Birthday and Birthstone Postcards: Difference between revisions

From Your Wate and Fate
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(edit and save)
(edit and save)
Line 37: Line 37:
December: '''Turquoise:''' Success<br>
December: '''Turquoise:''' Success<br>


For further thoughts about these birthstones and their symbolism, see
Around the same time, the Knickerbocker Jewelry Company of New York City also released a postcard that advertised the birthstones of the months. The stones were the same as shown on the Colortype postvcard and their attributions were similar or identical.


* [[The Tiffany Birthstone Poem]] from 1870, which influenced these early 20th century postcards.
[[File:Knickerbocker-Birthstones-Postcard.jpeg|center|600px|thumb|Knickerbocker Jewelry Company Birthstones postcard, cicra 1907-1908]]


And, before this list of months and meanings for each gemstone is taken as definitive or authoritative, it must be compared with other sets of correspondences. Here is the first in that set.
== The Tiffany Birthstone Poem of 1870 ==
 
For further thoughts about the origins of concerning the magical attributions of these birthstones and their symbolism, see
 
* [[The Tiffany Birthstone Poem]] from 1870, which influenced all such early 20th century postcards.
 
And the, before taking the Tiffany list of months and meanings for each gemstone as definitive or authoritative, it must be compared with other sets of correspondences. These postcard sets reflect eary 20th century beliefs about the birthstones:


* [[Sentiments of the Months by Raphael Tuck and Sons]]
* [[Sentiments of the Months by Raphael Tuck and Sons]]
* [[Lucky Birthstone by Adelbert Kohn]]
* [[Lucky Birthstone by Adelbert Kohn]]


I have more than dozen different sets of birthstone, character analysis, and zodiac cards by a variety of publishers, dating from 1907 through 1925, and i will periodically add sets to the list above until they are all online and this little notice disappears.
I have more than dozen different sets of birthstone postcards which include , character analysis and zodiac attributions. They were released by a variety of publishers, and date from 1907 through 1925. I will periodically add sets to the list above until they are all online and this little notice disappears.


==To Discuss This Patreon Page==
==To Discuss This Patreon Page==

Revision as of 23:37, 9 August 2021

One of the earliest postcards that related months to lucky gemstones and their symbolism as omens was the 1907 embossed and gilded "Birthday Souvenir" by The Colortype Company of Chicago, Illinois. Ostensibly designed as a single birthday card suitable for anyone, it opened the door to the creation of many twelve-card sets of birthstone greetings that delved into zodiacal gemstone magic, character analyses, and the language of flowers.

Colortype Birthday Souvenir (Birthstones),1907

The poem on this card follows the familiar sing-song pattern i call "the English Enchantment," This scansion, with a variety of wording, is found on many fortune telling tea cups, as seen at our sister-site, The Mystic Tea Room in the page about Poetry on Cups and Saucers. Dating back at least to the Renaissance and the writing of William Shakespeare, such verses are found to this day in the metrical magical spells of the Anglo-Saxon people.

Birthday Souvenir

Among the gems that here abound
Your birthstone will be surely found
Good fortune may it always bring,
Tho' set in locket or in ring.
And may the years that to you come
Bring joy wherever you may roam;
May health and peace be ever yours
And love that thro' all time endures;
So look upon your birthstone here,
Where all the other gems appear,''
And know that yours I deem the best,
Tho' rare and beauteous be the rest.

All twelve stones are arrayed on a single ribboned necklace, with words around each stone, as follows:

January: Garnet: Friendship
February: Amethyst: Sincerity
March: Bloodstone: Courage
April: Diamond: Purity
May: Emerald: Happiness
June: Agate: Health
July: Ruby: Love
August: Sardonyx: Felicity
September: Sapphire: Wisdom
October: Opal: Hope
November: Topaz: Fidelity
December: Turquoise: Success

Around the same time, the Knickerbocker Jewelry Company of New York City also released a postcard that advertised the birthstones of the months. The stones were the same as shown on the Colortype postvcard and their attributions were similar or identical.

Knickerbocker Jewelry Company Birthstones postcard, cicra 1907-1908

The Tiffany Birthstone Poem of 1870

For further thoughts about the origins of concerning the magical attributions of these birthstones and their symbolism, see

And the, before taking the Tiffany list of months and meanings for each gemstone as definitive or authoritative, it must be compared with other sets of correspondences. These postcard sets reflect eary 20th century beliefs about the birthstones:

I have more than dozen different sets of birthstone postcards which include , character analysis and zodiac attributions. They were released by a variety of publishers, and date from 1907 through 1925. I will periodically add sets to the list above until they are all online and this little notice disappears.

To Discuss This Patreon Page

This Patreon Bonus Page is part of the series titled "Your Wate and Fate." To discuss it with me and the Patreon community, please visit our Private Patreon Forum at

http://forum.luckymojo.com/your-wate-and-fate-t93995.html

Thank you.

catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
Your Wate and Fate