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This 4" x 2.75" single sided flat A.M.Davis card reads "MERRY CHRISTMAS, Here comes a little Christmas card, With wishes very true, From one who thinks the best on earth, Is none too good for you!" Many of the A.M.Davis cards in my collection are of door-ways, as in this card.

In 1906, Albert M. Davis was managing a wholesale bookhouse in Boston when he received a New Years greeting card with a verse by Charles Dickens that made a impression on him. He felt that this was the kind of sentiment that the American public needed. He looked for more like this and found one. Davis then wrote another six verses himself and published all eight in postcard format. He had them priced at 5 cents retail.

The following year Davis published forty cards, sixteen of which were Christmas cards. They were very successful sellers, so successful that Davis resigned his position at the bookhouse and founded the A.M. Davis Company. He surrounded himself with some of the best in the industry and his postcard business thrived until about 1916. It then went into a four year slump and almost became non-existent. But Davis had started a line of enveloped flat cards and folders back in 1909. The cards had decorative covers tied with ribbons. It was them that helped increase the company's business over the years. These cards were part of what would become known as the American greeting card.

The A.M. Davis Company prospered for many years until Mr Davis, in poor health, liquidated the business and retired. The company's file of sentiments was purchased by the Rust Craft Company and became part of its company's master file.

View examples of A.M. Davis cards By Clicking Here

Click on the 1916 A.M.Davis Christmas card ad at right to see larger view.

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