Monday, December 17, 2012

Nostalgia: Vintage Christmas Card Countdown No. 2, When Bells are Ringing


Vintage Christmas Card No. 2, When Bells are Ringing

This vintage Christmas card from 1905 blends a late Victorian/early Edwardian Santa image (he's more serious than jolly and looks like a monk with no trim on his cap) with the elegant leaves and shapes of Art Nouveau.  The card is embossed and the Santa figure is a separate die cut image that is tucked into an opening in the front of the card, giving it a sense of depth and dimension.


The text is interesting because it is one of the first times that Christmas is abbreviated to the casual "Xmas."


The text inside is flat printed in a pale blue and reads:

Wishing You a Merry
and Happy Xmas

To-day the golden sunlight
Is fluff and broad and strong;
The glory of the One Light
Must overflow in song,
Song that floweth ever,
Sweeter every day,
Song whose echoes never, 
Never die away

And to my delight, on the back in pencil is this message:

With love and a Merry Christmas to May Fraiser
AP Bulger 
Dec 1905

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