The Cards Speak
Politics and Advertising in Playing Cards
Playing cards and card games have been used as a medium for political agendas and advertising for hundreds of years and is a flourishing trade today.
Card game terminology is abundant in politics. Politics, itself, is often referred to as the political game. You may have had to play politics at work in a certain situation.
There are hundreds of modern and historical playing card designs based on politics. In the United States today a person can chose from an enormous amount of political card decks.
There is the view from the left – The Democratic pack and also the view from the right – The Republican pack. There are even the non-partisan presidential playing deck and the non-partisan presidential playing deck for poker, if you don’t want to take sides but still play with politics. A popular card game created specifically about the ‘unholy card game of politics’ is a huge seller.
Some of these are blatant advertisements like the 52 reasons to re-elect Bush deck. Many of the historical ones are a great asset to see the culture and beliefs of the era they came from. Political cards were already firmly established in America when the United States became a country. Historians can compare early decks of Indian playing cards with George Washington up until modern times with Bush, Kerry and Clinton.
The Bridge Between Politics and Playing Cards
The connection between card games and political games is a natural one. Both involve strategy, skill, and, to some degree, knowing the rules. They both involve people maneuvering inside a set guideline of rules for personal gain. In card games, you play for the gain of winning and sometimes, for a financial reward with casino card games. In politics you are working toward the gain of partisan, non-partisan or for the advancement of certain issues.There is even a name for the type of cards that are political satires of government officials; they are called Politicards.
Playing cards about wars are abundant; collectors can find an array of war leaders. The earliest in the United States were the Indian War decks but really took off during the Civil War, when a double deck featuring the Union and Confederate sides on the two decks. World Wars I and II, Vietnam and the Gulf War have become the themes for playing cards.
Many political writers will compare government officials and authorities to various card games. Every day you can find a political comparison to cards, a school board being compared to yelling Bridge players or three senators with their poker faces on playing a game of Texas hold’em with their districts residents.
Political and advertising playing cards are not just in the United States. A dedicated collector could find thousands around the world. They are not even limited to politics, either. In Russia, you can find the anti-religion card deck and many other political agenda platforms in this popular pastime.
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