Pinochle, really?

"February 2, 1990:  I had Pinochle Club."

This is what wikipedia.org has about the history of Pinochle:  "Pinochle derives from the game bezique. The French word "binocle" also meant "eyeglasses". The word is also possibly derived from the French word, "binage", for the combination of cards called "binocle". This latter pronunciation of the game would be adopted by German speakers. German immigrants brought the game to America, where it was later mispronounced and misspelled "Pinochle." Auction pinochle for three players has some similarities with the German game skat, although the bidding is more similar to that of bid whist. During World War I, the city of Syracuse, New York outlawed the playing of pinochle in a fit of anti-German sentiment."

That was enough to confuse me.  The rest of the article is very long and tells of melding and marriage and I don't know what else.  I think I know now why I never learned to play Pinochle.  The part about Syracuse, New York was not confusing, but I thought it was rather interesting.  I wonder how long the ban stayed put.

I have many, many fond memories of playing cards either with a big bunch of the family (Squeak!), or just one-on-one with either Grandma or Grandpa.  But Pinochle only entered the conversation if someone grabbed the wrong deck of cards.