According to Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jim Brooks, a spokesman for the Defense Intelligence Agency, such playing cards have been used as far back as the Civil War and again in World War II — Army Air Corps decks printed with the silhouettes of German and Japanese fighter aircraft fetch hundreds of dollars today — and in the Korean War. Troops often play cards to pass the time, and seeing the names, faces and titles of the wanted Iraqis during their games will help soldiers and Marines in case they run into the wanted individuals in the field, Brooks said. [1]
Historians are not in agreement of a specific time when playing cards were invented, but most concur that they originated in China. From there they migrated to India, Egypt and then to Europe.
We’ve gathered some excellent resources on the history of playing cards:
- The American Anthropologist, Volume VIII, January 1895, Pages 61-78 By W.H. Wilkinson
- HISTORICAL AND ICONOGRAPHIC NOTES WESTERN PLAYING CARDS
- Playing Cards – from Wikipedia.
- The Invention of Playing Cards: – from CardPlayer.com