SERIES: Pictorial History of the Sports and Pastimes of All Nations
SCENES: Courtship on horseback; dancing; fortune-telling
SIZE: 3" x 5"
ARTIST: Not signed, but reportedly Frances Brundage
DATE: 1893
LITHOGRAPHER: Kaufman & Strauss
CONDITION: Very good, I'd say. This card is generally only very lightly soiled, though there's a small transparent spot stain in the top edge, just left of center. The edges are just slightly worn and the corners all have very tiny creases. (Please see scans.)
MULTIPLE ITEM SHIPPING DISCOUNT: I will ship up to 4 cards for the single base shipping charge shown. For purchases of more than 4 cards, the shipping charge will increase by just a small increment for every 4 additional cards.
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REVERSE TEXT: GYPSY.
THE Gypsies have from time immemorial been a people without a country. For them there have never been rooftrees and homes. They wander from place to place, and pitch their tents, and lo, when one is beginning to be accustomed to their presence, they are gone again. By what means they live is a mystery, but it is shrewdly suspected that petty thievery is their main support. They are a wild, uncouth rabble, but be it said in their favor, they do not seek much intercourse with other races. Among themselves they are quite jolly.
There is not an old Gypsy woman who cannot read your future if but you cross her palm with gold. Your good fortune will invariable be in proportion to how richly you have tipped her. She divines by the aid of cards, or by palmistry and numerous other ways.
Oftentimes when the day is over, by the light of the fitful campfires, the Gypsy men and women indulge in a wild and weird dance. They are all born musicians of a crude kind, and the lute, mandolin or guitar furnish them with melody.
The courtship of the Gypsies is rude and primitive generally. Where there are rivals for the maiden's favor often a race is arranged. She flies from her suitors, they follow, and he is successful who first reaches her and wrests a kiss from her lips.
The Gypsy men are inveterate card-players and petty gamblers.
