Playing Cards Continue Military Tradition

Deck of Death

Playing cards that carry extra instructional or promotional messages have existed as long as playing cards themselves, which probably date back to their origin in China or Hindustan around AD 800.

Some early decks had symbols resembling Chinese markings and may have been taken back to Europe by Venetian explorers in the later half of the 13th century.

Early Chinese cards used suits of coins, strings of coins, myriads, and tens of myriads ... resembling the values of Chinese paper money.

Cards first appeared in Italy by the late 1200s and spread to Germany, France, and Spain. The first recorded evidence of the use of playing cards appear in Italy in 1299; Spain in 1371, and Germany in 1380. The TAROT were the first cards to appear in the New World.

Cards like the Iraqi Most Wanted are part of a long military tradition. Used extensively in World War II, playing card identification was an effective way to train troops during their time off.

A group of sailors on a battleship playing poker with enemy ship profiles or allied plane silhouettes were filling long hours with entertainment while they memorized vital information.

WWII cards

WWII Spotter Cards were issued by the Department of the Navy’s Training Center, showing side view silhouettes of U.S. and European ships. A deck of airplane identifying cards was also issued, not only for the military but for civilians.

Cards had a side view, top view and view from the ground up so that planes from the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy and Japan could be more easily recognized.

Naval cards

George White, vice president of marketing at the United States Playing Card Company, said in an interview with Knight Ridder that during World War II, the company secretly worked with the government to send special decks of cards as gifts to American prisoners in German POW camps. When the cards were moistened, they peeled apart to reveal sections of a map indicating escape routes.

During the Civil War, playing cards became military-oriented. In 1863 a two-deck set of Union and Confederate Military Leaders was published, each card showing an engraved portrait of a general or statesman, including Lee, Grant, McClellan, among others.

During Vietnam, the ace of spades became known as the "death card" and was widely used as a token, either worn by a soldier or left as a "calling card" to intimidate the enemy.

Whether looking for Iraqi leaders, spotting allied or enemy planes, or pulling out the ace of spades to symbolize the spirit of war, the use of playing cards is an effective way of getting information to the troops.

White further commented, "… if you think about it, soldiers often have a lot of down time. And what do troops do in down time? They play cards."