Christmas cards and decorations collection, 1878-ca. 1950.

ArchivalResource

Christmas cards and decorations collection, 1878-ca. 1950.

Christmas cards and decorations collection, 1878-ca. 1950.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/261233665

The collection includes Christmas cards, ornaments, decorations, brochures advertising Christmas lights, the "Roly-Poly Christmas Book" for 1901 (a supplement to the New York World), three photos, and a gift box. The cards are of various sorts. A few are postcards; some are trimmed with fringe; one is made to hold a coin; tucked inside another is a Santa Claus figure with a propeller that could be made to fly when the card was opened; and a couple have calendars attached. There are a few shaped cards: star, wishbone, harp, bell, fan. Some have holiday designs, and those that do not bear Christmas greetings. Two, however, contain generic greetings and may not have been Christmas cards at all. A couple of the cards are samples. Some cards are large and others are small. One group may have been homemade, as the sender's and recipient's names are cut into the paper. Some cards were printed by Raphael Tuck & Sons, S. Hildersheimer & Co., L. Prang, and others, although most were not marked with a name. The ornaments are made from tinsel, chromolithograph scraps, and various kinds of paper. Most of the ornaments appear to have been homemade, but there are some that were ready-made. The figures in one group of decorations have picks attached so they could be made to stand up if the picks were inserted into something like styrofoam. Two photographs show Christmas trees in homes; another photo shows a dining room decorated for the season.

5 boxes : ill.

Winterthur Library