Admission Card to the Philadelphia Assemblies of 1872

Philadelphia, 1872. Fine. 1 card (7.2 x 12 cm.) printed on one side: "Assemblies. Foyer of the Academy of Music." Langhorn Wister's name is written in as the person to be admitted. The names of the patronesses are printed: Mrs. Hartman Kuhn, Mrs. Harry McCall, Mrs. Charles Macalater, Jr., Mrs. Francis Peters, Mrs. George Blight, and Mrs. Edward Merrell. With this is a light pink sheet (16 x 12 cm.), folded and printed with the dates (Mon. Jan. 15, Tues. Jan. 30, and Thurs. Feb. 8) and times. The music began at 9:00, the German Cotillion was at 12:00, and the balls ended at 3:00. The Dancing Assembly of Philadelphia, also known as "The Assemblies," was established in the winter of 1748-49. Remaining an annual tradition into the 21st century, the Assembly Ball is the oldest continuously operating subscription dance in the United States. To attend one either had to be a subscriber (a person invited, who pays a fee to attend) or be sponsored by a subscriber. After the Civil War, the Assemblies were held at the Academy of Music until 1904, when it moved to the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. Langhorne Wesley Wister (1834-1891) was the son of William Wister and Sarah Logan Fisher Wister and served as a Brev. Brig. Gen. in the Civil War. No year is given; 1872, 1877, and 1883 are the years in which the calendar corresponds to the dates given between the end of the Civil War and Wister's death. In Fine Condition: clean and crisp.