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Free Floral Vintage Christmas Cards

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By WordPlay


Anyone who celebrates Christmas (and probably even those who don't) know that these floral elements usually accompany the Christmas holiday: holly, mistletoe, poinsettias, and pine boughs and cones. Images of those "flowers" are ubiquitous in vintage Christmas cards, and you'll see plenty of examples of those below. But I thought it also would be interesting to provide some cards that don't have the traditional floral elements or that only incorporate them as an addition to other flowers more associated with other seasons of the year. The first group of cards below does just that.

Please follow the instructions below to download the best version of each vintage Christmas card:

Download Instructions

Choose a small version of any of the vintage floral Christmas cards above the large images to the right and across the bottom of the page. When you click on one of the images, it will appear larger.

IMPORTANT: Once you've chosen an image and see it larger, double-click on the larger image, which will make the best version of the art appear. Sorry for the extra step, but this will give you the highest quality art.

Then, if you have a PC, just right-click and save the final version of the artwork to your hard drive.


Vintage Christmas Cards with Non-traditional Flowers

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Yellow poppies vintage Christmas card
Yellow poppies vintage Christmas card

About These Vintage Christmas Floral Cards

One of the cards features poppies, which I associate with California in the spring. If memory serves, the poppy is the state flower of California. When I was growing up in Los Angeles, poppies would sometimes grow by the freeway on-ramps. They've probably given way to more drought-tolerant plants at this point, but I remember the colors being beautiful and the flowers quite delicate-looking for their locations that were shrouded in car exhaust.

There's also a cute puppy and an adorable little girl with what I imagine are violets or lavender.The Christmas bell also looks like it has violets incorporated ito the design. There are also hydrangeas, geraniums, chrysanthemums and lilies, along with what are probably some made-up flowers. It doesn't matter, as long as they look pretty!

The other cards feature holly and poinsettias, with a little mistletoe thrown in for good measure. My particular favorite is the hot air balloon with holly and mistletoe. Apparently this image was actually a Christmas gift tag because it has "To" and "From" printed on it. This one is perfect if you want to make vintage-look gift tags as gifts or to sell this holiday season.


Vintage Christmas Cards with Holly

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Vintage hot air balloon with holly, mistletoe and "Christmas Greetings" message
Vintage hot air balloon with holly, mistletoe and "Christmas Greetings" message

The cards hail from various eras, but I know at least one of them is 100 years old, because it as "1908" printed on it. Some of them are even older than that, which you can tell by the clothing styles.

There were also a variety of printing techniques used in the production of these cards when they were new. Some of them even had gold foil stamped on them, and you can see the remnants of that in the scans.

I hope you enjoy these vintage Christmas cards. I'm sure you'll find plenty of uses for them!

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Looking for More Vintage Art?

The Free Clip Art Sourcebook has a vast selection of vintage and contemporary art for most major holidays, as well as for many other subjects. Art formats include clip art, vintage cards, paper dolls, craft templates, gift certificates and more. Each piece of art at each of the many links are completely free -- and the book is also free to download! I designed the book to keep track of all the clip art pages I've created online, so I decided to share it to make it easier for all of us to find good clip art when we need it.

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Vintage Christmas Cards with Poinsettias

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Little boy with poinsettias
Little boy with poinsettias


Click to see a larger version of this image
Click to see a larger version of this image

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Christmas in the News

  • David Archuleta delivers 'Christmas from the Heart'CNN89 minutes ago

    Even though he has only one album under his belt, David Archuleta doesn't think it is at all too soon to release a collection of Christmas music.

  • Dickens Christmas classic tops UK box officeThe Malaysian Insider2 hours ago

    LONDON, Nov 10 - Walt Disney’s high-tech adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” dominated the box office over the weekend, but takings were sharply lower than other big autumn chart-toppers in Britain. Director Robert Zemeckis’ reworking of the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Jim Carrey, only managed £1.89 million (RM10.21 million), according to Screen International today.

  • 'Christmas Carol' No. 1 at box officeCNN22 hours ago

    It may be only the first week of November, but Disney's "A Christmas Carol" got the holiday season started by spiriting $31 million at the box office, according to early estimates by Hollywood.com Box Office.

  • ABC to air former 'Idol' Jennifer Hudson's Christmas special Dec. 14Reality TV World8 hours ago

    ABC has announced Jennifer Hudson: I'll Be Home for Christmas , an hour-long primetime music special starring the former American Idol third-season finalist, will air Monday, December 14 at 8PM ET/PT.

  • Welcome, Christmas: Grinch , With Karl, Larroquette, Edwards, Gurwin and More, Begins L.A. DebutPlaybill9 hours ago

    Stefan Karl is the title grouch in the Los Angeles premiere of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, beginning performances Nov. 10 at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

  • 'Christmas Carol' hits high note at box officeThe New Straits Times2 hours ago

    LOS ANGELES: The festive season lured North American movie-goers at the weekend to leave “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” on top of the box office rankings, final figures showed Monday.

  • Europe's 20 best Christmas markets 2009Times Online11 minutes ago

    Christmas markets seem to be getting more popular by the year, judging by the number of you who read last year's guide.

  • Man, 59, to be sentenced for Christmas Day sexual assaultSheboygan Press49 minutes ago

    A 59-year-old Sheboygan man will be sentenced today for sexually assaulting a young girl on Christmas Day last year.

Comments

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ajcor profile image

ajcor  says:
12 months ago

gorgeous cards - how do you find all these lovely vintage cards? well done and thanks...cheers

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
12 months ago

Thanks, ajcor. I purchased them. I love vintage art, so I was excited when I found a source that had diverse pieces I could buy.

AEvans profile image

AEvans  says:
12 months ago

I love vintage and these are beautiful I think sometimes I was born in the wrong time.:)

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
12 months ago

I've said the same thing myself!

Write On! profile image

Write On!  says:
12 months ago

I just love these. Thank you for sharing:-)

Write On!

clydeskid profile image

clydeskid  says:
12 months ago

I am the most nostalgic, sentimental person in the world so, of course, I love the cards. So elegant, so charming and so special in a world lacking an abundance of either. Thank you.

Prosperity66  says:
12 months ago

Lots of wonderful pictures! and lots of them I didn't know about!

Dragonflyqueen  says:
12 months ago

This is a gift ! Clydeskid said it well.....thank you for sharing all this charm and elegance...You make the world a better place ! Blessings, light and love to you !

MRS Great Caruso profile image

MRS Great Caruso  says:
11 months ago

Wow...great cards!!! Thank for the info!!

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
11 months ago

You're welcome! :-)

Sharon  says:
11 months ago

Thank you so much for sharing the vintage cards. It brought back so many memories of my childhood. It was such a pleasure seeing your cards, again Thank You

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
11 months ago

You're welcome, Sharon. I'm glad you enjoyed the cards. :-)

NCE  says:
11 months ago

What a fun site I have happened upon!! Great site and I know I will be visiting often. Thank you for sharing this beautiful era with us. How kind of you.

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
11 months ago

Thanks for your kind words, NCE. I'm so glad you stopped by.

Gail  says:
8 months ago

Love the nastalgia of these cards. It takes me back.

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
8 months ago

Hi, Gail. That's why I love vintage images too. They're like a time machine.

dara  says:
5 months ago

thank you. They are beautiful!

Mary L. White  says:
5 months ago

Thank you for all your clip art. There are so many beautiful pictures to chose and use. I have told many people about your site.

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
5 months ago

Thanks, Dara and Mary. :-)

simplyjo profile image

simplyjo  says:
4 months ago

Wow - These cards are truly lovely.

If you get some time, do check out my Christmas hugs too !

Cheers !

Barbara  says:
3 months ago

this is so nice to have access to so many beautiful images, and not have to pay high prices for them.

Many thanks

WordPlay profile image

WordPlay  says:
3 months ago

You're welcome, Barbara. :-)

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