Christmas Images 1 – The Comforts of Home

The other evening we lit a fire in the fireplace for the first time this year. Baby, it was cold outside. Well, we didn’t really need the fire for warmth but somehow it seems very comforting during the dark cold months of the year. There must be something in our more primitive biological memory that responds to the crackle and pop of the wood and the dancing flames.

“It’s comforting,” I said. “Cozy. Reassuring. Homey.”

That’s a theme that is frequently conveyed by Christmas cards that feature snug cottages in the snow, smoke rising from the chimneys or windows that suggest light and warmth inside.



A review of the book American Christmas Cards 1900-1960, by Kenneth L. Ames, a professor of American decorative arts at the Bard Graduate Center in New York City where an exhibit is currently on display, mentions this and other interpretations of Christmas cards over the first six decades of the 20th Century. (I have ordered but not yet received the book.)

I usually describe my ephemera business as “cultural history,” adding that I try to find things that reveal the everyday life (rather than sociological studies) of our past. The history books do not convey all of the nuances of our social attitudes and priorities as they changed over time.



A group of carolers – smoke rising from the cozy homes behind them – convey a feeling of cheer and goodwill, of friendship and sharing.
Drawing together in the warmth of the fire is, again, a basic human need in times past, and an image to which we respond in the present. It used to mean survival of individuals and the species. Now it can encourage survival of our spirits and our sense of ease and comfort.



The cards featured here are from c. 1930s. I have never found a particular name for this graphic style – Moderne is sometimes used, although it gets confused with Streamline Moderne of the 1950s. And yet it is a big step away from the Art Deco era that preceded it. Since it so often features these stylized little bungalows, I usually refer to it as “Cottage Moderne,” but that’s a personal designation. If anyone knows a better term, please speak up. Perhaps the book will have a suggestion.

Coming Back

Sometimes you can just get blindsided by Life and knocked right off the rails. Throw in some illnesses, deaths, injuries, obligations, and even house renovations and it's hard to stay on track. Getting back on track is another hurdle - I'm somewhat surprised that I could even remember how to access this blog! So this is a test run.



In spite of all the disasters we have pursued our house updating plans and seeing what we did in the last year in encouraging - new floors in main rooms upstairs and down, a new front door, a remodeled fireplace (from ugly big rough concrete brick to a plastered surface with glass tile inset and slate hearth) and freshly-painted walls. With my mother's death we gained acess to much more space in the house and so we moved Gary's den downstairs and at last I have a dining room! We have only just moved furniture into the living spaces the past couple of weeks - do not yet have many pictures on the walls or other decor in place, but it's liveable.

Well, If I have figured out how to post here again I hope to stay "regular" with some upbeat or interesting comments, notes, opinions, crotchets, announcements, observations, research, and mutterings on books, ephemera, life, the universe, and everything.