Ancient Birthday / Deathday cards

Denizens of The Future. Please enjoy these ossified birthday cards from the turn of the (previous) century. They're mean for birthdays, but they look downright funerial compared to our modern birthday cards, which tend to lean toward the hysterically giddy in style.

So you can send these to people for their birthday, or, with some light alteration of the text in Popular Image Editing Software of your choice, mail them to your loved ones' zombie / shade / spectre / lich / ghoul / skeleton warrior / wight or good old vampire. I'm sue he / she / it will be very touched you thought of them.

This one is from Aunt Hattie to Ferdinand.... Jalu?... of Princeton, Wisconsin. It was printed in Germany, so the sender and lucky birthday boy could easily have been recent emigrants.

These merry little fellows might be planning to invade Poland as they pose for this painting.

This card was sent to.... Wen Baswell? of Colchester Vermont in 1912, I think. The design does us the favor of including a clock, to make sure we don't overlook the inexorable toll of the bell chipping away the remaining hours of our life. Happy birthday, Wen! I'll tell you wen: soon. very soooooon!

"Good luck S. J Aeken, on your upcoming race at the Churchill Downs! Hope that hoof is feeling better. We'd hate to have to shoot you. And, happy birthday! Love, Mrs. C.C. Peltr....ruh... whatever my name is." ...Possibly dies while filling it out, and then shambles off to the mail box as a newly minted wight, to send birthday race greetings to one lucky horse. History is a weird, freaky tapestry.