Have you heard of collectible Dance Cards?

First introduced in the early 18th Century and popular until the
mid-20th Century, dance cards were used by women to record
the names of men who requested a dance with them at a ball.

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 The earliest forms of dance notations were sterling
silver pendants which contained small cards.

 Cards or booklets featured a cord which held a pencil or
pen and was worn on the wrist for easy reference.

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Some ladies used a question-and-answer game that required prospective

dance partners to answer a riddle before being granted a dance.

Finding a dance card with the original pencil
or pen attached to the cord is rare.

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Parisian dance booklet from 1909:

'7th Annual Festival
in the Rooms of the Porte-Doree
Saturday, February 13, 1909
275-277  Daumesnil Avenue
PROM NIGHT
Full Orchestra'

This is what the Paris address looks like today.


In 1926, Betsey Dunn attended a dance in Pittsfield,
MA, and made some interesting notes:

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She wrote that dance partner #5, Arnold Whitman, was
'missing a tooth' and #11, Ted Reynolds, must have been
short because he was described as a 'pip squeak.'

This flyer from the Philharmonique Society of Paris was sent with
the invitation so that attendees could plan their strategy for the ball: 



An unusual dance card in the shape of a shoe from a ball
given by the Twilight Social Club on August 14, 1874:

In place of a dance card a Victorian lady might have used a fan with
slots in which to write their partners' names beside a specific dance,
i.e., waltz, polka, quadrille, etc.

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Estate sales are good venues for finding mid-20th Century dance cards.
But to find a treasure like the Civil War-era dance card fan pictured
above, you'll probably have to work through an antique dealer.

Antique dance cards are definitely Romantic Collectibles.
Happy Hunting!