Greeting cards

Description

This series contains greeting cards that depict African Americans and African American speech or slang in a racially stereotyped and derogatory manner.

Historic New England acknowledges historical records / objects may contain harmful imagery and language reflecting attitudes and biases of their creators and time in which they were made. Historic New England does not alter or edit objects and / or historical text.

The Greeting Card series contains more than 250 greeting cards received by Abigail B. Homer and other members of her family throughout the 1940s and 1950s. Cards include birthday, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, get well, graduation, party invitations, and others. Also included is a letter written by the donor providing background on the family and her impressions of the cards regarding their style, paper, pictures, and humor. Other items included in the collection are a newspaper clipping from 2008 about how greeting cards have changed in recent years, notes from the donor about the cards jotted on envelopes or sheets of paper, and a Lovell & Covel chocolates box in which the donor sent the first batch of greeting cards to Historic New England.