
Nine Days to Christmas
Whilst sorting through some of my Victorian Greetings Card Collection I thought that this Greeting was both appropriate for mid December, and that it would not cause any offense to those who wish to have none secular messages.
Not sure of the exact date for this card, we think 1880’s. We also guess that it was printed in Germany. Raphael Tuck were based in London but did contract some printing to Germany who at that time were leading the development of mass colour printing. The card is also Die Cut.
You may also think it an “unseasonal” design and you would be correct, because of the relative high cost of artwork and production some designs were printed as ‘blanks’ enabling different messages to be printed at a later date as seasons demanded.
Like the cards says, I do hope that a Summer Smile can brighten your December
15th December
(C) David Oakes 2015 [from David Oakes – Images, Greeting Card Collection]
Wonderful little card, bringing joy and summer smiles. No Christmas cards today would look like this. I love the elaborateness of old.
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I know what you mean but of late I notice Cards are becoming more ornate again with added features. But they still don’t quite have that feel of the Victorian cards.
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They are becoming more ornate in Britain then? Interesting – nothing of the sort here…
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Lots of run of the mill cards whilst having great artwork are just plain. But some are designing some more intricate cards…I say design as they tend to be produced in China.
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😀 Always money thinking. there were some funny aspects from people in our travel group this time in China. They had this thing about everything made in China being cheap and without quality. Everything we saw was high quality and very elaborately made. I wonder how those people really had got such an overall wrong idea? Surely everybody knows about silk and painting and cloisonné…at least I thought they did.
I received a fun message the other day, maybe telling us something about the issue: ” I heard Avicii is going to be on the new Swedish stamps! The reaction from people over 30: “Who the….is Avicii?” Under 30: “What the …is a stamp?”
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Looking at the cards from China it is the high end shops that have commissioned them from there recognising that the quality matches their brand image. Some of the best print in quality books comes from the Far East. No longer cheap and cheerful you just have to look around our houses to see the quality electronics (including the computer I am writing this on)….But then again I find people often only see what they want to see. !!
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That last sentence is for sure true…sorry to say. Maybe I’m that way too sometimes…but at least I recognize it when it’s there.
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I love that. Remembering summer is the best way to survive December.
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Spot on……and again it shows that nothing really has changed over the years!
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Lovely. I adore those Victorian cards. I have just a couple that were my grandmother’s and I cherish them.
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A lovely card, David, and I’m always happy to remember summer at this time of year!
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With all the damp weather about at the moment summer seems so far away
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Lovely wish. Thank you.
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