The Written And Printed Word



Greeting Card ~ Birthday

1890s - 1920s

     Birthday greeting cards have been popular since the Victorian Age, beginning in Great Britain and spreading to the Continent and the United States of America. The cards exhibited below show a wide variety of subjects and styles, with floral displays very common.

     In the next two cards exhibited below, the heavy paper stock is pressed in shallow relief for the flower heads and leaves along with the other primary design elements.

     The tamborine framing the scene and the child dressed in a sort of 'Spanish' outfit give this card a unique look. The significance of the pears, though, is unknown.

     Like the card exhibited above, the one shown below is unique in that it has a sort of 'Arabian' look to it.

     Below are three more cards in which the heavy paper stock is molded in shallow relief where the flowers, or other primary design elements are. The third one, in addition to the flowers being in shallow relief, has an overall 'chickenwire' pattern pressed into the background of the paper.

     The last two cards exhibited on this page appear to have been created at the same company; their designs are similar and the manner in which the inside design flows with the design of the cover is consistent.