Greeting Card Collection

The collection consists of greeting cards, over 95% of them Christmas cards, received from the 1920s-1980s by two Washington, D.C. families, those of Ruel Tolman and Nat Conn. The Christmas cards are rich in imagery and contain the following subjects: angels, bells, birds, candles, cats, dogs, carolers, carriages, churches, children, deer, family photographs (black and white and color), hearths/fireplaces, holly, houses/barns, hunting dogs, mailboxes, music, packages, ornaments, pine cones, poinsettia, politics, religious scenes (Three Wise Men, Madonna and Child, manager scenes), Santa Claus, ships/boats, snowmen, trees, and wreaths. Other occasions and holidays include anniversary, birthday, Easter, father's day, get well, Jewish holidays (Passover and Hanukah), military, mother's day, thank you's, and valentines day. There are some Christmas letters/messages that were either sent alone or were inserted into greeting cards. Many of the cards are printed with greetings such as "Holiday Greetings," "Happy Holidays," "New Year's Greetings," "Season's Greetings," "Noel," and "Peace". The foreign greeting cards consist of cards sent to the Tolman and Conn families from family and friends residing outside the United States. There are several empty envelopes lined with paper depicting Christmas images and the miscellaneous folder contains parts of greeting cards, many of which are missing photographs. The collection is arranged into two series: Series 1: Christmas and Series 2; Other occasions.