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Birthday Card

1966 (printed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This birthday card, one of a group of 269, was given to and kept by Jennifer Leaver (née Davies). The cards were given to her by a range of relatives and friends and span from 1957 to1975 - the dates of her first to her eighteenth birthday.
Jennifer was born in 1957 and the cards reflect progression of typography, imagery and graphic styles for birthday cards, spanning over three decades.

The cards also reflect the changing and age appropriate imagery chosen by greetings card companies as well as the choices made by those who selected and sent the cards to Jennifer as she grew older.
Some of the earlier younger cards commonly show childish scenes often including illustrated baby animal characters, whereas later cards reflect perceived changes of interest for a growing girl such as images of flowers, fashions and music.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Colour printed card
Brief description
Colour printed birthday card for a 10 year old with a photograph of two children fishing in a stream, printed in Great Britain, given to Jennifer Leaver (nee Davies), 1966.
Physical description
Colour printed birthday card folded in four in a portrait format. Shows a photograph of a boy and a girl by a stream in the woods. The girl is looking in the water, wearing a red cardigan and blue dress whilst the boy is sitting on a rock wearing a yellow jumper.. A birthday wish is printed at the top of the card. There are printed and hand written messages in the card.
Dimensions
  • Length: 17cm
  • Width: 11.2cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Loving / Birthday / Wishes' (printed on the front of the card)
  • 'Wishing you a birthday date / That proves a real event / The gayest and the / happiest time / That you have ever spent / a day that's bursting / all the way through / With special happiness / for you' (printed inside)
  • 'Happy Birthday, Jennifer / Love from / auntie Peg & Uncle Reg' (Handwritten inside)
  • 'B.760/5'
  • 'MASON'S / ALPHA / SERIES'
  • 'Printed in Great Britain'
Credit line
Given by Jennifer Leaver
Object history
One of 269 cards donated by Jennifer Leaver (nee Davies) that have been given to her on her birthdays from 1-18 from family and friends.
Subject depicted
Summary
This birthday card, one of a group of 269, was given to and kept by Jennifer Leaver (née Davies). The cards were given to her by a range of relatives and friends and span from 1957 to1975 - the dates of her first to her eighteenth birthday.
Jennifer was born in 1957 and the cards reflect progression of typography, imagery and graphic styles for birthday cards, spanning over three decades.

The cards also reflect the changing and age appropriate imagery chosen by greetings card companies as well as the choices made by those who selected and sent the cards to Jennifer as she grew older.
Some of the earlier younger cards commonly show childish scenes often including illustrated baby animal characters, whereas later cards reflect perceived changes of interest for a growing girl such as images of flowers, fashions and music.
Collection
Accession number
B.488-2010

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Record createdMarch 22, 2011
Record URL
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