The Art of Making Calls, Calling Cards, "Emma"...and a Snowy Card

Good evening, all! Have you woken up from your after-Thanksgiving stupors? I'm not quite out of mine, yet...but life moves on!

My girls talked me into a bit of Black Friday shopping--lured me into Kohl's, of all places! We didn't even get there till afternoon, and the lines still went to the back of the store! Oh, well...we got some great deals! (Some of them were sneaky Mom purchases for Christmas...shhhh! don't tell the girls!)

Here's a couple of pictures that I promised of our Banana Salad from yesterday--turned out pretty, and was oh, so delicious!

Yum!!!

The other day, as I went from blog to blog, visiting my lovely new friends in Blogland, it struck me how much like the old art of making calls this really is! If you read much Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, or so many of the other great classic authors, much time in the characters' lives is spent in properly making calls to others...if done incorrectly, it was a real social mistake!

I'm glad we don't have rules and regulations for our visits to each other, but it certainly is a pleasant social past time, just like long ago...and important to visit, make kind comments along the way, encourage others beautiful work, and just enjoy making new friendships! It really is a new kind of social interaction that we have here--very interesting, isn't it?

I did a little looking around about this beautiful old custom, and found some interesting things to share with you. I'd also like to, as we visit about this, share some lovely examples of old calling cards that I found online.

Did you know that there were actually rules that dictated how visits were made, and the proper ways to leave your card? Such as:

"...when you came to town, you drove around with your footman to the houses of those you wished to notify of your presence." The footman would then bring your card up to the house, give it to the butler, who would put your card on a salver in the front hall, which held all the cards which other visitors had left--you could see if anyone "important" had called there, also!
"It was understood that the lady of the house was then socially obliged to return a card to you, or, if she wished, she could make a call and actually visit you. A call, of course, counted for more than the mere leaving of a card."

If you personally "called" on someone, however, you risked rejection--the lady of the house could peer downstairs and tell her butler that she was "not at home"--meaning, in reality, that she had no wish to visit with you...ouch!

(Quotes taken from one of my favorite books, "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" by Daniel Pool--great book!)

This all reminds me of another favorite movie, of course! "Emma" by Jane Austen...can't get enough of this one! There are two versions I own and love...here are images of both:

So much of the story line of "Emma" involves making and receiving calls....some of them less welcome and polite than others! I think Miss Austen had a lot of fun exposing that part of her society!

I really love both versions...both bring out different parts of the novel in beautiful ways. If you haven't seen one or the other, please do! There's a new one coming in January to PBS--Mobil Masterpiece Theatre strikes again--so excited! My British friends have already seen it, haven't you? I've heard it's absolutely wonderful--and much longer than the other two--what joy!

Lastly, a little Christmas card I made today--haven't had glitter sprinkled around the house for two whole days! That's just not right!


Love the Kraft cardstock glittered up--prettier than I thought it might be! This sweet snowy image is from Crafty Secrets' "Christmas" Images & Journal Notes booklet. I FINALLY got Martha Stewart's new loopy edge & corner punches--love them (see, Julie?!)

I'm really enjoying masking off a portion of the area and just using spray glue--so quick and easy--the glitter sticks so well, and it dries so much faster than regular glue.

Well, that's all for tonight...off to throw my Thanksgiving casserole together and stick it in the oven--the natives are getting restless! Hard to believe anyone could be hungry today after yesterday's feast! I'll show you my casserole tomorrow--my family would actually prefer it to the original meal!

Hope your evening is wonderful, warm, and full of family and friends! Good night!