Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1915-12-30
The New Years Gard
How II Began and the Many
Processes II Went Through.

sWhat an ordinary, uninteresting item
In oarssocfal life Is the modern visiting
card!3 But this was not always SO.
though 1t has barely been in existence
$50 years. 1t owed it's rrs- n to the
custom of writing the name or some
times a message on the back of a play
ing card. says a writer in the Wash
ington Post. Occasionally one par
ticular card was chosen with intent,
and the duchess Of Dorset received an
apt epigram in return for one she sent
to a well known clergyman. The
verses end as follows: "You sent me
ten hearts. the tithes only mine. So
give me one heart and burn t'other
nine"
Toward the end of the last century
the visiting cards of the upper classes
were yeritable works of art, n by
their means many most interesting
types of engraving survive. They were
~ofs9varylng size, but the majority not
larger than about two and a half inches
by two inches. while today those used
by gentlemen are two inches by one
n a half inches and by ladies four
inches by two and a half inches. There
were many square ones used about
1850 to 1890. One belonging to an Eng
fish society leader of a century ago
dates from HOLE street, Cavendish
square, a spot associated with Lord
Byron. Her husbands card Is smaller
end has a sketch of the family home in
i,ne corner. which still remains in the
possessfon of their collateral descend
ants. The notion Is so good it deserves
Ito be followed, for 1t woul certainly
add to the interest of the cards We
lleave to each other IL they bore the
lsemblance of u friends homes as
!Well as their names.
Another example shows thai history
repeats itself, for, although issued in
the eighteenth century. the lady was
home on Monday" as many mod
fish danes are now. Visiting en- blanc,
las 1t was called-viz., by leaving a card
was q novelty then, n on many
written. showing that they had been
left n not sent by a servant.
These are the simpler class of cards.
A vast number of others in use at this
time show the ruling powers in deco
ration. Hundreds Of the decorative
designs bear the m Of contem-
iporary duchess, or. rather, according
TO the ancient spelling. "dutchesse'-
st. Adams. Bolton and Grafton among
the number. The latter, according to.
Horace Walpole. saved her life by
playing loo when In Rome, instead Of
going to a party at a palace where the
roof fell in.
!; Many OF the tickets" as visiting
cards were called in those days. were
engraved with architectural buildings
In Rome, Berlin and elsewhere. and
long IN fashion. They were sold in
packets. The anne were frequently
written upon them, m ever when
they We're printed 1t was rare h a one
particular pattern was kept for any
special person. The head Of a well
known Warwickshire family during a
visit to Rome in 1888 kept, and has
handed down, those left by his ac-
luaintance. On these figure the arch
of Titus, st. Peters. the castle of st.
Angelo and many other lions of Rome.
Not few Of the visiting cards Of
this period recall nothing so much as
the funeral monuments Of those days.
Sometimes the names appear on well
engraved vases. sometimes on CHM
ney pieces. Some are square, with
supporting columns, scrolls and cur
talns: some display %festoons Of flow
ers and a variety OF animals.
The cognomens of naval officers
emerge from the midst of spikes,
chOrs, ropes, flags and other naval in
signia, while military officers appear
surrounded by helmets, cannon, tents
and soldiers. Artists figure amid pal
cites. brushes and other adtuncts of
AtkACIIA Oh ~ n itlOoAky accompanies Wy q
graceful female form, and every kind
of musical instrument has been called
Into play-lyres, harps, trumpets and
harpsichords-for musicians. Birds Of
many kinds hold scrolls bearing the
names in their books, ar they are
written ON their breasts or outstretched
wings. Animals often play a double
part. The name of Hare, for example,
IL represented as q rebus by that little
animal running at full speed, while a
goat figured on the fashionable designs
OF 1875. Archery, agriculture and sport
generally left their impress on the Wis
itlng card.
About 1916 pure white cards with en-
lbossed borders inc large embossed let
.terings were the prevalent mode. His
tory again repeats itself-the daugh-
tiers name appeared then with her
mothers. as 1t does now. How man.
iof the titles then .extant have died out!
lit very often happened that the lady's
cards and the gentleman's were of the
same size, but not always.
For her ticket" the Duchess of Leeds
I'm I7643 favored a very pretty engraving
lot Chinese figure looking over a low
doorway, with IN Anglicized pagoda at
the side. On another card bearing a
famous lords name figures a powerful