In today’s world of information overload — where we’re exposed to up to 74 gigabytes of content every single day through TVs, computers, smartphones, tablets, billboards, and other devices — it’s hard to imagine a time when knowledge was the privilege of the few and ideas traveled slowly across time and distance. Long before banners, brochures, and textbooks, there were coins, porcelain... and playing cards.
Thematic playing cards were once an unexpected yet remarkably effective tool for education. In this article, we explore the fascinating history of unusual decks that, between the 15th and 19th centuries, commemorated historic events, promoted new ideologies, and helped spread knowledge across society.
One of the earliest known themed card decks, Hofämterspiel — German for Court Office Game — was commissioned by King Ladislaus the Posthumous. Richly illustrated with vivid colors and gold leaf, the deck consists of 48 cards, each depicting a specific role within a medieval royal court. Far from being a simple game of chance, it was likely intended as an educational and instructional tool.
Cards from the Hofämterspiel deck.
The cards portray 56 distinct courtly roles common in 15th-century German principalities. Each card illustrates the duties, attire, and identifying attributes of the character depicted — whether a cook, steward, hunter, herald, or apothecary. The deck may have served to familiarize aristocratic children with the structure, etiquette, and responsibilities of court life, offering both visual learning and social orientation.
In 17th-century England, some playing cards doubled as pocket-sized atlases. These geographical decks combined entertainment, education, and political symbolism — each card representing a county in England or Wales, complete with a small map and basic regional statistics.
Geographical cards with maps of one of the counties of England and Wales with statistical information.
Uniquely, traditional face cards were replaced with real monarchs: King Charles II and Queen Catherine of Braganza. This design reinforced national identity by literally putting the crown in players’ hands. These decks were more than diversions — they were educational tools that subtly encouraged loyalty to the state through geographic familiarity and visual repetition.
Prior to the French Revolution, playing cards in France reflected the hierarchical structure of the monarchy — kings, queens, and jacks stood in for social estates. But with the collapse of the old order, even familiar objects like cards were reimagined to reflect revolutionary ideals.
Royal figures were replaced by prominent revolutionaries such as Marat, Robespierre, and Danton. Symbols of authority — crowns, swords, and scepters — gave way to the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The designs became allegorical: “Liberty,” for example, might replace the King of Spades.
Revolutionary playing cards deck of 1790s.
Produced as part of a broader cultural program in the 1790s, they became compact carriers of a new ideological order.
Distributed among soldiers, artisans, and students, these decks served as visual propaganda — communicating political ideas in a form more accessible than text.
The 1792 playing card deck. A part of the revolutionary set “Jeu de cartes Révolutionnaire”, designed by Jean-Démosthène Dugourc, a French artist and designer.
By the late 1800s, not all playing cards were made for amusement as well. Some evolved into educational tools, particularly in the context of science and technology. In this period of rapid industrialization, engineering-themed decks offered a way to teach complex mechanical concepts through accessible visuals.
The engineering collection of cards.
These illustrated cards featured:
Each card functioned as a miniature lesson in applied physics or mechanics. Used in schools, clubs, and public exhibitions, they embodied the era’s fascination with invention and progress.
The card “Inclined Plane” from engineering education deck.
This card, for instance, shows an inclined plane — one of the six classical simple machines — demonstrating how angled surfaces reduce effort in lifting heavy loads.
These decks made abstract principles tangible, turning science into something you could quite literally hold in your hands.
Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, playing cards were also used to mark royal milestones — weddings, coronations, jubilees, and dynastic anniversaries. One of the most ornate examples is the Russian Style deck, inspired by the extravagant masquerade ball held at the Winter Palace in 1903 to celebrate 300 years of Romanov rule.
"Russian style" card deck.
At this legendary event, attendees were required to wear 17th-century costumes — portraying boyars, musketeers, and nobles of pre-Petrine Russia. The designs were created by artist Sergey Solomko and tailored by the finest dressmakers in the empire. Thanks to meticulous photography from the ball, these historical images were later adapted into a refined commemorative deck, turning a fleeting event into a lasting cultural artifact.
Playing cards — humble objects of leisure — have long served as tools of education, propaganda, and cultural transmission. In an age without screens, they carried knowledge, values, and ideology through everyday interaction. Revolutionary allegories, historical figures, scientific diagrams, and national maps — all printed on small rectangles of cardboard — shaped how people understood the world around them.
Today, these decks remain a window into the visual literacy of past societies. Truly, long before the rise of modern media, images were doing the work of teaching, persuading, and remembering.
Continue your exploration — try classic Solitaire in its modern form!
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