Calling card: Dual calling card for Miss Lavinia Warren and Charles S. Stratton
Unknown creator, American (created by)
Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb)
Southworth, Mary (associated with)
M. Lavinia Warren (associated with)
Charles S. Stratton (General Tom Thumb)
Southworth, Mary (associated with)
M. Lavinia Warren (associated with)
1862 – 1863 (Date manufactured/created)
paper, fabric ribbon
Dual calling card, also called a visiting card, imprinted with the names Miss Lavinia Warren and Charles S. Stratton. Stratton is better known by his stage name, "Gen. Tom Thumb." Miss Warren's card is layered over Mr. Stratton's card and the two are held together with a silk ribbon. The card dates to a narrow timeframe between the couple's engagement in December 1862 and their highly-publicized marriage on February 10, 1863. Warren and Stratton were both little people who worked for P. T. Barnum in the mid-1800s.
The top card, with Miss Warren's name, is slightly smaller than the 4" x 1.5" bottom card. The two are held together at the left edge by a pale green silk ribbon. Written in pencil on the lower card is Stratton's stage name, "[Gen.] Tom Thumb," probably added by someone else many years later.
The use of calling cards followed a complex set of rules of etiquette. Typically a servant delivered the calling card to the person that his master or mistress wished to visit. The master or mistress would then await a response, also via a calling card. Among the rules of etiquette, cues such as turning down the corner of a card held particular meaning. Calling cards were commonly used by people of wealth and leisure but in the United States they were also used by members of the middle class who aspired to engage in social refinements.
Unknown creator, 1862-1863
The top card, with Miss Warren's name, is slightly smaller than the 4" x 1.5" bottom card. The two are held together at the left edge by a pale green silk ribbon. Written in pencil on the lower card is Stratton's stage name, "[Gen.] Tom Thumb," probably added by someone else many years later.
The use of calling cards followed a complex set of rules of etiquette. Typically a servant delivered the calling card to the person that his master or mistress wished to visit. The master or mistress would then await a response, also via a calling card. Among the rules of etiquette, cues such as turning down the corner of a card held particular meaning. Calling cards were commonly used by people of wealth and leisure but in the United States they were also used by members of the middle class who aspired to engage in social refinements.
Unknown creator, 1862-1863
1981.002.001