In 1909, the old fashioned Victorian trend of autograph albums had obviously grown a little bit dull. The new vogue was to collect 'autograph ghosts' from all the notables you encountered.
All the rage at society parties they were created by signing your name, in ink of course, and then folding the page. In pressing down to allow the ink to seep into the opposite facing page you created a 'ghost' of the signature. Similar to art work children do with watercolors based on created a reflected image.
Some notables practiced until just the right looking 'ghost' was created. Then, apparently, they were filed away in looseleaf folders or binders. Has anyone ever seen a collection of "ghosts"? They would make a fascinating display with biographies and images. The image above was captured from a newspaper of August 20, 1909 (The Yukon Sun). On this day....in 1909.
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