This “Imperial Collection” of African American Christmas cards was a rarity in the 1950s, hard-to-find among the rows of their Caucasian counterparts on drugstore and card shop shelves. Other than the depictions of Black Santas and elegantly garbed Ebony Classic ladies, these cards are especially generic with greetings like “Taking time out to stop and say: “Hello there! And hi! Merry Christmas and a happy and bright New Year!”.

Made by Colortone Originals of Mount Vernon, New York, the set contains 16 “Selected Christmas Cards with Envelopes”. Eight unique designs (of which I only have six),  two cards of each.

Tags: Allee Willis, Ebony Classics, Ebony Classics Christmas Cards, Kitsch, Kitsch O' The Day

Share this page.		Subscribe to the blog.

Protected under a Creative Commons license

4 Comments

• Kathy Cunningham says:

  December 24, 2009 at 12:24 pm

  Curtis & The Impressions said it best: “Amen!”
  I feel bad for the chick in front of the pot bellied stove. She’s gonna ruin her outfit with soot!

  Reply
• offensive t shirts says:

  September 9, 2011 at 12:43 am

  It’s a miracle!

  Reply
• Kim says:

  May 26, 2012 at 5:03 pm

  I cannot seem to find much information regarding the Color-Tone Original Christmas Cards. We have had someone donate several of these vintage Christmas cards to support our non-profit community after school program. We hope to auction them to support our scholarship fund, but have no idea of their value. If you have any information to share, we would appreciate it!

  Reply
  • Allee says:

    May 26, 2012 at 5:29 pm

    I’m not really sure of the value. I collect African American greeting cards and these were considered very upscale.

    Reply