New York Mystery Cards

[talesofthesevenseas]

A friend of mine in NY State has over 100 little cards, all printed with names of towns in NY State. Does anyone know what these might have been used for? They look like calling cards to me, but why town names? Maybe these were used to teach children the names of towns like flash cards?

[talesofthesevenseas]

They were found with the brown one on top and the lot of them were all in alphabetical order and tied with string. The string marks are visible on the brown card, to give you a sense of their age. They are just about the size of business cards, but with rounded edges.

[Rauville]

Just a couple of years ago I  had an oak carrying case, hinged to open up like a book to reveal the interior which was fitted with alphabetical marked cubicles sized to these very cards. Mine had a set of similar cards relating to my home state. The case had a metal nameplate with the manufacturers name, patent date, and the following information: "U.S. Post Office Postal Clerk Test Unit".
Apparently this was how the government tested the skills of their postal employees or hopefull job seekers at one time.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Ahhhhhh! That would make sense! I will pass this along to the lady with the cards. Thanks Rauville!

[KC]

Seems others used them as well....

"And, for yet another bonus yesterday, I came across some very cool cards with what I thought were city names printed on one side. They have incredible vintage color along the edges. I was disappointed to find pencil or ink notations added to some sort of abbreviations on the back of about half.
Well, I did a bit of research and they're actually a kind of flash card. They were used by new-hires of the railroad mail cards, to learn the names and locations of the various post offices along a route. The notations on the back are basically study notes. The things you learn..."
http://greenpaper.typepad.com/green/2008/03/