This is the first official Rice Christmas card I can find, although I guess I’d be surprised if EOL didn’t send them out from the very beginning. (Note they were still living in their first Houston residence, a rented house downtown on Polk Avenue.) From what I can tell, he and Mrs. Lovett sent out this same card every year, with just a change in the date.

Christmas card technology has advanced quite a bit in the intervening years, but one of my colleagues pointed out that this is actually a pretty fancy card for the era: it’s both engraved and embossed! And I can’t resist pointing out that the embossing highlights the two-shield image that’s on the Rice flag.

The Woodson Research Center will be closed from tomorrow until we come back from break on January 3, so posting will be a bit spotty until then. But don’t go away–I’ve got some cool stuff reserved so I won’t be left with absolutely nothing to talk about. I’ve gotten more interested in the Class of 1916 and I’ll put up some surprising things about a couple of them.

And have a Merry Christmas, y’all!