Posted on 12/24/2009 11:18:04 AM PST by jay1949
During the 19th century, improvements in various printing technologies, including lithography, chromolithography, and the rotary press, ushered in an era of popular art. Currier & Ives (and others) produced inexpensive prints; L. Prang & Co. (and more) sold Christmas cards; periodicals such as Harper's New Monthly Magazine included drawings by Thomas Nast and others. Because they were mass-produced by the standards of the time, many of these works have survived to the present day, giving us a kind of window on the past -- images of Christmastime in the 1800s.
(Excerpt) Read more at backcountrynotes.com ...
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