The oversized busts of famous men opposite large buildings stood out on the postcards. The cards were imprinted with the words “Reward Card,” and I wanted to know what the reward was.
I asked the auction-house attendant for the tray with the stack of cards, and then went through them. The faces were those of famous composers and buildings representing their birthplaces. On the back of each card were details about them: name, birth and death dates, biography, an excerpt from one of their compositions, a facsimile of their signature and the publisher, Theo Presser Co., Philadelphia.
Googling, I learned that the Theodore Presser Co. sold these cards to music teachers at the turn of the 20th century to be handed out to students for good work. A 1913 ad for Presser showed that it was selling all kinds of music cards, including sets of composers from Russia, Italy, France and Northern Europe; great pianists, American conductors and historical post cards featuring noted composers.
The cards bore lithographic images (nine colors, the ad noted) and came in a set of 14, including a free Music Prize Card, a steel engraving with portraits of eight composers. The set sold for 50 cents.
The cards at auction had no date, but they were likely produced at the turn of the 20th century. On the web, I found one card that was said to be circa 1900 and others in a 1917 edition of Presser’s “The Etude” magazine. One website noted that other cards were published in the 1930s.
The cards at auction featured composers Robert Schumann, Johann Brahms, George Friederich Haendel (George Frideric Handel), Ludwig Van Beethoven, Giuseppe Verdi and Franz Von Liszt.
I’d come across reward cards before, but those were reward of merit cards for students who had done good work overall in their classes. Merit cards have been around for a few centuries, and the Presser company was merely continuing a tradition.
The company got started in 1883 when Theodore Presser began publishing “The Etude.”He had grown up in a musical family in Pittsburgh, PA, playing guitar with his brothers. He did not learn to play the piano until he was 19 under the tutelage of a Lutheran minister.
The magazine was written for music teachers and became very popular. Reward cards and other music sets were sold in ads in the publication.
After moving the operation to Philadelphia, Presser began publishing new music over the years and acquired other such companies. The Presser company continues to be a music publisher to this day in the Philadelphia region.
In 1906, Presser opened the Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers in Philadelphia. To enhance music education, he set up the Presser Foundation in his will before his death in 1925, but the foundation did not open until 1939.
The company also produced several musical card games, including “The Great Composers,” “Court of Music” and “Musical Authors.” For Christmas 1921, an ad in “The Etude” noted an array of gifts in addition to the card games: art engravings, prints, calendars, music satchels and music roll, as well as reward cards.
