Hands

For a similar postcard, see And May You Get the Glad Hand Everywhere .

For a similar postcard, see I Hope You Get the Glad Hand Always .

Big hands, small woman, and general peculiarity for the Weird Vintage Postcards group.

"In memories oft' I close my lids, pleading that you be good and let me hold your kids."

"First Pick. O. L. Schwencke, lith., N.Y." A cigar box label printed by O. L. Schwencke. Notice how a box featuring this label appears within the design of the label itself. This recursive picture-within-a-picture is called the Droste effect , which is named after the Droste cacao tin that featured an illustration of a nun holding the tin.

"With my compliments." Why would someone be giving away lemons "with my compliments"? It helps to know that handing someone a lemon in the early twentieth century when this postcard appeared was actually a way to say "scram," "beat it," or in the parlance of the day, "skidoo" or "23 skidoo." For more information about "23 skidoo" and how it related to lemons, see Skidoo 23 Is Now 37 :

"Pocket Chess and Checkers. Always handy and a boon when traveling. Made in Hong Kong."

"Margreta Larsson, Våmhus." A calling card that I purchased along with some Swedish-language religious cards. Margreta Larsson was presumably from Våmhus , Dalarna County, Sweden (Sverige).

"Friendship's tie. Love sincere."

"For a ladies fine, stylish & durable shoe, always buy those made by Reed & Weaver, Rochester, N.Y." An example of a "stock" Victorian-era trade card with a generic design--a woman's hand holding blue forget-me-not flowers--that allowed it to be overprinted with advertisements for different businesses. Stock cards usually weren't used to illustrate products but rather as a way to entice customers and their children with bright and colorful designs that they'd want to take home and add to their scrapbooks. In this case, the same card was used for Reed and Weaver shoes in Rochester, N.Y. (above), photographer J. N. Choate of Carlisle, Pa. (below left), and Pallister Brothers' Candies of Ottumwa, Iowa (below right). A stock card like this might also have been used for calling cards, greeting cards, and rewards of merit. This second Pallister Brothers' Candies (below) illustrates the way in which stock cards were often printed in series. Instead of a hand holding forget-me-nots, this variation shows a hand holding a lily, and it's likely that the series included additional designs with other flowers.

See also another Eat Pallister Bros' Candies trade card.

John N. Choate was "the principal photographer for the [Carlisle Indian School in Carlisle, Pa.] from its opening in 1879 until his death in 1902." For more information, see Laura Turner, "John Nicholas Choate and the Production of Photography at the Carlisle Indian School," in Visualizing a Mission: Artifacts and Imagery of the Carlisle Indian School, 1879-1918 , exhibit catalog (Carlisle, Pa.: Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, 2004), pp. 14-18.

See also another Eat Pallister Bros' Candies trade card.

"To the keeper of my heart. Price net to agents, twenty for 15 cts. Agents charge 25 cents."

"Imported Hand. C. C. Liechty." A sample Victorian-era calling card used to advertise this "Imported Hand" design.

"Mitchell's Carpet Cleaning House, 21st & Race Sts. Carpets stored."

A vintage business card for "Dr. J. C. Brobst, druggist, Broad St., Liti[t]z , Penn."

"Jennie R. Baker. My card and my compliments. Please give yours in exchange."