Alan Mays' photos

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.

An Art Deco mechanical valentine (moving the arm causes the eyes to move back and forth) from the 1930s. This reminds me of Slim Pickens riding the bomb down to the ground at the end of Dr. Strangelove . "Queen of the Universe" We seem so far apart-- Please aim your trusty rocket Directly for my heart! See also Magic Ray Valentine :

An Art Deco mechanical valentine (moving the cape causes the arms to move up and down) from the 1930s. Sort of scary--hope she was able to escape! You built a wall So fast and strong, But with my magic ray It won't last long!

An at the wedding (but not the bride or groom) photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. Printed on the back of this photo: "Kodacolor Print, Sept. 68" (at least I think it's 1968--the date is a little smudged).

"King of Rex, receiving the key of the city at City Hall." Postcards showing floats with Rex , the "King of Carnival," and a dragon (see above and below) during Mardi Gras parades held on Shrove Tuesday in New Orleans.

"Rex Parade, Mardi Gras, New Orleans, La." A postcard showing floats from the Rex parade , which is held each year as part of the Mardi Gras celebration on Shrove Tuesday in New Orleans. That's Rex, the King of Carnival, along with the Queen of Carnival, on the first float.

"A dragon float, Mardi Gras Parade, New Orleans, La." A dragon-themed float from one of the Mardi Gras parades held each year on Shrove Tuesday in New Orleans.

A grumpy photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park. None of the Grumpuses are happy, not even the dog!

"You're out of this world, my valentine." A space-themed Valentine's Day "lollipop card" manufactured by the E. Rosen candy company. The card has perforations--barely visible here--that originally folded out to hold the stick of a lollipop.

"Venture into Space. New Amoco map of space mysteries--in full color. What it's like to travel in the vast unknown. A message to America from Dr. James R. Killian, the President's chief science advisor. Compliments of American Oil Company." Cover illustration of the Amoco Map of Space Mysteries , published in 1958.

Cover of the booklet Men from the Moon in America: Did They Come in a Russian Satellite? , by the evangelist Walter V. Grant, first published sometime in the 1950s. For another out-of-this-world booklet from the 1950s, see We Met the Space People: The Story of the Mitchell Sisters :

Handwritten note on the back of this real photo postcard: "Home of Bert and Fanny, July 21, '12." Bert and Fanny pose with their child in front of their home in 1912. Mouse over the image to see a close-up of the family .

For more information, see the full version of this photo:

"Compliments of M.M.B. Association of Lancaster, Pa. For unmarried persons." I haven't been able to find any record of the Mutual Marriage Benefit Association of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, but it was probably based on other dubious benefit associations of the late nineteenth century that promised dividends to single men and women when they got married. An announcement in The Spectator: An American Weekly Review of Insurance , July 20, 1893, p. 29, explained how one association was supposed to work: "The Illinois Mutual Marriage Benefit Association is a new incorporation. The purpose of the association, as set forth in the application for a charter, is to 'enable young unmarried persons to enter upon married life with sufficient means to promote happiness and prosperity, and to enable the great mass of young men and young women who are in moderate circumstances to bring about the consummation that is mutually beneficial to themselves, and to establish a dower fund, out of which shall be paid on the marriage of a member in good standing, a sum not exceeding $2000, all funds to be raised by the voluntary contribution of the members.' It is proposed to charge an initiation fee of twelve dollars, and make assessment of one dollar per member every time a marriage occurs."

"W. A. King. D. R. King. W. A. King & Co. Columbia Steam Cracker and Biscuit Bakery, Nos. 169, 171, and 173 Locust St., Columbia, Lancaster Co., Pa. Bakers of large and small steam pretzels. Presented by ________." Daniel R. King and his son William A. King operated a bakery in nineteenth-century Columbia, Pennsylvania, when steam power was the cutting-edge technology and Victorian typefaces were in vogue.

A Valentine's Day postcard dated 1909 on the front and postmarked Burlington, Vt., Feb. 13, 1911, on the back. Cupids play football with hearts, as we see here (above), but they also use them in bowling (below). And, of course, cupids need to maintain their stock of hearts, which may require sweeping, netting, weighing, and mending, as we can see in this selection of early twentieth-century postcards (below).

"You will succeed according to your wishes, my valentine."

"To my valentine."