Quirky Christmas cards from our collection

Two tabby cats sat in bed in Victorian-era nightclothes, with their breakfast in bed of mice and birds on a tray, and a sign that says 'Breakfast in bed charged extra'

Quirky Christmas cards from our collection

Monday, December 01, 2025

T'is the season of gifting and goodwill! So we've had a jolly good look around our collections, and found these previously unphotographed Christmas cards.

Many of these are from the Victorian period or early 1900s. Their taste in greetings cards design could be a little odd...

One thing is for certain - they were as obsessed with cats as we are today!

Cards for people you quite like

Kitsch baby Jesus and medieval-style parties - everyone on your list is covered there, right?

A rather kitsch design of four angels playing a string quartet around a baby Jesus in a manger

'Now is the time when friend greets friend, and so I send this token. To prove true friendship knows no end, and memory's chain's unbroken.'

A card with a medieval-inspired drawing of a jester and princess being blown away across a great hall floor

'A jolie old custome, it is without doubt. At ye comynge of newe yeere, to have a blowe oute.'

Feline fine

Cats, cats and more cats... here's a selection of purrfect vintage cat-themed Christmas cards.

Nothing says Christmas greetings like 'breakfast in bed charged extra'.

Christmas card with a brown and white cat sat on a rooftop, sharing a handwarmer with one paw each

The message is sweet, but we wouldn't trust that brown cat.

Four kittens stood in their hind legs dancing in a circle and wearing coloured bow ties

Dancing cats. Why not?

Cards for people you maybe don't like very much

We're not quite sure how we'd feel if we receieved one of these cards! It just goes to show people have always had a peculiar sense of humour.

A Christmas card with a person pouring a full chamber pot from a window onto another person, and the words 'Greetings Sincere' beneath

'Greetings sincere.' Indeed.

A card design with a man and woman in a motorised vehicle encountering a woman with a horse and cart coming opposite directions on the same road, and the message 'It's not my fault. A merry Xmas'

Is there any context to this one at all?

And in true Victorian fashion, some dead birds.

Dead birds are a rather common theme on Victorian Christmas cards.

One theory is that killing a robin was seen as good luck. So, sending your loved one a card with this sort of scene on was wishing them well for the year ahead.

The same probably can't be said for the robin.

A sparrow being shot by an arrow in the top left, and five birds not being shot sat on branches in the bottom left

"A peaceful happy year" - not for the sparrow

A Christmas card with a painting of a dead blue tit surrounded by flowers on it

"A bright and happy Christmas" - again, unless you're a blue tit.

Things did look brighter for some other greetings cards birds, however!

So let's end on a jollier note.

A greetings card with the image of two robins sharing an umbrella in a snow shower, a sign post reading 'joy, happiness and prosperity'

"A simple greeting, but withal sincere: a Merry Christmas, and a glad New Year"

Wakefield Museums and Castles