Series G-53 Flower Girls by E. Nash
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All of the material you have access to here -- the instructive booklets, the nostalgic postcards, the boldly graphic ephemera, and all of the historical information researched and shared from the mind of the woman who is making it all happen -- can easily fit into one 8 x 10 foot room in an old Victorian farmhouse, but you would never see it without the investment of the time it takes to produce such a site and the caloric input such a site requires in the form of food for the writer, graphic designer, and database manager, as well as the US currency needed to pay for the computers, software applications, scanners, electricity, and internet connectivity that bring it out of that little room and into the world.
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E.Nash "Series G-53 Flowers Girls"
The E. Nash postcards publishing company is one of those mysteries that beset collectors, and the more time passes the less likely we are to find out anything about the company. We do know that most of the E. Nash cards were printed in Germany, but that is true of the output of dozens of American card companies of the early 20th century. We also know that E. Nash put out several series of cards on floriography. The finest of these was the embossed, gilded, varnished, and sho-card lettered is the "Series M-6 Flowers" set, published circa 1910. This set of little girls in floral dresses, accompanied by the meanings of the flowers and a short verse, are almost as nice. The "G" in a Nash series G-53 stands for "Girls," and here they are, cute as buttons.
Nash cards display as their trademark an N inside a triangle -- but as other collectors have noted, some Nash sets, this one included, also sometimes come with an A in a circle or an H surrounded by lettering for Henderson publishing, and these trademarks may be on the back of the card. There are two ways to interpret this: either Nash bought out the printing rights of other companies or vice versa, or the German printer sold the cards to multiple US publishers. I doubt we will ever know. In this set, the Jonquil card is marked G053 on the front, but Henderson on the back.
The floriographic content of these these circa 1910 cards is not filled out with deep meaning or divinatory implications because the symbolism of each flower is limited -- but they are sweet and charming, nonetheless.
I wish i could tell you the name of the artist-letterer who painted these images, and also who crafted the fine lithographs for reproduction, but, alas, like many commercial artists then and now, such art-workers were usually not allowed to sign or initial their fabulous creations.
There should be twelve cards in this set, perhaps one for each month of the year, although no months are mentioned. Lacking an indication of the months, i have arranged them in alphabetical order for now. Additionally, despite doing my due diligence and spending a week's food budget on the pack i have here, there are only ten on this page so far. Maybe the other two will show up by the time this page is released to the public in 2024!
APPLE BLOSSOM
"Long may you live, long may you love,
And long may you be happy."
- Meaning: Preference
ASTER
"Time is fleet, but thoughts are fleeter,
And, with love, they're always sweeter."
- Meaning: Variety
COSMOS
"May you be as happy yourself
As you'd like to see anybody else."
- Meaning: Always beautiful
CROCUS
"On this glad day may joy abide
With you from morn till eventide."
- Meaning: Beautiful ever
GERANIUM
"All joys come to your heart today
And all blessings be yours I pray."
- Meaning: Preference
JONQUIL
"May blessings be in every
shower that falls on you."
- Meaning: I desire a return of affection
HOLLY
"Only a message sweet and true
Saying I think today of you."
- Meaning: Foresight
HOLLYHOCK
"Though old times, old ways and customs pass away,
This greeting, at least, is good for any day."
- Meaning: Fruitfulness
MOSS ROSE
"The rose that hails the morning
Arrayed in all its sweets.
Its mossy couch adorning
The sun enamored meets."
- Meaning: Confession of Love
NASTURTIUM
"'Twas a lovely thought
To mark the hours
As they floated
In light away,
By the opening
and folding flowers
That laugh
to the summer's day."
- Meaning: Patriotism
ORCHIDS
"Who gave to thee
that name
So full of homely
and most pleasant thought?
It's charm might win renown
For many a thing with
Far less beauty fraught."
- Meaning: [no meaning given]
PINK
"Each pink sends forth
Its choicest sweet,
Aurora's warm embrace
To meet."
- Meaning: Pure and Absent Love
POINSETTIA
'"Flowers are the brightest things
which earth
from her broad bosom loves
to cherish;
Gay they appear
as childhood's mirth —
like fading dreams of hope
they perish."
- Meaning: [no meaning given]
POPPY
"What brings the bright
and shining leaf
The scarlet poppy wears?
A consolation for our grief,
A solace for our cares."
- Meaning: Consolation
PRIMROSE
"But thou art beautiful,
And our sole native
Of thy graceful band
Which we so prize and seek
In varied form and hue,
Through many a land."
- Meaning: Unpatronized Merit
VIOLET
"The blossom that blooms
in every land,
Where laughs a summer sky
blue and bland!
As if to tell of that blessed
heaven
Whose softest hue to its
heart is given!"
- Meaning: Faithfulness
WATER LILY
"Oh! thou magic world of flowers,
Fairy ministers of grace;
Soothing all our weary hours,
Decking every lovely place."
- Meaning: Eloquence
I have a feeling that the author of these cards was a bit "stuck" for ideas because two cards -- Apple Blossom and Geranium -- have the identical stilted sentiment of "Preference" and another pair -- Cosmos and Crocus -- have the almost identical sentiments of "Always beautiful" and "Beautiful ever."
There are 10 cards on this page, but printing presses are generally set up to run postcards in multiples of 6 ... so, please, wish me luck as i try to find the 11th and 12th cards and complete my collection of this elusive set of floriographic sweetness.
See Also
- Categorizing Cards
- Birthday and Birthstone Postcards
- The Tiffany Birthstone Poem
- Sentiments of the Months by Raphael Tuck and Sons
- Gem Birthday Series 1 by E. Nash
- Lucky Birthstone by Adelbert Kohn
- Fortune Series No. 37 by J. Marks
- Floriography or The Language of Flowers
- Series M-6 Flowers by E. Nash
- Series G-53 Flower Girls by E. Nash
catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
Your Wate and Fate
Special thanks to my dear husband and creative partner nagasiva yronwode for illustrations, scans, and clean-ups.