Prior to the mid 1860’s there were no suits or values in the corners of playing cards. If a player wanted to see his or her entire hand, the cards had to be widely spread or moved from the front of the hand to the back one at a time.

In about 1864, card manufacturers came up with a couple of ways to solve this problem. The only ones still popular today are the suit and value indicators that we’re all familiar with. When this innovation was first introduced, the decks that featured it were called “Squeezers.” This name came from the fact that players could now “squeeze” the cards into a small fan to see their entire hand.

The name Squeezers is still around as a brand of the US Playing Card Co. which have been in production on and off since 1877. To our knowledge, the USPCC discontinued the brand in 2010.