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"Catharine A. Emerick. My wish."

 

A Victorian-era calling card.

"My dear creature: If you would allow me the privilege of escorting you home, I should consider it too awfully but."

A small Victorian-era valentine that's the same size as a calling card.

Sample sheet showing the variety of calling cards, rewards of merit, and other printed items available in 1886 from the Connecticut Steam Card Works, Hartford, Conn.

  

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For the front of this sample sheet, see the following:

 

   entire sample sheet

   part 1, top left

   part 2, bottom left

   part 3, top middle

   part 4, bottom middle

   part 5, top right (above)

   part 6, bottom right

 

See also Explanation of Hidden Name Calling Cards for an excerpt from the reverse side of this sample sheet.

"A Happy New Year 1879 from H. A and S. S. Brickenstein."

 

The Rev. Hermann A. Brickenstein and his wife, Susan Shultz Brickenstein, were listed in the 1890 edition of the American College and Public School Directory, p. 96, as principal and vice-principal of the Linden Hall Seminary, a "Moravian school for young ladies," in Lititz, Pa. Linden Hall continues its educational mission today as "the oldest girls' school in the United States."

For a similar calling card, see Scott W. Wolford.

 

Typeface: Treasury Open ("Amanda Wolford").

A Victorian-era acquaintance or escort card.

 

Escort Card

 

May I have the pleasure of escorting you home this evening? If so, keep this card. If not, please may I sit on the fence and watch you go by?

 

Strictly confidential.

"Harry Sprenkil. May joy be around you."

 

A Victorian-era calling card with a winter theme for Christmas.

 

See also a card for Horatio J. Brinkman that uses the same illustration.

See also calling cards for General Hancock and General Logan.

 

"Gen. Sherman. Trust in me!"

 

Printing hidden under scrap: "Our Generals. 12 for 30 cents. Fringed 12 for 80 cents."

A Victorian-era calling card with pasted-on photo.

 

For other similar cards, see my Calling Cards with Photographs album.

Sample sheet showing the variety of calling cards, rewards of merit, mourning cards, and other printed items available in 1886 from the Connecticut Steam Card Works, Hartford, Conn.

  

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For the front of this sample sheet, see the following:

 

   entire sample sheet

   part 1, top left

   part 2, bottom left (above)

   part 3, top middle

   part 4, bottom middle

   part 5, top right

   part 6, bottom right

 

See also Explanation of Hidden Name Calling Cards for an excerpt from the reverse side of this sample sheet.

Or to put it more straightforwardly, this acquaintance card asks, "May I see you home?"

 

The Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), p 4, provides additional information: "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."

 

Originally posted on Ipernity: May I C U Home?.

 

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 one of twelve "highly amusing fun cards" that came in a Novelty Fun Cards envelope (see below).

 

For a similar card, see Charles M. Krout, Dealer in Love, Kisses, and Up-to-Date Hugs.

 

For more "fun cards," see my Novelty Fun Cards album.

 

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"The Unknown Sheik, wholesale dealer in love, hugs, squeezes, and kisses. Office hours from 1 to won. All my work guaranteed to bring results. No extra charge for night work. Come, girls, let's get acquainted. Love made on short notice. Give me a trial before going elsewhere."

"A Happy New Year, 1876. Mary A. Bacon. New Year's cards. 2 styles. Same price as emblematic. No. 2. Plaisted-Farwell."

"W. G. Gehman, presiding elder, Mennonite Brethren in Christ, Mt. Carmel District, 1503 Lehigh Street, Easton, Pa."

"Should we ever be married, promise me, you will never leave your trademark on me."

A Victorian-era New Year calling card.

 

A Happy New Year

 

Henry M. Bloser

 

1876

"Elmer Miller, ragtime millionaire. Looking for someone to love. Let's get acquainted. Capital, $60,000,000, in my dreams. Kind regards to friends and knockers. Not married and out for a good time."

A later example of an acquaintance card that's been personalized with a printed name. Judging by the illustration, this may date as late as the 1920s or 1930s.

 

Harry A. Meyers

 

My heart to you Is given,

Oh! do give yours to me;

We'll lock them up together,

And throw away the key.

 

Yours truly. Please answer.

See also calling cards for General Hancock and General Sherman.

 

"Gen. Logan. With fond greetings!"

"A Happy New Year. Assorted New Year, 12 for 12 cts."

Unused calling card sample.

One of five John S. Kriebel calling cards--two photographic cards (John S. Kriebel and J. S. K.) and three chromolithographed cards (John S. Kriebel, John S. Kriebel, Only Thee, and John S. Kriebel, A Token of Love).

 

See also John S. Kriebel, Only Thee (Detail) , which shows the embellishments on the uppercase letters of the name, including a fish at the bottom of the S and a bird on the K. The typeface is MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan's Spencerian Script with ornamented capitals.

Probably Oscar Carl Schloerb (1858-1897), of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

"Life bear for you its sweetest flowers."

 

No name is printed underneath the scrap, which means that this was probably a sample calling card.

One of five John S. Kriebel calling cards--two photographic cards (John S. Kriebel and J. S. K.) and three chromolithographed cards (John S. Kriebel, John S. Kriebel, Only Thee, and John S. Kriebel, A Token of Love).

 

See also John S. Kriebel, Only Thee (Detail) , which shows the embellishments on the uppercase letters of the name, including a fish at the bottom of the S and a bird on the K. The typeface is MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan's Spencerian Script with ornamented capitals.

Explanation

 

When we speak of "scrap cards" or "scrap picture covering name," we mean that after the cards are printed, the scrap is placed over the name and fastened to the card at one end. In presenting a card to a friend, your name is hidden till they lift the scrap in the manner shown in this illustration, which exposes the name to view and shows the back of the scrap; on taking the finger off, it again falls into place and hides the name.

 

This style of visiting card is all the rage this season [1886], and is very unique as well as beautiful.

 

--Excerpt from an 1886 sample sheet with illustrations of calling cards for sale by the Connecticut Steam Card Works, Hartford, Conn.

 

See also Samples from Connecticut Steam Card Works 1886 for the front side of this sample sheet.

"A Happy New Year. New Year card no. 12. 12 for 10c."

This photographic calling card belonged to Ellen Sophia Auchey (1860-1942), who lived in York County, Pa. The card likely dates to sometime before 1886, which is the approximate year that she married Adam B. Laughman (1865-1930).

 

Originally posted on Ipernity: Miss Ellen Sophia Auchey.

Logo and business card for Medley. See the presentation and other images at dffrnt - slideshare

 

(Note: this is a 3D render of the card; not a photo. Rendered in Maya using Mental Ray.)

 

Visit us and drop a comment at our site: www.dffrnt.com

 

A Victorian-era calling card with pasted-on photograph. The typeface is MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan's Spencerian Script with ornamented capitals.

 

Despite the variant spelling of the last name, this card may have belonged to Irwin Guy Waggoner (1882-1975), who lived in Oregon. If so--and if he actually had his photograph taken and cards printed when he was as young as he appears in the photo--then it's likely that this calling card dates to the 1880s or 1890s.

 

This is the only calling card with a child's photo that I've ever seen. For additional examples of photographic calling cards, see my Calling Cards with Photographs album.

 

Originally posted on Ipernity: Irwin G. Waggener.

"Lizzie K. Esh. Good luck to you till we meet again."

 

A calling card.

For a similar card, see The Unknown Sheik, Wholesale Dealer in Love.

 

"Charles M. Krout, Jacobus, Pa., wholesale and retail dealer in love, kisses, and up-to-date hugs. A large stock on hand at all times. Will be glad to demonstrate in a dark room. Come and examine my stock before dealing elsewhere. All business confidential. Consult me on spooning business. Special attention paid to other fellow's girls. Cable address: I Have a Feeling for You. Beware of fakes. I am the original."

"Samuel K. Groninger. Each day, bring new pleasures!"

 

A Victorian-era calling card with a winter theme for Christmas.

"Hannah Matthias. Love crown your way."

 

A Victorian-era calling card with an illustration of a woman shooting arrows at a target.

Handwritten on the back of this sentiment card: "Loren & Persnelia Wright."

 

Try Again.

 

'Tis a lesson you should heed, Try again, try again;

If at first you don't succeed, Try again;

Then your courage should appear,

If you will but persevere,

You will conquer, never fear, Try again, try again.

A handwritten calling card for "R. C. Hilt." White ink on a purplish card.

A Victorian-era sample calling card with pasted-on photograph.

 

The typeface used for "Photograph Card" is MacKellar, Smiths & Jordan's Spencerian Script with ornamented capitals.

An advertising trade card for the Village Vigil newspaper (above), which has the appearance of a calling card on the front (below).

 

Office of The Village Vigil. Landisville, Pa., 1883.

 

The Vigil will be a small and entertaining village paper. Its contents shall be spicy, and mostly original, and it needs your support. It will be a journal for the young, and the old folks with youthful hearts. It is not a large sum to you--50 cents per year--to us it will do a great deal, so consider this an invitation to subscribe.

 

We would be pleased to receive any orders for cheap and satisfactory job printing you may want.

 

Yours very respectfully,

D. B. Landis,

Editor and publisher of the Vigil.

 

D. B. Landis

 

David Bachman Landis (1862-1940) was only 21 years old when he decided to publish the Village Vigil in Landisville, Pennsylvania, in 1883.

 

Landis later provided the following information about himself and the Village Vigil in his book about his family's history, The Landis Family of Lancaster County: A Comprehensive History of the Landis Folk (Lancaster, Pa.: By the author, 1888), pp. 18-19:

 

"David Bachman Landis is the only son of Israel C., and was born in Landisville, February 12 1862…. On the 7th of October, 1878, David was apprenticed to the Inquirer Printing and Publishing Company, Lancaster, to learn Guttenberg's art. After serving four years at the trade, he opened a professional job printing office in Landisville, in April, 1883. On May 1 of the same year, he issued the initial number of the Village Vigil as a tri-monthly; in a year it was printed weekly; and in 1885 the paper was enlarged to eight pages, being known thereafter as the Landisville Vigil.…. On March 13, 1886 the Vigil was discontinued, the owner connecting himself with the Lancaster Inquirer, in which establishment he has had charge of the printing since then."

 

For the other side of this card, see D. B. Landis (below).

"Laura Miller."

 

A colorful Victorian-era calling card.

Henry Sturtz's last name is misspelled here as "Sturty."

A nineteenth-century New Year calling card sample.

 

"Happy New Year! New Year. 20 for 10 cents."

"A Happy New Year. 1878. 1879. Compliments of Jas. McCambridge."

A Victorian-era calling card with an elaborate background pattern.

A nineteenth-century sentiment card. See the American Antiquarian Society's description of Calling and Sentiment Cards.

 

A blight may come upon thy name,

And want and suffering dim thine eye,

But thou wilt find me still the same,

For love like mine can never die.

 

W. B. Farrah

A late nineteenth-century calling card.

 

Typeface: Treasury Open ("William Bingham").

A Victorian-era New Year calling card with an unusual rhomboid shape. Cards like this typically have just one name, and I'm not sure why this one lists the names of five individuals.

 

Typefaces: Initials from Italian Black with capitals from a wide Celtic ("Happy New Year"); Venetian (names).

 

Thanks go to Florian Hardwig for identifying these typefaces over on Fonts in Use.

 

A Happy New Year, 1879.

 

Lee Halliburton, H. B. Smith,

 

P. S. Dinsmore, M. H. Beebe,

 

O. J. Hill.

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