First Grand Fancy and Citizens’ Dress Ball of the William Penn Library Association ... Chester [Pennsylvania] 1860. [ticket]

“We Strive to Improve Our Leisure Moments”


Ticket to a ball held for the benefit of the William Penn Library Association of Chester, Pennsylvania. At its head, these words: “We Strive to Improve Our Leisure Moments.”

The “First Grand Fancy and Citizens’ Dres Ball” was held in late Winter 1860. The event was both an evening of pleasure and socializing as well as an opportunity raise money for the library named for William Penn, the first Proprietor of Pennsylvania who arrived in his colony in 1682 at Chester.

The ticket lists a large, all-male committee of managers, including Floor Manager Edward C.R. Lewis. Lewis’ initials and the abbreviation “Sec.,” likely for secretary, are written in a contemporary hand on the back.

In 1862, the William Penn Library Association had 400 volumes in its collection.¹


Description: [William Penn Library Association]. First Grand Fancy and Citizens’ Dress Ball of the William Penn Library Association ... Chester [Pennsylvania] 1860. [ticket]

Chester [Pennsylvania], February 24, 1860. [1]p. Ticket or Card of Admission. Approx. 2½ x 4 inches. Salmon colored coated-stock paper; letterpress printed with metallic ink. Numbered in ink on recto; ink inscription “E C R L, Sec.” on verso. Modest rubbing to upper surface, not affecting legibility; good.

[3726703]

Note. 1. Smith, History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania… (Philadelphia, 1862), p560.


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