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Birthday Card

1967 (printed and published)
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 card with an illustration of four dogs playing with a ribbon, a Hallmark Speciality card printed in Australia, given to Jennifer Leaver (nee Davies) in 1967 on her eleventh birthday
Physical description
Blue birthday card showing four black and white dogs playing with a gold wishbone and ribbons. Inside the card is a pop-up section showing another dog with a wishbone.
Dimensions
  • Length: 17.5cm
  • Width: 12.4cm
  • Opened width: 24.7cm
Production typeMass produced
Marks and inscriptions
  • ESPECIALLY FOR YOU / It's not the WISHING that's so hard / Because that's so easy to do -- (Printed in black and gold on the front of the card.)
  • But gee, it's tough to WISH a WISH / That's NICE ENOUGH FOR YOU! / HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (Printed message inside the card.)
  • To dear Jennifer / with love from us / all in Australia / xxxxx (Handwritten message inside the card.)
  • "picture of a crown" Hallmark / SPECIALITY / AUSTRALIA (Printed on the back of the card.)
  • B 339 - 1 / 30c-36d / COPYRIGHT (Printed on the back of the card in the bottom right-hand corner.)
Credit line
Given by Jennifer Leaver
Object history
One of 269 cards donated by Jennifer Leaver (née Davies) that have been given to her on her birthdays from 1-18 from family and friends.
Subjects 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.517-2010

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Record createdApril 6, 2011
Record URL
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