Price:  $15.00 

Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 3 and 3/4″

This was a great find:  A calling card with a photo! The card bearer’s name appears as Lydia M. Wickline, and her photo, which was glued onto the top part of the card, shows a beautiful young woman in a “Gibson Girl” hairstyle. The expression is open to interpretation, as always. Does she have a little bit of a sadness about the eyes? Maybe, maybe not, in any case it’s a lovely image, even though quite faded, and is surrounded by forget-me-nots and roses with a bow underneath the oval. For me, the contrast between the faded portrait appearing in the center of the brightly colored flowers and greenery enhances the “looking back in time” feel. This is the type of calling card consisting of two parts, where the top die-cut of embossed flowers with photo, is glued to the bottom heavier card containing the name. It opens about three quarters of the way. So as not to damage the card, a photo was taken of the name and cropped as shown above. (The color on the second image is incorrect – in reality it’s the same as the background on the top one. My Photoshop expert was out the door already.)

As to the identify of the young lady, this was not verified but the most likely candidate is Lydia M. Kirby who married Henry A. Wickline in Summers County, West Virginia December 24, 1903. The marriage record shows both were born in Monroe, West Virginia; Henry is age 21, and Lydia age 17; Henry is the son of John Wickline, the mother’s name is not readable (Va?); Lydia is the daughter of James C. and Eliza Kirby. The Wickline name seems to come up most frequently in West Virginia, and others were looked at, of course, but the age or middle initial or spelling of first name did not coincide. So, if this is the correct Lydia, then this photo could have been taken just before or after her marriage, and the calling card made around 1904.

Source:  “West Virginia Marriages, 1780-1970,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FTV8-12S : accessed 22 Jul 2014), Henry A Wickline and Lydia M Kirby, Summers, West Virginia, United States; citing ; FHL microfilm 589346.