Poker Playing Canines Help Bring Poker Out of the Smokey Backrooms and in to the Light ?
Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
an instantly recognizable commercial painter who has given the world the series of Dogs Playing Poker
was born in 1844
into a family of abolitionist Quaker farmers and was named after one of the most eloquent orators against slavery
nicknamed (with provisional anthropomorphism) “The Lion of White Hall.” Nicknamed “Cash” by friends and kin
he had no official training whatsoever
but was very active
publishing drawings in papers before he was 20.
In 1903 he was commissioned a series of paintings on his favorite theme: mastiffs and Saint Bernards engaged in human activity. On nine of the sixteen paintings well bred and mannered dogs drink beer and whiskey
smoke cigars and pipes
and play five-card draw poker. Furry and in fur coats or flannel suits
they usually fill a cozy room with the only source of light being a shaded lamp above the table.
The players are established bourgeois
and seem to be reasonably well-behaved gentlemen
perhaps not altogether tame
but proper enough. The paintings reflect approximately the same period as that depicted in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America. But Coolidge does not focus on the greed and violence of illegal underground clubs; rather
he shows poker finally emerge from the criminal murk into a more homely reality where decent members of society probably never bet more than a few symbolic cents and allowed themselves a few drops of bourbon when their wives weren’t looking. Poker was becoming common entertainment for most American men
not a means to make quick and dangerous money.
As early as 1875
respectable persons attended major night-time poker sessions. At least one monthly
Poker Chips
was dedicated to the game and most periodicals published related articles. At the turn of the century
unified rules for draw-poker were for the first time spread among all poker clubs. Reporters suggested that baseball had ceased to be the national game.
Gradually
unrelated to any criminal associations
the ability to play poker and the ability to wield a gun became the staple talents of any real man. Men who played good poker were usually likewise good soldiers
good sheriffs
and good politicians. In the spring of 1918
in Europe
the game was the most popular mode of entertainment among Harry Truman and his two million troops. Truman perfected his draw and stud poker as an artillery officer. When the peace treaty was signed
waiting to be shipped home
he and his combat friends spent the time at endless games of poker which they continued even after arrival home.
The ability to bet big and smart
bluff
and risk profitably was seen as identical in essence to the ability to survive in battle
survive on dangerous jobs in law enforcement
or do any job which required brains and brawn.
Coolidge had ample opportunity to observe the types
the clothes
the cards
and the basement clubs where games were regularly held. Adding a vivid touch of anthropomorphic humor
he created memorable representations of the middle class enjoying a game by then at least 200 years old.
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by admin on June 27th, 2010 Tags: games, Poker
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