower card might have been referred to as the "Juker card" which eventually evolved into "Joker." By the 1880s, certainly, the card had come to depict a jocular imp, jester or clown. Many other images were also used, especially as Jokers became vehicles for social satire and commercial advertising. Similarly, the backs of cards were used to promote ideas, products and services, and to depict famous landmarks, events — and even fads.

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."

 

[phrozunsun]

I think you guys forgot the jokers. One joker for 365, and 2 jokers for 366, a leap year. There is an article on Gennii Magazine about it, when i get some time, i'll put it up here. It goes even deeper in-depth about how the 4 kings were like Cesar, Napolean, King Louis?, and Clarrus. There are more facts etc.

if you include the jokers, you get 54 cards, not 52, as in 52 weeks in a year. you can't have it both ways.

 

[Cardmagic12345]

Uhh... I got 364, and I checked it like ten times.

Aces count as one.

 

[AceOfSpades2662]

also, the 52 cards in the deck symbolize the 52 weeks in a year, and if you add all the cards together, including court cards, it equals 365 for the 365 days in a year

Although that is a true fact and quite interesting it hsa nothing to do with this thread. If your into the history of cards, Check out David Blaine's book "Mysterious Stranger"
It's a very good book which includes alot on the history of magic and cards.

Happy Holidays,
Michael