New Year's Postcards by Pauline Ebner
Pauli Ebner created numerous New Year's cards. Some of them were made exclusively for New Year, others were merely recycled designs from birthday, name day, or Christmas cards. And we'll also see a postcard where the publisher adapted the same design to another market simply by mirroring the image.
Visits on New Year's Day are one of the oldest traditions. There are many superstitions related to the visits on the first day of the New Year. In general, a visitor brings food luck to the house, so visitors are welcomed. The more, the better. In older times, some of them came masked as bad spirits, some masked to frighten bad spirits, and some ready to sing to make bad spirits away, etc. Different times, different customs.
Greetings are exchanged at the turn of the year. Happy New Year is not the only possibility.
Here are some more:
Wishing You a Happy New Year!
A Joyous New Year!
To You a Happy New Year!
Greetings for the New Year!
A Glad New Year!
Happy New Year to You!
New Year Greetings!
A Bright and Happy New Year!
As you probably noticed, the New Year's greetings are focused on happiness, luck, and joy. All this is often symbolized by another tradition - bringing flowers on the first day of the year and with visits in general.
Children are always a grateful postcard motif. New Year, with its symbolism (new beginning, blank page, everything is still in front of you), is, of course, an even more suitable theme than other holidays. Paula Ebner loved to portray them, and here are a few examples of simple designs with cute kids, some greenery, classic red and green details, and a lot of space. Remember, many postcards from the beginning of the 20th century had the back side reserved for address only. If a sender wanted to add a personal note to the receiver, they had to do it by writing on the front side with the picture.
New Year is a perfect occasion for a party. The old year belongs to the past. The new one is not really here yet. Everything is possible. Let's put the worries aside and focus on our positive expectations. Let's party!
As you probably noticed, the New Year's greetings are focused on happiness, luck, and joy. All this is often symbolized by another tradition - bringing flowers on the first day of the year and with visits in general.
The tradition of giving presents for New Year goes thousands of years back. Persians exchanged eggs, symbols of the eternal life cycle, fertility, and new life. Romans had a custom of giving coins or nuts. In some parts of Great Britain, coal, shortbread, and silverware are still remembered by older people. Everybody loves giving and receiving gifts. Here are a few more New Year's postcards with a motif of giving presents.
As we all know, happiness goes hand in hand with wealth. Here is another symbol of a good life - a pig.
Let's not forget that New Year is not a working day. At least some time of the holidays (New Year is often connected to Christmas) should be spent outside, in the fresh air, at some fun activities, and in good company. Let's start a new year healthy and full of energy.
This is the end of our little tour with vintage Happy New Year's cards by Pauline Ebner. If you would like to explore more, we can recommend you also a selection of designs from her contemporary in the USA: a selection of old New Year's cards by Samuel Schmucker.
Share this post with your friends and spread the joy! Happy New Year!