Kiss Verses BY the Million.

Otago Witness, Issue 2561, 15 April 1903, Page 71

Kiss Verses BY the Million.

Do you know what s kiss verse is? No. Well, neither did I until I went to America, where they are made. A kiss verse is what is known in England as a motto, and in New York they^ure turned out by the million. They are made up in packages ot 50,000 and dispatched to every part of the world where English, French, and German are spoken, these being the only languages in whicli they are printed. The kiss verse is Ac most populai thjng in New York at the present time, and is as welcome in the Bowery as it is in Fifth Avenue.

No one knows who the author of the kiss verses are, and it is perhaps just as well Certainly the verses ars pretty old, and tho queer part abouf it is that the ones whfih were popular 20 years ' ago ar. the one. which are preferred to-day.

One large printing firm 'n New York, which does nothing all the year round but turn aut kis*. verses, prints, from the identical plates wnich were~ in. use 15 yean-. " "In 1890," said the business manager of this 2stablishment to the presen f writer, "I suggested to the proprietor tha* the old kiss verses might give way to something a little more modern ; but he 6aid, 'M> boy, if you did, you would kill the business. Folks like the old onea just as well, and perhaps better, and I'm no' going to make any experiments.' No, I don't know who wrote them aay more- than you 10. I guess no one does.

"The German and French mottoes whicli we now print were in use 50 years ago, and we li.3pateh many millions of them, to Berlin and Paris. No party in America, is considered complete without a plentiful! supply of kifs verses. There is to be a. grand bachelors' gathering to-night afc Sherry's, for which we have, received and executed a special kiss-verse order to go with the bonbons. There would be a big row if they were forgotten, and the caterer would soon hear of ife. , *. "Well,'no, the jtyle isn't, perhaps, e\actly literary, .but the^sentiment is all right. Nob much the matter with this one, is there ?-** < To chaff with a belle I like very well, * But to marry I'm not quite so haßty; As well as unfurl both ringlet and curl, My wife must learn to make pastry. Or this: — "I love" wfiere'ei "thou lovest" too, "We love" then we'll say and prove}'. And echoes shall repeat anew The blissful tale-of mutual -love. "Here is another that means business:.-^ Hark! Cupid calls; let us obey, Enjoy life ere it rolls away. "We suit oui mottoes to different fune-« tions. Here is one for a musical evening. You see, it is in the form of a -ong, though, I don't know that the sentiment is any different: — The kiss, dear maid, thy lip has left Shall never part from 'mine Till happie. hours restore the gift, Untainted, back to thine. "Here is one specially written for women, calculated, I think, to spoil them. Too much flattery, and yet we ."annot turn, them ou* quick enough : — Woman, lear woman, still the same, While lips are balm and 'ooks are flame;] While man possesses heart or eyes, Woman's kingdom nevei dies. "This k a sheet of French mottoes, and if you can 'parley-voo' a bit you will see tha every one is about love. They are all simple, but beautiful. No,, we don't send any kiss verses to Spain. They would have no sale in a country where a young woman isn't allowed to speak to a man unless she has an ancient female guardian on each side of her. The Germans arc great ones for kise verses. We send mor« mottoes to, Berlin than to New Zealand and Canada combined. • Id London-the kys verse ia popular, too, though not" generally known by this name. "We might possibly change the style of the kiss versa next season, but it is not ■very likely. Folks like to see the old ones turning up year after year, and any altera tion might jeopardise the trade, - o I think we'll leave it as it is."