Bicycle Playing Cards
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Bicycle Playing Cards have been manufactured by the The United States Playing Card Company since 1885. One of their factories is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. "Bicycle" is a trademark of that company. They have been the best selling playing card brand in the world for over 100 years.
During World War II they produced cards that when submerged in water could be peeled apart and both halves had a map on the inside. When all the cards were put together it made a large map. These were supplied to POW's so if they escaped they would have a map.
The company provided crates of Ace of Spades cards for U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War. The idea was that the Viet Cong, a very superstitious people who feared the Ace, would flee whenever they saw one of these Aces. The thousands of decks of these Aces were shipped to Vietnam where the Aces were purposely scattered throughout the jungle and villages during raids.
Bicycle is a standard issue deck of cards consisting of 52 red or black colored cards. Each card may have one of the four suites: spades, clubs (sometimes called "clovers"), diamonds, and hearts. The numbers on the cards range from 2 to 10, then proceed onward to "Jack", then "Queen", "King", and "Ace". The bicycle trademark is usually printed on the Ace of spades. The deck comes with rules for poker, an information card, and two jokers.
Bicycle is comparable to the Bee playing card brand.
