I thought I had seen everything that could be seen in a New York subway car (a blind violinist, hip-hop dancing, a woman clipping her toenails, a man trying to cut the ear off another man, an old lady peeling an apple in one long twisted strip and then dropping it triumphantly on the floor), but then I saw this, during the morning rush hour on a crowded 6 train: two high school students sitting side by side playing poker.  Even the curmudgeon beside me, a business guy with a helmet of silver hair and a striped blue suit, had to look up from his Wall Street Journal and smile.

Although I was several feet from the game I could read one player’s hand clearly.  The cards, worn, and with that typical all-over, red-and-white pattern on the back, projected a sense of drama.  Where did those symbols, which seem so elemental, come from?  It turns out that playing cards have a long, illlustrious history; they originated in ninth century China, were brought Europe, and their design was further developed over centuries.  The older decks are highly pictorial, like Tarot cards, and have cultish overtones.  I prefer the modern deck, which has an astounding graphic clarity but still harbors a sense of mystery.