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Today isPresidents’ Day … when our current reality show spectacle brings to mind the intrigue of the White House in the HBO hit House of Cards. Fitting, then, that this is also NationalPlay More Cards Day!
“In general, playing cards is just fun,” observes Days of the Year.com, “and as with most fun things that relax us {playing sexual solitaire perhaps?}, it’s a good idea to do more of them and let your brain take a break from the stress it’s used to for a change. This is where Play More Cards Day comes in.”
The holiday was established in 2013 by Bicycle Cards—the largest producer of playing cards in the United States, and the first to do so here, in 1885. “Play More Cards Day is our official annual holiday,” states Bicycle. “And has been a great success.”
Though playing cards began at least a thousand years earlier … invented in Imperial China in the 9th century. The earliest known card is shown below left—to its right a later deck, after the practice spread to Persia. Where they were first made to fit into your palm.
Then to India, where cards from as early as 300 years ago were found depicting the sex positions of the Kama Sutra!
“From there,” reports TheHistory of Playing Cards, “they spread into Europe though the Italian peninsula, often in packs that were hand-painted works of art which were expensive and affordable only by wealthy patrons.” Who apparently had a lot of leisure time on their hands … and eroticism on the brain in 17th century France!
“European playing cards appear to have an Islamic derivation via the Iberian peninsula from Muslim Spain,” the History adds—and those ethnic origins are evident (below right) before being “civilized” by the French nobility in the 18th century (below left).
And card games quickly became popular when “new and cheaper methods of production were discovered so that playing cards became available for everyone.” And because, unlike religious rituals (below left), card contests were one of the rare activities that could be played between the sexes!
Which only added to the allure … and frequently distracted lovers from the game as the 19th century arrived.
That is how Strip Poker came to be … originating in the United States “around the same time as original poker in the early 1800s, and mostly played in brothels.”
In the words of Wikipedia: “Strip poker is intended to generate a feeling of fun, and to lighten the social setting by the removal of clothing. Sometimes the game is played to heighten the sexual atmosphere.” Ya think?
It was also used to bring relief after World War II … with five rising film actresses taking up the cause in April 1945: “As delicate slips were trampled underfoot and silken brassieres literally thrown to the wind,” Life magazine reported on the momentous event, “20 photographers took pictures of Hollywood starlets doing their bit for the United Nations.”
“The girls were playing strip poker in the backyard of Mr. Russell Birdwell, their press agent {most famous for his nationwide search for a Scarlett O’Hara the previous decade}. Birdwell had summoned these ‘youngest, prettiest and lushest screen stars’ for patriotic purposes, to ‘take off their garments for the United Nations Clothing Collection” (left).
“Each of the girls contributed five pounds of apparel for relief of the shivering Europeans” displaced and disheveled by the war. “Mr. Birdwell said that it was a great humanitarian spectacle”—especially when actress Toni Seven … soon to be voted “best legs” among all actresses … stripped to her bra (above right) while dancer Ann Miller, the previous ‘greatest gams’ winner, looked on.
The ‘Hollywood Five’ who made strip poker all the rage among the cinema’s biggest stars in private were (from left to right below): Ann Miller; Toni Seven—erroneously said to be Anne (All About Eve) Baxter in most press reports; 1954 Oscar nominee Nina Foch; future ‘Queen of the B’s’ Evelyn Ankers; and 34-23-34 dancer Renée De Marco—who came out on top (hat) by wearing an extra slip, which was removed to reveal a naughty nipple pokie!
“Game over,” lamented Life when the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Adminstration (UNRRA) clothing drive concluded. “This is as far as they went.”
Fortunately, the stunt helped establish the link between pinups and playing cards … resulting in this deck drawn by iconic illustrator Gil Elvgren in the late Forties.
Strip Poker went mainstream on a 1996 episode of the smash sitcom Friends …
… when Joey {Matt LeBlanc} suggests they play—and literally loses his shirt.
“I saw you checking me out during the game last night,” Chandler {Matthew Perry} tells Monica {Courteney Cox} the morning after. “You didn’t even take off your pants,” she scoffs. “Yeah, well, lucky for you!” he leers.
Everything would come off at the first ever World Strip Poker Championship … held in London in August 2006:
“See how many dudes are at the table? Eight,” complained SportsColumn.com. “See how many women are at the table? One (not counting the dealer). Why would anyone want to play strip poker against a bunch of dudes? In order to have a strip poker tournament, you have to have a ratio somewhere close to 60/40 men to women. Otherwise, even if you win, you still lose.”
Sleuth prefers these odds …
… and has singled out the double deck•her in the red bra for this game of No Limit Texas Hold ’em!
These two other bra•zen brunettes seem flush with success as well …
… among “the 200 competitors of both sexes from over 12 countries battling it out for the right to revel in the title of World Strip Poker Champion! Each player starts the match by wearing five items of clothing”—and whoever retains the most wins the 10,000 pound prize ($18,000 back then}!
This babe lost—but we were the winners when she forfeited her top …
… yet gamely returned for another round to the rapt attention of her table mates.
And promptly had to peel off her panties.
“Each contestant has been given a towel to sit on and to cover themselves when naked,” the organizers announced in advance, “but only after they have stripped completely” (below left).
The brunette above right is a winner in our book … disdaining the towel to take part topless. “Inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated,” the tit bosses made clear.
Losing ladies were allowed to cover their lower half with towels at the British tournament … but we Americans once again asserted our independence by going the three card (full) monty five years later in New York City!
“Where there’s art, there’s bound to be nudity,” read one review of the performance piece. “But poker? Well, that’s a new one on us. Created by artist Zefrey Throwell and called I’ll Raise You One, the show features a group of 3 men and 4 women {that ratio is aces!} who sit in a window of the gallery facing the street and play strip poker.”
“It’s not just nudity (or gambling), though, it’s art!” raved The Village Voice of the TriBeCa exhibition. “Throwell sees strip poker as a metaphor for the economy, with clothing symbolizing money. While skill can help, the people who have the least amount of clothing are in the worst shape, and no one can control the luck of the draw.” And there's no peeking!
“Wealth is unequally distributed,” the artist asserts, “yet we’re all expected to play by the same rules. It’s a political and economic criticism.”
“If you’re curious to see how strip poker and NSFW art combine into social commentary,” wrote critic Gabriel Bell, “the piece will appear every day for a week from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a rotating cast of increasinglynude card sharks.” And as with all great art, most of them can easily hold the eye !
“If you stand outside the window long enough,” proclaimed a passerby who did, “the performance is free and by the game’s end everyone winds up stark naked.” We could read that bespectacled blonde’s poker face to guess what kind of gland that black bra (in the image above) was holding!
“Everyone participating is an unpaid volunteer,” the gallery made clear, “and were either invited by the artist or discovered through a casting call.” And as for their garments, all seemed surprisingly free to fold ’em!
“A total of 50 people are playing cards in the rotating strip poker cast” … and All-In all, well worth a Check !
“We had to turn people away who were willing to play.”
“This is what art is for,” the show’s created concluded. “To help change the world.”
“It seemed to me,” one observer felt, “that this risqué band of exhibitionists simply served as a tonic to help audiences indulge in an escape from these troubling times for a few moments. At the end, everyone appeared to be happy on both sides of the glass.” And our side got to look at more than her bare ass!
The perfect place to END as we shuffle along to Part 2 of our tribute to National Play More Cards week.
