Antedating of "Joker" (Cards)

[Joel S. Berson]

The OED has "little joker" from 1858:

3.a. Something used in playing a trick.
1858   O. W. Holmes Autocrat of Breakfast-table ii. 39   The
thimble-rigger's 'little joker'.
1895   Rev. of Reviews Jan. 70/2   These little jokers were attached
to the left thumbs of certain judges of election as the ballots were
being counted. These jokers are made of rubber and have a cross on them.

I suspect that Dan's "little joker" from 1880 Perrysburg also is not
what we think of as the customary playing card of today.  "Three card
monte" = "thimble-rig".

The 1880 Interior Journal "joker" does sound like the modern playing
card -- it's combined with "bowers", the two highest cards in
Euchre.  (It's the same year as Fred's.)

Joel

At 3/25/2013 01:05 AM, Dan Goncharoff wrote:
>*Perrysburg journal.* (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]), 09 Jan. 1880
>
>He is first cousin to the man who always
>knows which card is the "little Joker"
>in tho game of three-card monte.
>
>The Interior Journal. (Stanford, Ky.), January 23, 1880
>
>And the old man chuckled and nudged his'
>pard, for he held both bowers and the joker card.
>
>
>DanG
>
>
>On Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 12:58 AM, Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Antedating of "Joker" (Cards)
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > *Perrysburg journal.* (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]), 09 Jan. 1880
> >
> > He is first cousin to the man who always
> > knows which card is the "little Joker"
> > in tho game of three-card monte.
> >
> > DanG
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Mar 24, 2013 at 10:14 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at yale.edu
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
> > > Subject:      Antedating of "Joker" (Cards)
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > joker (OED, 3.b., 1885)
> > >
> > > 1880 _Turf, Field, and Farm_ 26 Nov. 347 (American Periodical Series)  In
> > > a=
> > >  game of draw poker, with the joker in the pack and straights allowed,
> > > what=
> > >  is the value of a straight, and a straight-flush?
> > >
> > > Fred Shapiro
> > >
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