Collection Of Birthday Cards

My mother collects birthday cards.  Her collection is pretty extensive.  Her favorites tend to be vintage ones that are for certain milestone birthdays.  I think that the sheer size of the collection is impressive. 

She won’t tell anyone the exact number of cards that she owns.  I’m not even sure that she knows the total number.

I don’t know anyone else that collects birthday cards.  She has a set of eight displayed right now that were made around the turn of the century and are all for a 21st birthday. 

My favorite one of the 21st birthday cards has paper flowers attached to the front.  They are all so proper looking and the font has so many nice flourishes.

She went through a phase during her collecting of birthday cards where she was only looking for cards dated in the 1940s.  She was able to find about twenty of them.  She looks for them at estate sales and at online auctions. 

She has been diligent about searching them out.

I knew when I was growing up that my mom wanted unique birthday cards. 

I have never in my life purchased a birthday card for her at Hallmark.  I find handmade paper cards from local artisans. 

I know that she appreciates people that help with her collection.  I like to think that the card itself is a big part of the gift

One of my favorite birthday cards in her collection is a Victorian birthday card that has fabric fringe. 

The flaps of the card fold out to reveal a beautiful pink rose.  It is so very elegant.  I used to look at this card a lot when I was a little girl and dream about another time and place.  I was sure that the little girl that had originally received it loved it very much.

After I turned 21, my mother showed me her collection of saucy and risque birthday cards. 

She had kept them locked in a box because she felt that they were inappropriate for me to look at.  I thought that they were funny and I don’t think that viewing them when I was younger would have scarred me.