What-is-it question CXXIV.

[2209patrick]

This item comes from the 1904 Unger Brothers catalog.
Estimate the length at 3 inches ( 7.62 cm.) without the tassel.

It is listed with a name that I have not seen before.
Not sure of the purpose of what it holds, maybe someone can tell us.
Found one by googling that was made in the UK, bit they didn't explain it.

What does the catalog call this item ?



Pat.
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[JLDoggett]

First thought was a book-mark, but it looks too thick, maybe used as a page weight (no I do not have a fetish for weighting things).
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[2209patrick]

Hello JL Doggett.

It does look like a bookmark in the picture, but that's not what it's called. Not a paper weight either.
It is called a case in the catalog.

Here's a clue.
To the right of this item are pictured two similar cases. However, these are listed with two names.
The name of the first item I posted and a second name "stamp case".



Pat.
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[dognose]

Hi Pat,

Ballspende? A ladies dance card made of ivory plaques unto which she recorded the names of dance partners. Contained in a silver sleeve?

Trev.
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[JLDoggett]

I thought of that Trev, but it appears to have no holder for the customary pencil and carrying it would be awkward. I see no way to clip it onto a belt (one would expect if it had a fixture, they would show it). Maybe a case for calling cards (pull the tassle a cover pops up and a few cards are secreted within).
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[dognose]

Hi Jim,

I wondered if there might be another image of the other side that maybe showed a pencil holder.
Maybe Pat has kept that back, so's not to give the game away!

Trev.
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[2209patrick]

Hi Trev and Jim.

Good idea about the ladies dance card, but this case did not hold ivory sleeves and the catalog does not show a pencil holder.

In an earlier post I mentioned that I found a British one online.
Made a drawing from one of the pictures there of what that case holds.
The British case is a bit shorter and wider.



Just my opinion, I would call it a distant relative to a "Patch Box".

Pat.
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[JLDoggett]

All that I can think of is a case to hold the type of tissue (unlike modern tissues) which a respectable woman would use to blot oily patches on her face (as opposed to the harlots who wore make-up). They had a thin layer of a fine white or beige clay and were the precurser to today's compacts.
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[2209patrick]

You are getting closer JL Doggett, but the case did not hold tissues.
It did hold something that was applied to the skin.

Last and best clue:
This may have been what people used before there were "Band-Aids".

Pat.
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[2209patrick]

The 1904 Unger Brothers catalog calls this a "Plaster case".

I believe the catalog refers to "Court plaster", an adhesive plaster of isinglass and sometimes glycerin on silk.
Court plaster was used to dress superficial wounds like cuts and scratches.
(Court plaster was also used by ladies at royal courts for beauty spots).



Pat.
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