Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters!
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters! (Detail Left…
Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters! (Detail Righ…
Before Eating Potato Chips / After Eating Potato C…
Theodore Roosevelt and the Roller Skate Craze
The Modern Farmer
Apples–How We Do Things at Fearnot, Pa.
Tales of Love
Advice to Vacationists–Take the Children with You
Please Send Home That Shirt You Borrowed
The Saucy Little Bird on Nellie's Hat
1er Avril
1er Avril Le port est payé d'un baiser
Je vous l'offre de bout cœur
Recevez mes vœux de Bonheur
Poissons d'Avril
1er Avril Devinez-qui?
A Carload of Strawberries
A Carload of Corn
Filene's Department Store, Lynn, Massachusetts
Easy Income Tax Calculations
Canoedling
We Are Having a Hot Time
See You Later, My Head's in an Alligator!
Decoration Day: The Story of the Flag
A Wingless Steed Will Take the Winner to a Fine Th…
Children's Mock Wedding, Perry County, Pa., 1920s
Bride and Groom, Children's Mock Wedding, Perry Co…
Three Guys in a Plane over Paris
Quit Your Lion
Fair Lady, I Send You This Beautiful Chromo with M…
Dear Miss, I Very Much Desire the Pleasure of Your…
Landing a Pike—How We Do Things at Harrisburg, Pa.
Comparison of the Fish in Two Tall-Tale Postcards…
This Man Used Le Page's Liquid Glue in the Wrong P…
Girls Pulling Themselves on a Wagon
Fuzzy Dog
Danger—Keep Away from Edge of Cliff
Halloween Chestnuts—Uncertainly, Hope, Despair, Ha…
What the Pig Thought of the Ghost on Halloween
Oh You Lobster!
Mr. Jack O. Lantern and His Trick-or-Treat Friends
Happy Surreal Halloween
A Study in Handbags
Santa Unmasked
Thanksgiving Nightmare
'Rah, 'Rah, 'Rah, Thanksgiving!!!
A Musical Blow-Out
G. C. Liesenberg, Photographic QSL Card, South Afr…
A Tasty Article from Concord, N.H.
Throwing Snowballs on the Normal School Campus
Throwing Snowballs on the Normal School Campus (Fu…
Throwing Snowballs on the Normal School Campus (Cl…
Come On, Tige!
Votes for Women Valentine—No Votes, No Hearts
Come and Join Me in a Bath, Heinz Pier, Atlantic…
Buzzer's Hot Air Club and Grand Order of Windjamme…
Grin and Bear It
Photobooth Portrait of Woman, Man, and Bear
Easter Bunny and Boy, 1956
A. B. Tack, Practical Paper Hanger and Decorator,…
I'm All Ears
How Is This for High?
Magic Ray Valentine
Queen of the Universe Valentine
A Valentine Game of Hearts
You're Out of This World, Valentine
Pete the Our Gang Dog, Steel Pier, Atlantic City,…
The Kids from Butler, Pa.
Comic Imp Card: I Am ________, Who the Devil Are Y…
A Star Wars Christmas (Full Version)
A Star Wars Christmas
Escort Card, 1880s
Turn the Card Around and I Hand You a Lemon
Skidoo 23 Is Now 37
I'm Sending You a Lemon for a Merry Christmas
Shivering at the North Pole, Santa's Village, Jeff…
Santa's Workshop, North Pole, New York
Here's Hoping Santa Won't Forget You
All My Christmas Dreams Came True
The Revolt of Turkey
Dennis and Little Francis at Thanksgiving
Squirrely Thanksgiving Greetings
Saved at Thanksgiving! Curfew Shall Not Toll This…
Father and Son with Alligators
Kozy and Komfortable Rooms for Tourists, Hollidays…
Girls' Night Out
Apples for Bobbing
Sonny, Bunny, and Dummy
Ho! For a Happy Halloween
This Must Mean 'tis Halloween!
May Your Halloween Be Weird and Witchy
We Are Having a Fine Time
Tents at Raise 'ell Camp, Cooks Mill, Pennsylvania
Eating Ice Cream at Raise 'ell Camp, Cooks Mill, P…
Raise 'ell Camp, Cooks Mill, Pennsylvania
Baby in a Crock
The Rabbits Aren't Really That Big
Andy's Pants
American Federation of Butters Membership Ticket
What Color Eyes Do You Like Best?
I'm Enjoying Myself Immensely
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Ticket (Back)
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad Ticket
Double Trouble
Pretty Bubbles in the Air
The Doll Goes Everywhere
He's My Little Soldier Boy
Shenanigans at Sloppy Joe's Bar, Havana, Cuba
Atlantic City Hot Wiener Lunch, Harrisburg, Pa.
Statue of Liberty, New York, N.Y., 1956
Stays Out Too Late
Clarence E., York, Pennsylvania
Greetings from New York World's Fair, 1939
I Am Uriah E. Heckert
The Great Know Nothing Song, I Don't Know, ca. 185…
Desbecker-Block Tailoring Co., Buffalo, N.Y.
Walter S. Welton, Boots and Shoes, New Haven, Conn…
Mother and Daughter Motorists, York, Pa.
Spofford Lake in the Future, New Hampshire
Looking through the Newspaper
Buster Brown Joker
Buster Brown and His Dog Tige
Babes on Bikes
Spring Is Here—and So Is Easter!
See also...
See more...Keywords
Authorizations, license
-
Visible by: Everyone -
All rights reserved
-
1 572 visits
Yum Yum A La Mode Acquaintance Card
A-La-Mode
Fair One: 'Tis balmy eve, and gentle zephyrs blow
With mildness seldom seen of late.
If you'll permit me, I would like to go
And see you safely to the garden gate.
Illustration: Yum Yum. Scene at the gate.
This is an example of a Victorian-era acquaintance card, which was also referred to in the nineteenth century as a flirtation, escort, or invitation card.
The Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), p 4, provides this definition: "A novelty variant of the American calling card of the 1870s and 1880s, the acquaintance card was used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female. Given also as an 'escort card' or 'invitation card,' the device commonly carried a brief message and a simple illustration.... Flirtatious and fun, the acquaintance card brought levity to what otherwise might have seemed a more formal proposal. A common means of introduction, it was never taken too seriously."
Here's CNN's take on acquaintance or escort cards: "So, may I see you home? In the late 19th century, Americans exchanged cheeky personalized cards to start a romance. Call them the ink-and-paper Tinder. Escort cards helped people find intimacy while breaking the strict conventions of social interaction."
That's the description of a video that appeared on CNN's Great Big Story today (February 12, 2016). The short piece (1:25) uses reproductions of my collection of acquaintance cards (see my complete set on Flickr or the ones I've posted on Ipernity so far) to present The 19th Century Tinder: Welcome to the Racy World of Escort Cards over on YouTube (don't miss my acknowledgement at the end of the video).
For those who may not be familiar with the sometimes naughty Tinder, Wikipedia calls it a "location-based dating and social discovery application (using Facebook) that facilitates communication between mutually interested users, allowing matched users to chat."
So, were acquaintance or escort cards--like the one above--the nineteenth-century equivalent of Tinder, as the video suggests? I don't really think that formally dressed Victorian men and women secretly gave each other cards in order to hook up like we see in the video. Although some of the cards may sound like cheesy pickup lines to modern ears, I think it's more likely that school kids and young adults used them to break the ice, get a laugh, or start a conversation rather than to arrange a tryst.
In reality, acquaintance cards provided a lighthearted and humorous way to parody the more formal exchange of calling cards that took place in Victorian times. Acquaintance cards were sold by the same companies that supplied calling cards, rewards of merit, and advertising trade cards, and they show up alongside these other printed items in the scrapbooks that were popular with women and children in the nineteenth century.
Back to the Yum Yum A La Mode card. Here's how it was advertised in the Argus and Patriot newspaper, Montpelier, Vermont, on September 18, 1878, p. 4. The following text appeared along with the "Yum Yum" illustration:
Boss. Red Hot.
If you want to smile all over your face for six months, just send for the Red Hot Flirtation Cards, 50 for 25 cts. Samples sent for 2 3-ct. stamps. Remember these cards are Red Hot Regular Tearers!! They cannot be beat. We stump everything of the kind. You will laugh till you cry if you send for them. P.O. stamps are better than silver to send in a letter, and are all the same to us. Write your orders plain. Address Marshall & Co., 35 Sudbury St., Boston, Mass.
So what do you think? Was this a "Red Hot Flirtation Card" that Victorians used as a paper-based Tinder?
For some other articles that have featured my acquaintance cards, take a look at these:
Linton Weeks. When "Flirtation Cards" Were All The Rage. NPR, July 31, 2015.
Becky Little. Saucy "Escort Cards" Were a Way to Flirt in the Victorian Era. National Geographic, January 4, 2016.
Brett and Kate McKay. May I See You Home? 19th Century Calling Cards Guaranteed to Score You a Date. The Art of Manliness, February 13, 2014.
Messy Nessy. The 19th Century Escort Cards with Pick-Up Lines You Definitely Haven’t Heard Before. Messy Nessy Chic, April 21, 2015.
Esther Inglis-Arkell. Young People Used These Absurd Little Cards to Get Laid in the 19th Century. Gizmodo, January 6, 2016.
Fair One: 'Tis balmy eve, and gentle zephyrs blow
With mildness seldom seen of late.
If you'll permit me, I would like to go
And see you safely to the garden gate.
Illustration: Yum Yum. Scene at the gate.
This is an example of a Victorian-era acquaintance card, which was also referred to in the nineteenth century as a flirtation, escort, or invitation card.
The Encyclopedia of Ephemera (New York: Routledge, 2000), p 4, provides this definition: "A novelty variant of the American calling card of the 1870s and 1880s, the acquaintance card was used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female. Given also as an 'escort card' or 'invitation card,' the device commonly carried a brief message and a simple illustration.... Flirtatious and fun, the acquaintance card brought levity to what otherwise might have seemed a more formal proposal. A common means of introduction, it was never taken too seriously."
Here's CNN's take on acquaintance or escort cards: "So, may I see you home? In the late 19th century, Americans exchanged cheeky personalized cards to start a romance. Call them the ink-and-paper Tinder. Escort cards helped people find intimacy while breaking the strict conventions of social interaction."
That's the description of a video that appeared on CNN's Great Big Story today (February 12, 2016). The short piece (1:25) uses reproductions of my collection of acquaintance cards (see my complete set on Flickr or the ones I've posted on Ipernity so far) to present The 19th Century Tinder: Welcome to the Racy World of Escort Cards over on YouTube (don't miss my acknowledgement at the end of the video).
For those who may not be familiar with the sometimes naughty Tinder, Wikipedia calls it a "location-based dating and social discovery application (using Facebook) that facilitates communication between mutually interested users, allowing matched users to chat."
So, were acquaintance or escort cards--like the one above--the nineteenth-century equivalent of Tinder, as the video suggests? I don't really think that formally dressed Victorian men and women secretly gave each other cards in order to hook up like we see in the video. Although some of the cards may sound like cheesy pickup lines to modern ears, I think it's more likely that school kids and young adults used them to break the ice, get a laugh, or start a conversation rather than to arrange a tryst.
In reality, acquaintance cards provided a lighthearted and humorous way to parody the more formal exchange of calling cards that took place in Victorian times. Acquaintance cards were sold by the same companies that supplied calling cards, rewards of merit, and advertising trade cards, and they show up alongside these other printed items in the scrapbooks that were popular with women and children in the nineteenth century.
Back to the Yum Yum A La Mode card. Here's how it was advertised in the Argus and Patriot newspaper, Montpelier, Vermont, on September 18, 1878, p. 4. The following text appeared along with the "Yum Yum" illustration:
Boss. Red Hot.
If you want to smile all over your face for six months, just send for the Red Hot Flirtation Cards, 50 for 25 cts. Samples sent for 2 3-ct. stamps. Remember these cards are Red Hot Regular Tearers!! They cannot be beat. We stump everything of the kind. You will laugh till you cry if you send for them. P.O. stamps are better than silver to send in a letter, and are all the same to us. Write your orders plain. Address Marshall & Co., 35 Sudbury St., Boston, Mass.
So what do you think? Was this a "Red Hot Flirtation Card" that Victorians used as a paper-based Tinder?
For some other articles that have featured my acquaintance cards, take a look at these:
Linton Weeks. When "Flirtation Cards" Were All The Rage. NPR, July 31, 2015.
Becky Little. Saucy "Escort Cards" Were a Way to Flirt in the Victorian Era. National Geographic, January 4, 2016.
Brett and Kate McKay. May I See You Home? 19th Century Calling Cards Guaranteed to Score You a Date. The Art of Manliness, February 13, 2014.
Messy Nessy. The 19th Century Escort Cards with Pick-Up Lines You Definitely Haven’t Heard Before. Messy Nessy Chic, April 21, 2015.
Esther Inglis-Arkell. Young People Used These Absurd Little Cards to Get Laid in the 19th Century. Gizmodo, January 6, 2016.
, , Smiley Derleth have particularly liked this photo
- Keyboard shortcuts:
Jump to top
RSS feed- Latest comments - Subscribe to the comment feeds of this photo
- ipernity © 2007-2024
- Help & Contact
|
Club news
|
About ipernity
|
History |
ipernity Club & Prices |
Guide of good conduct
Donate | Group guidelines | Privacy policy | Terms of use | Statutes | In memoria -
Facebook
Twitter
Historical & Architectural Gems
Sign-in to write a comment.