Our Friday Find: More of the donations from the Hager estate. In one of the boxes, we found a collection of invitations, calling cards, and at home cards.
Think of calling cards and at home cards as 19th century social media.
Calling cards were fashionable in Britain, Europe and eastern United States. Leaving a card at a friend’s home was a way to express thanks for a recent dinner party, offer condolences or simply to touch base and say hello (a precursor to Facebook). If the friend wasn’t home, a servant would accept the card and leave it in a silver tray in the entrance hall. A tray full of calling cards was a way to advertise who was in one’s social circle, and usually the wealthiest or most influential people were displayed on top of the pile.
The interesting thing noted on the ones we have are the wife’s maiden name either added at the bottom or on a separate attached card. A genealogical goldmine!
The at Home card developed to tell your acquaintance callers when you would actually be in and ready to entertain them, usually on a fixed evening repeated each week. In the United States, the culture retained a strong association with the idea of home-making, and newly married couples would be expected to print and distribute at Home cards giving their new address as well as the times when visitors might call. It is interesting to note that “at Home” cards are printed with a lower case “a” and upper case “H” said to be “a hangover from a nineteenth century obsession for the Germanic capitalisation of nouns.” (letterpress.co. uk/blogs/at-home-cards.aspx)
