Random Acts of Living


Thursday, April 24, 2008

OR - CA 2008 / Chapter 4

KEEPSAKES - FAMILY HISTORY
Have any of you heard of "Friendship Cards"? I've heard of Calling cards, kind of the precursor of business cards. But I had never heard of Friendship Cards. Apparently they were popular at the turn of the century or there abouts.
Aunt Kathy had mounted these in a frame which she had hung in her house for a while, but now wanted to share them with family.
Some of the cards were duplicates and many to the same person...
...so we went through them one by one...
...sorting them and deciding who would get what ones.
Aunt Kathy had other papers framed. An 1888 bill from the mill in Peabody KS. The letter to the right is written in German.
Various bank notes for payment due from Hillsboro, Cottonwood Valley Bank(?) and Marion Centre(?)...
One from 1882 reads, "J.J. Funk & Company, Dealer in General Merchandise."
This last one from the German Bank of Hillsboro, Kansas was modified, changing the interest from 12% to 10% and "if not paid when due" scratched out and "till due" hand written. Stamped Aug. 31, 1886.

Very interesting imagining the transactions the ensued when pen was put to paper at the creation of these artifacts.

More to come....

3 comments:

Peter said...

Hi! Reading this and the many others, I can't get over the vast family wealth of history and past treasures that have been collected along the way. I sit here in awe!

Take Care,
Peter

Anita said...

I love these!
My Grandparents had a lot of things like this, but my uncle took most of it and it's all stored in cardboard boxes in his basement... heaven forbid anyone who would actually DO something with it get their hands on it!!
Can't wait to see what else you have to show us!

Moonshadow said...

Peter - I've found that the Mennonites have long been record keepers and Germans are stereotypically packrats. It's a longstanding joke that Germans, or people of German heritage, are known to be "frugal" (the day after you throw something away, you'll need it).

Anita - All our treasures mean more to us than anyone else. It's a matter of sentimental value rather than dollars and cents. My best friend, many years ago, labeled she and I as "The Keepers of the Stuff".