Part 6 (1/2)

Size of the Card.

The regulation size, both in this country and England, for a lady's visiting card is three and one-half inches in length and two and one-half inches in width. This oblong form is most generally used, but there is an almost square shape, two and a half inches by three, also in favor, and especially used by unmarried ladies where the shortness of their name would be too much emphasized in the longer card. For instance: ”Miss Ray” would be quite justified in choosing the square style, while ”Miss Ethelinda Crane” or ”Mrs. Algernon Spencer” would find the length of their names displayed to better advantage on the oblong card.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _Mrs. J. Howard Ellis_]

Cards for gentlemen are much smaller than those for ladies. This holds good in both England and America, where the required size is three inches one way by one inch and a half the other.

[Ill.u.s.tration: _William L. Smith_]

The largest card in use is the one sometimes adopted by the newly-married and engraved with their joint names. Thus:

MR. AND MRS. GRANT TROWBRIDGE

may make use of a card four inches long by three and one-half in width, but a lady and her daughter, where their names appear together, should use the first-mentioned oblong size for ladies.

Engraving the Name.

Married ladies make a point of using their husband's name or initials upon their cards instead of their own, as:

MRS. GEORGE B. CLEVELAND,

Or:

MRS. G.B. CLEVELAND,

Instead of:

MRS. GRACE E. CLEVELAND.

It occasionally, however, happens that some lady, unwilling to so lose the ident.i.ty of her own name, prefers this latter form. Or, if her family name be an old and honored one, she frequently retains it, thus:

MRS. GRACE ETHRIDGE CLEVELAND.

But, though the married woman make use of her husband's name, she has no claim to his t.i.tles; so that while others may address her as ”Mrs.

Judge So and So,” ”Mrs. Dr. So and So,” she must carefully avoid all such display. Let her be comforted, however, as her just pride in her husband's honors is easily gratified, since she is expected, on all formal occasions, to leave one of his cards, wherein his t.i.tles are set forth, with her own.

Occasionally a lady contents herself with having engraved upon her cards a simple:

MRS. COURTHOPE.

This, however, is unwise unless the name is a very uncommon one, and even then, should there be more than one branch of the family in the vicinity, the wife of the oldest member of the family only would have a right to make use of it.

Newly married couples frequently send out for their first cards the largest size mentioned engraved thus:

MR. AND MRS. HOLMAN B. HUNT.

Occasionally they preserve this custom throughout the entire first season. But this is all; from thenceforth husband and wife have their own separate cards. They may, however, be used at times throughout the married life to convey messages of sympathy, congratulation, or to accompany gifts.

Widows have always hesitated about exchanging the beloved and accustomed name upon their cards for their own signature. This, however, in many cases, is a necessity, especially where there is a son bearing the father's name. This is sometimes thought to be avoided by the use of the distinctive ”Senior” or ”Junior,” a custom obviously wrong, since after the death of Francis Brown, Senior, Francis Brown, Junior, becomes at once Francis Brown, and his wife, Mrs. Francis Brown. Hence, while we have no such convenient t.i.tle as ”Dowager,” the widowed Mrs. Francis Brown will be obliged to drop her husband's name in favor of her son's wife and thenceforth appear before the world as Mrs. Mary E. Brown. Where there are no children, or immediate relatives, change of t.i.tle on the part of the widow is a mere matter of sentiment.