Rays of LightThe musings of Ray Trygstad: IT/Web guy, educator, Naval officer, world traveler and sometime preacher.
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| Rays of Light The musings of Ray Trygstad: IT/Web guy, educator, Naval officer, world traveler and sometime preacher. |
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July 21, 2003
Calling Cards
In the days before calling cards meant minutes on the phone, a part of life for the middle- and upper-classes (and would be upper-class) in Western society was the formal “paying of calls” and leaving a calling card. Over the years a fairly elaborate set of etiquette rules evolved around calls and calling cards, with different rules for ladies and for gentlemen. This custom became popular in Regency times and became firmly established in Victorian times, and anyone who considered themself to be a lady or gentleman, a member of “polite society”, would always have a few calling cards on their person. The tradition has died out today and most folks would not know a calling card if you slapped them in the face with one (hopefully without giving them a nasty paper cut). They would just think it was an odd-sized business card that was really short on information. The one place this tradition lingers in some senses, although it is dying there as well (just more slowly), is in the military. Calling cards (except ladies' and joint husband and wife cards) are smaller than business
One of the great customs of making calls used to take place at the Basic Officer's Course of the Marine Corps Basic School, a course taken by every new Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. I am told by my Marine Corps buddies that prior to his death in 1971, General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, the most highly decorated Marine officer in history, would accept calls every Sunday from the young Second Lieutenants attending the Basic School. They would call his wife, set up an appointment, and would start out early Sunday morning in a small group of three for four to pay their respects to him at his home in Saluda, Virginia. I haven't found any “paying a call on Chesty Puller” stories online so if you know any please write and let me know. It's sometimes reassuring to know that some traditions considered to be a sign of civility can survive even into the Twenty-First century. The original “calling cards” are just one of those traditions. 03:51 PM |
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cards and contain far less information; traditionally, only a name and any titles that go with the name. The traditional man's calling card was white or cream pasteboard, unglazed, and bore only his name in engraved printing. The original size for gentlemen's cards was about 1.25 by 3 inches. My first calling cards were to accompany my high school graduation announcements and followed this format; they were white embossed pasteboard with Old English lettering (shown at left). In the late Victorian era it was not uncommon for calling cards to be somewhat larger and to include engraved monochrome graphics or even color lithography. Ladies calling cards (and the majority of formal calling was done by ladies calling on ladies) were always larger and eventually standardized somewhere around 2.5 by 3.5 inches.
Among military officers, the use of calling cards and the paying of social calls on superior officers is still customary; a good explanation of calls and the use of calling cards can be found in the 
Field Grade/Senior officers place their rank before their name as shown at left. They also can use more elaborate type styles than more junior officers. Combat arms officers in the Army and line officers in the Navy just list their rank and service, while staff corp/combat support/combat service support officers can (and should) list their corps or branch as well as their service. 
Married officers can also use a joint card with their spouse as shown to the right.
