Wisconsin Historical Images from the Wisconsin Historical Society
Holidays 2011

FEATURED GALLERY
| Highlights from over three million images in our holdings


American History Through Christmas Cards
Holiday postcard showing Santa Claus driving a motorized sleigh, 1910 WHI 79944

American History Through Christmas Cards

Americans have been exchanging holiday cards for more than 150 years, and thousands of them have made their way into correspondence donated to the Wisconsin Historical Society. For the last several decades, archivists have set aside especially beautiful or evocative cards in a separate collection that now fills eight large boxes. This year, just in time for the holidays, we've scanned and posted more than 200 of the most interesting Christmas cards online. 

Famous and Infamous

The cards shown online include friendly greetings from presidents Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush. Cards sent by governors Phil La Follette, Warren Knowles, Martin Schreiber, Lee Dreyfus and Tommy Thompson have been preserved, as well as ones from senators Ted Kennedy and Herb Kohl. But so, too, are pleasantries from Huey P. Newton ("Have a Revolutionary New Year") and Alger Hiss, who sent his deep affection to the editor of a communist-leaning journal in 1928.

Always Evocative

Browsing these Christmas cards is more than merely a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Because they have been so widely shared for so many decades, they are a mirror to America - not a faithful one, but a warped funhouse mirror reflecting the romanticized images that have consoled or inspired us for five generations.

  


BROWSE THE COLLECTIONS | View nearly 60,000 digitized visual materials in our online database


Larger Than Life: Tall-Tale Postcards   Larger Than Life
  Tall-Tale Postcards 


Tall-Tale postcards emerged in the early 20th century, functioning as surrogates for travel that extolled Wisconsin's agricultural abundance through images of mythic harvests and gargantuan animals.

View the Gallery >> 

Buy Archival Prints   Buy Archival Prints
 Buy Or License A Part Of The Archive!  
 The Wisconsin Historical Society's digital images lab is a full-service, color-managed facility that produces archival pigment print reproductions and high-resolution scans from original source material in the Visual Materials Collections. Nearly all of the images in our online collections are available for purchase as archival pigment prints or digital files and many may be licensed for reproduction. All sale proceeds directly benefit the acquisition, preservation and maintenance of the physical and online collections.

How To Order >>

This monthly email newsletter from Wisconsin Historical Images features gallery exhibits from the Wisconsin Historical Society's visual materials collections.
Wisconsin Historical Society
816 State Street
Madison, WI 53706

Link to Society's website at wisconsinhistory.org

Collecting, Preserving and Sharing Stories Since 1846
 
Did you know?

Nearly 60,000 historical photographs are available for purchase online as high-quality archival pigment prints or digital files.



Browse dozens of topical galleries or search for specific people, places, topics or events. Proceeds  benefit the Society's image collections.



View more information about buying images online or email Lisa Marine.





Connect with us


Follow us on Twitter Find us on Facebook Find us on Flickr.