The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1919-12-31
CALLS FEATURED
OLD new YEARS
Young Men "DolIed Up" and Went to
Cal on the Bellies Of the Town
and Partake Of Hospi-
taiity.
CALLING CARDS, TOO
These Were Printed With a View to
DeIiehting the Eye Of the Fair
VI Maidens and Cost Piles
Of Money.
CALLING CARDS, TOO

A It's New Years eve again, but
times have changed since grandma
WAS GIRL" and even further back
than that in more ways than one,
land perhaps one of the most charm
ling OF the old customs was the habit
LOT the New Years calls when the
handsome young men in this city as
well as in other places. would spend
the afternoon in making calls upon
the fair ladies Of Keokuk
1t was grand and glorious event
of those days, the visits to the homes
of gracious maidens who eagerly
waited the coming of the handsome
young beaux! why, we used to
have the time of our lives at those
open house affairs and we looked
forward TO them all year." one of the
\ gallants of that day remarked today
when he was notwithstanding little.
IF the twentieth century young men
wonder why those calls were SO at
tractive, tell them to ask some Of us
who know Pretty girls and ladies,
lots of entertainment and Covering
his voice a trifle) real egg nog and
Tom and Jerrys" AT this point the
chap of 1919 begins to wake UP and
understand a few of the things he
had been listening to.
I "And my, how us young fellows
did make preparations for this event.
We'd get ourselves all dolled UP in
our very best toggins, and they were
some toggins, too; have special call
| ing cards printed for the occasion,
ihire a carriage and then proceed.
Often times several of the ladies
| would receive their guests at one
/ house, and it was only natural that
we'd hit the houses first and stay
| longest where the prettiest girls
were" Here he chuckled, then con-
tinued, land sometimes we'd get
some place where we were having
an especially fine time, and we would
not get any further. 1t was to our
advantage though, to make as many
calls as possible for they served re-
freshments and drinks at all of the
homes and we liked to try them all
The boys used to boast how many
meals they could manage to get in in
one afternoon.
Boat and Oxen for Carriages.
One amusing incident was recalled
this afternoon by one Of the callers"
He said that one New Years 1t hap
|pened to be very slushy and the old
streets, in the days before they were
paved, were hardly appropriate for
fine carriages, so bunch of the In
genious beaux hitched a pair of oxen
to a fat boat and gloriously did their
'honors in this way. Evidently, moth
ing daunted their chivalrous spirits
when it came to New Years calls.
According to the reports from all
xl,o ir1fn h.
ject. the cards which the men pre-
scented at the homes were among the
most important requisites Of the
entire day. They appear to have
been quite elaborate, and always de-
signed particularly for these occa-
sions. They bore the New Years
greetings, and the name of the man
on them The expensive ones are
said to have cost one dollar piece,
and people lecture on the extrava-
gance Of the youth of today. One
kind of cards which appealed to the
ladies were made out of silk ribbon
with the inscriptions printed upon
them These were popular because
the fair sex could pin them onto their
dresses.
The Older Ones, Too.
"But it wasn't only the young men
who called" one lady said as she sat
beside her husband when he related !
his New Years of bygone days, ''the |
older men came, too, and we felt |
even more honored TO receive them !
than we did the young ones" she
continued, because that was the |
only time in the year that they did |
such things"
A story in an old Daily Gate City |
on these same New Years calls, pre-
scribes some rules of etiquette for
the young men to observe upon this !
special day when they go about in /
society One of the first ones is !
this: Never decline an invitation to
Another rule reads: |
Gentlemen wearing No. II boots will !,
take them off in the hall as the par
lors will be crowded and callers must |
have some place to stand; Also
gentlemen making tho torr of tho |