Christmas cards have only been around since 1843, and they didn't start out with cozy pictures of Christmas trees or wise men following a star. The greetings were nice, but the illustrations were designed to make you say, "Whaaaat?" and then maybe laugh at their sheer absurdity. A recurring theme was food taking revenge on people who cooked and ate it. Above, we have two turkeys wishing the cook a Merry Christmas as they shove him into the fire on a spit. Below, A piece of meat and a Christmas pudding do the same to a cook, with the help of some geese.
The gallery includes animals behaving badly, too. A flock of songbirds marches in single file (more or less) carrying torches. They look less festive and more like they are coming to burn your house down. Roaches drink your coffee, or maybe your hot cocoa. A monkey pulls a cat's tail. You get the idea. But what's this one all about?
Maybe they are on their way to terrorize another chef. See a gallery of 27 baffling vintage Christmas cards at Flashbak. -via Damn Interesting
