Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-29
THE CARD IS DEADLY.
DEAR DIANE WARNS THE NEEDLESS
The Proper Thing in Pastetoard-The Hours fer CaIling-PrOpretes of
 Day at Home.
BY DIANE DE MoRNY.

7
 The punishment inflicted upon the man or woman who attempts to be individual in the matter of visiting cards is immedi ate and lasting. Society exacts from it's members visiting cards rather large than small, engraved in fine script on un- glazed cardboard You will never be ac- cepted among fashionable people if you present your name 10 them printed or in German text Gcntlemen's visiting cards are smaller than ladies' and longer in proportion to their width and must have the prefix MT" and bear the full name. Your grocer or butcher may an nounce his presence by q card which reads U. $. Brown" but gentleman's card must be engraved MT James Simpson Brown" It will not even do to attempt MT J. Simpson Brown"
 Women also must strictly adhere to the rules which govern visiting cards not shade of license will be accepted. There is but one form for married la dies, Mrs. James Simpson Brown"
 Young ladies' names are engraved on their mothers cards thus:
 Mrs. James Simpson Brown.
 Miss Brown.
 or if there are two daughters in society
 Mrs. James Simpson Brown.
 The Misses Brown.
 The address is always placed at the
 
 reception day on the lower left hand cor ner. Unmarried men may have their club, if it be an extremely fashionable one engraved at the right hand corner of their cards in place of a home address; never a political or second rate club. Married men do not have their names en- gI-avcd on the same cards with their wives except for wedding cards or for sending wedding presents.
 Legally a widow has no right to con sod ht tanra fl' 'S name. MT. James Simpson Brown hay ing died, his widow, who was born El1Z- abeth Jones, becomes Mrs. Elizabeth Jones Brown and should have her visit ing cards so engraved.
 But one woman of the Brown family has the right to call herself Mrs. Brown, and she must emphatcally be the wife of the eldest MT. Brown. Many of my readers will recolect the feud which di- vided Newport some years ago by Mrs William Astor issuing cards on which Mrs Astor' was engraved, while there still was and is an older Mrs. Astor of the same family.
 Unmarried ladies, no longer deDutantes or in their first or second seasons are permitted to have their individual cards with Miss Brown" engraved upon them, but only one young lady in family may do this that Is to say if MT. James Simp- son Brown and his brother MT. George Burd Brown each have family or girls but one and she the eldest of the cousins, is entitled to the privilege of the sepa- rate card with Miss Brown" engraved thereon. No young lady should ever, even though she be the Miss Brown of the family. leave her card without that of her mother or chaperonc.
 Cards by Post.
 Do not allow any one to inveigle you into "P. C. C." on your card. "P. r. C" is the abbreviation of Pour prendre congo or Ito take leave,' but inasmuch as most of us speak English quite as well as French. it is far more elegant to substitute 'on leaving Chicago or 'on taking leave" On certain occasions It Is quite proper to send cards by post; for example cards just referred to which announce a departure, also where one Is unexpectedly prevented from attending m afternoon tea or reception, cards may be sent by mall and the sender is not obliged to pay visit immediately after ward. It is understood that In attend ing a kettle-drum reception or any after noon function, one pays ones ceremon- ious visit in so doing, and card sent by post is accepted in lieu of call The afternoon tea is a saving grace to many a hard worked society individual for this ason.
 Leave taking cards are not sent ex- ccpt when one is going far away for lengthy stay or when one goes from summer resort or watering place where uSudlly pIG IldS from other cities.
 A Mans Duty.
 It is now expected that every gentle man. old or young, who finds time to ac- cept a ladys invitation and partakes of her hospitality, will find time 10 call per sonally upon his hostess and he must not neglect to call within the prescribed week. The afternoon Is the accepted lime for these ceremonious visits, and the man who is too busy to acquit himself of his duty will soon find his leisure hours rapidly accommodating, for no woman of breeding will ever ask man the second time to her house who Is so grossly un- civil. It is no longer good form for the mothers wives and sisters to leave their male relatives cards with their own. saw a well-known woman receive two ladies with perfect courtesy one after noon and after they had left, finding they had deposited the cards of the three gen tlemen of their family with the footman, I also heard this same lady with entire nonchalance pass the cards of the deiln- quents to her daughter. saying, My dear, will you just run a line through these dhree names on my invitation book" and that ended the social recognition of the three indolent gentlemen of New York by one of the leaders of the 400.
 Strict Etiquette.
 A we'll known authority says Nothing