Little-Known Local New Year’s Lore

Small New Year’s calling cards were used by young men in Astoria in the early 1900s, while calling on ladies they hoped to court, according to Queens historian Vincent Seyfried. The cards listed an address or other contact for the men, who were often chosen by family or friends to call on the young women, Seyfried said.

Each year on January 2, dubbed “Ladies Day”, the young women decided which men to whom they would send a response. Some of the women responded to their male callers with cards of their own, decorated with floral bouquets and messages of love or affection.

Still today, people make New Year’s calls to friends, family and loved ones–a faint reminder of the 107-yearold Astoria tradition.

What might have been the first New Year’s Eve celebration in Gazette country was held in 1852, when more than 200 folks from Astoria and Long Island City gathered at a Ball and Supper catered by Astoria’s Henry Hunt, Seyfried said.

Hunt entertained the group at a hotel located on Astoria Boulevard near 21st Street, where he served ice cream and cake he prepared at his Long Island City shop.

The group was entertained with holiday tunes performed by the Astoria Brass Band, a well-known and muchrevered troupe of performers. Subsequent New Year’s Eve celebrations were held at the Town Hall on Broadway in Long Island City, most in the form of a grand ball or other formal gathering, Seyfried said.—Liz Goff