IPFS News Link • History
May I See You Home? 19th Century Calling Cards Guaranteed to Score You a Date
• by Brett and Kate McKayBut there was another type of card used when a gentleman wanted to
get the ball rolling with a lovely lady in a more casual way: the
acquaintance card. According to The Encyclopedia of Ephemera, the acquaintance card was, “A novelty variant of the American calling card of the 1870s and 1880s,” and 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.”
