Friday, March 16, 2012

Ephemera ~ Greeting Cards



In 1966, when my son was only 1 month old, his great aunt and uncle sent him this card for St. Patrick's Day. It is a Norcross "stand-alone" card, measuring 13" tall, and for every March since 1966, it has stood on a table near our front door, to welcome visitors and family alike.

Blarney the Leprechaun says,
"This very lucky leprechaun
A-playin' on his fiddle
Is wishin' you a day that's gay
Beginning - end n' middle!
The same aunt also sent a Halloween card, which also gets displayed every October.
I say aunt, because for 50 years that is what we thought she was. Mr. Kenju has been doing his family geneaology for about 8 years now. He recently ordered birth certificates for some of his mother's siblings, and that is how we found out that this woman was not his aunt - but probably a cousin. It seems that this woman was taken in and raised as if she were one of his grandparent's children, when in truth, she was the child of one of his grandfather's brothers. He solved a family mystery; one which we didn't even know was a mystery!


EDIT:  I posted this six years ago, and the card still stands on a table near the front door. Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!

25 comments:

Pat said...

Well done! You must be better than yesterday.
Ah the past- if only we could fathom it's secrets.

Paste said...

Hi, just popped by from Michele's this morning. I amazed that you've managed to keep the card safe for so long!

Eddie said...

That is one of the reasons I love to do genealogy. You are always stumbling across surprises.

Anonymous said...

wow, what a family surprise! Those were the days when people didn't really talk about such things.
I'm here from Michelle... oh never mind.. ;) LOL!

MaR said...

I love family histories, they are always fascinating, specially when unexpected family ties are discovered! Glad to see you feel better and are up and posting!

Moon said...

Its amazing the things you find out with family research lol...My father has been reasearching our family history for yrs now...cool stories of individuals or ways of life back then keep popping up...its all very fun and interesting to find out.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Amazing to have solved that,Judy. My sister has been doing the heneology of my parents for about 8 years,too...but no incredible mysteries have been revealed!

I can't get Chickie's link to work, and I don't know why.
Try this:
http//:skitteringthoughts.blogspot.com
If that diesn't work than...I don't know!

Hope this means you are feeling a lot better than you were, my dear.

Jamie Dawn said...

Some of my older cousins were more like aunts to me.
We've had some "revealing" family tidbits over the years too.

That card is very cute. I can see why you display it.
I bought my daughter a beautiful cardboard paper doll with different clothing & hats to put on. I let her play with it very little, and I still have it. It is something I will most likely display one day too.

I hope you are well now.

Carolyn said...

A sip from a jug has him dancin' a jig, lol! Very cute! I love that fan below too. Glad you're feeling better :)

Anonymous said...

I love vintage greeting cards. There is something about the graphics that is far missing these days, mayhaps it is "charm".

goldenlucyd said...

Kenju,
Thanks ever so much for the BDay greeting! It's been such fun. I also want to thank you for pointing me to http://jamiedawnsmindlessblather.blogspot.com. I love her!
Don't these poor blog non-participants know what they're missing?
Lucyd

Traci Dolan said...

That's exactly how I found out my grandparents were cousins.

I don't think I was supposed to say that!

brendalove@gmail.com said...

I'm glad to see you up and blogging about!

My grandparents adopted just about anyone into the family. I called people "aunt" and "uncle" that it turns out weren't even related to me.

Anonymous said...

:-)

I bet he ushers lots of luck in the front door along with the visitors.

Hope you're feeling much, much better.

Anonymous said...

I love the card, but even more I love the Aunt that wasn't really an aunt but a cousin. Sounds like my family.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Zee said...

I love family mysteries like that!

Hope you are feeling better today. :)

Weary Hag said...

It's so neat that you've managed to keep the card like new all these years. Cute greeting for those entering your home!

It always amazes me that some folks can trace back family history for hundreds of years when I can't seem to get beyond my own grandparents!

Anonymous said...

And a Happy St. Patrick's day to you!

Cassie-b

carmilevy said...

Everyone should have a relative who's earned the title by being there and didn't simply inherit it through genetics.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

I love "family" traditions like that wonderful card...!
A VERY HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY TO YOU AND YOURS...!

Imaginography said...

What a fun card. We celebrate St George's Day here in England which is in April :)

~ Bobkat

Arkansas Patti said...

He is in grand shape for his age.
Really interesting about Mr. K's "aunt". I'll bet a lot of that went on in "the day" for convenience.

Chancy said...

I love the card and the sentiment and especially the story about the "Aunt"

Pat said...

I'm having trouble leaving a comment and now seem to be back inthe past!

joared said...

Earlier generations had so many secrets seems there can often be surprises, so interesting what you've learned.

I'm using a netbook right now. For some reason your new format is much bigger than my screen on both left and right sides, so unable to read all the words in your post, even if I manually move each line. Maybe next time I'll check it out on my laptop.

Noticed Goldenlucyd in Colo. commenting. Glad to see she's still blogging 'cause she seemed to disappear. Or maybe she came back and I didn't know. I finally stopped checking, but am pleased she's continuing to blog somewhere.