Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Merry Christmas to all my readers and friends!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.  Here, as my gift to you, are the last few vintage cards in this year's stash, posted without any silly comments from me, so that you can enjoy them in all their vintage glory.

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

There's a hushed whisper of anticipation in the air with this one....

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Just a happy little snowman with greetings today.  He looks like he's directing that bunch of birdies as they sing a carol or something.  Maybe they're doing "Frosty!"

The front is cut a little off-center, so the birdies hang around when you open it!

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Skinny, vertical (or horizontal), and vintage!  Does it get any better?

Gorgeous foiling and glittering on this one.

You can't quite make it out in the scan, but there are interesting paint textures in this graphic.

Santa's stagecoach?

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

A couple more skinny horizontal cards (sigh!) as we set off on our trip.  It will probably be cards only from here to Christmas, but I do hope you enjoy them!

I love the artwork and lettering on this one.  The generous flocking seals the deal.

The black and gold accents give this religious-themed card a somber tone.  It makes me think of Midnight Mass with the choir processing in and the incense swirling everywhere as the priest lays the Baby Jesus figure in the manger.

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

More long, skinny cards today!  This time they're horizontal, which I like even better!

We're all about the group card today, it seems.

I love the festive cursive for the word "Four."  I wonder if this card came in versions for larger and smaller groups?  How large did it go?  Can't you see "Seventeen" or "Forty-Seven" or "Nine Hundred Fifty-Six" written out like that?  How much fun would that be?  Not that I think there would be a family of 956 people, mind you.  It could be from a corporation, or a township, or a village.  You know.  Didn't your great-great grandparents get cards from the whole village?

This one is cute.  I love the stocking used for the "L."  I also like the other letters a lot, but I just don't think it all works well together graphically.

This one isn't skinny and horizontal, but it fits the group theme, so I tossed it in.  There are four little boys on the front of this card.  Four boys.  At Christmas.  Can you imagine?

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

I've already told you how much I love skinny cards.  Today we have a good example why.  There's a whole lot of action happening on today's card.

We got sledders.

We got skiers.

And we got one great big ole long hill for everyone to play on.  The long, skinny layout here kind of kicks the action up another notch.  You can almost feel the air whipping past as the skiers dash by and hear the laughter of the sledders.  That is one busy, skinny card hillside.

And I bet someone is waiting in that yellow house with cocoa and cookies!  Yum!

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

A photo card this time, with a snowy, coutry lane and a traditional red barn.  Looks cozy, right?  I bet Grandma is waiting in the house with hot chocolate made with real milk and real whipped cream on top!  Maybe she even has some homemade sugar cookies!  Let's go!

And on the inside, a sweet little drawing of the house from afar, complete with chimney smoke.

It doesn't get better than this.

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Today features the second little diecut wonder from my stash.  This one is wonderfully simple, just like a classic children's pop-up book.

We start off with a sweet Victorian scene.  Gotta love the fur trim on her dress!  Can't you feel the chilly winter winds and blowing snow?  Isn't that a rather large lantern hanging in that tree?  I bet the inside of that house is awfully warm and cozy.

Now, let's lift that small flap on the left and see what happens....

 The front door opens to reveal the residents happily waiting to welcome their visitors into their richly decorated parlor!  Come in!  Come in!

Isn't the overall effect just too, too cute?

And on the back, a view from afar.

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

A couple of my favorites out of this year's stash of cards have some awesome diecut work on them.  Today and tomorrow, we'll look at them.

First, this richly-colored poinsettia card.

This is whole card from the front.  Instead of just one flap to lift to get to the message, this one has two flaps and two messages! 

First flap

Second flap

I love that background.  It's got an awesome vintage wallpaper vibe!  Can't you see it on the walls of grandmother's sitting room?


 And then on the back, oddly enough, a sprig of holly.  Why no poinsettia?

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Remember the Rankin-Bass Christmas shows?  Like, maybe, The Little Drummer Boy?



Remember this version of the song?  Or maybe this one?



Well, I'm not sure how any of them relate to this card, but I like it anyway.

Front

Inside

Back

The back has this summary of the story, but no credits or references.  I wonder if they could not get the rights to use the actual song?

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Here's a long Christmas wish from one single card:

All of the gold letters and detailing are embossed.  Don't you love the sweet Victorian figures in the artwork?  Too cute!

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Christmas is a holiday with some very ancient roots, whether we look at the development of the holiday as a religious celebration, as family units, as societies, or even consider the roots that go back further to other cultures and times.  

As technology as developed and progressed, some of the trappings and traditions associated with Christmas may seem to some to be obsolete.  Christmas candles are a good example.  In this era of electricity and neon and wireless transmission, do we really need candles?  

Well, we might not need them, but it's hard to imagine Christmastime without seeing a few.  Part of the romance of the holiday is the nostalgia it stirs up in all of us--the memories of holidays past, family times, things we used to do, people who are no longer with us.  For me, candles are a symbol of that nostalgia.

When I was a kid, we lived in Germany for a while, because Dad was stationed there.  We lived in military housing, which had pretty strict rules about what you could and could not do in your apartment.  I remember the move out inspections nearly killing my mother, as she had to make sure everything was washed down from ceiling to floor, all the hardwood floors were refinished, and get everything packed up for the move back to the states.

The restrictions even extended to holiday decorations.  Trees had to be artificial and no lights were allowed on them.  We had an aluminum tree (which I loved), but Mom felt it was missing something without the lights.  She bought a bunch of candles with clip holders and put them on the tree instead.  Even though we could not light them, it made her feel better about the tree.  I remember her telling us that candles were used on trees before electricity.

For me, candles will always be a part of Christmas, because they remind me of my mother.  Here are some cards that fit in with the theme:

I love the soft pastels on this card.  It makes the candles almost seem to glow.

Lots of embossing on this card.

I love the MCM designwork here.  Mod, yet traditional!

This one has some condition issues, but it has to be my favorite of this batch.  The unusual soft gray background, the smoke lettering, and the soft shadows are kind of a magical combination.  I get a "classic animation" vibe off of this one and that makes me really happy.

There's even an extra one on the inside!

This one is just a treasure of scalloped edges, embossing, and color!

And on the inside, a tiny little surprise!  Do you see it?

Wee little Wise Men on their camels!  Don't you love it?  I do!

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

Today we'll look at one of the major players in the Christmas story:  the Virgin Mary.

 Okay,  I know she's not Mary, but I thought a sweet little praying girl fit into the theme.

I like the handcrafted look of this one.  It reminds me of the holiday decorations that my mom made over the years.

Your Vintage Christmas Card of the Day

One of my favorite topics:  Christmas Kitties!

Sweet little Christmas Angel all pooped out from her duties rests in her chair.  Who joins her in a nap?  Her special kitty!  Of course a sweet little Christmas Angel would have a kitty!  Love the details on the chair back!

 Kittie like to nap!  This one wore herself out wrapping (or maybe unwrapping?) presents!  This card has such lovely flocking on it, which came through really well on the scan.

Sweet little litter with their Christmas collars send a playful greeting.  This one is my favorite of today's batch!  I bet this bunch has a lot of fun running through the house, climbing the tree, knocking ornaments off, playing with ribbon.  Forget little kids!  You've never really had Christmas until you've done it with a kitten.

Extra bonus for being a skinny card.  I love skinny cards!

This is the inside of that card.  The lettering makes me think of little kitty scratches.