PFF - Ded Moroz & Snegurochka - New Year Greetings

During the Soviet years Christmas celebrations and customs in the Soviet Union were shifted to New Year's. This Russian New Year postcard shows the Russian version of Santa Claus, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), and his granddaughter/helper Snegurochka (Snow Maiden). They are traveling in a troika, a sleigh pulled by a team of three horses harnessed abreast.

This card is © USSR Ministry of Communications 1988. It is one of the cards included in my video Snegurochka & Ded Moroz - Russian New Year Postcards.

VTT - Kewpie Postcard & Tea Set

The little Kewpie on my postcard is ringing in the New Year. The postcard is signed by Rose O'Neill and is postmarked 1923.

The Kewpie tea set belonged to my mother when she was a child. The pieces that are decorated with Prussian soldier Kewpies are marked "Copyrighted Rose O'Neill Wilson, Kewpie, Germany." The saucers have the same pink border as the other pieces but are not decorated. They are marked Leuchtenburg Germany.

My tea set is missing some pieces. There is an auction picture showing a "Rose O'Neill Child's 15 piece Pink Lusterware Tea Set" that includes a sugar bowl and six cups here.

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Fröhliche Weihnachten from Germany

This postcard is from a Postcrossing member in Germany. It shows the characters in the German children's show, The Program with the Maus.

Merci Xmas Chocolate

This is a Boomerang freecard advertising Merci chocolate. I received it from a Postcrossing member in The Netherlands who wrote: "we often give them to a person who we want to thank for something they did or just to say thank you for being there for me."

Holiday Greetings from Poland

This is a Postcrossing postcard I received from Poland. Just looking at this card gives me a warm feeling.

Radosnych Świąt
Bożego Narodzenia
oraz szcześcia
w nadchodzącym
Nowym Roku

translation:

Merry Christmas and happiness in the New Year

December 25 Merry Christmas Angel

PFF - Santa at the Window with Gifts

If you don't have a chimney for Santa to use, he may deliver your gifts through a window. You may even see him!

To see more of my Christmas postcards, click on the Christmas label at the bottom of this post or on the sidebar.

VTT - Christmas Postcard & Potholders

The little maid on my postcard is carrying a flaming plum pudding. She looks like she could use one of my vintage Christmas potholders.

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VTT - Christmas Cats

The cat postcard above is one of the cards I used in a video I made today and posted on YouTube: Vintage Christmas Postcards - Greetings From My Cat. This is the second video I made using Windows Movie Maker (the first was yesterday). My video shows postcards from my collection and is embedded below.

The ceramic cat below is about 3 inches tall and is made in Japan. I bought it a couple of months ago at a Salvation Army store for 49¢.

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and

PFF - A Gracious Greeting Card

I bought this postcard because I liked the design, which I consider kind of a combination of Arts and Crafts style printing and Art Nouveau design. On examining the fine print I discovered that this card was ©1913 Geo. W. Parker Art Co. Minneapolis. Although I live in the Minneapolis area, this is the only postcard I have from that company.

VTT - Christmas Children Postcard & Figures

The Christmas postcard with the old-fashioned children is copyright Bon Ton Art Co. 1912. It is signed with the initials C.G. Jr.

I was really happy to find some ceramic figures of a boy and a girl in a thrift shop last week. They are just the kind of Christmas figures I was hoping to find. I have some caroling salt and pepper shakers that I posted last year, and I decided I would like some more vintage shakers or figures of children singing. I don't know how old these figures are--does anyone else know? They have a small label on the bottom that just says Japan.

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&

a VINTAGE CHRISTMAS PARTY at

PFF - Snowy Holiday Greetings & Nyce Manufacturing Co.

The children on this card are obviously excited by the fresh snow. I like fresh snow too. A couple of weeks ago the first snow here clung to the trees and looked beautiful and clean like the winter scene on this card. Now, I am already tired of winter. We usually don't have so much snow or cold weather this early in the season.

This postcard was made in the U.S.A., probably sometime between 1915 and 1925. Like other American made greeting postcards, it has a lot of white space and more Americanized subjects than earlier European made postcards.

This a sample card with advertising for the Nyce Manufacturing Co. of Vernfield, PA on the back. I haven't found much information on this company on the Internet. I did see another sample card which said that they had been post card specialists since 1908. They were still publishing postcards during the chrome era. Most of their linen and chrome postcards seem to be of the generic type with greetings from various locations imprinted on the front or back of the card. It is not clear whether they were manufacturing postcards or just publishing and selling postcards.

VTT - Christmas & Magazines

The Christmas subscription offer for The Farmer's Wife magazine is printed on a 1¢ postal card. If you paid for your subscription before February 1, 1928, you could receive a three year subscription to the magazine for only 85 cents. A 1938 Time magazine article reported that "No newsstands carry the Farmer's Wife but it goes through the mail anywhere at $1 for three years."

Even a larger magazine like American Home seems ridiculously cheap compared to today's prices. The subscription order form in the December 1939 issue offered 3 gift subscriptions for only $2.

The American Home magazine was a monthly magazine published from 1928 to 1977. The cover on this December, 1939 issue of The American Home has illustrations from Walt Disney's Pinocchio and advertises "More than 200 Xmas Ideas."

Many of the Christmas ideas in the magazine would still be appropriate today, but some of them seem quaint or are outmoded:

• If in doubt about the right gift, send cigarettes. They're always welcome.
• Jolly, bright oilcloth ensembles will be welcomed into any woman's kitchen.
• Small models of New England's most picturesque spired churches, tiny Cape Cod houses, little old school buildings, all may be sliced from a mere loaf of bread in a manner astonishing to see and exciting to do.

In contrast to the low priced magazine subscriptions are the relatively high prices on electrical appliances. The prices on toasters don't seem much different than today's prices. In the Toastmaster ad, a 1-slice toaster is $9.95, and a 2-slice toaster is $16.00.

Pyrex advertised "Merry Pyrexmas Bargains" at prices that were "reduced 30% to 50% in the last 2 years." The double duty casserole with pie plate cover was called a "pyrexmas surprise." This was priced at 95¢ for the 3 qt. size, 75¢ for the 2 qt., 65¢ for 1-1/2 qt., and 65¢ for the 1 qt.

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