Greetings
An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcards is the standard reference book on embroidered silk postcards. It contains references to over 2600 different cards with over 270 illustrations. The book described nearly 500 Patriotic Greetings cards, many for the first time. There is no listing of Sentimental Greetings cards in the book, so the information on this site is the only reference source available. The new additions are shown in RED.
Greetings cards make up the largest section of embroidered silk postcards. In fact, it could be argued that every embroidered silk card is a greetings card. The earliest embroidered silk postcards were introduced in 1899 and cards from this Early Period now form a whole new section on the site, under Latest Research.
The golden period of the embroidered silk postcard was between the years of 1914 and 1920, and they are widely associated with the First World War. Thousands of different designs were produced during this period for a ready market among the Armed Forces of the British Army and its Allies during the First World War. By about the middle of the war, cards were being sold within the countries of the British Isles and this represents the period of the height of their manufacture.
Major sections are devoted to listings of newly discovered Patriotic cards, Sentimental cards and Seasonal cards. In each section, the Better Designs are listed first and described separately, and their captions are not repeated in the general listings. It must be remembered that a listed caption can be found on many designs, and in the horizontal, vertical or envelope styles.
Images of a representative selection of cards are shown beneath the listings.
Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.
No part may be reproduced, stored, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.