Bicycle Playing Cards

Other types of cards with varying backs, sizes, colors and custom designs are produced for magic tricks and as novelty and collectors' items.

[5][3][1] Toward the end of the World War I, the United States Playing Card Company produced four "War Series" decks under the Bicycle brand to represent each of the branches of the U.S. armed services: Flying Ace for the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps,[6] Dreadnaught for the Navy, Invincible (aka Conqueror) for the Marine Corps, and Big Gun for the Army.

Brown had read remarks from Congressman Craig Hosmer of California that the Viet Cong held superstitions of bad luck with pictures of women and the ace of spades.

Upon conferring with other lieutenants, Brown asked for 1,000 aces of spades for his company to leave for the enemy to find, as an indication that American troops had been in the area.

The story was reported by several news outlets, including the Stars and Stripes; as a result, more units began to request cards.

The symbol was eventually included in the official psychological warfare operations, and thousands of special decks containing only aces of spades were donated by the card company to soldiers that purposely scattered them throughout the jungle and villages during raids.