Beryllium Guy
Moderator 
Posts: 5,168 
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Dec 8, 2017 6:25:43 GMT
In the spirit of this holiday season, I thought it might be fun to post some vintage Christmas material. This is a World War I era Christmas postcard intended to be sent from a serviceman back home. This card is blank on the other side, so it appears that it was never sent, unless it went through the mail in an envelope and was never written on, which seems unlikely to me.  |
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Post by dgdecker on Dec 9, 2017 2:21:56 GMT
A nice tidbit appropriate for the season. Even though I do not collect, always a pleasure to see what others like and have in collection.
david
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,168
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Dec 21, 2017 0:05:24 GMT
Here is another vintage Christmas postcard from my accumulation. I especially like the saying on it: "Best Wishes / Christmas Greetings to my (TSF) Friends, and every good wish for the season." It seems especially appropriate right now. I also offer this post in honor of my good TSF friend, zipper. Zipper always makes me think of beautiful old postcards, of which she has posted many fine examples. Unlike my first post, this particular card did go through the U.S. mail sometime from 20th-29th December 1918 (the second digit in the date is illegible), so just after the end of World War I. I imagine that many people felt a lot like celebrating the holidays that year with the end of the war, although those who lost loved ones may have struggled with their losses. This example was postmarked in San Francisco, California and it is franked with one of the 2-cent George Washington definitive stamps from the Washington-Franklin series.   |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 3, 2019 14:05:30 GMT
This thread has been dormant a long time, but since Christmas is coming, I though I would revive it. Must be lots more cards to be seen. Let's make the topic more than vintage and post some contemporary post cards too. I don't have a lot of post cards, but here is my earliest with a partially illegible postmark from a town in Kansas dated 1911. Don StampHinger   |
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,168
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Dec 3, 2019 20:00:50 GMT
Many thanks, Don ( stamphinger ), for reviving this thread, which I started. I am sorry to say that no one else ever added to it.... until you did now! Thanks! If you would like me to change the name away from vintage postcards to include any Christmas postcards, I would be happy to do that. For now, then, I will add another image to keep the thread going anew. It feels good. I haven't posted an image in weeks!   This is one of my favorite Christmas postcards, complete with a 1919 Christmas seal tied to the card with a nice clear postmark, too! And 100 years old this year! The vintage postcards make me think about my friend zipper , and the Christmas seal tied to the card makes me think of Londonbus1 , who now owns this card, I think! Best Regards to all, Chris  |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 4, 2019 13:57:30 GMT
Hi Chris:
Thanks, and yes, if you are willing to do that I think it would increase postings. I was also thinking of creating a new thread for Christmas-related covers. There are a lot of cards and covers out there with beautiful cachets and interesting markings. I like to see them. It's your call as to how much you would like to change the title on this thread. If you want to limit it to post cards I'll post what I have and create another Christmas-related thread for covers. In any case, I'll support whatever you do to the extent I can and I'm sure others will post too.
Don
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renden
Member 
Posts: 7,837
What I collect: World W collector with ++ interests in BNA (Canada etc) and USA
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Post by renden on Dec 4, 2019 14:00:07 GMT
Why not keep cards/covers in same thread - I do not think we will have 5 pages  René |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 4, 2019 14:10:39 GMT
Another card with a light cancel, but I'm guessing it was posted at Ripton, Vermont December 22, 1912. The embossed images on the front tend to make for poor cancels. A nice winter scene, however. Does anyone know the the background or history of this type of holiday greeting cards. Their usage seems to have declined by the 1920s and replaced by the cards we see today.
Don StampHinger  |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 4, 2019 14:12:46 GMT
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 5, 2019 13:51:27 GMT
A card posted at Carlton, Colorado, December 23, 1914 to friends in Girard, Kansas. Carlton is a small town about ten miles east of Lamar, Colorado. Holly leaves and berries seem to have been a popular image on these cards.   |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 6, 2019 13:50:40 GMT
Bright colors on this 1915 Santa scene from Jersey City, NJ to Hamburg, Germany. Can someone provide a translation of the message? Don StampHinger
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 8, 2019 14:14:22 GMT
A philatelic-related Christmas card. Hardly a vintage item, this 1966 one, but I found it attractive and added it to my small Christmas-related collection. The Baughmans were apparently affiliated with the Kansas Precancel Society.
Don StampHinger   |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 9, 2019 14:00:25 GMT
A change of format here by showing a cover and ephemera in this thread as suggested by renden. This is a 1928 Merry Christmas wish from the well-known stamp dealer H.E. Harris of Boston, to a customer. The first image is the Christmas wish, the second an explanation for the method of sending greetings and of the cover. The third is of the cover which is franked with the then recent issue of Sc, 650, and posted on the 25th anniversary of the Wright Bros first successful powered flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.
My observation is that not many dealers do this today.
Don StampHinger    |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 10, 2019 14:00:11 GMT
Another piece of philatelic Christmas ephemera similar to the H.E. Harris greeting in the post above. This one from the Lawrence Brothers, Ray and Roy. The Lawrences were twins, Iowa natives from Anamosa, Iowa and long-time stamp dealers in Anamosa and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They specialized in precancels, but also held auctions and sold U.S. and foreign stamps. I don't have the envelope that their Christmas greeting came in. My only Lawrence Brothers cover is the return envelope below. The card probably dates from 1933, the year the gift stamps in it were issued.
Don StampHinger.
The card:
The inside of the card. The stamp gift is a vertical pair cut from the APS souvenir sheet of the 1c Century of Progress issue, Sc. 730
 A Lawrence Brothers cover  |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 11, 2019 13:56:44 GMT
Not a Christmas greeting, this 1929 cover canceled on Christmas day and flown on Interstate Airlines, but it is what I call a Christmas-related cover. In 1928 and 1929, the nation's fledgling airlines were getting deliveries of new Ford Tri-Motor 5-ATs and Boeing 80A airplanes that carried more passengers in slightly greater comfort. I suspect those airlines were increasing their marketing for passengers on these new aircraft and this special flight cover may be an example. I have seen one other cover with this special seal attached and it was referred to by the seller as a baggage label. It does, however, serve as an attractive seasonal cachet. It also has a 1929 Christmas seal on the reverse.
When I first saw this cover for sale I got all excited about its addressee. I thought it was addressed to Harold Ickes, a stamp collector and President Roosevelt's secretary of the interior, and that this was a super association cover. Alas, not so as upon further checking, the secretary of interior was Harold L. Ickes, not Harold J. Ickes, the addressee.
Don StampHinger   |
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renden
Member
Posts: 7,837
What I collect: World W collector with ++ interests in BNA (Canada etc) and USA
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Post by renden on Dec 11, 2019 14:00:39 GMT
stamphingerImpressive !! not only the covers but the texts - Thanks René
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 11, 2019 14:05:30 GMT
Thanks, renden, for your kind works.
Don
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 11, 2019 15:37:08 GMT
Not a Christmas greeting, this 1929 cover canceled on Christmas day and flown on Interstate Airlines, but it is what I call a Christmas-related cover.
Don StampHinger
This is a great cover. I like the divided airmail envelope, too.
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 11, 2019 15:41:54 GMT
Here is a solemn 1915 Christmas greeting from Lowville, NY, to Sackets Harbor, NY. I got this one more for the WX16 Christmas seal and the Lowville, NY, cancel.
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 11, 2019 15:50:21 GMT
A more cheery Christmas postcard from 1916. It is from the Bronx to Stony Brook in New York. Talk about a forced rhyme!
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 11, 2019 16:53:59 GMT
A 1969 FDC/Christmas card combo from Fleetwood.
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 11, 2019 17:28:52 GMT
I previously posted this on another forum and am re-posting it here on TSF.
Following is a FDC/Christmas card combo from 1970 that represents the USPS' foray into the Christmas card business. These were not cards issued by the USPS to its philatelic customers, similar to that which is done by foreign philatelic agencies, but were sold with the intent that they be used as Christmas cards to be sent to family and friends on your holiday card list. The card is shown unfolded. An envelope for mailing was also provided for each card.
I once read that only 600 of these were produced, but I strongly doubt this is the case. Perhaps only 600 sets were produced (about 25 cards per set), but even this amount sounds too little for it to have been economically feasible for the USPS. They seem to be somewhat available and sell for a little over $1 each.
The issuance of these cards was a total and utter flop. The cards were not printed well and the design was a dud. Perhaps the only interesting design element was the deckled edge on the front of the card. They were not popular among collectors or the general public. Needless to say, this was the first and last attempt by the USPS in producing and selling holiday cards.
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 11, 2019 18:00:18 GMT
Great cards, all of them. Thanks for posting. I continue to be impressed by the color and the art on the WW I era cards. That's a nice seal on the 1915 card. The designer of that card obviously made a place for it. I was surprised too, by the Fleetwood card. I thought its message was well done and appropriate to the scene. And, yes, that was a forced rhyme on the "Happy Christmas" snow scene card! So many Christmas-related material in collectors hands and much of it very attractive. I'm not a hard core Christmas collector, but some of it I cannot pass up, especially pre-1960 material.
Thanks, too, for the compliments on the 1929 Christmas-flight cover.
Don
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tomiseksj
Moderator
Woodbridge, Virginia, USA
Posts: 6,053
What I collect: Worldwide stamps/covers, Cinderellas, Ohio Prepaid Sales Tax Receipts, U.S. WWII Ration ephemera
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Post by tomiseksj on Dec 11, 2019 18:16:21 GMT
...Needless to say, this was the first and last attempt by the USPS in producing and selling holiday cards.
While not vintage, below is a small sampling of holiday cards currently listed in the Postal Store on the USPS website.  |
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 11, 2019 22:34:28 GMT
...Needless to say, this was the first and last attempt by the USPS in producing and selling holiday cards.
While not vintage, below is a small sampling of holiday cards currently listed in the Postal Store on the USPS website. I stand corrected. Obviously, I have not kept up on the products the USPS has been offering in recent years. Thanks for the update. |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 12, 2019 14:06:52 GMT
Here is commercial Christmas-related cover. The Kutztown (PA) National Bank got in the spirit of the season in 1932 with this cover featuring an Art Deco Santa and sleigh cachet. My guess is it carried a November statement to a customer. The bank probably used this stationery during the month of December. Unfortunately, the adhesive from the glassine window is causing some discoloration on this cover.
Don StampHinger
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Beryllium Guy
Moderator
Posts: 5,168
What I collect: Worldwide Stamps 1840-1930
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Post by Beryllium Guy on Dec 12, 2019 14:13:20 GMT
...Needless to say, this was the first and last attempt by the USPS in producing and selling holiday cards. While not vintage, below is a small sampling of holiday cards currently listed in the Postal Store on the USPS website. Thanks for contributing to this thread, Steve. Per Don's ( stamphinger) request, I have changed the thread name to remove "vintage" and open this up to a wider range of contributions. So, you are well in line with the revised theme! |
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 12, 2019 16:29:02 GMT
Thanks, Chris, (Beryllium Guy) for enlarging the scope of the thread. Do you have any other Xmas post cards?, If so, would you post them. That card near the top of this thread with the soldier standing guard is really a fine example. Any other from that period of time?
Don
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de61
Member
Posts: 258
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Post by de61 on Dec 13, 2019 2:20:41 GMT
A group of Christmas ladies' cards all to the same woman in New Jersey in 1923.
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Post by stamphinger on Dec 13, 2019 13:29:53 GMT
de61:
Very attractive set of cards. Amazing that the recipient kept them over the years. Looks like the covers were all neatly opened too. Maybe they were not sealed, flaps just tucked in, except for the last one.
Don
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