A Christmas Greeting
Santa with a dirigible to deliver the goodies
Ellen Clapsaddle vintage Christmas Card
May this and every Christmas time
Bring happiness to thee and thine
A Merry Christmas
Christmas greetings, from a snowy lodge
“All joy to you, the bells’ sweet chime, make light your heart at Christmas-time.”
A Happy Xmas
When merry chimes salute the day, and carols echo bright and gay, I hope your wishes you will see, all growing on your Christmas tree.
To one and all good friends, A Merry Xmas
Happy Christmas from ice skaters on the pond
Santa, 1913-style, with a toy doll on a Christmas postcard
Christmas greetings
Christmas Day is for the young
When the little stockings hung.
Santa Claus, the good old Saint
Listens to each childish plaint
The best of all Christmases I wish you
Santa wishes you a Merry Christmas from 1913
Christmas cards from 1916
Antique My Christmas wish postcard from 1915
Antique Santa Christmas card – the list of naughty and nice and three children
Santa Claus Christmas card – St Nick with toys
Christmas postcard from 1914 – A bright and happy Xmas
From me and mine – Christmas card with verse from 1917
Wishing you a merry merry Christmas – with Santa c1911
Old postcard with two boys on a sled in the snow from 1906 – Christmas greetings
Old-fashioned postcard from 1909 – A merry Christmas to you
Quaint house in the snow on a vintage Christmas card from 1916 – Wishing you a merry Christmas
Merry Christmas card from 1907
Vintage Christmas card from 1910 – Greetings from California
Vintage Christmas card from 1910 – With kind thoughts and all good wishes
With hearty good wishes (1911)
Christmas greetings card from 1909
Vintage Christmas postcard with two kittens from 1911
Vintage Merry Christmas card with two kids from 1910
Vintage postcard from 1910 with greeting – To wish you a happy Xmas
With best wishes for a merry Christmas card 1908
Xmas with hearty good wishes – Snowy scene on a card from 1910
A happy Christmas postcard c1910
A happy Xmas vintage holiday card with robins from 1912
Christmastide antique card from 1908
A merry Christmas – Antique card from 1911
A merry Christmas 1910
A merry Christmas to you antique holiday card with a robin bird on gold from 1908
A Merry Christmas vintage card from 1906
A merry Xmas and a happy New Year vintage Christmas card postmarked 1910
A Merry Christmas postcard from c1909
Vintage Christmas cards (1916)
An old-fashioned Christmas card from 1912
Antique Chistmas card with two little kids by a fireplace
Christmas card from 1917 – The day of days in all the year
Christmas card with quaint old-fashioned house and snow from 1919 – From the folks back home
Christmas card with Santa Claus from c1911
Antique Christmas card with St Nick-Father Christmas
Antique Christmas card with two girls carrying a Christmas tree
Antique Christmas postcard with a town square in the snow from the late Victorian era
Some cards kindly provided by the New York Public Library & The Boston Public Library
One Response
With a little updated styling, most of these cards would be appropriate to send today. However, that wasn’t the case with all vintage Christmas cards. Many featured images that would be wildly inappropriate today, such as Santa beating naughty children with sticks, or pictures of witches that would be better suited for Halloween. Another surprisingly common theme is dead birds. Anyone receiving a card like that today would either interpret it as a threat or would fear for the sender’s mental health. But around the turn of the 20th century, dead birds were considered a symbol of good luck.