Thursday, June 30, 2011
Non-Christmasy Christmas Cards
These cards are from between the Civil War and WWI and there are no Christmas images on them. The only way you can tell they are Christmas Cards is by reading the greeting.
Ellen Clapsaddle vintage Halloween cards
Ellen Clapsaddle was a very popular illustrator in the early 20th century. She was a successful businesswoman and illustrated many postcards and greeting cards. Clapsaddle was noted for her drawings of cute children and these are a few of her Halloween kids.
Ellen Clapsaddle was an American illustrator, but most of her cards were produced in Germany, since the factories were better equipped to produce cards with the rich colors necessary.
Unfortunately, Clapsaddle was in Germany when WWI broke out. She was stranded in the country for the entire war. Her business partners borrowed money to go to Germany and find her as soon as the war was over. But Clapsaddle's health was broken by the experience and she pretty much lost her mind. Clapsaddle ended her life in an institution. But her legacy is the thousands of wonderful images she produced during her lifetime.
Ellen Clapsaddle was an American illustrator, but most of her cards were produced in Germany, since the factories were better equipped to produce cards with the rich colors necessary.
Unfortunately, Clapsaddle was in Germany when WWI broke out. She was stranded in the country for the entire war. Her business partners borrowed money to go to Germany and find her as soon as the war was over. But Clapsaddle's health was broken by the experience and she pretty much lost her mind. Clapsaddle ended her life in an institution. But her legacy is the thousands of wonderful images she produced during her lifetime.
Monday, June 20, 2011
early cards with non traditional Christmas images
Today, when we think of Christmas cards, we imagine Santa Claus, holly, candles, wreaths and Santa Claus. But many of the early cards didn't have any conventional holiday graphics, only the caption gave away that it was a Christmas card.
A 1875 card by artist Walter Crane
An early card by lithographer Louis Prang. Prang made very expensive, elegant cards. This card isn't one of them, I don't know why frogs were used for Christmas. The next card is more typical of Prang's offerings.
Prang's wasn't the only company that used floral themes in greeting cards ,this is another early image.
An early card by lithographer Louis Prang. Prang made very expensive, elegant cards. This card isn't one of them, I don't know why frogs were used for Christmas. The next card is more typical of Prang's offerings.
Prang's wasn't the only company that used floral themes in greeting cards ,this is another early image.
Christmas and tobacco
Tobacco has long been considered an appropriate Christmas gift. My father got cigars as gifts for many years, before he got smart and quit smoking. This is a 19th century advertisements for cigars. Cigars ads with Christmas themes were common for many years.
But, when cigarettes became popular, Christmas advertisements, many using celebrities or Santa Claus were put in many popular magazines. These are a few of the images.
Friday, June 10, 2011
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