1921 U.S. Playing Card Entertaining pamphlet

This little 1921 publication is crazy! 45 pages of "How to entertain with Cards", put out by the U.S. Playing Card Company out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

It covers breakfast, luncheon, and dinner menus, (formal and informal) how to write invitations, how to organize meeting and parties, cake decorations, food of all sorts, prizes, tables and chairs, favors, rules, with ideas for card parties for special occasions (New Years, 4th of July, Seashore, Automobile, October Nut, Japanese, Chilly, and more!) 

I mean this little thing is chocker block full!  The lead off after the opening is Formal Entertaining, and particularly The Invitation.  Two complete pages, and a bit of a third are devoted to proper form and etiquette when writing and sending card party invitations.  And that’s just for Formal; apparently Informal Entertaining requires a different  set of invitation rules! Take a closer look at the picture on the left.

There are card party ideas for every month, holiday and occasion.  For example under the month of March, there is an exception to the invitation rules apparently:  

“Trace the outline of a rabbit in the corner of a correspondence card and write thereon this invitation:

The Hatter and the Doormouse and the Mad March Hare-

All Three,

Would like to have the pleasure of your jolly company,

To help them celebrate in a manner fit and hearty,

The umptieth anniversary of the famous “Mad Tea Party””

The Formal Cold Luncheon menu does differ from the Informal Luncheon and the Japanese Luncheon, and includes Cold Lobster.  The menu for a Formal Dinner seemingly 9 course if you include coffee in the living room, is thusly:

Fruit Cocktail

Lobster Bisque – Bread Stick

Fish Cutlets – Cucumber and Tomato Baskets

Glazed Sweetbreads – French Beans

Roast Lamb – Currant Jelly – Browned Potatoes

Broiled Duckling – Orange Salad

Frozen Pubbing – Lady Fingers

Salted Almonds – Bon Bons

Roquefort – Water Crackers

Coffee

(Coffee usually served in the living-room)

Perhaps my favorite, which sums it nice nicely, as I can recall plenty of late night Euchre parties, complete with food, beverage…. And entertainment!  The U.S. Playing Card Company, 1921 “How to entertain with Cards” Opening Paragraph:

“There is no easier way to entertain and make certain that no guest is neglected, and that all have a good time, than by giving a card party. Cards may be played at any hour of the day. They, alone, may be the raison d’être for the occasion, or they may precede or follow a breakfast, or luncheon, or form the entertainment after dinner. Afternoon card parties are particularly smart and easy to arrange for. They offer the hostess an opportunity to entertain formally or informally, and with as little or as much expense as she desires, and still be correct socially."

This Item was sold on 12-11-13

1956 barber shop business card with baseball schedule for the Cincinnati Redlegs

Mystery.  History.  Baseball.  Elvis.  

Sounds cool to me!

This little piece is about standard business card size when folded, 3.25 x 2 inches. On the back is printed a 12 month calendar (with day of the week!) for the year 1956.   A clever little give away for a business at the time.

On the front is where the mystery begins.  

 It appears to be from a barber shop on 14^th street in Washington, D.C.  One might infer that two people named Holmes and Johnson were likely the partners in the venture.  There is a blank line, I would guess,  to fill in the name of the person who is representing the bearer of this card.  Not quite sure what that means.  Perhaps one’s particular barber fills their name in here.  This particular card's line is blank. 

Certainly a bit of a mystery to me though, is what I am guessing to be a clever way to write a phone number.  If that theory is true, I certainly cannot make sense of why Holmes and Johnson would write it “ADams 2-9496”.  That doesn’t make a lick of sense to me.  

 Now the deeper mystery occurs once one opens up this piece and sees that the inside is a 1956 National League schedule for Cincinnati.  Firstly, why in the world is a barber shop in D.C. handing out Cincy baseball schedules to their clients, when for  starters, there was a home town team, the “Senators”, and a half dozen other MLB (Major League Baseball) teams closer than Cincinnati.  Secondly why in the world would one hang on to a schedule for a team that placed third that season?   

 

This is where the history bit comes in. 

  

 The 1956 season saw the Cincinnati Reds, change their name to the Cincinnati Redlegs and removed the term “Reds” from their logo, all for fear that term might associate them with the threat of communism.   

However, this piece does not bear the new team name anywhere on it.

Well, let’s just take a little looksee at some of the game dates printed on the inside of this discolored, folded, torn, and very likely one of a kind, scrap of thick paper.       

                                                                                                               

April 21, 1956; Redlegs lost an 11 inning game at Chicago.  Elvis Presley's 1st hit record, "Heartbreak Hotel," becomes #1

April 28, 1956; Redlegs score a 9 – 1 victory over the Cubs.  Cincinnatti's Frank Robinson hits his 1st of his 586 career HRs 

May 6, 1956:  Redlegs tromp the Phillies at home, 10 – 2 in the first end of a doubleheader, and claiming victory for the pair with an 11- 9 win in the second game.   Cincinnati outfielder,  Gus Bell,  homers off Bob Miller in both games, making him one of only a handful of players in history to homer off the same pitcher in both games of a doubleheader.

May 26, 1956 – Redslegs at Milwaukee,  John Klippstein, Hershel Freemman & Joe Blacks no-hitter, broken up with 2 outs in 10th & lose to Braves in 11th, 2-1

June 5, 1956:  Redlegs beat the Phillies 9 – 4 at in an afternoon game at Crosley filed in Cincinnati.  Later that evening, conservative Americans were appalled & young female Americans enthralled, as  Elvis made his first national TV appearance on the Milton Berle show.  Quite entertaining, even the dialog afterwards - Elvis performs “Hound dog” on the Milton Berle show, see for yourself:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_vZqsj2rSA 

Aug 4, 1956: Redlegs lose at Philadelphia, 6 – 10.   Elvis releases “Hound Dog”.

Aug 11, 1956: Redlegs lose 3-6 at Milwaukee.  Elvis releases “Don’t be Cruel”.

Aug 18, 1956:  Redlegs thump the Braves at home,  13 – 4.  Both Elvis songs go # 1

Sep 11, 1956: Redlegs take on the Giants at The Polo Grounds in Manhattan.  In their 11 - 5 victory, Cincy rookie Frank Robinson ties the record for home runs in a rookie season with his 38th HR, on his way to Rookie of the Year. 

Frank Robinson went on to Hall of Fame status by eventually joining the 500 home run club, getting a triple crown, 2 MVP awards, and on the list of the top 20 RBI producers of all time.  He also shares the career record for home runs on opening day (8), and in 1970 hit two grand slams in a single game while in route to a World Series MVP award while playing for the Baltimore Orioles, in their world series victory over…. The Cincinnati Reds.   Curiously it was also the first World Series games to have a black umpire. 

Oct 8, 1956: It is a good bet that Frank Robinson, Gus Bell and Holmes and Johnson of the Modernistic Barber Shop in Washington, D.C., watched as Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in World Series history. 

                                                                                                                    

1956 also saw the retirement of one of baseball’s greats, Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier for MLB in 1947.  Upon his retirement in 1956, no team offered him a position as a coach, manager, or executive.  Instead, he became an executive with the Chock Full o' Nuts restaurant chain.

Frank Robinson, Rookie of the year in 1956, just arriving as Robinson was departing the game, was the first black manager in the Majors (Cleveland, ’75) and went on to hold titles in MLB such as Senior Vice President for Major League Operations and Executive Vice President of Baseball Development.

Elvis went on to become a global cultural icon.

Now why in the world would anyone keep a little scrap of paper with a baseball schedule printed on it of a third place team?    

This item sold on 10-13-13

                                                                                                                 

POSTSCRIPT

Turns out that 1841 14th Street NW Washington, DC, home of the Modernistic Barber Shop in 1956,  is currently a Manny's and Olga's Pizza shop. 

Turns out the barber shop was less than a mile from old Griffith Stadium, home of the Washington Senators, and host of the 1956 All-Star game.   That all-star game featured Willie Mays and Stan Musial hitting two home runs for the National League.  Mickey Mantle (during his infamous Triple Crown season) and Ted Williams hit two home runs for the American League.   Frank Robinson..., hit 2^nd in the starting line-up.

Interestingly, the Senators were late comers to integrating their ball club,  with 1956 being their first complete  season with blacks on the roster.

Thanks to David for passing on a few clues!

Vintage & Main history type pieces

Bayreuth Made In Germany Frankurt Main eagle bone china porcelain tea cup

This sweet little tea cup is an intriguing piece.  For starters, it’s quite diminutive, measuring only 3 inches across and an inch and a half tall.  The inside has this wonderful hand painted red, black & gold motif featuring an interesting eagle wearing a crown.  

 

Below is the words “Frankurt e. Main", though the middle initial (?) is hard to make out.  At first glance, and second for that matter, I read Frankfurt. Oddly a search with the term"Frankfurt" turned up a similar eagle being used on products on Zazzle touting the city.   (product image of something from Frankfurt). Though the eagle motif is common German insignia.  Any searches with Frankurt in the string turns up pretty much nothing. It seems like it must be a name, but beyond that it is a mystery to me.

 The gilding on the rim, handle, and base all seem intact and in good shape.  It weights 1.2 ounces.  On the bottom it says it is “handpainted” and "Made in Germany".  It also has what appears to be an “S” above “Bayreuth”.  The eagle on the front is certainly reminiscent of Royal Bayreuth lions (http://www.porcelainmarksandmore.com/bavaria/tettau_1/00.php).  However the mark on the bottom does not seem to be a Royal Bayreuth, and in fact I can't find anything similar.  

 

So I present a bit of a mystery for those china mark buffs out there- enjoy!

This item available here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/125449835/bayreuth-german-frankurt-main-eagle-bone