Season’s Greetings: Worcester College Christmas Cards

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19th December 2019

Season’s Greetings: Worcester College Christmas Cards

At this time of year the proliferation of Christmas decorations and images can be overwhelming. Let this blogpost serve as a refreshing escape from that, as the Christmas cards produced by the College over the past century are surprisingly devoid of anything remotely festive (the recent example above, of the Adoration of the Magi, is the exception) but are beautiful nonetheless. (In this blog, click on the image for further information.)

The earliest Christmas cards in the Archives are simple, consisting only of the College coat of arms on a plain background. Without the Christmas wishes inside, it would be impossible to identify these as Christmas cards at all.

Image of a plain white card with the college crest in red and gold on the front, with a pink and black ribbon down the side. Inside the card are Christmas wishes in blue gothic type.

After the Second World War, pictures appear on the Christmas cards but they feature summer scenes, rather than the more traditional wintery or religious images. The first example in the Archives has a charming engraving showing undergraduates bowling in the Provost’s Garden, with the Library building in the background.

Image of a plain white card with the College crest in red, and a pink and black ribbon on the side.Interior of a card with Christmas wishes, and a line drawing of Worcester College Lodgings, with two students playing bowls on the lawn.

Worcester is fortunate in its beautiful buildings and grounds and it is understandable that the picturesque surroundings should feature in the majority of  the College Christmas cards. More surprising is that the trend for images of the College in summer continued throughout the twentieth century, perhaps indicating a longing for a different season to the one currently being celebrated.

Black and white drawing of the medieval 'cottages' from behind. Parts of the stone are covered with trellised trees and ivy.

Interior of a Christmas card bearing Christmas wishes.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the College produced a series of Christmas cards featuring historic prints and drawings of College scenes, which naturally resulted in cards which again did not feature traditional Christmas imagery.

College Christmas cards at this time were produced for College members to send (today they are available for anyone to purchase from the Lodge). In the Archives we have a card from the series above, sent by Sir John Masterman (Provost 1946 to 1961).

Other provosts chose to produce their own Christmas card as shown by the two examples below.

Christmas card of F.J. Lys, which has a picture of a swan walking down the path with cygnets following behind. The caption reads 'in Worcester College Garden, June 1933'.

Personal Christmas card of F J Lys, Provost 1919 to 1946, Christmas 1933

Later College Christmas cards have maintained the focus on the gardens, but utilised more traditional winter imagery.

Season’s Greetings from Worcester College Archives!

Emma Goodrum, Archivist

Photograph of the eighteenth-century terrace of the College, taken at the Commemoration Ball of 2014. Pink fireworks light up the sky behind the terrace.

Worcester College Christmas Card 2014 (photo by Sharmaine Sepehr, of fireworks at the Commemoration Ball 2014)

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