Subseries 1 - Total Abstinence Society Pledge Cards

19 items; Printed with manuscript additions and annotations

The sub-series contains a collection of original Total Abstinence Society pledge cards. Most of the cards are signed by the pledge-taker and by Fr. Theobald Mathew OSFC. The cards were decorated with various temperance symbols and vignettes. An illustration on one side of the cards depicted a scene warning of the dangers of intemperance – a man driven by alcohol to beat his wife. Another illustration showed a scene of temperance – a happy family reading together by the hearth. The cards are listed in chronological order.