|
playing card maker unknown, USA. |
The front of the card shows a Queen of Hearts, in a
single image. Woodprint and stencil coloured. |
|
|
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# 1
Invititation to a Festival Ball, American, 1815.
It reads:
The company of Mr. Harvey Gillman is respectfully solicited at
T. Davis Hall, on Friday, 23d June, A.L. 5815, 5 o'clock, P.M.
J. Wiggins, H.
Richardson, I Owen, D Baldwin, G. Loomis, Managers.
Montpelier, 14th June,
A.L. 5815.
|
playing card maker unknown, USA. |
The front of the card shows a Queen of Hearts, in a
single image. Woodprint and stencil coloured. |
|
|
Around 1800 in America people started to use playing cards for
invitations to a "Social Ball", a dance party with a social
character, where finding a spouce was one of the key issues. To give these
parties the desired level, one was personally invited by the managers of the
ballroom. The parties began at an hour, that is quite different than what we are accustomed to: at
the end of the afternoon, usually on a Sunday. The party ended around 9 in the
evening. In those days people went to bed early. Besides that, there were no
public streetlights and wondering around late could be risky.
The earliest
invitations on playing cards were handwriten. Later they were printed, first on
the blank back and later, when the backs were decorated, the numbercards of the
Hearts and Diamonds were overprinted with the text of the invitation. Clubs and
Spades became unfit for use.
These invitations on playing cards were in
widespread use in the United States. What makes this one unique is the dating:
it is the calendar used by the freemasons: 5815 stands for the year 1815 and
the A.L. for Anno Lucis.
Gejus
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