Halloween Postcard Showing Courting "Cabbage People," 1908-1910
Add to SetSummary
The first American Halloween gatherings were designed as matchmaking parties for young people, with games to "predict" matrimonial futures and ample opportunity for innocent flirtation. Friends and neighbors often exchanged seasonal greeting postcards - such as this colorful example from the early 1900s - that reflected these traditions.
The first American Halloween gatherings were designed as matchmaking parties for young people, with games to "predict" matrimonial futures and ample opportunity for innocent flirtation. Friends and neighbors often exchanged seasonal greeting postcards - such as this colorful example from the early 1900s - that reflected these traditions.
Artifact
Postcard
Date Made
1908-1910
Subject Date
1908-1910
Creators
Clapsaddle, Ellen H. (Ellen Hattie), 1865-1934
International Art Publishing Company
Place of Creation
United States, New York, New York
Creator Notes
Illustration by artist Ellen Clapsaddle; published by International Art Publishing Company of New York, New York and Berlin, Germany
Collection Title
On Exhibit
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
2007.53.1
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford.
Material
Cardboard
Paper (Fiber product)
Technique
Embossing (Technique)
Printing (Process)
Color
Multicolored
Dimensions
Height: 5.5 in
Width: 3.5 in
Inscriptions
Printed on front: "O, is my true love / tall and grand? / O, is my / sweetheart / bonny?" / HALLOWE'EN Handwritten in ink on back: A Happy Hallow'een / to you from Charles / P.S. I have a little / tiger kitten named / Sport and a black / bob-tailed kitty named / Bobby no Robert. See if / both of them don't / beat Tommy not / Thomas oh no. / Charles Addressed on back: Miss Helen L. Brownell / North Westport / Mass Postmarked: Newport R I / Oct 29 / 630 AM / 1910
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