19th Century Pickup Cards Used By Men Before On Women They Like

By | August 19, 2016

Around 1870s to 1880s, long before online dating, men used pickup cards and hand them to women they found attractive. As Alan Mays, a collector of such cards, puts it: “the cards were used by the less formal male in approaches to the less formal female.”

The best part was how these "gentlemen" found plenty of ways to work clever jokes and insinuations into their pickup cards. Think Barney Stinson, with an old-timey swag.

19 century pick up lines - business cards 1

Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

19 century pick up lines - business cards 10

Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

19 century pick up lines - business cards 13

Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays

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Alan Mays