New Year's Calls and Presents: A Forgotten Tradition
“The following names of those ladies who expect to receive their friends tomorrow (New Year’s day) have been sent to the GAZETTE.
At the corner of East Lewis and Divison (Mrs. Judge Hanna’s) – Mrs. Judge Hanna and Mrs. Frederick Hayden, assisted by Mrs. T.S. Taylor, Mrs. W.L. Carnahan, Mrs. B.D. Skinner, Miss Frank McKee.
Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, 31 Dec 1873, p. 4.
In making this public announcement, "Mrs. Judge Hanna" and her assistants were following the proper etiquette for the social elite of Fort Wayne, Indiana. There was a whole chapter in John Young’s 1881 book, Our Deportment or The Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society, about New Year’s Day visits.
"The custom of New-Year's calling is prevalent in all cities, and most villages in the country, and so agreeable a custom is it, that it is becoming more in favor every year. This is the day when gentlemen keep up their acquaintanceship with ladies and families, some of whom they are unable to see, probably, during the whole year. Of late it has been customary in many cities to publish in one or more newspapers, a day or two before New Years, a list of the ladies who will receive calls on that day, and from this list gentlemen arrange their calls."
For convenience, and to “add to the pleasure of the day,” Young wrote, several ladies frequently banded together to “receive” at one lady’s house, as was the case with Mrs. Judge Hanna. This now long-forgotten custom of New Year’s Day visits is one that many of our ancestors participated in – those who were at least middle-class, that is – and one they certainly were familiar with. Mrs. Judge Hanna was Eliza Taylor Hanna, my fourth great-grandmother’s sister, who I wrote about in the article “Eliza’s House.” She was the wealthiest woman in Fort Wayne, widow of Samuel Hanna, and lived in a grand mansion. New Year’s 1873, she was soon to turn 70. Her assistants on that first day of the year were:
Mrs. Frederick Hayden - After having eleven sons, Eliza finally gave birth to her only daughter. She named her Eliza, and before marriage young Eliza was referred to as “Eliza, Junior.” Eliza Jr. was 30 and had been married for six months to Canadian businessman Fred Hayden.
Mrs. T.S. Taylor - Livonia “Ona” Morse, 28, was married to a favorite nephew of Eliza’s, Thomas Stanfield Taylor. He was the son of her brother Edmund Pitts Taylor, a prominent businessman in South Bend. Thomas was the founder and publisher of a newspaper in Lagrange, Indiana, which he published from 1863 to 1867. He moved to Fort Wayne and with help from uncle Samuel Hanna (Judge Hanna), he founded a second newspaper.
Mrs. W.L. Carnahan - Clara Louise Hanna, 29, was Eliza’s granddaughter. She was the wife of William L. Carnahan, the wealthy owner of a wholesale boot and shoe company. Her father was Eliza’s firstborn, James Bayless Hanna.
Mrs. B.D. Skinner - Thomasetta Hanna, 28, was another of Eliza’s granddaughters, the only child of her second son, Amos Thomas Hanna. She was married to Benjamin Day Skinner, son of a prominent minister, and had an only child, Emily, known as Plum.
Miss Frank McKee - I don’t know who Miss Frank McKee was or why she rated highly enough to be included in this formal “receiving.” She was, at the least, a friend of Eliza Jr.’s.
The chapter on New Year’s Day visits in the etiquette manual informed the reader that it was acceptable for gentlemen to call on ladies solo, or in groups of three or four – sometimes even more – in carriages or on foot. Calling began at 10:00 a.m. and ended at nine that night. Calls were typically five to fifteen minutes, but could be up to an hour. For the hostess, refreshments were always to be offered, but it was acceptable for the gentleman to decline. Young helpfully suggested the type of fare to offer: oysters, scalloped or raw on the shell; cold meats, salads, fruits, cakes, sandwiches and so forth, with hot tea or coffee.
Merchants took advantage of this holiday. “Mays is prepared to fill orders for all the latest fancy dishes for New Year’s calls. Has also made a large variety of fresh bon-bons and plain candy for New Year’s day,” a Minneapolis ad announced. New Year’s Day gifts were also advertised, something I didn’t understand when I first saw them. Christmas was just over – why would anyone be giving gifts again so soon? But it was custom. An 1868 article in the Evansville, Indiana paper began as follows:
"Preparations for New Year’s have already begun. The toy stores are being thronged daily and nightly by those who desire to somewhat contribute to the pleasure and happiness of their children and friends. Well-fed, fat gobblers or other relished poultry, have been brought to the block, and the eyes of the little folks are already sparkling in anticipation of the New Year’s gifts they are to receive."
It seems to have been much like a second Christmas.
There was another heavily-advertised item that was most important for visiting gentlemen to acquire: the calling card. Etiquette expert Young had advice to offer on these, too. “In making New-Year's calls, a gentleman leaves one card, whatever may be the number of ladies receiving with the hostess. If there is a basket at the door, he leaves a card for each of the ladies at the house, including lady guests of the family, provided there are any. The New-Year's card should not differ from an ordinary calling card. It should be plain, with the name engraved, or printed in neat script. It is not now considered in good taste to have "Happy New Year" or other words upon it.”
As he noted in his book, for the convenience of gentlemen trying to plan a visitation schedule, many newspapers printed lists of ladies who would be receiving gentlemen. In 1880 a Minneapolis newspaper announced that the paper was printing complimentary cards containing the list of ladies receiving visitors. “Ladies who are delicate about the publication of their names in the newspapers may send them to this office,” the newspaper stated, for placement on the cards only.
There was a widely circulated story, meant to amuse, that went out on the wire service in
1854. A gentleman stepped into his carriage to make his New Year’s visits and realized he’d forgotten his calling cards. He told his new groom to get them from the mantlepiece in the dining room. The servant did as he was told, and the gentleman went on his visits, trusting the groom to leave his card at each home. After some time, he asked the servant how many cards were left. “Sir, I still have the king of spades, the king of hearts and the knave of clubs,” he replied. Of course this was classist – the joke was that the servant was too ignorant to know the correct ways to do things, not even understanding what kinds of cards were left.
When “Mrs. Judge Hanna” was receiving, if she followed the etiquette rules of John Young, she and her daughter positioned themselves as the entrance to one of her grand parlors. Eliza Sr. probably sat. This way, everyone was greeted promptly. The young ladies who assisted would be in the parlor serving tea and whatever delicacies were offered. No one was kept waiting – they paid homage to Mrs. Hanna and moved on for polite chit-chat. It was optional whether the men removed their overcoats – after all, the five-to-fifteen minute visit may have been all they were staying for.
For decades newspapers promoted these visits – and also claimed they were no longer in fashion. A curmudgeon in 1858 New York wrote a piece that didn’t start out sounding like it had anything to do with New Year’s.
“In this city the municipal government has been gradually growing more and more corrupt, weak and inefficient during the last twenty years. It has been administered generally by irresponsible and disreputable persons who have attached to their skirts a crowd of leeches clamoring loudly for the spoils.” But the writer went on to say that the barrier between juvenile rowdies and respectable classes had broken down, making New Year's Day a disgrace. Young men without the social graces raced from house to house nibbling and imbibing goodies as fast as they could. It was unseemly. Besides, the writer suggested, New Year’s should be a time to reflect on one’s shortcomings of the dying year and resolve to do better, instead of engaging in frivolities. He added that it was no longer fashionable to make calls, and was glad there was a heavy snowfall that would discourage the visits.
For at least another forty years, however, the New Year’s Day visit remained popular. In December 1882 the Fort Wayne Sentinel listed those who would be receiving callers and said, "Unusual preparations have been made by the ladies who will receive, and the entertainment promised the gentlemen will be far more elegant and elaborate than at any year past. The toilettes are exceptionally handsome, the most of them having been made expressly for the occasion."
New Year’s gifts remained a tradition for decades also. In the 1890s, syndicated short fiction stories of wealthy children forfeiting their own gifts to give to the poor were popular. And of course, if it was a nineteenth-century topic, there was a poem to go with it. Here’s a few stanzas of one from 1897 that was in the Wichita Beacon:
Making New Year’s Calls
Shining patent-leather,
Tie of spotless white,
Through the muddy weather,
Rushing ‘round till night.
Gutters all o’erflowing,
Like Niagara Falls;
Bless me! This is pleasant,
Making New Year’s calls.
Rushing up the doorstep,
Ringing at the bell,
“Mrs. Jones receive today?
“Yes sir.” “Very well.”
Sending in your pasteboard,
Waiting in the halls,
Bless me! This is pleasant,
Making New Year’s calls.
“Wishing you Happy New Year” –
“Many thanks, I’m sure.”
“Many calls as usual?”
“No; I think they’re fewer.”
Staring at the carpet,
Gazing at the walls,
Bless me! This is pleasant,
Making New Year’s calls.
Sources:
Young, John. Our Deportment or The Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society, Detroit: F.B. Dickerson & Co., 1881.
Newspapers:
“The Working Pack,” Lancaster Gazette (Lancaster, Ohio), 16 Mar 1854, p. 2.
“The Desecration of New Year’s Day,” New York Herald, 31 Dec 1858, p. 4.
“New Year’s Day At Washington,” The Bedford Presage (Bedford, Indiana), 18 Jan 1859, p. 1.
“Preparing For New Year’s,” The Evansville Daily Journal (Evansville, Indiana), 31 Dec 1868, p. 4.
New Year’s Advertisements: Minneapolis Tribune, 30 Dec 1880, p. 4.
“At Home 1880. Meaning the Several Thousand Ladies Who Will Keep Open House January 1, 1880,” Cincinnati Enquirer, 1 Jan 1880, p. 11.
"The Social Barometer," Fort Wayne Sentinel, 30 Dec 1882, p. 2.
“New Year’s Calls. The Old Knickerbocker Custom Observed No More,” St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat, 27 Dec 1896, p. 29.
“Making New Year’s Calls,” Wichita Beacon (Wichita, Kansas), 2 Jan 1897, p. 3.
Copyright Andrea Auclair © 2024
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