History Of Toys & Games Part 2

History Of Toys & Games Part 2

History and Types of Card Games

Posted by amppower02 on November 2, 2008

Any traditional or specific game with playing cards is called card game. A card game is played with a pack of cards which are identical in shape and size. Card playing history dates back to the 10th century were Central Asia is supposed to have taken the first effort in introducing card games. But documents show that Chinese put the card games in to effect, trying newer techniques.

From Islamic empire, cards entered Europe with pictures of swords and cup symbols. In Europe these were replaced by representations of Kings and Knights. These Islamic cards also entered Spain. Those were also the days were we had hand painted cards with beautiful representations. There were traditional designs as well as fancy cards.

France gave vent to the idea of simple designs and pictures on the cards and those we use today saw their beginning in France. Thus spades, diamonds and hearts began to be used more on cards. It then began to be used in England and then in America.

About 1800, Americans began using their cards. They invented Joker, the highest card in the game of Euchre.

The first pack of card in Europe comprised of 52 cards in total. This was further enhanced by the idea of adding more cards to the number and thus was born the idea of tarot pack. They contained 78 cards at first and this was extended to 97 and more.

New fashion and techniques came up and newer ideas began to be employed in the cards in a very large scale. As a result numeral cards were replaced by design cards. Till date many transformations happened in the field of cards and it has become a trend to use the latest in the card playing field.

A set of generally accepted rules will be maintained in playing card games and the flexible dealing is done before the actual game starts. There are different types of card games. They are, trick taking games, gambling card games, Solitaire games, Collectible card games, etc.

1. Trick taking games

Card games with a different play structure are called as trick taking games. These games use the concept of a trick, were during each trick each player puts one card from his hand. When everyone finishes playing a card to the trick, they are turned face down and removed from play. One player will have the lead for each trick and other players play according to their physical position.

There are also variations in trick taking games like Positive trick taking games, Exact prediction trick taking games, Final trick games, and more. This also involves Cassino, Hearts, Pinochle, Spades, Seuca, Whist etc.

2. Gambling card games

Gambling games or casino games can be further divided into various sections like beatable and unbeatable casino games. Beatable casino games include poker games, blackjack, video poker and the like. Unbeatable casino games include Baccarat, Craps, Roulette, 3-card poker, 4-card poker, Keno and lot more.

3. Solitaire games

These are single player card games with details varying in character. These involve dealing cards from a shuffled deck in a special arrangement. There are different solitaire games like Ace of the Pile, Calculation, Concentration, FreeCell, Kings in the Corner, etc.

4. Collectible card games

Collectible card games are otherwise known as customizable card games. They are played using specially designed set of cards. They follow a set of rules by which the cards interact. They are distributed as sealed packs with subsets of the available cards. This includes starter set, theme deck and starter deck.

Depending upon the number of people play and the interest of the players in general, the type of card game can be decided. It can also be decided based on the complexity of rules in the card game, how well it suits the present group who play, skill of the players and also the time needed for the game. Whichever type the game is, it is after all a matter of fun at last even though the involvement of money has a role to play in playing cards.

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Toys – Guns And Not So Roses

Posted by amppower02 on November 1, 2008

Throughout the history of toys there has always been a category of toys that have gotten plenty of heat from parents and educators. Guns. Back in the 60s there were more kinds of guns and gun sets sold as toys than you can possibly imagine. Think we’re kidding? Take a look at some of the more popular of these sets that parents have had to contend with over the years.

In the early 60s there was a show by the name of Combat. Vic Morrow was so convincing as Sergeant Saunders that every kid wanted to be him. The toy companies cashed in on this. One of the most popular toy sets of the early 60s was the Combat toy set. It was simple enough. It came with Saunders Thompson Machine Gun, his 45 caliber pistol, a hand grenade and his helmet. Instant Saunders and the kids ate it up while parents cringed.

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<a href=”link astore”>Cheap Toys </a>War wasn’t the only theme of gun sets back in the early 60s. There was another show called “The Man From Uncle”. This show stared Robert Vaughn and David McCullem as two secret agents. The show was so popular that it too brought about some pretty cool toys. You could get the Man From Uncle gun, security badges and other gadgets that the show made popular. This was another big hit with the kids of the time.

Need a little more fire power? No problem. There was a gun made in Japan during the late 60s that became very popular and was one of the most realistic looking and sounding guns ever made at the time. This was the Heavy Machine Gun. It had a really loud rat-tat-tat sound when you fired it that could scare the heck out of anyone within hearing distance. The ammunition belt rotated around and around to make it look like you were really firing bullets. And to top it off, the barrel lighted up when you fired it. One of the most realistic guns ever made and a kid favorite.

Later on, in the 1970s, another popular gun came out. It was called Friction Sparkling M-16. This was a 21 inch rapid firing machine gun. When you pulled the bolt back and fired, similar to the Combat Thompson, it made a very realistic sound. You could also see a bunch of sparks coming out of the barrel. The gun was rather light weight but it was very realistic looking and another kid favorite.

Of course, with the war in Vietnam, toy makers weren’t going to miss cashing in on it. In the 1960s they came out with the Cong Buster Jungle Gun Set. This set came with a 45 caliber squirt gun and a canteen. The gun and canteen were both made of very hard plastic and could withstand just about anything.

These few guns don’t even scratch the surface of the number of guns and gun sets that came out in the 60s and 70s. If you’d like to find out more about these vintage guns, don’t worry. Another installment in this series is coming.

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Toys

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