The calling card

[Zwack]

http://www.piccolopress.co.uk/Royal%20Warrant%20Stationery/ have an example of exactly how they do this, complete with images of the presses that they use.

These people produce wonderful work... and charge appropriately.

Z.

[Engineer]

I use calling cards for when I meet people at steampunk meets. The calling card design I use currently has my real name, chosen role (Engineer), mobile phone number, hotmail address, BG ID and the url of this forum - basically all the usual options for contacting me. I will also be doing a variant of this card at some stage once we determine a name for the group of steampunks that have started meeting in my local area.

To make the cards I went to my local office stationary store (Staples) and picked up a pack of Decadry business card paper designed for use on home computers - basically the pack contains A4 sheets of thin card on a peel-off adhesive backing. The card sheets are die-cut with 10 standard business card size balnks. Sheets are available with square or round-cornered card cut-outs in a range of colours (I use round-edged "Parchment" blanks). Then its just a case of creating your desired card format in Word tables or similar. Easy!

I find these really useful when I first meet people who I only know by their forum ID or when making contact with other SPs not on this forum. Also, when we get or local gathering a bit more organised, such cards will be invaluable when dealing with management at venues we use for meets).

[rentreality]

My calling cards are almost pathetically simple. They consist of nothing but my full, real name, typed on a cream-colored business card via typewriter. Any further information I want someone to have, I enter on the spot with a fountain pen.

[Lady Corsair]

*adds to her To-Do list*  I am loving this idea.  Next week or so I'm going to a large-ish meetup with lots of people I don't know, so this might be a good way to go. 

[Reni Valentine]

i know many parents who do this, mostly for arranging play dates between children. i designed business cards using zazzle (because i stopped dating my graphic designer who had previously done my cards and letterhead, although the genius that he was managed to misspell my name - not exactly good for professionalism!). the front is a ouija board and on the back is my name, company name, mobile phone, email, and etsy page. i'm actually not entirely certain as this marks a rare occurence whence i don't have one with me. the photos were taken back when i got them a few months ago. they had to be done in black and white and without the flash as i had them made with a lovely pearlescent sheen to them.

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[Vagabond GentleMan]

Ouija board cards?
Straight Bangup!

How cool!

If you wanted to make them more of a calling card and less of business card, you'd have to limit the info quite a bit, though.

Still, they make me jealous...what a good idea!

[Reni Valentine]

Not necessarily. My calling cards - though misspelt - had my name, phone number, and email. I usually tucked them in with orders inside little thank-you baubles.

As to the ouija board graphic, it made sense. A business card - or a calling card - is a means of making contact. So is the ouija, some would say. If I ever run into you off-board, it's fun to see. The i's are dotted with skulls!

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Yeah...but the calling cards of the Victorian era, which is essentially what this thread is about, had nothing but the name on it.  And maybe hours where the individual was home.  They weren't for handing out to strangers, they were for handing out to people you wanted to 'call' on you...at your house.  Like an 'invitation to visit'- or a 'I was here to visit'- card.

[Reni Valentine]

Yeah...but the calling cards of the Victorian era, which is essentially what this thread is about, had nothing but the name on it.  And maybe hours where the individual was home.  They weren't for handing out to strangers, they were for handing out to people you wanted to 'call' on you...at your house.  Like an 'invitation to visit'- or a 'I was here to visit'- card.

true, but there was also far more detail and attention to such with Victorian-era calling cards. though they may have only had the caller's name written on them, they carried far more meaning in the accompanying graphics than most modern business cards do, yes?

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Maybe...maybe not.  Check out this one from period:

http://gslis.simmons.edu/henty/card.jpg

Pretty no-nonsense.  Ostentation was often frowned upon in the era.

However, a google search did turn up some fancier ones as well...but it was hard to tell which ones were authentic and which were re-creations...which of course were fancier.

[Reni Valentine]

you'll note that you don't see the reverse of the card though... the image may be simple, but it's still a lot more carefully considered than what is found on most business cards today. things seemed to have more meaning - symbolically speaking - than they do now...

EDIT

after going through the rest of the site, i notice that the pages are dated 1911 and onward, and also she was American? that makes a bit of a difference, yes?

[Vagabond GentleMan]

I imagine...

but you shouldn't take my word for it, of course.

And truth, I'm only reiterating what has been said numerous times throughout this thread already.  Although there were surely exceptions, the general understanding of 'calling card' vs. 'business card' is that the calling card was personal, having little (if anything) other than your name on it, for it was assumed you were giving said card only to individuals who already knew your occupation, contact information, address etc.

[Reni Valentine]

Although there were surely exceptions, the general understanding of 'calling card' vs. 'business card' is that the calling card was personal, having little (if anything) other than your name on it, for it was assumed you were giving said card only to individuals who already knew your occupation, contact information, address etc.

difference in the eras i suppose. now it seems like the mode of communication between people who already know one another is the Book of Faces...

and completely aside - i love your hat. you should give it to me...

[Vagabond GentleMan]

Word.

And thanks bout the hat!
I made it, actually.
I might could make you one, I suppose...but not til I get some spare money....winter is the slow time in the tattoo business.

[Reni Valentine]

not here it's not! sweater season is when we all get our work done so that it's not an issue when the time comes to be sleeveless (or if you're me, because you keep damn-near shaving your head when the temperature drops to freezing).

and i have problems finding hats that i like that will also fit my head. i've said i was going to learn millinery. and knitting for that matter. never happened. i take comfort in my abilities of card-reading, styling, and garment making. that and computer nerdery.

but you make me a hat, and i'll see to it that you have your own ouija calling cards

[anagramforink]

Well, if anyone wants/needs genuine handprinted calling/business cards, I can do that.

Some options:
Hand-set metal type (I have access to thousands of cases of it, though I do not, alas, *own* any of it).
Old printer's cuts ("cuts" = image plates)
Your own design, or one designed for you, from polymer plates.
Letterpress printed on presses of various ages, from Victorian on up.

I can even print from engraved (or etched) plates, though that requires a different species of press (the pressure required is much much higher), that I can probably only access during the summer.

For the curious, letterpress is a relief process (the ink sits on the surface of the plate, so raised areas are printed), while "engraving" is an intaglio process (ink is below the surface so the incised lines are printed).

And a couple bits of trivia:
Engraving is done by hand with a sharp tool. Lines/tones produced by chemical means is etching. Both can be used on the same plate. Historically, copper, zinc and steel were the most common metals for intaglio (I prefer copper). Brass could be used, but seems to me would be a little pricey.

Brass (plates, type and "handle letters") was commonly used for blocking (aka "stamping") book covers, because heat was required and lead tends to get a bit melty.

Wood engraving is actually usually a relief printing process (whereas metal engraving is intaglio), and gives the effect of a white line on a black ground (though the black is actually the part printed).

Um . . . kind of got carried away there. I like printing.

[Ravenscroft]

Spoiler: ShowHide

Well, if anyone wants/needs genuine handprinted calling/business cards, I can do that.

Some options:
Hand-set metal type (I have access to thousands of cases of it, though I do not, alas, *own* any of it).
Old printer's cuts ("cuts" = image plates)
Your own design, or one designed for you, from polymer plates.
Letterpress printed on presses of various ages, from Victorian on up.

I can even print from engraved (or etched) plates, though that requires a different species of press (the pressure required is much much higher), that I can probably only access during the summer.

For the curious, letterpress is a relief process (the ink sits on the surface of the plate, so raised areas are printed), while "engraving" is an intaglio process (ink is below the surface so the incised lines are printed).

And a couple bits of trivia:
Engraving is done by hand with a sharp tool. Lines/tones produced by chemical means is etching. Both can be used on the same plate. Historically, copper, zinc and steel were the most common metals for intaglio (I prefer copper). Brass could be used, but seems to me would be a little pricey.

Brass (plates, type and "handle letters") was commonly used for blocking (aka "stamping") book covers, because heat was required and lead tends to get a bit melty.

Wood engraving is actually usually a relief printing process (whereas metal engraving is intaglio), and gives the effect of a white line on a black ground (though the black is actually the part printed).

Um . . . kind of got carried away there. I like printing.

This post pleases me greatly, as each of those processes is something I want to learn so badly I can barely contain myself. I just have no idea where to start.

[cge]

http://www.piccolopress.co.uk/Royal%20Warrant%20Stationery/ have an example of exactly how they do this, complete with images of the presses that they use.

These people produce wonderful work... and charge appropriately.

Unfortunately, their standard calling cards are the same size as business cards, which isn't at all acceptable.

Well, if anyone wants/needs genuine handprinted calling/business cards, I can do that.

Actually, I would be very interested in this. At the moment, I use laser-printed cards on cardstock that's then cut to size (I prefer 3" by 1.5"), as I haven't found a stationer that fits my requirements. The cards only have my name on them, in roundhand; engraving with copper would be best if doable. Could you do an engraved roundhound/engraver's script? Still, most anything other than thermography would be better than my current cards.

As for the questions about information on cards, though, most of the modern cards being presented here are business cards, not calling cards. Respectable English/French visiting cards also had no accompanying graphics.

Here are my current cards; note that the reverse side is blank:

[James Harrison]

I thought I'd indulge in some threadmancy....

I've made up my calling cards this weekend, on Photoshop using the Victorian-style font for the Victorian safety sign in the Tactile board. 

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The size is about 3'' by 1.5'', or 75 x 37mm.  I have made attempts to turn it into a carte de visite, with a tintype of myself on the reverse, but it doesn't want to work- the image always comes out the wrong size or doesn't line through.

[Miss Groves]

i've only just started thinking about this after i found out i was going to the assylum.
i've just read up on al lthe ettiquette as well, lots of odd things they did *le sigh*
now i'll have to choose some paper, a font and print away

[PatronZero]

Perhaps just my two pence worth but here goes.....

Would not the most resourceful and well equipped traveler not carry a small pocket-sized mechanical press for producing on demand-as needed calling cards ?

Best to describe such as not larger than a lady's lipstick case or perfume atomizer in size and dimensions, assembled within that object three small preset printing plates revolve around a spring-wound rod.   Passing a blank card into the first of two slots on the device's side feeds the stock under the floating heads of type. 

A reverse-mirrored typeface is embossed onto the stock and that raised surface is then neatly inked by a small roller pad as the card exits the cylinder, in more sophisticated models more than one color of ink is available.

Nothing fully accessorizes an outfit more than the pocket clockwork calling card printer !

Sketches of said item available upon polite request.

[josephs]

What a fascinating find! Calling cards really were the social currency of their time—equal parts etiquette, identity, and sometimes a bit of subtle intrigue. The idea of "dropping a card" definitely feels like the 19th-century version of texting "just saying hi." And you're right—those printed florals on cards like Laura's probably mirrored the trends of the day before fading in favor of more minimalist styles.

Speaking of stylish statements, if you love the charm of vintage personalization, a custom neon signs could be a fun modern twist! Imagine your name (or even "Miss Mabel Osborne, Tuesdays 3 to 6") glowing in a soft script—perfect for a cozy nook or creative space. Let me know if you'd like help designing one!