Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

VISITING CARD CASE

Date

1912-13

Materials

SILVER, PAPER

No. Pieces

5

Description

1. SILVER CARD CASE: 9.5CM X 6.5CM X0.6CM SILVER CASE WITH SILVER CHAIN. CASE IS THIN WITH FRONT TOP FLAP. FLAP IS HINGED TO BACK WITH SILVER SPRING LOADED HINGE. BOTTOM EDGE OF FRONT FLAP HAS TWO RAISED LIPS. ENGRAVED IN FANCY STYLIZED LETTERS IS "SCR". SILVER MARKS ARE STAMPED INTO BACK. THEY ARE LION PASSANT, AN ANCHOR, THE LETTER "O" AND THE MAKERS MARK - "CM" WITH A DOT BETWEEN THE LETTERS. ON INSIDE OF FRONT FLAP ARE THE LETTER "O" AND THE LION PASSANT. SILVER CHAIN IS ATTACHED TO SIDES OF CASE AND HAS LARGE CIRCULAR LOOP AT CENTER. CASE IS DENTED AND HAS SLIGHT AMOUNTS OF TARNISH. 2. CALLING CARD: 7.5CM X 4CM WHITE PAPER CARD WITH CALLIGRAPHY WRITING WHICH READS "MR. SIDNEY C. ROBSON". THERE ARE THREE CARDS, ALL IDENTICAL. 3. CALLING CARD: 8.2CM X 5.6CM WHITE PAPER CARD WITH CALLIGRAPHY WRITING WHICH READS "MRS. SIDNEY C. ROBSON".

Subjects

PERSONAL GEAR

Historical Association

LEISURE

BUSINESS

History

SILVER MARKS INDICATE CASE WAS MADE IN BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND IN 1913-14. MAKER'S MARKS ARE UNKNOWN. ARTIFACT WAS DISCOVERED IN CONSERVATION LAB WITH NO DOCUMENTATION OR OTHER ASSOCIATIONS BUT WAS ACCEPTED INTO PERMANENT COLLECTION BY ACCESSION COMMITTEE. DOROTHY CHARLOTTE ROBSON (NEE BENTLEY), MARRIED TO SYDNEY CECIL ROBSON, WAS THE DAUGHTER OF 1890S LETHBRIDGE MAYOR HARRY BENTLEY. THE ROBSONS WERE, FOR A TIME, RESIDENTS OF LETHBRIDGE IN THE 1920S. ***ON 19 DECEMBER 2014, COLLECTIONS STAFF SUBMITTED TEXT COPY RELATED TO THIS OBJECT TO LETHBRIDGE LIVING MAGAZINE AS PART OF ITS WHAT’S IT CONTEST FEATURE. THAT COPY IS IN FULL IMMEDIATELY BELOW. FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE ROBSONS AND THIS CARD CASE, PLEASE SEE THIS ARTIFACT’S PERMANENT FILE. ATTACHED DOCUMENTS INCLUDE A COPY OF THE EMAIL RECEIVED FROM THE CARD CASE FORUM ON 10 NOVEMBER 2013. THIS “VISITING CARD CASE” OR “CALLING CARD CASE” IS AN EXAMPLE OF A PARTIALLY DISASSOCIATED ARTIFACT. THE GALT KNOWS NOTHING OF HOW OR WHEN IT CAME INTO ITS POSSESSION. HOWEVER, THE CASE ITSELF PROVIDES CLUES INTO ITS RICH, LOCAL PAST. IN ADDITION TO BEING INSCRIBED WITH THE MONOGRAM “SCR” AND DISPLAYING ABUNDANT MANUFACTURER MARKS, IT CONTAINS TWO “CALLING CARDS” — ONE FOR “MR. SYDNEY C. ROBSON” AND ONE FOR “MRS. SYDNEY C. ROBSON”. DURING LETHBRIDGE’S FORMATIVE YEARS AND INTO THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY, CALLING CARDS WERE CRITICAL TOOLS OF PROTOCOL, USED TO MANAGE SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN THE MIDDLE AND HIGHER CLASSES OF LETHBRIDGE SOCIETY. IN LATE 2013, THE CARD CASE FORUM, BASED IN THE UK, TOLD THE GALT THAT, “THIS IS INDEED A LADY'S VISITING CARD CASE”. BY ASSESSING THE MARKINGS ON THE CASE, THE FORUM DETERMINED ITS ORIGINS TO BE IN BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, THE CENTRE OF JEWELLERY TRADE AND THE LOCATION WHERE THE FIRST VISITING CARD CASES WERE MADE. CARD CASES IN PRECIOUS METALS, ACCORDING TO THE FORUM, WERE “STATUS SYMBOLS”, CARRIED IN A CONSPICUOUS MANNER BY “LADIES WHO WERE KEEN TO DISPLAY THEIR WEALTH, TASTE AND SENSE OF DECORUM”. THIS CASE IS MARKED WITH THE LION RAMPANT, WHICH MEANS THAT ITS SILVER IS .925 QUALITY. THE MARRIAGE OF LETHBRIDGE-BASED MS. DOROTHY C. BENTLEY TO MR. SYDNEY C. ROBSON IS BELIEVED TO HAVE OCCURRED IN 1911. THIS DATE COMPLIMENTS THE CASE ON THE AUTHORITY OF THE FORUM, WHICH DATED THE HALLMARK LETTER ‘O’ ON THE CASE TO BE 1912-13. ADDRESS DIRECTORIES FROM THE PERIOD SHOW THAT THE NEWLYWED COUPLE RESIDED IN LETHBRIDGE FROM THE MID 1910S TO THE EARLY 1920S. MR. SYDNEY C ROBSON WAS EMPLOYED AS AN ASSISTANT ACCOUNTANT AT A LOCAL BANK WHILE HIS WIFE DOROTHY (MRS. SYDNEY C ROBSON) WAS A STENOGRAPHER WITH THE CITY. ASIDE FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE OCCUPATIONS, HOWEVER, THE ROBSON’S MAIN SOCIAL STATUS IN LETHBRIDGE WAS LIKELY DERIVED FROM DOROTHY’S FATHER, HARRY BENTLEY. FOR TWO PERIODS IN THE 1890S, BENTLEY SERVED AS ONE OF LETHBRIDGE’S EARLIEST MAYORS. HE WAS ALSO ONE OF THE CITY’S EARLIEST ENTREPRENEURS AND GENERAL MERCHANTS.

Catalogue Number

P19960000002

Acquisition Date

1996-01

Collection

Museum

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