Christmas in July for ephemera fans

It's less than five months until Christmas! The end-of-year holiday season is a big deal here on Papergreat, with robust collections of jolly ephemera having been featured in December 2011 and December 2012. In fact, there have been nearly 50 Christmas-themed posts thus far.

Some of my favorites posts from previous Decembers include:

• Adams County Christmas postcard from 1916
• Festive Christmas matchbook from D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co.
• Christmas card from Raphael Tuck & Sons
• A merry Christmastide to you, Marguerite E. DeWitt

(And, for more, here's a full guide to the 2011 Christmas posts.)

I already have a stockpile of merry items ready for this upcoming December. Featured today, as a little preview, are a pair of vintage Christmas cards. The card at the top of the post opens up to feature a greeting that states:

If a body wish a body
Everything that's good
Can't a snappy Christmas Greeting
Make it understood
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis T. Cook
Meanwhile, pictured just below is a light blue card signed by Irene Campbell.

On both of these old cards, the illustrations are really wonderful.

Here are some detail shots...