Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-09-08
Visiting Cards.

From the New York Home Journal
1t Is not easy to determine with precision where
and when visiting and invitation cards originated
In Europe. In reality they were not so much
matter OF invention as Of evolution. The frst
person who utilized the white back OF playing
card to write his name on when he failed to IND
his friend at home. to leave message or invita-
tion ior him, would, were he known be entitled TO
the title OF Inventor" we know that In England
fnese Sasas nan their origin IN the way INDICATED
that In examining a lot Of old papers he came across
number Of such cards dated I752-l76<. many Of
plates on the backs Of Old playing cards ards '''
been cut. and those Of the fsri 1pd Countess q
trey Of clubs and OF the queen Of diamonds re-
speotively The Invitations 70 card partieA printed
from copper plates were large enough to cover the
o6 e. back an Of ss scs
hearts. ana the Lady Northumberland's on the
s PACK q the ten Of spades and ten Of hearts AZ
"Wlthou1 hoops II agreeable" It is presumed the
huge hoops OF those days impeded access TO the
invitation cards. especially in connection with
card parties, had become established in London
IN the nrst half OF the eighteenth century. Pre-
be sent verbally through servants, The writing
takes as well as from an appreciation 81 the sym
Cardboard proper. as we know it, had not yet
been invented. The custom was found conyen-
lent and SO was extended TO calling cards and be-
house In Dean street. Solo, the residence OF either
Hogarth Q69S-1764) or his father-in-law was in
course OF repair On removing marble chimney
piece IN the 'front.' drawfng.roOm four or fve play
ing cafoS were found, on the back OF which names
were wrltten-one that OF Sir Isaac Newton (bOrn
i642). IL has been cOnJectured these were visit
ing caris, out 1t is really doubtful whether the
philosopher would have employed such. Might
tney not have been produced by the artist as stud
Ne oT ss art In , Of his
on the floor In the right-hand corner Of the pic
lure. On one, the painter, with his wonted caus-
sns
iously misspelled polite inquiry: count Basset
begs to no how Lade Squander seapt last mite"
lshed in Bath in 1766-the scenes being LAID in
that city In the time OF Beau Nash, who died in
1904 preacher Is called to account because,
while ne is continually inveighing against gaming,
ne has in his pocket pack OF s0led cards ready
ior MS engagements or pleasures. A note says:
"a set OF blank cards has since been invented by
This note seems to date the substitution OF visit
ing cards proper for inscribed playing cards. Nor
%e oyerSe the n XII
sented to Lucky Dodds the NTH part or an ordi-
nary playing card, much grimed with snuff, which
bore on the blank side his name and quality. -
whether Ben. JohnsOn's expression, 'Y0u shall
cartel him." points to earlier use or these cards
in affairs OF honor we do not take it on ourselves
The above may serve to Indicate the origin and
development or visiting cards in England. In this
case London seems TO have shown the way to
Paris for there visiting en- blanc (paying visits by
cards in place OF in person. did not take root till
ITO. In Venice on the contrary, visiting cards
were used in the latter part Of the sixteenth
fury, and there 1t was the fashion to ornament
them with engravings Of a high order, the most
distinguished artists not diSdaininG to design and
execute their embellishments collection of
such cards Is preserved in the museum at Venice,
pictures OF some OF which may be seen In the
Magazine OF Art, 1884, page 275. The fashion OF
having illustrated cards became widespread, and
the eighteenth century. That OF Canova repre-
sented block OF marble rough hewn from the
Quarry drawn In perspective, with his name In
scribed In large Roman capitals.
On the cards OF Miss Berry and her sister-ladies
well-known In London sOciety-were two nymphs
in classic drapery pointing TO a weed-grown slab,
like a tombstone, bearing the engraving "Miss
Berry," One nymph leads q lamb (agnus) to typi-
fly "Agnes Berry," 'In the eighteenth century, "
says an authority, ION the continent visiting
cards were a matter of taste and art. The society
OF Vienna, Dresden and Berlin piQued itself upon
delicacy Of TASTE and, instead OF an insipid card
with the name and quality OF the visitor inscribed
vignettes, some Of which are models OF compost
ton and engraving. The greatest artists, Cassa-
nova, Fischer and Baritsch, did not disdain to
please fashionable people by designing the pretty
things that Raphael Mengs engraved.
In visiting cards, as In so many other things
back as the period OF the Tong dynasty (6l8-eOO
such cards were In common use in the "Flowery
Land" From the earliest times the Chinese have
observed the stricteSt ceremony in the regard to
the paying OF visits the cards they being very
large and OF q red color.