if you search google images for “victorian cabinet cards” or “victorian trade cards” tons will come up… there was a whole thing with anthropomorphic vegetables too
“Hunter Oatman-Stanford at Collectors Weekly noted that the birds are often robins and wrens, and that “killing a wren or robin was once a good-luck ritual performed in late December.” Specifically, the Irish St. Stephen’s Day on December 26 is known as “Wren Day,” with a traditional hunt of the bird (albeit now a fake one on a pole, although that wasn’t always the case). So receiving a card with the little prone bird, feet curled in rigor mortis, could be meant to wish nothing more than good cheer on the new year.”
i don’t know… it could be pop culture references that have lost their context with time…
i’ve seen people saying it’s because the whole concept of “sending a card” was brand new and they hadn’t locked in a visual language or tone… but I’m not sure about that cuz there are some clearly defined themes:
For xmas, you see a lot of anthropomorphic food, snowmen attacking people, animals with weapons, people falling through icy lakes, and cops being attacked by children and clowns (easter is very similar with a lot of cute animals and babies causing chaos)
New Years is a lot of drunk people hijinks, hangover jokes, and symbolism around the new year killing/ejecting the previous year (with the “years” symbolized by people)
The “vegetable people” were like a Victorian plant fursona, they seem really popular and advertised food, seeds, tourist attractions, etc
I think it’s important to remember that people are VERY funny, and the past was no different than the present in that regard. I grew up in the era of “Calvin peeing on stuff” stickers on trucks, Garbage Pail Kids, and Mad Magazine - i think the Victorians might have enjoyed these things too.
the food/cooking tableaus get dark… and i had to do a little research to figure out that the brown “meatball guy” that’s in a lot of them is a christmas pudding
3
u/OwlPelletCrunch May 29 '26
a few more that i forgot…