Rosanne
From about 1870's on there was a mania for thematic cards that could be swapped- the usually came in sets of 35. These were not the cigarette/pipe/hotel cards. They had meanings- like a code and you could send them to your friends or swap them. I think these cards might belong to this group rather than Fortune telling cards. Here is one from Sentimental Conversations. In England they were called Catchpenny cards. They all followed a theme.
http://literaturecompass.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/conversation-card1.JPG?w=450
Sometimes they had numbers at the top- sometimes not.
~Rosanne
http://literaturecompass.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/conversation-card1.JPG?w=450
Sometimes they had numbers at the top- sometimes not.
~Rosanne