Witching You a Very Merry Christmas!

It's time for a Witchy Wednesday: Christmas Edition.  Now THIS is the kind of Christmas greeting card I would have loved to receive! Around the Victorian era through the early 1900's, holiday greeting cards were a lot more hard core, and sometimes, downright WEIRD.  This example isn't too far out there, but it certainly doesn't scream CHRISTMAS, at least by modern standards.  Don't quote me on this, but I BELIEVE this particular holiday postcard was put out by De La Rue. De La Rue was an English company dating back to around 1813.  They made Christmas cards (and some of their work is REALLY odd!) from about 1872 to 1885. 

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Witches!

Want MORE creepy, crazy Victorian Christmas cards? Bored Panda has collected at least 57 examples of dead birds, devils, and lots and lots of frogs, all wishing YOU a very merry holiday season!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Theresa's Halloween Wonderland! It's definitely my intention to further develop this blog in 2018! I'd like to take it from a simple repository of things for me to browse through when I'm feeling down to a blog that I'd be proud to share with everyone. Halloween is just one of those things that make me happy, no matter what time of year it is! 

Miss Halloween

For all my fans of vintage Halloween postcards, here's another great example from the early 1900s. I love Miss Halloween's style, especially her pumpkin purse. Although, I'm not terribly sure what is being implied by the text underneath! 

A Jolly Halloween!

Every day inches us a little closer to Halloween! I found and totally fell in love with this hilarious early Halloween postcard, featuring a line of strange lil' black cats getting ready to do some trick-or-treating! I like to imagine this is what my own lil' black cat, Ichabod, and her brother, Snowball, do when we're not watching.

For more hilarious vintage Halloween, check out this BuzzFeed article, 22 Truly Bizarre Vintage Halloween Postcards!   There are some HILARIOUS examples of why Halloween is my favorite time of the year...and why VINTAGE Halloween is the greatest thing ever.

Happy Halloween from the Melons!

What better way to say Happy Halloween than some weird little melon dudes brandishing weapons in the direction of a moon pie? I'm pretty sure this Throwback Thursday post comes from another Tuck postcard from the early 1900s...

Vintage Skeletons

Last week's Throwback Thursday featured a collection of Halloween postcards from 1909.  This week, we've got something slightly different.  Many of these photos are actually postcard images, and most date from around the same time period, but instead of the whimsical artwork of the Tuck cards, this week's feature is a tad darker...

For whatever reason, people in the early 1900s LOVED their skeletons, and they loved to pose with them! I couldn't find any information on this first photo, but I personally find it rather amusing.  I'm not sure which is more visually interest--the jaunty skeleton wearing a top hat astride a bicycle, the look of perplexity on the face of the seated gentleman...or the LACK of perplexity from the other cyclist!

From Pinterest

  Unfortunately, I can't find anything substantial about this next photo!

 This next photo comes from the website, Vintage Everyday, and comes from the collection of Stanley B. Burns, M.D. The accompanying caption for this photo reads "Dear Mary, What Do You Think of My Chum? Postcard mailed to Mary Miller, Mifflinburg, PA, 1908."  This photo, as well as several others featured on the Vintage Everyday website are included in Burns' new book, Stiffs, Skulls and Skeletons: Medical Photography and Symbolism.

This next guy appears to have a real love for his skeleton chum as well. The full image of this 1913 postcard can be found on the Tear Drop Memories website.

If you loved these photos, keep watching Theresa's Halloween Wonderland...there are a lot more skeletons coming in the next few months!

1909 Tuck Halloween Postcards

While a LOT of this blog is going to be devoted to vintage and antique Halloween items and imagery, Thursdays are especially designated to showcase some of the awesome spooky goodness from a bygone era.  In today's Throwback Thursday we'll take a look at some rather...interesting...vintage post cards.

I'm almost positive that ALL of these postcard images come from the Raphael Tuck and Sons' Halloween series 160, dating back to 1909.  These seriously crack me up, especially the first one.  Look at the devil in the background pitchforking that strange fruit guy.  Apparently they made amends because by the 'end' of the series, they've all sat down to a homecooked meal, lol.