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the American Antiquarian Society blog




Chromolithographed Christmas Cards

December 1st, 2011, by Christine Graham-Ward

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The holiday rush has started for us all, so we hope you will forgive us at Past is Present for having taken a bit of a break recently.  To kick off the month of December, in the spirit of Christmas giving, please accept these chromolithographed Christmas cards as our present from the past.  Click on [...]


Christmas trees!

December 22nd, 2010, by Christine Graham-Ward

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As the cataloger for AAS’s Prints in the Parlor project, I’ve been working with gift books and annuals now for fifteen months. In that time, I’ve found few images that represent scenes of Christmas. This is surprising because many of the annuals were given as Christmas gifts and have titles that you would think have [...]


The Acquisitions Table: Scripture Scenes

December 28th, 2009, by Tom Knoles

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If the holiday leftovers are still lurking in our refrigerators, we figure there’s still time for one more Christmas-themed post, courtesy of Curator of Children’s Literature Laura Wasowicz.   The charming engraving below raises two interesting questions you might want to mull over as you finish off the pecan pie.  First, where would Anderson have [...]


Do you hear what I hear?

December 22nd, 2009, by Diann Benti

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santa_claus

Within the roughly 60,000 pieces of sheet music in the AAS collection, a devilish and spry Santa Claus waits for just this time of year.  At the first talk of Christmas, he appears, dancing on a chimney while playing the violin.  This 1846 incarnation of Santa Claus stands on the cover of the Santa Claus [...]


Santa Claus Exposed

December 14th, 2009, by Diann Benti

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chimneys

AAS’s The Children’s Friend: A New Year’s Present is one of just two known copies of the 1821 pamphlet.  Fifteen centimeters tall and eight pages deep, the paper-covered volume stood little chance of survival in the hands of generations of American children. But there was one family fastidious enough for the task, and by chance [...]


Christmas Treasures: Flip through the pages of The Children’s Friend

December 7th, 2009, by Diann Benti

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childrens_friend_stocking_cropped

It’s that time of year. Time to take ornaments out of boxes, shake the dust from stockings, and hang wreaths on front doors.  The holiday season is no different at AAS. December is the one month when it’s appropriate to pull out all of our wonderful Christmas treasures– after all who wants to see Santa [...]




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