During the Vietnam War , American soldiers jump hearing rumor that the Vietnamese were very superstitious about the ace of spades . So Cincinnati ’s U.S. Playing Card Co. respond by print deck of nothing but star of spades — and mail them for destitute to GIs in Vietnam for the purposes of “ psychological warfare . ”
Colin Dickey , author ofAfterlives of the Saints , bring this fact to my care onTwitter , where he link to a site that still sells the Bicycle52 ace of spades deck of cards . Supposedly the Vietnamese saw the mavin of spade as a “ pernicious omen . ”
The Bicycle brand deck was peculiarly prized because it had two symbols of spoilt luck : The ace of nigga and a woman printed on the back . The military ’s Stars and Stripes newspaper had claimed that the Vietnamese also considered seeing a woman before battle as sorry luck . American scout group started to will the star of spades on the bodies of people they ’d killed and dispel the cards in fields when they were out on patrol .
But were the Viet Cong actually superstitious about the ace of spades ? credibly not .
The 2009 bookCowboys Full : The Story of Pokerby James McManus raises doubt about just how superstitious the Vietnamese were about that picky card . Some soldier called it plainly a case of “ converse symbolism . ” Apparently it was just as likely interpret as a priapic symbolization and one Captain exact that it might even be paint a picture to the Viet Cong that American Gi were “ involve in necrophilia ” because the cards were being left on deadened trunk .
In all likeliness it was just feared because it came to be a career plug-in of the Americans , not because the wiz of spades had any particular significance in Vietnamese culture .
“ Did it work ? I ’m not sure , ” one solider is quoted as pronounce in Cowboys Full . “ Did it aid our esprit de corps ? I definitely call back so ! In our society and others throughout Vietnam , I think the card did something to encourage the man that were just sample to outlast during a difficult time . ”
Below , a 1966 clause from the Corpus Christi Caller - Times about American GIs and their borrowing of the ace of spades on the field .
icon via Getty : Two US Marine serjeant father a supply of Ace of Spades board , known as the ‘ death card ’ which the reconnaissance mission forces leave as a warning to the Viet Cong , before pass on patrol in enemy territory on January 16 , 1967
Playing cards
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