The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-03-20
Stacking Up Calling Cards.

SOclety, says Chicago paper, will offer
up little prayer, the financial head of every
family will smile. and the engraving estab-
ishments throughout the country will weep
over the glad tidings which come from the
far East that the vicious and inexcusable
practice Of dropping stack of calling cards
into the little plate in the hail.. every time
you make call. will soon be rated among
the foolish fads of the past. Washington
city society has already given it up. New
York is gradually doing So and it will be in
order for the other cities to- follow suit
Society comedies that there should he no
hesitancy about doing it, for the sooner the
TAD is only memory of other DAYS. the
better it will be for society and the unfor-
tunate faddists who for something better
to do introduced it. There was never any
excuse for the creation of the thing. Com
mon sense was not it's foundation. Even
society people who obeyed the unwritten
decree which came from the East always
laughed at it. They thought it a joke.
when, at the close of their afternoons at
home, they went into the hall and were
greeted by the tired little card plate which
has been compelled to do work which
should have been performed by good
sized meat platter. In the face of this these
same society people turned out the next
day, and every time they made call from
three to six Of their cards found their way
into the card pfate.1s-svsy ft~f7s,ss.s "a
Now that the fad is1to be brought to an
end, Eastern society writer's point out how
absurd it has BEEN A story which shows
the ludicrous side of the thing%-it is ques-
tionable If there is any other side-comes
from Washington city. Two society fam
lilies there exchange calls. There are ten
young ladies in each family. Every time
they called they left one hundred cards,
and they were so much in love with one an
other that they "calIed often In a few
weeks each family had one thousand of the
other family's cards. One day all the cards
disappeared much to the chagrin of the
heads of both families. Later it came out
that young members of the two families
got together discussed the absurdity of the
thlng and returned to each other the family
cards.
Why" said one Eastern society girl,
we always thought the fad absurd, but we
IooIlShly kept on doing 1t. We spent most
or our money for cards, and the engraving
establishments always wrote us that they
were behind in their orders. l had a small
card case that would hold enough cards
Tor any ordinary emergency, but when the
new fad came in | put it away and invest
ed 1t in large, clumsy-looking thing to
take its place, have heard hundreds of
people laugh at the absurdity of the prac-
uce and ! know that many who have not
a reputation for being generous. always
regretted it when they were compelled to
make call on large family. 1t took too
many cards. l know of one woman who
called on my mother once a week before
the fad came in. She was very stingy.
After il was introduced she called but once
a month. She couldn't spare the cards L
was glad of it and that, by the way, was
the only redeeming feature that !. ever no
ticed in the obnoxious fad. But 1 don't
blame the woman. l am LIBERAL but l al
ways sighed when ! gave up four or five
cards. One does not object to loaning a
deck of cards, but they dislike to give
away"
And what the Eastern society girl said
is true, One could write on forever about
the evils of the fad. but even vicious things
are entitled to little consideration when
they are to cease to exist. Hereafter leave
but one card when you make a. call and
try to forget what you were wont to do in
other DAYS