Vintage calling cards

19th-century Americans used cheeky cards to stretch social convention and find romance.

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During the Victorian era, calls were an important social event. Certain afternoons were set aside as "at home days" for people to come calling; proper calls typically lasted no more than 15 minutes....

Lonely this Valentine's Day? These 19th Century calling cards are guaranteed to score you a date.

These fantastic introduction cards were used in the United States during the 1870s and 1880s. According to Alan Mays, who collects them, they were “used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female.” We think of nineteenth-century courtship as being impossibly straight-laced and buttoned-down, and certainly a printed card inquiring for permission to accompany a young miss to her door is consistent with that, but the eager men found plenty of ways to work clever jokes and…

"Resting on right cheek: You are too willing."

Lonely this Valentine's Day? These 19th Century calling cards are guaranteed to score you a date.

A pipe-smoking devil carries a "Louis Klug" sign across this nineteenth-century German calling card.

What follows is a brief history of the calling card and how men today can resurrect this tradition to create some stylish panache in their social interactions.

Luzel from iDIY found this fabulous flickr set comprised entirely of antique business and calling cards, which she was kind enough to send to me and I'm now sharing with the rest of you! I love the way calligraphy plays a role in many of the designs: Check out the rest of the collection right […]