By Lisa Hix — You've heard the rumor that Santa Claus will leave a lump of coal, possibly some switches, for children who rank on his "naughty" list. But did you know that before the 20th century, old Saint Nick—that is, the European St. Nikolaus—had a devil sidekick do his dirty work? Krampus, a furry, horned, cloven-hooved creature with a disturbingly long tongue, was in charge of filling boots with spanking switches. And if children were really bad, he'd throw them in a wheelbarrow or in a wooden...

Dreaming of a Posh Christmas, in Postcards

By null — As a fan of vintage clothing and all things vintage related to Christmas, I naturally seek out vintage Christmas cards that have a fashionable edge. The clothing shown in these vintage card illustrations is often stylized and a bit romanticized, but looking at them, you can still get a good idea of the fashion trends of the day. All of the cards shown here are from the Great Depression of the 1930s. Even though many people were either making their clothing from cheap fabrics like...

Walker Evans, Preeminent Photographer and Passionate Postcard Collector

By Dave Margulius — In 1994, I had the great pleasure of acquiring the complete archive of Walker Evans for the Metropolitan Museum. The archive is quite vast, including 30,000 black-and-white negatives and about 10,000 color transparencies. It includes collections of his business and personal correspondence, both letters he sent as well as those he received. It also includes his library and his collections. He had works of art by other artists, and a lot of vernacular material, including metal and wood...

When Postcards Were the Social Network

By Maribeth Keane — I worked for 35 years as a reference librarian with the Madison Public Library and I just got interested in Madison’s history through my reference work. My husband and I collect antiques of various sorts, and as we would go to antique stores or antique shows in malls, I began looking through boxes of old postcards. I just started buying Madison postcards to learn about Madison history. I’m not a Madison native. I didn’t move to Madison until 1964, but I say I’ve adopted Madison as my...

Attending the Theatre, Via Postcards

By Marty Weil — Andreas Praefcke (Ravensburg, Germany) collects postcards of old and new theatre buildings worldwide. His complete collection can be seen on his website Carthalia. I spoke to him recently about how he got interested in this unique and interesting postcard collecting theme, how he finds cards, and what some of his favorites are. : How did you become interested in collecting postcards featuring Theater buildings? : Probably my greatest passion is going to the opera wherever and...