A selection of strange festive greeting cards from 1870-1900
Ah Christmas. A time of year when many take a month off from reality and lose themselves in a world of food, drink and bizarre traditions.
It would seem it was always thus, as this selection of greeting cards dating from 1870 to 1900 can confirm.
There's lashings of morbid Victorian humour, a few faces from your nightmares and more than a few scenes of animals acting like people.
Kindly provided by Manchester Metropolitan University's Special Collections Museum, here are fifty greeting cards from the Seddon Collection, one of the largest collections of Victorian and Edwardian Cards commercial greetings cards in public hands, with over 32,000 examples.
Here's Special Collections Museum Curator Stephanie Boydell to give a bit of background: “It’s fascinating to see these old illustrations, which in comparison to today’s cute Christmas cards look odd and even slightly scary!
“They were, however, designed to be humorous and meaningful, representing ancient traditions and long-held customs and beliefs. They also give us historical insights, such as the human-like fruit that weren’t in season and only available to the wealthier in society – which might explain the ironic ‘absent friends’ message.
“It’s rewarding to be able to preserve and showcase this incredibly valuable collection of greetings cards, which tell us so much about the mores and conventions of the times.”
Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 1](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270071/d1509c538608f85b9a8140c96ee898d0.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 2](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270072/9c46ad3343ce6d6695945b621f074a6c.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 3](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270073/3da865c54ed260d82ed28c864037f4eb.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 4](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270074/1f1af2147d11b44e0b27d279acb83ce3.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 13](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270083/f1f3b599e74e30a1149c95a2034f41cc.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 5](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270075/d45197f9b9b7773bcac297e72e10c04f.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 6](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270076/7b016b29b8ae962d41b121f6f6cf8736.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 7](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270077/b4799a01b61fb0403a016e4e5c47716a.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 8](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270078/af1e9d78031c62f7927ee480b550d0a0.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 9](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270079/cd6f6d85711122a9ea5b34b581b2f4be.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 10](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270080/6e1c6c78a4386fdb7b48da21c9b36268.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 11](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270081/a824091acabd09d3a0dc01d28c4e9525.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 12](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270082/73ef3430ad875bff1ee22ce96de1e1ca.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 14](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270084/cd7af5db947bbe54ef8c25dbfcf509b4.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 15](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270085/8381dfab8ef4f427940e8059cb18c912.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 16](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270086/97bcbfb28f961e5cc7c29ab40bdbb36b.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 17](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270087/95c6c991d0338ce2b3ce687c2bc1c2e1.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 18](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270088/fdd10785a9717776a22375588aa5da03.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 19](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270089/30565ae3e5764db2c86d7d66039202f7.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 20](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270090/f9c22abcd7f2624527cc7c50e2fef317.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 21](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270091/d81027a3f01bae954d5d2e3b75a9353c.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 22](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270092/4a43318c118ed92035ba22cd161c2d2e.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 23](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270093/f41c877a2aa29170c65e0912db561b42.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 24](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270094/ccb46a0ea1d5c7cd6d8abbc195480af0.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 25](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270095/ee74b2ad64cfe0f22daeef08f3060374.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 26](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270096/326b2de874ae5fc5bc5d6d421fa44b3f.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 27](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270097/90192235ec1271be9c7249552df1eef2.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 28](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270098/7eb54f2227114a349b7a9297d10d56d6.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 29](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270099/6af2e597068cae12a114c87c8ba34f63.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 31](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270101/90c1d90a246a00637ef79405cd0b5c7e.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 30](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270100/73f932d3fb88820a828ffbf959e0caea.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 32](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270102/a06d39c5981b2f65585ec17b9f73d70d.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 33](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270103/4f19ed931f4cddff1b4b6093294cea04.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 34](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270104/9d85b5e2f4ea07fdcabf322e756ea725.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 35](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270105/df4465bbbde0ec8dcf798f570997b1c8.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 36](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270106/70d496ddb5c549b291154336c845cc23.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 38](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270108/05d5ff8d7b1437d0c52c9ac8db598546.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 37](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270107/ef410c570ec3e0410103f5c17029c194.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 39](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270109/1404a44b68d4be99c6eee0b0f7b27886.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 40](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270110/61b201c77bf32a0ff7ff0d5e17af6a6e.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 41](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270111/42ace6c74ba86e2b2cfaffda8db0aeff.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 42](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270112/4982fc95bcc0cf191fdd10ca14d7b62b.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 43](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270113/d6066224a537b32e41bc9a99dde2d609.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 44](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270114/1c2280fd41ceff1a78e68b4fd6e92715.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 45](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270115/bd6dc3adf1714700064342084b298c10.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 46](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270116/3fa6976c808e55a44f0345b78c07bd56.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 47](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270117/1ff6cf656efa95789990066360263f6e.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 48](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270118/e8a2ae57f8eeda01eac87d853034c952.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 50](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270120/928f2016b19564da85ad71773b6a2df9.jpg)
![2023 12 13 Weird Christmas Cards 49](/uploads/imager/299deb39facbb0c50fa0371390d9cd0c/1270119/3d0cc9fd951c948789ddcb1b5f29b5da.jpg)
All image credits: Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections Museum
All these cards are from the Seddon Collection of Victorian and Edwardian Greetings Cards. All the cards shown here are dated from around 1870-1900.
The Seddon Collection is held at Manchester Metropolitan University Special Collections Museum. It is one of the largest collections of Victorian and Edwardian Cards commercial greetings cards in public hands, with over 32,000 examples.
It is part of Manchester Met’s Special Collections museum, a resource holding over 100 collections and archives from 19th century children’s books to 20th is currently located at Manchester Met’s library at All Saints campus on Oxford Road and is due to be moved to the University’s new and impressive landmark library development, with building work due to start in summer next year.
For more information about the Special Collections Museum https://www.mmu.ac.uk/special-... or email at lib-spec-coll@mmu.ac.uk
If you liked this you may also like...
Grumps, Chanel & Blue Monday: Let's celebrate Mcr's old & new music
Black Friar: Neil Burke buys out Salboy
Get the latest news to your inbox
Get the latest food & drink news and exclusive offers by email by signing up to our mailing list. This is one of the ways that Confidentials remains free to our readers and by signing up you help support our high quality, impartial and knowledgable writers. Thank you!
![Subscribe Subscribe](https://confidentials.com/uploads/images/Microsites/Confidentials/20210525_Confidentials_Subscribe-Button_376x59.png)
Join our WhatsApp group
You can also get regular updates on news, exclusives and offers by joining the Manchester Confidential WhatsApp group.
![Join the Manchester Confidential WhatsApp Group Join the Manchester Confidential WhatsApp Group](https://confidentials.com/uploads/images/Microsites/Confidentials/20230908_Join-Manchester-Confidential-WhatsApp_376x59.png)