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Show Greeting Cards Chronicle Manners, Customs, Events It all began in 1843 when John Calcott Horsley, a prominent prom-inent London artist, drew the first Christmas card. Horsley's pioneering greeting was a tryptich, a prime example of contemporary recording. The central panel showed a jolly family with young and old tippling tip-pling toasts from brimming glasses, while the two side panels gave a sobering effect with scenes of the poor being clothed and the hungry fed. From that time on Christmas Christ-mas cards have faithfully chronicled the manners, customs cus-toms and events of their times. One Christmas card collection, collec-tion, that of Norcross, Inc., greeting card publishers, houses hundreds of cards that capture for posterity the fads and foibles, changes and evolution evo-lution in sports, fashions, modes of transportation, current cur-rent events, filial love, amusements, amuse-ments, even children's pastimes pas-times and music making. According to Miss Esther Mooney, who is a curator of the collection, many of the cards are gems of social comment. com-ment. "In an English card of 1892," said Miss Mooney, "the formality existing between children and parents in that Victorian era is quite clearly expressed by the artist. He depicts de-picts a little girl on bended knee at her mother's feet solemnly sol-emnly offering her a Christmas Christ-mas bouquet. Just 40 years later, a Christmas card of 1930 shows how relaxed filial relations rela-tions had become with Its breezy greeting that says, '3 cheers 4 a Merry Christmas and you, Dad!' " Christmas card artists have always been quick to pick on innovations as subjects. The advent of the horseless carriage was duly recognized in a card of 1910. Cut out in the shape of a car of that vintage, vin-tage, it cheerfully puns: "You 'Auto' be Happy As you, on Pleasure's Motor-Car Steer merrily thro' Christ- mastide . . . Speed gaily as fun always 'Auto!' " And in 1950, the early days of television were noted in a Christmas greeting which shows Santa tuning in TV. An historic event is frequently fre-quently the inspiration for a Christmas card. When Lind-berg Lind-berg flew the Atlantic, the artist ar-tist drew his "Spirit of St. Louis" flying over New York on a 1927 Christmas card. During World Wars One and Two Christmas cards became unblushingly patriotic. Verses like "On Christmas Night . . . With Holly Berries Gleaming Bright, Our Thoughts fly true O'er Ocean Blue and take a Christmas Wish to you" on a 1917 card brought balm to homesick doughboys. Personalities who were household words of their times often popped up in Christmas cards. A topical card of 1934 offered five famous faces for the price of one. It showed the Duke of Windsor (then the Prince of Wales), Mussolini, Garbo, Chevalier and Mae West all wishing the lucky recipient re-cipient seasonal greetings in their own particular style. In 1959 Christmas cards en tered the space age when Soviet So-viet Ambassador Mikhail Men-shikov Men-shikov decorated his season's greetings with pictures of three Lunik satellites. And after af-ter John Glenn's space flight, American card companies' came out with a spate of cards that featured space ships, orbiting or-biting Santas and rockets. In the prosperous 1960's Christmas cards have blossomed blos-somed forth with a rash of current status symbols. Victorian Vic-torian cards showed the magic lantern or the piano every well-to-do Victorian home possessed. On Christmas greetings of today, it's the transistor radio and the stereo hi-fi, the set of golf clubs or the scooter, elegant ladies in furs and golden Cadillacs that mingle with the holly and mistletoe. |