The earliest pick up artists? Victorian era "game" cards

http://gizmodo.com/young-people-used-these-absurd-little-cards-to-get-laid-1751387386?utm_source=recirculation&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=wednesdayPM

20 June 1837 - 22 January 1901


Victorians loved to communicate via calling card. It was the proper, dignified way to communicate with other people. But wouldn’t you know, young people just had to mess it up. Check out these oh so risque Victorian flirtation cards.

Calling cards came into widespread use in the mid-1800s, when the middle class was trying to acquire a bit of an upper class finish, and when it became feasible for everyone to print up and carry around personalized bits of paper. They lingered for longer than you expect. One woman mentions in a memoir that her grandmother carried calling cards into the 1940s. The cards could be an elaborate communication device. Folding down different corners of the card let the receiver know when the giver would be in for a visit, or when they would be away. There were mourning cards, cards for different celebrations, and of course dance cards. All of them were a kind of social gauntlet—a formal way of getting acquainted and keeping in touch.

Which makes these so surprising.