Teheuti
Has anyone know about this theory of the origin of the Joker:
"So this wild card that puts play into play marks the place of death, the extinction of ego, the erasure of the subject. Traces of the joker's connection to death can be found in the card's history, beginning in 14 th-century in Holland when cards were still stencilled and coloured by hand. At that time artists who authored decks drew their portrait on a blank card as their signature, to be used as a wild card. Emmanuel Juker of Utrecht produced some of these early jokers and his name eventually became associated with the practice. When Dutch cards found their way into England, card makers there began including their own signature cards known as 'Jukers' for the card maker of Utrecht, which the English pronounced as 'jooker.' Over time, 'jooker' was replaced with the more meaningful English cognate, 'joker.' Later, as the plague began to spread through Europe, card makers began producing jokers wearing a black cap, thus renewing the association of the joker with death and Thoth, the god of death."
from “The Playing Card's Progress: A Brief History of Cards and Card Games“ by Joyce Goggin http://reconstruction.eserver.org/061/goggin.shtml
Original source: Curtis Slepian, "The Joker is Wild" in Game (1994) 12-14.
"So this wild card that puts play into play marks the place of death, the extinction of ego, the erasure of the subject. Traces of the joker's connection to death can be found in the card's history, beginning in 14 th-century in Holland when cards were still stencilled and coloured by hand. At that time artists who authored decks drew their portrait on a blank card as their signature, to be used as a wild card. Emmanuel Juker of Utrecht produced some of these early jokers and his name eventually became associated with the practice. When Dutch cards found their way into England, card makers there began including their own signature cards known as 'Jukers' for the card maker of Utrecht, which the English pronounced as 'jooker.' Over time, 'jooker' was replaced with the more meaningful English cognate, 'joker.' Later, as the plague began to spread through Europe, card makers began producing jokers wearing a black cap, thus renewing the association of the joker with death and Thoth, the god of death."
from “The Playing Card's Progress: A Brief History of Cards and Card Games“ by Joyce Goggin http://reconstruction.eserver.org/061/goggin.shtml
Original source: Curtis Slepian, "The Joker is Wild" in Game (1994) 12-14.