It’s December! Season’s greetings!
Christmas is coming and I thought I’d share some charming Christmas cards to begin the festivities. I’m going to attempt an historically themed #Blogmas – but we’ll see how that progresses throughout the month.
Above is an English language Christmas card in the early art nouveau style – there is no reference to country of origin, however, it is included in my selection as a beautiful example of a very early twentieth century card without the features you would traditionally expect to see on a Christmas card.
Above is an example of a German language Christmas card from 1901. Frohliche Weihnachten translates to ‘Merry Christmas’ – so the internet tells me. This card contains many of the images we expect to see in a traditional Christmas card; evergreens, a snow scene, a church and people dressed in Victorian clothing.
In the above card we have the seasonally ubiquitous holly and berries, fir trees, a snow-topped building and a snowy vista, clearly a design of card that would become very familiar throughout the twentieth century.
The above card is from the Robin Wilson family archive. It was posted in Stair, Scotland by Minnie Cuningham Montgomerie and is dated December 1901. It is made of the familiar themes of snowy landscapes and the iconic and always popular, robin redbreast.
Do you still send ‘Season’s Greetings’ with a traditional Christmas card?
Do you send e-cards or post on social media?
Or have you given up or never started, sending cards and think why bother?
Images: Wikimedia Commons
HistorianRuby: An Historian's Miscellany 
Very interesting and unique cards.
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Thanks – I’ve a few more card posts. I had tried to choose the fun/unusual/strange ones, that are also historic! 🙂
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👍🙏
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I still send traditional cards but only to friends and family that live far from me – that I will not actually see over the holiday season. It takes some time but I still write a short personal note inside. That’s one thing I hate about media today – just getting a happy birthday on FB seems to require no effort. Thanks for sharing the cards. Very interesting.
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I’ve fluctuated with card sending the last few years. I’m so tempted to give it a miss this year and only send to the over 80s!
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I still do a small stack of cards with short notes inside. And we receive a similarly small stack!
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My card pile is getting smaller every year. I’m tempted to just do a Facebook Merry Christmas and send only to my mother and 2 remaining uncles. Probably, if following other years, I’ll have a panic the week before and post several to brothers and sisters and in-laws etc.
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I stopped over ten years ago…..now I just get one card always from the same friend the only one who hasn’t given up, but then she isn’t on Facebook. She must get the pleasure in doing it…..whereas for many people it is often just another chore. I can remember my parents getting so many Christmas cards years ago they had some kind of circular rotating stand to hold them all, and when I was a kid we used to string them around the room.
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I used to send about 60 – now it’s about 20. I must admit I do find it a chore, my husband has never been interested in card writing and wouldn’t do it if I asked him! I get cards from the same few people, now, year on year, I feel guilty if I don’t send to those as they have made the effort to post a card to me.
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What beautiful old cards, thanks for sharing them. I do still send cards but to a reduced number of people these days. Apart from the time it takes to write them, the stamps are so expensive!
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It’s funny how it doesn’t seem to be a regular practice these days – I don’t think my kidults have sent cards since their school days.
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I was never really a cards fan. Maybe because I quickly realized that I would run out of space if I collected all of them. And it just made me uneasy throwing them out.
I think last year my Reader was filled with “Blogmas” posts. This time around, I think you’re the first/ only one. Or maybe it’s because I haven’t done a proper look around just yet. Good luck with that!
Also, how big is your house? I.e. Where do you store all these history things?
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Small terrace house and a very full loft!
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Love these! Its such a beautiful tradition, but one I’m guilty of slacking on!
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These are beautiful! Where do you find this stuff??
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Wikimedia commons – it’s generally a free to use source. I use it a fair amount when I’m not using my own photos. I use Pinterest too, but sometimes it’s hard to be sure of the authenticity of the information.
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Ah – I’ve never searched around in there much but I should! I’m glad you take the time to share stuff like this 🙂
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I love antique Christmas cards and have a couple myself. How interesting to see the one with spring flowers like violets on it. I still send out cards and love receiving them.
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