Collection of "Shana Tova" (Happy New Year) postcards and greeting cards. Published by Tzentral, Yehudiya, D. Marcadis, Williamsburg Art Co., Z. Resnik, Phoenix, Littauer & Boysen, and others, Poland, Germany, USA, Palestine and elsewhere, [first half of the 20th century (several later items)].
The collection contains 49 postcards and 18 greeting cards depicting Zionist and Jewish images; including postcards and greeting cards dealing with the Jewish cycle of the year, the Jewish festivals of Tishrei and their customs, greeting cards decorated with "Trees of the Holy Land", and more.
In the collection: ● An undivided color postcard with the work "Passover" by E.M. Lilien – an old Jew encircled by barbed wire on the backdrop of Egyptian pyramids and the rising sun. Berlin: Phoenix, [early 20th century]. The postcard was sent to "My Friend Mr. Sapir" in Odessa in 1902, "[55]63 to our old count; […] to our national movement". Bearing JNF "Zion" stamps and an additional handwritten greeting – "May you be inscribed and sealed to a happy New Year" (Hebrew). The addressee is presumably Dr. Yosef Sapir, chairman of the Zionist unions of Odessa. ● Six postcards depicting biblical and Jewish figures, alongside prayer verses and happy New Year greetings. [Berlin]: Littauer & Boysen, [early 20th century]. ● Three postcards with a folding, book-shaped flap, beneath which is an accordion-folded strip of paper bearing a series of pictures: the first, "Palestine", depicting sights of Palestine; the second, "Judishe Presse", depicting a series of tiny reproductions of the front pages of Jewish newspapers and journals in Yiddish, most of them from 1910; the third, "Hebrew Writers", depicting portraits of contemporary Hebrew writers, including Achad Ha'am, Bialik, Shaul Tchernichovsky, Z. Shneur and others. [ca. 1900s and 1910s]. ● Six Zionist postcards depicting flags, verses about the revival of Israel, immigrant ships and more. Jerusalem: D. Marcadis, [1940s]. ● A real-photo "Shana Tova" greeting card bearing the sender's portrait. The picture was taken at the "'Israel' Photo", Tel Aviv, [ca. 1950s]. ● And more.
Enclosed: The envelope in which the series of cards "Trees of the Holy Land" (11 of which are included in this collection), designed by P. Steiner, was sold (Schoen Press, Tel Aviv).
Postcards: 14X9 cm on average. Greeting cards: 7.5X6.5 cm to 10X15 cm. Good to fair overall condition. Blemishes and stains to some postcards and greeting cards. Layer separation to several postcards. Eight of the postcards and three of the greeting cards were used. Three copies of one postcard.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.