In the old days, Santa Claus would gather up bad children, toss them in his basket, and whisk them away to the North Pole to serve as his slaves. That’s where the legend of Santa’s elves came from.
Showing posts with label cards & postcards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cards & postcards. Show all posts
November 29, 2020
November 22, 2020
In 1843, Inventor Henry Cole Created the Very First Christmas Card
This is the world’s first commercial Christmas card. It was commissioned by Henry Cole in 1843. 1,000 of these Christmas cards were printed, and Cole used as many as he required before selling the rest for 6d (sixpence) each. This price that made them a luxury item, unavailable to the working class.
This advert for the card appeared in the Athenaeum paper:
Cole’s diary entry for 17 December 1843 records, “In the Evg Horsley came & brought his design for Christmas Cards”. Horsley’s design depicts three generations of the Cole family raising a toast in a central, hand-colored panel surrounded by a decorative trellis and black and white scenes depicting acts of giving; the twofold message was of celebration and charity. Cole then commissioned a printer to transfer the design onto cards, printing a thousand copies that could be personalized with a hand-written greeting. Horsley himself personalized his card to Cole by drawing a tiny self-portrait in the bottom right corner instead of his signature, along with the date “Xmasse, 1843”.
Cole’s Christmas card was also published and offered for sale at a shilling a piece, which was expensive at the time, and the venture was judged a commercial flop. But the 1840s was a period of change, with Prince Albert introducing various German Christmas traditions to the British public, including the decorated Christmas tree.
Cole may have been ahead of his time but the commercialization of Christmas was on its way, prompted by developments in the publishing industry. More affordable Christmas gift-books and keepsakes were aimed at the growing middle classes, and authors responded to the trend: Charles Dickens wrote Christmas themed stories for Household Words and All the Year Round and published A Christmas Carol in 1843. By the 1870s the Christmas trend was firmly established.
(via Victoria and Albert Museum)
 |
| The world’s first commercially produced Christmas card, designed by John Callcott Horsley for Henry Cole in 1843. |
This advert for the card appeared in the Athenaeum paper:
“Just published. A Christmas Congratulation Card: or picture emblematical of Old English Festivity to Perpetuate kind recollections between Dear Friends.”Henry Cole (1808 – 1882) was a prominent civil-servant, educator, inventor and the first director of the V&A. In the 1840s, he was instrumental in reforming the British postal system, helping to set up the Uniform Penny Post which encouraged the sending of seasonal greetings on decorated letterheads and visiting cards. Christmas was a busy time in the Cole household and with unanswered mail piling up, a timesaving solution was needed. Henry turned to his friend, artist John Callcott Horsley to illustrate his idea.
Cole’s diary entry for 17 December 1843 records, “In the Evg Horsley came & brought his design for Christmas Cards”. Horsley’s design depicts three generations of the Cole family raising a toast in a central, hand-colored panel surrounded by a decorative trellis and black and white scenes depicting acts of giving; the twofold message was of celebration and charity. Cole then commissioned a printer to transfer the design onto cards, printing a thousand copies that could be personalized with a hand-written greeting. Horsley himself personalized his card to Cole by drawing a tiny self-portrait in the bottom right corner instead of his signature, along with the date “Xmasse, 1843”.
 |
| Greetings card, John Callcott Horsley, 1843, England. Museum no. MSL.3293-1987. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. |
Cole’s Christmas card was also published and offered for sale at a shilling a piece, which was expensive at the time, and the venture was judged a commercial flop. But the 1840s was a period of change, with Prince Albert introducing various German Christmas traditions to the British public, including the decorated Christmas tree.
Cole may have been ahead of his time but the commercialization of Christmas was on its way, prompted by developments in the publishing industry. More affordable Christmas gift-books and keepsakes were aimed at the growing middle classes, and authors responded to the trend: Charles Dickens wrote Christmas themed stories for Household Words and All the Year Round and published A Christmas Carol in 1843. By the 1870s the Christmas trend was firmly established.
(via Victoria and Albert Museum)
November 21, 2020
45 Amazing Posters by Leonetto Cappiello in the Early 20th Century
Born 1875 in Livorno, Tuscany, Italian-French poster art designer and painter Leonetto Cappiello mainly lived and worked in Paris. He is now often called ‘the father of modern advertising’ because of his innovation in poster design.
 |
| Posters by Leonetto Cappiello |
The early advertising poster was characterized by a painterly quality as evidenced by early poster artists Jules Chéret, Alfred Choubrac and Hugo D'Alesi. Cappiello, like other young artists, worked in a way that was almost the opposite of his predecessors. He was the first poster artist to use bold figures popping out of black backgrounds, a startling contrast to the posters early norm.
Over the course of his career, Cappiello produced more than 530 advertising posters. He died in 1942 at the age of 66. Today, his original posters are still collected, sold at auction and by dealers around the world.
Here below is a set of amazing posters designed by Leonetto Cappiello from between the 1900s and 1930s.
ABSINTHE Extra-Superieure, 1900 
Absinthe Gempp Pernod, 1900 
Biscuits H Lalo Amandines de Provence, 1900 
Absinthe Ducros Fils, 1901 
Corset Le Furet, 1901
November 6, 2020
30 Amazing Postcards Show Chocolate Advertisements in the Early 20th Century
The history of chocolate began in Mesoamerica. Fermented beverages made from chocolate date back to 450 BC. Originally prepared only as a drink, chocolate was served as a bitter liquid, mixed with spices or corn puree. It was believed to be an aphrodisiac and to give the drinker strength.
Today, such drinks are also known as “Chilate” and are made by locals in the South of Mexico. After its arrival to Europe in the sixteenth century, sugar was added to it and it became popular throughout society, first among the ruling classes and then among the common people.
In the 20th century, chocolate was considered essential in the rations of United States soldiers during war.
The word “chocolate” comes from the Classical Nahuatl word Xocolātl, and entered the English language from the Spanish language.
Here below is a set of amazing postcards that shows chocolate advertisements from between the 1900s and 1920s.
 |
| “After all - Bournville Cocoa is the best!” |
 |
| Black Magic Chocolates |
 |
| Bovril Chocolate |
 |
| Cadbury's Chocolate |
 |
| Cadbury's Chocolates |
November 5, 2020
Outside of American Restaurants in the Late 1950s and ’60s Through Amazing Postcards
By the end of the 1950s, casual dining prevails, both at home and in public, yet interest in new dining experiences, luxury, and exotic cuisines is apparent. The restaurant industry looks forward to a bright future.
During the 1960s, Americans grew wealthier, traveled more, and demanded more exotic cuisine. Yet there were few trained restaurant cooks. Convenience food offered the solution for many restaurants as the decade wore on.
In other developments, old restaurant formats such as automats, diners, cafeterias, and drive-ins disappeared or shrank drastically in numbers. Fast food and dinner house chains, relatively scarce at the beginning of the decade, flourished by its end.
These amazing postcards from Ryan Khatam that show outside of American restaurants in the late 1950s and 1960s.
 |
| Arizona. Helsing's Restaurant, Phoenix |
 |
| Arizona. Huck Finns Restaurant, Phoenix |
 |
| California. Chucks Pancake House, Placerville |
 |
| California. Cliff House and Seal Rocks, San Francisco |
 |
| California. Exposition No. 1 Restaurant, Fishermans Wharf, San Francisco |
November 2, 2020
These Vintage Postcards From 1906 Are Extremely Both Amusing and Quirky!
There was probably still a lot of stigma attached to divorce in most places in the early 20th century, that’s why these cards would have been both funny and a little outrageous at the time. They remind us of the pre-Edwardian idea that widows could live more freely than married women, without the disapprobation felt by divorcées and the condescension felt by spinsters.
According to the handwriting captions in Spanish on the postcards, these were sent to someone’s aunty, on the first of January 1906, on a happy day (presumably due to it being the New Year).
Each postcard is hand colored with Uruguayan postage stamps affixed to either the front or back. They are addressed to Blondina Carvallo in the city of Salto, Uruguay.
(via Mugshots and Miscellaneous)
According to the handwriting captions in Spanish on the postcards, these were sent to someone’s aunty, on the first of January 1906, on a happy day (presumably due to it being the New Year).
Each postcard is hand colored with Uruguayan postage stamps affixed to either the front or back. They are addressed to Blondina Carvallo in the city of Salto, Uruguay.
 |
| Enamorada – In Love |
 |
| Novia – Girlfriend (Engaged) |
 |
| Casada – Married |
 |
| Divorciada – Divorced |
(via Mugshots and Miscellaneous)
October 28, 2020
40 Vintage Postcards Show How California Has Changed Since the Mid-1950s
At the end of World War II, many Americans began to move out of the cities and into the suburbs. In response to chronic housing shortages, the federal government offered generous home loans to war veterans, and tax benefits for home ownership.
Aggressive building of highway systems and the parallel rise in automobile ownership contributed to the development of communities well beyond urban centers. These and other incentives effectively jump-started the modern era of the single-family suburban home and the suburban revolution.
California was no exception. Between 1950 and 1970, the nation’s suburban population doubled (from 36 million to 74 million residents), with 83 percent of the nation’s growth in the suburbs. California’s abundant land, cheap labor, and mild climate put it in the vanguard of the new housing movement.
These amazing postcards from Alberta Mayo were taken by Frank J. Thomas that show street scenes of California in the mid-1950s.
 |
| Glendale. Brand Boulevard |
 |
| Glendale. Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
 |
| Arroyo Seco Parkway |
 |
| Burbank. NBC Color Television Studios |
 |
| Hollywood. Entrance to Hollywood Bowl |
October 8, 2020
40 Cool Photos of Halloween Cards From Edwardian Era
A Halloween card is a greeting card associated with Halloween. The concept originated in the 1890s United States, experiencing a peak of popularity there in the early 1900s.
 |
| Halloween cards from Edwardian era |
Until the advent of the common home telephone, Halloween cards occupied a role similar to Christmas cards and birthday cards.
Today, many cards from the popular designers of the period are sought after as memorabilia.
Here below is a set of cool vintage photos from Alan Mays that show Halloween cards in the 1900s and early 1910s.
 |
| A Hallowe'en Wish |
 |
| A Halloween party at the set of sun |
 |
| A Jolly Hallowe'en |
 |
| A Joyous Thanksgiving |
 |
| A Merry Halloween |
 |
| A Witch with a Veggie Chauffeur in a Halloween Melon-mobile |
 |
| Am on a flying trip. Will see you soon, G.S. |
 |
| Apples for bobbin |
 |
| Bringing Home the Halloween Pumpkin |
 |
| Come spooking with me on Hallowe’en |
 |
| Hallowe'en Greeting |
 |
| Hallowe'en Greeting |
 |
| Hallowe'en Greetings. Frances Brundage |
 |
| Hallowe'en. Uncertainly. Hope. Despair. Happy ever after |
 |
| Hallowe'en |
 |
| Halloween – “Friendly Fairy, Witch, or Fay, Fulfill the Wish You Wish Today” |
 |
| Halloween Pranks |
 |
| Halloween Pumpkinheads at the Gate |
 |
| Happy Halloween, You Turkey! |
 |
| Happy surreal Halloween |
 |
| Have a devilishly happy Halloween |
 |
| Ho! For a Happy Halloween |
 |
| Jack-o'-Lantern Scarecrow and Witch with Crescent Moon |
 |
| May Love Light Your Halloween Lantern! |
 |
| May This Be Your Luck on Halloween |
 |
| May your Hallowe'en be weird and witchy |
 |
| O, is my true love tall and grand? O, is my sweetheart bonny? |
 |
| Oh! Goodness! This must mean--'tis Hallowe'en! |
 |
| Out for Mischief |
 |
| Pumpkinhead Boy with Witch and Black Cat |
 |
| The Joys of Halloween Be Yours |
 |
| Watch for Ghosts When Halloween Comes |
 |
| What the boys did to the cow |
 |
| What the Pig tho't of the Ghost |
 |
| Whirl-O Halloween Fortune and Stunt Game |
 |
| Wishing You a Lucky Halloween |
 |
| Witch and black cat on a broomstick |
 |
| Witch and jack-o'-lantern card for Helene |
 |
| Woman with Bowl and Jack-o'-Lanterns |
 |
| You Auto Have a Happy Hallowe'en |
