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| Mark D. Ruffner |
The Victorians enjoyed colorful calling cards! If you visit my page on
Trade Cards and the Emergence of Corporate Identity (on the side bar, or
here), you'll see that the Victorians delighted in the new process of chromolithography.
Generic lithographed images — with spaces left blank for overprinting — were used for everything from ads to school rewards. The following five calling cards from my ephemera collection fall into that category.
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
The image of this last card is highly embossed.
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
Some Victorian calling cards had patterned backgrounds, like the four following ones. I think of the one directly below as being a Gothic pattern, though I think it's actually supposed to be lace.
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
One of the things that makes these patterned calling cards appealing is that the pattern is repeated on the back side.
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
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| Mark D. Ruffner |
My favorite Victorian calling card (and a favorite of the entire ephemera collection) is Joshua B. Gayman's hand stenciled card.
Most of these cards are the size of a modern business card. Joshua's is a little smaller, approximately 2¾" x 1½".
The stencil Joshua Gayman used would have been a paper-thin piece of copper — like the one below — and it's easy to imagine that he used it on many items besides calling cards.
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| mamaisonfrancaise | etsy |
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Hello Mark, What a great variety there is in Victorian name cards. I love the ones with hands on them, sometimes holding a bouquet that can be lifted to reveal a sentiment underneath. Many surviving name cards seem to be printers' samples, sometimes even still mounted together on a page with model numbers, etc.
ReplyDeleteI really like the rabbit one you show here, and that stenciled one must be unique. I also notice that Emma was considerate enough to include a snippet of Greek key.
--Jim
Hello, Jim,
DeleteI have been fortunate to have collected a number of printers' samples, and I'll do a posting on them before long. I too like those cards with the die-cut hands and bouquets, which I think of as Valentine cousins.
As I re-examine Emma Butterfield's card (with that nice Greek key), it occurs to me that with its portrait of Liberty or Columbia, it probably dates to the 1876 Centennial.
The Gayman card is quite rare; I haven't seen another stenciled calling card in my rounds. Incidentally, the rarest piece of ephemera I collected was a ticket to a magic lantern slide show, which I gifted to another collector.
Oh cool -love the last one! Make your own cards -for the penny pinching Victorian -haha.
ReplyDeleteHi, Stefan,
DeleteThe last one is especially cool, particularly to an ephemera collector. Actually, I've been thinking that I'm ready for my own stencil, maybe a monogram . . .
Hello Mark - with these Victorian calling cards the more you look the more you see. The dog on Bessie's card, although wearing a pretty pink bow, doesn't look very enamoured with the company of the boy,
ReplyDeleteMy favourite is the first, the rabbits munching carrots and cabbages reminds me of the illustrations of Beatrix Potter.
Hello, Rosemary,
DeleteAs I look at these cards and the other illustrations in the course of my collecting, I'm constantly aware of a 19th-century perspective that was unencumbered of marketing agencies, design committees and things politically correct. For example, Emma Butterfield's card marries butterflies with Lady Liberty, something we'd never see today.
Dear Mark, I'm especially enamored with the background of all of your calling cards.
DeleteI remember having to have business cards printed which first needed an engraved plate. Now the sky is the limit with quality card stock and a good home printer.
Dear Gina,
DeleteI remember those plates, and I still have a few of my parents' engraved calling cards. They (and others) actually called on my father's boss on New Year's Day and would leave a card in the tray that was provided in the entrance hallway.
I love the whole idea of calling cards, Mark.And these are wonderful examples. So charming, so resonant of a more gentle way of life. In today's world we seem to have forgotten how soothing charm can be in day to day life.
ReplyDeleteHello, Yvette,
DeleteDid you know that there was a language of calling cards? One made a comment on the circumstances of the visit depending on which corner of the card was folded over.
I love Emma C. Butterfield's card both for her wonderful time-gone-by name and the design that reminds me of Aesthetic Movement transferware china.
ReplyDeleteIn the town where I grew up, we made cards (similar to your latter examples) to pass out when we graduated high school. No, it wasn't the Victorian Era but I wonder if it's a tradition that's been going on for that long. I was recently reminded of them when I open my Moosewood Cookbook and found one glued inside.
Hi, Steve,
DeleteWhat a great story. As an Army brat, I ended up going to three high schools (!), and even so, I fondly remember the one from which I graduated. It was named after a WWII naval hero, so all the traditions related to the Navy. In those days Army-Navy surplus stores were popular places for one to supplement mod attire, and my friends and I bought the old-style Navy hats — like Donald Duck used to wear.
The S. Ella Baker card does have a rather pretty toile de Jouy pattern which I like, especially as it's on both sides. Too girly for a Master Baker(!), but quite suited to Mistress Baker.
ReplyDeleteHello, Columnist,
DeleteI highlighted the back of the Baker card thinking that it might have some design applications in the future. The font is pretty remarkable, too!
Oh my! One day I will come to rummage through all your wonderful paper memorabilia. I miss this part of civility that has been lost due to the electronic age...(and it is the electronic age that allowed me to meet you...double edged sword) I did not know about the folding of the corners having different meanings. My favorite card, of course is the Ella Baker with all of the pavilions. Wonderful post, as usual.
ReplyDeleteDear Theresa,
DeleteYes, as you rummage through paper at antique stores (I always do!), you occasionally find calling cards that are missing a corner.
I have a love/hate relationship with the electronic age. iPhones in particular seem to wisk people away from the Here-and-Now, which has a certain irony, don't you think? On the other hand, I use my computer extensively in painting projects — reference work, refining designs, sizing images — so as you say, it's a double-edged sword.
Thanks as always for your comment — I know you've been busy with projects!