Hildesheimer & Faulkner, London
Following the lead of other publishers, Hildesheimer & Faulkner sponsored a prize exhibition in 1881 and awarded £2,000 in prize money. They produced cards primarily in the 1880's, but continued as a manufacturer of postcards into the 20th century. Gleeson White writes: "the dominant influences that show, are what one may call "popular academic" rather than "aesthetic" taste; that is to say, their bias has been toward the pictorial, rather than the purely decorative treatment."
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Children having a snowball fight, ca. 1880's
Front: Wishing you a Happy Christmas
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Two children with snowman , ca. 1883
Front: A Bright and Happy New Year
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Singing cat, early 1880's
All subjects were fair game for the decoration of a holiday card. Personified animals were quite common.
Front: With best wishes for a Happy Christmas
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Procession of mice and frogs, ca. 1880's
Front: With best wishes for a Happy Christmas
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Country scene, round card, ca. 1881
Shaped cards were a novel and popular format in the 1880's. As the popularity of holiday cards tapered off in the 1890's, some blamed the public's demand for novelty for a decline in the quality of English Christmas cards. Cheap German imports were also thought responsible for the decline.
Front: Wishing you a Happy Christmas
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Girl with spring-time flowers, shaped card, ca. 1885
Back: May Christmas Day be a joyful one.
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Violets, shaped card, ca. 1880's
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Girl on beach with bucket, ca. 1880's
"Flowers, fairies, everything and anything all over the world, in all seasons of the year, have been pressed into the service of the Christmas card."
Front: A Bright and Happy Christmas
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Beach scene with boats, ca. 1880's
Front: A Christmas Greeting
"Hourly joys be still upon you." Shakespeare.
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