Cats are an important part of our lives, so it makes sense that they would turn up frequently on Christmas cards. This selection of 8 vintage images of felines offering holiday cheer ranges from the Victorian to the mid-century.

The friendship between Santa Claus and his reindeer is one of the most endearing of Christmas stories. The flying reindeer are as important as Santa himself in the miraculous completion of his yearly duties. We have selected eight vintage image of Santa with Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen Donner, Blitzen Cupid and Comet.

Set of 8 different cat blank notecards in a decorative, die-cut box.

Louis Wain (1860-1939) is the most famous, and versatile, of cat artists. He was an Englishman, and though he painted and drew many different animals, it is the cat that lay at the center of his inspiration.

Wain’s cat art encompasses several styles. He created many wonderfully realistic cats, but Wain also wrote and illustrated children’s books featuring cats walking on two legs, wearing clothes and otherwise acting human. These are winningly humorous. It is clear from his work that he loved and understood cats, thus it will come as no surprise that he was a lifelong supporter of animal charities.

His life was complicated and often sad, marked by mental illness and financial struggles. After a brief period of committal in a grim institution, the intervention of friends and admirers – including King George V and Ramsey Macdonald, then England’s prime minister – secured him a place in a pleasant rural hospital, the gardens of which fortuitously hosted a colony of cats. Wain spent his last fifteen years here, and continued to portray his favorite subject. His late work, preternaturally psychedelic and wildly colorful, is the subject of much interest and dispute.

The eight images contained in this box represent Wain and his cats in a variety of moods and modes.

Set of 8 different blank notecards in decorated, die-cut box.

Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939) was born in Czechoslovakia, but spent most of his career in France. He first rose to prominence with posters promoting the actress Sarah Bernhardt. The style we now know as Art Nouveau is so associated with this multi-talented artist that is was first termed “The Mucha Style.” He excelled in interior design, jewelry, ceramics, book design, mural painting and, supremely, the poster. Our eight cards are each reproductions of his sublime posters.

"Christmas cards frequently picture dogs; this is true of every era from the Victoria through the entire 20th century. We cannot fully explain this predilection, but we do know that dogs are an important part of life for many of us, and thus we enjoy their presence wherever it crops up.

We offer here reproductions of eight of our favorite dog Christmas cards, from the 1930s through the 1950s. Our dog-shaped box contains one each of the eight designs and each card includes a greeting from the same era as its illustration."