OF OLD NEW YORK
DOOR-PLATES.
Harold Seton
In Munsey's Magazine, July, 1919.
A charming custom, to be sure,
These bits of burnished brass
On which one's name would long endure
To tell the folks who pass
That you are you, and I am I,
And this our home! Therefore
One has good cause to heave a sigh
That door-plates are no more!
Once families passed all their lives
Within the selfsame walls;
But when modernity arrives.
Conservatism palls.
"Come, let us scan some other streets.
New neighborhoods explore!"
These are the arguments one meets,
And door-plates are no more!
We would not need them in a flat;
We always move each year;
If we unscrewed them, after that
From landlords we should hear!
Yes, there are customs quaint and old
That I would fain restore;
But other people scoff and scold.
So door-plates are no more!
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