The following article provides an introduction to the contributions of Edmund Hoyle and his connection to philately. The article was submitted by APS Chapter Palm Beach Stamp Club (previously Cresthaven Stamp Club) as an Article of Distinction for 2024 and was written by editor Michael Swope for the September 2024 issue of the club's newsletter. To learn more about Palm Beach Stamp Club, visit their website.
To read other Articles of Distinction, click here.
Four decades before the American Revolution, there existed in London a number of coffee houses in which the gentry and merchant classes gathered to sip coffee, talk, and play whist, a popular card game destined to be the forerunner of contract and auction bridge. Attorney Edmund Hoyle (1672-1769) was a habitual attendee of the Crown Coffee House on Bedford Row.
Hoyle became so proficient at whist that he decided to teach it and forego the practice of law. He demonstrated the fine points of the game to the lords and ladies at a very steep price.
In 1742, Hoyle published his first book with the imposing title A Short Treatise on the Game of Whist, Containing the Laws of the Game, and also Some Rules Whereby a Beginner May, with Due Attention to them, Attain to the Playing it Well. A few years later, he came out with the initial edition of Hoyle’s Games, giving rules and advice on card games. Thus, he pioneered in the authorship of a clear and scientific presentation of rules, ethics, and strategy of games as we understand them today. His rules and playing cards in general were exported to the American Colonies.
Hoyle’s association with card-game rules lead to his significant reputation, such that he is now quoted as an authority on poker, pinochle, rummy, and canasta – all unknown in his day. Each new book of rules published on card games is invariably called a “Hoyle.”
The first tax on playing cards levied in America came when the British Parliament passed the “Stamp Act” on March 22, 1765, to help pay for British troops stationed in the colonies during the Seven Years’ War. That act required colonists to pay a tax, represented by a stamp, on various forms of papers, documents, and playing cards.
The next tax on American playing cards came in 1862 to help fund the Union’s Civil War efforts. A hefty $50 fine was imposed for misuse of the stamps (about $1400 in today’s money). The Civil War era playing card stamps were retired in 1871. New Revenue stamps, designed specifically for playing cards, were introduced on August 1, 1894. That series was utilized until the tax was abolished in 1965.
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