Using Vintage Christmas Cards for Christmas Decorations

I saw this image in the latest issue of Country Living and wanted to share it. I love how they use clothespins to attach some vintage (and not vintage) Christmas cards.

I see vintage postcards used as decor props in magazines all the time. If you need ideas of how to display your postcard collection my Pinterest board about it has lots of great ideas. Also, another fun way to display vintage postcards is to make a garland.

I've been adding a bunch of new vintage Christmas postcards to the shop. Most are over a hundred years. Check out the shop for some really lovely Christmas and New Years Vintage postcards and cards. More to be added soon!

          

Make a Holiday Banner from Vintage Postcards

Click to see larger

Although I use vintage postcards in all kinds of projects and even though I have a huge collection, I don't often display postcards or ephemera in my house. I guess I don't want them to get worn or damaged. However, I should start showing them off more, if for no other reason so that I can enjoy looking at them!

Here is a easy, cheap way to show off your vintage postcard collection without damaging the originals.  Just scan and print the postcards you like on cardstock. I used 90 pound, because that's what I had, but something heavier would be better. Then use a hole punch and string with some pretty ribbon or yarn.

In the banner above I used a collection of unique and different Christmas postcards I liked, but you could make the a banner more unified by using all Santa postcards or all carolers or all snow scenes.

And you don't have to stop at Christmas, make a Thanksgiving banner, a New years one or an Easter one. Make one with any vintage postcard or photo collection you have. A banner of all linen postcards of the desert or the seaside would look cool. Also, one of all vintage family pictures would look great.

All you need is a color printer. I have a pretty old inkjet Canon MP600 which still works great. 

If you need to add to your postcard collection, I am adding new holiday postcards all the time in the shop.

Lawrence Welk Christmas

Things have been busy for me the last part of the year and I haven't been able to post here as much as I would like to. Hopefully I can at least get this one Christmas post in. I wanted to share this Lawrence Welk Christmas Card. In it is a punch out calender with a picture of Lawrence Welk on the back.

Lawrence Welk was a big thing at one time. He had a show on that ran from the 50's through 1980. He had a resort and a restaurant, maybe more than one. It was a big deal. I like watching the old shows, especially the color ones. The colors and sets are amazing and kooky sometimes. It's nice to image that such a sweet simple musical program was so popular. My grandparents would watch it a lot when I was a kid. At that time they were probably my age now. 

A Merry Little Christmas

Thanks to any and all of you who check in here at The Cedar Chest or buy something at the store. Collecting and selling ephemera is truly a labor of love and I so enjoy sharing it with like minded people. Hope your festivities are just the way you like them.  

The Bigness of Christmas in the 1950's

I read something recently in the book Christmas Memories by Susan Waggoner that astonished me  about Christmas in the 1950's.

To all of us who were born after the huge surge of babies, known as the Baby Boom, that mainly occurred from 1946-1960, I think it's hard to really grasp how huge it all was. So let me tell you, it was a lot - a lot of babies, a lot of new houses in the suburbs, a lot of money due to the low unemployment and the low rise of inflation and a lot of buying.

There were a record amount of new families that were now settling into larger houses in the suburbs. These houses needed to be filled and they had the money to do it. 

When Christmas came families didn't just get one tree for the main room, they now got extra trees for throughout the house. And gifts were no longer just one per person, people began giving multiple gifts, especially to the children. The children of the 1950's had everything on their Christmas list and then some (which explains why many of them later rebelled against their upbringing and claimed to not care about material things). In the 1950's there was no reason not to give and receive all you wanted. The average family was much better off than they had been before or during the WWII and Americans just wanted to have fun now that the war was over and the U.S. had won.

I knew all this before I read Waggoner's book, but I don't think I really grasped how much disposable income there was back then until I read that in 1951 Macy's ran a full page ad in the New York newspaper asking people not to buy so much. Can you imagine a store doing this?

People were buying huge amounts of stuff and coming back and buying more. The popular department store was unnerved by how much people were buying. They were questioning their motives. They were genuinely concerned that people were still in wartime shortages mode. They ran an ad that said in part the following:

This excerpt from the ad came from the Christmas Memories book. I wish I could find a copy of the actual ad, but it doesn't appear that one is online.

Again, I ask, can you imagine any store doing this or saying it? It is an amazing piece of history that seems to have been forgotten. I think the words that Macy's said in this ad are very wise and kind. The amounts people were buying most have been so bizarre to them to do this. 

When I lived in the Bay Area and worked at a specialty clothing store, a woman who looked like she couldn't afford much came in. She was a little strange, but pleasant. She began pulling aside clothes she wanted and at the end of it her bill was about three times bigger than any sale I had ever heard of at the store, much less sold. It was weird. I was trying to talk her out of things. It was just uncomfortably too much. I felt really weird about it. And of course I was concerned with how she was going to pay for it. She went to the bank and came back with the cash (It turned out she was from a well off family and she later admitted to me that she didn't like to bother with having her clothes washed).

Because of this experience I can kind of understand how Macy's felt and I now understand more clearly what a financial and material boom the Fifties were. 

I've been researching the Fifties particularly because it's the family theme this Christmas. Every year we have a theme for Christmas. It's often a decade, but it can sometimes be a country. Some of the ones we've done are the 1930's, Medieval times, the 1960's, the Old West and countries like Holland, Hungary and Switzerland. We base the meal, music and games around the theme and we dress up. I know it's kind of kooky, but it's very fun and we all enjoy a theme.

Christmas Cards 1950's

Christmas cards have been around since the 19th century, but they didn't really begin to challenge the postcard in popularity until the 1920's. The sale of Christmas cards over postcards increased each decade. Even during the depression Christmas cards were favored over the less expensive postcard. But, it wasn't until the 1950's that Christmas card sending reached it's peak.

In 1950's the country was thrilled to be done with war, it was a new optimistic decade and there were many families in the suburbs with more space and money then they'd ever had. Christmas was now a bigger event and so was the sending of Christmas cards.


Christmas cards in the 1950's were generally brightly colored, light-hearted and joyful. Hallmark introduced a line of comic Christmas cards during this time that were popular. Christmas cards were sent to everyone people knew: family, neighbors, friends, bridge club members, school faculty, co-workers and old buddies from the war. The lists were long and it was a lot to keep track of.

2 separate Christmas Card Record books

During this time many products were created to display, store and keep records of a person's card sending. I have a couple of these organization booklets shown here that were given away from M&M Savings in Springfield, Ohio.

back of record book

inside of Christmas Card Record

Christmas card sending reached a peak in 1958 in the U.S. and it's never since been matched.

Do you send Christmas cards? I love the tradition of sending them and receiving them. I like to have them displayed. It's certainly something that has faded over the years, but I hope it will always continue.

Here are a few more Christmas cards from the 1950's. Maybe they'll get you in the mood to send some Christmas cards.

1920's Christmas

I recently checked out a couple of books by Susan Waggoner about Vintage Christmas. In the book Have Yourself a Very Vintage Christmas  Waggoner goes through the decades form the 20's to the 60's and talks about the different trends and historical changes to the Christmas tradition. I really enjoyed reading it and learned a lot. I will say though that I think Waggoner is a little out of touch with some things since she grew up in New York and I assume she is using her and her families experience as well as magazines of the time. Most of the country was not quite as sophisticated or got trends at a later date. My mother and I looked at it together and she made this observation.

My favorite part of the book is the author going through and talking about the different trends in Christmas cards and decorating  I've always been so aware of motifs or whatever they would be called. I noticed them and sought them out when no one else I knew did. 

Thanks to this book, however, I found out a lot more about which objects were trendy for postcards and greeting cards for each decade. This is very helpful to me in dating them, since they often don't have dates on them. Mostly my hunches were right, but it's nice to know the reasons why.

For example, many of the Christmas postcards I find have old Dickens style images. These were very popular in the 1920's. The war was finally over and people wanted to think about the simpleness of the olden days. Because of this desire for an "old fashioned" Christmas the popular images of the time were Dickens style street scenes, lanterns and old style lamps, hearths and candles (the Christmas tree doesn't really become popular on Christmas cards until the 1950's).

The colors popular in the 1920's were very unconventional and became more so as the decade progressed. Red was very popular, but green was seldom seen. There was lots of metallic gold and many cards were multi-colored. At the beginning of the decade the colors were often in pastel hues.

However, as the 1920's roared along the colors just got brighter and more vibrant. I find the cards from this time so captivating.

Children were a popular icon from this time and were shown way more than Santa. 

I hope you liked learning a little more about the Christmas trends from the 1920's. All of these cards are available in my Etsy shop.

Devotions

I've been listing many things in The Cedar Chest shop for the last month, but I keep getting busy and forgetting to update the blog.

This small antique prayer book I just listed made me want to do a blog post about it.

This small book is a Pocket Gems of Devotion. It's a book of prayers that was approved by the Catholic Church in 1891.

It was given to someone in 1909 for Epiphany Day. It's a beautiful book that is very worn. Some pages are on the verge of coming out.

I think the fact that this little book is so worn is incredibly touching and beautiful. The book was obviously used a lot, perhaps by multiple generations. I got it at a estate sale many years ago. It was hidden away with the Christmas decorations in the basement. I have no doubt the original recipient was a much older relative of the house owner.

Inside I found a beautiful little illustrated card printed in Italy in 1936. I'm including it with the book. You can find the listing and more images for the prayer book here.

I've also listed a number of Christmas items on The Cedar Chest. Hope you stop by the shop to see the new items.

Oh, and there are still a couple Thanksgiving cards, as well. here is my favorite.

If I don't get back here by next week. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

having a good time

Christmas is almost here. I hope you all have some fun planned for the next few days, whether you celebrate Christmas or not. The rest of our small family has arrived in town and we shall now embark on the festivities. I have a pie in the oven and that is one of my last Christmas tasks.

Here is my final Christmas postcard for you. I am not a big collector of Santa Claus cards, but I like the uniqueness of this one and the sentiment. It was sent on Dec 24th, 1914 from Wattsburg, PA to Harborcreek, PA - a distance of about 18 miles.  See below for message on postcard

Dear Cousins,

Many thanks for my new mittens. I have a very bad cold 
so I don't feel very well. I hope Santa will bring you lots 
of nice things for Xmas.

Your cousin,

Eleanor

Happy Holidays to you all! Thank you for following this blog. 

greeting cards have all been sent....

Well, maybe yours haven't. There is totally still time. I just love The Carpenters song that that line comes from.

I've gotten some really nice Christmas Cards this year from friends. I got these two from a seller at the postcard club on Saturday. These seem to be from the WWII era. They're on the small side and so pretty.

I think it's neat how the person saved the unmarked stamp inside this Santa's Stable card.

Well, here it is the last week before Christmas. I did some baking today and am wrapping things up (ha! literally).  Hope things are all the preparations are going good for you.

our finest collection

I like this postcard from 1958 advertising the assortment of Christmas cards this supplier has to offer. I could have sworn I had another one, but I can't find it. I really need to reorganize my postcards. Maybe in the new year.

Here is the message on the back of the postcard:

I scanned a bunch of vintage Christmas tags and made them available for you to download and print on your color printer at home. You can find them on the PonyBoy Press blog.

 I just used some today and they look pretty good. This is one of my favorites. Very White Christmas. I do love that movie, don't you?

lacey christmas wishes

I like how this Christmas postcard from 1912 recreates the look of a lace doily. Very intricate and pretty.

This was sent from what looks like Nebraska to Portland Oregon on December 18, 1912.

Dear Cousins,

The pkg. for yourself and Ethel rec'd in fine condition, which Flora and I are very thankful, will give Lucy hers at Xmas time, I am not able to do any writing or I would write you a letter, but would be pleased to get one from you. I can only do certain things with my arm, will not be able to come my hair for some time yet.  With love to all, from your Aunt E Loomis

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? I am seeing emails that say "last minute presents" and it's freaking me out. I just got started. The holiday season goes by so fast.

I did a little post on the PonyBoy Press blog about using copies of old family photos for Christmas tags. You an also use copies of your favorite Christmas postcards and cards. Here are a few I made just now.

Some new Christmas and New Years items added to the shop, including a beautiful handmade card from 1915.

small packages

I am always enchanted by little Christmas cards. Most of these are about 4" x 2.5".

Below is a very sweet small card from 1910. This is for sale in my Etsy shop. Just listed.

This is an actual Real Photo Postcard. It was done on a Brownie and is called a Brownie Souvenir. It's hard to tell here, but it is a little card. I love seeing the old Christmas trees. This is Edwin and Wayne's Christmas Tree from 1912.

Below are two more pretty small Christmas cards. Lots of Christmas cards added to the shop recently. New Years cards will be coming soon.  Please like us on facebook to see all the new listings.

christmas gift subscriptions

Here's some Christmas gift inspiration from the past for you.

Magazines are still the best, if you ask me. I love the internet and kindles and all that, but I guess you can guess that above all I love paper. Maybe I'll give some magazine subscriptions this year. It's the gift you get all year long!

Below is a subscription card for giving the music magazine Downbeat from 1940. This magazine still exists and seems to be going strong. I love the illustrations and hand lettering on this.

What you see below is the beautiful and intricate cover (opened up) from a gift subscription for card for a 5 year subscription to the Farm Journal of Philadelphia. Pretty good gift.

The sentiment written here is great. "You will find it full of instruction and sunshine". Nice. Speed the Plow.

Are you getting some shopping done yet? I've gotten a couple of things.

If you're looking for more Christmas inspiration, I've listed more Christmas postcards on the Etsy shop this week.

making unique holiday cards with vintage post cards

If you come across a vintage postcard or greeting card you love, you can easily use it to make all your holiday cards this year.

A lot of the vintage postcards are so pretty and have such charming sayings on them. Many have unique rhyming greetings, which you don't really see much anymore.

Personal printers and scanners make it easy to reproduce high quality images at home (If you don't have a color printer at home, a copy shop can do them for you at little cost. Just make sure to fit as many onto a page as you can). You can use these to make holiday cards, or you could even just print directly on a super thick card stock and send out postcards.

If you wanna make cards, here are a couple suggestions.  I copied this vintage postcard onto two kinds of paper from my canon printer.

The top one is glossy photo paper and the one underneath is matte presentation paper. They both look really good and it was hard to tell the difference without touching them. The postcard on the glossy photo paper was a little sharper and had more contrast. It had a bit of a green cast to it. The matte photo paper had a bit of a blue cast to it.  I think how you are going to use them is what might determine which paper you use.

The glossy photo paper is thicker and better to use like you would a photograph. An easy way to make cards with these would be to use photo corners and just place the copies like a photo onto blanks cards or folded colored paper stock.

If you want to decorate the cards more, using the matte paper would probably be better. It is thinner and easier to paste down. You could make some gorgeous handmade Christmas, New Years or any greeting cards by using the copy of the vintage postcard and then decorating with glitter, ribbon, vintage items or whatever you can think up.  I am no pro at this, by any means, but I have done my cards like this in the past. I made one up today, just to give you an idea. I'm sure you can do much better.

You can use some colored paper to make the background have a little more depth if you want. After that is glued down I added some glitter.

If you want some better inspiration, take a look at the Little Pink Studio. She is always making something pretty and artful with vintage images.

I'd love to see what you make this year. Please let me know.  Happy Christmas Season!