"Clarence E., York, Penn'a."

I had a hunch that this roughly cut card was intended to be a calling card with a puzzling last name in the form of a rebus, but I wasn't sure what the name could be. I thought Clarence E. Eishart ("eyes-heart") might be one possibility or perhaps even Hardice ("heart-eyes").

After various Google and Google Book searches using just the partial name and location ("Clarence E." York Pennsylvania), however, I finally located a couple of sources that contain what I think is the correct name--Clarence E. Eisenhart ("eyes-and-heart"). He lived in York, his birth and death years are 1854 and 1926 (I think), and he married a woman whose name was Meta Folke. I haven't seen the eyes-and-heart drawing anywhere else, though.

Originally posted on Ipernity: Clarence E., York, Pennsylvania.

Rebus: "May Eye C U Home My Deer."

Translation: "May I see you home, my dear?"

An acquaintance card that uses a rebus to ask its question. For a similar card, see I Am Uriah E. Heckert. For additional examples, see my Acquaintance Cards album.

Originally posted on Ipernity: May I See You Home?

"I am (Comic Imp Card). Who the devil are you?"

A card pasted in a Victorian-era "Agent's Sample Book" that was issued by an unidentified calling card company.

I also have a blank copy of this card without the "Comic Imp Card" description or a name. See I Am ________, Who the Devil Are You? (below).

For an example of another card that was in the "Agent's Sample Book," see Fireman's Card (below).

"Long may peace attend thee!"

A Victorian-era hidden-name calling card with shaking hands, a sailing ship, and the Statue of Liberty, all surrounded by a border of roses and forget-me-nots. The colorful illustration consists of a separate die-cut that lifts up on the right-hand side to reveal the name of "Edward M. Mercer" printed underneath.

Originally posted on Ipernity: Long May Peace Attend Thee!

Check out my book of detachable acquaintance cards: May I See You Home?: 19th-Century Pickups for 21st-Century Suitors, by Alan Mays.

"May I see you home?"

An orange version of a popular acquaintance card. See below for another example.

A-La-Mode

Fair One: 'Tis balmy eve, and gentle zephyrs blow

With mildness seldom seen of late.

If you'll permit me, I would like to go

And see you safely to the garden gate.

Illustration: Yum Yum. Scene at the gate.

This is an example of a Victorian-era acquaintance card, which was also referred to in the nineteenth century as a flirtation, escort, or invitation card.

The Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), p 4, provides this definition: "A novelty variant of the American calling card of the 1870s and 1880s, the acquaintance card was used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female. Given also as an 'escort card' or 'invitation card,' the device commonly carried a brief message and a simple illustration.... Flirtatious and fun, the acquaintance card brought levity to what otherwise might have seemed a more formal proposal. A common means of introduction, it was never taken too seriously."

Here's CNN's take on acquaintance or escort cards: "So, may I see you home? In the late 19th century, Americans exchanged cheeky personalized cards to start a romance. Call them the ink-and-paper Tinder. Escort cards helped people find intimacy while breaking the strict conventions of social interaction."

That's the description of a video that appeared on CNN's Great Big Story today (February 12, 2016). The short piece (1:25) uses reproductions of my collection of acquaintance cards (see my complete set on Flickr or the ones I've posted on Ipernity so far) to present The 19th Century Tinder: Welcome to the Racy World of Escort Cards over on YouTube (don't miss my acknowledgement at the end of the video).

For those who may not be familiar with the sometimes naughty Tinder, Wikipedia calls it a "location-based dating and social discovery application (using Facebook) that facilitates communication between mutually interested users, allowing matched users to chat."

So, were acquaintance or escort cards--like the one above--the nineteenth-century equivalent of Tinder, as the video suggests? I don't really think that formally dressed Victorian men and women secretly gave each other cards in order to hook up like we see in the video. Although some of the cards may sound like cheesy pickup lines to modern ears, I think it's more likely that school kids and young adults used them to break the ice, get a laugh, or start a conversation rather than to arrange a tryst.

In reality, acquaintance cards provided a lighthearted and humorous way to parody the more formal exchange of calling cards that took place in Victorian times. Acquaintance cards were sold by the same companies that supplied calling cards, rewards of merit, and advertising trade cards, and they show up alongside these other printed items in the scrapbooks that were popular with women and children in the nineteenth century.

Back to the Yum Yum A La Mode card. Here's how it was advertised in the Argus and Patriot newspaper, Montpelier, Vermont, on September 18, 1878, p. 4. The following text appeared along with the "Yum Yum" illustration:

Boss. Red Hot.

If you want to smile all over your face for six months, just send for the Red Hot Flirtation Cards, 50 for 25 cts. Samples sent for 2 3-ct. stamps. Remember these cards are Red Hot Regular Tearers!! They cannot be beat. We stump everything of the kind. You will laugh till you cry if you send for them. P.O. stamps are better than silver to send in a letter, and are all the same to us. Write your orders plain. Address Marshall & Co., 35 Sudbury St., Boston, Mass.

So what do you think? Was this a "Red Hot Flirtation Card" that Victorians used as a paper-based Tinder?

For some other articles that have featured my acquaintance cards, take a look at these:

Linton Weeks. When "Flirtation Cards" Were All The Rage. NPR, July 31, 2015.

Becky Little. Saucy "Escort Cards" Were a Way to Flirt in the Victorian Era. National Geographic, January 4, 2016.

Brett and Kate McKay. May I See You Home? 19th Century Calling Cards Guaranteed to Score You a Date. The Art of Manliness, February 13, 2014.

Messy Nessy. The 19th Century Escort Cards with Pick-Up Lines You Definitely Haven’t Heard Before. Messy Nessy Chic, April 21, 2015.

Esther Inglis-Arkell. Young People Used These Absurd Little Cards to Get Laid in the 19th Century. Gizmodo, January 6, 2016.

"Aim Straight. A. Lanborn."

Cupid is aiming straight for the heart in the illustration on this nineteenth-century sentiment card.

"M________. May I have the pleasure of your company to attend a ________ to be held at ________ on ____ day of ________ 188__ at ____ o'clock __M. If so, please sign your name on the back of this card and return to me. ________."

An escort or acquaintance card from the 1880s. For a discussion of these types of cards, see the article "When 'Flirtation Cards' Were All The Rage," by Linton Weeks, on NPR's Web site.

The Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), p 4, reveals how Victorian-era lads used "acquaintance cards" like this one to pursue young ladies. "A novelty variant of the American calling card of the 1870s and 1880s, the acquaintance card was used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female" is how the Encyclopedia explains it. "Given also as an 'escort card' or 'invitation card,' the device commonly carried a brief message and a simple illustration."

The verse on this card claims "How delightful 'twould be" to "escort you as far as the gate," but the expressions on the faces of the guy and gal in the illustration suggest that they're not enjoying themselves too much as they trudge with an umbrella through the pelting rain (see below for a rotated version of the illustration).

"Flirtatious and fun," the Encyclopedia says, "the acquaintance card brought levity to what otherwise might have seemed a more formal proposal. A common means of introduction, it was never taken too seriously."

For more information, see National Geographic's Web site for "Saucy ‘Escort Cards’ Were a Way to Flirt in the Victorian Era," an article by Becky Little that appeared on January 4, 2016. The article features a number of images from my Acquaintance Cards album.

Confidential

I ne'er on your form for a moment have gazed,

But a thousand temptations beset me;

Please may I escort you as far as the gate,

How delightful 'twould be if you'd let me.

Originally posted on Ipernity: Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland (Mrs. Grover Cleveland).

Caption: "Mrs. Cleveland." Name hidden underneath the printed scrap: "Rue Crounover" (see Explanation of Hidden Name Calling Cards for an illustration showing how these cards work).

Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, began his first term in office (1885-1889) as a bachelor, but married Frances Clara Folsom in 1886. She served as First Lady during the remainder of Cleveland's first term and again during his second term (1893-1897).

President Cleveland was also featured on a similar calling card: President Grover Cleveland.

"Wanted, by a member of the Anti-Poke Your Nose Into Other People's Business Society, a person at a salary of $500 a year, with a periodical increase to $1,000, to mind their own business and let other people's business alone."

This is the second version of this acquaintance card that I've come across (see my earlier posting below). Although the illustration is the same, there are minor differences in the borders, layouts, and typefaces.

For additional examples of these amusing Victorian-era cards, see my Acquaintance Cards album.

"I am ________. Who the devil are you?"

Another copy of this "devil card" from 1877.

See also I Am C. Y. Young, Who the Devil Are You?

This is a sample acquaintance card dating to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

See May I C U Home This Eve? for another card with the same illustration and a different distinctive typeface.

For another sample acquaintance card with this illustration, see Love Speaks—Without Me Thou Would'st Die.

For additional cards, see my Acquaintance Cards album.

Typefaces: Souvenir ("May I C-U-Home This Eve"), Bowl ("This Eve").

May I C-U-Home This Eve.

Yours Truly. Please Answer.

Acquaintance Card. Name on 25 for 10 cts. Ast'd.

"Chas. E. Marsh, International Exhibition, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa., 1876. Copyright 1876 by L. Prang & Co. Main Building, Horticultural Hall, Agricultural Hall, Art Gallery, Machinery Hall."

Printed on the back: "Centennial Card. Retail price, 30 cts. per dozen." ("30" is crossed out, and "20" is written below it.)

Since Charles E. Marsh's name also appears on a card in the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society that identifies him as a printer ("Chas. E. Marsh, card & job printer, business and address cards a specialty, Greenville, N.H."), it's likely that this was a sample card used to solicit customers for Marsh's printing business. He would have purchased blank copies of this card from lithographer Louis Prang's firm and then printed individual names on them, as he did here with "Chas. E. Marsh."

Although commonly called the Centennial Exposition today, the exhibition's full name when it was held in 1876 was the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine. "Nearly 10 million visitors attended the exhibition and thirty-seven countries participated in it," Wikipedia reports.

The five major buildings at the exhibition—the Main Building, Horticultural Hall, Agricultural Hall, the Art Gallery (also known as Memorial Hall), and Machinery Hall—are depicted on this card.

Although Charles Marsh may have attended the exhibition, it's possible that he advertised these cards elsewhere and filled orders through the mail.

Originally posted on Ipernity: Charles E. Marsh, Centennial International Exhibition, Philadelphia, Pa., 1876.

"Dear Miss, I very much desire the pleasure of your acquaintance and your company home this evening. If agreeable please keep this card, if not kindly return it. Yours truly, ________."

See also Fair Lady, I Send You This Beautiful Chromo with My Compliments (below) and my Acquaintance Cards album for additional examples.

A colorful Victorian calling card with a shoe and flowers.

"I am Sam Kahn. Who the devil are you?"

I have found cards like this one for Sam Kahn and another for Anna "Butch" Engle among collections of graduation name cards that date as late as the 1940s. I don't have any definitive proof, but I suspect that high school or college students were able to order amusing cards like these from Jostens or some similar company at the same time they ordered their formal graduation announcements and name cards.

These "who the devil are you" cards are, of course, just updated versions of earlier nineteenth-century Devil Cards and Comic Imp Cards.

"May I. C. U. Home?"

A nineteenth-century acquaintance card with an illustration of a couple of frogs.

For another card with frogs, see May I Be Permitted the Pleasure of Escorting You Home?

"I Am (George Shaw), Who the Devil Are You?"

This is a Victorian-era card from 1877. "George Shaw" is the handwritten name that's barely visible in the blank space.

For additional examples from this series of "Devil Cards," see:

-- Who the Devil Are You?

-- Devil Card: Who the Devil Are You?

-- I Am C. Y. Young — Who the Devil Are You?

A humorous acquaintance card. For another one with the same name, see John J. Carberry, Dealer in Up-to-Date Hugs, Kisses, and Squeezes.

John J. Carberry

I am fishing for a sweetheart. Not married. Out for a good time. Let's get acquainted.

A pipe-smoking devil carries a "Louis Klug" sign across this nineteenth-century German calling card.

"May I C U home this eve? Yours truly, James Ely. Please answer."

This is an acquaintance card dating to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. For other cards with the same illustration and border, see Your Coral Lips Were Made to Kiss, I Stoutly will Maintain, Your Beau I Wish to Be, This Card I Therefore Send, and I Learned the Verb "Love" at School.

For even more cards, see my Acquaintance Cards album.

An acquaintance card evidently used for responding to other cards that asked the question, May I C U Home? (see below).

Answer to May I C U Home To-night

You ask to see me home to-night: what if I should refuse?

I hope you would not blame me, for doing as I choose,

I must look out for number one, and know you'll say, "That's right,"

And with thanks for your kind offer, you may C me home to-night.

A "Hot Air Postcard" addressed on the other side to Mrs. Lillian Dewey, South Street, Auburn, Mass., and postmarked at Globe Village Station, Southbridge, Mass., Aug. 17, 1909.

For similar cards, see I'm Just Your Size and Complexion and Let's Get Acquainted, If You Have No Objection.

Dear Friend

I am just your size and complexion

And I am going in your direction

So if you have no objection

I would like to be your protection

Yours very truly

Miss Catch Me When You Find Me

Hot Air Postcard

"Why do you add to Russia's troubles" ?

Re-posted and re-titled, from an earlier Yuletide Snap.

Imperialist NAZI Russians, go home ! Slava Ukraini !

An acquaintance card dating to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

If you look closely, you'll see that the printer mistakenly used a "u" instead of an "n" to spell "and." I had to read through the text a couple of times before I even noticed the error.

Confidential

Miss: If you desire to form my acquaintance, please state time and place on blank space.

Another version—this one with distinctive typefaces—of a popular acquaintance card.

See also orange- and brown-colored versions of the card.

Check out my book of detachable acquaintance cards: May I See You Home?: 19th-Century Pickups for 21st-Century Suitors, by Alan Mays.

"April Fool. Ha ha."

A nineteenth-century calling card printed on marbled paper that has faded over time.

Instead of a typical calling card with a name printed on it, some Victorian-era prankster handed out this card as an April Fools' Day joke.

For another Victorian calling card printed on marbled paper, see Marian Reynolds.

Rebus: "Eye AM Uriah E. Heckert. W-Hoe T-He Devil R Yew?"

Translation: "I am Uriah E. Heckert. Who the devil are you?"

An acquaintance card that uses a rebus to deliver its message. For related items, see the following albums: Acquaintance Cards and Devilish Doings.

Originally posted on Ipernity: I Am Uriah E. Heckert.

"Jennie R. Baker. My card and my compliments. Please give yours in exchange."

Unspoken Love

Long have I loved—but some strange spell,

Forbids my heart its tale to tell;

Here, take this card and simply feel,

The love my lips dare not reveal.

The poem printed on this late nineteenth-century acquaintance card also appeared in "The Perils of Amateur Poetry," a brief article that circulated in newspapers in 1881, including the Chatsworth Plaindealer, Chatsworth, Ill., April 16, 1881, p. 6.

The article told how Rodney McGollan, an amateur poet, was "compelled to pay a verdict of three hundred dollars in a breach of promise case at Barrie, Canada, the evidence of his promise being the following verse, which he wrote to the plaintiff:

Long have I loved, but some strange spell

Forbids my heart its tale to tell.

Here, take this card, and simply feel

The love my lips dare not reveal."

This is a divided back postcard addressed on the other side to Miss Hazel Hollenbeck, Chili, Wisconsin. There's no signature or message, but the postmark indicates that it was sent from Grand Rapids, Wisconsin, on March 17, 1908.

Different versions of the text about "Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs" appear on other early twentieth-century postcards and acquaintance cards. See, for example, Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs, published as a postcard, and Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs—I Deliver the Goods Myself, an acquaintance card.

Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs

Address: any old place. Holding hands a specialty.

Special attention to other people's girls.

I have no agents, I attend to this work personally.

Sole proprietor of lover's row.

Give me a trial.

Another "ragtime millionaire" acquaintance card. See also Elmer E. Trutt, Ragtime Millionaire, Milton, Pa., and Elmer Miller, Ragtime Millionaire.

Rag-time Millionaire

Sole owner and agent for salve. Looking for someone to love.

Kind regards to friends and knockers. Not married and out for a good time.

Let's get acquainted. Capital $100,000,000 in my dreams.

This is a sample acquaintance card dating to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Taken at face value, the card's message—"without me thou would'st die"—is rather presumptuous. But considering the humor of other acquaintance cards, perhaps this one's overstated sentiments were intended to be comical rather than pompous.

For more cards with the same illustrations and borders, see:

-- May I C U Home This Eve?

-- Your Coral Lips Were Made to Kiss, I Stoutly will Maintain

-- Your Beau I Wish to Be, This Card I Therefore Send

-- I Learned the Verb "Love" at School

By the blushes on thy cheek,

In the glances of thine eyes,

Love most eloquently speaks:

"That without me thou would'st die."

Yours truly, please answer.

No. 618. With name 24 for 10 cents

(Assorted designs)

Columbus Card Co., Columbus, O.

Acquaintance cards with the line about "dealer in love, kisses, and up-to-date hugs" were quite popular in the early twentieth century and circulated in many different versions. This one was printed by Pluck Art Printery in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

For other examples that were personalized with handwritten or printed names, see:

-- E. L. Muellich, Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs

-- John J. Carberry, Dealer in Up-to-Date Hugs, Kisses, and Squeezes

-- Charles M. Krout, Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs

-- Elmer E. Trutt, Ragtime Millionaire, Milton, Pa.

Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs

I have no assistants but deliver the goods myself.

Single - out for a good time - but lonesome.

Let's get acquainted. My home is in heaven. Special attention paid to other fellows' girls.

My capital $9,999,999 in my dreams. Sole owner of lover's lane.

A nineteenth-century calling card with a New Year greeting and an illustration of a putto mailing a letter. The written notation of the cost -- 15 cents per dozen -- indicates that this was a sample card used by a sales agent.

A Happy New Year

P. Z. Heckert

15 cts pr doz.

"Margreta Larsson, Våmhus."

A calling card that I purchased along with some Swedish-language religious cards. Margreta Larsson was presumably from Våmhus, Dalarna County, Sweden (Sverige).

Check out my book of detachable acquaintance cards: May I See You Home?: 19th-Century Pickups for 21st-Century Suitors, by Alan Mays.

This is an acquaintance card—also called an escort, invitation, or flirtation card—that dates to the nineteenth century. For another card with the same illustration but a different text, see Shall I Be the Proud Bird Who Escorts You Home Tonight?

Miss ________

Shall I be the happy one who wins your favor, or the disconsolate young man in the picture at the right, this evening?

Yours truly,

W. A. Patten

A katydid perches on the left-hand side of a Victorian-era calling card for someone named E. L. Houghton.

A New Year card from John E. Cranfield (d. 1894?), who was a letter carrier in Albany, New York.

Compare this card with A Happy New Year, Will D. Reiber, Letter Carrier.

?A Happy New Year? 1889

John E. Cranfield, Route No. 14.

Ye Penny Post, 1839. Ye Letter Carrier, 1889.

A humorous acquaintance card dating to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

The same text with a different illustration and layout appears on another acquaintance card (see Acquaintance Card Confidential).

And the same donkey illustration (print block) shows up on a different card (see May I Become the Proud Bird Who Shall Accompany You?).

Confidential

Miss: If you desire to form my acquaintance, please state time and place on blank space.

An undated acquaintance card with some interesting typefaces.

The owner of this acquaintance card humorously claimed to be a "would-be millionaire," but other jokesters with similar cards were "ragtime millionaires" or a "millionaire's only son."

Leo McBride

Would-be Millionaire Looking for Someone to Love.

Why shouldn't we get acquainted?

Capital $5,000,000 in my dreams.

Kind regards to all friends & knockers.

Not married but out for a good time.

"Samuel A. Biemesderfer. East Hempfield, Pa."

Despite the different spelling of the name, I believe this calling card belonged to Samuel A. Beamesderfer (1860-1925). Other versions of the name from official records include Bemesderfer, Bemisderfer, and Bimesderfer. The 1870 U.S. Federal Census listed Landisville, Pennsylvania, as the post office used by Samuel's family. Today East Hempfield is the name of the township surrounding Landisville.

The typeface used for Biemesderfer's name is Text Ornate, which was patented in 1872 and appears in MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan Co., Specimens of Printing Types: Ornaments, Borders, Corners, Rules, Emblems, Initials, &c. (1892), p. 379. For other examples of this typeface, see the calling cards for Warren Perkins and Catharine A. Emerick.

"Chas. H. Smith. Compliments." (I'm not whether the middle initial is H, W, or another letter, however.)

An impressive example of ornamental penmanship on a hand-drawn and -lettered "flourished" calling card that likely dates to the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Note how the bird appears to be eyeing an insect of some sort.

See below for some other similarly ornate cards.

Originally posted on Ipernity: Charles Smith—Ornamental Pensmanship on a Calling Card.

"I am C. Y. Young, who the devil are you?"

This "devil card" dates to 1877.

Escort Card

Fair Lady: May I become the proud bird who shall accompany you to your leafy bower, or must I suffer the misery of seeing you borne away in triumph by the individual whose chromo tintype appears at the right.

"Gaze on this picture, then on that."--Hamlet.

A Victorian-era acquaintance card with amusingly convoluted language. These cards--also called escort, flirtation, or invitation cards--provided a humorous way for a young man to make the acquaintance of a young woman. For additional examples, see my Acquaintance Cards set.

My acquaintance cards were recently featured in the following blog postings: The 19th Century Escort Cards with Pick-Up Lines You Definitely Haven’t Heard Before on Messy Nessy Chic and 19th Century Acquaintance Cards Were the Pick-Up Lines of a Lost Age on Neatarama.

And last year, the Art of Manliness also posted a selection of my cards: May I See You Home? 19th Century Calling Cards Guaranteed to Score You a Date.

Originally posted on Ipernity: May I Become the Proud Bird Who Shall Accompany You?

"Might I dare, I fain would ask, / That you would give word or sign, / How I my true love might declare, / And learn my fate at Cupid's shrine."

"I am (Devil Cards), who the devil are you?"

This "devil card" dates to 1877.