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Origin of Cards

The earliest sign of playing cards was during the 10th century in China. There are no specifics about their markings or how the cards were played. The first familiar sign of cards was in Europe (imported from the Mamluks of Egypt). They gained popularity in Spain and Italy during the 1370s. At that time, playing cards were expensive to due to the workmanship involved in painting the cards. Playing cards eventually spread around the world through trade routes and were used by the upper classes. In the early 15th century, wood-block printing was developed in Germany. This decreased the price for a deck of cards. The price was driven even lower when the French began to produce decks by painting over stencils. This technique resulted in simplified suit marks (as shown below) which became the standard marks internationally.

History of Solitaire Game

Solitaire is often referred to as patience in other countries (France, England, Poland, and Germany). Card solitaire originated during the 18th century in the Baltic region of Europe— possibly as a form of fortune-telling. The origin may lie in the interest of cartomancy (tarot). The layout of both games is similar.
Currently there are hundred of different solitaires on record, although the variations can be categorized into a few basic types.

The majority of solitaire games display two or more of the following components:

• A place for stacks of cards, built upon numerical order (often in the same suit) in the sequence of ace to kings— known as the foundation cards.
• A stock of shuffled cards (or two decks) that are used to build the proper sequence by turning the card over one at a time.
• A tableau (layout) of cards that cannot be added to the building stacks that are briefly stored.
• A wastepile, of thrown faceup cards from the stock that can no longer be played.

The most well known and played solitaire game is called Klondike (also known as Canfield in England). This game is part of the standard software package that comes with computers.

Now that you have learned about this game, go play the Chevron Cars Solitaire game for free!

Many thanks to the Encyclopedia Britannica Online for the images on this page!