The Autograph Album
During the 16th and 17th century, German albums were hand-painted with the coat of arms and then it was sketches of scenes
and places that became popular with college students and world travelers. In the 17th and 18th centuries albums were
decorated with sketches of amusements, hand-cut and painted silhouettes. But, my favorite by far are the albums the Victorian's bestowed.
In the early 19th century, Victorian autograph albums were embellished with hand-painted flowers and figures and were graced with needlepoint.
Sentiments, prayers and serious thoughts were inscribed into these albums and shared between friends, family and teachers.
Some writer's would express their sentiments with a favorite poem or a hand drawn picture.
Kind words will cost you nothing
The efforts are but small,
So in your daily walks of life
Speak kindly unto all.
Below is an excerpt from the book Little Town on The Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Here, Laura's Ma and Pa give her and her youngest sister their very first autograph albums.
In Laura's package was a beautiful small book, too. It was thin, and wider that it was tall. On its red cover, embrossed in gold, were the words, Autograph Album.
The pages, of different soft colors, were blank. Carrie had another exactly like it, except that the cover of hers was blue and gold.
"I found that autograph albums are all the fashion nowadays," said Ma. "All the most fashionalbe girls in Vinton have them."
"What are they, exactly?" Laura asked.
"You ask a friend to write a verse on one of the blank pages and sign her name to it," Ma explained. "If she has an autograph album, you do the same for her, and you keep the albums to remember each other by."
Laura fetched her album from her box upstairs, and Ma sat at the desk and carefully wrote in it with her little pearl-handled pen. She dried the page carefully over the lamp, and returned the album to Laura.
On the smooth, cream-colored page, in Ma's fine handwriting, Laura read:
If wisdom's ways you wisely seek,
five things observe with ease,
To whom you speak,
Of when you speak,
And how, and when and where.
Your loving mother
C L Ingalls
De Smet November 15th, 1881
There is a tree in Heaven
And its leaves will never fade
And may you be lucky enough
To sit beneath its shade.
Some autograph albums were bestowed with momentos. Calling cards were popular during this era and some preferred to paste their cards
onto the pages of albums and then inscribe their message. This was also a time when it was all the rage to share a lock of hair with
a special friend or a loved one. Some friends would share their lock by fastening it to an album page along with a verse. Locks of
hair from family and friends were also cherished and used to make jewelry such as earrings and bracelets, and many were encased in
lockets for remembrance.
There is a little flower
It blooms in yonder lot,
It whispers all I have to say
That is forget-me-not.
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