December 8, 2022

Christmas Mailbox: Historic Letters and Postcards

We asked museums across the state to dive into their collections and find letters, postcards, and other epistolary ephemera that capture the season's greetings of seasons past. And boy, did they deliver!

A quick hello to young Ruth from Aunt Frances in Beaumont. Some familial holiday guilt courtesy of Minnie in Corsicana in 1887. A homesick letter to La Grange from a young woman in Virginia. Concerns over the flu epidemic of 1918 written from Germany just a few months after the armistice. Read these and even more letters for a bit of holiday nostalgia. 

Santa drops by Irving, Texas. Courtesy of Iriving Archives and Museum.

A Vintage Postcard Generator for All Seasons

The Newberry Library has digitized their collection of over 500,000 vintage postcards so that you can send an old-fashioned holiday greeting to a friend using their digital sender! As one of the largest public collections of postcards in the U.S., this digital collection is truly a hidden gem for history lovers!

Stewed Beef Rump, Musket Fire, and Candlelight

Experience Historic Holiday Traditions Across Texas!

For obvious reasons, we're fond of holiday activities that conjure pictures of the past. But sometimes those pictures are better left there...    Take this photo of young Theodore Schmidt (courtesy of The Portal to Texas History), a high school student at Lutheran Concordia College in Austin, TX, who celebrated Christmas in 1929 by dressing as Knecht Ruprecht, the terrifying companion of St. Nicholas who handles the naughty children.   While you try to forget this nightmarish image of Santa's "Dark Helper," here are some of our favorite, Ruprecht-free upcoming events for the discerning heritage traveler:    Holiday Events at State Historic Sites   Holiday Events on Historic Main Streets