Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-04-21
ETIQUETTE OF VISITING CARDS.

Those OF the Variety So Profusely Used In
Fashionable Life.
Provincial folks or the uninitiated find no
phase of fashionable social life in big city
80 sadly perplexing the strict and
elaborate card etiquette at present OBJ
served. Very great stress is laid upon the
receiving and distributing of these bits of
pasteboard and reflections from rules laid
down are regarded as proof Of unpardona-
BILE ignorance.
Two inexcusabie but very common af-
fronts to form is for a man to have his
name engraved simply John Jones'" Mr.
should invariably precede it. The other
blunder is for young woman to forego the
Miss. 1t has bold, crude look to be set
down as Mary or Nancy without the cour-
tesy's prefix. A third stupid mistake often
made is for a girl to have card separate
from her mothers. AS long as Mary and
Nancy are really youthful they should only
appear under their mammals wings on the
same square of pasteboard, a trife lower
down. If there are several sisters, then the
older ones gradually graduate to having
cards of their own, and the younger girls
appear with mammals. So strictly is this
rule observed by we'll informed persons
that if two of the daughters are in society
and two more are to be introduced as
debutantes the cards go out, Mrs. jones'"
below, Misses jones'" and still lower
GOWN Misses SIerdlulne anu kAnlcChySO
Jones" If under the chaperonage OF
married woman, all the foregoing rules are
carefully observed by young women.
When leaving a neighborhood for an ex-
tended absence, p. p. c. IS are in order, and
upon returning this simple visiting card is
Immediately posted. After woman has
met a man once or twice, it is customary
to signify her willingness to have him call
by sending her card. This is also done
when she visits strange city and happens
to court acquaintance there of either sex.
Upon returning home in the autumn, after
moving into a new house, in moments OF
rapture and in depths of despair the per
sonal card is ever to the fore.
Those used by matrons are always slight
" larger and thicker than the ones affected
by maids but all alike are written in de-
cidedly heavier lines than of old. Script of
every description is bad form, and only the
delicate copper plate can be tolerated by
smart people. The old fashioned habit OF
bending a card through the center, or creas-
ing its corners to signify for whom and how
many a call was intended, is wretchedly
bad style today. 1t is supposed that visit
ors are superior to such small economies
and are willing to honor each individual
separately. A pretty and rapidly increas-
ing custom is for those with a wide ac-
quaintance to send especially designed cards
for Christmas. For example, Mr.. and Mrs.
Jones send Christmas greetings. 1892, to
-" and engraved as the ordinary carte de
visite, and then the name of Mr.. and Mrs
Brown OF Robinson is written below.
Men who observe the graceful ceremonies
of society are as fastidious as women con-
corning a correct use of the card. Bach
elors very frequently have their favorite
club address in the lower left hand corner
as a residence or preferring it for mail
center. After receiving any special courte-
1 - -,
| strange city, men always post card upon
| leaving the place. There is one exception
| in the form, when calling upon lady, for
a man to send in his card in advance Of his
entrance. If it happens to be her day at
home or a reception, he is simply an
nounced and on leaving the house deposits
| cards for the entire family with the butler.
New York Sun.