Historical Holiday Greetings

On display through December 31 at Bard Graduate Center's Focus Gallery in New York City, is a selection of Christmas cards that serve as "an introduction to a large artifactual and aesthetic field that until now has been largely unexplored ... These cards constitute a category of American material culture that is rich in documentary potential yet has been nearly invisible in the scholarly literature." Seen above is a modified French-fold card in green, black, and gold lithography on lightweight imitation parchment, short fold at bottom, ca. 1935, from the Bard Graduate Center exhibit and book, American Christmas Cards, 1900-1960.

An accompanying book, edited by Kenneth L. Ames, contains 375 images with text that examines their visual and cultural history. It's a perfect guide for collectors of ephemera, collectors of graphic history, and, of course, collectors of Christmas material.

Happy holidays!