The Popular Visiting Card Album (Stevens Bros Hidden Name / Alling Bros "Concealed Name Cards"

Brown cloth flexible hardcover, 6.25 x 4 inches. [32] pages. No publisher stated. Single signature of blank pages saddle stitched through the cloth spine, giving a swollen appearance with all the cards. Fair to Good condition; pages quite tattered around the edges, small dampstain in the gutter, later sewing thread, inner spine lining reinforced. A total of 48 specimens, 24 intact hidden name cards (and additional examples that have lost their flaps) with incredibly ornate designs (and some plainer examples, too). Many New England printing firms were churning out calling cards, but "concealed name cards" were primarily marketed by the Alling Bros in Durham, Connecticut (though the firm may have been bought out by Stevens Bros in the 1890s). An extensive collection of these whimsical gems that includes a few very American escort cards--most notably, the classic Imp design ("I am --- Who the [devil] are you").