The Osceola times., 1881-06-11
THE COLLECTORS OF CARDS.
IL Epidemic ihst Spares Neither Old Nu
young. H"hstc Mr. simple.
NeW York suu

1t seems TO have first broken ont in
Boston," said scrap book and albnm
manufacturer, speaking to a reporter of
the Sun about the card collecting mania
AT least, 1t was from that city that the
great increase in the demand for books
first came. New York soon followed; il
has broken out with great violence in
Philadelphia, and is moving westward
like the cpiZooty. 1t does not vet seem
TO have penetrated the South 10 any
extent, but it looks as if 1t would sweep
the country. Our house manufactures
200 different styles of card albums, and
turns out thousand a day. We are
behind our orders, and yet we are only
one house among a dozen here in the
business"
The books manufactured by this house
for the use of card collectors range in
price from rs cents to $40 apiece, and in
quality from common cardboard backs
70 full morocco, with pages Of fine card
board on which TO mount the cards. All
sorts Of designs embellish the covers
japanese, arabesque, Eastlake, and non,
descrlpt. On some, silver paroquets sit
on gold boughs; some display red palms,
blue flowers and birds Of gorgeous plum.
age sailing IN golden skies; some dis
play groupings Of cards in various colors;
but the most expensive and durable are
in plain morocco and gilt.
I'VE always have had mora or less APP
pjcalions for our cards" said q member
of a firm that uses large variety OF
picture cards for advertising purposes,
"but they used to come mostly from
school children, and Saturday was the
day for the Chidren's visits. But during
the last Fix months card collecting seems
to have become a fashionable pursuit
with all classes Of people. ] understand
that one Of the finest collections in the
city has been made by tie wife of one
u the vice presidents of the Erie rail
road. Another fine collection has been
made by the wife of leading officer OF
the New York Central road. One of the
finest collections | have ever seen was
made by an uptown doctor. At
first We used to give the cards
freely TO callers, but the pressure
became so great that we had to
stop the practice. Now we make collec.
tions of cards which we sell for postage
stamps from three cents upward. We
pay as much as 800 thousand for some
iino large oleographs, which are in de.
mand as centres for album pages.
When a person comes in for cards, We
simply hand him a circular giving our
terms and stating that we can attend to
applications received by mail only. We
still receive many Office applications,
but the bulk now come by mail. During
the past year we have sent out about
$1,000 worth Of cards. There has been
small profit to us on them, while at the
same time they bear our advertisements.
We buy our cards in,so large quantities
that we can dispose of them to collectors
ut a small profit to ourselves, and yet
supply them cheaply."
Every mail brings many letters, en-
closing stamps, to this house. Most
come from New York, Boston and
Philadelphia, but some flom as FIR west
as Chicago and as far south as Charleston.
The firm have cards put up III collections
ranging from three cents TO 500 a set.
Some ihw shops put up notice ol
SNO cards given away, in order to keep
of collectors, but most of them are
making use of the mania for advertising
purposes, and give away cards to draw
trade. The cards of invitation issued
by many uptown retail stores for their
Openings" this spring were beautifully
Illuminated. A millinery house got up
beautiful card in the Shape of two
birds Of gorgeous plumage, whose wings
when opened displayed pictures of the
latest styles in bonnets. Drug stores
receive innumerable applications, but
hese are mostly from children.
Seekers for the beautiful in art cards
have learned that really fine cards are
not 10 be procured hy the mere asking,
A sori o. reciprocity system has sprung
up among houses which get on fine
cards. In order to give variety to the
collections whicn they send out they
make exchanges Of cards among them
selves, each house thus getting the adj
vantage of the connections of the others
in sending out advertisements. Care is
taken not 10 distigure the cards in prnt-
ing advertisements upon them.
Great taste is displayed in the making
of fine collections. In mounting cards
on an album page a large, fine card must
be had for a center, and small cards
are arranged around on the borders.
Pains are taken to mount the cards
so that they will harmonize in color and
design, and be symmetrical in their ar
mngement on the page. Collectors be-
come very expert in judging Of the quail.
ity of carls, aud can promptly tell
whether a card is German or French, or
whether it is an American imitation;
how many impressions OF color it has
received, and what quality Of coors has
been used. Some OF the best collections
have as genuine an artistic value IN their
display of the varities and eTcellencies
Of color priting as collections of prints
have in their exhibition Of the graver's
art. While dealers do not expect the
present mania to last, they say that 1t
has done great good by stimulating de.
signers and color printers to do their
hJs st work, and by creating a demand
for fine art cards that will be epermanent.
The clerks at the postofiice say that
last year not over 5000 Easter cards
passed through the mails; this year there
were 10000.
"rm all Played Out"
int I aFl 80