Sending a New Year's greeting card is a nice gesture to wish your friends, family members, and colleagues all the best in the new year. Every ending is an opportunity to think about the past, estimate the present, and plan a future. We all wish for good health, wealth, safety, cordial relationships, and some fun in the upcoming year. The custom of sending New Year's cards was always a bit in a shadow of Christmas greetings, but some people prefer them for various reasons. Like all classic postcards, Happy New Year's picture cards slowly and steadily lose popularity. We live in the digital era, after all.

Still, a vintage New Year's card by e-mail or through one of our social channels can send our friends a signal that we value tradition, embrace progress, and, most important of all, have them in our minds. Samuel Schmucker, one of the leading postcard artists of his time, created numerous New Year's cards for different publishers. We divided them by themes, and we hope you'll enjoy them.

Father Time in Old New Year's Cards

Father Time is a personification of time. We can look at time in very different ways. Yes, it's true. When it passes, we can't get it back. On the other hand, time is also cyclical. When the old year is over, the new one begins. Soon, the new year will become old, and another one will replace it.

Samuel Loren Schmucker loved to portray girls. A cute girl seems a nice contrast to old Father Time and also symbolizes growth, opportunity, and life energy. If you are into symbolism, the allusions on Red Riding Hood, a symbol of Sun, youth, and new life, are obvious. Father Time, of course, plays the role of the wolf, a symbol of coldness, night, and death. You can even notice the drops of blood!

Schmucker's Vintage New Year's Postcards with Babies and Children

A new year is like a baby. It's impossible to predict its future, yet we still look at the baby with affection and optimism. Only time, represented by a large clock, will tell how many of our hopes came true.

"Happy New Year to You" and "Best New Year Wishes" are classic New Year's greetings used for centuries.

When babies grow, we are dealing with kids. We often say that all life is in front of them, yet some directions are already visible. Many abilities and talents show at an early age, and we can't say which way the kid will turn. It's just like at the beginning of the new year. A lot of things can happen. Surprises are inevitable. Some of them will be good, and some will be bad. This is why life is so interesting. No matter what, our relationships will shape our lives and satisfaction.

The next vintage song nicely sums it up:

Whatever resolutions high there be,

Among this place this humble one:

To write a line to me.

Samuel Schmucker's New Year's Postcard for Raphael Tuck & Sons

So far, we have presented only Schmucker's card designs for John Winsch, which are his most famous works. The next New Year's greeting cards were published by legendary publisher Raphael Tuck.

Again, we can't go without kids. We already know why they are so exposed at the beginning of the year. Here are two small groups with New Year's wishes, represented by songs.

Here's for a day both bright and jolly,

With frolicking fun and innocent folly,

With laughter and dancing and music and song,

And Joy and Happiness all day long.

And another one:

We wish you joy and luck and friends

And all good things the New Year sends

And if you wish for something, too

We wish that your wish may come true.

Yes, we are still dealing with time. The next three cards incorporate clocks in different situations.

Holidays are very much related to expectations and hopes. Waiting is crucial.

These two vintage greetings are also worth writing down:

May every grain of sand that counts

Each passing New Year's minute

Have sixty seconds worth of joy

And happiness within it.

and

When New Year comes it bids me send

A remembrance kind to you, my friend,

And so I wish you lots of cheer,

For every day throughout the year.

A new year is a time for resolutions and plans. Many of us decide to learn something new!

As you can notice, classic Christmas colors: red, green, gold, and white, dominate his designs. Some artists actually created the same cards for Christmas and New Year's Greetings. Yet, we can notice that red is, in most cases, used very sparingly. It's a powerful color, after all (read about the color red).

That's it! If you like it, share it with your friends. And Happy New Year!